Daily Digest: February 26th, 2020

UK UPSTREAM REGULATOR SHIFTS FOCUS TO EMISSIONS

The UK offshore regulator Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has embarked on a fundamental shift in its policy approach to oil and gas, CEO Andrew Samuel told IP Week conference in London.

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The Big Picture:

Set up in 2014 to separate the government from the producers and so prevent conflict of interests, the OGA's objective was originally to maximise the economic recovery (MER) of the UK.
This has been replaced by the objective of a net zero carbon UK Continental Shelf by 2050, following the government's plan for the UK as a whole.

Samuel said that many of the producers had taken big strides towards that goal, for example through electrification of offshore platforms instead of using gas to drive turbines.

NORWAY CLEARS SKOGUL FIELD FOR LAUNCH

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) have approved the start-up of the Skogul oil and gas field in the North Sea, it said in a statement on February 24.

The Big Picture:

The field, operated by Norwegian player Aker BP, was discovered in 2010 and contains 8.9mn barrels of recoverable oil and 140mn m3 of gas. This makes it one of the smallest deposits on the Norwegian shelf, the NPD said.
Aker BP has a 65% stake in the licence containing Skogul, while its Polish partner PGNiG owns the remaining 35% interest.
The field is scheduled to start flowing in March 2020, the NPD said.

TURKEY TO BUILD GAS PIPE TO AZERI EXCLAVE

Construction will start on a gas pipeline linking Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan with Turkey, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on February 25 at a conference with Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

The Big Picture:

The project, which Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a memorandum on a decade ago, would provide Nakhchivan with 500mn m3/yr of gas from both Turkey and Iran, Erdogan said.
The region currently gets all its gas under a 25-year swap deal between Azerbaijan and Iran that came into force in 2005.

WOODSIDE, BHP ALIGN SCARBOROUGH STAKES

Woodside and BHP have agreed to align their participating interests across the WA-1-R (Scarborough) and WA-62-R (North Scarborough) titles, resulting in Woodside holding a 73.5% interest and BHP holding a 26.5% interest in each title, Woodside said.

The Big Picture:

The two companies have also agreed to apply for production licences in respect of both titles.
Woodside is targeting a final investment decision in 2020 for the Scarborough development and first cargo in 2024.

JADESTONE EXPECTS APPROVAL FOR VIETNAM GAS PROJECT SOON

Southeast Asia-focused Jadestone Energy’s field development plan for the Nam Du and U Minh gas fields, offshore southwest Vietnam, is in the final stages of the formal Vietnamese government approval process, it said February 25 in a statement.

The Big Picture:

Detailed engineering and procurement activities have started, in connection with the development, which remains on schedule for first gas production in late 2021, the company added.
Further commercial arrangements relating to the sale of gas from the project are being incorporated into long-form documentation with the buyer, in accordance with heads of agreement signed in 2019.

OZ COMET RIDGE SIGNS PIPE MOU

Australian explorer Comet Ridge and engineering firm LogiCamms have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together towards a 65-km pipeline connection option from Mahalo North (ATP 2048) in Queensland, Comet Ridge said in a statement.

The Big Picture:

Sydney-listed Comet Ridge is focused on the development of gas resources for the east coast Australian market and has tenement interests and a suite of prospective projects in Queensland and New South Wales.
Comet Ridge said it is continuing to work with Denison Gas and the Mahalo joint venture on the transportation of Mahalo North gas to market.

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