Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 34
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                         involved in vote-fixing, bribes and other illegal  concerns about announcements made by the
                         acts. Meanwhile, Loyoza himself is also facing  Turkish President, the find is transformational
                         corruption charges.                  for a country which is reliant on imports for
                           In Brazil, prosecutors have accused two peo-  nearly all of its energy needs.
                         ple of obtaining confidential market information   As Saudi Aramco contends with a massively
                         from state-run Petrobras to benefit Denmark’s  reduced capital budget, the company is reported
                         AP Moller-Maersk, a major player in the global  to have cancelled its tender for maintenance
                         shipping industry. In a statement, judicial offi-  work at the giant offshore Marjan oilfield. Citing
                         cials alleged that Viggo Andersen, a former  sources close to the company’s long-term agree-
                         Maersk executive who was based in Brazil,  ment (LTA) programme, Upstream said that the
                         had taken part in a scheme to bribe a Petrobras  contract release purchase order 66 (CRPO-66)
                         executive through an intermediary. The scheme  engineering, procurement and construction
                         caused Petrobras to incur at least $31.7mn in  (EPC) project had been called off.
                         losses, the statement said.
                           In Peru, disagreements between the govern-  If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
                         ment and indigenous communities continue to   the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click
                         have an impact on oil-producing areas in Loreto   here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
                         Province. Lima is moving forward with its inves-
                         tigation of a deadly clash between policemen and  North America: Gulf Coast braces for storms
                         indigenous protesters at the Bretana oilfield ear-  Offshore oil and gas producers in the US Gulf of
                         lier this month. The probe appears to be making  Mexico – as well as refiners on the coast – were
                         enough progress that the demonstrators are will-  suspending operations over the weekend as two
                         ing to let PeruPetro, the national oil and gas reg-  storms in the region threatened to cause disrup-
                         ulator, resume shipments through the Northern  tions. While Tropical Storm Marco appeared to
                         Oil Pipeline (ONP). For its part, PetroTal (Can-  be weakening as of August 24, computer models
                         ada), the operator of Bretana, hopes to resume  were predicting that Tropical Storm Laura would
                         production before the end of the month.  turn into a hurricane as it approached the Gulf
                           Meanwhile, Argentina’s Energy Secretary  Coast, posing a serious threat to parts of Louisi-
                         Sergio Lanziani has stepped down from his  ana and Texas.
                         post at the request of Production Minister Mat-  The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental
                         ias Kulfas. Dario Martinez, a legislator from  Enforcement (BSEE), the offshore regulator, esti-
                         the hydrocarbon-rich Neuquen Province, has  mated that roughly 82.4% of the Gulf’s oil pro-
                         been named as Lanziani’s replacement. His first  duction had been shut in as of August 24, as well
                         task will be to address the harsh impact that the  as 56.9% of the region’s gas output.
                         coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had on   Companies that had shut in production
                         Argentina’s oil and gas industry.    and evacuated platforms included BP, Chev-
                                                              ron, Royal Dutch Shell and Norway’s Equinor.
                         If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping   Onshore, meanwhile, Motiva Enterprises and
                         the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click   Valero Energy were among those to shut some of
                         here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor.  their refining operations. Bloomberg estimated
                                                              on August 24 that potentially 1mn barrels per
                         Middle East: Deals, discoveries, budget cuts  day (bpd) of refining capacity was in the process
                         Deals were signed last week between the Iraqi  of being shut in.
                         government and five US energy companies   The disruption comes just as US producers
                         that focus on oil production, gas capture and  were getting back on their feet after the severe
                         electricity generation. The news comes as Iraq’s  industry downturn earlier this year. Data from
                         power sector continues to struggle particularly  oilfield services provider Baker Hughes showed
                         amid record high temperatures, while Bagh-  that the total active oil and gas rig count in the US
                         dad remains reliant on neighbouring Iran for  rose in the week up to August 21 for the first time
                         gas and electricity. Iraq has said it will reduce  since early March. The oil rig count increased by
                         imports from Iran, but this will depend greatly  11 on the previous week, while the gas rig count
                         on the progress made in capturing gas and grid  fell by one. The Permian Basin accounted for the
                         connectivity.                        majority of the increase.
                           Meanwhile, Turkey this week announced its
                         largest ever find at the Tuna-1 well. The discov-  If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
                         ery has been estimated at 320bn cubic metres   the North American oil and gas sector then please click
                         and renamed Sakarya. While there are the usual   here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.



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