Page 9 - EurOil Week 30

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Buzi district. Public health measures designed to
curb the spread of the outbreak have disrupted
the movement of personnel and the delivery
of goods and equipment to the work site, they
explained.
South Sudan’s oil industry has also been hit
hard by the pandemic. According to Awow Dan-
iel Chuang, the undersecretary of the country’s
Ministry of Petroleum, the virus has disrupted
operations at a number of oilfields, bringing
output levels down by 20,000 barrels per day to
170,000 bpd. It has also postponed the commis-
sioning of an 8,000 bpd oil refinery near Juba,
the capital city.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Africa’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
NewsBase’s AfrOil Monitor. DMEA: refining contracts, pricing reforms Eni's operations off
Six international contractors are vying for Vietnam.
Asia: Eni strikes gas off Vietnam technical consultancy work at Kuwait’s al-Ah-
Italian major Eni’s second exploration well on madi oil refinery, according to local press. US
Block 114 offshore Vietnam has confirmed a firms Worley Parsons, Fluor and KBC, the
significant natural gas and condensate discovery UK’s Amec Foster Wheeler, Japan’s Toyo and
that was first announced in 2019. France’s Technip have all been pre-qualified for
Eni said on July 27 that the Ken Bau-2X the contract, which relates to various upgrade
exploration well was drilled in 95 metres of water projects.
to a total depth of 3,658 metres below sea level. Kuwait is modernising its al-Ahmadi and
The well, which is located 2 km from Ken Bau Abdullah refineries and constructing a new
1X, encountered more than 110 metres of pay one in the southern port of al-Zour. Its goal is
in several intervals of Miocene sandstones inter- to double its throughput capacity to 1.6mn bpd
bedded with shale. by 2025.
Eni, after conducting two mini drill stem Meanwhile in neighbouring Saudi Arabia,
tests (DSTs) and acquiring fluid samples, esti- the UAE’s Target Engineering has landed a con-
mates the Ken Bau accumulation holds 7-9 tril- tract worth $53.3mn to replace naphtha and slop
lion cubic feet (198.24bn cubic metres) of gas oil storage tanks at Saudi Aramco’s 550,000 bpd
in place and 400-500mn barrels of associated Ras Tanura oil refinery.
condensate. While Middle Eastern operators continue to
Eni said last July that the Ken Bau 1X well dish out contracts, many downstream projects
had also encountered several intervals of gas and in the region are now running behind schedule
condensate sandstone interbedded with Mio- because of travel restrictions put in place to slow
cene age shale. It estimated at the time that the the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
net reservoir was more than 100 metres thick. Over in Nigeria, African asset manager FBN-
The first well, drilled to a total depth of 3,606 Quest sees downstream prospects improving
metres, was plugged and abandoned before it thanks to recent reforms to fuel pricing. Earlier
reached its targeted depth owing to technical this year the government introduced a more
issues. market-based template for gasoline pricing,
Eni has a 50% operated stake in Block 114, and the central bank is working to unify foreign
which is located in the Song Hong Basin, while exchange rates. FBNQuest believes these steps
ESSAR E&P holds the remaining interest. could lead to full market deregulation, which
The Italian developer said it would plug and would encourage investment in refining and
abandon the well. In addition to plans for addi- fuel supply.
tional drilling and testing on the discovery, Eni Nigeria’s fuel retail segment is already seeing
said it also intends to conduct new drilling and increased competition, with players Ardova and
seismic activity in the wider basin, where it owns 11 Plc replacing France’s Total as the top suppli-
a 100% operated interest in the neighbouring ers. Competition should intensify further if lib-
Block 116. eralised prices are here to stay.
Commenting on marketing options, Eni If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
said Vietnam’s gas market had expanded rap- the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East,
idly thanks to consistent GDP growth and then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.
the development of gas-fired thermal power
plants (TPPs). The company said the Ken Bau Europe prepares for the revolution
discovery could potentially provide a fast- Europe is preparing for a potential hydrogen rev-
track solution to meet the increasing energy olution, with governments and businesses both
demand. looking at the fuel’s role as a future energy source
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping more seriously than ever before.
the Asia's oil and gas sector, then please click here for The UK has established a new hydrogen
NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor. council, whereas in Italy, the gas grid operator

Week 30 30•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9