Page 6 - AsianOil Week 26 2022
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PetroChina reportedly weighing
exit from Australia, Canada
INVESTMENT STATE-OWNED PetroChina is reported to be Arrow Energy joint venture and a stake in the
considering exiting its investments in Australia Browse gas project. However, Arrow is now the
and Canada in a bid to divert funds to more prof- company’s largest loss-making overseas invest-
itable opportunities elsewhere. ment, while Browse has run into delays and
This follows a similar shift in focus for another technological challenges and is currently not
Chinese state-owned company, CNOOC Ltd, expected to go online until at least 2030.
which was reported in April to be preparing to The partners in Browse are now exploring a
exit its operations in the US, UK and Canada. downsized plan to use the field to feed the Karra-
This was attributed to concerns that those assets tha gas plant in north-western Australia. How-
could become subject to sanctions. ever, one of Reuters’ sources said the plan did not
In PetroChina’s case, any efforts to offload appeal to PetroChina, as it had no ownership in
assets in Australia and Canada would be follow- the gas plant and also still foresaw considerable
ing an internal review of the company’s global uncertainties ahead for the project.
portfolio that began last year, according to two In Canada, the company’s MacKay River and
sources cited by Reuters. Unlike CNOOC, Pet- Dover projects are located in the oil sands region,
roChina would be more motivated to exit its which has seen a number of international inves-
assets by their poor economics than any concern tors exit in recent years, with Canadian com-
over US sanctions, as it does not have any oil and panies snapping up those assets when they are
gas assets in the US. Nonetheless, the sources put up for sale. According to one of the sources,
said political tensions with Australia and Canada PetroChina is unhappy with the relatively high
were also contributing to the company consider- production cost of $70 per barrel at both of its
ing an exit. oil sands projects, which have also attracted local
In Australia, PetroChina’s assets include the opposition on environmental concerns.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Petronas, Mitsui partner on CCS studies
ENERGY MALAYSIA’S Petronas and Japan’s Mitsui & Co.
TRANSITION have signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) on partnering on studies into carbon
capture and storage (CCS). Under the tentative
deal, the two companies would collaborate on
conceptual and feasibility studies on the CCS
value chain, including the evaluation of carbon
dioxide (CO2) storage sites offshore Peninsular
Malaysia.
The partnership is one of several Petronas “Through this collaboration, Petronas can
has formed with international companies in leverage on Mitsui & Co.’s experience in its CCS
recent months as it seeks to establish Malaysia project in the United Kingdom, which is the
as a regional CCS hub. Since the start of this first CO2 appraisal and storage licence issued
year, the Malaysian company has also partnered by the United Kingdom’s Oil and Gas Authority
with Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX) and [OGA],” stated Petronas’ head of carbon man-
Shell on CCS development. It has also signed an agement, Emry Hisham “We are confident that
MoU with Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) for the joint the feasibility studies will bring about valuable
exploration of opportunities in the transporta- contribution in unlocking CCS potential in
tion of liquefied CO2. Malaysia. This is one of the many efforts to estab-
Petronas said the scope of their collaboration lish Malaysia as a leading CCS solutions hub in
would cover the evaluation of other CCS value the region.”
chain, capturing and gathering strategy of CO2 Like the other partnerships it has struck, this
from various industries, as well as competitive one is at an early stage. It remains to be seen how
transportation of the CO2 and emerging tech- many CCS projects will be advanced by these
nology in direct air capture (DAC). partnerships.
P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 01•July•2022
