Page 15 - AsianOil Week 43 2020

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However, efforts by US LNG producers to original production goals. In a report on its
strike new offtake deals are running into obsta- third-quarter performance, the state-owned
cles, not only because of the oversupplied mar- firm said its crude oil, natural gas liquid (NGL)
ket, but also because of environmental concerns. and natural gas output was on track to reach
(See EurOil) The fight, involving a potential 2.84mn barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd),
supply deal that France’s Engie was reportedly with oil accounting for 2.28mn barrels per day
due to strike with the US’ NextDecade before it (bpd) of the total. This is 2.5% above the original
was delayed by political pressure, illustrates the target figure of 2.7mn boepd, including 2.2mn
greater environmental challenges LNG produc- bpd of oil, the NOC noted.
ers may have to contend with in the future. Petrobras also reported that it had extracted
Qatar, meanwhile, has taken another step some 2.952mn boepd of oil, NGLs and gas in
forward by reportedly selected Honeywell as the third quarter of 2020, up by 5.35% on the
the main instrument and control contractor to second-quarter figure of 2.802mn boepd. It
support the North Field East expansion project. attributed the rise to the rapid restoration of
In another illustration of the growing impor- development operations at fields that suspended
tance of environmental issues to the industry, production in response to the coronavirus
state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) has also (COVID-19) pandemic.
sought to talk up the comparative low emis- Venezuela, by contrast, is under considerable
sions-intensity of its expanded LNG operations. pressure. The country has informed OPEC that it
The company is building a carbon capture and produced 397,000 bpd of oil in September. This is
storage (CCS) facility to capture carbon dioxide the lowest monthly figure recorded since 2003 and
(CO2) from its LNG production. is also considerably below this year’s record high of
These developments raise questions about 882,000 bpd in January. Output levels have been
how Australia – where LNG plants are typically trending down since the beginning of the year and
more carbon-intensive than similar facilities in are not likely to recover any time soon.
other parts of the world – will deal with their car- This decline has occurred partly because the
bon footprint in an increasingly environmentally US sanctions regime has prevented state-owned
conscious world. PdVSA from obtaining the parts and equip-
ment needed to repair and maintain its produc-
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping tion and refining facilities. Sanctions have also
the global LNG sector then please click here for impaired Venezuela’s ability to sell its crude on
NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor. world markets, as evidenced by the fact that the
country’s oil inventories have risen by 84% over
A tale of two Latin American producers the last few weeks.
Two South American states are facing very dif-
ferent conditions on the upstream front. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
In Brazil, the national oil company (NOC) the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click
Petrobras has said it expects to surpass its here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor.

Week 43 29•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15