Page 13 - Euroil Week 08 2020

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NEWS IN BRIEF
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US companies in talks on exporting LNG to Montenegro, economy minister says
US companies have launched talks with Montenegro to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe through the country’s Adriatic port of Bar, Montenegro’s Economy Minister Dragica Sekulic said
on February 24 as quoted by public broadcaster RTCG.
Earlier in February, the US Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg said that the port of Bar has the potential to become a European hub for imports of LNG.
The US is eyeing the traditionally friendly CEE region as a market on which American gas could replace Russian gas. Thanks to the shale gas boom, the US has an abundance of gas, which it seeks to export
– if the CEE builds region-wide reception, transmission, and storage infrastructure.
“Talks on the potential cooperation
in the field of storage and distribution of natural gas from the United States between US and Montenegrin companies have started,” Sekulic said.
She added that using the port of Bar for transhipments of LNG would have positive effect on the development of infrastructure and industry.
Meanwhile, the port operator Luka Bar has indicated it was considering building an LNG terminal to handle imports from the US.
bne IntelliNews, February 26 2020
Wellesley secures Dolphin
rig for Norwegian drilling
ops
Drilling contractor Dolphin Drilling has secured a one well plus one optional well contract with Wellesley Petroleum for drilling work on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
The work between Dolphin Drilling and Wellesley Petroleum is scheduled to begin on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in August 2020, the drilling contractor said on February 26.
Bjørnar Iversen, CEO of Dolphin Drilling, said: “This agreement further strengthens our operational backlog in Norway and builds on the resurgence of Dolphin.
“Dolphin Drilling a pioneer in North Sea drilling continues to be one of the leading contractors in the industry, and this
contract aligns to our strategic intent of building a significant presence in the region. I am positive the announcement of this
deal will be the first of many in the months ahead.”
Callum Smyth, operations manager
at Wellesley Petroleum, said: “When we went to the market for a rig for our 2020 well activities, we put a lot of weighting
on selecting a drilling contractor with the right culture. The Dolphin Drilling team were able to demonstrate exactly the kind of culture that we want with a track record of teamwork, ownership and experience with operators like Wellesley Petroleum.”
Dolphin Drilling has not revealed further details about its deal with Wellesley Petroleum.
February 26 2020
Energean to acquire Total’s block offshore Greece
Energean Oil and Gas has signed an agreement for the acquisition of Total’s stake in Block 2, offshore Western Greece.
Energean said on February 27 that the deal provides the company with further material exploration opportunities in its core area
of the Eastern Mediterranean with limited financial exposure.
Energean will acquire Total’s entire 50% working interest share and operatorship. Energean’s net remaining expenditure
towards satisfaction of the minimum work obligation, which includes 1800 km of 2D seismic acquisition and processing – an activity which Energean believes could significantly de-risk the prospectivity of the license – is approximately €0.5mn. Energean believes this is a highly attractive transaction in the context of the early stage prospectivity identified on the block.
Work to date on the licence has identified that Block 2 contains part of a large, potential target comprising of a four-way closure at the Top Jurassic Apulia platform. The prospect
is thought to be an analog to the Vega field offshore Italy, in which Edison E&P operates with a 60% working interest. The structure is covered by sparse 2D seismic which could be de-risked through the seismic program that will be acquired as part of the minimum work program.
The feature straddles the Greek and Italian maritime border with approximately 60% of the prospect within the Block 2 license with the remaining area part in Italian waters. Edison E&P, of which Energean expects
to complete its acquisition of during the
first half of 2020, as well as holding a 25% working interest in Block 2 also participates in the adjacent 84F.R-EL block offshore Italy, pending award.
Post-completion of the Edison E&P
transaction, Energean will then own a
75% working interest in Block 2. Hellenic Petroleum owns the remaining 25% working interest.
February 27 2020
Technip FMC sees unprecedented orders in 2019
Oilfield services provider TechnipFMC saw an “unprecedented level” of inbound orders in 2019, which pushed its backlog to over $24bn. TechnipFMC booked a loss of $2.4bn due to after-tax charges and credits.
TechnipFMC on February 27 posted revenues of $3.7bn for the fourth quarter of 2019, a 12.2% increase compared to the same period in 2018 and revenues of $3.3bn.
The company booked a net loss of $2.4bn in the quarter, compared to a net loss of $2.26bn a year earlier. These results included after-tax charges and credits totaling $2.43bn of expense. Adjusted net income was $15.1mn
Total company backlog in 2019 was $24.3bn, up 67% year on year.
Doug Pferdehirt, Chairman and CEO
of TechnipFMC, stated: “We achieved an unprecedented level of inbound in 2019, including over 50 percent order growth in Subsea. With this success, our backlog now stands at $24 billion, an increase of 67 percent versus 2018. Backlog grew across all segments, with Onshore/Offshore increasing almost 90 percent when compared to the prior year.”
“Turning to the subsea market, we anticipate ongoing momentum in activity for small- to mid-sized brownfield projects and
a continued healthy outlook for greenfield projects,” he said. “For our Onshore/Offshore business, we remain confident that additional LNG projects will be sanctioned in the near-to-intermediate-term despite current weakness in the commodity price. The growth outlook for long-term demand requires this additional capacity. Beyond LNG, we continue to selectively pursue refining, petrochemical, and biofuel project opportunities.”
“In Surface Technologies, we anticipate double-digit revenue growth outside North America in 2020, following growth of more than 15 percent in 2019. We expect North American activity to decline 10 percent versus 2019, which assumes improvement in drilling and completions activity in the second half of the year.”
February 27 2020
Seadrill expects offshore drilling recovery to continue
Offshore drilling contractor Seadrill has seen an improvement in the offshore
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