OGV Energy - April Issue Global Review

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REGIONAL REVIEWS: EUROPE

By Tsvetana Paraskova

EuropeanEnergyReview

Europe’s energy scene has seen some significant developments since the start of 2020. The European Union aims to enshrine a target for carbon neutrality by 2050 into law. Major European oil and gas firms have pledged to cut carbon emissions in response to growing investor and shareholder concern about climate change and insufficient climate action. Deal-making and exploration in the oil and gas sector continue along with project development and project launches in several alternative energy areas including; offshore wind, hydrogen, solar power and energy storage.

Galp now looks to develop a sustainable renewable power generation portfolio, allocating 10-15% of its investment to renewables to capture opportunities from new businesses that could be scaled up.

Italy’s Eni joined the ranks of oil and gas firms pledging significant cuts in carbon emissions and intensity in its long-term strategic plan through 2050 unveiled on 28 February.

Under the plan, Eni expects its oil production to peak in 2025 as the company will look to boost its gas production and materially increase its renewable energy portfolio.

Eni aims to obtain by 2050 an -80% reduction in net scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions of the entire life-cycle of the energy products it sells, as well as a -55% reduction in emission intensity compared to 2018. The Italian major plans to have global renewables installed capacity of 3 GW by 2023 and 5 GW by 2025, and to raise that capacity to more than 55 GW by 2050.

“We have designed a strategy that combines economic sustainability with environmental sustainability, and we have done so by defining an action plan based on technologies – existing or developed in-house - that we know how to implement. This will allow Eni to be a leader in the market supplying decarbonised energy products and actively contributing to the energy transition process,” Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi said.

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he European Commission proposed in early March a European Climate Law to enshrine the European Green Deal’s commitment for carbon neutrality by 2050 into legislation. Under proposed European Climate Law, the 2050 netzero carbon target would become legally binding collectively binding all EU institutions and member states to take the necessary measures at EU and national level to meet the net-zero target.

In recent weeks, while the European Union is working on a continent-wide net-zero goal, several major oil and gas firms have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint by lowering their emissions and the emissions from the energy products that they sell.

On 6 February, Norway’s Equinor unveiled its climate roadmap through 2050, aiming to reduce the net carbon intensity, from initial production to final consumption, of energy produced by at least 50 by 2050. Two years ago, Equinor dropped the name Statoil to reflect its ambition to be associated with the wider energy sector. In an effort to be a part of the solution in the energy transition, Equinor will also look to grow its renewable energy capacity tenfold by 2026 and become a global offshore wind major.

“We will produce less oil in a low carbon future, but value creation from oil and gas will still be high, and renewables give significant new opportunities to create attractive returns and growth,” Equinor’s president and CEO Eldar Sætre said.

A week later, BP followed with another net-zero pledge from an oil major. The UK-based oil giant set on 12 February a new ambition to become a net-zero company by 2050 or sooner. The oil and gas supermajor will also look to cut the carbon intensity of products BP sells by 50% by 2050 or sooner and increase the proportion of investment into non-oil and gas businesses over time. BP will keep its commitment to reward investors as it transforms, chief executive Bernard Looney said.

“We can only reimagine energy if we are financially strong, able to pay the dividend our owners depend on and to generate the cash to invest in new low and no-carbon businesses,” Looney said.

Another week later, Portugal’s oil and gas firm Galp said it was embracing the energy transition, creating a new division dedicated to renewables and new business models.

“Galp will launch new products and services and will transform its traditional businesses through technology, digitalisation and innovation,” the company said on its Capital Markets Day.

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REGIONAL REVIEWS: EUROPE

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Equinor and Shell signed an agreement on digital collaboration to jointly develop solutions and methods through the exchange of expertise in areas such as data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and

3D printing.

In plastics recycling, Eni’s chemicals company Versalis is launching HoopTM; a project aimed at developing new technology to chemically recycle plastic waste.

