Page 16 - AsianOil Week 36

AsianOil NRG AsianOil

licensing policy to ensure it aligns with climate joint European response.”
goals – namely, the UK’s pledge to make its To say that the controversial pipeline project has
economy net-zero in carbon emissions by 2050. suffered more than its fair share of challenges
The British government does still expect oil and over the years is an understatement. However,
gas to play a key role in energy security over the NewsBase does not expect Germany to shift its
coming decades, so it is trying to ensure that the position on Nord Stream 2 when the pipeline
country produces enough fossil fuels to meet is so near completion, especially given the very
future demand, without compromising on its clear benefits it will provide for the German OGA, the UK’s
climate goals. economy.
Over in Norway, state-owned Equinor has In other news, Russia has, as expected, upstream
suffered setbacks at the Johan Castberg oilfield restored nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) regulator, is
in the Barents Sea, one of its largest ongoing of oil supply last month, after OPEC+ cuts were
upstream projects. The company has encoun- eased. It did so as 13 OPEC members brought holding off on
tered problems with the hull of the floating pro- back a further 1mn bpd.
duction, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit that The rise in deliveries has occurred at a further offshore
has been installed at the field. There are issues time when the recovery in global oil demand
with the hull’s welding, and errors have been is stalling. The summer driving season is licensing rounds
found in the analysis programme used to test ending, while the economic fallout from the for a while
fatigue. pandemic continues and some countries are
Corrective work could mean that the project, re-imposing lockdowns. Meanwhile, global
currently due on stream in 2023, falls behind stocks of crude oil and refined products
schedule. remain at a record high.
While efforts by the OPEC+ group have
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping driven the market’s recovery so far, the easing
Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for of cuts now is bad news for other suppliers –
NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor. including Russia.

FSU: Navalny, Novichok, Nord Stream 2 If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
The poisoning of Russian dissident Alexei Nav- the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please
alny has placed Germany in a difficult position. click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor.
For years, the government of German Chan-
cellor Angela Merkel has been a staunch sup- GLNG: Restart troubles in Australia
porter of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But Attempts to restart liquefaction capacity that has
now, after revelations that a Soviet-era nerve been offline in Australia – namely, the second
agent known as Novichok was used in Navalny’s production train at Gorgon LNG and the Prel-
attempted assassination, a number of German ude floating LNG (FLNG) facility – are running
politicians have called on Berlin to withdraw its into obstacles.
support. On September 3, Chevron Australia said it
Some of these calls have come from Merkel’s would require extra time to complete repairs of
own CDU party, including from Norbert Rott- propane heat exchangers on Train 2 at the Gor-
gen, chairman of the parliament’s foreign affairs gon terminal on Barrow Island, off the northwest
committee and party leadership candidate. He coast of Western Australia. Chevron had initially
has said Nord Stream 2 should be halted “as a anticipated completing the repairs and returning

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 36 10•September•2020