Page 7 - GLNG Week 43 2020

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long-term LNG export authorisations until 2.84mn barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd),
2050. (See: US extends handful of LNG export with oil accounting for 2.28mn barrels per day
authorisations, page 14) The move came as no (bpd) of the total. This is 2.5% above the original
surprise, following on from the US Department target figure of 2.7mn boepd, including 2.2mn
of Energy’s (DoE) policy statement in July that it bpd of oil, the NOC noted.
would permit LNG export authorisations to be Petrobras also reported that it had extracted
extended. some 2.952mn boepd of oil, NGLs and gas in
The US has only been exporting LNG since the third quarter of 2020, up by 5.35% on the
2016, but has rapidly gained market share as new second-quarter figure of 2.802mn boepd. It
liquefaction capacity has come online, mainly on attributed the rise to the rapid restoration of
the Gulf Coast. development operations at fields that suspended
However, efforts by US LNG producers production in response to the coronavirus
to strike new offtake deals are running into (COVID-19) pandemic.
obstacles, not only because of the oversup- Venezuela, by contrast, is under considerable
plied market, but also because of environmen- pressure. The country has informed OPEC that
tal concerns. (See EurOil) The fight, involving it produced 397,000 bpd of oil in September. This
a potential supply deal that France’s Engie was is the lowest monthly figure recorded since 2003
reportedly due to strike with the US’ NextDec- and is also considerably below this year’s record
ade before it was delayed by political pressure, high of 882,000 bpd in January. Output levels
illustrates the greater environmental chal- have been trending down since the beginning of
lenges LNG producers may have to contend the year and are not likely to recover any time
with in the future. soon.
Qatar, meanwhile, has taken another step This decline has occurred partly because the
forward by reportedly selected Honeywell as US sanctions regime has prevented state-owned
the main instrument and control contractor to PdVSA from obtaining the parts and equip-
support the North Field East expansion project. ment needed to repair and maintain its produc-
(See: QP selects Honeywell as instrument and con- tion and refining facilities. Sanctions have also
trol contractor for LNG expansion, page 17) impaired Venezuela’s ability to sell its crude on
In another illustration of the growing impor- world markets, as evidenced by the fact that the
tance of environmental issues to the industry, country’s oil inventories have risen by 84% over
state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) has also the last few weeks.
sought to talk up the comparative low emis-
sions-intensity of its expanded LNG operations. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
The company is building a carbon capture and the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click
storage (CCS) facility to capture carbon dioxide here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor .
(CO2) from its LNG production.
These developments raise questions about Iraq plods on despite delays
how Australia – where LNG plants are typically Iraq’s oil minister this week said that the country
more carbon-intensive than similar facilities in still intends to increase oil production capacity to
other parts of the world – will deal with their car- 7mn barrels per day (bpd) by 2027 despite facing
bon footprint in an increasingly environmentally significant issues in financing new projects and
conscious world. delays at those already in the pipeline. The min-
ister expressed confidence that despite delays
Latin America: A tale of two producers and payment issues, IOCs will remain, with-
Two South American states are facing very dif- out any developments being cancelled or post-
ferent conditions on the upstream front. poned. Meanwhile, the ministry has engaged in
In Brazil, the national oil company (NOC) discussions with France’s Total over plans for the
Petrobras has said it expects to surpass its company to take over the development of one or
original production goals. In a report on its more gas projects in the Western Desert and near
third-quarter performance, the state-owned Basra.
firm said its crude oil, natural gas liquid (NGL) Russia’s Lukoil also said this week that it
and natural gas output was on track to reach intends to increase its oil production in Iraq

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