Page 11 - AfrOil Week 46

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“Next month, we will begin trading the full port- publish the deal within the current parliament,
folio of our refined products,” ADNOC CEO but OGUK is hopeful that it will arrive shortly,
Sultan al-Jaber said at the ADIPEC conference. possibly by the end of the year.
ADNOC has global ambitions for AGT. In Norway, ConocoPhillips and its Polish
“The plan is to grow into Singapore, Europe and partner PGNiG have made a “substantial” gas
potentially gain a presence in the US,” ADNOC’s discovery in the Norwegian Sea, with an esti-
director for marketing, supply and trading said mated size of between 8mn and 30mn cubic
at the conference. “We start with a [1mn barrel] metres (50-189mn barrels) of recoverable oil
refinery behind us, and the relationship with equivalent.
[Vitol Tank Terminals International] allows us the US company said it had found gas and
access to locations all over the world.” condensate at production licence (PL) 1009
after drilling a wildcat well some 35 km from
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the Equinor-operated Heidrun oil and gas field,
the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East, where Conoco has a 24% position. The discovery
then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor. is also 27 km south-west of the Aker BP-operated UK oil and gas
Skarv field, in which PGNiG has a 11.9% stake.
Europe: UK drilling slump Conoco is the only US-based major left in drilling is slated
UK crude oil and natural gas production is slated Norway following the departure of Chevron in to fall this year
to fall this year as drilling slumps to its lowest 2018 and ExxonMobil the following year. Its
level since the 1970s, Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) main focus is the Greater Ekofisk Area, which to its lowest level
warned in a report on November 11. consists of the Ekofisk, Eldfisk and Embla fields,
Overall activity has dropped sharply as a in the southern North Sea. since the 1970s
result of low oil and gas prices and restrictions Conoco has a 65%interest in PL1009, while
related to the coronavirus (COVD-19) pan- PGNiG has 35%. The pair will “assess the results
demic. Only 54 wells were drilled in the first of the discovery together with other nearby pros-
10 months of the year, compared to 112 for the pects with a view to a potential development to
whole of 2019. Only six exploration wells were existing infrastructure,” the NPD said.
completed during the period, and it is possible
there will be no more this year, OGUK said. If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
The recovery will not happen overnight, the Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
association has warned. It estimates that pro- NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor.
jects shelved during the downturn could take
three years to be restarted, with around the FSU: Rosneft returns to red
same amount of time needed for investment to The Russian oil giant Rosneft returned to a net
rebound to pre-crisis levels. The drilling and rig loss in the third quarter, on the back of ruble
companies needed to implement these projects devaluation and low prices.
are also in dire shape, OGUK said, noting that The company swung to its first net loss since
many were undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. 2012 in the first quarter after sustaining heavy
All this undermines the UK North Sea’s impairments but rebounded to profit in the sec-
competitiveness versus other basins, the asso- ond quarter.
ciation continued, and highlights the need for a The company suffered another loss of
so-called North Sea transition deal to help oper- RUB64bn ($800mn) in the third quarter,
ators get through the downturn and develop though, owing to a weaker ruble. This compared
cleaner energies. The government has said it will with a RUB225bn profit a year earlier.

Week 46 18•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11