Page 13 - NorthAmOil Week 16

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil
Pieridae delays FID on Goldboro LNG
NOVA SCOTIA
CANADA’S Pieridae Energy said last week that it had decided to delay a final investment decision (FID) on its proposed Goldboro LNG terminal in Nova Scotia until after September 30. The company had previously been aiming to reach FID in the third quarter of this year, but it said that market conditions and the fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had forced it adjust its schedule.
Pieridae is aiming to bring the CAD10bn ($7bn) project into service between November 2024 and May 2025. While the company did not announce any adjustments to the start-up sched- ule, construction is anticipated to take around 56 months, and a delay in reaching FID will also likely push back the in-service date.
“Work continues on multiple fronts with our Goldboro LNG Facility, primarily with KBR to finalise a fixed price contract to design and build the facility,” Pieridae’s CEO, Alfred Sorensen, said in a statement. “Market conditions and the global fallout from COVID-19 have impacted our ability to make a final investment decision [FID] this fall but we are confident it will happen once conditions improve and we can better ana- lyse the landscape.”
The project will be located on Canada’s East Coast in order to target European markets. Pieri- dae has a 20-year agreement to sell 5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG – all of the LNG from the first liquefaction train at the facility – to German utility Uniper. The company said it was negoti- ating with Uniper to extend the FID deadline to June 2021, adding that it expected to obtain the extension.
The Goldboro facility will also have a sec- ond train that will also produce around 5mn tpy. Sorensen said the company was con- tinuing to lobby the federal and provincial governments for financial help to build the terminal.
“There is no doubt there is a significant over- supply of LNG in the marketplace today, but our primary customer, Uniper, remains very com- mitted to our project,” Sorensen said on a con- ference call last week. “We are building for the future, not for the current economic situation,” he added.
Indeed, Pieridae is hopeful that other LNG projects around the world will be delayed or can- celled this year, leading to less competition when Goldboro starts up.™
Shell reportedly postpones Whale FID in Gulf
GULF OF MEXICO
ROYAL Dutch Shell has apparently postponed a final investment decision (FID) on its Whale project in the US Gulf of Mexico. The news was reported by Reuters, which cited an anonymous source at the company as saying that while some work on the project continued, the FID had been pushed back to 2021.
Shell was previously targeting an FID on Whale, which it discovered in 2017, for later this year. The field has been talked up as one of the super-major’s largest discoveries in the region in recent years.
The move – like many other delays being reported currently – is being attributed to the collapse in oil prices amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A delay is not surpris- ing given that Shell is cutting its 2020 spending by $5bn.
The Whale field is located in US waters, but close to the maritime border with Mexico in Alaminos Canyon Block 772. It is adjacent to the company’s Silvertip field and around 10 miles (16 km) from its Perdido platform.
Shell has described Whale as adding to its Pale- ogene exploration successes in the Perdido area. The Paleogene, or Lower Tertiary, is an emerging Gulf trend that poses technical challenges owing to extreme water depths and high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) reservoirs.
Exploration results at Whale prompted Shell to bid aggressively for nearby Mexican offshore blocks with similar geology in 2018.
Shell operates Whale with a 60% interest, while Chevron owns the remaining 40%. The field is expected to reach peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) if development proceeds.
Shell has been one of the more active opera- tors in the Gulf in recent years, opting to develop a handful of new projects even as others have pulled back. However, the current oil price envi- ronment is forcing even the leading operators to rethink plans.
The company is also delaying an FID on the Jackdaw gas field in the UK North Sea, Reuters reported citing its source.™
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