June’s top news stories

Saudi Aramco and Adnoc to build $44bn refinery project in India

Saudi Aramco signed a framework agreement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to jointly develop and build the proposed $44bn integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Maharashtra, India.

Located at Ratnagiri, the refinery is expected to have a processing capacity of 1.2 million barrels of crude oil a day and will produce refined petroleum products, including petrol and diesel meeting Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) fuel-efficiency regulations of India.

Under the terms of the agreement, Aramco and Adnoc will build, own and operate the complex under a joint venture (JV) with a consortium of Indian national oil companies comprising Indian Oil (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL).

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Qatar Petroleum to invest $20bn in US oil and gas fields

Qatar Petroleum is reportedly planning to invest $20bn in US oil and gas fields over five years, as parts of its plan to expand operations in the country.

A portion of the investment will be toward arranging gas supplies for the Golden Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Sabine Pass, Texas, which the company is developing in partnership with Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.

According to Qatar Petroleum CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Qatar is expected to announce a deal in the US by the end of the year, while the country is also planning to make an additional investment of $5bn in downstream assets such as chemicals projects.

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Total signs deal to develop LNG bunker supply chain in Singapore

Total signed an agreement with Pavilion Energy to jointly develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker supply chain in the port of Singapore.

The agreement covers the shared long-term time charter of a new generation LNG bunker vessel (LNGBV), which will be commissioned by Pavilion Energy subsidiary Pavilion Gas by 2020.

In addition, the companies agreed to an LNG supply arrangement that will allow Total to deliver LNG bunker to its customers.

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GE unveils plans to separate BHGE to simplify corporate structure

US conglomerate General Electric (GE) is planning to fully separate its 62.5% interest in oilfield services firm Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE) over the next two to three years.

The decision announced by the company is part of a greater strategy to reduce debt and simplify its business.

It comes after a strategic review and the company will now focus on aviation, power and renewable energy.

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Petrobras to sell fuel distribution business in Paraguay for $383.5m

Brazilian oil and gas firm Petrobras reached an R$1.45bn ($383.5m) agreement to divest its fuel distribution network and other assets in Paraguay to Grupo Copetrol.

The deal was signed between Petrobras subsidiary Petrobras International Braspetro (PIB BV) and Grupo Copetrol’s Corporación Paraguaya Distribuidora de Derivados del Petróleo.

As part of the transaction, Petrobras will sell its stake in Petrobras Paraguay Distribución (PPDL UK), Petrobras Paraguay Operaciones y Logistics (PPOL) and Petrobras Paraguay Gas (PPG).

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Saipem-led JV wins onshore contract in Thailand for $925m

A joint venture (JV) between Saipem and CTCI secured a new contract to provide onshore engineering and construction services in Thailand to PTT LNG Company in a $925m deal.

PTT LNG is a subsidiary of Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas firm PTT Public Company.

Operating as the JV leader, Saipem will hold a 55% interest and a $500m share in the total contract value.

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Repsol and Google partner to achieve efficiencies at Spanish refinery

Spanish energy firm Repsol collaborated with Google Cloud to deploy big data and artificial intelligence for achieving efficiencies at the 186,000 barrels-a-day refinery at Tarragona, located near Barcelona.

Under the partnership, Google will provide its Cloud technology for the project, which will be carried out at the Tarragona Industrial Complex.

Through the project, Repsol aims to optimise both energy and resource consumption.

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Devon Energy to offload interests in EnLink Midstream for $3.125bn

US exploration company Devon Energy signed an agreement to divest its stakes in EnLink Midstream Partners (ENLK) and EnLink Midstream (ENLC) for $3.125bn to reduce consolidated debt by 40%.

The sale agreement, which is in line with Devon’s $5bn asset divestment programme, was reached with an affiliate of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

Pursuant to the terms of the deal, GIP will acquire Devon’s 95 million units in the master limited partnership ENLK and 115 million units in the general partner ENLC.

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TANAP pipeline connecting Turkey and Azerbaijan begins operations

The $8bn Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project was brought online in Turkey.

An inauguration ceremony was conducted in Turkey’s central Eskisehir province to mark the occasion, which was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

The 1,850km pipeline will transport natural gas produced in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-2 gas field in the Caspian Sea, as well as other fields towards the south of the sea.

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Phillips 66 to invest $1.5bn in Texas NGL project expansion

Energy manufacturing and logistics company Phillips 66 decided to proceed with an expansion of its natural gas liquids (NGL) project in Sweeny, Texas, US, with a $1.5bn investment.

As part of the expansion, the company will build two NGL fractionators in Old Ocean, Texas, as well as additional NGL storage capacity and associated pipeline infrastructure.

The company expects to begin commercial operations at the project in late-2020.