Page 13 - Gi flipbook August 2018

FRANCE Total is offloading its North Sea stakes

France’s Total prepares

sale of $1.5 billion of UK

North Sea fields

FRANCE’S TOTAL IS SET Lynch will run the sale of
to sell a third of its stake in the 20 per cent stake in
Laggan Tormore gas field Laggan Tormore process,
along with other oil and gas which leave Total with a
assets in Britain’s North Sea 40 per cent stake once
that could fetch a total of complete. Investment bank
$1.5 billion, Reuters reports. Lambert Energy will lead
The divestment will the sale of the other stakes.
include stakes in a number The sale is part of a
of smaller fields Total broad change of guard in The Laggan Tormore gas Rhum field from BP last
acquired as part of the the aging North Sea where field, in which Total now year, is seeking a waiver
2017 $4.95 billion deal to veteran players are seeking has 60 per cent, started from the US government
buy the oil and gas division to dispose of older fields production in February to allow it to operate
of AP Moller-Maersk, the with declining production 2016 and can produce up Rhum, which is 50 per cent
sources said. The deal was while new, nimbler to 90,000 barrels of oil owned by Iran’s national oil
completed in March. companies believe they can equivalent per day. company, as Washington
Those fields include squeeze out more value. Any deal for the Bruce prepares to re-impose
Golden Eagle, in which Total Chevron said it was and Keith fields is likely to sanctions on Tehran.
has a 32 per cent stake, as preparing to sell its fields in be complicated, however. Without a waiver, the
well as Dumbarton (30 per the central North Sea. Royal London-listed Serica field will have to shut
cent), Bruce (43 per cent) Dutch Shell and BP have Energy, which agreed to down, leaving Bruce and
and Keith (25 per cent). also sold a large number of acquire stakes in Bruce, Keith holding little value,
Bank of America Merrill fields in recent years. Keith and the adjacent the sources said. ■

CHINA CHINA HAS RAMPED inventories earlier than

China’s gas imports up purchases of liquefied usual, traders said.
natural gas (LNG), pulling
“Summer gas demand
has picked up due to
in rare cargoes from
surge as heat wave Cameroon, Egypt and more consumption from
gas-fired power plants as
Europe as the world’s
boosts demand most populous nation temperatures rise,” said Diao
shores up supplies to avoid
Zhouwei, gas analyst with
power shortages during a consultancy IHS Markit.
prolonged heat wave. “High prices have
Summer gas demand Reuters reports that buying prompted China to buy
has picked up in China has picked up more than it spot LNG cargoes from
usually would in the warmer unusual places. The
summer months, with arbitrage window is open
households cranking up their between spot prices in
air conditioners in the face Europe and Asia.”
of scorching temperatures Arrivals so far this month
since early spring in many have been 3.9 million
areas. Some cities have tonnes, according to trade
rationed electricity. flow data from Thomson
Beijing’s push to switch Reuters Eikon. That would
households and factories be up 3.6 per cent from
to cleaner fuel as part of a last year’s official customs
drive to clear the country’s data for the month.
toxic air and curb coal use Imports of coal, which
has also stoked demand. accounts for the majority
And some buyers are of power generation,
already in the market for have also bounced due to
winter supplies, replenishing decent energy demand. ■

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News.indd 8 19/07/2018 12:46