Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 43 2020

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FSU: Rosneft’s rising ambitions super-chilled fuel.
Rosneft has scaled up plans for its already ambi- In the Middle East, meanwhile, Qatar is
tious Vostok Oil project in the Russian Arctic. doing the same to drive forward its own LNG
Vostok Oil was originally conceived as an expansion plans. Last week, the government of
oil-only venture. Rosneft earlier predicted it US President Donald Trump extended the terms
could supply up to 500,000 barrels per day of oil of seven long-term LNG export authorisations
to global markets by 2024, rising to 1mn bpd in until 2050. The move came as no surprise, fol-
2027 and 2.3mn bpd by 2030. This crude would lowing on from the US Department of Energy’s
all be shipped via tankers along the Northern Sea (DoE) policy statement in July that it would per-
Route (NSR) from a new terminal on the shore of mit LNG export authorisations to be extended.
the Taymyr Peninsula. The US has only been exporting LNG since
Rosneft now wants to add LNG and even coal 2016, but has rapidly gained market share as new
exports to the project. In addition to crude, it is liquefaction capacity has come online, mainly on
looking into options for shipping up to 35-50mn the Gulf Coast.
tonnes per year of LNG and 50mn tpy of coal But efforts by US LNG producers to strike
from the terminal it intends to build in Sever Bay. new off-take deals are running into obstacles,
It is unclear whether Rosneft would produce the not only because of the oversupplied market, but Efforts by US
coal itself or export third-party supplies. also because of environmental concerns, as men- LNG producers
Rosneft is also set to obtain two gas fields for tioned in EurOil. The fight, involving a potential
Vostok Oil, after Russia’s government confirmed supply deal that France’s Engie was reportedly to strike new
that the company would be the only one author- due to strike with the US’ NextDecade before it
ised to bid in a tender for the Deryabinskoye was delayed by political pressure, illustrates the off-take deals
and Kazantsevskoye fields. These resources will greater environmental challenges LNG produc-
underpin its LNG production plans. ers may have to contend with in the future. are running into
Meanwhile, Russia’s Tatneft is weighing up Qatar, meanwhile, has taken another step obstacles
its options after losing billions of dollars in tax forward by reportedly selected Honeywell as
relief in the country’s latest overhaul of oil indus- the main instrument and control contractor to
try taxation. The company needs to update its support the North Field East expansion project.
investment programme, and is yet to decide In another illustration of the growing impor-
whether to move some of the highly viscous and tance of environmental issues to the industry,
nearly depleted fields affected by the changes state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) has also
to Russia’s excess profit tax (EPT) system. Until sought to talk up the comparative low emis-
Tatneft decides how to response to the loss of sions-intensity of its expanded LNG operations.
tax breaks, it will not invest in any new heavy The company is building a carbon capture and
oil-containing fields. storage (CCS) facility to capture carbon dioxide
(CO2) from its LNG production.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping These developments raise questions about
the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please how Australia – where LNG plants are typically
click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor . more carbon-intensive than similar facilities in
other parts of the world – will deal with their car-
GLNG: Bidding for LNG dominance bon footprint in an increasingly environmentally
Various US LNG developers and their sup- conscious world.
porters – including the federal government –
continue to push forward with plans that will If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
help to solidify the country’s dominance in the the global LNG sector then please click here for
increasingly competitive global market for the NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor.

Week 43 29•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9