Saudi Arabia - joining the dots

A series of blog entries exploring Saudi Arabia's role in the oil markets with a brief look at the history of the royal family and politics that dictate and influence the Kingdom's oil policy

Friday, 16 July 2021

SSE and Equinor developing plans for hydrogen storage in West Yorkshire

 SSE Thermal and Equinor are developing plans for one of the world’s largest hydrogen storage facilities at their existing Aldbrough site on the East Yorkshire coast. The facility could be storing low-carbon hydrogen as early as 2028.The existing Aldbrough Gas Storage facility, which was commissioned in 2011, is co-owned by SSE Thermal and Equinor, and consists of nine underground salt caverns, each roughly the size of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Upgrading the site to store hydrogen would involve converting the existing caverns or creating new purpose-built...

Wednesday, 23 June 2021

European gas prices hit decade highs

 NBP is at 75p/therm (~33% increase YTD)TTF is at €30.4/MWh (~65% increase YTD)Despite the sharp rise in European gas prices and arbitrage opportunity for US LNG into Europe, LNG cargoes are being pulled to Asia where prices remain elevated and fetching premiu...

Friday, 21 May 2021

Norway's offshore electrification grid

The Utsira High network powers a number of key fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf including:Johan Sverdrup (Equinor)Edvard Grieg (Lundin)Ivar Aasen (Akerbp)Gina Krog (Equinor)Gudrun (Equinor)Sleipner (Equin...

Tuesday, 18 May 2021

BP close to selling Shearwater

NEWS: BP is rumoured to be close to finalising a sale of its 28% stake in the Shearwater field to Tailwind Energy, a North Sea explorer headed by ex-CNOOC veteran Steve Edwards and financing to be obtained from shareholder Mercuria.BP has previously agreed to sell the asset to Premier Oil in 2020 but that deal fell through as a result of the collapse on oil prices and COVID-19. Premier Oil had also agreed to buy BP's Andrew asset at the time.BP is also divesting the Andrew asset and it is understood that is being sold to another par...

Tuesday, 23 March 2021

HyWind Scotland takes the crown for highest UK wind farm load factor

 For its third consecutive year, Hywind Scotland – the world’s first floating offshore wind farm – reaches the highest average capacity factor for any wind farm in the UK.With an average capacity factor of 57.1% in the twelve month period to March 2020, the floating offshore wind farm set a new record in the UK.During its first two years of operation, the wind farm achieved an average capacity factor of 54%. That compares to an offshore wind...

Thursday, 18 March 2021

Tullow: Dry well offshore Suriname

 Tullow had announced that the Goliathberg-Voltzberg North exploration well, on Block 47 (TLW 50%), offshore Suriname was drilled to a ~5,000m TD and encountered good quality reservoir but only minor oil shows.The well will now be plugged and abandoned. Tullow operated the well and was partnered with Petroandina Resources and Ratio Suriname Limited.This does not have a direct read across to Tullow's Guyana acreage but is clearly not helpful...

Wednesday, 17 March 2021

Equinor: all three UK low-carbon projects receive government funding to mature concepts

All three of Equinor’s projects to deliver deep cuts in emissions from industries and support clean growth on the UK’s east coast have received public funding from UK authorities. With a combination of private and public funding, Equinor and its partners will now progress these projects in order to create the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040.On 17 March 2021 the UK Government announced the funding awards under the UK’s Industrial...