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Damietta LNG should start back up in the Lastly, Poland’s PKN Orlen has unveiled
first quarter of 2021, Eni has said. Egypt now has plans to invest some PLN140bn (€31.4bn) over
excess gas supply, thanks to the launch of the off- the next decade, shifting its focus from its core
shore Zohr field in 2017. oil refining business to petrochemicals and clean
energies.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping The state-owned company followed in the
the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East, footsteps of a number of others in the Euro-
then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor. pean oil industry with a pledge in September to
become emissions-neutral by 2050. Its commit-
EurOil: Denmark’s upstream deadline ment contrasts with that of Poland, the only EU
Denmark will end all new oil and gas exploration state which has not promised to bring its emis-
in North Sea under an agreement between Par- sions to zero by 2050.
liament and the government, as part of a broader
plan to phase out fossil fuel production by 2050. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
The country’s existing oil and gas platforms, Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
stationed at 20 fields, will be allowed to continue NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor .
extracting fossil fuels. But no new licensing
rounds will be held under the agreement. This FSU: Rosneft’s tax breaks
includes a round that was kicked off last year and The budget and tax committee of the State
attracted bids from France’s Total, Sweden’s Lun- Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, has
din Petroleum, Hungary’s MOL and the UK’s approved an amendment that exempts projects
Ardent Oil. on the Taymyr Peninsula from having to pay
Many in Danish politics have argued that duty on oil exports. The main beneficiary of this
continued oil and gas exploration is incompat- amendment is Rosneft’s Vostok Oil megapro-
ible with the country’s climate goals, which are ject, consisting of a cluster of oilfields on Taymyr
among the most ambitious in the world. How- estimated to hold 6bn tonnes (44bn barrels) in
ever, Denmark may also find itself increasingly proven, probable and possible oil reserves. The
dependent on oil and gas imports as a result of company has projected that the fields could yield
dwindling domestic supply. some 2mn barrels per day (bpd) at full capacity.
Further north, Norway’s Equinor reported a Rosneft is betting big on Vostok Oil, recently
second fire at one of its facilities in December 2 announcing it would sell a number of its mar-
in little more than two months. ginal assets in order to fund the $100bn venture.
The fire broke out during the afternoon of These assets are mostly located in southern
December 2 at Equinor’s coastal methanol plant Russia.
in Tjeldbergodden, with no injuries sustained. Analysts have praised Rosneft’s decision to
The state oil firm said it was investigating the sell off some assets to support growth, saying
causes and consequences of the incident, as is it marks a shift in the focus of its management
Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA). from acquisition to optimisation.
The Tjeldbergodden plant is the largest Meanwhile, Russia has suffered another set-
facility of its kind in Europe, accounting for a back in its long-running legal dispute with share-
quarter of the continent’s methanol production. holders of the defunct Russian oil giant Yukos.
The incident comes as another investigation is The Netherlands’ top court ruled on December 4
proceeding relating to a fire that broke out at that shareholders could continue pursuing their
Equinor’s Hammerfest LNG terminal in late claims against Russia worth $50bn.
September. The PSA has said it founded “serious The Permanent Court of Arbitration of The
breaches” of regulations at the facility. Hague in 2014 concluded that the Kremlin had

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 10•December•2020