Page 7 - DMEA Week 22

DMEA NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) DMEA

NRG: Some forward momentum,

but overall restraint

Despite the relative stability of crude prices in recent days, more news of activity
cutbacks, earnings losses and demand weakness continues to come in, and all eyes

turn to the forthcoming OPEC+ meeting

NRG WELCOME to the fourth edition of NewsBase’s round for marginal fields after a delay of more than
Roundup Global (NRG), in which our team of 10 years. The auctions will cover 57 fields in the
international editors provide you with a snap- onshore, swamp and shallow-water offshore zones,
shot of some of the key issues affecting their and they will be open to both domestic and foreign
regional beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s investors. The DPR hopes to wrap up the bidding
Picks to your inbox every week for free. Just sign process before the end of the year.
up here. In Uganda, Tullow Oil (UK/Ireland) has taken
Crude prices have remained relatively stable another step towards finalising the sale of its stakes
over the past week, with both Brent and West Texas in several blocks near Lake Albert to Total (France).
Intermediate (WTI) staying above $30 per barrel, The company reported last week that China
and Brent even edging closer to $40 per barrel. National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), the other
However, this relative stability comes as a result of shareholder in the blocks, has decided against exer-
extensive cuts to supply, and all eyes will be on this cising its right to buy half of the stakes in question
week’s OPEC+ meeting, where the group will con- on the same terms as Total. This decision clears the
sider extending its cuts into July or August. way for Tullow to concentrate on finalising a bind-
In the meantime, there is still plenty of news of ing tax agreement with Ugandan authorities.
weak demand, earnings losses and various play- In other news, Algeria’s national oil company
ers scaling back activity in response to market (NOC) Sonatrach has become the majority share-
conditions. Some signs of forward momentum holder in the Medgaz pipeline via a transaction that
are emerging, but such steps are being taken with allowed it to acquire 8.0% of equity from Spain’s
caution. CEPSA. Ownership of the pipeline is now divided
between Sonatrach, with 51%, and Naturgy
African countries moving ahead (Spain), with 49%. The parties hope to expand the
Two African countries have taken a step this week system’s capacity by nearly a quarter to 10.2 bcm per
towards launching long-delayed investment year in 2021.
initiatives. Meanwhile, Nigerian National Petroleum
In Nigeria, the Department of Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) is talking about bringing its pro-
Resources (DPR) has launched a new licensing duction costs down to $10 per barrel on average

Week 22 04•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7