Shell hires Orsted’s Brostrom to lead global renewables unit

By Reuters Staff: October 23, 2020 read more

Gas company NAM to cut hundreds of jobs as prices drop and production is squeezed

October 15, 2020

Dutch gas company NAM is cutting its workforce by hundreds of jobs as gas prices fall and production is cut back.

Over the next six months, 200 to 300 of the permanent workforce of 1,300 will be able to take advantage of a voluntary redundancy scheme and a further 300 contract workers will be let go, regional paper Dagblad van het Noorden said.

Director Johan Atema told the paper that the company had been hit by falling gas prices. ‘We are supplying almost as much gas as last year, but our income has halved,’ he said. ‘Then you are talking about a crisis situation.’ read more

TIMELINE-Twists and turns in Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany

By Reuters Staff: OCTOBER 7, 2020

Oct 7 (Reuters) – Poland has fined Russia’s Gazprom more than $7.6 billion for building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline without Warsaw’s approval, its watchdog said on Wednesday.

Russia’s bid to double its gas export capacity across the Baltic Sea has prompted opposition, including U.S. sanctions, stalling completion of the $11 billion pipeline.

In addition to Europe’s increased reliance on Russian gas, opponents are wary of Moscow’s motives as the pipeline will allow it to curb gas transit via Ukraine, cutting off a source of revenue for Kiev. read more

Shell adopts new commercialisation and generation structure in Brazil

October 7 (Renewables Now) – Oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell Plc (AMS:RDSA) has adopted a new structure in Commercialisation and Electric Generation in Brazil.

Shell Brasil will follow a business strategy that focuses on the generation and storage of renewable energies and natural gas, as well as on the commercialisation and optimisation, and sales to end consumers of company-branded integrated energy solutions. The director of New Energies of Shell Brasil, Guilherme Perdigao Nascimento, will lead this business. read more

Shell backs hydrogen for shipping’s decarbonization

• Author Britt Russell-Webster     Jeffrey McDonald     Piers De Wilde 
• Editor Jonathan Loades-Carter 
• 02 Oct 2020

London — Energy group Shell has revealed plans to back hydrogen fuel cells on the road to shipping’s 2050 decarbonization goals, tagging LNG bunkers as the bridging fuel between that and conventional oil-based bunker fuels.

“We believe liquid hydrogen to be advantaged over other potential zero-emissions fuels for shipping, therefore giving a higher likelihood of success,” it said in its latest report, ‘Decarbonising Shipping: Setting Shell’s Course.’ read more

LNG Canada construction delay creates cost uncertainty, clouds world supply

Corey Paul: 2 Oct, 2020

Two years after a Royal Dutch Shell PLC-led consortium gave the commercial go-ahead for the massive LNG Canada export terminal in British Columbia — dubbed the single largest private sector investment in Canadian history — construction delays have clouded the LNG supply picture and raised the prospect of cost overruns.

The project was likely about four months behind schedule in February because of factors that included delays in engineering and making equipment for the terminal off-site, according to analysts at the investment research firm Webber Research & Advisory. Now the project is probably around six months behind, which is enough to suggest the potential for significant cost overruns and pressure on a planned expansion, the firm said. read more

Big Oil’s $110 billion asset sale target could prove big ask

By Ron Bousso: October 1, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Leading energy companies are hoping to sell dozens of oil and gas fields and refineries worth more than $110 billion to curb both their ballooning debt and their carbon footprints.

But with the outlook for oil and gas prices uncertain because of the coronavirus pandemic and a shift to cleaner energy, finding buyers and striking deals might prove tricky.

“This is not a very good time to sell assets,” Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said while presenting the French giant’s strategy to switch to renewables on Wednesday. read more

Australia trims 2020-21 LNG export forecasts on COVID-19, production issues

• AuthorNathan Richardson 
• EditorAastha Agnihotri 
• CommodityNatural Gas

Sydney — Australia has cut forecasts for the country’s LNG exports for 2020-2021 (July-June) by some 6% to 75.6 million mt, citing the expected impacts of both the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic technical issues.

