Page 14 - Euroil Week 33 2019

EurOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
EurOil
Norway publishes July output
Norway produced 1.799mn barrels per day of oil, NGL and condensate in July, up 402,000 barrels compared with June, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).
Total gas sales were 9.5bn cubic metres, which is an increase of 0.1bcm from the previous month. Average daily liquids production in July was: 1.447mn barrels of oil, 326,000 barrels of NGL and 25,000 barrels of condensate. Oil production in July is 2% higher than the NPD’s forecast, and 2.8% below the forecast so far this year.
August 16 2019
Ukraine seeks to recover
$3bn from Gazprom by late
2020
Ukraine’s natural gas monopoly Na ogaz says it will recover around $3bn from Russia’s Gazprom by late 2020, following the recent victory in the Stockholm arbitration.
Earlier, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce ordered Gazprom to pay $4.63bn to Na ogaz for the failure to meet gas transit obligations. However, since the court previously ordered Na ogaz to pay Gazprom for gas supply arrears in January, Gazprom’s net payment a er two arbitration decisions was $2.56bn.
“My forecast: by the end of 2020, we will recover the entire amount, that is, about
$3bn [$2.6bn plus interest]. We will begin recovery in the middle of 2020 and nish by the end of 2020,” Na ogaz’s executive director Yuriy Vitrenko said.in an interview with
the Ekonomichna Pravda online outlet on Aihgust 15.
Due to the unwillingness to comply with the arbitration awards, Gazprom’s debt owed to Na ogaz is increasing by almost $200mn per year in the form of accrued interest, acording to news agency Interfax.
Na ogaz had seized Gazprom’s assets
in the UK and the Netherlands, as well
as restrictive measures introduced in Luxembourg and Switzerland. e company is currently seeking separate court decisions to obtain permits for the sale of the assets that have been seized, Vitreno added.
bne IntelliNews Pro, August 16 2019
UK junior acquires onshore gas field
e UK’s Angus Energy has bought a 51% operating stake in the onshore Salt eetby gas
eld in Lincolnshire, the company reported on August 19. e deal, pending regulatory approval, will see Angus enter a new business. e rm currently focuses on oil production.
Angus did not pay anything for the stake, but will assume Salt eetby’s decommissioning costs, estimated at £1.75mn. “ is amount, taken together with a site remediation estimate of £0.75mn, brings the total potential gross liability to £2.5mn as was originally expected,” it said.
August 19 2019
Providence extends Apex loan backstop
Ireland-focused Providence Resources has still no received a $9mn loan from its Chinese partner Apec to fund exploration work, and has opted to extended the backstop until August 26, it said on a statement on August 20.
e pair work together at exploration licence 1/11 o the coast of Ireland, which contains the Barryroe oil accumulation, with Providence serving as operator.
e company said it had also agreed payment of a contractual mobilisation fee for a vessel to conduct a site survey of the seabed at Barryroe. It will only proceed with the survey if the funds are received from Apec, however.
Providence has repeatedly extended the backstop for the Apec loan, with delays attributed to bank processing di culties.
August 20 2019
LNG carrier owner Flex suffers widened losses
Oslo-listed LNG carrier owner Flex LNG reported a widened loss in the second quarter as a result of low gas prices.
e company booked a net loss of $3.9mn in the three months ending June 30, compared with $2.9mn in the same period last year, it said on August 20.
Flex CEO Oystein Kalleklev said the rst half had been “a cold shower” for the LNG industry, with only end consumers bene ting from lower gas prices.
“Excess gas supply has predominantly been absorbed by European consumers, cutting sailing distances and thus a ecting shipping demand and rates,” he said.
e company’s time charter equivalent rate for the second quarter averaged $46,266/ day, compared with $42,644 in the previous three months. Vessel operating revenues fell to $19mn, down from $7mn a year earlier, but adjusted pre-tax earnings (Ebitda) rose to $11.3mn from $3mn.
Flex LNG said it saw positive market trends moving forward.
“Tighter product markets general result in higher shipping demand due to arbitrage and re-loads, so the company expects a positive e ect on the market balance in 2021,” it said.
August 20 2019
Bulgaria selects contractor for gas compressors
State transmission operator Bulgartransgaz has selected a contractor to build the Rasovo and Nova Provadia compressor stations,
it reported August 20. e project is part
of a planned expansion in Bulgaria’s gas transmission capacity, preparing the country to take gas from the second string of Russia’s TurkStream pipeline. e contract was awarded as per public procurement rules, BUlgartransgaz said.
Two groups led o ers for the
contract: Rasovo-Provadia CS and
Ferrostaal Balkangaz. Ferrostaal’s o er
was cheaper, at €179.4mn excluding VAT. e consortium consists of Germany’s Ferrostaal Industrieanlagen and Bulgaria’s Glavbolgarstroy and Glavbolgarstroy International. e subcontractors are Belgian Solar Turbines Europe, Turbo Machine Bulgaria and Chimcomplect Engineering.
August 21 2019
Albania halts fuel supplies from refinery over quality
e inspection team of Albania’s energy ministry has halted the distribution on the market of 550 tonnes of fuel from the Ballsh oil re nery, as the fuel did not meet the required standards, the ministry announced on August 21.
e move was taken as part of the government action against the informal economy in all segments.
“ e fuel will be re-processed and subsequently subjected to another inspection,” the ministry said in the statement. Only
a er the required standards are met, will the authorities allow the fuel to be distributed on the market.
Energy Minister Belinda Balluku emphasised that the message from the nationwide action is that there will be no tolerance for any business entity that abuses fuel quality, regardless of whether the subject is an oil extractor, processor or trader.
Balluku also said that the action will continue in the coming days throughout the whole country.
bne IntelliNews Pro, August 22 2019
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Week 33 22•August•2019