Page 10 - AfrOil Week 03 2021

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The partners’ next target will be the Bonboni sec- NorthAmOil: Halting Keystone XL
tion of the block. The future of the planned Keystone XL pipeline
appears to have been decided this week. US Pres-
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping ident-elect Joe Biden included plans to cancel the
the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click pipeline’s presidential permit via an executive
here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor. order on the list of immediate priorities pub-
lished on his administration’s transition website
MEOG: Hydrogen, climate on the agenda ahead of his inauguration on January 20.
While concerns about the long-term demand The move is not surprising, given that for-
for oil have slipped from the headlines follow- mer US President Barack Obama, under whom
ing the upside shock of Saudi Arabia’s decision Biden served as vice president, had previously
to cut production for February and March, gov- rejected the pipeline before it was approved by
ernments in the Middle East are taking steps to outgoing President Donald Trump. In addition,
shore up long-term energy strategies that main- Biden is moving swiftly to undo some of the
tain their relevance as other countries reduce Trump administration’s decisions, which “do not
their reliance on oil and gas. serve the US national interest,” according to the
With regional powerhouse Riyadh announc- incoming administration.
ing NEOM’s highly publicised The Line ini- Keystone XL’s developer, TC Energy, was not
tiative, the UAE and Qatar have followed by ready to give up on the project until the end.
making their own statements of intent. Abu Earlier this week, it unveiled a plan for the pipe-
Dhabi unveiled the Abu Dhabi Hydrogen line to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG)
Alliance (ADHA), comprised of state oil firm emissions if it was brought into service, targeted
ADNOC, investment company Mubadala and for 2023. The company said net-zero emissions
holding firm ADQ. This announcement fol- could be achieved by buying renewable energy
lowed the signing of a wide-ranging collabora- from electricity providers and purchasing
tion deal between Japan and the UAE to jointly renewable energy credits or carbon offsets where Keystone XL’s
explore opportunities and uses for fuel ammo- direct access to renewable power is not available. developer, TC
nia and carbon recycling, with Tokyo looking to TC Energy also pledged that additional
source supplies of blue ammonia for use in its renewable sources would be developed along the Energy, was
power sector. pipeline’s route by 2030, phasing out any poten-
The urgency for acting on the climate front tial need for renewable credits or carbon offsets. not ready to
has not escaped Qatar, whose NOC, Qatar Petro- Biden has a long-term goal of putting the US
leum, launched a new sustainability strategy last on the path towards net-zero emissions by 2050, give up on the
week that aims to reduce the emissions intensity and in the immediate term, he will be focused pipeline project
of its operations by 2030. on driving an economic recovery following the
Meanwhile, contracting appears to be resum- coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. until the end
ing in Saudi Arabia as Aramco has issued tender TC Energy had hoped that Keystone XL’s job
documents to its onshore LTA cohort for main- creation potential, combined with these new
tenance and upgrade work at the vital Abqaiq environmental goals, would help to sway Biden
plant, which handles up to 7mn bpd of oil. The in his stance on the pipeline. However, the pro-
news follows the cancellation of tenders for ject has become such a lightning rod for envi-
major expansion work at the Berri and Marjan ronmental protests that TC Energy’s last-ditch
oilfields, as well as slowing start-up at the flag- efforts were not expected to sway the new presi-
ship Jafurah unconventional gas field. dent towards a last-minute reprieve.

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click the North American oil and gas sector then please click
here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor. here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor .™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 03 20•January•2021