Page 10 - FSUOGM Week 40

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was then combined with nitrogen to create the new strategy calls for a doubling of annual LNG
ammonia. Carbon dioxide from the process was sales over the next decade.
captured and used at a methanol plant in Jubail In Norway, six fields could face closure due
and at an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) pilot to strike action by a union. Some 43 workers
facility in Uthmaniyah. went on strike at the Equinor-operated Johan
The ammonia will be used at a 2-MW gas tur- Sverdrup oilfield on September 30 after wage
bine in Yokohama in Japan, as well as at a 50-kW negotiations between union Lederne and the
micro gas turbine in Koriyama and at a boiler in Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOGA)
Aioi. The waste products from these facilities will failed to make any progress.
be nitrogen and water. Later that day Lederne, which represents
Saudi Arabia is eager to develop ammonia around 1,000 offshore staff, said 126 additional
and hydrogen to serve other economies that are workers would down tools. Those workers are
decarbonising. This will help diversify its exports stationed at Equinor-operated Gudrun, Gina
and make its own economy more resilient. Japan, Krog and Kvitebjorn fields, as well as the Nep-
meanwhile, is looking at hydrogen and ammonia tune Energy-run Gjoa field. These fields, as well
as key solutions for decarbonisation, estimating as the Valemon and Vega fields, are at risk of clo-
that 10% of its power could be generated using sure as a result, NOGA has warned.
30mn tonnes per year (tpy) of blue ammonia. Lastly, Equinor has opened an internal probe
In other news last week, Baker Hughes into the “dramatic” fire that broke out on Sep-
secured an order for multiple main refrigerant tember 28 at its Hammerfest LNG facility on
compressors for the North Field East (NFE) Melkoye Island. No personnel were injured in
project in Qatar, describing the win as one of its the incident, but the plant remains shut down
largest deals in five years. NFE represents the first until further notice. Norway’s Petroleum Safety
stage of an expansion project at the North Field Authority (PSA) and the police are also investi-
that will raise Qatar’s liquefaction capacity by gating the fire.
33mn tpy to 110mn tpy.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East, NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor .
then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.
Nord Stream 2 movement
Total predicts 2030 peak for oil demand The Akademik Cherskiy, a Russian pipelaying
Total has followed BP in predicting a soon- vessel that Gazprom is widely expected to use
er-than-expected peak in oil demand. The to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Ger-
French major expects oil consumption to reach many, is on the move after remaining moored at
its height in 2030, or sooner depending on the the German port of Mukran for months.
pace of decarbonisation efforts. The vessel has moved into open waters in
Total’s forecast is more bullish than that of the Baltic Sea, ship-tracking data from Marine
BP, which recently warned that peak oil demand Traffic and Vesselfinder show, but its current
would occur in a few years, if it has not happened destination is not disclosed. Its current speed
already. But this still marks a significant change is minimal. Fortuna, another Russian-flagged
in the French firm’s thinking. Just a few years ago vessel anticipated to provide Cherskiy with sup-
CEO Patrick Pouyanne saw peak oil demand as port, moved from the German ports of Rostock
merely an eventual possibility. to Wismar on September 29-30, according to the
Faced with a gloomier outlook for oil, Total data.
plans to invest more in renewables and gas, Work on Nord Stream 2, which will carry
which it sees as having far stronger prospects. Its up to 55bn cubic metres per year of Russian gas

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 07•October•2020