OIL
Sole survivor? Saudi Arabia doubles down on oil to outlast rivals – Seems logical
Oil & Gas 360, October 6, 2020
Oil & Gas 360 Publishers Note: This is an interesting article about different paths for some of the major oil & gas companies. The other majors are divesting oil assets and morphing into renewable power companies. Saudi Aramco is taking a different path and seems to be a logical move. The Aramco management is going to bring revenues into the country and keep reducing the CO2 output.
The slump in demand for crude during the coronavirus pandemic has forced oil companies to contemplate the possibility that the fossil fuel market has peaked and the time for a global energy transition has come. But Saudi Aramco plans to boost its production capacity so it can pump as much of the kingdom’s vast oil reserves when demand picks up – before a shift to cleaner energy makes crude all but worthless, industry sources and analysts told Reuters.
GAS
Natural Gas Offers Lifeline For Distressed Gulf Oil Giants
Alex Kimani, OilPrice.Com, October 6, 2020
Their budgets just don’t add up anymore. Oil-rich Arab nations are in the throes of a deep economic crisis and facing gaping holes in their finances. Saudi Arabia needs the price of Brent crude to rise to $76 dollars a barrel while UAE needs it to hit $69, Bahrain $96, and Oman $87 to balance their books. Save for tiny Qatar, no Arab oil producer can balance its books at the current price of $40/barrel. GCC nations are now facing huge fiscal deficits, with Kuwait’s deficit of ~40% of GDP the highest in the world.
To make matters worse, once free-flowing credit lines have started to shut down for some. A good case in point is Oman, which is struggling to borrow after credit-rating agencies listed its debt as junk. Jordan had to plead to receive a $2.5bn aid package from the Gulf, only half of what it got eight years ago. Meanwhile, no one from the Gulf appears willing to bail out cash-strapped Egypt or Lebanon.
In short, the countries are being forced to take pretty drastic steps.
MINING
Gov. Dunleavy tells legislators that the ‘best available science’ will determine future of Pebble Mine
Sean Maguire, KTUU, October 6, 2020
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has responded to two legislators who called on him to stop helping the controversial Pebble Mine project, saying that the “best available science” will determine its future.
In his letter, the governor also touts the potential benefits of resource development for Southwest Alaska.
Independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon of Dillingham and Republican Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak sent a letter to the governor last week, saying that state land should not be provided for the controversial gold and copper mine in Bristol Bay.
“I cannot accept your argument that I should not, in my role as governor, seek to move viable projects forward for the benefit of economically-depressed regions and our national security, particularly when my only act of “promotion,” both privately and publicly has been to call for a fair federal review and permitting process,” Dunleavy wrote to the lawmakers on Tuesday.
POLITICS
From the Washington Examiner, Daily on Energy:
API EXPANDS AD CAMPAIGN IN BATTLEGROUND STATES: The American Petroleum Institute is expanding an ad campaign in key battleground states, with the oil and gas industry seeking to provide “balance” in the energy debate in the final weeks before the election.
API is spending seven figures on the digital campaign, dubbed “Conversations and Consequences,” which highlights “practical” solutions to climate change, and seeks to lay out the “harmful” effects of policies like a federal leasing ban, which Joe Biden has proposed.
API supports federal spending on clean energy technologies such as carbon capture, but generally opposes anything that would reduce the use of fossil fuels.