Page 15 - NorthAmOil Week 32 2021

NorthAmOil NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) NorthAmOil
NewsBase’s Roundup Global (NRG)
GLOBAL
WELCOME to NewsBase’s Roundup Global (NRG), in which the reader is invited to join our team of international editors, who provide a snapshot of some of the key issues affecting their regional beats. We hope you will like NRG’s new concise format, but by clicking on the headline link for each section the full text will be available as before.
Afroil: NOCK under fire from auditors
The National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) is under fire from the government for its shaky finances, with the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) expressing particular concern about the company’s failure to pay loans from KCB Bank Kenya.
The OAG noted in a report on NOCK’s performance in Fiscal Year 2019/2020 that the state-owned firm had been borrowing far more money than it was capable of repaying.
Asian Oil: Senex enjoys Surat reserves up- grade
Australian independent Senex Energy reported a significant upgrade to its natural gas reserves this week following an independent assessment by Netherland Sewell & Associates (NSAI).
The company said on August 9 that its proven (1P) gas reserves in the Surat Basin had been lifted by 24% to 261 PJ (6.8bn cubic metres) as of June 30, while its proven and probable (2P) reserves had increased by 4% to 767 PJ (19.98 bcm).
DMEA: Money questions and firefighting
In DMEA this week, we look at concerns about Dangote’s debt burden and fire fighting at facili- ties near Iran’s largest oil export terminal.
Questions are starting to be asked about a potential financial crisis at the nearly-complete Dangote Refinery in Nigeria amid allegations that the developer is struggle to cope with ser- vicing a $7bn credit, with debt rising to $8.4bn by 2025.
Meanwhile, state media in Iran reported that a fire had broken out at a petrochemical storage tank on Kharg Island near the Islamic Republic’s largest oil export facility.
EurOil: Labour calls for end date for explo- ration
The head of the UK’s main opposition party has said the country must have a “hard-edged timetable” for ceasing oil and gas exploration. Addressing reporters in Glasgow on August 4, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the policy
would need to be implemented in a way that pro- tected North Sea jobs.
FSUOGM: Russia holds off on pipeline ban
Russia is yet to declare a ban on gasoline exports, despite recent calls from the energy ministry to do so in order to stem record-high wholesale prices for the fuel. The energy ministry con- firmed on July 30 it had filed a proposal for the government to start a procedure for the ban.
GLNG: More interest in SPAs, higher costs
US-based Sempra Energy warned in its sec- ond-quarter conference call that construction costs were rising for greenfield liquefaction projects.
Meanwhile, fellow US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy highlighted the return of long- term LNG contracts in support of the construc- tion of new liquefaction capacity.
LatAmOil: BHP approves Trion capex
Australia’s BHP has approved plans to spend more than $250mn on work at Trion, a deepwa- ter field located off the coast of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
In a statement, BHP said that its board of directors had approved plans to allocate $258mn in capital expenditures at Trion. The funds will be used to move the project into the front- end engineering and design (FEED) phase, it reported.
MEOG: Big results and small qualifiers
Saudi Aramco this week announced its half-year results that were highlighted by a near quadru- pling of Q2 net income compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, with its finances clearly in a healthier state, the company is pressing forward efforts to increase its maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) for oil production by 1mn bar- rels per day (bpd), targeting a 550,000-bpd hike within four years.
NorthAmOil: ExxonMobil weighs net zero pledge
Super-major ExxonMobil is reportedly consid- ering making a pledge to pursue net zero green- house gas (GHG) emissions.
This comes as the company finds itself under growing pressure from investors over its stance on decarbonisation.
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Week 32 12•August•2021 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P15