If realized, the forecast for the current fiscal would see volumes fall by 3.7 million mt year on year. They are expected to recover in 2021-2022 to 80.1 million mt, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said Sept. 28 in a report. read more

U.S. and European Oil Giants Go Different Ways on Climate Change

While BP and other European companies invest billions in renewable energy, Exxon and Chevron are committed to fossil fuels and betting on moonshots.

HOUSTON — As oil prices plunge and concerns about climate change grow, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other European energy companies are selling off oil fields, planning a sharp reduction in emissions and investing billions in renewable energy.

The American oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil are going in a far different direction. They are doubling down on oil and natural gas and investing what amounts to pocket change in innovative climate-oriented efforts like small nuclear power plants and devices that suck carbon out of the air. read more

COMMODITIES

Kosmos Energy to sell some exploration assets to Shell

(Reuters) – Oil and gas producer Kosmos Energy said on Wednesday it agreed to sell certain exploration assets in Africa and South America to a unit of Royal Dutch Shell for up to $200 million.

Shell will acquire the company’s participating interest in blocks offshore São Tomé and Príncipe, Suriname, Namibia and South Africa, Kosmos said in a statement.

Kosmos said it plans to use up to one-third of the initial sale proceeds of $100 million to test two high-quality infrastructure-led exploration prospects in the Gulf of Mexico. read more

Shell begins restart of Prelude FLNG after seven-month suspension

Libra Consortium takes final investment decision on Mero-3 FPSO in Brazil’s pre-salt

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Shell announced today a final investment decision taken by the Libra Consortium, operated by Petrobras, to contract the Mero-3 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to be deployed at the Mero field within the offshore Santos Basin in Brazil.

This is the third production system to be deployed in the Mero field, with final investment decisions to contract the Mero-1 and Mero-2 FPSOs already taken.  Each unit has a daily operational capacity rate of 180,000 barrels of oil equivalent, with production coming online over the next four years. The Pioneiro de Libra FPSO (50,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day) has been producing at Mero since 2017 and is a key source of information for the consortium to aid further development and productivity of the field, reservoir and wells. read more

Shell to begin seismic work on North Sea gas discoveries next year

by Allister Thomas: 25/08/2020, 11:20 am

It comes as the energy giant took over operatorship of the licences from Egdon Resources, farming in with 70% interest in both.

Under the deal, Shell will pay 85% of the costs for acquiring and processing the 3D seismic survey, which needs to completed by May 31 2021 under the terms of the licenses.

Shell will meet these costs up to $5million, at which point Egdon will be responsible for 30% of survey. read more

INSIGHT- In the run-up to U.S. election, drilling lobby promotes natural gas as “clean”

By Valerie Volcovici, Andrew R.C. Marshall and Matthew Green: AUGUST 18, 2020

WASHINGTON/LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) – America’s biggest oil and gas lobby group is ramping up its advertising spending ahead of the November election to persuade voters that natural gas is a climate-friendly fuel, according to ad buying data.

The campaign by the American Petroleum Institute (API), targeted at younger voters and some tight congressional races, is part of a global battle by the drilling industry to assuage growing fears over the role of natural gas in driving climate change. read more

LNG revenues smashed on price slump

Angela Macdonald-Smith, Senior resources writer:12 Aug 2020

Australia’s revenues from LNG exports slumped a massive 52 per cent in July compared with a year earlier as export prices followed crude oil prices into the basement, cementing prospects for a big dip in export earnings from the commodity this financial year.

LNG export revenues for the country were likely about $1.98 billion last month, sinking from north of $4 billion a year earlier, according to an analysis released on Wednesday by consultancy EnergyQuest. read more

Big Oil’s Most Profitable Business Is No Longer Oil

By Haley Zaremba – Aug 06, 2020, 4:00 PM CDT

It’s been a rough year for oil, to say that least. And the worst isn’t over yet. Even though oil demand, and therefore oil prices, have been slowly recovering, that upward trajectory is now running out of steam and we’re headed toward a slump amidst what will almost certainly be a yearslong recession in the wake of the economic fallout from the devastating spread of the novel coronavirus. read more

Shell to change-up FIFO roster at Australian operations

Paul Hunt: Senior Journalist: Oil & Gas, Policy. 07 August 2020

Currently FIFO staff work three weeks on, four weeks off, then three weeks on and five weeks off but under the new proposed agreement, employees would simply do a four week on, four week off roster.

