Page 18 - EurOil Week 22

EurOil NEWS IN BRIEF EurOil

COSL, Equinor strike new financial officer (CFO). Romania to launch
Grimsrud will leave the engineering
framework deal firm on September 1 2020 to pursue other auction for 22 onshore oil
opportunities, Aker Solutions said June 2.
COSL Drilling Europe has signed a master Aker Solutions appointed Grimsrud as perimeters in June
framework agreement with Equinor on the CFO in August 2019. He replaced Svein
Norwegian Continental Shelf, that fully Oskar Stoknes, who is took over as CFO of Romania will launch by announcing in
enables it to provide additional drilling units Aker ASA. the European Union’s Official Journal
and services to the oil major. Grimsrud joined Aker Solutions in 2012 and Wall Street Journal the auction for 22
CDE said that the agreement would as vice president, Finance for the subsea onshore oil perimeters, ten years after the
strengthen the cooperation between business. previous similar operation.
the companies and facilitate long-term He has held several senior management Romanian authorities were reportedly
collaboration at all levels. positions in the company since, including hesitant about launching the auction
The company added that the parties senior vice president, Group treasury, now or waiting, given the effects of the
would commit to working on technology controlling and mergers & acquisitions. coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and
development as well as operational He previously held various positions oil prices, which had fallen dramatically
enhancements with initiatives to limit within finance, strategy and operations in and many investments in the sector
greenhouse gas emissions from drilling the Norwegian industrial groups Elkem and were diminished or even stopped. But as
operations. Norske Skog. prices bottomed out and the concession
According to the offshore driller, the Aker Solutions has initiated the process contracts will most likely be signed early
agreement also lays out a framework for the of finding his successor and Grimsrud next year, therefore investors can include
delivery of integrated services. will continue in his current role during these projects in the budgets for 2021 and
Frank Tollefsen, CEO of COSL Drilling his notice period, or until a successor is in beyond. The authorities reportedly decided
Europe, said: “Equinor is still our most place. to capitalise on “the market relaunch”.
important customer. We have very effective As for the offshore perimeters (6
rigs with a technology that can help Equinor shallow-water perimeters), the auction
reach its recently announced goal of an Bosnia’s G-Petrol plans to will be postponed, most likely for three
“emission-free” Norwegian Continental to four months. A separate auction will
Shelf. lease four filling stations be organised, after the legal provisions
“One of our rigs that Equinor uses, has are amended (especially the law on
been rated their best rig multiple times for 15 years offshore safety) among others in order to
the last five years. With this agreement, avoid overlapping responsibilities of two
we can now fully compete for Equinor Bosnian motor fuel retailer Gazprom institutions: Mineral Resources Agency
contract awards on the same terms as our Petrol (G-Petrol) plans to lease four filling (ANRM) and the Offshore Petroleum
competitors. I am very pleased with that”. stations in southern Bosnia for 15 years, Regulatory Authority (ACROPO). The
It has been over four years since the country’s competition authority said. amendments are expected to also create
Equinor terminated rig contracts with The Sarajevo-based company submitted better prospects for the oil companies..
COSL. Namely, Equinor, then Statoil, in a request for approval of the planned lease
March 2016 terminated a contract for the on May 27, the Council of Competition
COSLInnovator semi-sub following a fatal said in a statement last week. Gazprom NGV Europe
accident onboard the rig in December 2015. The planned lease will have an impact
Following the termination, COSL on the retail market for motor fuels Optimizes Its CNG Station
in December 2016 took Equinor to in Bosnia; therefore, the competition
court, claiming that the termination was watchdog is inviting all concerned parties Network in Czech Republic
unlawful. COSL believed it was entitled to operating on the relevant market, or
compensation for the termination. markets, on which the concentration could An optimization of the existing station
In January this year, COSL and Equinor have an impact, to submit their objections network started with moving two
reached an agreement related to the and opinions within eight days from the underutilized stations to higher demand
termination. As part of the agreement, announcement of the request. centers with more cost synergies. Therefore,
Equinor paid $188mn to COSL Offshore Gazprom Petrol currently operates 27 since May the CNG stations in Hodonín and
Management. filling stations across Bosnia, according Pelhřimov have been closed and at the same
At the time, the companies disclosed that to company data. According to earlier time, the CNG stations in Kolín and Opava
they would enter into a new master frame media reports, some 1,100 filling stations have been upgraded with more capacity and
agreement which was now signed. operated in Bosnia at the beginning of additional refilling spots, in order to serve
2020. increasing bus and truck customer demand.
The company is part of Serbian oil Furthermore, NGVE plans to open two
Aker Solutions CEO leaves and gas group Naftna Industrija Srbije new CNG stations in the Czech Republic
(NIS), which is 56.15%-owned by Russia’s
by the end of the year; and for next year, a
Norway’s Aker Solutions has said that Ole Gazprom. . further expansion of the station network is
Martin Grimsrud will resign as its chief planned.

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 22 04•June•2020