The Dutch supermajor will take on a nonoperating stake in the largest exploration block in the North Argentine Basin, which remains largely unexplored.

I won’t sugarcoat it: The situation in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province is dire. Armed conflicts between security forces and the militant Islamic group, Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamo (ASWJ), known locally as “al-Shabab” even though it has no connections to the Somali group with that name, have left dozens of people dead and displaced thousands since last fall. The violence is not new; the insurgents have been mounting brutal attacks within Cabo Delgado since 2017. Some argue that these brutal incidents are a response to poverty and feelings of marginalization among the residents of the province. Others claim ASWJ is motivated by a desire to control the region’s vast natural gas and mineral resources.

Gender diversity and inclusion in the oil and gas industry has been widely promoted in the last decade to advance women in leadership roles. Following this, the SPE Java Section launched an initiative to encourage and empower women in the industry. The section held a webinar in November, which was moderated by Niesharsa Triaswari from BP Indonesia. In the webinar four high-profile women discussed and shared their leadership and experience in the oil and industry: Shauna Noonan, 2020 SPE president and director of artificial lift engineering at Oxy; Evita H. Legowo, general director of Oil and Gas Government of Indonesia (2008-2012) and professor at Swiss German University; Melanie Cook, president of ExxonMobil Indonesia; and Dian Andyasuri, president of Shell Indonesia. The opening session was led by Shauna Noonan, who shared her experience and first steps in the industry when she first came to Indonesia working for Chevron.

Oman has established a new state energy company, Energy Development Oman (EDO), as it seeks to use its largest oil block to raise debt, according to several news outlets. Bloomberg reported last month that Oman, which is struggling to finance a soaring budget deficit, planned to transfer its 60% stake in Block 6 from Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) to a new company, which would try to issue around $3 billion of bonds in the first half of 2021. JPMorgan Chase is said to be advising the government on the plan. A CEO, CFO and other senior executives have yet to be appointed. Block 6 contains 75% of Oman’s oil reserves, according to Wood Mackenzie. With a production capacity of 650,000 B/D, it is one of the largest crude deposits in the Middle East.

Canada’s methane emissions from the oil and gas sector in Alberta and Saskatchewan are almost twice as high as had been previously reported, according to a new study by federal government scientists. The study, published online in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, says the scientists measured methane in the atmosphere at four spots in the western provinces from 2010 to 2017. That’s almost double the sector’s annual average of 1.6 megatonnes as reported by the government’s yearly tally of national greenhouse gas emissions, the study says. Because methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, this difference equates to an extra 35 megatonnes of carbon dioxide pollution each year, the study says, using the same conversion ratio as the government. The study was done by scientists in the same department that releases this annual emissions “inventory.”

In 2012, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released the ‘Golden Rules for a Golden Age of Gas’ - a set of best practice guidelines for unconventional gas development designed to address key environmental and social risks and gain public acceptance of the industry. This study sought primarily to understand the extent to which the experience of developing a large-scale coal seam gas (CSG) to liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry in Queensland, Australia was seen to have aligned with the Golden Rules, and how well the Golden Rules were seen to contribute to public acceptance of the industry.

An evaluation tool was developed where the seven Golden Rules and their subclauses were adopted as criteria in a scorecard approach. We conducted interviews with 32 senior people who had been directly involved in the development of the CSG industry in Queensland, from local, state and federal governments, gas companies, host communities as well as researchers and consultant ‘experts’.

The Queensland experience of unconventional gas development rated reasonably well in relation to the Golden Rules, with scores of three or higher out of five for four of the seven rule categories. Across all the Golden Rules, industry performance scored more highly than the effectiveness of the policy/regulatory environment, highlighting the complex and sometimes conflicted roles of governments in developing a new industry. The rules addressing baseline measurement, full disclosure and engagement were seen as most important for public acceptance.

This study developed a new tool to evaluate perceived social and environmental performance of industry and effectiveness of governance in unconventional gas development applicable across different jurisdictional contexts. This application suggests that baseline measurements, open disclosure and public engagement should be the focus for building public acceptance. For new gas developments, these findings highlight the importance of having a robust regulatory environment in place that can coordinate activities and manage cumulative impacts.

This paper developed the method and strategies to optimize well density for oilfield development projects in Technical Service Contract (TSC) framework. The main TSC terms, including plateau production, capital investment, remuneration fee, etc., were summarized as the basis of well density optimization study. 8 calculation methods were recommended to estimate the technical reasonable well density which is fit for the plateau production requirements. Incorporating with the Shelkachov equation, which reveals the relationship between ultimate oil recovery factor and well density, an investment income analysis model, not taking into account the time value of money, was derived for TSC oilfield development projects. The well density values corresponding to the maximum and zero governmentWs profit were defined as government economic reasonable well density and government economic limit well density respectively. The influence of well density on contractor's profit was further investigated. Finally, the proposed method and investment income analysis model were used in a specific oilfield of the Middle East, which shows that the contractor's profit monotonically decreases with the augment of well density S within a certain range. The strategies, including enhancing oil recovery through drilling more wells and integrated operation with oilfield service companies, are recommended to the leader contractor of this TSC project.

Exxon Mobil plans to invest $200 million to boost natural gas output in Argentina's Vaca Muerta Shale, a spokeswoman reported recently. The company has asked the government of Neuquén province for a 35-year unconventional production concession in the Los Toldos I Sur Block, which the company operates. The Vaca Muerta is one of the world's largest sources of unconventional gas reserves, and attracting investment in the growing play there is a key priority for the Argentine government. ExxonMobil last year said it could invest more than $10 billion in shale projects over the region in the next 20 to 30 years. The company holds an 80% interest in the Los Toldos I Sur block, with Tecpetrol and Gas y Petróleo de Neuquén each holding 10% interests.

A new report from the IEA forecasts the global oil and gas industry will suffer a $1-trillion loss in revenue as a global pandemic saps demand and crushes prices. It might also set the stage for a price swing in the next few years. For the offshore sector, the collapse in oil demand and prices came just as the market was beginning to look up. Now many companies are focused on survival. This article discusses how various market segments, regions, and companies are faring in “the new reality.”