In alternative energy news, the European Commission unveiled on 10 March a new industrial strategy to help Europe’s industry lead the twin transitions towards climate neutrality and digital leadership. As part of the new initiatives, the Commission proposes the creation of a Clean Hydrogen Alliance to accelerate the decarbonisation of industry and maintain industrial leadership.

France’s Total has announced several deals in renewables and battery production in recent months. These range from setting foot on Spain’s solar market with a pipeline of 2 GW worth of projects to launching a pilot plan to manufacture European batteries for electric vehicles together with PSA and Opel, installing and operating up to 20,000 new EV public charging points in the Netherlands.

Total says it is building a portfolio of low-carbon businesses that could account for 15 to 20% of its sales by 2040. With more than 5 GW of solar projects announced since the beginning of this year, Total is well on track to reach its target to have 25 GW of installed power generation capacity from renewable sources by 2025.

While major companies continue to announce lowcarbon projects and targets, operators in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea continue to drill for resources, aiming to raise production.

Equinor and partner Neptune Energy have struck oil in the Sigrun East prospect in the North Sea, the Norwegian energy giant said in early March. Recoverable resources at Equinor’s first discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf this year are estimated at between 7 and 17 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Spirit Energy signed in March an agreement to sell two noncore assets in Denmark—stakes in the Hejre and Solsort discoveries—to INEOS.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) gave the green light to operator Aker BP to start oil and gas production from the Skogul field in the North Sea, one of the smallest fields offshore Norway developed with a subsea template tied-in to the Alvheim FPSO via the Vilje field.

”The project serves as an example that even small fields can create value for the licensees and the Norwegian society,” says Arvid Østhus, the NPD’s assistant director for development and operations in the North Sea.

“Europe’s industry has everything it takes to lead the way and we will do everything we can to support it,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

Shortly before the EC’s announcement, Europe’s largest green hydrogen project up to date was launched in Groningen, the Netherlands. A consortium of Gasunie, Groningen Seaports, and Shell Nederland launched in February the NortH2 green hydrogen project to produce green hydrogen using renewable electricity generated by a mega offshore wind farm. The project developers aim to build wind farms in the North Sea with capacity of 10 gigawatts around 2040, from which hydrogen will be produced. The project begins this year with a feasibility study and if successful, the consortium expects first green hydrogen production in 2027.

“Together we will have to pioneer and innovate to bring together all the available knowledge and skills that are required. The energy transition calls for guts, boldness, and action,” said Marjan van Loon, President-Director of Shell Nederland.

Before this major project, another green hydrogen production project is set to begin operations at the port of Ostend in Belgium in 2025 though an exclusive partnership between the Port of Oostende, DEME Concessions, and PMV.

In wind power generation, Europe installed a total of 3.6 GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2019 – an annual record high, WindEurope said last month. Total new onshore and offshore wind installations in Europe reached 15.4 GW in 2019, bringing Europe’s wind energy capacity to 205 GW. Wind energy accounted for 15% of all electricity consumption in Europe in 2019, WindEurope said but noted that currently, Europe is not building enough new wind farms to deliver the EU’s goal that it should be half of Europe’s electricity by 2050.

In an effort to boost grid compatibility of offshore wind turbines, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES in Germany is launching a mobile test facility; a grid simulator to verify current and future grid system services as well as electrical properties of a wind turbine. The project will allow the testing and optimisation of the grid compatibility of large wind turbines with an output of up to 20 MW.

In plastics recycling, Eni’s chemicals company Versalis is launching HoopTM; a project aimed at developing new technology to chemically recycle plastic waste.

“The HoopTM project aims to create a theoretically endless plastic recycling process, producing new virgin polymers suitable for all applications and that are identical to polymers that come from fossil raw materials,” said Daniele Ferrari, chief executive at Versalis.

