Page 15 - AsianOil Week 44 2020

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500,000-600,000 bpd. Meanwhile, interna- both oil rig and horizontal rig counts gradually
tional firms developing assets in the Kurdistan rising since mid-August.
region provided updates on their projects in Rystad noted that an election win by Dem- The uptick in
the semi-autonomous region. ocratic candidate Joe Biden may ultimately
In southern Iraq, a gas pipeline exploded lead to a ban on fracking on federal land. While activity has also
near the city of Samawa, killing three and injur- such land only accounts for a small proportion been helped
ing more than 50. There have been no reports of of fracking activity, and any policy changes
foul play and the local authorities assured that are unlikely to be immediate, the consultancy by oil prices
supplies would not be interrupted. nonetheless expects more stringent action in
To the West, the second round of United response to climate change concerns from a stabilising in the
Nations-observed talks between Israel and Biden administration.
Lebanon ended in tension, with the latter The uptick in activity has also been helped by third quarter of
demanding that a much larger area be con- oil prices stabilising in the third quarter of 2020, 2020
sidered as part of the talks. The talks were but Rystad noted that many operators had also
originally meant to cover an 854 square km fast-tracked permitting processes on federal
triangle of disputed territory, but Lebanese acreage in the Permian and Denver-Julesburg
negotiators said that an additional 1,460 (DJ) basins this year.
square km area further south, that had pre- Biden, for his part, has sought to point
viously been undisputed, must be included out that he would not ban fracking outright
in negotiations. This area includes Israel’s – except potentially on federal land. The US
Karish gas field and Block 72, for which a has established itself as a leading producer and
bid round was launched in June. major exporter of energy, and media reported
this week that there was a broad consensus
If you’d like to read more about the key events among analysts that a Biden win would not
shaping the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then change this.
please click here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor. Meanwhile, the earnings season is underway,
and a series of net losses are being announced,
NorthAmOil: Drilling, fracking picks up illustrating the challenging market oil and gas
Drilling and hydraulic fracturing has been on companies are currently navigating. Among the
the rise in the US ahead of this week’s presi- companies declaring net losses in recent days are
dential election, with activity rebounding from super-majors ExxonMobil and Chevron, as well
lows seen earlier this year during the worst of as independents ConocoPhillips and Diamond-
the industry downturn. Data published by con- back Energy.
sultancy Rystad Energy this week showed that
North American fracking likely peaked in Octo- If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
ber at around 780 started jobs. This is backed up the North American oil and gas sector then please click
by the Baker Hughes rig count, which shows here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™

Week 44 05•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15