Page 8 - AfrOil Week 28 2020

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Norwegian explorers are more fortunate than their UK counterparts, as Norway’s tax code allows them to deduct around 80% of explora- tion expenses from tax payments. is encour- ages operators to continue searching for new elds even when market conditions are poor, as they are now.
Spirit Energy, a unit of Centrica, did not enjoy the same success in the Barents Sea, suf- fering a dry well last week. Over the years, explo- ration in this frontier region has by and large disappointed.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor.
FSU: Russia goes local
Russia could start building its rst LNG carrier later this year, following the signing of a technol- ogy agreement between French specialist GTT and the Zvezda shipyard in the Far East earlier this month. Zvezda is set to play a key role in Rus- sia’s import substitution drive, primarily focused on the oil and gas industry and aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and safeguarding stra- tegic sectors from potential sanctions.
Novatek wants to build a eet of dozens of LNGCs to carry gas from its LNG from the ra of export projects it is developing in the Russian Arctic. But because of the pace of its expansion work, the company says Zvezda lacks the capac- ity to build all the necessary vessels in time. It is therefore ordering some of them at foreign shipyards.
Meanwhile, BP is considering a return to Kazakhstan, a country which it le over a decade ago. Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunayGas (KMG) says it is in talks with the major on an exploration and production contract. But exactly what projects the pair are looking at has not been
disclosed. In any case, a nalised investment is unlikely to materialise anytime soon. Like other majors, BP’s priority now is cutting costs and boosting cash ow. It is hard to see how re-en- tering Kazakhstan ts with its current strategy.
One rm deal to come out of Kazakhstan this month has been a $135mn construction contract awarded to the UK’s Petrofac, by the consortium developing the giant Kashagan oil eld in the Caspian Sea.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor.
LNG importers make moves
Progress is being made on various LNG import projects and initiatives globally, provid- ing an industry that continues to struggle with oversupply with cause for optimism.
On July 9, a foundation-laying ceremony was held in Cyprus for a new LNG import terminal that is being hailed as the largest energy project ever undertaken by the country. e €289mn ($326mn) project is being built by a joint venture comprising China Petroleum Pipeline Engineer- ing, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), and Greece’s Metron. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is aiming to inau- gurate the terminal before his second and nal ve-year presidential term comes to an end in 2023.
In other LNG-importing countries, mean- while, efforts are under way to open up the industry to competition. It was reported last week that Singapore’s Energy Market Authority is seeking to appoint two new LNG term import- ers for the city-state, adding to the two it already has. e appointment is being sought in an e ort to boost competition and provide Singapore’s gas buyers with more options.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 15•July•2020