Page 15 - FSUOGM Week 30 2022

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

Rosneft starts drilling

at Vostok Oil

RUSSIA RUSSIA’S state oil company Rosneft has kicked 545 residential modules to the project site, it said.
off production drilling at the Payakhskoye oil- Vostok Oil, operated by state-owned Rosneft,
The launch of drilling field in the Russian Arctic – the largest deposit comprises several large-sized oilfields in Russia’s
comes despite the exit in the Vostok Oil megaproject. far north that hold a combined 6bn tonnes (44bn
of Trafigura from the Development drilling is taking place at five barrels) of oil and substantial gas reserves. Ros-
project. well pads at the field, and will be completed using neft says this is enough to support 2mn barrels
Russian-made rigs, Rosneft said. With lifting per day (bpd) of oil production eventually, and as
capacities of 400 tonnes, these rigs are capable much as 50mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG. The
of drilling wells up to 6,000 metres in length, primary target market for these supplies is Asia.
the company said, noting it planned to deploy There are questions about whether Rosneft
100 such rigs during the course of Vostok Oil’s has the financial resources and technical capa-
development. bilities to see the project through, in light of
Rosneft also said it had started building an oil Western sanctions and the departure of many
terminal at the port of Sever Bay, where Vostok international financiers, contractors and equip-
Oil’s production will be shipped to market, as ment suppliers from the Russian oil sector.
well as cargo berths for ships. Oil from the pro- Global commodity trader Trafigura revealed
ject will reach Vostok Oil via a 770-km pipeline. in mid-July it had sold its 10% stake in Vostok
Initially the terminal will handle 30mn tonnes Oil which it had acquired in December 2022,
per year (600,000 bpd) of crude, rising to 2mn after committing to leave Russia after Moscow
bpd by 2030. The company has also delivered began its invasion of Ukraine. ™

NEWS IN BRIEF

Elixir Energy announces H2 project envision delivering hydrogen curtailed from 67mn cubic metres per day
at the beginning of the week towards an
by pipeline to customers in China - a far
MoU with SB Energy to cheaper delivery mechanism than seaborne announced target of 33 mcm per day after
hydrogen,” Elixir noted.
Gazprom shut down one of the remaining
progress Gobi H2 green hydrogen project, Elixir has a mature two turbines in operation due to excessive
Aside from the underdeveloped green
hours.
hydrogen project in gas project (in the form of methane) in escalate. Gas prices have returned to levels
“The European gas crisis continues to
Southern Mongolia, which the company
Mongolia plans to progress side-by-side with the Gobi only seen in March as Nord Stream flows
dwindle, while the outlook for winter looks
H2 project. “Indeed, we find that there are
Elixir Energy has signed a memorandum of material synergies between the two projects bleak for European consumers,” BCS GM
understanding (MoU) with SB Energy Corp in areas such as local Government and said in a note.
(SBE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's community relationship management, water The much-discussed repaired turbine
SoftBank Group Corp, to progress the Gobi exploration,” Elixir said. recently sanctioned and then released by
H2 green hydrogen project, according to Water exploration may become a Canada is still in Germany, and will not
Elixir’s 2Q22 activities report. contentious topic in the future, as Mongolia reach the Portovaya pumping station for at
Elixir said the MoU was a significant lacks substantial water sources, particularly least several days. Gazprom reduced flows
affirmation of the strategic reasoning in the south. In the past, mining companies of gas to Europe by 60% in mid-June when
underlying Southern Mongolia's advantages have frequently clashed with local herders the compressor unit was sent to Canada and
as a future green hydrogen export hub. over water resources. not returned due to sanctions. Since then
The company's goal in working with Canada has changed its mind and the EU
SBE was to eventually jointly develop a ruled the return of the unit does not break
gigawatt-class green hydrogen production European gas exceeds sanctions.
project in Mongolia, it added. Elixir said it However, Gazprom in another statement
saw China's shift toward green hydrogen as $2,200/1,000 cubic metres said that problems remain with the
an opportunity, and Mongolia as an optimal documents and that the compressor has not
location to meet China's future energy for the first time since been returned to Russia. Russian Foreign
needs. Minister Sergei Lavrov said during his
“ Our view is that China views energy March current tour of Africa that Russia had not
sources derived from Mongolia - coal received clear explanations regarding the
and crude oil at present - and if our plans Dutch TTF hub gas prices rose to €202/ status of Siemens turbines for the Nord
are successful, methane and hydrogen in MWh, or c$2,200 per 1,000 cubic metres, Stream gas pipeline.
the future - as coming from a very secure on July 26, reports Kommersant, as flows The delays are widely seen as politically
location. The longer term plans for the Gobi from Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline were motivated to put pressure on the EU into

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