Page 10 - AfrOil Week 47

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Santiago Tanoira, the state-run firm’s vice-pres- across one unconventional and one conven-
ident of gas and energy, praised the new incen- tional discovery..
tives, saying: “We are returning to drill for gas.”
Meanwhile, Pan American Energy (PAE), If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
50% owned by BP, has expressed satisfaction the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click
with the government’s four-year tender scheme, here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
under which producers can offer gas to the
market at a price of up to $3.70 per mmBtu. North America: Canada’s net-zero push
The tenders will cover 70mn cubic metres per It has been a busy news week for the Canadian
day, equivalent to just over half of current pro- oil and gas industry. TC Energy announced that
duction, and they may save the country around it had signed a deal paving the way for a poten-
$5bn by reducing the need to import gas to cover tial investment in Keystone XL, Imperial Oil
seasonal demand. unveiled spending and output plans and more
As Rodolfo Freyre, PAE’s vice-president of details of the country’s path to net-zero green-
gas, electricity and commercial development, house gas (GHG) emissions emerged.
said: “Thank goodness the gas plan is being TC Energy said on November 17 that it had
implemented, because if you don’t stop this level signed a definitive agreement with Natural Law
of decline [in gas production], it will continue Energy (NLE), a group that comprises several
to decline.” First Nations. The deal allows NLE to invest up
to CAD1bn ($764mn) in the Keystone XL pro- The Canadian
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping ject – a cross-border pipeline that would carry
the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click oil from Alberta’s oil sands to the US. TC Energy PM’s Liberal
here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor . said similar deals could be struck with indige-
nous groups along the pipeline’s route in both the Party has tabled
Middle East stays busy US and Canada.
The Middle East oil and gas sector has remained The move comes as TC Energy prepares for a bill that would
busy over the past week, with new contract US President-elect Joe Biden to take office. There require the
awards, M&A interest and large discoveries all are fears that Biden could revoke the project’s
announced. presidential permit, so the company will be keen government
The biggest news came unsurprisingly from to demonstrate how Keystone XL aligns with
Saudi Arabia, where state oil firm Saudi Aramco Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. to set new
has launched a new contracting pool for brown- Separately, Imperial Oil said in its virtual
field oil and gas projects and plant upgrades. investor day presentation that it would raise decarbonisation
Aramco prequalified seven companies and one capital expenditure and production in 2021 targets
consortium to bid exclusively on the work on a despite ongoing market volatility related to the
long-term agreement (LTA) basis similar to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Imperial –
existing contracts offering automatic prequal- which is majority-owned by ExxonMobil and is
ification for offshore EPCI work. While new one of Canada’s top four producers – is intending
companies have entered Aramco’s ‘rig of trust’, to spend CAD1.2bn ($916mn) in 2021, which
Hyundai, Saipem and TehcnipFMC are all now would mark a rise of 33% on 2020. The com-
represented in both pools. pany is targeting a production increase of 5% to
Meanwhile in Iraq, two state-owned Chi- 415,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
nese firms are reported to have shown an inter- These updates have come against the back-
est in acquiring ExxonMobil’s 34.7% stake in drop of Canada taking another step down the
the supergiant West Qurna-1 oilfield, with the path to decarbonisation. Canadian Prime Min-
US firm thought to have grown tired of issues ister Justin Trudeau unveiled further details
with developing the asset and the small returns of how he intends to achieve net zero by 2050.
on offer. Such a move would further emphasise Trudeau’s Liberal Party has tabled a bill that
Iraq’s pivot towards Asia as Western firms bail would require the Canadian government to set
out, citing challenging operating conditions and new targets – and a plan on how to achieve those
low returns on investment. targets – every five years between 2030 and 2050.
With ADNOC dominating recent news flow,
it was not out of character that the UAE’s state If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
oil firm made the headlines again this week with the North American oil and gas sector then please click
the announcement of 24bn barrels of oil found here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 47 25•November•2020