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[sarkasm] 24/5/2016 07:55

U.K. Region Approves First Fracking Permit Since 2011
24/05/2016 1:20am
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LONDON—An English county government on Monday approved an application for what could be the first permit to frack for shale gas in Western Europe since 2011.

The North Yorkshire County Council voted 7-4 to allow U.K.-based Third Energy to use hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas from an existing natural gas well in Kirby Misperton in northern England.

"This approval is a huge responsibility. We will have to deliver on our commitment…to undertake this operation safely and without impacting on the local environment," said Rasik Valand, chief executive of privately held Third Energy.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process of using water, sand and chemicals to release oil and gas trapped in underground rock. The widespread use of the practice reinvigorated the U.S. onshore oil-and-gas industry over the last decade.

The U.K., which the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates has 26 trillion cubic feet of shale gas reserves, is one of the few countries in Europe whose laws allow fracking. But local governments haven't awarded permits for companies to start the process.

Prime Minister David Cameron is eager to replicate the U.S. fracking boom in hopes of reducing Britain's reliance on imported gas and offsetting declines in production from country's aging fields in the North Sea.

But companies that have proposed fracking in the U.K. have hit opposition from environmental groups and local residents in the rural areas where prospectors want to drill.

Last summer, the Lancashire Council in northwest England rejected applications by Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. to frack at two sites. Cuadrilla is appealing the decision and hopes to get a decision later this year.

Britain has since changed planning rules to speed up the process and to allow government intervention to approve or reject shale-gas drilling permits.

The government's "intent is good, but the delivery is not," Cuadrilla Chief Executive Francis Egan said at a conference in London last week. "Investors have patience but it's not limitless," he added.

Cuadrilla first submitted its applications to drill and frack in 2014. Third Energy submitted its applications a year ago.

According to the U.S. EIA estimate, Britain's shale-gas reserves amount to triple the country's current annual gas consumption.

But so far only one well has been fracked for shale gas—by Cuadrilla in 2011. The government imposed a moratorium after those fracking activities caused minor earthquakes nearby. Britain lifted the moratorium in 2012, but there has been no fracking since.

Analysts have said that even in the most favorable circumstances, large scale development is at least five to 10 years away.

France's Total SA and utility Engie SA along with tiny shale explorers IGas Energy PLC, Egdon Resources, Celtique Energie Petroleum Ltd and Swiss chemicals giant Ineos also have licenses to explore onshore for shale gas.

Write to Selina Williams at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 23, 2016 21:05 ET (01:05 GMT)

[waldron] 23/5/2016 07:31

Forbes Asia
May 22, 2016 @ 09:15 PM 521 views
Exxon Mobil Considers A Reaction To The French Oil Company Total Moving Into Its Backyard

Tim Treadgold ,

Contributor

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

A $2.2 billion liquefied natural gas deal in the Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea would not normally attract the interest of an oil industry super-major such as Exxon Mobil — if it wasn’t for corporate pride and a desire to keep the French out of Exxon Mobil’s backyard.

Until last week the U.S. company was the dominant player in PNG’s gas export industry with a 33.2% stake in the only existing project, along with the status of operator.

But, if a deal involving an undeveloped group of gasfields proceeds as planned the French oil company, Total , could emerge with a controlling interest, potentially hindering Exxon Mobil’s plans to expand its project which is best known as PNG LNG.

What’s happened is that PNG’s local oil and gas champion, Oil Search , has agreed to buy New York-listed InterOil in a deal which will give it increased exposure to the Elk and Antelope gasfields, the assets which might form the basis of the country’s second LNG development.

Complex Moves

As part of the complex transaction Total has entered into a secondary transaction that will see it buy a bigger stake in the Elk and Antelope fields with Oil Search allowing its stake to be watered down to 29% in the proposed new development the same percentage it already holds in the Exxon Mobil run PNG LNG project.

Total is keen to quickly develop Elk and Antelope and use them as its entry into the fast-growing Asian LNG business.

