Page 13 - EurOil Week 25 2021

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Aker BP launches new

Skarv field

NORWAY AKER BP has kicked off production at the Grasel and Orn discoveries.
oilfield in the Skarv area of the Norwegian Sea, “We also have further exploration ambitions
The reservoir holds the company announced on June 18, hailing the in the Skarv area, and we’re working on a new
13mn barrels of oil. launch as four months ahead of schedule. exploration campaign including both operated
The Skarv reservoir holds 13mn barrels of and non-operated wells in 2022,” Aker BP said.
oil equivalent (boe), most of which is crude oil. Grasel will be developed for NOK1.2bn
Its output will be fed into the Skarv floating pro- ($138mn) using one well drilled from an existing
duction storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, slot at Skarv, with pressure support provided by
in operation since 2013. The FPSO is also used an injector well shared with the Tilje formation.
for supplies from the Aerfugl gas field, which It has a breakeven price of just $15 per barrel,
came online last year. Aker BP said the start-ups which Aker BP made it “extremely robust.”
at Grasel and Aerfugl would restore the Skarv “This must be one of the fastest projects ever
FPSO’s production rate to more than 170,000 executed on the Norwegian Shelf,” Aker BP CEO
barrels per day (bpd) of oil. Karl Johnny Hersvik commented. “Together, we
“We’re maturing several development pro- have once again completed a profitable project
jects with the objective of making investment safely, efficiently and within budget – and on top
decisions by the end of 2022,” Aker BP said. “The of all that – much faster than planned when the
ambition is to phase in production from these project started.”
developments over the next four to five years.” Aker BP operates the Skarv licence with a
The projects included in the Skarv develop- 23.8% stake, while Equinor has 36.2%, Winter-
ment include the Shrek, Idun Nord, Alve Nord shall Dea has 28.1% and PGNiG has 11.9%. ™

NEWS IN BRIEF

OMV Petrom enters LNG tweeted on June 14 that Ukraine would be Romgaz gets four-month
willing to accept the launch of the Nord
market Stream II pipeline in return for the de- exclusivity in talks with
occupation of Ukrainian territory and
Romania’s biggest oil and gas company ensuring energy security. He called it “fair Exxon over Black Sea
OMV Petrom (SNP) has obtained a licence compensation for threats”.
to commercialise liquefied natural gas, thus The tweet comes as US President Joe project
diversifying its activities on the market Biden arrives in Brussels for two days of
for gas and related products, the company meetings, including a one-day summit of Romanian natural gas company Romgaz, in
announced in a note to investors. Nato member states. Ukraine’s security which the government holds a 70% stake,
“OMV Petrom’s entry on this market is a situation, Nord Stream II and Russian has entered exclusive negotiations with
natural development. We believe that natural aggression are among the topics under ExxonMobil on the 50% participation in
gas plays an essential role in the energy discussion. German Chancellor Angela Neptun Deep offshore block, which the latter
transition of Romania, especially due to the Merkel told reporters that she and Biden is going to sell.
fact that we can access these resources,” says spoke at the G7 meeting in Cornwall, and The exclusivity agreement is valid
Franck Neel, member of the OMV Petrom told Biden that Ukraine must remain a gas for four months, until October 15, 2021,
executive board, responsible for downstream transit partner. according to a note to investors sent by the
gas. “Kuleba’s posturing underscores the Romanian company on June 17.
Natural gas has multiple applications weak position of the Ukrainian government ExxonMobil has invested $750mn in the
in power production, transportation and regarding Nord Stream. At this point, it can Neptun Deep project so far.
industry, and can also contribute to reducing do little more than hope that its interests OMV Petrom is the holder of the other
emissions and strengthening energy security. will be taken into account, as the direct 50% rights and it will become the operator
Furthermore, liquefied natural gas represents interests of the Germans and Americans of the project, according to an agreement
a cleaner solution for the mobility, the OMV will come to the fore. Kuleba’s tweet might reached with Romgaz.
Petrom executive argued. be the strongest action that would not be In 2008, OMV Petrom and ExxonMobil
considered an intrusion by its intended launched a joint venture for the exploration
targets,” an analyst at the Kyiv-based of the Neptun Block in the deepwater sector
Ukraine states its condition Concorde Capital brokerage said in a of the Black Sea. The block covers an area of
approximately 7,500 square kilometres where
research note.
for launching Nord Stream II the depth ranges from 100-1,700 metres.
The gas reserves were estimated at
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba between 40bn and 80bn cubic meters, or

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