Page 10 - FSUOGM Week 41

FSUOGM NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) FSUOGM

NRG: countervailing forces

Oil prices and energy demand are under pressure on both sides from storms, COVID-19

outbreaks and climate concerns

WELCOME to the latest edition of NewsBase’s fuels.
Roundup Global (NRG), in which our team of These concerns have been evident over the last
international editors provide you with a snap- week, despite indications that Saudi Arabia was
shot of some of the key issues affecting their looking to raise crude output. They could lead to
regional beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s the cancellation of Denmark’s latest offshore licens-
Picks to your inbox every week for free. Just sign ing round, and they have led US-based NextDec-
up here. ade to include a carbon neutrality goal in its plans
World crude oil prices went up last week, as for the Rio Grande LNG terminal.
Hurricane Delta forced the temporary closure of
offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mex- Africa: South Sudan’s plan
ico. However, they began sinking again on Monday, South Sudan’s largest producer, Dar Petroleum
partly because Gulf production was resuming and Operating Co. (DPOC), has seen yields drop to
partly because of the reported restart of Libya’s larg- 115,000 bpd. Petroleum Minister Awow Daniel
est oilfield. Chuang attributed the decline to geological fac-
Likewise, global energy demand has been tors and floods last week and said he hoped that
buffeted by both bearish and bullish forces. On technical solutions would help boost output. He
the one hand, recent increases in the rate of coro- also noted that Juba’s plan to offer exploration
navirus (COVID-19) infections, along with new rights to 14 new fields in its upcoming licensing
lockdowns in a number of countries, indicate round was designed to help boost production.
that oil and gas consumption is not likely to reach Libya, by contrast, is on track to keep pushing
pre-pandemic levels in the immediate future. But crude yields up. Over the weekend, National Oil
on the other hand, renewed economic activity has Corp. (NOC) reported that Sharara, the country’s
pushed consumption up from the lows reported biggest oilfield, was back on stream.
in the spring and does not appear to be headed for Meanwhile, Tullow Oil (UK/Ireland) marked a
another plunge in the near term. milestone in Ghana, saying it had brought the vol-
In the long run, however, climate concerns will ume of oil extracted from the offshore Jubilee field
continue to raise questions about the future of fossil to 300mn barrels.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 41 14•October•2020