Page 9 - AfrOil Week 24

AfrOil PoliCy AfrOil
NOC’s military challenges
libya
LIByA’S National Oil Corp. (NOC) has largely managed to sustain production, despite the Lib- yan National Army’s (LNA) advances on Tripoli. Signs of strain, though, are showing. In May, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported, production was 1.16 million bpd, level with the previous month and up from 1.07 million bpd in March.
NOC complained on June 13 of military forces occupying the Ras Lanuf terminal. It also noted that shelling had caused a re at its airport warehouse, near LPG tanks, on June 16.
Occupation of the terminal potentially makes it a military objective, NOC said, and could require the company withdraw its personnel from the port. Such a decision would be based on a risk assessment. e facility can export around 250,000 bpd.
Major General Abdullah Nur al-Din al-Hamali, commanding around 80 military personnel, entered the port on June 5. ey have commandeered a building in the terminal and are using it for military purposes. They have also taken a number of dormitories, allocated to Harouge Oil Operations (HOO), a NOC
subsidiary, and attempted to refuel a warship. “NOC works on behalf of all Libyans,” said NOC chairman Eng. Mustafa Sanalla. “We can- not accept a situation where any party to the cur-
rent con ict misuses oil facilities.”
Shelling in Tripoli, on June 15, triggered the
re near the LPG tanks. e ames were brought under control by re ghters from Brega Petroleum Marketing Co. (BPMC). NOC and BPMC called for forces to withdraw from the area, in order to avoid damaging the tanks. “We reiterate our call for an immediate cease re to ongoing hostilities and an end to the blatant targeting and militari- sation of oil sector facilities,” Sanalla commented.
Dealing with the strain of military forces around its operations comes on top of the every- day challenges facing the company. On June 9, for instance, NOC reported high temperatures had disrupted an electricity generator, taking around 30,000 bpd of production o ine at the Sarir oil eld.
is is Libya’s largest eld, with 4.8 billion barrels of reserves. Production is around 155,000 bpd but repairs at another area should allow it to add 60,000 bpd.™
PRojECts & ComPaniEs
Tullow’s Ghanaian payments stack up
gHana
TULLOW Oil has set out its tax payments to governments, with Ghana taking the top spot. Payments to the West African state, home of the company’s Jubilee and TEN developments, reached US$129.95 million last year, from US$63.4 million in 2017.
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon also chalked up significant amounts, with payments of US$46.4 million and US$46.1 million respec- tively. Payments to Malabo declined from the previous year, from US$48.4 million, while Gab- onese payments increased from US$30 million.
Production entitlements for tax calculations are based on the company’s 2018 average prices, which were reported at US$68.5 per barrel. is is up from US$58.3 per barrel in 2017 and US$61.4 per barrel in 2016.
Volumes going to Ghana in 2018 reached 1.1 million barrels, in line with the 1.06 million bar- rels in 2017 and up from the 603,000 barrels in 2016. is converted to US$75.7 million, mak- ing up the largest share of Tullow’s payments to Ghana. Another US$52 million was paid in income tax – against zero income tax in 2016. Of the production entitlements, 550,000 barrels came from Jubilee and 555,000 barrels from TEN.
The TEN development, which covers the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) fields,
started up in August 2016 but output was con- strained, owing to a maritime territorial dispute between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Once this was resolved – in Ghana’s favour – production increased. In the rst quarter, production from Jubilee reached 28,400 barrels per day for Tullow, with 30,100 bpd from TEN.
In Equatorial Guinea, Tullow provided 137,000 bpd from Ceiba and 351,000 barrels from Okume, accounting for US$33.4 million of tax. Another US$12.98 million came as income tax.
For Gabon, payments are made on a royalty basis, with the main contributor to Tullow’s tax coming from Tchatamba Marin, at US$10.8 million. e company also made a US$8 million bonus payment to Gabon.™
140 120 100
80 60 40 20
0
Equatorial Guinea
2016
Ghana 2017 2018
Gabon
Payments to governments
Week 24 18•June•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9
US$ million