Russian Oil and Gas Industry: News #2

JohninMK wrote:

owais.usmani wrote:
Great!

Can't wait for the day when VVP inaugurates NS2 and all the fellas in capital hill go like

With the ceremony taking place at the German end. With the AKADEMIK CHERSKIY lying off shore in place of honour Maybe with Putin coming in from her by helicopter.

owais.usmani wrote:https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2020/04/novatek-construction-site-emerge-hotbed-coronavirus

Risking death for Arctic gas? Novatek construction site emerge as hotbed for coronavirus

VELESSSTROY, being a socially responsible company, strictly following all the requirements of regulatory authorities, does everything to protect the health of its employees.

In order to reduce the possible risks of infection, the work of VELESSTROY at the facility in Belokamenka of the Murmansk region will be partially suspended. This measure is necessary for the complete disinfection of facilities in a shift camp.

The employees working at the facility will be regrouped and again sent to the 14-day self-isolation for the period of disinfection. Such a measure will affect only those who have passed the necessary two-time testing for coronavirus with COVID-negative status. On the 10th day of isolation, each isolated person will undergo a mandatory third coronavirus test, and only after receiving a negative result will he be able to return home and stay there until an order to return to the project.

All isolated ones will be placed in hotels, rest houses and boarding houses in a number of regions of the Russian Federation - outside the project and in the Murmansk region. At the same time, the company will continue to fulfill its contractual obligations to employees.

Detailed information on the phased departure and temporary placement of employees the company management will inform additionally.

The planned return of shift workers to the facility will be implemented at the end of comprehensive disinfection measures.

Russia Cuts European Sea Ports Oil Exports To 20-Year-Low

Russia is preparing to significantly reduce the oil supply to the market from its Baltic and Black Sea ports—to the lowest in two decades in May when the OPEC+ production cut deal begins, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting a preliminary loading schedule it has seen.

Russian seaborne oil exports from the port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea and the Baltic ports Primorsk and Ust-Luga are set to drop next month by 43 percent on a daily basis compared to the oil export levels in April, according to Reuters estimates.

As part of the new OPEC+ deal, Russia has pledged to cut its production in May and June to 8.5 million bpd—or by 2.5 million bpd from a baseline level of 11 million bpd. These would be the largest cuts that Russia will ever attempt to make as part of the OPEC+ group. In the previous deals, Russia hasn’t fully complied with its quotas, attributing non-compliance to weather, complex geology, or the fact that condensate was considered (until December) as part of its oil production.

While Russia is likely to struggle to hit that reduction target, the slashed exports from the European seaports suggest that Moscow will be limiting the oil supply to international markets at a time when global inventories of crude and gasoline threaten to overflow amid the massive demand collapse in the pandemic.

Exports of Russia’s key export blend Urals are expected to slump to the lowest level since at least the early 2000s, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon, cited by Reuters.

Production of crude oil and condensate in Russia has been unchanged so far in April compared to March. According to data from the Russian energy ministry, seen by Bloomberg, Russia’s crude and condensate production averaged 11.289 million bpd between April 1 and 23—a week before Russia is set to reduce its production under the new agreement. In March, Russia produced 11.29 million bpd of crude oil and condensate.

The Russian pipe layer Akademik Chersky, the only Russian vessel capable of building the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, has again changed its course, according to data on the ship tracking portals Marine Traffic and Vesselfinder.

According to the portals, on Sunday morning, the vessel set a course for the Far Eastern Russian port city of Nakhodka, from which it departed on 10 February.

Poland Puts Pressure On Russia Through Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline

Poland is tightening the screws on Russia by threatening to hamper the construction of the Nord Stream 2 underwater gas pipeline, which would increase Russian energy exports to Europe by way of Germany, in an effort to force Russia's Gazprom to pay the $1.5 billion fee imposed under the ruling of the Stockholm Arbitrage.

In an interview with Polish news magazine Wprost, Poland's Deputy State Assets Minister Janusz Kowalski voiced Warsaw's readiness to seize the European assets of the Nord Stream project to force the Russian energy giant to comply with the decision of the arbitration tribunal in Stockholm.

"If the Russians still do not respect the law, then it is a good idea to seize assets of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2," Kowalski said, recalling the long-standing dispute between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz that resulting in a ruling calling for the Russian energy giant to pay $2.6 billion.

"It may, in turn, delay the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project," Kowalski added.

After a five-year dispute between Poland's state-owned energy company PGNiG and key gas provider Gazprom, Stockholm Arbitrage in late March required Gazprom to pay $1.5 billion for overcharging PGNiG since 2014. Along with the payment, the tribunal ruled that a gas pricing formula in PGNiG’s long-term deal with Gazprom should be pegged to market prices in Western Europe.

Although the ruling resolving the dispute came in favor of Poland’s leading gas firm, Gazprom had reportedly issued invoices for gas deliveries to Poland under old conditions that had been in effect before the ruling of the Stockholm arbitration court. According to the Polish company, Gazprom failed to meet new price conditions on its invoices for gas deliveries in March and the first half of April.

Earlier, Russia's Gazprom said that it was studying the ruling of the Stockholm Arbitration on reviewing Russian gas prices for PGNiG, adding that it was too early to give any estimate of the amount of the possible pay-off.

Poland, which is increasingly positioning itself as Russia’s geopolitical opponent, has been working to reduce its dependence on Russian energy sources. As the country's natural gas production covers around 25 percent of Polish demand, the Polish government are moving forward with striking long-term contracts for deliveries of liquefied natural gas from the United States, Qatar and other countries, as well as developing a new pipeline with Norway for deliveries from the North Sea.

Alexander Perov, the head of special projects of National Energy Security Fund, told Russian news website Baltnews that Poland's bold statement is based on the government's intent to terminate the deal with Gazprom when it expires in 2020.

"The Poles are now in a slightly different situation," Perov said. "The thing is that Poland intends to completely abandon Russian gas, so they can now behave more boldly with our gas monopolist."

"Anyway, Gazprom will be forced to settle for Polish claims, because there is an agreement, and Gazprom is obliged to comply with it. The second question is how they will come to an arrangement. It is quite conceivable that we will not see Gazprom return this one and a half billion," Perov concluded.

The 1,200-kilometer long Nord Stream 2, designed to deliver additional 55 billion cubic meters (or 2 trillion cubic feet) of Russian natural gas per year to Europe through the Baltic Sea and bypass overland routes crossing through Ukraine and Poland, is now facing opposition. The Gazprom-owned pipeline was expected to be finished by the end of last year, but delays caused by Denmark and sanctions imposed by the US on certain firms building Nord Stream 2 could potentially derail its completion.