Page 4 - NorthAmOil Week 22

NorthAmOil NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) NorthAmOil

NRG: Some forward momentum,

but overall restraint

Despite the relative stability of crude prices in recent days, more news of activity
cutbacks, earnings losses and demand weakness continues to come in, and all eyes

turn to the forthcoming OPEC+ meeting

NRG WELCOME to the fourth edition of NewsBase’s Resources (DPR) has launched a new licensing
Roundup Global (NRG), in which our team of round for marginal fields after a delay of more
international editors provide you with a snap- than 10 years. The auctions will cover 57 fields in
shot of some of the key issues affecting their the onshore, swamp and shallow-water offshore
regional beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s zones, and they will be open to both domestic
Picks to your inbox every week for free. Just sign and foreign investors. The DPR hopes to wrap
up here. up the bidding process before the end of the year.
Crude prices have remained relatively stable In Uganda, Tullow Oil (UK/Ireland) has
over the past week, with both Brent and West taken another step towards finalising the sale
Texas Intermediate (WTI) staying above $30 of its stakes in several blocks near Lake Albert
per barrel, and Brent even edging closer to $40 to Total (France). The company reported last
per barrel. However, this relative stability comes week that China National Offshore Oil Corp.
as a result of extensive cuts to supply, and all eyes (CNOOC), the other shareholder in the blocks,
will be on this week’s OPEC+ meeting, where the had decided against exercising its right to buy
group will consider extending its cuts into July half of the stakes in question on the same terms
or August. as Total. This decision clears the way for Tullow
In the meantime, there is still plenty of news to concentrate on finalising a binding tax agree-
of weak demand, earnings losses and various ment with Ugandan authorities.
players scaling back activity in response to mar- In other news, Algeria’s national oil company
ket conditions. Some signs of forward momen- (NOC) Sonatrach has become the majority
tum are emerging, but such steps are being taken shareholder in the Medgaz pipeline via a trans-
with caution. action that allowed it to acquire 8.0% of equity
from Spain’s CEPSA. Ownership of the pipeline
African countries moving ahead is now divided between Sonatrach, with 51%,
Two African countries have taken a step this and Naturgy (Spain), with 49%. The parties hope
week towards launching long-delayed invest- to expand the system’s capacity by nearly a quar-
ment initiatives. ter to 10.2bn cubic metres per year in 2021.
In Nigeria, the Department of Petroleum Meanwhile, Nigerian National Petroleum

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 22 04•June•2020