Monday 31 January 2022

TotalEnergies sells minority interests in West of Shetland fields

TotalEnergies has signed an agreement to sell to Kistos Energy Limited a 20% interest in the Greater Laggan Area fields and in the Shetland Gas Plant in the UK, as well as interests in several nearby exploration licenses.

The transaction price includes a firm consideration of 125 M$, as well as two contingent payments, the first one up to 40 M$ depending on the gas price in 2022, and the second one in the event of development of a discovery on an exploration license.

The transaction is subject to the approval of the UK authorities.

The Greater Laggan Area comprises the Laggan, Tormore, Glenlivet, Edradour and Glendronach fields, located around 140 kilometers west of the Shetland Islands, at water depths of 300 to 600 meters. Development of the fields was launched in 2010 and production start-up was achieved in 2016. Production from the 20% interest sold to Kistos Energy Limited was about 8,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2021.

Following completion of the transaction, TotalEnergies E&P UK Limited will hold a 40% operated interest in the Laggan, Tormore, Glenlivet, Edradour and Glendronach fields, including infield facilities and the onshore Shetland Gas Plant, alongside partners Kistos Energy Limited (20%), Ineos E&P UK Limited (20%) and RockRose UKCS15 Limited (20%).

Wednesday 26 January 2022

TotalEnergies withdraws from Myanmar

Following the coup of 1st February 2021 in Myanmar, TotalEnergies has firmly condemned on several occasions the abuses and human rights violations taking place there. Since then, our Company's decisions have been guided by clear principles: to halt all our ongoing projects, but to continue to produce gas from the Yadana field, which is essential for supplying electricity to the local Burmese and Thai population, to protect our employees from the risk of criminal prosecution or forced labour, and, insofar as is materially and legally possible, to limit the financial flows received by the national oil company MOGE.

Despite the actions taken, TotalEnergies has not been able to meet the expectations of many stakeholders (shareholders, international and Burmese civil society organisations), who are calling to stop the revenues going to the Burmese state through the state-owned company MOGE from the Yadana field production. In fact, this is materially impossible for TotalEnergies, as most of the payments for the sale of the gas are made directly by the Thai company PTT, the buyer of the exported gas. TotalEnergies has also approached the French authorities to consider putting in place targeted sanctions that would confine all the financial flows of the various partners to escrow accounts without shutting down the gas production. TotalEnergies has not identified any means for doing so.

While our Company considers that its presence in a country allows it to promote its values, including outside its direct sphere of operations, the situation, in terms of human rights and more generally the rule of law, which have kept worsening in Myanmar since the coup of February 2021, has led us to reassess the situation and no longer allows TotalEnergies to make a sufficiently positive contribution in the country.

As a result, TotalEnergies has decided to initiate the contractual process of withdrawing from the Yadana field and from MGTC in Myanmar, both as operator and as shareholder, without any financial compensation for TotalEnergies. This withdrawal has been notified today to TotalEnergies' partners in Yadana and MGTC and will be effective at the latest at the expiry of the 6-month contractual period. The agreements also stipulate that, in the event of withdrawal, TotalEnergies' interests will be shared between the current partners, unless they object to such allocation, and that the role of operator will be taken over by one of the partners.

During this notice period, TotalEnergies will continue to act as a responsible operator in order to ensure the continuity of gas deliveries for the benefit of the population. TotalEnergies has indicated to its partners its willingness to ease the transition to the new operator and facilitate the transfer of staff who so wish.

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About TotalEnergies in Myanmar

TotalEnergies has been a partner (31.24%) and operator of the Yadana gas field (Blocks M5 and M6) in Myanmar since 1992, alongside its partners Unocal-Chevron (28.26%), PTTEP (25.5%), a subsidiary of the Thai national energy company PTT, and the Burmese state-owned company MOGE (15%).

The Yadana field produces around 6 billion cubic meters per year of gas of which about 70% is exported to Thailand where it is sold to the national company PTT and 30% to the national company MOGE for domestic use. This gas helps to provide about half of the electricity in the Burmese capital Yangoon and supplies the western part of Thailand. Gas is exported to Thailand through a pipeline operated by MGTC that carries gas from the Yadana field to the Burmese-Thai border, over 400 kilometers. The shareholders of MGTC are the same as the partners in the Yadana field and in the same proportions.

