Page 17 - EurOil Week 35

EurOil POLICY EurOil

Dutch govt approves more gas storage space

NETHERLANDS THE Netherlands’ economy ministry has per- Groningen’s closure has been ordered by
mitted an increase in the maximum amount of the government because production activities
gas that can be stored at the Bergermeer under- over the years had been found to be causing
ground facility as the country looks to boost its earthquakes.
energy security ahead of the planned closure of Taqa said back in July it “could still market
the giant Groningen field in 2022. some additional storage products before the
The ministry published its decision on winter,” if the ministry approved its request to
August 27, allowing operator Taqa to raise the store more gas at Bergermeer this summer. How-
maximum gas pressure from 133 to 150 bar. This ever, the operator conceded last week that it “will
will enable it to expand gas storage capacity at the not market up to the full capacity.”
site from 4.1bn to 5.3bn cubic metres. The increase in storage “is a theoretical max-
The ministry drafted its consent back in Feb- imum assumption and strongly depends on the
ruary, but stakeholders later raised concerns economic circumstances, possibilities for trans-
about the risk of earthquakes. It dismissed these port through the grid, the market, contractual
concerns last week. conditions and the technical capacity of the
No physical adjustments to the facility are installation,” it said.
needed to expand its storage capacity, and Taqa will In other news, the NAM joint venture
be able to start increasing volumes before winter. between ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell that
Gas storage utilisation is at an historic high in operates Groningen said last week it had opted to
Europe, owing to the impact of the coronavirus restart gas extraction at the Pernis field. Pernis is
(COVID-19) pandemic on demand and higher among several hundred small-sized fields in the
global LNG output, among other factors. In the Dutch North Sea, and is expected to yield 300mn
longer term, added storage space will help the cubic metres of gas over the next few years, NAM
Netherlands ensure stable gas supply once Gro- said on August 28. The group noted that the field
ningen is decommissioned next year. had never caused tremors. ™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES

Hellenic profits halve in Q2

on weak fuel demand

GREECE GREECE’S top oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum efforts focused mainly on managing this crisis
on August 28 posted a 52% decline in core prof- and adjusting our business model to the new
Hellenic blamed the its for the second quarter as the coronavirus reality. Results are positive, as we safely main-
steep fall in passenger (COVID-19) pandemic weakened its margins tained high levels of operation, uninterrupted
traffic at Greek airports. and reduced fuel demand. supply for all markets while taking advantage
The state-owned company’s EBITDA, of commercial opportunities with positive
adjusted for oil inventories, came in at €63mn contribution.”
($74.3mn) for the three months ending June Hellenic was able to use its ample storage
30, down from €130mn a year earlier. Hellen- space to stockpile unsold fuel. This meant its
ic’s first-quarter results were in contrast much output was unaffected by the slump in demand,
stronger, with the refiner registering a 3% year- remaining stable y/y at 3.7mn tonnes (298,000
on-year increase in core income thanks to higher barrels per day).
production rates. However, Hellenic said it would gradually
Hellenic explained that travel restrictions put shut down its 148,000 bpd Aspropyrgos refinery
in place to prevent the coronavirus’ (COVID-19) for maintenance from August 28. The checks and
spread had led to a substantial fall in passenger repairs, expected to cost €130mn, will take nine
traffic at Greek airports. This caused jet fuel weeks to complete. The work will further reduce
demand to collapse. the refinery’s particulate emissions by 50%, Hel-
The company also blamed OPEC+ cuts for lenic said.
driving up the cost of crude oil and reducing its Its other refineries are situated in Elefsina and
margins. Thessaloniki.
“We faced unprecedented conditions dur- Hellenic is due to sell its 35% stake in state
ing Q2 2020, affecting mainly oil products gas distributor DEPA Infrastructure as part of
markets, as mobility restrictions and air traffic Greek privatisation plans. It said on August 27
drop led to significantly lower demand,” CEO that shortlisted investors had until January to
Andreas Shiamishis said. “As expected, our submit binding offers for the asset.™

Week 35 03•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17