In a power-point presentation leaked to Energy News this week, Shell Australia said a new roster was needed due to interstate travel restrictions, and the combined impact of a 14-day quarantine requirement for FIFO staff. read more

Shell gets green light for huge Crux backfill project

SHELL Australia has been granted approval by the national oil and gas regulator for development of its massive Crux field offshore Western Australia, though the company earlier flagged a delay to the development thanks to pandemic and oil price concerns.

Paul Hunt: Senior Journalist: Oil & Gas, Policy. 05 August 2020

The 2 trillion cubic feet Crux gas field project will be the source of backfill for the Prelude floating LNG vessel, which has not sent a cargo since February.

The development will consist of five subsea production wells tapping into the northern Browse Basin, which will then be tied back to an unmanned platform. read more

Shell Signs Charter Contracts for Six Newbuild LNG Carriers

BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 08-03-2020 04:29:49

Shell Tankers (Singapore) Private Limited (“Shell”) has agreed long-term charter contracts for six newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

Shell has signed separate agreements for two LNG ships each with affiliates of Knutsen LNG, Korea Line Corporation, and ICBC Financial Leasing and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

The state-of-the-art 174,000 cbm LNG ships will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. They will all be equipped with efficient dual-fuel X-DF engines, boil-off management plants, air lubrication systems and shaft generators for auxiliary power. The design and addition of energy efficiency technologies will give these ships the best emissions performance in their class. read more

Magu: International groups write Buhari, say Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight may suffer setback

Prominent international groups involved in anti-corruption efforts globally have written to President Muhammadu Buhari on what they consider the unfortunate treatment of Ibrahim Magu.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the arrest of Mr Magu, acting chairman of Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, EFCC, on Monday.

He has been detained since then as he continues to appear before a panel probing allegations of corruption and insubordination against him. The allegations were made by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. read more

Shell eyes $2.2 billion divestment from giant Indonesia gas project

by Damon Evans:09/07/2020, 3:40 pm

Similar rumours about Shell’s exit emerged in early 2019, but Inpex, the Japanese operator of the Masela Block, subsequently won approval for a new development plan, including additional fiscal incentives to enhance the project’s economics, Andrew Harwood, Asia Pacific research director at Wood Mackenzie, told Energy Voice.

However, “there is more substance behind the news this time, with Shell’s recent decision to write-down the value of its upstream portfolio perhaps signaling a wider portfolio review,” added Harwood. read more

Coronavirus Takes a Toll on Shell Imposing $15-$22B Write-Offs

What Does the Record Write-Down Imply?

The energy industry, grappling with the twin demerits of oversupply and low pricing, expects the weak macro environment to persist. Companies like Shell and BP are carrying assets on their balance sheets that were purchased/developed at a time when commodity prices were materially higher than the current figures. As the market deteriorates, the operators are ultimately forced to take write-offs. read more

Shell secures biogas supply as part low-carbon shift

JUNE 30, 2020 / 8:35 PM

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy renewable gas, known as biomethane, from Denmark’s Nature Energy, in what the smaller company termed the largest deal of its kind.

The gas will be supplied to Europe’s pipeline network from July 1. The size and financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

In April, Shell laid out the oil and gas sector’s most extensive strategy yet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. read more

By Nick Cunningham – Jun 30, 2020, 5:00 PM CDT

Royal Dutch Shell said that it could cut the value of its oil and gas assets by as much as $22 billion, as it takes a dim view of the state of the oil market. The move adds more evidence to the notion that a huge slice of oil reserves will wind up as stranded assets.  Shell cut its Brent oil prices forecast from $60 per barrel to $35 for this year, and lowered its 2021 and 2022 forecasts to $40 and $50 per barrel, respectively, down from $60 previously. The lower outlook reflects the expected damage to the oil market due to the coronavirus and the negative impacts on the global economy, Shell said. read more

Big Oil’s Long Bet on Hydrogen Offers a Climate Lifeline

(Bloomberg) — On particularly cold winter days, the vast majority of the U.K.’s energy comes from burning natural gas. That arrangement will have to change radically–and soon–if the country is to hit its legally mandated target of net-zero emissions by 2050. As other countries adopt similar targets to align with the Paris climate agreement, they too will have to find an alternative to natural gas. That leaves fossil fuel companies with a ticking clock.