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REGIONAL REVIEWS: MIDDLE EAST

By Aditya Saraswat, Senior Upstream Analyst at Rystad Energy

No middle ground in Middle East PRICE WAR

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A month after powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to reach an agreement over production cuts and the oil price has dwindled to less than $30 per barrel (bbl), with no signs of stopping. Unleashed, the middle eastern giants are rearing to gain market share by heavily discounting crude grades and putting their crude on wholesale. Amidst it all, the second quarter already looks terribly oversupplied as an oil market struck by the coronavirus shows little appetite.

PEC+ member countries are now aiming to utilize their maximum capacities to capture the majority of the oil market. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is preparing to deploy the equivalent of an atomic bomb upon the oil market in April, with plans to supply 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude to the market next month. For this ambitious target, the kingdom will have to rely on some draws from commercial storage, as Rystad Energy estimates their upstream crude production capacity – without any additional drilling – is limited to around 11.5 million bpd in the short term. In line with this, Saudi Arabia has hired 25 to 30 extra oil tankers by state tanker company Bahri and notified field supervisors to prepare fields for maximum output.

Saudi Arabia’s all-time high crude production was previously achieved in November 2018 when it produced 11.1 million bpd. For now, we expect crude production to rise to 10.8 million bpd from 9.8 million bpd in Feb 20, and to increase further to 11.2 million bpd in May 20. However, we believe Saudi Arabia is able to meet, and possibly exceed, the 11.0 million bpd production target as soon as April. At 10.8 million bpd of upstream production, the stock draws at Saudi-controlled storage facilities would have to amount to 1.5 million bpd in April (45 million barrels).

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Core-OPEC members UAE and Kuwait, each with around 300,000 bpd of spare capacity, will contribute to the crude tsunami in April. Both countries’ NOCs aim to boost sales in April, with ADNOC announcing its intent to supply 4 million bpd to the market in April. We expect UAE production will increase by around 200,000 bpd to 3.20 million bpd in April from February levels of 3.04 million bpd, mostly driven by its flagship-grade Murban, produced onshore. We acknowledge that the UAE could manage to increase production even higher if it utilizes its entire spare capacity, but this would require drawing significant amounts of crude from storage if the country aims to supply 4 million bpd to the market. On the other hand, Rystad Energy forecasts crude production from Kuwait could reach 2.80 million bpd in April with less upside risk than for UAE, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The last major country with ample available spare capacity to potentially bring to the market in April is Iraq.

In the ongoing price war, Rystad Energy expects Iraq will begin to bring back production from state-operated fields, where 480,000 bpd was collectively cut under the recent OPEC+ cuts. Based on our analysis, Iraq will rampup production by 250,000 bpd to nearly 4.90 million bpd in April. If Iraq is able to find buyers for this additional crude, the total 480,000 bpd could be back online by June 20.

The devil is, of course, still in the demand details. Global oil demand faces increasingly negative prospects as the macro picture weakens on quarantine measures across the world, most recently in France, Spain, and other European countries who have announced nearly total economic lockdown in March. As an increasing number of countries shutter economies to fight the coronavirus outbreak, at least 2 million bpd in April will contribute to the unprecedented supply glut, which Rystad Energy expects will grow in the short term.

Indeed, the oil industry may experience one of the greatest shocks in history as coronavirus containment measures will add to the headache of producers fighting for market share. The next pressing question for the oil market is: Can the market actually absorb all the expected crude supply during 2Q 2020? Or, will the oil spot price have to collapse entirely, forcing production shut-ins due to real physical storage constraints? And which supply is most at risk from ever-decreasing oil prices? In Rystad Energy’s oil price and production outlook base case, we assume that the rampup in OPEC production will only last until June of this year, at which time we expect that a new production cut agreement will be made.

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REGIONAL REVIEWS: US

By Loren Steffy

The U.S. energy industry squeezed between virus fears and OPEC price war

For the U.S. energy industry, the bleak start to 2020 turned increasingly dismal by mid-March. As coronavirus fears gutted global demand and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia flooded the market with production, the industry found itself facing the prospect of increased bankruptcies, anemic financial performance and widespread layoffs.

