Page 8 - NorthAmOil Week 46

NorthAmOil NRG NorthAmOil

Latin America: Brazil launches Marlim sale issues with the refinery and terminal have also
In Brazil, the national oil company (NOC) Petro- posed their own problems.
bras has launched the teaser stage for its planned The news wasn’t all bad in Saudi Arabia,
sale of the Marlim cluster, a group of deepwater though, as Aramco is reported to be preparing
oil and gas fields in the Campos basin. The four to kick off work to expand production capacity at
fields within the group are currently producing the super-giant offshore Safaniyah field. Tender
about 217,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil documents have been issued to the company’s
and more than 3.6mn cubic metres per day of pool of contractors that are signatories of long-
gas, according to a company statement. term agreement (LTA) contracts with Aramco,
The NOC said last week that it intended to ahead of an anticipated award in the first quarter
stay on as operator of the licence area but was of 2021.
looking to unload half of its 100% stake. Mean-
while, Houston-based Welligence Energy If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Analytics described Marlim as “the biggest the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click
acquisition opportunity” in the region and spec- here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor .
ulated that the sale might draw bids from major
international oil companies (IOCs). North America: Asset sale and bankruptcy
Meanwhile, Suriname’s NOC Staatsolie is The shale industry has been prominent in North
gearing up to offer eight shallow-water offshore American oil and gas developments in recent
blocks to foreign investors. The company said days, with notable news including a reported
last week that it was on track to launch a new bid- asset sale and a bankruptcy. Suriname’s
ding round on November 16. The winners of the On November 13, Reuters reported that Den-
auctions will be able to negotiate contracts that ver-based Ovintiv was seeking to sell its assets in NOC Staatsolie
provide for the collection of new 3D seismic data the Eagle Ford shale, citing several people famil-
from the blocks in the first phase of exploration. iar with the matter. (See: Ovintiv reportedly puts is gearing up
In Mexico, US-based Sempra Energy and Eagle Ford assets up for sale, page 15) to offer eight
its local subsidiary IEnova have announced a The company – which was previously based
final investment decision (FID) on the Energía in Calgary and known as Encana – bought its shallow-water
Costa Azul (ECA) project, which envisions the Eagle Ford assets in 2014 from Freeport-Mc-
establishment of an LNG export terminal in MoRan for $3.1bn. According to one of Reuters’ offshore blocks to
Baja California. They took this step after Mex- sources, the assets could fetch around $600-
ican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador 700mn. The plan to sell the assets is reported to foreign investors.
pledged to issue the last permit needed to reach be at an early stage.
the FID stage, provided that ECA commits to The difference in the assets’ original prices
helping the national power provider CFE dis- and what they could fetch now illustrates how
pose of excess gas supplies. much more challenging the current operating
environment is – when even before this year’s
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping downturn shale drillers were already struggling.
the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click Some are now seeking to boost their perfor-
here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor . mance and pay down debt, including through
asset sales. Indeed, Ovintiv is estimated to have
Mideast: Attacks and contracts debt of $7.1bn that a sale of the Eagle Ford assets
ADNOC, the UAE’s national oil company could help pay down.
(NOC), announced progress on several initia- Other shale drillers, meanwhile, have found
tives last week and also struck deals on new pro- themselves forced into bankruptcy protection.
jects, using the platform of the annual ADIPEC This has also played out once again in recent
event to spread word of its successes. days, with Gulfport Energy announcing that it
The state-run oil firm continues to supple- had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
ment its core business of oil and gas production (See: Gulfport files for bankruptcy protection, page
as it increases activities throughout the value 16)
chain, and this strategy was exemplified by pro- The company said on November 14 that it
gress in the upstream, midstream and services had entered into a restructuring support agree-
sectors. Meanwhile, the company is ramping up ment with over 95% of its revolving credit facil-
efforts to improve its environmental stewardship ity lenders and certain noteholders. The plan is
through carbon capture, utilisation and storage aimed at strengthening Gulfport’s balance sheet,
(CCUS). “significantly” reducing its funded debt and low-
In Saudi Arabia, oil facilities at Jazan, which is ering operating costs, it stated.
located near the border with Yemen, came under The company said that after it completes the
attack from Houthis. While the attack was ulti- restructuring process, it will have eliminated
mately foiled, it resulted in a fire, although there roughly $1.25bn in funded debt. Gulfport Ener-
were no casualties. Jazan has been an area of gy’s debts came to about $2.5bn as of September
concern for Saudi Aramco over the past year or 30, according to a filing with the US Bankruptcy
so, having come under attack previously, while Court for the Southern District of Texas.™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 19•November•2020