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Nigeria has had much more success in develop- Barryroe field, Ireland’s largest offshore oil dis-
ing small-scale modular refineries, which avoid covery. It continues to hold talks with SpotOn
many of the political and logistical pitfalls that Energy, which is leading a consortium that also
large-scale plants face. comprises a number of major oilfield services
firms. These firms will gain equity stakes in the
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping project in lieu of payment for their services, help-
the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East, ing to keep development costs down.
then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor. Providence has struggled to find a farm-in
partner for the field, with two deals collapsing
European deal-making in 2015 and 2018. Ireland’s investment climate
There has been a flurry of new deals announced is hardly conducive to its efforts, with the new
in Europe over the past week. coalition government looking to ban the issue
France’s Total has closed the sale of a group of new oil and gas licences on environmental Norway’s Equinor
of UK North Sea assets to Neo Energy, backed grounds.
by Norwegian private equity HitecVision. The has agreed to
transaction was completed on schedule, despite If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping sell 41% of the
Oman’s Petrogas dropping out as a joint buyer Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
alongside Neo in May. When first announced in NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor . Brassay heavy
summer 2019, the deal was valued at $635mn.
But Total is likely to have received much less after FSU production setbacks oilfield east of
renegotiating terms with Neo to account for the Russian gas producer Novatek saw its interna-
collapse in oil and gas prices this year. tional sales of natural gas plunge 32% year on the Shetlands to
The French major is on a divestment drive, year in the second quarter, underscoring the EnQuest
looking to weed out non-core, lower-margin impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global
assets in its portfolio. And it appears to have demand. The company’s overseas shipments
fast-tracked disposal plans in response to the came to only 2.5bn cubic metres (bcm) in the
COVID-19 pandemic. Last week it also clinched three-month period, down from 3.65 bcm a
a deal to sell the 180,000 barrel per day (bpd) year earlier. Its domestic sales were also down,
Lindsey oil refinery in north-east England to a though much less significantly, dropping to 14.4
local player, and it is also reported to be mulling bcm from 15.1 bcm.
the sale of a North Sea natural gas pipeline. The slump in international sales stemmed
Meanwhile, Norway’s Equinor has agreed to chiefly from a fall in the amount of LNG that
sell 41% of the Brassay heavy oilfield east of the Novatek was able to buy from its Yamal LNG
Shetlands to UK producer EnQuest. Like Total, joint venture with France’s Total and China’s
it too is looking to clean up its portfolio, although CNPC and Silk Road Fund. In the meantime,
it will retain a further 41% interest in the project. net profits were also down 40% year on year at
EnQuest and Equinor both have experience in RUB41.6bn ($573mn), while EBITDA fell 38.5%
developing heavy crude deposits. By combining to RUB71.3bn.
their expertise, the partners hope to finally take In more upbeat news, Novatek has begun
the Brassay project forward after years of delay. pilot production at gas condensate-bearing lay-
Over in Ireland, Providence Resources ers of the North-Russkoye and East-Tazovskoye
hopes to finally attract a farm-in partner at the fields.

Week 31 05•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9