Page 10 - AfrOil Week 28 2020

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Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian-led coalition said that it had intercepted and destroyed four missiles and six explosive drones that had been launched by Houthi forces, without saying whether any of the projectiles had hit their target.
Jazan, which is around 60 km from the Yemen border, is home to a 400,000 bpd re nery owned by Saudi Aramco, which is expected to reach capacity within the next few months.
e move is the latest in a string of attacks, the most striking of which came in September last year, when drones struck oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais, causing signi - cant damage and taking 5.7mn bpd of oil out of circulation.
The Houthis took responsibility for this attack, though there are few who think the rebel group could have carried out such an advanced assault without the help of Iran.
Tehran this week awarded a development contract for the Yaran oilfield as the Islamic Republic looks to ramp up oil production, citing that sanctions would come to an end. ere is little reason to think that this will happen in the short term, though it does appear that further contract awards will be forthcoming.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
Facing obstacles in North America
Producers in both the US and Canada are bring- ing some of the output back online they shut in during recent months in response to low demand and prices. However, there are consid- erable worries about the implications of recent pipeline setbacks. Other obstacles to the North American oil industry’s recovery could also
prove signi cant.
Canadian oil producers are reported to be
in the process of restoring thousands of barrels per day of curtailed output, largely from the oil sands. As of last week, Cenovus Energy and Husky Energy had restored 70,000 bpd out of the combined 140,000 bpd that the two com- panies had shut in. At the same time, though, Cenovus’ CEO, Alex Pourbaix, voiced concerns about the July 6 court ruling temporarily shut- ting down the Dakota Access pipeline, pointing to the implications that other already operational pipelines could also be at risk.
Exports of Canadian oil go almost entirely to the US. Nonetheless, executives from a number of companies that produce oil sands crude have expressed con dence that the worst of the recent oil price downturn is over.
South of the border, shale producers are also restoring output as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices remain stable at around $40 per barrel. And the industry will hope that a slow- down in the rate at which the US oil rig count is dropping is good news. In the week up to July 10, the oil rig count fell by 4. By contrast, over the month of April, 62 oil rigs on average were taken o ine each week as producers scrambled to respond to the collapse in crude prices and demand.
Much of the curtailed production that needs to be brought back online is located in the Per- mian Basin. However, the looming shutdown of Dakota Access will present another obstacle to operators in North Dakota’s Bakken play that are seeking to return their output to the market.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the North American oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™
Canadian oil
producers are
reported to be
in the process
of restoring
thousands of
barrels per day of
curtailed output
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 15•July•2020