Page 17 - EurOil Week 25

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

Total starts buying North Sea crude

FRANCE FRANCE’S Total, Europe’s biggest oil refiner, European energy consumption was “going up
is starting to buy North Sea crude to help meet quite quickly,” after lockdowns were eased, beat-
North Sea crude is now recovering fuel demand, amid constraints ing forecasts.
competitive, as Russian with shipments from its traditional suppliers, The major’s purchase of North Sea crude is
and African supplies Bloomberg reported on June 19. unusual, because besides being a major refiner,
shrink because of The company acquired 12 out of 14 cargoes of the company is also one of the largest equity
OPEC+ cuts. dated Brent oil this month, compared with zero holders of West African crude. It typically
in April and May. Brent is mainly bought by large receives over 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of
traders, rather than directly by refiners. oil from the region for use at its refineries. But
Fuel demand in France and other European supplies have fallen as a result of OPEC+ cuts in
markets is recovering as COVID-19 lockdowns Angola and Nigeria.
are eased. This has helped tighten the oil market At the same time, a drop in Russian Urals sup-
further, at the same time as OPEC+ producers plies has driven up the price of the blend, with it
are scaling back supply. Oil exports from Russia recently trading at a $2-per-barrel premium to
and Nigeria, two key suppliers of the European dated Brent for delivery to Rotterdam, accord-
market, have slumped by 30% and 15% respec- ing to Bloomberg. It is very unusual for Brent to
tively, according to Bloomberg. cost less than Urals because of the latter’s higher
French road fuel demand was only 10-15% sulphur content.
lower in early June than a year earlier, the oil firm “[The] Urals price is strong at present relative
told the agency, compared with 70-85% below at to light-sweet crude because of reduced availa-
the height of the country’s lockdown. bility of medium-source crudes because of the
Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said at a vir- OPEC+ supply cuts,” IHS Markit expert Spencer
tual roundtable discussion on June 17 that Welch commented. ™

Premier to decommission

Balmoral oil hub early

UK UK independent Premier Oil has decided to end programmes, manning and maintenance
production at the Balmoral area in the North requirements,” Premier said, although there is
Premier’s decision is Sea earlier than expected, in light of the oil price still a “significant amount of work” to do. The
the latest in a string collapse. decision means the Balmoral floating produc-
of decommissioning The company told contractors on June 23 tion vessel will move off from its location in the
announcements. it had taken the “difficult decision” to cease second quarter of 2021, four months earlier than
operations at Balmoral and its satellite fields by previously scheduled.
October this year. Premier noted it had already The Balmoral hub also comprises the Stirling,
extended the production life of Balmoral from Brenda and Nicol fields and provides infrastruc-
2017. It had intended to take the field offline in ture for two other deposits operated by Spain’s
2021, meaning the schedule has only changed by Repsol: Beauly and Burghley. The Premier fields
a few months. yielded around 1,500 barrels per day (bpd) of oil
“As a result of the low oil price environment, last year, while Repsol’ pair yielded around the
Premier has decided to bring forward final pro- same amount. The oil is pumped via the Forties
duction from its operated Balmoral area from system.
2021 to October 2020,” the firm said in a state- Premier’s decision is the latest in a string of
ment. Balmoral was “instrumental in enabling decommissioning announcements by North Sea
the company to build and develop its operational operators, as low prices mean some more mature
capability in the UK North Sea,” it said, adding fields are no longer worth keeping open. Premier
that the field had yielded more than 190mn said in March it was closing down the North Sea’s
barrels of oil equivalent (boe) since its launch in Huntington and Kyle fields, while rival EnQuest
1986. said it was taking the Broom, Deveron, Heather
The project will “gradually reduce work and Thistle fields offline. ™

Week 25 25•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17