Production NEWS

Saudi Arabia is on a tight deadline. The kingdom has set itself some of the most ambitious economic and social targets in the region, with an aim to revamp its economy completely. Underpinning this drive for change is its youth population, now better equipped than ever to contribute productively. Not only does the kingdom want to retain its place as the largest economy in the Middle-east, but do much better than that, to ensure it becomes a magnet for non-oil sectors worldwide. At an average age of just 32, Saudi Arabia has a strong cohort of the young, that has acquired quality qualifications in the recent past, thanks to high investments in building up education and health infrastructure.

Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong/Shanghai-25 August 2021: China’s oil and gas industry saw a growth recovery in upstream production, rebounding refining utilisation and a fast rise in gas consumption and imports during 1H21. The oil price rally will support upstream operations’ revenue and profitability, but press refining and gas margins in 2H21, says Fitch Ratings. Fitch expects national oil companies’ (NOC) 2H21 production to stay steady on higher upstream capex and segment profitability, which should improve with higher volume and prices. China’s gas production rose by 11.1% yoy during 1H21, while oil production was up by 2.2% yoy, as NOCs accelerated exploration and production.

Oil prices jumped Monday, snapping a seven-day losing streak that was crude’s worst since 2019, as the dollar pulled back and traders bet the recent selling was overdone. “News of zero new cases in China has certainly provided a tailwind as it gives added light at the end of the Covid tunnel and a breath of fresh air to the demand landscape,” noted analysts at Blue Line Futures. “Additionally, the U.S. Dollar has retreated from recent highs, underpinning the commodity landscape broadly.” West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, gained $3.50, or 5.6%, to settle at $65.64 per barrel.

Oil and gas giant BP said Wednesday “the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia using renewable ‎energy” was now technically feasible at scale in Australia. The energy major’s conclusion is based on the findings of a feasibility study announced in May 2020 and supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, solar developer Lightsource bp and professional services firm GHD Advisory.

Solar and wind plants can produce green hydrogen with the help of electrolysers, and JSW Energy’s collaboration aligns with its plan to expand the renewable energy share in its portfolio to 85% by 2030 from the current 30%. The country currently consumes about around 6 million tonne of hydrogen nnually. JSW Energy said on Thursday its subsidiary JSW Future Energy has entered into a framework agreement with Australian Fortescue Future Industries to collaborate on green hydrogen production. Solar and wind plants can produce green hydrogen with the help of electrolysers, and JSW Energy’s collaboration aligns with its plan to expand the renewable energy share in its portfolio to 85% by 2030 from the current 30%.

So-called "green" hydrogen production using onshore wind turbines could achieve price parity with fossil-based hydrogen by the year 2030, according to a white paper from Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. In a statement on Wednesday the firm — a major player in wind turbines — also said that green hydrogen produced using wind from the offshore sector could achieve price parity by 2035.

Equinor has partnered with Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach to examine cooperation in global oil and gas exploration and production. Equinor, together with BP and Sonatrach, is involved in the development and production of two gas fields in the country, In Salah and In Amenas. The In Salah dry gas project, which delivered the first gas in August 2004, involves seven gas fields in the central Sahara area. Claimed to be the fourth-largest gas development project in Algeria, the In Amenas gas project was commissioned in 2006. It is located about 1,200km from the coast, towards the Libyan border.

Empire Petroleum has acquired oil and gas assets in New Mexico, US, from ExxonMobil for an undisclosed sum. Empire said that the assets comprise about 700 gross oil, gas, and injector wells. It also includes approximately 40,000 net acres of Permian leasehold. Empire CEO Tommy Pritchard added, “This acquisition is a terrific example of what Empire looks to manage in their assets: mature producing oil properties with predictable, long-life production with significant upside potential.“Looking towards the future, the geologic location of the Permian EMSU and AGU holds 23,400 acres of residual oil zone potential (ROZ).”

BP Plc and Eni SpA are considering merging their Angolan oil, gas, and liquefied natural gas assets into a joint venture in a bid to revive output following years of decline. The companies’ Angolan assets together produce more than 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, BP and Eni said in a statement on Wednesday. Merging them would bring “significant opportunities” to “boost future developments” and increase investment in the basin, they said.

With the immediate end to spending on new upstream projects and an expected shutting-in of higher-cost production, global oil supplies would shrink by more than 8% each year, the IEA estimates under its Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario or NZE. Oil demand will never again reach its historic peak in 2019 before shrinking to 24 million b/d in 2050, from around 90 million b/d in 2020, the IEA's scenario showed. Gas demand would also decline by 55% over 2020 levels to 1,750 Bcm by 2050.

Cairn Oil & Gas on Wednesday said it has commenced oil production from NA #01 facility in Aishwariya Barmer Hills in Rajasthan. “The project is a first in Cairn’s tight oil portfolio with a growth potential to contribute 20 percent to the company’s vision production,” the company said in a statement. It is the largest horizontal well with a multi-frac development campaign of 37 wells in the Indian subcontinent which is the key enabler to unlock tight oil.

Conoco's average gas price from its Lower 48 operations more than doubled to $4.56/mcf from the fourth quarter. Diamondback, which operates in the heart of Texas's biggest shale field, saw average gas prices jump more than 21 times to $3.05/mcf from a year earlier. The combined company produced 1.32 Bcfg in the period, more than double Conoco's in the previous quarter, which helped offset the financial impact of lost oil production from the freeze.

India's flagship oil and gas producer ONGC on Wednesday said it is seeking foreign partners for yet-to-be-developed fields in lesser prospective areas but is shackled by uneconomic gas prices and tax structure. ONGC is also looking into strategic relationships and close alliances with key international players through (overseas arm) ONGC Videsh," the company said in a statement.

CGG announced the delivery of the fast-track data from its Agata Reimaging program over the Agata block in the Santos Basin, a highly prolific area of Brazil's offshore pre-salt. The ultramodern reimaged seismic data set covering over 9,300 sq km (3,591 sq mi) will provide valuable information to oil and gas companies wishing to evaluate acreage and assess the potential of the Agata block, prior to Brazil's upcoming 7th Production Sharing Bidding Round.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 0.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 493.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are at the five year average for this time of year, according to the EIA crude oil and petroleum weekly storage data, reporting inventories as of April 23, 2021.

With a decline in India's crude oil production and natural gas output in FY20-21, the petroleum ministry has made its third attempt to get Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to privatize its oil and gas fields along with other infrastructures to raise production. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on April 1, wrote to India’s largest producer of oil and natural gas asking it to sell its stake in oil fields to private firms and get foreign partners in KG basin gas fields. The letter also sought to monetize existing infrastructure and hive off drilling and other services into a separate firm to increase production.

Supportive net zero policies, a steep decline in production costs from electrolysis as well as a broad push towards renewables will pave the way for the widespread adoption of green hydrogen. A series of reports from S&P Global Ratings explores the potential of clean hydrogen to drive decarbonisation across the economy. They found that cost continues to present a major setback to the wider spread adoption of hydrogen.

Amazon has announced nine new utility-scale wind and solar energy projects in the US, Canada, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. The company now has 206 renewable energy projects globally, including 71 utility-scale wind and solar projects and 135 solar rooftops on facilities and stores worldwide, which will generate 8.5 GW of electricity production capacity globally. With this latest announcement, Amazon is now one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy in Europe.