Page 8 - NorthAmOil Week 24

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EIA forecasts shale production to hit new high
US
THE US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has forecast in its latest Drilling Produc- tivity Report, released earlier this week, that US tight oil production would hit a new record high of 8.52 million barrels per day in July. e agen- cy’s projection would mark an increase of 70,000 bpd from June’s projected 8.45 million bpd.
In line with previous monthly forecasts, the Permian Basin is anticipated to dominate US tight oil production, accounting for 4.23 million bpd in July. The EIA also projected that the Permian would experience the biggest monthly increase in output among the leading shale regions, at 55,000 bpd. However, it pre- dicted that the Eagle Ford shale, which is the second most productive tight oil region in the US, would experience a month-on-month pro- duction drop of 3,000 bpd, to a projected 1.39 million bpd in July.
The latest projection comes after Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) reported that the US oil rig count had fallen by one to 788 in the week ending on June 14. is is the lowest number of active oil rigs in the US since Febru- ary, with oil price volatility and pressure on shale drillers to rein in spending causing many to scale back activity. ere were 863 oil rigs operating in the same week a year ago.
The rig count is an indicator of future oil output, and its decline in recent month suggests that US tight oil growth will also slow as the year progresses.
The EIA is now forecasting that total US crude production will rise by 1.36 million bpd to 12.32 million bpd this year, which is 140,000 bpd less than it previously forecast. However, this will still be a new record, topping the current all-time high of 10.96 million bpd set in 2018.™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Cheniere starts LNG production at Corpus Christi Train 2
TEXAS
LEADING US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy announced on June 13 that the second train at its Corpus Christi terminal on the Texas Gulf Coast had started LNG production. In a brief statement on its social media channels, the company also said it expected Train 2 to reach substantial com- pletion ahead of schedule. No further details – such as a target date for the commissioning cargo from Train 2 – had been provided as of press time.
e rst phase of Corpus Christi LNG con- sists of three trains, which were initially designed to produce 4.5 million tonnes per year (tpy) each. But earlier this month, Cheniere said it had increased its run-rate production guidance for the trains at both its Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass liquefaction projects to 4.7-5.0 million tpy per train. is has been attributed to production and maintenance optimisation, as well as debot- tlenecking e orts, at both terminals.
Train 1 at Corpus Christi LNG came online
earlier this year, a er shipping its rst cargo in December 2018 during a test run. Cheniere said start-up of Train 1 had also been achieved ahead of schedule. Train 3 is expected to be fully oper- ational in 2021.
e exporter has also recently con rmed that it is aiming to make a nal investment decision (FID) on Stage 3 of Corpus Christi LNG in 2020. e third stage of development at the project is set to involve up to seven smaller-scale trains, with a combined nominal production capacity of 9.5 million tpy of LNG.
Corpus Christi Stage 3 received a posi- tive environmental assessment from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March. According to Cheniere, it is expected to receive all its remaining regu- latory approvals by the end of the year. e company’s recently announced gas supply agreement with Apache is expected to sup- port the development of Stage 3.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 24 20•June•2019