Page 7 - NorthAmOil Week 50 2020

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The investors in the
Karachaganak gas field
have spent the last five
years in a dispute with
the Kazakh government
over how profits from
production are shared.

US financial firm MSCI upgraded Novatek’s ESG had been at a standstill for about 10 days as of
rating from BBB to A, making it the only Russian December 11 owing to bad weather, according
company to achieve such a high rating. to a source cited by Bloomberg. This comes as
In a move that should make its green creden- unplanned maintenance at other liquefaction
tials even more convincing, the company is also plants around the world has helped eat into
reportedly working with Germany’s Siemens on the global oversupply of LNG, pushing up spot
a plan to produce and use hydrogen at its Yamal prices to their highest level in around two years.
LNG plant. And in longer-term challenges for the indus-
Third and finally for this week, the consor- try, consultancy Wood Mackenzie published a
tium developing the giant Karachaganak field new report last week, showing that a “2-degree
in Kazakhstan has finally paid $1.3bn to settle a scenario” – involving global warming being lim-
long-running dispute with the government over ited to 2 degrees Celsius – would put around 77%
profit-sharing. The agreement paves the way for of new LNG supply at risk.
the project’s investors to push ahead with a $1bn The consultancy said low-cost supplies from
expansion project. Russia and Qatar would be best positioned to
fill the supply gap under this scenario, while low
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Henry Hub prices would also mean competitive
the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please US LNG projects. However, it added that this
click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor . scenario would raise questions over the need for
other new liquefaction projects elsewhere.
GLNG: Certain projects move forward,
while others see disruptions If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Certain LNG projects were reported to be mov- the global LNG sector then please click here for
ing forward in recent days, including a small- NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor .
scale US LNG export terminal proposed for New
Jersey, which cleared another regulatory hurdle LatAmOil: New find offshore Suriname
last week. The Guyana-Suriname basin continues to arouse
The Delaware River Basin Commission interest, following the announcement of another
(DRBC) voted 4-0 to uphold a decision approv- offshore discovery.
ing a key part of the project, which would involve Petronas (Malaysia) and ExxonMobil (US)
building a second dock to load LNG tankers at revealed last week that they had discovered
the proposed Gibbstown Logistics Center. (See: hydrocarbons in Sloanea-1, an exploration well
Another step forward for New Jersey LNG-by- drilled at Block 51 offshore Suriname. In a state-
rail project, page 14) The second dock had been ment, Petronas said the partners had “encoun-
contested by local environmental groups, and tered several hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone
the DBRC had agreed last year to reconsider its packages with good reservoir qualities in the
initial approval of this step, but subsequently Campanian section” of the well.
decided that there was no basis for rescinding Neither company has commented on the size
the approval. of the find, but Petronas stated that the partners’
The plan for the export terminal has also been next step would be to evaluate the data collected
in the spotlight because it involves transporting during drilling. It also commented that the “well
LNG by truck or rail from shale plays in the data proves excellent calibration of the hydrocar-
US Northeast – with the administration of US bon potential of the block.”
President Donald Trump only recently allowing In other news, members of Brazil’s Senate
LNG-by-rail shipments. have voted to approve the basic text of a bill
Elsewhere in the world, there have been dis- designed to enable the further reform of the
ruptions to LNG supply. In Algeria, the port country’s natural gas sector. The legislation
of Arzew, which is home to an LNG complex, has already passed in the lower house of the

Week 50 17•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7