Exxon Mobil would be less keen because it has been eyeing Elk and Antelope as potential sources of additional gas for the PNG LNG business which currently has two production trains (gas liquefaction units) but has room to add another two trains if the gas is available.

Deep PNG Roots

Oil Search, which is listed on the Australian stock exchange, is king maker in what’s happening thanks to its PNG roots which date back to 1929 and a close association with the government of PNG which has a 10% stake in the business.

[waldron] 22/5/2016 20:00

French Utility Engie Enters Battery Storage Business With Acquisition Of 80% Stake In Green Charge Networks

May 22nd, 2016 by James Ayre

The French utility company Engie has acquired an 80% stake in the Californian firm Green Charge Networks, according to recent reports — marking the company’s entrance into the battery storage sector.

The majority acquisition of the Californian company follows a similar move made recently by Engie’s fellow French utility company Total — a $1.1 billion purchase of shares of the lithium-ion battery technology company Saft.

green charge networks

While the specifics of the recent deal between Engie and Green Charge Networks haven’t been publicly revealed, it seems likely that Engie will be putting some of its considerable resources at the disposal of the American firm. Green Charge Networks currently maintains offices in San Diego, Santa Clara, and New York.

The current Green Charge Networks portfolio consists of 48 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy storage projects deployed or under construction — at 150 different sites around the US. Most of this project capacity pertains to industrial and commercial clients — in particular as a means of load management for those to whom such an approach can lead to notable savings.

Despite being a French company, Engie already possesses a large, and growing, network of clients in North America. The company has also begun expanding into the renewable energy sector — this includes the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding with the South African firm Eskom that will see 100 megawatts (MW) of new concentrating solar power (CSP) projects developed.

The company also recently invested in the American cloud-based energy service management software Tendril.

The CEO and President of Engie’s North America business unit, Frank Demaille, commented: “This acquisition will reinforce Engie’s strengths and skills in the activities of decentralized energy management, off-grid solutions, and power reliability.”

The CEO of Green Charge Networks, Vic Shao, commented as well: “Engie’s long-term financial and commercial support presents an opportunity to scale our business to a completely new

[maywillow] 21/5/2016 16:52

Anthony McAuley

May 21, 2016 Updated: May 21, 2016 07:28 PM

Related

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China, Platts and the unprecedented oil trading debate

Topics:

Oil

One-page article

The growing dominance of China in Asian oil trading is a problem that will not go away for Arabian Gulf crude producers.

The question now is whether the new generation of technocrats that in recent months have taken over the national oil companies in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere in the region will act on pledges to be more transparent and efficient by modernising crude oil trading with their major Asian clients, especially China.

The fact that China has become not only Asia’s dominant oil buyer but the world’s swing consumer was underlined last week by Platts, an arm of McGraw Hill Financial whose oil pricing system is a linchpin of Asian oil trading.

China’s oil demand has exploded over the past decade, from 2 million barrels per day to a record above 8 million bpd in February this year, making it the biggest oil importer in the world, said Daniel Colover, a Platts analyst in Singapore. China will get even more dominant, as it will account for the bulk of the Asia Pacific region’s forecast demand growth of 800,000 bpd this year, Mr Colover added, which is two-thirds of forecast global demand.

China has added a new dimension by allowing its independent refining sector – the so-called teapot refiners – to import crude oil directly, which this year added about 1 million bpd. At the same time, the big Chinese state oil companies – China National Petroleum Corp, China National Offshore Oil Corp, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) – have been adding huge amounts of oil storage capacity.

Mr Colover estimates China’s current storage at about 290 million barrels, or about 30 days of demand. That will more than double to 600m barrels if China wants to match strategic oil storage levels in the West.

Growing demand is not a problem for Gulf producers – on the contrary, they have been fiercely fighting off competition from Russia, Africa and even Latin America to hang on to market share in China.

But China has made no bones about the fact that it intends to use its dominance to influence the region’s oil prices.

At a closed-door meeting at Opec’s headquarters in Vienna in March to discuss oil price volatility, Chen Bo, the president of Sinopec’s trading arm, told oil ministers and officials gathered straight up of China’s plans to dominate the Asian oil market.

