Page 12 - AsianOil Week 25

AsianOil NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) AsianOil

NRG: Cautious

steps forward

Welcome to this week’s edition of NewsBase’s Roundup Global (NRG), in which
our team of international editors provide you with a snapshot of some of the

key issues affecting their regional beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s Picks

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NRG OIL prices have remained relatively stable so with a number of Spanish companies and hopes
far in June. This is among the factors prompt- to fast-track the development of Lixus, which
ing oil and gas players around the world to move may contain as much as 62.3bn cubic metres of
cautiously forward with plans that have been gas.
complicated by the market downturn and the Chariot’s announcement came shortly before
collapse in global demand. the US major ConocoPhillips reported that it
Some companies are using this opportunity had been awarded an exploration permit cover-
to snap up assets on the cheap, while others are ing the Mesorif coastal area in the northern part
merely starting to restore production that has of the country. Under the permit, ConocoPhil-
been shut in over recent months. Meanwhile, lips will conduct geological and geophysical
news of more “carbon neutral” cargoes of lique- studies and then collect 2D seismic data in order
fied natural gas (LNG) illustrates that the energy to assess the area’s potential.
transition remains a significant driver of new In other news, Ethiopia has released data
industry developments. revealing the extent to which the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic affected the country’s
African gas opportunities petroleum product markets. According to
Companies based in two African countries are Tadesse Hailemariam, the CEO of the Ethiopian
looking to open up new markets for natural gas. Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE), gasoline
In South Africa, Renergen, a local company, and diesel consumption went down by about
has teamed up with a subsidiary of France’s Total 20% between March and May, while jet fuel con-
to sell LNG for retail use. The partners aim to sumption dropped by around 70%.
promote the use of LNG as a fuel for long-haul
trucking. Renergen will supply the LNG within If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
the framework of its Victoria project, and Total Africa’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
will sell the LNG at its filling stations. Once the NewsBase’s AfrOil Monitor.
former company’s gas liquefaction comes online
next year, the latter company will begin making Aramco closes SABIC takeover
LNG available at stations along the N3 road Saudi national oil company (NOC) Saudi Ara-
between Durban and Johannesburg. mco has closed its $69bn acquisition of a major-
In Morocco, UK-listed Chariot Oil & Gas is ity share in petrochemicals giant SABIC from
looking to export gas from the Lixus offshore site sovereign wealth fund PIF. That the transac-
to Spain. The company has already begun talks tion was between two state-controlled entities

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 25•June•2020