Page 11 - Euroil Week 28 2019
P. 11
EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil
Aker BP chalks up find off Norway
NORWAY
Not all news was good, as Aker BP’s pro ts slumped in the second quarter.
NORWAY’S Aker BP has reported a major nd o the country’s coast following the drilling of a wildcat well.
e company said on July 12 that the Liatar- net exploration well at licence 442 had unearthed a discovery that could contain up to 200mn bar- rels of oil. e licence, which lies in the North of Alvheim-Kra a-Askja (NOAKA) area, is oper- ated by Aker BP with a 90.3% stake. e remain- ing interest is held by Poland’s Lotos.
“ e exploration success at Liatarnet is an encouraging result of a long-term strategy to unlock the exploration potential in the NOAKA area and provide the basis for an area develop- ment,” Aker BP’s senior vice president for explo- ration, Evy Glorstad-Clark, said in a statement.
The find’s gross resources are assessed at between 80mn and 200mn barrels of oil equiv- alent, Aker BP said, adding that further acquisi- tion and analysis would take place to determine the drainage strategy and recovery factor for the discovery.
Aker BP completed the borehole using the Deepsea Stavanger semi-submersible owned by Od ell Drilling. e vessel is on hire to Aker BP until mid-2020, according to Od ell’s eet status report, although on July 11, the rig owner said the unit would be transferred to France’s Total for wildcat drilling o the coast of South Africa, slated to start in the rst quarter.
Aker BP is 30% owned by BP and was estab- lished when the UK major passed its Norwegian business to local producer Det Norske in an all-share deal in 2016. e company last week reported a net pro t of $62mn for the second quarter, down from $128mn a year earlier. Rev- enues slumped to $785mn from $925mn, while EBITDA was down to $522mn from $698mn.
The operator’s capital expenditure in the three-month period amounted to $397mn, down from $276mn, while exploration spend- ing soared to $119mn from $86mn. It drilled four wells in the period, with one identifying the Froskelaar discovery.
Cyprus narrows down FSRU bidders
CYPRUS
Three consortia have placed bids.
CYPRUS has chosen three groups to compete to provide the FSRU and related infrastructure for the import of LNG. e Natural Gas Public Company of Cyprus (DEFA) announced the three groups on July 12.
The first group includes China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co. (CPPEC), Aktor and Metron. e second group consists of Samsung C&T, Posco E&C, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Osaka Gas. e third comprises Damco Energy, Enagas Services Solution, GasLog LNG Services, SNAM and TERNA.
DEFA’s chairman, Symeon Kassianides, said this was the rst successful step towards “the realisation of a long-term project that is directly linked to the country’s energy upgrade and energy pluralism in Cyprus”. He also welcomed the international interest in the project.
DEFA is working to create a functioning gas market in Cyprus, to secure reliable supplies. Initially this would go to power generation, but could be expanded in future to industries, hotels and bunkering, the statement said, “at the lowest possible cost and with [minimal] environmental impact”.
e terminal should be completed in 2021. It will involve an FSRU, a jetty to which the ves- sel would be moored and a gas pipeline. Costs are estimated to be €250mn ($276mn), of which the European Union is providing up to €101mn ($116mn). e EU has the goal of improving the
energy security of all its member states.
Cyprus engaged Gaffney Cline & Associ- ates at the end of 2016 to work on LNG supply options. The country had looked into LNG imports in 2007 but legal changes the following year e ectively barred private companies from the gas market. As a result of various wranglings, Cyprus has continued to burn oil products in
order to generate power.
A number of gas discoveries have been made
o shore Cyprus, including the Aphrodite eld in Block 12. e Cypriot market may be too small to allow such a eld to be developed for local consumption, though, with the gas likely to be exported via subsea pipeline to Egypt and then lique ed.
Encouraged by these discoveries, Turkey has begun drilling in what are widely acknowl- edged as Cypriot waters. is has triggered pro- tests from Cyprus and the EU, but Ankara has persisted.
Week 28 18•July•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P11