As the price of West Texas Intermediate crude slid toward $30 a barrel in mid-March, the U.S. faced the prospect that it’s new role as a net crude exporter might be short-lived. For the past few months, America exported more oil than it imported, but the worst price rout in almost three decades prompted speculation the U.S. production would fall by a million barrels a day. That would reduce exports below import levels, according to an analysis by Bloomberg NEF.

While producers struggled with the steep price declines, the coronavirus hit close to home. Organisers canceled CERAWeek in Houston, one of the country’s biggest oil and gas conferences, citing coronavirus concerns. The number of known coronavirus cases in the U.S. topped 3,600 by mid- March, and at least 66 people had died. CERAWeek typically draws more than 5,000 industry executives from more than 80 countries. Meanwhile, the far larger Offshore Technology Conference, which draws tens of thousands to the city each year, was postponed until late summer.

The price war that erupted between OPEC and Russia dealt another blow to U.S. shale drillers, many of whom were already struggling to break even when crude was much higher. The financial fallout has begun to show up on the balance sheets of some of the biggest independent producers. Occidental Petroleum, just six months after its $37 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum, slashed its quarterly dividend for the first time in 30 years. Oxy said it was reducing the payout to 11 cents from 79 cents, and it lowered its capital spending budget by one-third. Occidental is still working to reduce the $38 billion in debt it took on to buy Anadarko. The one winner in Oxy’s struggle may be billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who put up $10 billion in financing in exchange for preferred stock that pays him $800 million a year regardless of commodity prices or company earnings. Buffett’s holding is now worth almost as much as the entire company.

Just days after Oxy’s announcement, another large independent, Marathon Oil, slashed its 2020 drilling budget by 20%, to $1.9 billion from $2.4 billion. The move came after Marathon’s 2019 profit fell by 56% from a year earlier.

Many other companies, from producers to service providers, have focused on controlling spending and improving profit margins rather than boosting production at all costs, but now many industry observers wonder if the sudden embrace of fiscal discipline has come too late.

It’s not just company budgets and share prices that have been battered. Yields on about $110 billion of energy company bonds slipped below a margin of 10% above Treasuries, a sign that the bonds are in distress and raising concerns that some companies may not be able to repay their debt.

The combination of low commodity prices and heavy debt is likely to trigger a wave of mergers, bankruptcies and lawsuits according to industry analysts and bankruptcy lawyers who specialize in oil and gas.

“We already had a number of U.S. shale producers that were very challenged because they didn’t have great balance sheets and were struggling,” Pearce W. Hammond, managing director for midstream equity research at Simmons Energy, told HartEnergy.com. “This just accelerates this process. It likely means several companies will go bankrupt.”

Some industry leaders are appealing to the Trump administration for help, such as low-interest loans, federal oil purchases to prop up prices, or even trade barriers or import quotas to help shield the domestic industry from the ravages of the global marketplace. But even many Republicans appeared reluctant to help an industry that’s producing at record levels. Critics wasted no time condemning the idea, and on social media derided the plan as a “shaleout.”

Things are looking only slightly better on the natural gas side of the equation. Shares of companies such as Cabot Oil & Gas, Southwestern Energy and Range Resources climbed in early March on the speculation that plunging crude prices will force operators in the Permian Basin to curtail oil production. Because gas is still produced primarily as a byproduct of oil in the region, analysts predict that declining oil production will ease the natural gas glut that has pushed prices to a four-year low. The output from the Permian and other shale basins continues to rise, but at a slower pace.

However, with the coronavirus tamping down global demand, some international buyers are refusing U.S. shipments of liquefied natural gas, raising speculation that American gas exports, like oil, will slow.

President Trump, during a recent visit to India, tried to convince the Indian government to buy more LNG from U.S. producers, but it was a tough sell. Given the weak price environment, more global buyers are turning to the spot market, rather than locking themselves into long-term supply contracts. The reluctance to commit to long-term agreements comes as companies in the U.S. are bringing more than a dozen new LNG export facilities online.

