Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Earlier this year Mocean Energy announced a £1.6 million project with OGTC, oil major Chrysaor (now newly formed Harbour Energy) and subsea specialists EC-OG and Modus to demonstrate the potential of the Blue X prototype to power a subsea battery and a remote underwater vehicle – using onshore testing at EC-OG’s Aberdeen facility.
https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/ocean_energy/mocean-energy-blue-x-arrives-in-orkney-20210518
Harbour Energy – contender to jump into the FTSE 250
Harbour Energy looks set to jump upstream into the FTSE 100, as demand for oil and gas recovers and more countries ease out of pandemic restrictions.
Harbour Energy is the reincarnation of Premier Oil formed via a reverse takeover by newly listed Chrysaor, which gave Premier a nifty solution to its debt issues.
It won’t be plain sailing for the group though, with concerns about fresh Covid strains likely to weigh on the oil price. It offers some green credentials, by being a key player in the Acorn project, a carbon capture and hydrogen venture alongside Shell and Storegga.
But with ESG concerns of increasing interest to investors, future guidance on its renewable strategy will be watched with interest.
https://www.standard.co.uk/business/markets/darktrace-moonpig-trustpilot-set-to-join-big-league-after-london-floats-b935804.html
dbno - why do you keep posting West Texas oil price instead of Brent? I know you won't answer because there is no rational explanation other than WTI trades at a lower price to Brent and that best suits your agenda.
The government has full legal authority not to renew Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) oil exploration licences, a major environmental organisation has told the prime minister.
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/may/17/govt-not-bound-renew-bpc-licence/
Starchild - " IMO, Stephen joining the BoD is to help steer BPC to success, rather than to ensure his company gets paid! A director’s loyalty is to the company and its shareholders. "
You are seriously suggesting that Stephen Bizzell is more loyal to BPC than his own company?
Will you walk into my parlour?' said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to show when you are there.'
For anyone unfamiliar with the Acorn Project this video outlines the planned development, which is already underway. This could be a significant source of cash generation with the added benefit of being environmentally friendly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZOVvBsuyUM
A new cross-sector group, featuring leading oil and gas firms, has been launched to pressure governments to get behind decarbonisation technology.
‘The Scottish Cluster’ is comprised of some of Scotland’s largest CO2 emitters, as well Acorn project partners Storegga Geotechnologies, Shell and Harbour Energy.
It’s designed to “unite communities, industries, and businesses” to deliver carbon capture and storage (“CCS”), hydrogen and other low carbon technologies, with the aim of helping governments to hit their net zero goals and creating jobs.
As part of its launch, the group has also kicked off the ‘Back the Scottish Cluster’ campaign, calling on ministers to support the decarbonisation of industry north and south of the border.
The cluster brings together stakeholders from key Scottish industries, including whisky, transport, technology, infrastructure, chemicals, energy, real estate, manufacturing and academia.
It’s hoped the by creating a unified voice, the group can stress the importance of CCS and hydrogen in slashing emissions, particularly in hard to abate sectors like transport, heat and power.
Moreover, it will support the deployment of carbon removal technologies like direct air capture.
The Scottish Cluster claims to have a “clear decarbonisation roadmap”, with the potential to address up to nine million tonnes of CO2.
It’s also hoping to create a CO2 transportation and storage solution through the use of Scottish Ports.
Under the plans, emissions from overseas could be brought to Scotland for safe stowage.
Through the Acorn CCS and hydrogen project, located at St Fergus in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has “unique potential” to spearhead decarbonisation efforts in Europe.
Full article ...
https://www.energyvoice.com/renewables-energy-transition/322477/shell-harbour-energy-and-others-unite-to-form-scottish-cluster-decarbonisation-group/
Independents' day
In the North Sea, there are also new signs of activity from a new breed of independents.
The Norwegian government’s tax-relief package last June provided a massive boost to operators, with only the smallest fall in investment levels there during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic year.
With Brent prices rising to around $68 per barrel, the main offshore Norway concern is whether the supply sector can cope with the demand.
On the UK side, there was a big fall-off in drilling last year, but a lot of recent buying and selling of assets.
Harbour Energy, the newly created company formed from a reverse takeover of Premier Oil, is moving ahead with plans for the Tolmount East gas field development.
Neo Energy, backed by Norway’s HitecVision, recently spent $625 million buying fellow private equity-backed Zennor Petroleum.
Waldorf Production has scooped up assets from Cairn Energy and Ithaca Energy while EnQuest is set to acquire the Bentley field.
These changes come as the oil majors continue their retreat from the UK North Sea while lobby group Oil & Gas UK admits companies remain “fragile”.
https://www.upstreamonline.com/opinion/surfs-up-offshore-oil-rides-new-wave-of-enthusiasm/2-1-1008263
Bladesman - an example of a big boys share price and note how many shares are in issue!