Friday 21 January 2022

TechnipFMC Awarded Integrated EPCI (iEPCI™) Contract by Equinor

TechnipFMC (NYSE: FTI) (PARIS: FTI) has been awarded an integrated Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (iEPCI™) contract(1) for Equinor’s Smørbukk Nord development.

The contract covers a high-pressure, high-temperature subsea production system and associated equipment for a brownfield tieback in the Åsgard field in the Norwegian Continental Shelf, where TechnipFMC has a large installed base. The award follows front end engineering and design work on the project in 2021.

Jonathan Landes, President, Subsea at TechnipFMC, commented: “Our ability to deliver this optimized solution for Equinor is possible due to our close collaboration with the client, portfolio of subsea equipment, and integrated execution model. We’re delighted to be once again delivering an iEPCI™ project for Equinor.”
The installation campaign will use TechnipFMC’s battery hybrid vessel, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions through reduced fuel consumption.

Tuesday 11 January 2022

Eni awarded five Exploration Licenses in Egypt

Eni has been awarded five new exploration licenses by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum. The licenses, four of which as Operator, are in the Egyptian offshore and onshore, and follow the successful participation to the 2021 competitive “Egypt International Bid Round for Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation” which was previously announced by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company through the Egypt Exploration and Production Gateway.

The licenses are located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (Block “EGY-MED-E5” in partnership with BP 50%-50% and Block “EGY-MED-E6” IEOC 100%), in the Gulf of Suez (Block “EGY-GOS-13” IEOC 100%) and in the Western Desert (Blocks “Egy-WD- 7” in partnership with APEX 50%-50% and “EGY-WD-9” IEOC 100%) with a total acreage of about 8,410 sqkm. The licenses are placed within prolific basins with proved petroleum systems able to generate liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons and can also rely on nearby existing producing and processing facilities and on a demanding market that will allow a quick valorization of the potential exploration discoveries.

The bid results are aligned with Eni’s strategy to keep exploring and producing gas to sustain the Egyptian domestic market and contribute to LNG export, thanks to the recent restart of the Damietta LNG plant.

Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954 and is currently the country's main producer with equity hydrocarbon production of around 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Monday 10 January 2022

McDermott Wins Scarborough EPCIC Contract

After successfully completing the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the Scarborough Project, McDermott International has been awarded a contract by Woodside, as Operator for and on behalf of the Scarborough Joint Venture, for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) services for its Floating Production Unit (FPU) offshore Western Australia. The integrated scope also includes the design, fabrication, integration, transportation and installation of the hull and topsides.

"McDermott brings the engineering and execution expertise to deliver integrated deepwater subsea projects and offshore FPUs to the highest standards," said Samik Mukherjee, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "After a long engagement on the project, the collaborative execution model with Woodside—from pre-FEED through to EPCIC—de-risks execution. Further, the facilities incorporate energy efficiency in design to reduce Scarborough's offshore emissions."

The topside, which will be approximately 30,000 tons, will be fabricated by McDermott's joint venture fabrication yard, Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan, in China. The project scope includes a battery energy storage system to reduce emissions on the topsides and support Woodside's net emissions reduction targets.

"McDermott will apply our long history of successful integrated project delivery for the Scarborough Project, along with our deepwater expertise and industry-leading health and safety standards to drive this incredible project to completion," said Mahesh Swaminathan, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific.

Engineering expertise will be leveraged from McDermott's Kuala Lumpur and Gurgaon offices, with McDermott's long-established subsea team in Perth supporting transport, installation, hook up and commissioning activities.

The FPU processes natural gas, which includes gas separation, dehydration and compression as well as mono ethylene glycol regeneration and produced-water handling. Designed for a production capacity of up to 1.8 billion standard cubic feet per day, the topside will be connected to the semi-submersible hull and pre-commissioned prior to transportation and installation in a water depth of 3,100 feet (950 meters), approximately 248 miles (400 kilometers) offshore Western Australia. The FPU will be capable of being remotely operated and minimally staffed during normal production operations.