Page 8 - AsianOil Week 06 2021

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CNOOC Ltd aims to boost

production this year

PERFORMANCE STATE-RUN Chinese offshore developer CNOOC Ltd expects to bring 19 new
CNOOC Ltd has announced plans to boost its projects on line this year, with the company
oil and gas production by 3-5% this year as it highlighting such domestic projects as the
seeks to bring on stream several new fields both Lingshui 17-2 gas field, Lufeng oilfield devel-
at home and abroad. opment and Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield. As for
The listed arm of state-owned China National developments overseas, CNOOC also said it
Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) aims to produce intended to bring on stream the second phase
545-555mn barrels of oil equivalent in 2021, up of the UK’s Buzzard oilfield as well as the Mero
from a projected 528mn boe in 2020, the com- I oilfield in Brazil.
pany said in a February 4 filing to the Hong Kong Since announcing its 2021 development
Stock Exchange (HKEx). plans, the company has already taken a signif-
Around 68% of this year’s production is icant step towards the launch of the Lingshui
expected to come from domestic fields, with the 17-2 deepwater project. The company oversaw
remaining 32% of output deriving from the com- the arrival of 100,000-tonne semi-submersible
pany’s foreign assets. production and storage facility to the field on
CNOOC Ltd intends to spend CNY90-100bn February 7, China’s state-run Xinhua newswire
($13.96-15.51bn) this year in order to meet its has reported.
production target, noting that exploration, The Deep Sea No.1 set off from the coast
development and production would respec- of Shandong Province on January 14 before
tively receive around 17%, 61% and 20% of its arriving at the Lingshui 17-2 field, which lies
total capital expenditure for 2021. The company off Hainan. The deputy general manager of
aims to drill 217 exploration wells this year as CNOOC’s Lingshui 17-2 project, Liu Kong-
well as acquire around 17,000 square km of 3D zhong, told Xinhua that the facility was antici-
seismic data. pated to become operational in June.™

Inpex looks ahead to

2021 after “tough” 2020

PERFORMANCE JAPANESE developer Inpex is pinning its
hopes on a sustained oil price rally this year
after posting its first net loss in more than a
decade last year.
The company, which is the East Asian
country’s largest upstream player, recorded a
JPY111.7bn ($1.07bn) loss in 2020 on the back of
a 34% year-on-year drop in revenue to JPY771bn
($7.36bn). It was the company’s first loss since it Inpex, however, expects Brent to rebound this
was founded through the 2008 merger of Inpex, year to $53 per barrel, paving the way for a return
Teikoku Oil and Inpex Holdings. to profitability. The company anticipates posting a
Managing executive officer Daisuke Yamada JPY100bn ($954.6mn) net profit as well as a 14.5%
blamed last year’s oil price crash for 90% of the com- jump in revenue in 2021 to JPY883bn ($8.43bn)
pany’s lost revenue, noting that the Brent bench- based on its oil price projection. Oil sales volumes,
mark average had slumped 33% y/y to $43.21 per meanwhile, are projected to shrink 4.7% this year,
barrel. He added: “It was a very tough year.” with gas sales predicted to rise by 3%.
Indeed, the company recorded a JPY189.9bn The developer is radically rethinking its
($1.81bn) impairment loss on its oil and gas upstream positioning, following Japanese
assets, including a JPY129bn (1.23bn) write- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s pledge to make
down on its stake in the Prelude floating liq- the country carbon-neutral by 2050. The com-
uefied natural gas (FLNG) project offshore pany has announced its own net-zero goal by
Western Australia. 2050, with an increased focus on renewable and

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 06 11•February•2021