Page 9 - AfrOil Week 42

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This will eventually see the country become tonnes per year (tpy) of capacity at the site.
heavily reliant on foreign supplies of the fuel, Grain LNG, situated on the Isle of Grain off
given local opposition to coal-fired power gen- Kent, is able to store and supply enough gas to
eration and the lack of nuclear-powered alter- meet at least 25% of UK gas demand. QP is also a
natives, as it continues to transition towards 67.5% shareholder in another UK LNG terminal
renewable energies. at South Hook.
Relying on foreign supplies of power inevita- QP’s capacity reservation comes as it embarks
bly raises some serious questions about national on a major expansion project at the offshore
energy security, given rising tensions along trade North Field, the source of the country’s LNG.
routes in the South China Sea as well as market The first phase, North Field East (NFE), will raise
volatility that can result in a seesawing of energy output from the current 77mn tpy to 110mn tpy
prices. by 2025, while the second, North Field South
By lifting a moratorium on exploration drill- (NFS), will expand it to 126mn tpy by the late
ing and seismic data acquisition in waters that 2020s. Qatar, already the world’s biggest LNG
both China and the Philippines claim, which producer, has said it may pursue additional QP’s capacity
Manila has dubbed the West Philippine Sea expansion phases at a later stage.
(WPS), Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte A record $65bn of final investment decisions reservation
hopes to kill two birds with one stone. (FIDs) were taken on LNG export projects glob- comes as it
“[Duterte] has approved the recommen- ally last year, but the number still sits at zero for
dation of the Department of Energy [DOE] to 2020, as a result of market uncertainty. Qatar’s embarks on a
lift the suspension of petroleum activities and expansion plans will weigh down on invest-
the resumption of petroleum exploration in ment approvals on other liquefaction for years major project
the WPS,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi told to come.
reporters on October 15. Meanwhile, a report by the Arab Petroleum at the offshore
Cusi said China National Offshore Oil Investment Corp. (APICORP) said that there North Field
Corp. (CNOOC) as well as state-run Philippine were some $95bn petrochemicals projects
National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC) planned in the Middle East and North Africa in
and privately owned Udenna Energy and PXP 2020-2024, up $4bn from its last five-year out-
Energy stood to gain immediately from the ban look a year ago.
being lifted. Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia account for
“We need to explore, so we may address the the bulk of these ventures. Developers will have
country’s energy security,” Cusi said. He added: difficulty delivering on these investments, how-
“The lifting of the moratorium was arrived at in ever, given weak market conditions and a lack of
good faith and with full regard to the ongoing established petrochemical infrastructure in the
negotiations between the Philippines and China, region.
and Forum Ltd and CNOOC.”
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 downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East,
Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.
NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor.
Europe: UK prospects grow bleaker
DMEA: Qatar begins LNG buyers’ push Hydrocarbon production on the UK Conti-
Qatar has embarked on a push to find more buy- nental Shelf (UKCS) is unlikely to exceed 2mn
ers for its LNG, striking a deal last week to secure barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) again,
25 years of storage and redelivery capacity at the Oslo-based Rystad Energy said in research pub-
UK’s Grain LNG terminal starting in mid-2025. lished on October 15, after lowering its forecasts
National gas exporter Qatar Petroleum (QP) to factor in a downgrade at Hurricane Energy’s
said its affiliate would subscribe to up to 7.2mn Lancaster field.

Week 42 21•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9