January 28, 2021 - Energy Update

New Oil Deals In Iraq Carry Serious Geopolitical Implications

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

Near the beginning of December, Bloomberg sources suggested that the French oil major Total SA was looking to rid itself of its 18% stake in the Sarsang exploration block in northern Iraqi Kurdistan. Now, Iraq’s oil ministry has signed an MOU with the oil giant to execute “large and promising projects” in Iraq, specifically in natural gas and clean energy, the country’s oil ministry said on Wednesday. Total’s CEO Patrick Pouyanne was in the country at the time of the signing. Total already has a 22.5% interest in Iraq’s Halfaya…

Monthly fuel price adjustment

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday indicated an increase of upto Rs 1.60 per unit in tariffs of power Distribution Companies for the month of December 2020 under monthly fuel price adjustment mechanism, amid a heated debate within the Authority on use of expensive fuel, which will overburden the consumers. The increase which will be reflected in the bills of February 2021, is in addition to already approved Rs 1.95 per unit increase in base tariff of Discos to be recovered across the board. The Nepra Authority…

Sell-off of Discos

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

ISLAMABAD: Power Division has handed over the entire documents of power Distribution Companies (Discos) to the Privatisation Commission (PC) meant to expedite sell-off process of those companies, well-informed sources told Business Recorder. The Discos employees are already protesting against the proposed privatisation of companies, fearing that they will lose jobs. On January 5, 2021, Privatisation Commission wrote a letter to Power Division in which the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) of January 4, 2021 was conveyed, wherein it was decided that Ministry of Privatisation will expedite privatisation/management…

Imported LNG supply in Sindh

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

ISLAMABAD: The Ultimate Energy Services (Pvt) Ltd has signed an agreement with Energas Marketing (Pvt) Ltd for supply of imported LNG to the CNG stations in Sindh. The CNG industry has been facing severe gas loadshedding since a decade, which has worsened in the last two years. As a result, the CNG consumers have been deprived of their favourite and most-needed, economical and environmentally-friendly fuel. Energas Marketing (Pvt) Ltd was granted a marketing licence to import and market LNG in Pakistan. The company will also establish a LNG terminal. A…

MPCL awarded 4 new exploration blocks

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

KARACHI: The Directorate General of Petroleum Concessions (DGPC) has provisionally awarded four new exploration blocks to Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) in the latest block bidding round, the company announced on Wednesday. MPCL has been awarded two blocks as the operator and two as the joint venture partner with other local companies. The blocks have been awarded after competitive bidding based on work units committed by different E&P companies, in the Block Bidding Round 2020 arranged by the government. MPCL will hold 39 percent working interest as the operator with…

China pours money into green Belt and Road projects

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.comT&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found here.https://www.ft.com/content/8ec30baf-69e9-4d73-aa25-13668dcb659f Renewable power has for the first time made up the bulk of China’s Belt and Road Initiative energy investments as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated a shift away from fossil fuels, new…

NEPRA questions furnace oil use in power generation

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has once again questioned the use of expensive furnace oil instead of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) for electricity generation in December 2020. The regulator has also questioned the diversion of gas from power plants to other sectors during the month. At a public hearing of a petition of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), presided over by Nepra Chairman Tauseef H Farouqi, the regulator reserved its judgement on the application seeking a power tariff hike of Rs1.81 per unit on account of…

Ministry seeks cut in port charges

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

With claims of charging 300% higher port charges on liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels, the Petroleum Division has approached the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) with a proposal to reduce the charges. Two state-run energy companies – Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) – have pointed out that LNG vessels were still facing problems in navigating despite collection of $47.5 million by the Port Qasim Authority (PQA). The two companies have informed the Petroleum Division that the Channel Development Cess (CDC) was collected for the first 200 LNG carriers…

Azerbaijan seeks to build long-term energy ties

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

ISLAMABAD: Socar Trading — a commercial arm of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic — has offered supply of petrol and LNG cargoes to Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) round the year on credit under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement to build upon strategically friendly relationship between the two countries. A Socar Trading spokesperson told Dawn that Azerbaijan is a major producer of oil and gas and operates several oil and chemical refineries in many countries. Socar Trading, which has won the tender and confirmed the delivery of…

Rs3.50 per unit hike in power tariff on the cards

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 Admin

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday hinted at increasing electricity tariff by about Rs3.50 per unit over the next few days. At a public hearing on monthly fuel price adjustment (FPA) for distribution companies of ex-Wapda, the case officers of Nepra explained that Rs1.95 per unit increase in base tariff would be notified in a few days across the country, while another Rs1.30-1.60 per unit FPA would be on top of that base price increase. The case officers were responding to questions from Nepra’s member tariff…