Daily Digest: March 3rd, 2020
SHELL, EXXON MOVE AHEAD WITH OFFSHORE SOMALI PLANS
Somalia has agreed on an initial roadmap with a joint venture between ExxonMobil and Shell on offshore exploration and development, the country's petroleum ministry said on March 2.
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The Big Picture:
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Exxon and Shell held rights to five offshore blocks prior to the overthrow of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, but these concessions were subsequently suspended.
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The new roadmap paves the way for the conversion of the previously agreed concessions into production-sharing agreements (PSAs), the ministry explained.
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Last month Somali's president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo signed new petroleum legislation into law, aimed at opening up the war-torn country to oil and gas development.
EXXONMOBIL ROLLS OUT PLAN FOR METHANE RULES
US super-major ExxonMobil released a model framework for industry-wide methane regulations and urged stakeholders, policymakers and governments to adopt rules similar to those it has applied internally across its own oil and gas operations.
The Big Picture:
- “More comprehensive than current federal rules, the proposed regulations would apply to new and existing sources,” the company said.
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Since 2016, ExxonMobil has reduced methane emissions from its unconventional operations in the US by 20% and is on track to reach its target of a 15% reduction across all its oil and gas operations.
FORTISBC PUSHES AHEAD WITH TILBURY EXPANSION
BC natural gas distributor FortisBC is pushing ahead with a C$3bn Phase 2 expansion of its Tilbury Island liquefaction terminal in BC’s Lower Mainland that would increase LNG production capacity to about 4.5mn mt/yr.
The Big Picture:
- Phase 2 would be the third expansion of Tilbury Island in the last six years.
- The original Tilbury Island facility has operated since 1971 as a storage and peak-shaving facility, with 60 mt/day of liquefaction capacity and 28,000 m3 of storage capacity.
CAMERON LNG T2 STARTS COMMERCIAL OPS
The second 4mn mt/yr train of the Cameron LNG export project in Louisiana has started commercial operations, its operator Sempra Energy said on March 2.
The Big Picture:
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Sempra has a 50.2% stake in Cameron LNG. Its partners are France's Total and Japan’s Mitsui & Co, Mitsubishi and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha
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The group plans to take a final investment decision on the project's second phase, which will add another two trains, by mid-2021.
CHINESE GAS DEMAND UP IN JAN DESPITE COVID-19
China’s apparent natural gas consumption in January was 29.65bn m3, marking an increase of 3.4% yr/yr, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said February 28.
The Big Picture:
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There was widespread expectation that Chinese consumption would take a hit in January because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
ARGENTINA-FOCUSED PRESIDENT RAMPS UP GAS SALES
Argentina-focused oil and gas producer President Energy has commissioned a 16-km stretch of pipeline which will result in a sharp increase in gas sales, it said in a statement.
The Big Picture:
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The pipeline connects President's Puesto Prado and Las Bases facilities in the Rio Negro province, allowing "significantly greater volumes" of gas to flow to market.
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President recently transferred 6.1% of its shares to global commodities trader Trafigura, in a move aimed at clearing some of the company's debt.