Page 14 - MEOG Week 28

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pandemic.
Meanwhile, o cials from Argentina’s state
natural gas regulator enargas have met with representatives of gas distribution companies to discuss plans for expanding the country’s pipe- line network. e parties reportedly focused on options for restarting work on a number of pro- jects, in line with the government’s wider e orts to keep production up at the levels prevailing before the pandemic struck.
if you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the latin American oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s latAmOil Monitor.
shut-in output comes back amid pipeline jitters
Producers in both the US and Canada are bring- ing some of the output they shut in over recent months in response to low demand and prices back online. However, there are considerable worries about the implications of recent pipeline setbacks. Other obstacles to the North Amer- ican oil industry’s recovery could also prove signi cant.
Canadian oil producers are reported to be in the process of restoring thousands of barrels per day (bpd) of curtailed output, largely from the oil sands. As of last week, Cenovus energy and Husky energy had restored 70,000 bpd out of the combined 140,000 bpd that the two com- panies had shut in. At the same time, though,
Cenovus’ CeO, Alex Pourbaix, voiced concerns about the July 6 court ruling temporarily shut- ting down the Dakota Access pipeline, pointing to the implications that other already operational pipelines could also be at risk.
exports of Canadian oil go almost entirely to the US.
Nonetheless, executives of a number of companies that produce oil sands crude have expressed con dence that the worst of the recent oil price downturn is over.
South of the border, shale producers are also restoring output as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices remain stable at around $40 per barrel. And the industry will hope that a slow- down in the rate at which the US oil rig count is dropping is good news. In the week up to July 10, the oil rig count fell by 4. By contrast, over the month of April, 62 oil rigs on average were taken o ine each week as producers scrambled to respond to the collapse in crude prices and demand.
Much of the curtailed production that needs to be brought back online is located in the Per- mian Basin. However, the looming shutdown of Dakota Access will present another obstacle to operators in North Dakota’s Bakken play that are seeking to return their output to the market.
if you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the North American oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 15•July•2020