“Obviously, the fact that Unipec [a subsidiary of Sinopec] said it is pretty significant as the voice of China. And the fact they said it in Opec headquarters is a pretty big deal," said a top executive involved in regulating oil markets.

“The Opec guys had to listen to their biggest customer telling them he was going to move pricing power to China," he added.

“To come into the belly of the beast and make a presentation like that, it takes a lot of [fortitude]," said Jorge Montepeque, an oil analyst who as a former employee of Platts designed the company’s oil pricing system.

There is general agreement that the oil pricing system for Asia is flawed and has allowed the big Chinese buyers to corner the market in physical crude trading, which determines the benchmark Oman and Dubai price, any month they choose to.

The effect of their action has been to highlight the lack of trading volume in the system and the ease with which determined large buyers can control oil pricing in Asia.

It also has led to lower relative prices for Gulf producers at a time when every cent on the barrel is crucial for government budgets.

Platts has sought in recent months to add more volume so that the Oman and Dubai benchmark is harder to manipulate. It added one crude from Qatar (Al Shaheen) and one from Abu Dhabi (Murban, Abu Dhabi’s largest stream of crude at about 1.5 million bpd).

The technical difficulties with that move became apparent in the first few months of the year as many sellers elected to deliver Al Shaheen, which has inferior qualities, while no one elected to deliver the superior Murban.

On Thursday, Calvin Lee, the head of Asia and Middle East oil markets for Platts, said it would introduce in July a “quality premium" formula for Murban to try to address this liquidity issue.

But the larger question is whether this kind of tinkering will solve a fundamental problem of transparency and regulation.

“There need to be safeguards to prevent the risk of distortion and to ensure the Dubai benchmark price mirrors true market supply and demand fundamentals," said Mike Muller, the head of oil trading at Shell, who has been the most high-profile advocate of bringing Asian oil trading under a regulatory regime.

“This will enable what the marketplace needs to be – a level playing field for all to express their views and conduct their hedging as efficiently as possible. The two managing words here are very simple: transparency and liquidity," he added.

Those arguing against the need for regulation include Mr Montepeque, who notes that regulators in other jurisdictions were not enough to fix badly constructed markets, while there is nothing stopping the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) from acting if they think the Dubai and Oman benchmark price is being manipulated.

But regulators say the DFSA only has jurisdiction over the Oman futures contract, not the physical oil market trading that sets Platts prices.

“If anyone has jurisdiction [over Platts physical markets], it would be the [Monetary Authority of Singapore, or MAS] because that’s where the Platts guys are based and where all the traders are, but even that is a moot point," said a regulatory official. “Certainly, the MAS doesn’t try to ever claim jurisdiction as it’s never brought an action in the physical markets, despite plenty of opportunities."

Advocates of regulation have argued that Gulf state producers – especially Saudi Arabia – should change their benchmark price from the murky Platts physical market to regulated futures prices.

While Shell does not argue for a specific futures exchange, Mr Muller says he supports the principle.

“We strongly support regulation that is intended and designed to make markets safer, more resilient and efficient," he said. “Market participants – the Middle East producers, the Far East consumers and the Western companies with major assets in Asia – will have to agree on an appropriate venue to provide the regulation.

“The Asian market is currently facing an oversupply and a lot of the major resource holders in the Gulf are looking to fortify or expand their market share," he goes on. “This is an optimum time to work towards a viable solution because refiners are more likely to sign up for these volumes if the basis on which they are sold and priced is transparent and hedgeable."

The Saudi oil leadership has been reluctant to make such moves in the past.

“The Saudis are extremely sensitive to being seen as influencing the price," said Mr Montepeque. “By policy, they want to be seen as a price taker, not a price maker."

But the new commitment to transparency from the very top in the kingdom, as it prepares to list publicly shares in the state oil company, Aramco, may bring a change.

