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decision (FID) on the development of fields near Lake Albert until next year at the earliest. As a result, construction work on a planned refinery with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) is not expected to begin before 2025.
In Zimbabwe, Australia’s Invictus Energy is moving closer to striking a deal for the explo- ration and development of a block known as Special Grant 4571. The company said earlier this week that it had secured approval for its environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the environmental management plan (EMP). It also stated, though, that it had not yet completed negotiations on a production-sharing agreement (PSA).
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Africa’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s AfrOil Monitor.
Asia: Indonesia seeks Chevron replacement
Indonesia is hunting to replace Chevron in the Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD), after the US super-major revealed earlier this year that it had sidelined the natural gas project.
The Indonesian Energy Ministry said last week that it had asked Italian major Eni to replace Chevron in the offshore project, which lies in the Makassar Strait. Chevron owns 62% of the development, while Eni owns a 20% inter- est and China’s state-run Sinopec holds an 18% stake.
The US developer revealed in January that it was looking to sell its stake in IDD, after deter- mining that it could not compete with other upstream projects in its portfolio.
The project involves the Bangka, Gendalo and Gehem fields. Bangka began production in August 2016, while a second phase of the project that would see a $6.98bn development of Gen- dalo and Gehem has failed to get off the drawing board.
The ministry’s acting oil and gas direc- tor-general, Ego Syahrial, said on August 5 that Chevron’s exit from IDD was connected to the expiry of its licence for the onshore Rokan Block in 2021. Pertamina is lined up to take over the oilfield’s operatorship next year.
“What’s clear is the government’s aim is to ensure this project runs by 2027,” said Ego. This start date represents a substantial delay from the original target date of 2024.
“Essentially, Chevron has more attractive opportunities elsewhere, and the project will need a new operator before it can progress,” Wood Mackenzie upstream analyst Andrew Harwood told The Jakarta Post on August 6.
Indonesia’s problems with attracting foreign upstream investors are well documented and even prompted the government to unveil new plans in December 2019 to allow developers to pick between the gross split scheme that was introduced in 2017 and the pre-existing cost-re- covery PSCs. The new regulation was approved on July 15.
Whether the government is able to convince Eni to take on Chevron’s stake in IDD in the current climate is uncertain. Harwood said the Italian major “could find synergies with its exist- ing Jangkrik development in the Muara Bakau PSC”.
However, Chevron identified late last year that gas prices were likely to stay lower for longer, prompting its upstream portfolio review in the first place. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has only served to distort the global supply and demand imbalance further, with the global economy in recession and no clear indica- tion of when events will improve.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor.
DMEA: Crisis in Lebanon
Lebanon has reached out to dozens of countries for financial and humanitarian support, follow- ing an explosion last week that flattened much of Beirut’s port and the surrounding area. Lebanese officials say the blast, which has caused up to $15bn of damage, occurred at a warehouse stor- ing thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate. It has left at least 158 people dead, 6,000 injured and some 300,000 homeless.
Lebanon is already deep in economic cri- sis, caused by years of stagnation, government
Week 32 14•August•2020 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P5