Page 18 - FSU OGM Week 26

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

OMV Petrom confirms licence

award in Georgia

GEORGIA AUSTRO-ROMANIAN oil and gas group OMV company’s strategy to expand its activities in
Petrom has confirmed winning a tender held by the Black Sea region. “This is another milestone,
Georgia wants to Georgian authorities for the offshore Block II. It after signing a contract to enter the Han Asparuh
replicate the success will receive rights to the 5,282-square km area exploration licence offshore Bulgaria,” Zeilinger
of other Black Sea once a production-sharing agreement has been said.
countries. negotiated. OMV Petrom agreed in December to take a
Giorgi Tatishvili, head of the Georgian Oil 30% stake in the Total-operated Han Asparuh
and Gas Agency, the authority that handles oil block from its parent OMV. The block is adja-
and gas licences in Georgia, said that OMV cent to Romania’s Neptun Deep site, where
Petrom would next need to provide a $1.67mn OMV Petrom and its partner ExxonMobil are
guarantee within 30 days, as well as corporate looking to exploit a 84bn cubic metre (bcm) gas
registration documents. Once these are sub- discovery.
mitted, negotiations will start and will need Georgia produces very little oil and gas, but
to be concluded within six months, Tatishvili it wants to spur offshore exploration for fields
said. in the hope of replicating the successes of other
The official estimated that the project could Black Sea littoral states. The latest tender started
involve up to $30mn of investment. in January and the deadline for bids was April.
OMV Petrom’s upstream director Peter Georgia’s economy ministry announced its result
Zeilinger said the block would be part of the on June 25.™

NEWS IN BRIEF

RUSSIA Earlier in June, the Ministry of Energy in the only LNG project of Gazprom
and the Federal Antimonopoly Service Sakhalin-2.
Rosneft bids for lower (FAS) did not support the demands to co-operate with “existing and new partners”
Kremers said that Shell was ready to
reduce oil transportation tariffs, given
tariffs of pipeline operator Russian oil producers’ temporary lower on LNG in Russia, when asked whether
projects with Novatek independent gas
output due to the OPEC+ deal and the
Transneft need to preserve Transneft’s investment company are being considered.
programme.
Novatek has completed Russia’s largest
The Russian government is considering Although BCS GM does not expect LNG project Yamal LNG and is developing
reducing the oil pipeline transportation tariffs Rosneft’s proposal to be approved, the news the Arctic LNG-2 project. Previously
of pipeline operator Transneft, as requested by is seen as negative for Transneft by the analysts suggested that in the environment
state oil major Rosneft, according to Deputy analysts. Rosneft “is very influential, so the of low prices, the rivalry between LNG and
Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, who supervises threat of some cut to tariffs seems real” and pipeline gas exports between Russian gas
the fuel and energy complex. Transneft “may stay under pressure until producers will increase..
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Rosneft the government’s final decision,” BCS GM
and Transneft are in a bitter dispute over the believes.
compensations for the dirty oil incident at Russian antitrust says
the Druzhba pipeline in 2019, as well as oil
pipeline transportation tariffs. Shell is ready to invest in considers 10-year pumping
Reportedly, Rosneft has been demanding
that tariffs return to their 2008 level, LNG projects in Russia tariff for Gazprom
arguing that the oil price had declined
by 50% and that tariffs have doubled Dutch-British oil major Royal Dutch Shell sees Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service is
since then, i.e., transportation costs of Russia as one of the key regions for liquefied considering a long-term 10-year tariff for
oil producers in relation to revenue have natural gas (LNG) development, TASS reported Gazprom, head of the authority Igor Artemyev
increased 4-fold, BCS Global Markets wrote citing the chairman of the company in Russia, said on June 30.
on June 30. Cedric Kremers. “We are discussing introduction of a
Representatives of Transneft said that the As reported by bne IntelliNews, Shell 10-year tariff for Transneft, Rosseti and
company may lose about 40% of its revenue previously pulled out of the joint Sakhalin even Gazprom, the gas pipeline. Firstly, it
if transportation tariffs are linked to the oil LNG project with state-owned gas giant is important for us that companies had a
price. Gazprom. Shell already controls 27.5% normal income base to form an investment

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 01•July•2020