Page 21 - MEOG Week 01 2021

MEOG NRG MEOG

Venezuelan workforce,” she explained. “Hall- drilling programme in the prolific West Karoun
iburton remains committed to maintaining a oil cluster.
presence in Venezuela.”
She was speaking shortly after Reuters If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
reported that three little-known companies the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click
based in the UAE – Asia Charm, Issa Shipping here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
and Muhit Maritime – had begun handling
Venezuelan crude in the second half of 2020. NorthAmOil: Shale consolidation continues
The news agency noted in late December that Consolidation of the US shale industry con-
the firms in question had taken control of about tinued over the 2020-21 festive season, with
half a dozen tankers previously used to ship Ven- Diamondback Energy announcing on Decem-
ezuelan oil and fuels and then renamed them ber 21 that it had struck a deal to acquire QEP
before resuming shipments from the South Resources. The all-stock transaction was valued
American state. at around $2.2bn, including QEP’s net debt,
A spokesman for the US State Department which stood at $1.6bn as of September 30, 2020.
responded to questions from Reuters by saying Diamondback is a pure play Permian
that Washington was “closely tracking these Basin-focused company, and the primary attrac-
kinds of creative efforts by companies to avoid tion of the deal is considered to be QEP’s assets in
sanctions.” Meanwhile, authorities in the UAE the region’s Midland sub-basin. QEP’s Williston
say they have already launched “a thorough and Basin in North Dakota will be considered non-
comprehensive investigation” into the matter. core and will be used to generate cash flow or There is still
sold off, depending on market conditions, the some uncertainty
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping companies said. The merger is anticipated to
the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click close in the first or second quarter of 2021. about whether
here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor. Separately, Diamondback announced on
the same day that it had agreed to acquire all Erbil will provide
MEOG: Iraqi budget, Iranian exploration leasehold interests and related assets of Guidon
The holiday period was dominated by the news Operating in exchange for 10.63mn shares of its SOMO with the
that Iraq’s government has passed a budget common stock and $375mn in cash. That deal is required volumes
for 2021, despite issues relating to Kurdish oil due to close by the end of February.
exports remaining unresolved. Meanwhile, Iran Together, the QEP and Guidon deals will of crude oil
has once again tasked domestic oil firms with bring Diamondback’s total leasehold interests
ramping up production, with a new raft of deals to over 276,000 net surface acres (1,117 square
handed out to local companies. km) in the Midland Basin. Across both the Dela-
While Baghdad has given the green light ware and Midland basins the company will have
to this year’s $103bn budget, there is still some around 429,000 net acres (1,736 square km).
uncertainty about whether or not Erbil will The Diamondback deals follows several
provide the State Oil Marketing Organization other shale-focused mergers and acquisitions
(SOMO) with the required 250,000 barrels per (M&As) that were unveiled in the second half
day (bpd) of crude stipulated in that budget. of 2020 as operators increasingly saw consoli-
Some sources are suggesting this may not hap- dation as a means to navigate a market experi-
pen, though KRG officials have said they are encing unprecedented challenges. Indeed, in
ready to begin deliveries. an update on a separate deal, shareholders of
With Iraqi finances on the edge of collapse, Devon Energy and WPX Energy approved the
the central bank has also devalued the dinar proposed merger between those two companies
against the US dollar, thereby ensuring dinar on December 30, with that transaction set to
revenues from dollar-denominated crude are close on January 7.
maximised. Other pending deals that are due to close in
In Iran, the state oil firm NIOC has awarded the first quarter of 2021 include Pioneer Nat-
$1.2bn worth of deals through subsidiaries for ural Resources’ acquisition of Parsley Energy
work at on- and offshore fields with the aim of and ConocoPhillips’ move to take over Concho
ramping up oil production. The award follows Resources.
the nearly $1.8bn of contracts awarded to 14
local companies in August for the same pur- If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
pose. Meanwhile, the country has continued the North American oil and gas sector then please click
to emphasise drilling by completing a major here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™

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