Page 8 - FSUOGM Week 34 2022

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

Source: Aker.

has been effectively barred from directly selling imports into the EU in June of this year, its
crude and refined petroleum products to the EU intent was to reduce the volume of oil and
since June 1, when Brussels adopted a general fuel coming into the bloc from Russian terri-
ban on imports of Russian oil and fuel. tory. Once again, it is not at all clear whether
Additionally, it has come under sanction that intent should be extended to an (argua-
from various industry associations such as the bly) independent subsidiary of Lukoil that is
Oil Companies International Marine Forum (indubitably) operating outside Russian terri-
(OCIMF). That group announced in mid-March tory and will (almost certainly) never extract a
of this year that it was suspending Lukoil’s par- single barrel of oil inside Russia.
ticipation in the Ship Inspection Report (SIRE)
programme, a global inspection reporting Heading for court?
system. This disagreement between Aker and Lukoil is
new, so there is no way to tell yet how it will
Degrees of vulnerability play out. However, it would not be surprising
Even so, the trade restrictions may not techni- if the Russian company pursued arbitration or
cally apply to the Pecan project. some sort of legal remedy rather than bowing
Lukoil is, like many other vertically integrated out (for the appropriate price) so as to save its
international oil companies (IOCs), not a single Norwegian partner the bother of dealing with a
entity but an umbrella organisation with many difference of opinion.
subsidiaries that have varying degrees of inde- Lukoil has already made clear that it is will-
pendence from their parent company. It has been ing to criticise Aker for its willingness to bring
working through one such subsidiary, Lukoil Ghana National Petroleum Corp. (GNPC) on
Overseas Ghana Tano Ltd, to uphold its respon- board as a partner in the Pecan project, and it is
sibilities as a shareholder in the Pecan project. now equally willing to argue about sanctions. As
It is not at all clear whether that subsidiary is such, the matter may eventually end up in court
vulnerable. In its list of Russian entities subject – or, more accurately, before an arbitration panel.
to Ukraine-related sanctions, the US Treasury Currently, the Russian major has a 38% stake
Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in Deepwater Tano/Cape Three Points (DWT/
(OFAC) does not list any Lukoil subsidiaries. It CTP), the offshore Ghanaian block that includes
only lists Lukoil’s parent company, along with the Pecan oilfield. The remaining equity in the
the address of the umbrella organisation’s head- project is split between Aker Energy, the oper-
quarters in Moscow. OFAC does not identify ator, with 50%; state-owned Ghana National
any Lukoil subsidiaries as subject to sanctions, Petroleum Corp. (GNPC), with 10%, and Fuel-
and its materials do not include any text or refer- trade (Ghana), with 2%.
ences that might clarify whether the restrictions Pecan is believed to contain 450-550mn
are or ever were meant to apply to the company’s barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in recoverable
subsidiaries. reserves. Aker Energy Ghana has said previ-
As for the EU sanctions regime, Aker is not ously that it intends to develop the oilfield on a
likely to find clarity easily there either. When stand-alone basis, without focusing on hydro-
Brussels imposed a ban (with some limits) carbon reserves in other sections of the DWP/
on Russian crude oil and petroleum product CTP block. ™

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