Page 15 - MEOG Week 46

MEOG NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) MEOG

NRG: Fading optimism

After a brief rally on positive news about a COVID-19 vaccine, oil prices are losing
steam in the face of predictions that demand is not headed for a recovery yet

COMMENTARY WELCOME to the latest edition of NewsBase’s where Nigeria has altered its target date for passage
Roundup Global (NRG), in which our team of of a new oil law and BP has scaled back its expan-
international editors provide you with a snap- sion plans in the offshore Mauritania/Senegal
shot of some of the key issues affecting their basin. In Europe, the UK is set to see oil and gas
regional beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s drilling fall to the lowest levels seen in more than 40
Picks to your inbox every week for free. Just sign years. In the Middle East, Saudi oil facilities located
up here. near the border with Yemen came under attack. In
World oil markets performed well last week, on North America, the shale sector is weathering news
the back of reports that a vaccine for the novel coro- of a bankruptcy and an asset sale.
navirus, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, There has been some good news, though. Oil
might be approved before the end of the year. India Ltd (OIL) has extinguished a long-burning
However, the rally appears to have lost steam fire at the Baghjan field, and ConocoPhillips has
already, owing to widespread expectations that reported a new discovery offshore Norway. Several
global energy demand will remain sluggish in the LNG projects have continued to move forward,
near term. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and Brazil is gearing up to unload a major upstream
took that stance in a report published November asset.
12, saying that rising infection rates in Europe
and the US were acting as a damper on oil and Africa: West Africa in focus
gas demand. The agency also stated that it did not The Nigerian government has been pushing
believe COVID-19 vaccines would give a signifi- the National Assembly to pass the long-delayed
cant boost to demand “until well into next year.” Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before year-end,
Other signs of slowdown were seen in Africa, but it has pushed its deadline back to next March.

Week 46 18•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15