[e-mail]

[waldron] 20/5/2016 07:11

Oil Search,Total Sign Deal On Acquisition Of InterOil Assets In Papua New Guinea
May 19, 2016, 10:28:00 PM EDT By RTT News



Comment

Shutterstock photo

(RTTNews.com) - Oil Search Limited and Total SA (TTA.L, TOT) said that they have entered into an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding. This follows Oil Search's agreement to acquire InterOil Corp., announced earlier today.

The MoU sets out the principles on which Oil Search will sell down 60% of InterOil's interests in PRL 15 and 62% of InterOil's interests in its other exploration assets to Total following the successful completion of Oil Search's acquisition of InterOil. The terms of the sell down will be consistent with the value implied under the InterOil transaction. Oil Search and Total will seek to maximise the value for all stakeholders by pursuing cooperation and/or integration opportunities with the PNG LNG Project. The MoU is expected to deliver significant value to Oil Search, InterOil and Total shareholders: Immediately de-risks Oil Search's acquisition of InterOil through the PRL 15 sell-down process, delivering certainty and incremental liquidity for Oil Search and InterOil shareholders; Establishes an aligned partnership between Total and Oil Search, with material interests in the Papua LNG Project, while also providing the possibility of bringing in new partners including LNG buyers.

In a standalone project case, aligns Total and Oil Search to deliver a robust LNG project with equity available for buyers and potential new participants.

Following the sell-down to Total, Oil Search expects to have an equity interest in PRL 15 of up to 37.4%, or 29.0% post government back-in, with Total holding an equity interest in PRL 15 of up to 62.1%, or 48.1% post government back-in. This equates to Oil Search selling down 60% of InterOil's 36.5% (28.3% post government back-in) PRL15 interest to Total.

After paying for the additional equity in PRL 15 and equity in InterOil's exploration assets, Total will also pay Oil Search a further cash amount of US$141.6million on 1 July 2017 and US$230 million at FID for the Papua LNG Project. No further contingent resource payments or exploration carries will be due by Total.

Under the MOU, both Oil Search and Total have committed to ensuring an accurate resource certification under the Total-InterOil SPA. Oil Search and Total are committed to ensuring the interim resource certification process is transparent and focused on accurately assessing the potential resource in the Elk-Antelope gas fields for the purposes of the CVR calculation and for guiding development plans for the Papua LNG Project. This process will follow the yet-to-be formally approved Antelope-7 appraisal well program.

For comments and feedback: contact [e-mail]



Read more:

[grupo guitarlumber] 19/5/2016 07:05

Engie Eyes Japan’s Liberalized Power Market Amid LNG Price Crash
Stephen Stapczynski


Engie SA may participate in Japan’s recently fully liberalized power market as LNG suppliers seek new revenue streams amid a price crash.

The Courbevoie, France-based company that was formerly GDF Suez partnered last year with Japan’s second-biggest utility Kansai Electric Power Co. to swap liquefied natural gas cargoes, and also supplies fuel to Tohoku Electric Power Co. LNG prices have plunged about 70 percent over the past 19 months amid a global supply glut.

“Engie is carefully monitoring the opening of energy markets in Japan, and is at the beginning of its consideration,”; said Patricia Marie, a spokeswoman for Engie. “We could consider entering the electricity and gas trading markets with local partners as the industry’s liberalization progresses.”

Japan liberalized its retail power market last month and will open its natural gas market to new entrants in April 2017. The nation is aiming by March to list power futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, and will start test trading with more than 10 companies as early as May 30. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in December the country’s power market was valued at 18 trillion yen ($164 billion) in the year ending March 2015.

LNG producers including Total SA, Woodside Petroleum Ltd. are seeking to invest more in downstream activities like regasification terminals, pipelines and power plants to boost demand. Total’s full integration makes it resilient and it may invest in an independent power plant, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said last month.

“We have seen many gas companies go to wire to monetize their supply,” Bob Fryklund, chief upstream analyst at IHS Inc., said in an e-mail. More gas companies will “look at this as a better way to get a higher overall margin for their supply.”
Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

[the grumpy old men] 19/5/2016 06:08

LONDON--The California-based Jacobs Engineering Group has been awarded a two-year engineering services contract by the Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company, known as Satorp, according to a statement published Wednesday on the company's website.

