Page 8 - GLNG Week 49

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a 20-year ethane supply deal. Mexican President through the creation of Energy Development
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has come down Oman (EDO), a new company that will seek to
on the side of the state-owned companies, and tap international debt markets backed by the
some industry observers believe that the gov- country’s largest oil concession, Block 6.
ernment sees recent developments as a means of
forcing Braskem Idesa to sign new contracts that If you’d like to read more about the key events
are more favourable to both Cenagas and Pemex. shaping the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then
In related news, Mexico’s government is on please click here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor .
track to collect about $2.5bn this year as a result
of its annual oil price hedging deal. The 2020 NorthAmOil: Chevron cuts capex
hedge, which expired on November 30, locked Chevron followed rival super-major ExxonMo-
oil prices in at $49 per barrel. This was a fortu- bil in announcing a cut to its capital expenditure
nate move, given the depths to which world budget last week. This comes as both large and
crude prices sank earlier this year. Prices for small producers are looking to 2021 – and beyond
Maya crude, Mexico’s main export grade, sunk – and independents can be expected to follow the
briefly below zero in April and even now are only super-majors’ leads in announcing scaled-back
at around $40 per barrel. spending plans over the coming weeks.
Chevron said on December 3 – three days
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping after ExxonMobil’s capex plans were unveiled
the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click – that its 2021 capital and exploratory spend-
here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor . ing programme would total $14bn. It added
that its longer-term capex guidance over 2022-
MEOG: OPEC+ agreement 25 was $14-16bn. This is down from a previous
The oil market sighed with relief this week when projection of $19-22bn, with Chevron unveil-
it was announced that OPEC and its partners ing 2020 capex guidance of $20bn this time
had agreed a deal to maintain 7.2mn bpd of cuts last year before subsequently scaling back its
until at least the end of January, with monthly plans after the oil and gas industry entered its
meetings to decide increases going forward. latest downturn.
However, the friction between key OPEC The super-major said it would continue to
members Saudi Arabia and the UAE that caused prioritise investments that are “expected to grow
the group to delay their meeting with non-OPEC long-term value and deliver higher returns and
partners has not gone unnoticed. Riyadh had lower carbon”. It added that this would include
been keen to maintain the previous 7.7mn bpd over $300mn worth of investments aimed at
cuts for a further three months in order to max- advancing the energy transition in 2021.
imise market stability and prop up prices, but the Chevron said it expected to increase invest-
UAE said it would only support a continuation of ment in various “advantaged assets” over the
reductions if non-compliers were forced to toe coming years, including the Permian Basin,
the line. While a compromise has been reached, other unconventional plays and the Gulf of Mex-
it is likely to have fallen short of the levels the ico. Some parallels can be drawn between Chev-
UAE would have hoped for with ramping up ron and ExxonMobil here, with the latter also
production, an important element in its efforts saying it would prioritise spending on a handful
to make its Murban crude grade a benchmark of assets, including its operations in the Permian.
for the commodity. But Chevron appears to have more of a focus on
Iraq will play a particularly important role its entire US portfolio, which now includes the
in the success of the latest deal, with the coun- assets it acquired through its merger with Noble
try the most flagrant offender when it comes to Energy earlier this year.
non-compliance. Meanwhile, Total is reported Other announcements of capex cuts, albeit
to have taken steps to sell off a non-core asset on a smaller scale, are set to follow across the US
in the Kurdish north of the country, with the oil and gas industry.
Sarsang block apparently being marketed by
Jefferies. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the
OPEC+ member Oman has concerted efforts North American oil and gas sector then please click here
to reinvigorate the sultanate’s oil and gas industry for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 11•December•2020