Page 12 - MEOG Week 39

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

STAR refinery goes cold on Urals

TURKEY THE STAR oil refinery in western Turkey has “John Sverdrup gives you better yields, it has
sharply cut back on purchases of Russia’s flagship less sulphur content than Urals. Basra is also bet-
Urals grade oil this year, resorting to cheaper ter value,” one trader at a Mediterranean plant
supplies from Iraq and Norway instead, Reuters told the news agency. “Urals is currently the
reported on September 24. worse value for money among the three.”
Urals soared to a record premium of $2 per According to Refinitiv Eikon, STAR bought
barrel over dated Brent this summer, as Russian no Urals at all in either August or so far this
oil grew scarcer because of OPEC+ cuts. This month. The refinery took 6.1mn tonnes (122,500
prompted some refiners to switch to alternative bpd) of Urals in 2019, which meant that Turkey
supplies, according to Reuters. was one of the major importers of Russian oil in
Competition is growing, especially since the the Mediterranean. But its purchases this year
Johan Sverdrup oilfield began exporting crude have slumped to 1.2mn tonnes.
last year. The 470,000 barrel per day (bpd) field SOCAR opened the STAR refinery in west-
enjoys operating costs of less than $2 per barrel. ern Izmir Province in 2018, after investing some
The 210,000 bpd STAR refinery is taking oil $6bn in its construction. The Azeri national oil
from Sverdrup along with Iraqi Basra oil, which company (NOC) has said it is considering build-
are both similar to Urals, along with the lighter ing a second one at Aliaga on Turkey’s central
CPC Blend from Kazakhstan, Reuters reported. Aegean coast.™

TENDERS

Maha finally awarded Oman’s Block 70

OMAN SWEDEN’S Maha Energy last week announced 185-280mn barrels of original oil in place (OIP).
that it had been awarded an exploration and pro- Lindvall noted: “The fact that PDO did not
duction sharing agreement (EPSA) for 100% of develop this asset is by no means a reflection of
Block 70 in Central Oman by the Sultanate’s the quality of the asset, it just reflects the reality
Ministry of Energy and Minerals. of constrained resources and project ranking.”
Amid speculation of the award during the Block 70 covers an area of 639 square km, with
summer, Maha released a statement in which 2D and 3D seismic data acquired by previous
it addressed “recent speculation … regarding operators to be provided to Maha.
potential acquisitions”, adding that it was “evalu- The EPSA has an initial exploration period
ating a number of opportunities in a number of of three years with an optional extension period
different jurisdictions”. However, on September of another three years. Should a commercial
25, it was made official. discovery be made, this can be extended into
Block 70 was one of five concessions included a 15-year production licence, with an optional
in the country’s 2019 licensing round. The block five-year extension, while the state oil firm OQ
is in the oil-producing Ghaba Salt Basin and is has the right to acquire a 30% interest.
home to the undeveloped Mafraq heavy oil field. During the first period, Maha is committed
Like the other licences included in the auction, to carrying out geological studies, seismic repro-
it was carved out of PDO’s 900,000-square km cessing and well commitments.
Block 6. Maha is experienced in utilising enhanced
The PDO licence has a total production oil recovery (EOR) to develop underperform-
capacity of around 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). ing existing and maturing oilfields and is cur-
According to Maha, the agreement will be rently working on a variety of light and heavy oil
signed on October 1 and is further subject to a fields.™
Royal Decree. “Further details of the Block and
the future work programme will be communi-
cated after the effective date of the EPSA.”
The company’s president and CEO Jonas
Lindvall, said: “The Mafraq oilfield contains sig-
nificant amounts of oil, and previous and exten-
sive pump tests has proven the productivity of
the field.”
Maha noted that Mafraq was discovered
by PDO in 1988 and was further delineated by
four wells and 3D seismic in stages between
then and 2010. Mafraq field is estimated to hold

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 30•September•2020