Hydrogen burns cleanly, leaving only water behind. That’s made it an attractive alternative fuel source–not just for governments looking to satisfy climate mandates, but also for oil companies trying to ensure their continued relevance. Oil-and-gas majors such as Shell, Equinor, and BP have spent tens of millions of dollars on pilot projects. Now in the face of record-low oil prices, frozen international travel, and growing shareholder unease over greenhouse gas emissions, investing in hydrogen has taken on a new urgency. read more

Zacks Equity Research: Zacks June 15, 2020

Shell Foresees LNG Market Rebounding From Coronavirus Lows

Shell & LNG

Shell became the largest LNG producer in the world following the acquisition of BG Group Plc in 2016, which boosted its portfolio of supply contracts and stakes in LNG plants around the world. In fact, in the recently-released quarterly report, Shell’s earnings per ADS of 74 cents outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents on higher LNG sales volumes.

Coronavirus Hurts LNG Volumes

Over the past few months, the oil and gas industry has been in shambles, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that shook most sectors until now. Global fuel demand is visibly dented in the aftermath of large-scale travel bans imposed globally. As a result, the outlook for all the industries in the energy sector business is downbeat. read more

Shell, XOM to seek arbitration against Netherlands: report

May 29, 2020

Shell and ExxonMobil will file an arbitration claim against the Netherlands government over compensation for the early closure of gas field, according to Global Arbitration Review (GAR).

The companies operate the Groningen gas field through NAM — a 50-50 Dutch joint venture. Production from the onshore gas field causes earthquakes affecting local communities, which has prompted the government to shut it down early.

NAM is working with the Dutch government and other stakeholders to fulfill its obligations to residents of the area, which include compensation for damage caused by the earthquakes. read more

Shell, Pieridae to try again after Alberta regulator blocks license transfers

The regulator said the Nord Stream 2 consortium – which also includes Uniper, Wintershall-Dea, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV and Engie – did not qualify for an exemption…

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s energy regulator on Friday declined to grant a waiver of European Union gas directives to the operators of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, dealing a fresh blow to the project to carry gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

Nord Stream 2, designed by Russia’s Gazprom to increase direct shipments to Europe, is far behind schedule and has faced political opposition from Washington, as well as from Ukraine and Poland through whose territory Russian gas is shipped to consumers in western Europe. read more

Shell poised for investment in Nigeria LNG venture

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) says all conditions have been met for the final investment decision on a new liquefied natural gas processing unit at Nigeria LNG, including a formal commitment from the groups expected to provide financing for the project.

Nigeria LNG is a joint venture, with 49% owned by Nigerian National Petroleum, 26% by Shell, 15% by Total (NYSE:TOT) and 10% by Eni (NYSE:E).

Once operational, the new unit Train 7 will add 8M metric tons/year of capacity to the Bonny Island facility, taking the total to ~30M mt/year. read more

Alberta Energy Regulator blocks sale of Shell assets over clean-up concerns

Sakhalin-2 LNG postpones part of maintenance to 2021 -source

13/05/2020

Russia’s Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant will postpone some annual maintenance work to 2021 due to logistic difficulties over the spread of the coronavirus, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters on Tuesday.

Russia’s second-largest LNG plant after Novatek-led Yamal LNG had initially planned to complete the work this summer.

However, the source said the maintenance would be done gradually, at one of two lines and start in June. The first stage of the maintenance would last about a month, the source said. read more

By Elizabeth May | Opinion | May 12th 2020

It has been an interesting week. On the morning of May 6, I held a press conference in West Block before the weekly in-person session of Parliament opened. I spoke about how virtual Parliament is working, and Green recommendations to make it work better.

