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These fields are relatively small, turning out only the Middle’s East oil and gas sector then please click
4,200 bpd of oil and 76,900 cubic metres per day here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
of gas on average. By contrast, the cancelled ten-
der would have given the winner a 10% stake in Mixed fortunes for US mega-projects
Marlim, a field that accounts for about 10% of The relative stability of oil prices, with West
Petrobras’ total output. Texas Intermediate (WTI) above $40 per barrel,
is compelling at least some US producers to start
If you’d like to read more about the key events restoring some of the output they have curtailed
shaping the Latin America oil and gas sector then since March.
please click here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor. Analysts are estimating that up to 500,000
bpd of US shale production, or around 25%
Middle East: OPEC+ aftermath of what has been shut in since the downturn
The aftermath of the most recent OPEC+ meet- started, could return to the market by the end
ing is still playing out. of June. “With prices where they are now, if they
Having reached agreement, OPEC has now stay above $30 [per barrel], I wouldn’t expect
moved to ensure that countries match their any significant curtailments from us in Q3 or
promises and has levied additional cuts on coun- beyond,” Devon Energy’s CEO, David Hager,
tries who failed to meet their quotas in May. High said at a JP Morgan energy conference last week.
on this list are Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria and However, oil prices of around $40 per barrel
Angola; the first two countries are said to have are anticipated to continue acting as a brake on
come up with agreed proposals; the remainder new drilling, even as some existing production
were due to commit by Monday. A full report on is restored.
the outcome of these talks is anticipated soon. Continental Resources is also among the
One country that has moved to respond to companies saying that it will start to restore some
the effects of the oil price collapse is Saudi Ara- of its output in response to current crude prices.
bia, whose oil giant Aramco is planning major The company said it expected to bring back
staff cuts and is pulling back on developing its oil around 20% of its shut-in production in July.
and gas deposits. These moves follow a drastic The return of production is not limited to
fall in revenue, which has hit its balance sheet, shale plays. ConocoPhillips – which has both
and the pullback marks a rare pause in Aramco’s shale and conventional operations – has also
efforts to drill wells, discover fields and expand said it is considering restoring some of its cur-
known deposits to replace the barrels being tailed volumes, which account for about a third
pumped from its conventional oil reserves. of its production, over the next few months. This
After last week’s positive talk about Yemen includes a plan to restore 100,000 bpd of shut-in
raising its crude oil production by 25%, matters production in Alaska by July.
have come back down to earth with the occu- But as US production is being restored, there
pation of the island of Socotra by the Southern are warnings that this could complicate global
Transitional Council (STC), which was sup- efforts, including those by the OPEC+ group, to
posed to be part of a power-sharing agreement stabilise crude prices by restricting output.
with the government. Small steps of progress are
threatening to unravel. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
the North American oil and gas sector then please click
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 24•June•2020