Statoil Outlines CO2 Reduction Measures
Statoil says that it has already achieved a target set in 2015 to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its shelf operations by 2020.
In 2008, the Norwegian petroleum industry, under the direction of Konkraft, set a reduction target across the shelf equivalent to 1 MM metric tons/yr (1.10 MM tons/yr) of CO2 until 2020: Statoil’s share was 800,000 metric tons (881,849 tons).
Two years ago, the company announced it had already achieved this goal, and had decided on a further 50% cut to 1.2 MM metric tons (13.22 MM tons) the same year.
In August 2016, a new initiative led by the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, announced further carbon reduction measures equivalent to 2.5 MM metric tons (2.75 MM tons) on the shelf by 2030, of which Statoil’s share is 2 MM metric tons (2.2 MM tons).
Arne Sigve Nylund, Statoil’s executive vice president, Development and Production, Norway said: “We do not have all of the answers to how to achieve this, but the results we have achieved show that we can find solutions that make this possible.”
Statoil’s focus has been on reconstructions or improved operation of gas turbines, gas compressors, pumping installations, reduction of gas flared, and better fuel consumption for mobile rigs offshore.
Since 2007, it has cut emissions from gas flaring by 140,000 MM tons (154,324 tons) of CO2.
On the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea, it has changed its methods of producing drinking water, cutting emissions by around 4,800 MM tons/yr (5,291 tons/yr).
At Åsgard A in the Norwegian Sea the company has modified two gas compressors, saving 8,200 MM tons/yr (9,039 tons/yr)of CO2, and at Oseberg South in the North Sea, it has installed new control systems for two main power turbines, in the process cutting annual CO2 emissions by around 10,000 MM tons (11,023 tons).
By using gravity pressure from the sea instead of a water injection pump on the Kristin field in the Norwegian Sea, emissions here have fallen by 7,375 MM tons/yr (8,129 tons/yr). Also at Kristin, a newly installed check valve to reduce pressure drop in the inlet manifold has cut CO2 emissions by 10,000 MM tons/yr.
Unfinished Hydropower Plant Sold to Turkey
Norwegian utility Statkraft has sold a partially-constructed hydropower plant in Turkey to local conglomerate Limak Holding, which will invest some $400 million in the plant and expects to start operations by 2021, the firm told Reuters.
The Cetin power plant in southeast Turkey was to be Statkraft’s largest hydropower plant outside Norway but the company had to stop construction due to fighting between Turkish security forces and Kurdish PKK militants in 2016.
Only 20 percent of the project was built and Statkraft wrote down assets valued at 2.1 billion crowns ($269.8 million) last year.
“The deal is closed,” said a Statkraft spokesman, adding the transaction’s value would be published in the firm’s third-quarter results on Oct. 26.
Limak, which is involved in sectors such as energy, construction and tourism, plans the facility to be operational by 2020 but the beginning of 2021 is a more “realistic” date, a Limak official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
“When Limak took over, some construction work had taken place and some of the equipment had been ordered. From today onwards, Limak will make around $400 million in investments,” the source said.
Security was not an issue in the area, the official added. “We haven’t experienced any issues about security in the area. Limak is already an investor in the region with different facilities,” the person said.
Algeria's Foreign Reserves Drop to $102bn
Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $2 billion in August and will drop further, to $102 billion by the end of this month, due to the country’s high imports bill and a sharp fall in energy earnings, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said.
Falling reserves will hit the value of the OPEC member nation’s dinar currency, which has already seen a 25-30 percent depreciation over the past three years, Ouyahia told parliament.
Reserves were $105 billion in July, having declined from $195 billion in 2014 when global crude oil prices started falling.
That caused financial pressures that pushed the government to reduce public spending and set import restrictions, but the value of purchases from abroad is still high.
Algeria’s oil and gas exports account for 60 percent of the state budget and 95 percent of total sales abroad.