When we got to questions, the first one was CBC’s Julie Van Dusen. She asked about a possible bailout to Big Oil. And I explained that the evidence was coming in thick and fast that oil’s day was done. And she zeroed in on: “Are you saying oil is dead?” read more

By Alex Kimani – May 04, 2020, 3:00 PM CDT

After months of a deep and harrowing slide, fuel demand across the world is finally starting to sputter back to life. Traffic data, pipeline flows, and sales at gas stations in the Texas City of San Antonio, Beijing, and Barcelona all suggest that the oil demand slump may have already bottomed out. But don’t rush to pop the champagne corks just yet.  Indications so far are that the road to full recovery is going to be harder than climbing out of a subterranean pit, with many oil traders predicting that it might be a year or more before demand returns to pre-crisis levels. read more

Bloomberg News: Javier Blas: April 26, 2020

(Bloomberg) — Negative oil prices, ships dawdling at sea with unwanted cargoes, and traders getting creative about where to stash oil. The next chapter in the oil crisis is now inevitable: great swathes of the petroleum industry are about to start shutting down.

The economic impact of the coronavirus has ripped through the oil industry in dramatic phases. First it destroyed demand as lockdowns shut factories and kept drivers at home. Then storage started filling up and traders resorted to ocean-going tankers to store crude in the hope of better prices ahead. read more

SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) – GCL Oil& Natural Gas Co Ltd has entered a framework agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to explore setting up a joint venture based in eastern China to market and trade liquefied natural gas (LNG), the privately owned Chinese company said on Tuesday.

The proposed JV would secure LNG supplies from Shell and market the fuel to a receiving terminal which GCL is planning in Jiangsu province, GCL said in a statement.

A Shell spokeswoman confirmed the agreement. read more

APRIL 13, 2020 / 7:53 AM /

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Shell has, in an unusual move, offered liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for loading from 2021 onwards for a period of at least five years through a tender, three traders said on Monday.

The firm has issued a five-year strip tender offering four cargoes a year from 2021 onwards with an option to extend for another five years, two of them said.

The tender closes on May 18, they added.

The cargoes are likely for loading from Australia, one of them said. read more

8 April 2020

ROYAL Dutch Shell received around $110 million (£87m) more back from the UK Government in respect of its oil and gas exploration and production activity than it paid in taxes last year, the company has revealed.

In a report on the payments it made to governments in 2019 the oil giant disclosed that it received tax rebates in respect of its UK North Sea business totalling $116 million. These dwarfed the $6.5m that the company paid in fees.

The report highlights the value of the tax relief provided to firms in respect of the costs of decommissioning North Sea facilities. read more

Bloomberg News: Laura Hurst: April 7, 2020(Bloomberg)

— Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s greenhouse gas emissions edged lower last year due to asset sales, while the amount of natural gas burned off wastefully from its facilities — known as flaring — increased.

Shell’s direct emissions fell to 70 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019 from 71 million a year earlier, it said Tuesday in a report. That’s the lowest since 2016.

“The main reasons for the decrease were divestments (for example, in Argentina, Canada, Iraq, Malaysia, Norway and the U.K.),” the report said. “These decreases were partly offset by the startup of the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility in Australia.” read more

RTTNews.com

(RTTNews) – Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS-B, RDSB.L, RDSA.L, RDS-A) Tuesday said it expects to record post-tax impairment charges in the range of $400 million to $800 million for the first quarter, based on changes to oil price outlook for 2020.

In its first-quarter trading update, the company said it expects Integrated Gas production to be between 920 and 970 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. LNG liquefaction volumes are expected to be between 8.8 and 9.2 million tonnes.

In the Upstream, production for the quarter is expected to be between 2,650 and 2,720 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. read more

UPDATE 2-Shell pulls out of U.S. Lake Charles LNG project, Energy Transfer delays FID

* Energy Transfer delays FID from late 2020 to early 2021

* Shell relinquishes 50% stake amid spending cuts

* Decision comes after collapse in oil prices 

By Ron Bousso and Shradha Singh

March 30 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc pulled out of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant under development in Louisiana following the recent crash in oil and natural gas prices that has forced the company to make deep spending cuts.

