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Pakistan’s net oil reserves had declined by 5% decarbonising. This will help diversify its exports
to 540mn barrels by the end of June, local bro- and make its own economy more resilient.
kerage house Topline Securities reported in Japan, meanwhile, is looking at hydrogen and
mid-September. ammonia as key solutions for decarbonisation,
The country produced 13.2mn barrels during estimating that 10% of its power could be gen-
the first half of the year, local media outlet The erated using 30mn tonnes per year (tpy) of blue
News quoted Topline Securities CEO Muham- ammonia.
mad Sohail as saying. In other news last week, Baker Hughes
The executive noted 1.82mn barrels of secured an order for multiple main refrigerant
reserves were added at the Kandiari, Ranjho, compressors for the North Field East (NFE)
Dhok Hussain, Benari and Yasar fields, while project in Qatar, describing the win as one of its
Makori East reserves climbed by 2.9mn barrels largest deals in five years.
and Shahdadpur increased by 7.57mn barrels. NFE represents the first stage of an expan-
However, the gains were offset by a 14mn barrel sion project at the North Field that will raise Saudi Arabia is
drop at Makhdumpur Deep field. Qatar’s liquefaction capacity by some 33mn tpy
Pakistan produced 634bn cubic feet (18bn to 110mn tpy. eager to develop
cubic metres) of gas during the six-month
period, but was able to completely replace the If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping ammonia and
output, Sohail said, pointing to a 332.5 bcf gain the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East
at Shahdadpur, 149 bcf at Miano and 30 bcf at then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor . hydrogen to serve
Buzdar South. other economies
The government has set a financial year 2020- Europe: Total sees oil peaking in 2030
2021 oil production target of 31.12mn barrels Total has followed BP in predicting a soon- that are
and a gas production target of 1.58 trillion cubic er-than-expected peak in oil demand. The
feet. French major expects oil consumption to reach decarbonizing
Islamabad’s efforts to boost the domestic its height in 2030, or sooner depending on the
upstream come as the country gears up to buy pace of decarbonisation efforts.
more spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes. Total’s forecast is more bullish than that of
State-owned Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) said on BP, which recently warned that peak oil demand
its website this week that it was seeking up to six would occur in a few years, if it has not happened
cargoes for December, ahead of the country’s already. But this still marks a significant change
winter demand spike. PLL has set a November in the French firm’s thinking. Just a few years ago
2 deadline for bids to be submitted, noting that CEO Patrick Pouyanne saw peak oil demand as
it wanted each cargo to deliver 140,000 cubic merely an eventual possibility.
metres of the fuel. Faced with a gloomier outlook for oil, Total
The deliveries – if they all go ahead – will be plans to invest more in renewables and gas,
the most the country has ever handled in a single which it sees as having far stronger prospects. Its
month, an unnamed PLL source told Reuters on new strategy calls for a doubling of annual LNG
October 5. sales over the next decade.
In Norway, six fields could face closure due
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping to strike action by a union. Some 43 workers
Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for went on strike at the Equinor-operated Johan
NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor. Sverdrup oilfield on September 30 after wage
negotiations between union Lederne and the
DMEA: Saudi goes into blue ammonia Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOGA)
The Middle East and Africa have largely lagged failed to make any progress.
behind in developing clean technologies. Nev- Later that day Lederne, which represents
ertheless, Saudi Arabia announced in late Sep- around 1,000 offshore staff, said 126 additional
tember that it had made the world’s first trial workers would down tools. Those workers are
shipment of blue ammonia to Japan. stationed at Equinor-operated Gudrun, Gina
The project is spearheaded by national oil Krog and Kvitebjorn fields, as well as the Nep-
giant Saudi Aramco and its petrochemicals arm tune Energy-run Gjoa field.
SABIC. These fields, as well as the Valemon and Vega
Natural gas was used to produce hydrogen fields, are at risk of closure as a result, NOGA has
at a plant in the Saudi port of Jubail and this warned.
was then combined with nitrogen to create the Lastly, Equinor has opened an internal probe
ammonia. Carbon dioxide from the process was into the “dramatic” fire that broke out on Sep-
captured and used at a methanol plant in Jubail tember 28 at its Hammerfest LNG facility on
and at an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) pilot Melkoye Island. No personnel were injured in
facility in Uthmaniyah. the incident, but the plant remains shut down
The ammonia will be used at a 2-MW gas tur- until further notice. Norway’s Petroleum Safety
bine in Yokohama in Japan, as well as at a 50-kW Authority (PSA) and the police are also investi-
micro gas turbine in Koriyama and at a boiler in gating the fire.
Aioi. The waste products from these facilities will
be nitrogen and water. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Saudi Arabia is eager to develop ammonia Europe's oil and gas sector then please click here for
and hydrogen to serve other economies that are NewsBase’s EurOilMonitor.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 30 07•October•2020