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Shell could sell Abadi LNG stake
INDONESIA
ROYAL Dutch Shell would like sell its 35% stake in Indonesia’s Abadi gas eld a er years of delays and disagreements with the Indonesian authori- ties and development partners.
A spokesman for energy regulatory SKK Migas told the Jakarta Post that the reasons for Shell’s decision were low oil prices and corona- virus (COVID-19) caused development delay.
However, SKK Migas operations deputy Julius Wiratno said that Shell and its partner, Japan’s Inpex, should remain committed to their plans.
“ e process goes on. ey cannot just pull out like that. ey have to remain committed to their plans for this year, even if it’s at a limping pace,”hesaid.“ eshowmustgoon.”
Shell and Inpex, which has the remaining 65% stake, aimed to develop the 10.7 trillion cubic foot (303bn cubic metre) Abadi eld in the Masela Block in the southeastern Arafura sea. They also plan to develop LNG export infrastructure.
Julius said the government and companies had already signed deals on the block’s develop- ment plans. e two entities recently agreed to develop the LNG plant on Yamdena Island.
“It’s becoming a wait and see situation and, maybe, there will be a recalculation,” he said.
If the project came online in 2027, according to current plans, it would produce 9.5mn tonnes per year (tpy), considerably raising Indonesia’s LNG export capacity by 2030.
If Shell were to leave, it could put the develop- ment in danger. ere have already been a num- ber of delays over several years, mainly because of disagreements over development plans.
Local media had reported in June that Shell was considering quitting the project because President Joko Widodo wanted to build the LNG facility onshore, rather than use Shell’s oating LNG (FLNG) technology.
Media said in June that Shell wanted $2bn for its stake, although Inpex had previously o ered to buy its partner out for just $400mn.™
RENEWABLES
Southeast Asian majors consider green future
ASIA
TWO of Southeast Asia’s state-owned oil and gas majors have unveiled plans to begin investing in renewable energy as they begin to prepare for a fossil-free future.
PetroVietnam told Reuters on July 8 that it intended to invest in renewable energy projects as it prepares for the country’s hydrocarbon reserves to run dry.
e company wants to develop 100 MW of renewable capacity by 2025 and 900 MW by 2035, with the rst step to be the construction of oating solar panels at some of its hydropower plants (HPPs) and the installation of roo op solar at its coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs). PetroVietnam added that it would then seek investors to help it develop solar facilities, wind farms and waste-to-power plants.
“Fossil fuels are shrinking, and therefore developing renewable energy is inevitable,” the newswire quoted the company as saying in an emailed statement.
Vietnam’s oil production shrank 13.9% year on year in the January-June period to 4.96mn tonnes (199,760 barrels per day), according to
the General Statistics O ce (GSO).
e country aims to more than double its
power generation capacity to 125-130 GW by 2030 from about 54 GW at present, with renew- able energy’s share set to rise from 10% to 20% by the end of the decade.
PetroVietnan’s burgeoning interest in the renewable energy space is shared by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas, which revealed earlier this month that subsidiary Petronas Ventures had agreed to invest in the solar photovoltaic (PV) system start-up SOLS Energy. SOLS sup- plies sustainable energy to residential and small- to-medium enterprise (SME) consumers in Malaysia. Petronas said on July 3 that it expected to complete the transaction before the end of the month.
SOLS CEO Raj Ridvan said: “We believe solar PV system adoption is at an in ection point in Malaysia, and with the government’s regulation on Net Energy Metering and lower equipment cost, we see a huge potential market size in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.”™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 15•July•2020