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OIL spokesman Tridiv Hazarika said on Novem- Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
ber 15 that the fire, which started on June 9, had NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor.
been “doused completely” and that the company
was working to cap the Baghjan-5 well. DMEA: BP downsizes GTA plans
He said: “The well has been killed with brine BP and other investors in the Greater Tortue
solution and is under control now. There is no Ahmeyim (GTA) LNG project offshore Senegal
pressure in the well now, and it will be observed and Mauritania have scaled back their expansion
for 24 hours to check if there is any amount of gas plans in order to reduce costs, Houston-based
migration and pressure build-up.” partner Kosmos Energy has said.
The developer experienced a blowout at the The project’s second phase was expected to raise
well on May 27 after it tried to bring a new reser- liquefaction capacity from 2.5mn tonnes per
voir on stream. This led to “uncontrollable” flows year (tpy) to 10mn tpy. Reporting its third-quar-
of gas and condensate that eventually caught ter results, though, Kosmos said the expansion OIL’s slow pace
fire the following month, killing two OIL fire- would add only 2.5mn tpy, bringing the total to
fighters and destroying roughly 30 homes. OIL 5mn tpy. in tackling
only managed to get the well fire under control The revised capacity represents “the sweet
in mid-September, with Hazarika noting at the spot for leveraging all the major infrastructure the well fire
time that well-killing operations were to begin from phase one, ” Kosmos CEO Andy Inglis told
within three-four weeks. investors in an earnings call. has attracted
The company’s slow pace in terms of tackling The second phase will utilise spare capacity criticism from
the well fire has attracted criticism from the gov- at the subsea infrastructure already being devel-
ernment, while also triggering local protests. oped for the first phase, Inglis explained. Rather the Indian
A government-order investigation into the than requiring a new floating production storage
blow out and subsequent explosion of the well and offloading (FPSO) unit, the first-phase ves- government,
slammed the company’s response to the disaster sel will instead be expanded. A second gas export
in July. The commission said OIL had not only line from the FPSO to the hub terminal will also while also
failed to properly plan, execute and supervise a no longer be required. triggering local
number of critical operations but had also failed “As a result, we believe phase two will be
to secure several government approvals prior to the most competitive brownfield LNG expan- protests
spudding the well almost a decade and a half ago. sion project globally,” Inglis said, “with limited
Protestors, meanwhile, have frequently dis- upstream capital requirements expected to be
rupted work at the company’s drill sites and less than $1bn gross to first gas.”
workover locations across the state. This has led Breakeven costs for this LNG are projected
to lost oil and gas production, with the company to come to just above $4 per mmBtu for Asian
in its quarterly financial results released last week deliveries and even less for European ones,
that the disaster had cost it more than $30.5mn thanks to the lower capital costs.
as of late September. Over in the UAE, national oil company
Despite various operational pressures, the (NOC) ADNOC said on November 9 it intended
company announced a new gas discovery last to start trading refined products in December
week. OIL said on November 13 that it had through its joint venture with Italy’s Eni and
struck a gas via the Dinjan-1 well in its Tinsukia Austria’s OMV. ADNOC Global Trading (AGT)
petroleum mining lease (PML), which is located is 65%-owned by ADNOC, 20% by Eni and 15%
in the Upper Assam Basin. The discovery, made by OMV. The recently-formed venture began
at some point in the first half of financial year derivatives trading in September with a focus
2020-2021, flowed at a rate of 115,000 cubic on crude oil. It had hoped to launch trading
metres per day during testing. operations in the second quarter of this year, but
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping delays.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 18•November•2020