Just days after Trump’s visit, for example, federal regulators in the U.S. gave permission for a second dock at Freeport LNG’s export terminal in Brazoria County, Texas, south of Houston. The new permit will allow for increased tanker activity at the facility, which sent out its first shipment in December and which has plans to build a total of three production units with a combined output of 15 million metric tons a year.

U.S. exporters like Freeport need long-term agreements in advance to secure the billions needed to fund the projects. Thanks to the fracking boom, the U.S. is about to become the world’s third-largest gas exporter, but a global oversupply of gas from Qatar, Russia and Australia has kept prices low and left U.S. exporters scrambling to secure buyers.

The plunge in oil and natural gas prices hasn’t slowed the country’s ongoing shift away from coal-fired electricity plants. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that coal use plunged 13% last year, a decline that’s likely to be repeated in 2020. That’s the biggest in 65 years. Coal producers have struggled to compete with cheap natural gas and growing pressure over climate change.

With Saudi Arabia indicating in mid-March that it would boost production, and Russia vowing to do the same, things aren’t likely to improve for U.S. producers any time soon. In Texas — which, as the biggest oil-producing state is the most sensitive to the boom-bust cycle — some industry participants are saying 2020 is starting to look like 1986, when the Saudis flooded the market with crude, sending the industry into a tailspin from which it didn’t recover for 15 years.

While U.S. production continues to rise, at least for now, the country remains the biggest producer and consumer of oil. But after four decades of scarcity and reliance on foreign imports, America is finding that abundance and energy independence bring their own set of perils.

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MARCH

UK North Sea Oil & Gas Review

By Tsvetana Paraskova

This past month’s highlights in the UK energy sector include forecasts for oil and gas revenues from the North Sea, measures to reduce carbon emissions and help a sustainable energy transition, as well as various contract awards and project updates.

But more than anything, the keyword in the oil and gas industry, and any industry and service sector for that matter, all around the world these days is the coronavirus pandemic, which is weighing down on global oil demand and oil prices. Combined with the supply shock of promised additional supply from former allies Saudi Arabia and Russia at a time of severely depressed demand, oil prices tumbled in two weeks to levels unsustainable for many upstream operations, including those in the UK offshore sector.

Industry body OGUK issued a stark warning on 19 March that the oil price crash and the halving of gas prices are driving “an increasingly fragile outlook for the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector.”

OGUK now expects drilling levels to slump back the lows of 2016, down more than a third compared to earlier forecasts. Capital investment could drop by 20-30 percent this year, straining the sector’s FOSSIL FUELS supply chain, “with the pressures expected to significantly undermine the industry’s businesses, jobs, and contribution to the economy.”

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In other news, the Office for Budget Responsibility halved its forecast for oil and gas revenues in the UK between fiscal years 2020-2021 and 2023-2024. In the Economic and fiscal outlook March 2020, the OBR said that it had revised down the UK oil and gas revenues, consisting of offshore corporation tax and petroleum revenue tax, by £900 million a year on average. Oil and gas revenues for 2019-2020 are now seen at £700 million.

“This is more than explained by much lower oil and gas prices, with our forecast conditioned on prices that are respectively 12 and 34% lower in levels terms by 2023- 24 than in our March 2019 forecast,” the OBR said in its report, which was updated as of 6 March, when oil prices slumped, but before the price crash of 9 March when oil plunged by 30% in one day. This suggests that even the lowered revenue estimates may be too optimistic.

“Dollar oil prices on 6 March were 17.8% lower than the 10-day average to 11 February used in this forecast. Mechanically, that would lower our receipts forecast by £0.6 billion a year,” the OBR said.

The UK government announced a £90-million package to tackle emissions from homes and heavy industry. The package includes £70-million funding for two of Europe’s first-ever large scale, low carbon hydrogen production plants, the first on the banks of the Mersey, the second planned for near Aberdeen. A third project will develop technology to harness offshore wind off the Grimsby coast to power electrolysis and produce hydrogen. The other £20 million in the package is earmarked for projects aimed at cutting household emissions and bills through nine UK-wide local “smart energy” projects.