Satorp is a Saudi Arabia-based oil refinery joint venture between France's Total and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company known as Saudi Aramco. Located at Jubail Industrial City in the Eastern Province, the 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery produces a wide variety of downstream products from heavy crude oil.

The statement said that under the terms of the deal, Jacobs will provide a range of "feasibility studies, concept design and detailed engineering design services for a portfolio of minor capital expenditure projects."



Write to Kevin Baxter at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 18, 2016 10:25 ET (14:25 GMT)

[waldron] 18/5/2016 07:51

‘Smart’: Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of Total
North Sea oil has a future if industry is smart, says Total chief Patrick Pouyanne
May 18th, 2016 - 12:28 am Greg Russell
No comments

THERE is a future for oil and gas production in the North Sea, according to the boss of one of the world’s biggest oil companies.

And Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of Total, said his company will continue to invest in the UK.

He was speaking at the official opening of a new gas plant in Shetland, part of a £3.5 billion scheme to open up gas fields in the deeper waters to the west of the islands.

Total anticipates that the Laggan and Tormore oil fields will supply eight per cent of the UK’s gas needs, delivering energy for two million homes.

Pouyanne said: “There is a future for the North Sea, no doubt about it,” but added that the industry had to be “smart” in discovering ways to maximise the UK’s offshore potential. He said operating costs would have to come down to enable firms to weather the storm of lower oil and gas prices.

“We need to be sure that break-even will be able to support highs and downs, and today we are in the downs,” he said.

The industry shed around 65,000 jobs last year and thousands more losses are expected.

Investment in Laggan and Tormore was approved when oil prices were heading towards $100 a barrel, but when the first gas started to flow at the beginning of this year, prices had fallen to below $30 a barrel.

Pouyanne said: “The price is lower today, but we knew that when we invested there would be ups and downs. Our job now is to get the most out of these assets.”

[sarkasm] 16/5/2016 19:11

Total Opens $5B Gas Plant off Shetland Islands
Total Gas Plant Shetlands

French energy giant Total SA has officially cut the red tape on a US$5-billion gas processing plant on the British Shetland Islands that will eventually produce enough energy to supply some 2 million homes.

The plant is expected to reach production of 500 million cubic feet of gas per day, or the equivalent of 90,000 barrels of oil, making it the largest project in the UK in recent years.

About 2,500 workers were employed to build the gas processing facility, for which construction began in 2010.

Related: Oil Markets Balancing Much Faster Than Thought

The plant began processing gas extracted from the Laggan and Tormore fields, North West of Shetland, on February 7, eventually ramping up to its full 90,000 barrels per day capacity for its official opening on Monday.

This western Shetland region contains an estimated one-fifth of the UK's remaining oil and gas reserves, and the Laggan-Tomore development is expected to provide around 8 percent of the UK's gas needs.

Gas from these fields, which are some 77 miles off the coast, is then piped to a plant near the Sullom Voe Terminal before being transported to the UK mainland via pipeline and injected into the grid.

Related: Falling Chinese Demand Could Intensify The Oil War

Total chairman Patrick Pouyanne said, "The Laggan-Tormore development demonstrates Total's continued commitment to the United Kingdom. By opening up its third production hub in the frontier deep offshore waters of the West of Shetland, Total is also improving the United Kingdom's long-term energy security. This subsea-to-shore development is the first of its kind in the country and will provide the domestic market with 8% of its daily gas requirements while enabling the potential for further developments in the West of Shetland area."

This vast project comes as the gas and oil industry is going through a difficult period due to collapsed prices. Delayed investments, cuts in spending and divestitures of assets have led to 5,500 jobs being slashed in the North Sea oil sector alone.

By James Burgess of Oilprice.com

[waldron] 15/5/2016 20:37

June 06, 2016
Ex-dividend date for the remainder of the 2015 dividend

[waldron] 15/5/2016 20:36

24/05/16 | 10:00 Assemblée générale