Page 7 - AsianOil Week 35 2022

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Japan's government mulls buying

LNG for its companies

PIPELINES & JAPAN’S government is ready to take the businesses to conserve energy.
TRANSPORT unprecedented step of purchasing LNG itself if Despite joining its Western allies in con-
the country’s energy companies cannot afford to demning Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and
Japan is also do so, Japanese media reported last week. supporting retaliatory sanctions against Rus-
considering imposing Japan is heavily reliant on imported energy sia, Japan is a major importer of Russian LNG
mandatory cuts to supplies, lacking any oil and gas resources of its and has ruled out curbing that supply, for lack
consumption. own. It has also expanded the role of imported of alternatives. This month, Japanese gas firms
LNG in its power mix in recent years to replace JERA and Tokyo Gas sealed supply deals with
nuclear power that it has been phasing out in the new state-backed operator of Russia’s Sakha-
the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. This lin-2 LNG plant, where most of Japan’s Russian
has made the country acutely vulnerable to the gas comes from.
soaring cost of LNG on global markets, and Russia’s government transferred the opera-
has led its officials to even consider restoring torship of Sakhalin-2 to the new entity, Sakhal-
nuclear power plants (NPPs) to ease its energy inskaya Energia from the international Sakhalin
crisis. Energy consortium, after accusing its foreign
According to Japanese media, the govern- shareholders of violating their project obliga-
ment intends to establish a framework for tions. Both Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi have
state-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National agreed to take the same equity positions in the
Corp. (JOGMEC) to buy LNG on behalf of other new entity as they did in the last one, on the
Japanese companies. Tokyo is also considering advice of Japan’s government. Shell, the other
imposing mandatory cuts in gas consumption foreign partner in the project, is yet to take this
by large energy users as a last resort. But for the step, having vowed to leave Russia in response to
time being, it is only asking households and the war in Ukraine. ™

CNOOC commissions two South

China Sea gas projects

PROJECTS & CHINA’S state-owned energy group CNOOC Liza Phase II project in Guyana.
COMPANIES announced on September 1 that it had started During the six-month period, CNOOC also
production ahead of schedule at the Dongfang made two medium- to large-sized discoveries –
CNOOC's output is on 1-1 Southeast Zone and Ledong 22-1 South Bozhong 26-6 and Bozhong 19-2 – off the coast
the rise. Block gas fields. of China. It also made five new discoveries at the
The projects are situated in Yinggehai, in the Stabroek block in Guyana, in which the com-
west of the South China Sea. CNOOC plans to pany has a 25% interest.
commission four development wells tied to two The company is seeking to ratchet up output
subsea production systems at the sites. These sys- as much as possible to capitalise on soaring oil
tems will be connected with oil and gas pipelines and gas prices. It earned some CNY176.7bn
and umbilicals. ($25.8bn) in oil and gas revenues during the
Production from the two fields is due to reach period, up 75.6% y/y. Its net profit soared 115.7%
a peak of about 44,000 cubic feet per day of gas, to CNY71.89bn.
equivalent to 454mn cubic metres per year. While “the external environment was com-
CNOOC has 100% interests in both projects. plicated” in the first half of this year, the company
CNOOC managed to ramp up its hydro- “seized the favourable opportunities and made
carbon production to a record-high of 835,000 proactive moves to reach record-high operat-
barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the ing results,” CNOOC chairman Wang Dongjin
first half of 2022, marking a 9.6% growth year on said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue
year. This achievement came on the back of sev- high-quality development, so that we can reach
eral new project launches including the Weizhou the goals we set at the beginning of the year and
12-8E oilfield in the South China Sea and the create more value for shareholders.” ™

Week 35 05•September•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7