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decision (FID) on the development of fields near “What’s clear is the government’s aim is to
Lake Albert until next year at the earliest. As a ensure this project runs by 2027,” said Ego. This
result, construction work on a planned refinery start date represents a substantial delay from the
with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) is original target date of 2024.
not expected to begin before 2025. “Essentially, Chevron has more attractive
In Zimbabwe, Australia’s Invictus Energy is opportunities elsewhere, and the project will
moving closer to striking a deal for the explo- need a new operator before it can progress,”
ration and development of a block known as Wood Mackenzie upstream analyst Andrew
Special Grant 4571. The company said earlier Harwood told The Jakarta Post on August 6.
this week that it had secured approval for its Indonesia’s problems with attracting foreign
environmental impact assessment (EIA) and upstream investors are well documented and
the environmental management plan (EMP). It even prompted the government to unveil new
also stated, though, that it had not yet completed plans in December 2019 to allow developers
negotiations on a production-sharing agreement to pick between the gross split scheme that was
(PSA). introduced in 2017 and the pre-existing cost-re-
covery PSCs. The new regulation was approved
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping on July 15.
Africa’s oil and gas sector then please click here for Whether the government is able to convince
NewsBase’s AfrOil Monitor . Eni to take on Chevron’s stake in IDD in the
current climate is uncertain. Harwood said the
Asia: Indonesia seeks Chevron replacement Italian major “could find synergies with its exist-
Indonesia is hunting to replace Chevron in the ing Jangkrik development in the Muara Bakau
Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD), after PSC”.
the US super-major revealed earlier this year that However, Chevron identified late last year
it had sidelined the natural gas project. that gas prices were likely to stay lower for
The Indonesian Energy Ministry said last longer, prompting its upstream portfolio review
week that it had asked Italian major Eni to in the first place. The coronavirus (COVID-19)
replace Chevron in the offshore project, which pandemic has only served to distort the global
lies in the Makassar Strait. Chevron owns 62% supply and demand imbalance further, with the
of the development, while Eni owns a 20% inter- global economy in recession and no clear indica-
est and China’s state-run Sinopec holds an 18% tion of when events will improve.
stake.
The US developer revealed in January that it If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
was looking to sell its stake in IDD, after deter- Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
mining that it could not compete with other NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor .
upstream projects in its portfolio.
The project involves the Bangka, Gendalo DMEA: Crisis in Lebanon
and Gehem fields. Bangka began production in Lebanon has reached out to dozens of countries
August 2016, while a second phase of the project for financial and humanitarian support, follow-
that would see a $6.98bn development of Gen- ing an explosion last week that flattened much of
dalo and Gehem has failed to get off the drawing Beirut’s port and the surrounding area. Lebanese
board. officials say the blast, which has caused up to
The ministry’s acting oil and gas direc- $15bn of damage, occurred at a warehouse stor-
tor-general, Ego Syahrial, said on August 5 that ing thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
Chevron’s exit from IDD was connected to the It has left at least 158 people dead, 6,000 injured
expiry of its licence for the onshore Rokan Block and some 300,000 homeless.
in 2021. Pertamina is lined up to take over the Lebanon is already deep in economic cri-
oilfield’s operatorship next year. sis, caused by years of stagnation, government

Week 32 12•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11