French Energy Company awarded a 20% stake in the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession, 5% interest in the Lower Zakum concession
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) on Sunday said it entered a major offshore concession agreement, awarding the French energy company Total a 20 per cent interest in the Umm Shaif and Nasr concessions and a 5 per cent interest in the Lower Zakum concession.
In a tweet, Adnoc said Total paid a participation fee of Dh5.3 billion for the concession. Both concessions will be operated by Adnoc Offshore, a subsidiary of Adnoc.
Total is the fifth energy company to enter offshore concession after Indian consortium, led by ONGC Videsh, Japan’s Inpex, Spain’s Cespa and Italy’s Eni, who were awarded similar contracts recently.
Italy’s multinational oil and gas company, Eni, won stakes in two of Abu Dhabi’s offshore concession areas with 10 per cent interest in the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a 5 per cent interest in the Lower Zakum concession last week.
Eni contributed a participation fee of Dh2.1 billion to enter the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a fee of Dh1.1 billion to enter the Lower Zakum concession.
Oil majors aren’t famed for their pranks, but Statoil had analysts checking it wasn’t April Fool’s Day when it announced a new name that turned out to have been acquired from an Oslo veterinary practice specializing in horses.“We checked the calendar,” SpareBank 1 Markets analyst Teodor Sveen Nilsen said in a note to clients. “It’s not April 1.”
Should shareholders back the change at its annual general meeting in May, Statoil will be called Equinor, a name intended to reflect the Norwegian oil company’s commitment to cleaner energy sources. Initial reactions on Twitter suggest not everyone is convinced by a rebranding exercise that chief executive Eldar Saetre said could cost as much as 250 million kroner ($32 million).
“I don’t expect Equinor to be love at first sight for everyone,” Mr Saetre told reporters in Oslo on Thursday. “Give it a little time, let it mature. I feel very confident that this is right and important for the company to do.”
At least the Norwegian oil company shouldn’t experience the legal challenge faced by Denmark’s Orsted A/S, which announced in October it was changing its name from Dong Energy to mark its departure from oil and gas. Descendants of Danish scientist HC Orsted have filed a lawsuit against the company for using the name, which they say is protected.
Nevertheless, delegates attending the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association conference in the capital had mixed feelings about the Statoil development.
“It’s sad to lose the Statoil name, but at the same time I can understand,” Christine Sagen Helgo, the mayor of Stavanger, the company’s hometown on Norway’s west coast, said in an interview. “It’s forward-looking. They want to highlight that they wish a greater balance.”
The name change is bound to “stir up some emotions,” said Frode Alfheim, the head of Industry Energy, Norway’s biggest oil union. But what counts is that the company remains 67 percent state-owned, stays in Stavanger and focuses on the Norwegian continental shelf, he said.
The name change is supported by Statoil’s five labor unions and, crucially, Norway’s government. Prime Minister Erna Solberg shrugged off a demand by the opposition Labor party that Parliament be involved, saying politicians should “respect” Statoil’s wishes. But even she conceded “it’s a name we will all need to get used to.”
Petroleum and Energy Minister Terje Soviknes was told of the plan about a month and a half ago, and found out the new name only recently, he said in an interview. He was “a bit bewildered” to begin with, but didn’t have any objections.“I can see that some people might make jokes,” he said. “At the same time, you feel it maturing quickly, and that it’s reasonable to highlight -- including through the name -- that you’re broadening the company.”
Iran's state-run oil company has signed a $740 million agreement with a Russian-Iranian consortium to develop two oil fields near the Iraqi border.
Under the agreement signed Wednesday, some 105 million barrels of crude will be produced over a 10-year span in oil fields in Aban and West Paidar in the southwest near the border with Iraq.The consortium includes the Russian state-controlled Zarubezhneft Oil Co. and the Iranian private Dana Energy Co.
This is the second energy contract with foreign companies following the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.Last year Iran signed a $5 billion agreement with France's Total SA and a Chinese oil company to develop its massive offshore natural gas field.
Galfar Engineering & Contracting Company has been awarded an approximately US$95mn contract by BP in Oman for the construction and installation of the gas gathering system.
‘This is to inform our esteemed shareholders and investors that BP Exploration (Epsilon) Limited – Oman has awarded Galfar a contract for the construction and installation of gas gathering system (phase II)’, Galfar said in a disclosure filed with the Muscat Securities Market.
The company said, ‘The contract term is for 33 months starting from March 15, 2018, including mobilisation and is valued circa US$95mn. We expect reasonable income from this contract’.
Earlier this month Galfar was also awarded a US$41mn subcontract by Petrofac E&C Oman for CMEI works package 1 for Salalah LPG project.
In its annual report for the year ended December 31, 2017 which was released last week, Galfar said its order book stands at RO483mn, out of which RO156mn is related to the oil and gas sector.
Despite contraction of spendings due to depressed oil prices, Galfar said it is well placed to maintain a healthy order book and has potential opportunities in the areas of gas production and downstream projects.