Daily Digest: March 26th, 2020
_f450x122_1585230381.jpg)
Japanese Firms to Study CO2-Rich Gas Fields in Malaysia
JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation (JX), in collaboration with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (Jogmec), has inked a study agreement with Petronas on developing Malaysian gas fields using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, it said March 25.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
The Big Picture:
- If the development of CO2-rich gas fields is confirmed by the study to be feasible, JX intends to exploit them using CCS technology to mitigate the environmental impact.
- The study also looks at the feasibility of developing supply chains for hydrogen produced from the fields, the company said.
Italian oil and gas firm Eni has slashed its planned capital expenditure this year by around €2 ($2.2)bn, or a quarter, it said late on March 25. The company is also targeting a €400mn reduction in operational spending this year, and will scale back its 2021 capex plan by €2.5-3.0bn, or around 30-35%.
The Big Picture:
-
They are in line with other European companies' plans to attempt to weather the storm: Austrian OMV, French Total, Norwegian Equinor and Anglo-Dutch Shell have all had to take defensive action as oil storage fills up and gas prices plummet.
-
The company plunged to a loss in the fourth quarter following the $4.5bn acquisition by its Var Energi joint venture of ExxonMobil's Norwegian upstream business.
Gazprom Neft, Halliburton to Target Deep Siberian Layer
Russia's Gazprom Neft said it had signed a preliminary agreement with US firm Halliburton on technological co-operation. It will enable it to penetrade the deep Achimov layers of its fields in Siberia, as well as optimise production from them, it said.
The Big Picture:
- Gazprom Neft's main aim is to exploit oil from Achimov, with the formation expected to play a key role in driving the company's production growth over the coming years. But it is also exploiting gas from Achimov strata at the giant Urengoi field, in partnership with Russia's Novatek.
- Its parent firm Gazprom produces gas from Achimov at Urengoi via a joint venture with Germany's Wintershall Dea.
_f450x122_1585231161.jpg)
US Developer Plans Gas-to-Gasoline Plant
Natural gas-to-gasoline developer Nacero is to licence Haldor Topsoe's engineering for a facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, Topsoe said.
The Big Picture:
- The plant will convert gas into 35,000 barrels/day of finished gasoline using trademarked Tigas technology.
- In May 2019, the world's first Tigas natural gas-to-gasoline plant started production of 15,500 b/d of gasoline in Turkmenistan.
Austrian OMV Cuts a Fifth off Capex
Austrian energy company OMV is putting in place measures to safeguard its economic stability and the secure supply of energy, involving major investment cuts, it said.
The Big Picture:
- Included are projects totalling €1.5 ($1.6)bn, most of which is the purchase of a stake in Achimov 4/5 in Russia.
- It has also deferred the payment for the 39% stake in petrochemicals firm Borealis, meaning the final €2bn payment will not now fall due until the end of 2021, but the effective closing date is not affected.
Chinese state-run Cnooc Limited’s net profit for 2019 stood at yuan 61.05bn ($8.6bn), an increase of 15.9% yr/yr thanks to volume growth and effective cost control, it said March 25 in a statement.
The Big Picture:
- The appraisal of Bozhong 19-6 condensate gas fields in offshore China made a breakthrough again, the company said. In addition, five new discoveries were made in Stabroek block in Guyana, with aggregate recoverable resources of more than 8bn boe.
_f450x122_1585236874.jpeg)
UK RockRose Cuts Spend but Output Hedged
UK independent RockRose remains "well positioned, despite current oil market uncertainties" to cope with the present market situation, it said. Its oil and gas output hedged, it has no debt and it has £287 ($340)mn cash.
The Big Picture:
- It has not been allowed to publish results for 2019 following an order from the Financial Conduct Authority but its trading update said it would pay a dividend and cut its expenditure.
-
Its capital expenditure for this year was to have been about $200mn, with much of that earmarked for the development of the Shell-operated Arran gas/condensate field. It is anticipated that at least $50mn of this capital expenditure will be deferred, a drop of 25% and in line with other businesses, it said.
Greek Terminal Receives Binding Bids
The floating LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, has received long-term capacity bids totalling 2.6bn m³/yr, its operator Gastrade said March 26. The project's planned regasification capacity is 5.5bn m3/yr.
The Big Picture:
- The process was completed March 24, with bids from Greek and foreign gas companies; Bulgaria said it would be bidding for capacity earlier this month, as the deadline was pushed back.
- The project's developer Gastrade held a market test in late 2018, in which companies submitted non-binding expressions of interest to book 12.2bn m3/yr of import capacity - more than twice the terminal's design capacity of 5.5bn m3/yr.
