Page 11 - MEOG Week 18 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Baghdad considering taking

Exxon’s stake in West Qurna-1

IRAQ IRAQI Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said that Chevron would buy Exxon’s share and be the
this week that the country’s Basra Oil Co. (BOC) replacement, but it seems that they didn’t have
could acquire ExxonMobil’s 32.7% stake in the the desire to be the replacement. [The MoO]
West Qurna-1 (WQ-1) oilfield. told us officially, with an official letter, referring
He told reporters that the Ministry of Oil to the contractual text … that ExxonMobil [is
(MoO) was discussing BOC “taking ownership proceeding toward] selling its share to a coa-
of the Exxon stake in West Qurna 1 and leading lition of the two companies, PetroChina and
the project, as happened with Majnoon” when CNOOC.” Hamza-Abbas noted: “We have no
Royal Dutch Shell sold its 20% stake in the south- objection [to] either PetroChina nor CNOOC,
ern field to Japan’s Itochu in 2018, with BOC they are our partners already.” ExxonMobil has
assuming operatorship. Baghdad last month already divested nearly half of its original 60%
approved a budget of $1.15bn for the develop- and is partnered by PetroChina (32.7%), Japan’s
ment of Majnoon over the next three years that Itochu (19.6%), Indonesia’s Pertamina (10%) and
will more than triple oil production to 450,000 state-owned Basra Oil Co (BOC, 5%).
barrels per day (bpd). WQ-1 has capacity to produce 500,000 bpd
The news follows comments a week or so of oil from its remaining combined oil and con-
earlier by BOC’s director-general Khalid Hamza densate reserves of more than 22bn barrels in
Abbas, who said that BOC “or any of the oil min- the northern portion of the broader West Qurna
istry’s companies may” choose to buy the US deposit. The developers are paid a maximum
firm’s stake in WQ-1. Hamza-Abbas was quoted of just $1.9 per barrel of oil produced from the
in comments pertaining to reports that Bagh- asset – less than $1.2 per barrel after deduction
dad was unhappy about ExxonMobil’s choice of taxes – under a 20-year technical services con-
of a Chinese replacement. He said: “We hoped tract (TSC) signed in 2010.™

Delek to make move to London

ISRAEL FOLLOWING years of talks, Israel’s Delek Drill- up to $100mn, with the parties working to final-
ing has formed a new UK-based company to ise the deal by the end of this month.
oversee its oil and gas assets as it seeks to become Delek has a mid-December deadline for
more attractive to international investors ahead divesting the stake in order to comply with a con-
of a planned initial public offering (IPO). troversial antitrust settlement reached in 2015.
Its ownership will be moved to NewMed This allows the company, and now NewMed
Energy and Delek Drilling will cease trading as a Energy, to retain its shareholding in Leviathan.
limited partnership. Current owner Delek Group will continue to
The company’s assets comprise equal 45.33% hold a 54.71% in NewMed according to a press
stakes in Israel’s giant Leviathan gas field, and the release. Meanwhile, as reported previously by
East Med Gas (EMG) pipeline stakes as well as Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG), after the IPO,
30% in Cyprus’ 3.5 trillion cubic foot (10bcm) shares will be dual-listed on the London and Tel-
Aphrodite gas field and the onshore Israeli New Aviv stock exchanges.
Ofek and New Yahel licences. It will also receive Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu said that
royalties from the Karish and Tanin fields, which the move would “increase the exposure of our
were sold to fellow London-listed Energean in high-quality assets to international investors and
2016. allow NewMed Energy to expand its business
The Leviathan partners agreed in January to and reach new markets”.
spend around $235mn to construct the EMG Both Leviathan and Tamar are operated by
pipeline allowing for direct gas exports from the US major Chevron, which acquired stakes of
assets to Egypt. 39.66% and 25%, respectively after it bought
For the time being, it will also take control of previous owner Noble Energy last year.
a 22% stake in the Tamar offshore gas field for Delek and Chevron are joined in the Levia-
which UAE-based Mubadala recently entered than project by local firm Ratio Oil Exploration
into a non-binding memorandum of under- (15%). The other shareholders in Tamar are;
standing (MoU) to acquire for an unconditional Isramco (28.75%), Tamar Petroleum (16.75%),
payment of $1bn and a contingent payment of Dor Gas (4%) and Everest (3.5%).™

Week 18 05•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11