Energy Transfer LP, which was developing the project with Shell, said it remains focused on the commercial development of Lake Charles and is working toward making an early 2021 final investment decision (FID) to build the plant. read more

Canada’s C$40 billion ($30 billion) inaugural natural gas export project on the west coast has remained on schedule despite the global Covid-19 outbreak, project managers said in an update.

The executives overseeing the Royal Dutch Shell plc-led LNG Canada project said the British Columbia (BC) construction labor force of more than 2,000 had so far remained sealed against the pandemic. Crews of 1,200 building the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal’s supply pipeline, Coastal GasLink (CGL), had also to date evaded the pandemic. read more

By Alex Kimani – Mar 15, 2020, 10:00 AM CDT

Global oil giants are facing ever-increasing public pressure and higher levels of scrutiny over their responsibility to curb harmful greenhouse emissions. Yet, in the sprawling oilfields of Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota, an industry-old practice of burning off unwanted natural gas has refused to die.

The burning off (flaring), as well as the intentional release (venting) of natural gas, is proving to be a black eye that Permian producers just can’t get rid of. read more

Hopes that Canada could turn into a gas export powerhouse seem to be waning fast.

The current climate for energy investments in the country and the global market for liquefied natural gas are a far cry from October 2018, when a Royal Dutch Shell Plc-led group announced plans to build a massive LNG terminal on British Columbia’s coast and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hailed the project as “a vote of confidence” in Canada.

The latest sign of disenchantment came this week as a C$9 billion ($6.7 billion) LNG project in Quebec lost a large potential investor, which the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. identified as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. That follows announcements last year that Chevron Corp. is planning to sell its 50% stake in an LNG project in British Columbia, and its partner in the venture is seeking to trim its stake as well. read more

Ekaterina Kravtsova, Nina Chestney: FEBRUARY 20, 2020

* LNG supply soared over past year, excess cargoes sent to Europe

* Shell sees supply growth easing from mid-2020

* Expects impact of coronavirus on Chinese demand to be temporary

* (Updates throughout with outlook for 2020, quotes from webcast)

By Ekaterina Kravtsova and Nina Chestney

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Asia will be able to absorb most of the growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply from the second half of 2020, with Europe ceasing to be a balancing market, Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday.

Excess cargoes have been sent to Europe in the past year as global LNG supply has been soaring, in particular from projects in the United States and Australia. read more

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday called for a peaceful solution to end rail blockades by indigenous rights groups protesting the construction of a natural gas pipeline.

Indigenous communities across Canada have blocked key rail lines for nearly two weeks to oppose construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia, which has forced Canada’s biggest railroad, Canadian National Railway Co, to shut operations in eastern Canada.

Trudeau, who called off a planned Barbados trip to resolve the escalating pipeline protests, told his top cabinet ministers that this “urgent situation needs to be approached in a way that builds trust and respect toward an immediate resolution with all parties.” read more

At the close of Egypt’s Red Sea bidding round, it is clear that international oil companies see opportunity in the country, and its growth is just beginning to swell. Egypt awarded Shell, Mubadala, and Chevron exploration rights in the Red Sea. Chevron and Shell each won one block, and a third block was awarded to Shell and Mubadala.

The three concessions cover a combined 10,000sqkm, and will require a minimum investment of $326mn. The licensing round started in February, following Egypt’s gas boom in multiple regions. The Red Sea bidding round included ten exploration blocks, each approximately 3,000sqkm. Saudi Arabia has also discovered large amounts of gas in the Red Sea, and is planning to conduct feasibility studies. It will use its autonomous subsea seismic acquisition fleet for its Red Sea exploration efforts, which are expected to intensify in the next two years. read more

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Protests broke out in many parts of Canada over the past week, triggered by arrests of dozens of protesters on traditional indigenous land along a route for TC Energy Corp’s (TRP.TO) planned Coastal GasLink pipeline.

The demonstrations have disrupted freight and passenger rail and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday urged protesters to find a quick solution.

WHAT ARE THE PROTESTS ABOUT?

The flashpoint was police arrests that started last week in northern British Columbia of protesters who oppose the pipeline’s construction on traditional land of the Wet’suwet’en indigenous people. read more