“This is an important part of our worldleading efforts in eliminating our contribution to climate change by 2050 while also growing our economy, creating up to 2 million green collar jobs across the country by 2030,” Kwasi Kwarteng, Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, said.

Kwasi Kwarteng

Energy storage and demand side response (DSR) are crucial elements to ensuring the flexibility of the UK energy system while achieving the 2050 net zero ambition, Energy UK said in a report published in partnership with The Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) and BEAMA, the UK trade association for manufacturers and providers of energy infrastructure technologies and systems.

“We must continue to develop technologies and expertise to realise the potential benefits of a smart flexible energy system and the export opportunities for technologies, skills, and services,” the report says, urging the Government and Ofgem to work with stakeholders in the coming year “to address and remove the barriers to an efficient and transparent market in which providers of flexibility are rewarded and innovation is supported.”

OGUK, the leading representative body for the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector, praised the interim report of Scottish Government-appointed Just Transition Commission for its call for greater engagement with

“We must continue to develop technologies and expertise to realise the potential benefits of a smart flexible energy system and the export opportunities for technologies, skills, and services”

Energy UK report in partnership with ADE and BEAMA

the workforce and steps to ensure reducing emissions does not see high quality jobs leave the country.

“This report shares our industry’s focus on delivering a fair, inclusive and sustainable transition to a low carbon future. These findings confirm the need for continued partnership working with governments, regulators and our people to ensure that we can continue to support the UK’s diverse energy needs, the communities we work in as well as wider society,” OGUK Chief Executive Deirdre Michie said, commenting on the report.

Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said at the end of February that the UK North Sea will see the largest decommissioning bill of any country over the next decade. More than £17 billion is expected to be spent on UK decommissioning by 2029, twice that of any other country, according to Romana Adamcikova, Senior Research Analyst – North Sea Upstream at WoodMac.

“With large hubs ceasing production and without new investment, we predict decommissioning spend will overtake capex in 2025,” Adamcikova said.

Industry majors BP, Eni, Equinor, Shell, and Total assumed leadership of the Net Zero Teesside project, with BP as operator. The project aims to be the UK’s first zero-carbon cluster, with the partners bringing global experience of carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology. The project will decarbonise local industry by building a transportation and storage system to gather industrial CO2, compress it, and store it safely in a reservoir under the North Sea.

“With the right government support the project has an ambitious yet achievable potential start-up date of the mid- 2020s,” the partners said in a statement.

In corporate contracts and news, Shell and Subsea 7 struck an agreement to speed up digital transformation in the subsea industry. As part of the deal, Subsea 7’s Life of Field business unit i-Tech 7 entered into a five-year collaborative technology agreement with Shell International Exploration & Production to accelerate subsea digitalization.

“Digitalisation will support Shell to become a world-class investment case by improving our productivity, reliability and performance as well as reducing the costs of our assets,” said Christian George, Shell Vice President of Wells, Deep Water and Surface Engineering Technology.

Solstad Offshore won a contact from Premier Oil for its PSV Normand Flipper for four wells firm plus options starting between May and June 2020. The contract is expected to last around 400 days supporting the jackup drilling rig Valaris JU- 123 at Premier Oil’s Tolmount field in the southern North Sea.

Premier Oil has also awarded DOF a contract for four wells firm, plus two well options for the Skandi Caledonia vessel with operations expected to begin in Q2 with an estimated duration of around 100 days per well for both the firm and optional wells.

Wintershall Noordzee, a joint venture of Wintershall Dea and Gazprom EP International, has successfully started gas production from its operated cross-border Sillimanite field on the UK and Dutch Continental Shelves, Wintershall Dea said on 20 February.

Awilco Drilling announced in February that it had signed a letter of intent with Serica Energy to provide the WilPhoenix vessel for a one-well workover on the Rhum field, for a programme of between 45 and 70 days expected to begin between 1 September and 30 October 2020. The contract value is estimated at £5.9 million to £9.1 million.

CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China’s CNOOC, has extended the contract with materials and logistics management company ASCO for another five

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years. The contract, which has options for a further six years, is worth over £100 million and includes ASCO supporting all the operator’s North Sea assets.

BP extended a contract with Vroon Offshore Services (VOS) Ltd for another three years. The contract extension is worth around £30 million and under the deal, VOS will continue its exclusive provision of four highperforming vessels to support BP’s North Sea and West of Shetland assets until 2023.

Independent Oil and Gas plc said on 28 February that the option held by its partner CalEnergy Resources Limited to buy 50% of the Harvey and Redwell licences had expired, but discussions continued as to CalEnergy’s potential participation in the two licences.

Aberdeen-based offshore support vessel specialist Sentinel Marine has won a £36 million package of contract awards and extensions to operate its fleet of emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRVs) in the North Sea. Sentinel Marine won contracts with Chrysaor to support decommissioning activities in the southern North Sea and with Spirit Energy, which has chartered Biscay Sentinel to support the Borr Ran drilling rig in the Irish Sea. Sentinel Marine has also extended the contract for Mariner Sentinel, which is chartered to Equinor’s Mariner field, and for Forties Sentinel’s contract with INEOS. Forties Sentinel is currently tasked in the firm’s Breagh gas field in the southern North Sea in support of routine operations and drilling, Sentinel Marine said.

Premier Oil said on 5 March it expected the last cargo from the Huntington field to be lifted in April 2020.

Energy storage and demand side response (DSR) are crucial elements to ensuring the flexibility of the UK energy system while achieving the 2050 net-zero ambition

Babcock’s offshore business has won a new five-year shared contract with three oil and gas operators for helicopter transport in the northern North Sea, the company said on 6 March. Babcock will initially operate over 100 helicopter flights each month from Sumburgh in Shetland, on behalf of CNR International, EnQuest, and TAQA, with flights expected to begin on 1 July 2020.

Serica Energy said on 9 March that production resumed from the Bruce platform, after it had been halted at the end of January for engineering work to secure an unused caisson, which was found to be in a deteriorated condition.

“We are delighted that we have been able to restart production considerably sooner than we had initially predicted,” said Mitch Flegg, Serica Energy’s CEO.

“This work will have no negative impact on future production rates or on the ultimate recovery of reserves from Bruce, Keith and Rhum,” Flegg added.

RockRose Energy announced on 10 March that the first of two infill development wells at West Brae, in which RockRose has 40% and is operator, had successfully completed and was delivering in line with expectations.

Tailwind Energy said on the same day it had submitted the environmental statement for the development of the Evelyn field in the Central North Sea. The first phase of development will consist of a single well, subsea tie-back to the Triton FPSO, with first oil expected by the end of 2022, Tailwind said.

In career moves, Neptune Energy said that Alexandra Thomas had joined the company as UK Managing Director, based in Aberdeen. Thomas joins Neptune from Tullow Oil plc, where she most recently held the position of Head of Exploration, Development and Commercial for Ghana.

BRENT OIL PRICES OVER THE YEARS

1

YEAR AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2019 - $71.23

For the first time in several months, U.S. energy firms increased the number of oil rigs operating. They added 15 oil rigs a week on April 5, which is the biggest development from the previous year (2018) bringing the total count to 83.

5 YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2015 - $59.52

With the steady development of the market, Metso Corp, opened a new valve and field device service center in Queretaro, Mexico. Lewa GmbH had been certified by the German Technical Inspection Association for their implementation of the workplace safety and health protection management system. The UK established the Oil and Gas Authority regulator.

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YEARS AGO

- BRENT OIL PRICE 2010 - $84.82

ProMinent, a German pump group, expanded the production plant in Giheung-gu, Yongin City, Gyeonggi-do by investing around €2.5 million. The biggest oil spillage disaster reseased 4.9 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Having a massive economic and environmental factor, the rig was burning for 36 hours before sinking.