Noble Energy put North Sea properties up for sale; NYMEX crude for October delivery down; Nigerian delegation meet with their Brazilian counterparts in Brasilia
Posted on September 16, 2009 – 7:14 pm | by oilandgaspress.com
NYMEX crude for October delivery was down $0.03 at $70.95 a barrel by 07.10 GMT (3.10am EDT), after settling up $2.07 on Tuesday, while ICE Brent was down $0.17 at $69.69.
The American Petroleum Institute said in its weekly inventory report after Tuesday’s close that crude stocks rose by 631,000 barrels last week, against the forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts for a drawdown of 2.4 million barrels.
The industry group also said that distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, jumped by 5.2 million barrels, against a forecast rise of 1.3 million.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said that signs of a rebound in the world economy appeared to be gathering but that the recovery would be gradual.
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A large Nigerian delegation comprising the Ministries of Power, Petroleum Resources, Foreign Affairs, Defence and the presidency met with their Brazilian counterparts in Brasilia, the administrative capital of the country, to hold discussions on areas of collaboration in key economic segments of the Nigerian economy.
At a meeting held yesterday in the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Nigerian team was given an extensive briefing on the reform programmes implemented by the country in the energy sector which facilitated the transition of their wholly state-run utilities into self-reliant, efficiently run companies that are now partly owned by the private sector.
Making the presentation on behalf of his team, the Executive Secretary, Mines and Power, Dr. Marcio Zimmermann, stated that Brazil currently has a generating capacity of slightly under 40,000 megawatts of which 90 per cent is provided by hydro-electric power sources in the country.
This, he said, translates to a per capita consumption of 2,300 per kilowatt hour per annum.
Despite the high preponderance of hydro-electric generation in the country, Zimmermann said his ministry along with Brazil’s power utility, Electrobras, which is partly owned by the state, had diversified into alternative energy sources comprising nuclear energy, biomass fuels, coal energy, wind energy and thermal energy, for sustainable development.
Giving a rundown of the reform measures implemented by Electrobras and Petrobras - the oil and gas company also partly owned by the Brazilian government - the executive secretary said that in the late 90s, his government introduced a decentralized structure in the areas of transmission, generation, distribution and a system operator.
The four components of the power sector are governed by long-term contracts or power purchase agreements between the producers - generation companies, the transmission company and distribution companies - and that the contracts see to it that costs are recovered by the operators.
In the oil and gas sector, Zimmermann said his country was forced to become self-sufficient in meeting its energy needs having learnt from the first oil crisis in the 1970s.
“At the time, we imported 80 per cent of our oil needs and when the oil embargo took place, it affected us adversely.
“In response, we invested heavily in research and drilling and by 2006, we reached self-sufficiency in the area of oil and gas production,” he said.
He stated that in the area of ethanol production for biomass fuels, about half of the country’s light weight vehicles are currently run on ethanol which is produced by companies that have invested heavily in research for better seedlings and crop yields.
The Mines and Energy Secretary indicated that the amount of land dedicated to growing crops for ethanol production is very small, as more land is dedicated to food production.
Lending more insight into the power sector reform measures undertaken by Brazil, which are not dissimilar to the reforms designed for the Nigerian power sector, Zimmermann said that the Brazilian government took into consideration the wage disparities between different sets of electricity consumers in the country.
According to him, the state implements a graduated cross-subsidised tariff structure that comprises a regulated market and a free market.
The regulated market, he disclosed, protects residential consumers, especially those in rural areas that pay less than big consumers in the free market.
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Tullow Oil and US producer Anadarko Petroleum are set to announce they have established a new oil frontier stretching 1100 kilometres along the African coast.
The announcement, which could come today, is tied to discoveries at the Venus well Anadarko has been drilling off Sierra Leone, the Financial Times reported on its web site, citing people close to Anadarko.
Anadarko was not immediately available for comment.
Venus-B lies at the western edge of a geological system that includes large discoveries off Ghana’s shores.
Anadarko and Tullow have made a bet on that coastline, snapping up rights cheaply to explore the area. The find would also benefit Woodside and Repsol, which each hold 25% of the Sierra Leone asset.
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Nigeria’s main militant group said today that it was extending a two-month-old ceasefire in the oil-producing Niger Delta by 30 days but warned the government an amnesty programme had not yet tackled key issues.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it would allow more time for talks but threatened renewed strikes on the oil industry if substantive negotiations were not held. The truce had been due to end at midnight yesterday.
“(We do) not recognise an amnesty that has not made any provision for meaningful dialogue on the root issues that gave birth to the Niger Delta unrest,” MEND said in a statement.
“The government should use this extension of time to do the right thing instead of pretending to talk peace while arming the military for a war it cannot win,” said the emailed statement.
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Aker Solutions is primed to supply a subsea production system to Eni for its Goliat field development in the Barents Sea, after clinching the deal worth Nkr2.3 billion ($390 million).
The scope of work includes engineering, procurement and construction of a complete subsea production system. Subsea hardware deliveries include eight overtrawlable four-slot subsea templates with manifolds, 24 subsea trees, subsea control systems, 20 kilometres of steel tube umbilicals, work-over equipment and a tie-in and connection system.