“The value of the dinar is linked to two things: the exchange reserves and the evolution of other currencies,” Ouyahia told lawmakers who had expressed concern that planned amendments to the Credit and Money law would hit the dinar.
The amendments, which will be discussed by parliament, will allow the central bank to lend directly to the public treasury to help it finance budget deficits and internal public debt.
LNG Prices Edge Higher on November Demand
Asian spot LNG prices rose, buoyed by the outcome of a two-cargo sale tender from Russia’s Sakhalin II export plant, as well as a purchase by Japan and demand from India.
Spot prices LNG-AS for November delivery rose about 15 cents to $7.60 per million British thermal units (mm Btu).
Russia’s Gazprom sold one of two mid-November loading cargos from its Sakhalin II plant for as much as $7.80 per mm Btu, traders said, but prices have retreated since, with some cautious northeast Asian buyers waiting out the rally.
Still, November shows a relatively strong contango, with the back-end of the month trading above the front, traders said.
A sales tender from Indonesia’s Donggi Senoro facility for early November delivery fetched $7.50 per mm Btu. The buyer was a Japanese utility, sources said.
Indian buyers including Gail and GSPC sought supply.
Kuwait closed a tender seeking a November shipment.
At France’s Montoir terminal, a cargo held in storage will be reloaded onto the Cool Runner tanker for onward export to state-run Petrobras in Brazil, a market source said.
State-run Pakistan LNG Ltd launched a tender seeking four cargoes for January delivery, according to documents posted on the company’s website.
The delivery dates are Jan. 11-12, 16-17, 21-22 and 26-27, according to the tender notice.
Bids must be submitted by Oct. 18 and are valid until Nov. 10, according to a separate bidding document.
A potential bullish factor for Asian winter markets is potential delays to production from Chevron’s new Wheatstone LNG project.
The Asia Venture LNG tanker was initially headed for Wheatstone with a due date of Sept. 24 but was diverted toward the port of Dampier, indicating fresh export delays.
Wheatstone was initially scheduled to export its first cargo in early September.
“Start-up of the Wheatstone project is progressing, with Train 1 close to first LNG production,” a Chevron spokesman said.
Puerto Rico Oil Terminal Still Closed
Buckeye Partners LP’s Yabucoa oil terminal in Puerto Rico remained closed, the company said, days after Hurricane Maria left a trail of destruction and at least 25 people dead across the Caribbean.
The U.S. oil storage and transportation company did not say if the tanks at the 4.6-million-barrel terminal were damaged by the storm, which made landfall near Yabucoa, but it said a full assessment of the facility is under way.
“We are working to maintain the safety and well-being of our Yabucoa, Puerto Rico employees,” it said in a statement.
A larger terminal operated by U.S. NuStar Energy LP on the island of St. Eustatius, with capacity to store up to 13.03 million barrels of oil, also has been unable to reopen after a previous hurricane, Irma, affected several tanks.
The closure of oil terminals in the Caribbean and restrictions to load and discharge large vessels in several Texas ports have constrained flows of crude and refined products across the Atlantic in recent weeks.
Maria, the second major hurricane to hit the Caribbean this month, lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands after knocking out power to all of Puerto Rico and pushing several rivers to record flood levels.
Egypt's Zohr Gas Field to Yield 500 mcf/d
Egypt’s giant new offshore Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean is set to be producing 500 million cubic feet per day by the end of 2017, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said.
The country imports peak at 10-12 shipments of natural gas per month, Ismail told reporters at the General Authority for Investment, adding that imports should decline significantly once the field starts producing.
Discovered in 2015 by Italy’s Eni with an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, the Zohr field is due to start producing in December.
Egypt’s own natural gas output rose to about 5.1 billion cubic feet per day in 2017 from 4.4 billion cubic feet in 2016 with the start of production from the first phase of BP’s North Alexandria project.
The country has been seeking to speed up production from recently discovered fields, with an eye to halting imports by 2019 and achieving self-sufficiency