Page 11 - NorthAmOil Week 08 2023
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NorthAmOil POLICY NorthAmOil
OPEC+ to stick with current deal to end of 2023
GLOBAL OPEC+ will stick with the deal agreed in Octo- forecast following China’s relaxation of COVID-
ber until the end of the year, according to the 19 restrictions.
group’s de-facto head, Saudi Arabian Energy Prince Abdulaziz said: “No matter what
Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud. trends you are looking at, if you follow the
In an interview with Energy Aspects, he cautious approach, not only would you see the
said that he remained cautious about Chinese beginning of a positive trend to emerge but you
demand forecasts and the producer group would need to make sure that these positive signals of
not raise output based solely on initial signals. this market can be sustained.”
“The agreement that we struck in October is He added: “The Chinese economy’s unlock-
here to stay for the rest of the year, period,” he ing and because of that you will have demand
said. and what have you, but we all went through
The October deal saw OPEC reduce its allo- cycles of openings and lockdowns and therefore
cated production level from 26.7mn barrels per what assurances (would we have) and the world
day by a ‘voluntary adjustment’ of 1.27mn bpd have that none of what we went through, all of us,
to 25.4mn bpd, while its non-OPEC partners every country, will not be repeated?”
cut production by just over 700,000 bpd. Saudi Meanwhile, he said that the US’ decision to
Arabia and Russia each made a voluntary cut of release oil from its strategic petroleum reserves
526,000 bpd, though in reality, Russian produc- (SPR) last year was the fault of the Paris-based
tion had already been hampered by a shrinking International Energy Agency (IEA), which fore-
market for its crude following Western restric- cast that Russian oil production would drop
tions on purchases. by 3mn bpd. “The IEA was responsible for it
While Russia announced last week that it because of the screaming and scaring that they
would reduce oil production by 500,000 bpd, had done on how much Russia will lose in terms
OPEC this week increased its global demand of its production,” he said.
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Williams, Chevron to partner on
shale, deepwater gas deals
US MIDSTREAM company Williams has part- pivots to other sources of gas. The US govern-
nered with super-major Chevron to aid in the ment has forecast an 11% increase in LNG
development of the Haynesville shale play and exports in 2023.
in production from the deepwater US Gulf of The Haynesville is the third-highest shale gas
Mexico. production region in the country, with antici-
“We are proud to take another step in advanc- pated average daily output of 16.6 bcf (470 mcm)
ing the output potential of two of the most pro- in March 2023.
lific production areas in North America,” said Williams will also use existing infrastructure
Williams’ president and CEO, Alan Armstrong. in the Gulf to support increased production
As part of the broader Louisiana Energy from Chevron’s Blind Faith platform, which has
Gateway project, Williams will assist Chevron a peak capacity of producing 75,000 barrels per
in the development of the Haynesville near the day (bpd) of crude. Williams will provide off-
Texas-Louisiana border. Chevron owns around shore gas-gathering and gas and oil transporta-
26,000 acres (105 square km) in the Haynesville. tion services as well as onshore gas processing.
Chevron agreed to a long-term capacity com- Blind Faith is located 160 miles (257 km)
mitment on Williams’ Louisiana Energy Gate- south-east of New Orleans. It is Chevron’s deep-
way, for which Williams took a final investment est platform anywhere globally.
decision (FID) in June 2022. The project will Chevron is currently developing Blind Faith’s
gather 1.8bn cubic feet (51.0mn cubic metres) Ballymore tieback, in which it owns a 60% stake.
per day of gas from the Haynesville. Ballymore includes three production wells tied
This would be sold to industrial markets via back to Blind Faith via one flowline. The project
the Transco natural gas pipeline system, as well is designed to produce 75,000 bpd of oil.
as to LNG markets on the Gulf Coast. About 15% of the US’ total oil and gas pro-
Demand for US LNG is increasing, especially duction comes from the country’s territorial
in the wake of the war in Ukraine as Europe waters in the Gulf.
Week 08 23•February•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
