[ Oil & Gas ]
[ Oil & Gas ]
Outlook Oil & gas prices have subsided since peaking at over USD 100 last year . However , they remain stronger than they were at the beginning of last year ( Brent Crude stood at USD 78.71 on 10 July ). This is good news for producers , especially those in the West , who have been making bumper profits . It is less good news for consumers , as higher energy prices drive up the prices of other commodities . Many Western governments have imposed sanctions on or ceased to do business with Russia , which is being forced to sell its hydrocarbon products at a discount to India and China . Also , Russia has taken over certain foreign assets on its soil , while Western governments have done the same with Russian assets outside Russia .
Projects In Europe , a major challenge is to reduce energy dependence on Russia . Croatia is building a gas line to increase the import capacity of the Krk LNG terminal . Hungary and Croatia are planning to increase the capacity of a pipeline bringing gas from an LNG import terminal in Croatia to Hungary . The North Sea , though mature , continues to be productive : in December , Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 started up ; Shell decided to invest in the Jackdaw gas field , awarding the EPCI to TechnipFMC . The Norwegian government approved plans to develop the Irpa and Verdande subsea fields and the production well Andvare in the Norwegian Sea . Equinor ’ s Rosebank , the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea , may soon receive UK government approval ( although the licensing of new fields is a political hot potato in the UK ). The energy outlook in North America is also robust . The shale fields continue to be productive , allowing the USA to export LNG to Europe . In Alaska , ConocoPhillips approved its Nuna oil field , while on the Gulf Coast , ExxonMobil started up its Beaumont refinery , adding 250,000 barrels per day of capacity . In South America , ExxonMobil is advancing its fifth project in Guyana , Uaru , in the Stabroek block , which involves ten drill centres , 44 production and injection wells and the construction of an FPSO vessel by MODEC . Guyana also opened a tender for its first oil refinery . Equinor has awarded important projects in the Bacalhau and BM-C- 33 fields in the Santos area offshore Brazil . Argentina has increased output from its shale deposits at Vaca Muerta , the world ’ s second-largest shale gas reserve and the fourth-biggest for shale oil . In Africa , the energy situation is undergoing rapid transformation . Ugunda ’ s economy is expanding at a rate of 5-6 % per year thanks to its hydrocarbon investments . One oil rig has been commissioned , and three more are being developed . Azule Energy , the BP / Eni JV , began
Ukraine
A lot is at stake in the Russia-Ukraine war , not least fossil fuels . Russia took over Crimea in 2014 , partly to take control of the vast oil and gas reserves in the Black Sea . The Russiainstalled government in Crimea has already asked Gazprom to manage the peninsula ’ s resources . Moreover , Ukraine holds Europe ’ s third-largest shale gas reserves , located in the Russia-held Donetsk and Kharkiv regions . Ukraine has also lost control of the 45.6 % of its coal reserves that lie in the occupied eastern regions .
operations in Angola . An FPSO made in China was added to the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim natural gas project off Mauritania and Senegal . Nigeria ’ s NNPC started drilling for oil and gas at a field in northern Nigeria that has reserves of 1 billion barrels . In Libya , Honeywell will build the Southern Refinery project . South Africa , whose coastline remains largely underexplored , could be next . In the Middle East , the big news is the emergence of Israel as an oil and gas power . Its first crude oil exports took place in February . Its Tamar gas field in the Mediterranean has been expanding . A third pipeline was added , and phase 2 will bring online compressors already in place and add onshore infrastructure . Egypt is expanding at its vast Zohr gas field , with Saipem supplying 170km of umbilicals .
Launch of the Bacalhau FPSO at Dalian shipyard in China , 13 April 2022 . It is deployed in the Bacalhau field in the Santos area offshore Brazil . Photo © Equinor .
16 Stainless Steel World September 2023 www . stainless-steel-world . net