1. Equinor wins the largest offshore wind power contract ever in the United States
On Wednesday, equinor of Norway announced that it had been selected to provide offshore wind power for New York State, one of the largest renewable energy procurement projects in the United States so far.
The US east coast is one of the most attractive offshore wind power growth markets in the world. Equinor is currently operating in the US, UK, Poland and Norway. The company aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
2. Chesapeake energy company withdraws from bankruptcy protection
The bankruptcy plan of us oil and gas producer Chesapeake energy has been approved by us judges, clearing the way for the company to operate without court supervision.
According to the plan approved by the US court, Chesapeake will get out of bankruptcy after getting about $3 billion in new financing, reducing $7 billion in debt and $1.7 billion in natural gas processing and pipeline costs.
3. Shell joins equinor and YPF’s Argentina block
Norwegian oil and gas giant equinor and Argentina’s YPF have reached an agreement with shell to jointly sell a 30% non operating interest in can 100 offshore Argentina.
Can100 block, covering an area of 15000 square kilometers, is the largest block in the North Argentina basin. Equinor and YPF both currently hold 50% of the block and will each hold 35% after the completion of the transaction. Shell will hold the remaining 30% of the block.
4. U.S. regulators: large U.S. banks cannot refuse to provide funds to the oil and gas industry
The office of the Comptroller of the currency (OCC) on Thursday issued final rules to ensure so-called fair access to banking services, stipulating that large US banks (with assets exceeding $100 billion) must not refuse to provide loans to oil and gas companies.
The U.S. banking industry criticized the rule. Banks are increasingly aware of the reputational consequences of funding oil and gas projects in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic. Previously, financial institutions including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase made it clear that they would stop financing new oil and gas projects in the Arctic.
5. Canada’s oil and gas spending is expected to grow by 14% in 2021
Capital investment in Canada’s upstream oil and gas industry will grow 14% this year to C $27.3 billion (US $21.44 billion), although spending is still far below pre pandemic levels, the Canadian Petroleum Producers Association (CAPP) said on January 13.
6. EIA reduces forecast of global oil demand growth in 2021
In its latest forecast, the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) said that global oil demand in 2021 is expected to increase by 5.6 million B / D from the low of 92.2 million B / D in 2020, which is about 200000 B / D lower than that of last month.
7. Shell to lay off staff in UK
Shell said on Tuesday it would cut 330 jobs in its North sea operations over the next two years, most of them in offices in Aberdeen, UK. Shell still regards the North Sea as the core area of its business, but the global pandemic, collapse of demand and energy transformation have prompted major oil companies to re-examine their businesses and staff numbers. Shell said in September that it would cut 7000-9000 jobs worldwide, accounting for nearly a tenth of the total.
Post time: Jan-15-2021