Lloyds Banking Group Plc Ord 10P is listed on the London Stock Exchange, trading with ticker code LLOY. It has a market capitalisation of £33,554m, with approximately 70,954m shares in issue. Over the last year, Lloyds share price has been traded in a range of 24.335, hitting a high of 47.93, and a low of 23.595.
Some companies sell a good story.
UK-listed Harbour Energy is seeking a deep-water drilling rig as it prepares to probe the frontier deep waters of Indonesia’s North Sumatra basin.
Harbour has inherited its Indonesian position as part of its acquisition of Premier Oil. The company is seeking a rig capable of operating in waters 5,000 feet deep in its Andaman II production-sharing contract (PSC) for a drilling campaign likely to start in February 2022, reported Westwood Global Energy.
The region, which is essentially undrilled, offers the potential for big gas discoveries. Repsol and Petronas are on track to drill the much-anticipated Rencong-1X wildcat in the North Sumatra basin later this year.
Other than the Rencong-1X well, two more exploration wells are planned to be drilled in the deeper parts of the basin. One exploration well will be drilled on the Andaman II block, which is operated by Harbour, on behalf of its partners Mubadala Development and BP. Mubadala is also planning a probe on its South Andaman Block, which it shares with Harbour. Both exploration wells target similar carbonate reservoirs as the Rencong-1X wildcat.
Harbour is assessing three possible durations for the rig charter. The first is a one firm well plus three options. The second is two firm wells plus two options, and the last is for three firm wells plus two option wells. “Several sources have advised that Mubadala Petroleum and Repsol may be looking at a possible rig sharing agreement, which explains the variable contract durations being considered. The bid deadline is 27 May with a bid validity period of 180 days,” said Westwood.
A commercial discovery by Repsol with its Rencong-1X wildcat could pave the way for more companies, such as Harbour, Mubadala Development and BP, to explore the relatively untouched deeper plays in the country, that has so far been characterised by discoveries made primarily in the shallow waters and onshore plays.
Indonesia is desperate to revive its upstream sector, which has been in the doldrums for years. Indeed, Indonesia’s gas production is projected to drop significantly in the medium term without new investment. At the same time, domestic gas demand is set to climb.
A commercial gas discovery in Indonesia’s frontier acreage would provide a welcome boost to the country’s hydrocarbon portfolio.
https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/asia/321289/harbour-energy-seeks-rig-for-deep-water-indonesia-wildcat/
The letter, signed by Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, executive director of the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF), and Rashema Ingraham, of Waterkeepers Bahamas, added: “Urgent action is needed as the oil drilling leases are up for renewal at the end of June 2021.
“As with many fossil fuel exploration efforts in the history of the Commonwealth, the deals struck many years ago between the Bahamas Petroleum Company (registered in the Isle of Man) and the Government of The Bahamas, severely lack in transparency and accountability to the citizens of The Bahamas.
“As such, we request that The Commonwealth invoke its successful record of promoting good governance and transparency among member nations in assisting the Government of The Bahamas to align their public statements opposing oil drilling (our Prime Minister has repeatedly stated that he is totally against oil drilling)n with action against oil drilling. We simply cannot allow an investor-driven company to run rough-shod over the best interests of the Bahamian people.”
http://www.tribune242.com/news/2021/may/07/new-bpc-chief-its-our-right-extend-licence/?news
And the incoming BPC chief revealed that the oil explorer will provide its “technical report” on Perseverance One’s findings within the next two months. “We’re currently doing all the final work,” Mr Uliel said.
“We’re then obliged to provide a technical report to the Government of The Bahamas first. Once we do that, we intend to publish the highlights of that report and I estimate that will be about six to eight weeks from now.”
Mr Uliel’s comments came as the environmental activists behind the Judicial Review challenge to BPC’s permits and approvals yesterday released a letter sent to UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, and Commonwealth secretary-general, Baroness Scotland, seeking their help to halt oil exploration in The Bahamas.
The Our Islands, Our Future Coalition urged: “We respectfully write to request your urgent assistance in protecting the sensitive and irreplaceable waters of The Bahamas, and to help us prevent a dangerous, ill-conceived offshore oil drilling project that would fuel global climate chaos for decades.....
“As you know, The Bahamas is an island nation which faces some of the most immediate and severe impacts of sea level rise, ocean acidification, coral bleaching and intensifying super storms fuelled by the climate crisis.
“The active oil drilling project in The Bahamas today puts our entire nation, and indeed our entire economy, at risk. The Bahamian economy is inextricably tied to the sea. More than 50 percent of our country’s GDP comes from tourism and fishing. Our national treasure is, in fact, the allure of our pristine waters and the potential for sustainable ecotourism as we rebuild from the dual impacts of Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19.”
Whether Mr Johnson and Baroness Scotland would intervene in The Bahamas’ sovereign affairs as requested is uncertain, and BPC’s project is unlikely to “fuel global climate change” by itself.
