Page 18 - Euroil Week 19 2020

EurOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
EurOil
Spanish Q1 crude oil imports fall to six-year low
Spanish crude oil imports fell 11.7% in the first three months of 2020 from the same period in the previous year, national oil and gas agency CORES said on May 8, as movement restrictions to stop the new coronavirus spreading sapped demand for fuel, according to Reuters.
Spain imported 5.063mn tonnes of crude oil in March, 10.6% less than in the same month last year, CORES said.
The quantity imported in the first quarter was the lowest for that period of the year since 2014, CORES said.
Bosnia extends bids deadline in oil and gas tender
The government of Bosnia’s Federation said it is extending the deadline in the tender for awarding a concession contract for oil and gas exploration and production into the fourth quarter of 2020 due to continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Under the decision, the entity’s energy ministry has been tasked with setting a
new date by which interested bidders could submit their offers, the government said in a statement last week.
The energy ministry should announce the new deadline at least two months prior to its expiry.
The ministry published the tender in January, inviting interested parties to submit their bids by May 27 deadline. It said the the winner would be announced a month later.
In the tender, investors are offered the opportunity to search for hydrocarbon deposits in three blocks in the Pannonian basin (BiHPo1, BiHPo2 and BiHTz) and one block in the Dinaric Alps (BiHD1), which spread on an overall area of 5,115 square kilometres.
The bids’ evaluation will be based on
the quantity and quality of the proposed exploratory work/programme of work that will best serve the main objective, which is to understand and realise the potential of the Federation’s hydrocarbon resources, the entity’s energy ministry said in January.
The bids will also be ranked according to financial criteria, including the proposed royalty, signature bonus, production bonuses and area rentals. Bidders will have the right to access the existing geological data in order to prepare their offers.
The winner will have up to 6 years to carry out exploration works, a further 5
years for appraisal and up to 25 years for production, with an option to extend the production period.
In February 2019, the Federation hired London-based IHS Global to provide consultancy services on the oil and gas concession project. In October, IHS Global organised several events promoting the planned tender to interested investors in London, in Bosnia’s Sarajevo, as well as at the 7th Balkans Petroleum meeting held in Montenegro’s Budva. The London event was attended by 22 representatives of interested companies.
In September 2015, Shell Exploration Company exited an earlier initiative to conduct geological and geophysical research to determine the oil and gas prospects of the Federation. After Shell’s withdrawal, several international companies, including France’s Total, Australia’s Key Petroleum and UK’s Spectrum showed interest in the project, according to earlier media reports.
The Federation is one of two autonomous entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.
OMVPetrominvests€1.3mn
in PV panels at filling
stations
Romania’s top oil and gas group OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP] said on May 13 that it has invested €1.3mn ($1.41 million) in installing photovoltaic (PV) panels in 40 filling stations in the country.
“Our plan is to increase the number of filling stations equipped with photovoltaic panels to 78 by the end of the year,”
OMV Petrom executive board member responsible for downstream oil, Radu Caprau, said, as quoted in a company statement.
By installing photovoltaic panels, more than 10% of the electricity needs of the filling stations is supplied from solar energy, the statement added.
They produce more than 30,000 kWh of green energy per year in each filling station, which is the equivalent to an annual average consumption of eight households per year. Thanks to the energy produced by the photovoltaic panels,
each filling station will contribute to the reduction of the carbon footprint by 8.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to the statement.
Last year, measures taken by the company generated a reduction by 22% of the carbon emissions compared to 2010.
OMV Petrom targets 27% reduction by 2025.
OMV Petrom is the largest energy company in Southeast Europe, with an annual group hydrocarbon production of 55.4mn boe in 2019 and a refining capacity of 4.5mn tonnes annually. The group is present on the oil products retail market
in Romania and neighboring countries through 800 filling stations, at the end of March 2020, under two brands – OMV and Petrom.
Austria-based OMV Aktiengesellschaft holds a 51.011% stake in OMV Petrom. The Romanian state, through the energy minister, owns 20.639% of OMV Petrom, Fondul Proprietatea holds 9.998%, and 18.352% is the free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
OMV Petrom’s shares were trading 7.67% lower to 0.3370 lei ($0.08/ 0.07 euro) on Wednesday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as at 1140 CET..
EC approves Romanian energystateaid
The European Commission said that it has approved Romania’s plan to partially compensate energy-intensive companies from indirect emission costs.
The scheme will cover the 2019-2020 period, with a provisional budget of approximately 1.397bn lei ($315mn), the Commission said in a press release on May 11.
Companies will be compensated for higher electricity prices generated by indirect emission costs under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
The measure will benefit companies active in Romania in sectors that face significant electricity costs and are particularly exposed to international competition, the Commission said.
The compensation will be granted to
the eligible companies, by partially reimbursing the indirect costs generated by the ETS.
Also, the scheme will help avoid
an increase in global greenhouse gas emissions caused by the relocation of companies to non-EU countries with less stringent environmental regulations.
In April, the Commission approved a 16bn lei Romanian scheme to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Week 19 14•May•2020