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The following reasons have been given by ONGC for not meeting its crude production targets for August and April-August, 2009:
8ONGC`s inability to complete a single development well in the Mumbai High offshore field during the month saw output from the asset lower, at 0.920 MMT, against a target of 0.962 MMT in August. Output was at 4.566 MMT for April-August, 2009 against a target of 4.648 MMT
8There were also hiccups at the Heera-Neelam field, where production from the HV platform was affected due to non-completion of wells taken up for work-over operations. Output in the Heera-Neelam junction was at 1.377 MMT for April-August against a target of 1.402 MMT.
8Production from Bassein Development Project wells VSEA#2H and VSEA#7H was less than expected after initial activation. The field only produced 0.088 MMT of crude during the August, 2009, against a target of 0.117 MMT. For the April-August, 2009, period, the wells registered production of just 0.393 MMT against a target of 0.474 MMT for the Bassein field.
8The Ahmedabad asset suffered production losses due to power cuts in Ahmedabad, with production from new wells locked up as a consequence. The asset produced a total of 0.141 MMT in August, 2009 — against a target of 0.148 MMT — while for the April-August, 2009, period, it contributed a total of 0.681 MMT of crude against a target of 0.710 MMT.
8Increasing water cut in another Gujarat field — namely Mehsana — besides other constraints involving water injection and gas pipeline capacity have also played spoiler for ONGC`s crude production tally. The company produced 0.186 MMT from this field against a target of 0.188 MMT in August, 2009. During April-August, 2009-10, the Mehsana field produced a total of 0.917 MMT of crude against a target of 0.924 MMT.
In Assam, production was affected due to less than anticipated gain from development and work-over wells. The Assam produced a total of 0.093 MMT of crude in August, 2009, as against a target of 0.098 MMT. For the April-August, 2009, period, the asset registered production of 0.475 MMT
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Private sector E&P major Reliance Industries Ltd has completed an ambitious 2D seismic acquisition survey in its Assam onland block AS-ONN-2000/1. “The 2D seismic project — making use of low-impact seismic technology — has been accomplished in the Assam onland block,” reliable company sources, familiar with block developments, told Indian Petro on Tuesday (September 15, 2009). The survey, that began in late 2008, has pointed to a potentially attractive play extension, heightening interest in the contract area. A total of 400 line kilometers (LKM) were shot in the Upper Assam block. The data is being processed at the moment. Interpretation of the data would be completed by the end of 2009. Any further operations in the block will be based on the results of the 2D data and other geological studies carried out till date.
8The seismic data acquisition was carried out with the help of low-impact seismic technology to ensure minimal disturbance to the nearby Brahmaputra waterways. Reliance began by demarcating around 400 line kilometer (LKM) area in the onland block to shoot fresh data. Apart from previous 2D seismic data, a satellite gravity survey is the only existing coverage available in the onland field. The north east block is currently in phase I of minimum work programme (MWP). The first phase of exploration will last three years.
http://www.indianpetro.com/
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Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) endeavour to complete its Rs 273 crore Chennai-Bangalore product pipeline six months ahead of schedule, by December 2009, as against the timeline of June 2010, is on track. “All material required for the project has been received and we are targeting to complete the project by December 2009,” IOC sources close to the project’s development revealed to this website today (September 15, 2009). Notably, the process of acquiring the Right of Use (RoU) for the entire 290-km pipeline has been completed. Furthermore, the work on the Chennai and Bangalore stations are progressing as per schedule. While station work has been completed at Bangalore, the job is expected to be completed at Chennai by November 2009. The corporation is now keeping a close eye on the progress of work by the contractor of the station works, N.R. Patel, so that timelines are adhered to.
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MINISTER of Defence, Major-General Godwin Abbe, has said that contrary to the news doing the rounds that the military had deployed military warship and aircraft in the oil rich region of Niger Delta, the story is far from the truth.
General Abbe, who was at the Presidential Villa to consult with President Umaru Yar’Adua and the Honourary Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Mr. Timi Alaibe, said there was no presence of any military equipment in or around the Niger Delta.
The minister, who is also chairman of the Presidential Committee on Amnesty Implementation, was reacting to a story in a national daily on Tuesday (not the Nigerian Tribune) that the government had deployed military hardwares in the region in readiness for the ceasefire by the major militant groups in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) which expireed this week.
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Total said that it would boost output next year, but warned of possible problems with supplies as cost cutting looks set to limit global production capacity.
In a midyear outlook presentation, Total said that output would increase next year after this year’s dip.
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Noble Energy has decided to put North Sea properties estimated to cost up to $650m up for sale.
International energy research firm Simmons & Co International said that the North Sea is a non-core property for Noble with less upside potential than its core assets portfolio.
Noble has appointed Scotia Waterous to mediate the transaction, which covers its stake in four UK Southern Gas Basin fields, four North Sea oil fields and a field offshore the Netherlands.
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Inpex has announced that its Iwaki gas field in Japan will be decommissioned at the end of the year.
Production facilities at the field are expected to undergo decommissioning later this year.
Inpex said that the Japanese gas field was generating gas via an offshore platform and production was halted in July 2007, 23 years after it initially came on stream.
Nippon Steel awarded a subcontract to SapuraAcergy for the decommissioning work, which includes the platform and a 12in gas export pipeline in 150m of water.
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