July’s top news stories

Total completes $14.9bn financing for LNG project in northern Mozambique

French oil major Total secured $14.9bn in financing from several banks for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique.

The Mozambique LNG Project is being developed following the discovery of a large natural gas quantity off the coast of northern Mozambique in 2010.

It is operated by Total and comprises a global team of energy developers.

MOL discovers gas and condensate in TAL Block, Pakistan

Hungarian oil and gas firm MOL Group made a new gas and condensate discovery in the Tal block of Pakistan.

According to the company, this is its 13th discovery in Pakistan and tenth discovery in the TAL block, where MOL serves as the operator.

MOL said that the Mamikhel South-1 exploratory well, which was drilled at the Pakistani block, reached a total depth of 4,939m on 23 May.

Cooper Energy announces funding for Minerva gas plant upgrade

Cooper Energy has announced A$55m ($38.4m) in funding to support increased new gas supply for south-east Australia through an upgrade of the Minerva gas plant in Victoria.

Cooper Energy is the operator and 50% interest holder of the gas plant, while Mitsui Group holds the other 50% stake.

In December 2019, Cooper Energy, along with partner Mitsui, completed the acquisition of BHP’s 90% interest in the Minerva joint venture (JV).

Gazprom Neft and Shell partner to develop hydrocarbon blocks in Gydan

Gazprom Neft and Shell have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) to assess and develop a major hydrocarbon cluster on the Gydan peninsula.

The JV will leverage the capabilities of the two companies to carry out exploration and development work on the Leskinsky and Pukhutsyayakhsky licence blocks.

Situated in the Taymyr district of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Leskinsky licence block encompasses an area of more than 3,000km². It is expected to host around 100 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

PipeChina to buy major pipeline assets from PetroChina

China’s state-owned oil and gas firm PetroChina agreed to sell its major oil and gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG terminals), and storage facilities to the country’s new oil and gas pipeline company PipeChina.

The deal is valued at about CNY268.7bn ($38.36bn).

The target assets under the deal also include certain gas and oil storage facilities and other associated infrastructure.

Russian firm Novatek delivers first natural gas to Japan via NSR

Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Novatek announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Novatek Gas & Power Asia had shipped first cargo from the Yamal LNG project to Japan.

Novatek said that the LNG has been transported eastbound through the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

The Yamal LNG project is located near Sabetta in the Yamal peninsula in Russia.

Novatek executes the project through its subsidiary Yamal LNG.

Eni makes oil discovery in Egyptian Western Desert

Italian exploration and production firm Eni made an oil discovery at a new well in the South West Meleiha concession of the Egyptian Western Desert.

The SWM-A-6X well, drilled in the Faghur basin, is located about 130km north of the Siwa Oasis.

It has been drilled to a depth of 15,800ft and hit 130ft of net oil pay in the Dessouky Formation’s Paleozoic sandstones.

Trump lets Keystone pipeline ship more oil as expansion plans stall

US President Donald Trump issued a ‘Presidential permit’ to allow the existing TC Energy Keystone Pipeline to supply an additional 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Canadian crude oil into the US Midwest and Gulf Coast.

The additional supply of Canadian crude oil on the Keystone pipeline system will help address the increasing demand for the commodity from US refineries, Reuters reported, citing a statement from TC Energy’s chief executive Russ Girling.

President Trump’s latest announcement comes in the wake of the Keystone Pipeline’s expansion project facing legal hurdles.

US court orders shutdown of Energy Transfer’s Dakota Access pipeline

A federal judge at the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Energy Transfer-owned Dakota Access pipeline should be shut down.

The court ordered that the pipeline’s oil has to be emptied by 5 August this year.

The Dakota Access pipeline is a crude oil pipeline that has been in operation since 2017.

Chevron aims to restart Train 2 of Gorgon LNG facility in September

US oil major Chevron has reportedly said that it expects to restart the second train of its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Western Australia in early September after completing repair works.

Reuters cited Chevron’s spokesman as saying that Gorgon is carrying out the repair work following a routine inspection of the train’s propane heat exchangers.

Last week, Chevron said it is inspecting propane heat exchangers on the second train of the Gorgon LNG plant following maintenance checks.