Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 38 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Gazprom marks anniversary of ESP launch
RUSSIA
More than 12.7 bcm of gas has been sold on the platform since its launch.
RUSSIA’S Gazprom has marked the first anni- versary of its electronic sales platform (ESP), aimed at generating extra gas sales in Europe.
More than 12.7bn cubic metres of gas has been sold at the platform since its launch, Gaz- prom’s export arm said in a statement on Sep- tember 20. This is equivalent to more than 6% of the company’s annual gas exports to Europe of around 200 bcm.
Some 62 companies have registered to use ESP, where they can bid for gas to be sent to 10 delivery points, Gazprom Export said. Deals at the platform can be denominated in several currencies, including the ruble. ESP also offers a wide range of delivery options, from day-ahead to quarter-ahead shipments.
“During the first year of its operation, the electronic sales platform has proven to be an effective addition to our supplies under long- term contracts,” Gazprom Export’s director-gen- eral Elena Burmistrova said in a statement. “This instrument reduces intra-day and seasonal vola- tility on the physical gas markets.”
Burmistrova added Gazprom was looking to expand the geographical area covered by the platform, and enhance delivery terms further.
Gazprom has used ESP to fill any spare export pipeline capacity it has, while also securing buy- ers reluctant to enter into long-term supply con- tracts with the Russian gas giant. The platform saw peak sales in the summer, when companies bought extra supplies to build up their gas stock- piles for winter.
Gazprom’s previous, email-based system for auctioning gas supplies was far less effective, with sales totalling just 2 bcm in 2015 and 2016 – the only two years it was active.
Since its launch, ESP has transformed from a simple to a complex sales platform. Initially Gazprom offered customers delivery only in the next month or the month after that. But it later launched day-ahead and balance-of-month sales, and this year provided new delivery points at the Dutch TTF hub as well as at interconnec- tion points in the Czech Republic and Hungary.
In March, Gazprom Neft hailed the symbolic launch of ruble-priced sales, and the following month, began publishing its ESPGazEx index, which provides the average price of all gas sold on the platform each month. Sales volumes at ESP totalled 1.54 bcm in August, down from 2.79 bcm in September.™
Lukoil enters oil, gas research pact with KMG
KAZAKHSTAN
Lukoil already has extensive operations in Kazakhstan.
RUSSIA’S Lukoil and Kazakh national oil com- pany (NOC) KazMunayGas (KMG) have struck a deal on joint research of oil and gas resources in Kazakhstan.
Under an accord signed on September 20, the pair have agreed to co-operate in evaluating Kazakhstan’s oil and gas potential. Neither com- pany disclosed details of the specific exploration sites they have in mind, however.
Lukoil already has extensive operations in Kazakhstan. It is partnered with KMG at the Karachaganak, Kumkol and Tengiz oil and gas projects in the country’s west, and the pair are also preparing to develop two blocks in the Caspian Sea, known as IP-2 and Zhenis. Lukoil penned an exploration and production contract for Zhenis in April, committing to shoot a 3D seismic campaign and drill at least one well. It struck a similar deal for I-P-2 in June.
Lukoil and KMG have additional partner- ships at the offshore Khvalynskoye and Tsen- tralnoye fields straddling the boundary between
Russia and Kazakhstan’s offshore zones. Kazakh oil production has been rising since the launch of the giant Kashagan field in the Caspian in late 2016, touching an all-time high of 1.81mn barrels per day (bpd) last year. But authorities are eager to find new oil and gas fields that can replace older projects reaching
maturity.
As part of this effort, the government has
introduced a new subsoil code and reformed its tax legislation to attract more foreign investment. Lukoil cited these improvements in Kazakhstan’s business climate when it first revealed plans to explore Zhenis and I-P-2.
In related news, Lukoil also cut the ribbon on September 20 on a new lubricants plant in Kazakhstan’s Almaty region, capable of turn- ing out up to 100,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of lubricants. According to the Russian major, the facility’s location will help it distribute supplies domestically as well as to other markets in Cen- tral Asia. ™
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