Page 12 - FSUOGM Week 12 2021

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

Tatneft hopes to resume

work in Libya this year

LIBYA NAIL Maganov, the CEO of Tatneft (Russia), these fields, the company suspended its activi-
said last week that his company intended to ties in 2011, pending a resolution of the civil war.
The company obtained resume work at its oilfields in Libya sometime Then in 2014 it attempted to return so that it
rights for fields in Libya this year. could collect seismic data from a 200-square km
in 2006. “We plan to continue the projects in Libya area in Ghadames. It soon departed because of
that were suspended due to force majeure [con- a deterioration in security conditions, however.
ditions] in the country,” Maganov was quoted Over the last few years Tatneft has made
as saying by the Prime news agency. He did not several attempts to resume exploration work in
reveal specific details of these plans, but he did Libya. In late 2019, for example, company geol-
note that the company had already taken steps in ogists reportedly began collecting seismic data
the direction of restarting its operations in Libya. in the Ghadames basin. They apparently did not
Additionally, he stated that Tatneft hoped to make much headway, but Tatneft’s chairman,
finish drilling the wells that it had begun before Rustam Minnikhanov, said in December 2020
civil war broke out in Libya in 2011. that the firm was looking into plans for restarting
Tatneft is based in the Russian internal repub- its exploration programmes.
lic of Tatarstan and is controlled by the repub- Libya has remained on a relatively steady
lican administration. The company obtained a footing since last autumn, when two of the
concession for a field in the Ghadames basin, main factions battling for control of the country
which is believed to contain more than 3.5bn signed a formal ceasefire agreement. Since then,
barrels of oil in recoverable reserves, in 2005. the Government of National Accord (GNA) and
It then signed production-sharing agreements Libyan National Army (LNA) have succeeded
(PSAs) for three more fields in the Ghadames in installing an interim government that will
and Sirte basins in 2006. remain in place until the elections that are sched-
After carrying out some exploration work at uled to take place in December. ™

SOCAR Trading eyes LNG-to-

power projects

AZERBAIJAN AZERBAIJAN’S SOCAR Trading has report- was reported as saying, adding: “We now have
edly formed a team to develop integrated LNG- set up a dedicated team.”
SOCAR has already to-power projects and aims to establish a carbon SOCAR Trading’s next LNG-to-power pro-
been involved in one division this year. ject will be in Sri Lanka. There it is part of the
project in Malta. Owing to their complexity, LNG-to-power Pearl Energy project to develop LNG capabili-
projects are usually carried out by a consortium ties at the country’s Hambantota port. The LNG
of companies and SOCAR hopes to establish would then be transported by road to power
itself as a major player in the sector, Reuters producers with an eventual goal to build a power
reported. plant at the port.
SOCAR has already been involved in The firm is also eying opportunities in sev-
one project in Malta as part of the Electro- eral African countries including Senegal and
Gas Malta consortium that built an onshore Mozambique, Kocharli was also cited as saying,
regasification facility to receive liquefied and would participate in an upcoming tender to
natural gas (LNG) along with a power plant, set up LNG capabilities at the Coega special eco-
completed in 2017. Geneva-based SOCAR nomic zone in South Africa.
Trading took an equity stake and provided Another similar project lined up in Ivory
the LNG for the project. Coast was, according to the news agency report,
“Ever since our first LNG to power project in on hold due to a period of political uncertainty
2017, we had the idea of replicating the LNG- after the death of two government heads.
to-Power concept elsewhere,” Togrul Kocharli, SOCAR traded 4mn tonnes of LNG last year.
chief development officer at SOCAR Trading, It hopes to hit 10mn tonnes by 2025. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 24•March•2021