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He also said Tellurian would no longer employ here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
memorandums of understanding (MoUs) as a
precursor to more in-depth talks, after the fail- North America: Asset sale and bankruptcy
ure of the company’s MoU with Petronet to lead The shale industry has been prominent in North
to a firm deal. American oil and gas developments in recent
For now, Total remains Driftwood’s only cus- days, with notable news including a reported
tomer, so on top of Papua LNG progress, Souki’s asset sale and a bankruptcy.
comments come as welcome news for the French On November 13, Reuters reported that Den-
company. ver-based Ovintiv was seeking to sell its assets
in the Eagle Ford shale, citing several people
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping familiar with the matter. The company – which
the global LNG sector then please click here for was previously based in Calgary and known as
NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor. Encana – bought its Eagle Ford assets in 2014
from Freeport-McMoRan for $3.1bn. According
Mideast: Attacks and contracts to one of Reuters’ sources, the assets could fetch
ADNOC, the UAE’s national oil company around $600-700mn. The plan to sell the assets
(NOC), announced progress on several initia- is reported to be at an early stage. The US shale
tives last week and also struck deals on new pro- The difference in the assets’ original prices
jects, using the platform of the annual ADIPEC and what they could fetch now illustrates how industry has
event to spread the word of its successes. much more challenging the operating envi- seen a reported
The state-run oil firm continues to supple- ronment is now – when even before this year’s
ment its core business of oil and gas production downturn, shale drillers were already struggling. asset sale and
as it increases activities throughout the value Some are now seeking to boost their perfor-
chain, and this strategy was exemplified by pro- mance and pay down debt, including through a bankruptcy in
gress in the upstream, midstream and services asset sales. Indeed, Ovintiv is estimated to have
sectors. Meanwhile, the company is ramping up debt of $7.1bn that a sale of the Eagle Ford assets recent days
efforts to improve its environmental stewardship could help pay down.
through carbon capture, utilisation and storage Other shale drillers, meanwhile, have found
(CCUS). themselves forced into bankruptcy protection.
In Saudi Arabia, oil facilities at Jazan, which is This has also played out in recent days once again
located near the border with Yemen, came under in recent days, with Gulfport Energy announc-
attack from Houthis. While the attack was ulti- ing that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
mately foiled, it resulted in a fire, although there protection.
were no casualties. Jazan has been an area of The company said on November 14 that it
concern for Saudi Aramco over the past year or had entered into a restructuring support agree-
so, having come under attack previously, while ment, with over 95% of its revolving credit facil-
issues with the refinery and terminal have also ity lenders and certain noteholders. The plan is
posed their own problems. aimed at strengthening Gulfport’s balance sheet,
The news wasn’t all bad in Saudi Arabia “significantly” reducing its funded debt and low-
though, as Aramco is reported to be preparing ering operating costs, it stated.
to kick off work to expand production capacity at The company said that after it completes the
the super-giant offshore Safaniyah field. Tender restructuring process, it will have eliminated
documents have been issued to the company’s roughly $1.25bn in funded debt. Gulfport Ener-
pool of contractors that are signatories of long- gy’s debts came to about $2.5bn as of September
term agreement (LTA) contracts with Aramco, 30, according to a filing with the US Bankruptcy
ahead of an anticipated award in the first quarter Court for the Southern District of Texas.
of 2021.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the North American oil and gas sector then please click
the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 19•November•2020