Page 4 - NorthAmOil Week 41

NorthAmOil NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) NorthAmOil

NRG: Countervailing forces

Oil prices and energy demand are under pressure on both sides from storms,

COVID-19 outbreaks and climate concerns

GLOBAL WELCOME to the latest edition of NewsBase’s continue to raise questions about the future of fossil
Roundup Global (NRG), in which our team of fuels.
international editors provide you with a snap- These concerns have been evident over the last
shot of some of the key issues affecting their week, despite indications that Saudi Arabia was
regional beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s looking to raise crude output. They could lead to
Picks to your inbox every week for free. Just sign the cancellation of Denmark’s latest offshore licens-
up here. ing round, and they have led US-based NextDec-
World crude oil prices went up last week, as ade to include a carbon neutrality goal in its plans
Hurricane Delta forced the temporary closure of for the Rio Grande LNG terminal.
offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mex-
ico. However, they began sinking again on Monday, Africa: South Sudan’s plan
partly because Gulf production was resuming and South Sudan’s largest producer, Dar Petroleum
partly because of the reported restart of Libya’s larg- Operating Co. (DPOC), has seen yields drop to
est oilfield. 115,000 bpd. Petroleum Minister Awow Daniel
Likewise, global energy demand has been Chuang attributed the decline to geological fac-
buffeted by both bearish and bullish forces. On tors and floods last week and said he hoped that
the one hand, recent increases in the rate of coro- technical solutions would help boost output. He
navirus (COVID-19) infections, along with new also noted that Juba’s plan to offer exploration
lockdowns in a number of countries, indicate rights to 14 new fields in its upcoming licensing
that oil and gas consumption is not likely to reach round was designed to help boost production.
pre-pandemic levels in the immediate future. But Libya, by contrast, is on track to keep pushing
on the other hand, renewed economic activity has crude yields up. Over the weekend, National Oil
pushed consumption up from the lows reported Corp. (NOC) reported that Sharara, the country’s
in the spring and does not appear to be headed for biggest oilfield, was back on stream.
another plunge in the near term. Meanwhile, Tullow Oil (UK/Ireland) marked
In the long run, however, climate concerns will a milestone in Ghana, saying it had brought the

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 41 15•October•2020