Nevertheless, the coalition said: “We seek The Commonwealth’s counsel and hope it will exert any influence it has to assist The Bahamas in transitioning to a clean-energy future. We hope that the Secretariat and all member countries will stand in solidarity with the thousands of Bahamians and global citizens to impress upon our national government that sound climate policy is incompatible with unleashing a new crude oil reserve of up to 1.4bn barrels on the global climate.
“The Bahamas is not prepared to respond to an oil spill disaster. The Bahamas is not an oil-producing nation and our government is neither equipped to regulate this industry nor respond to a disaster. We do not have the equipment or expertise to mount a response.
“We would be completely dependent on the goodwill of our neighbours and the responsiveness of the oil company that seeks to risk our economic, cultural and food security on a money-making scheme for foreign investors.”
The Bahamas Petroleum Company’s (BPC) incoming chief executive yesterday said it was “our right to extend” the company’s four oil exploration licences beyond their end-June 2021 expiration.
Eytan Uliel, in a podcast responding to investors’ queries, asserted that the oil explorer’s renewal bid was “not so much an application because we have the right to” extend the licences for another three-year period.
Confirming that BPC, which is soon to be renamed as Challenger Energy Group, has submitted the necessary documentation to the government to start the renewal process, Mr Uliel said: “We were required to submit the application to extend the licence.
“It’s not so much an application, because we have the right to... It’s our right to extend it, we have submitted all the paperwork required. It was required three months before June 30. That’s now been submitted to and there’s a process we go through in terms of renewal, but that’s all in train.”
It was unclear whether Mr Uliel, who is stepping up from his previous post as BPC’s commercial director to replace Simon Potter as chief executive, meant that BPC has an automatic right to apply for a licence covering a third exploration period after the company fulfilled its commitment to safely drill its Perseverance One exploratory well.
However, his comments will likely trigger alarm among environmental activists and other opponents of oil exploration in Bahamian waters, who may interpret them as meaning that BPC will automatically gain a licence renewal/extension having met its previous obligations.
They will also put further pressure on the Minnis administration, given that the Prime Minister and his minister of the environment, Romauld Ferreira, have both stated their personal opposition to offshore oil drilling, to deliver on their public pledges.
Mr Uliel, meanwhile, confirmed that BPC will be looking to a joint venture, or farm-in, partner to take on the bulk of the costs and technical work associated with drilling a second exploratory well in Bahamian territorial waters should its licence renewal be successful.
He declined to provide details on the farm-in search apart from saying that BPC has “been in contact with a wide range” of potential partners, and that a “data room” has been set up to allow such companies to conduct due diligence on the information gleaned from the company’s efforts in The Bahamas to-date.
“The results of Perseverance One, while not resulting in a commercial discovery at that location, do point to a deeper Jurassic play and I think it needs to be tested in a subsequent exploratory well,” Mr Uliel said. “This will inevitable be a more expensive well than Perseverance One.....”
As a result, he added that BPC would want any joint venture partner to take the lead and do the bulk of the “preparation for that well and to pick up the costs of that well”.
LONDON – Harbour Energy has issued its Environmental Statement for the planned Tolmount East development in the UK southern North Sea.
The gas field, with some condensate, is 37 km (23 mi) east of Flamborough Head on the Yorkshire coast.
Harbour plans a sidetrack and recompletion of the existing appraisal well as a production well, connected to a separate subsea manifold structure which will also accommodate two future wells.
Gas, condensate and any produced water will be sent to the Tolmount minimum facilities platform, installed last year, via a new, 4-km(2.5-mi) long 12-in. flowline.
The exported fluid, commingled with Tolmount hydrocarbons, will head through the Tolmount pipeline to the Centrica Storage Easington Terminal.
Harbour targets first gas by 2023.
https://www.offshore-mag.com/subsea/article/14202894/harbour-submits-plans-for-north-sea-tolmount-east-tieback
ShouldveSold - "L.K took production to 870bpd, peaking over 1000bpd. Whatever anyones view is of his tenure, in my opinion his plan was working."
Yes Leo achieved his year end target of 1000bpd but if you watched his presentation at the AGM he admitted that having 3 workover rigs in operation in order to achieve that milestone resulted in cost of lifting exceeding the value of the oil lifted. That's when he started talking about the need to focus on 'profitable barrels' and the net result of that was a significant fall in production because the cost of raising production is uneconomic.
I understand that BPC investors see CERP assets as a safety net following the failure of the P1 drill to find commercial quantities of oil. S2 will define the future. S1 produces 90% water so the hope is that S2 will be more successful and lead to a wider field development. I hope that is the case but have my doubts and judging by the SP I'm not the only one.
TL;DR
CERP accounts for 2019 were never published by the company by RNS. The last RNS is dated 7th August 2020, announcing suspension of trading pending an announcement. This is also the date that the company approved the accounts and they were submitted to Companies House on 18th August 2020.
It is notable that Columbus made a pre-tax group loss of £4.12m in 2019 as against a loss of £2.70m in the previous year, which should give the rampers something to think about.
Retained earnings at the end of 2019 are shown as (£66,145,000)
The Group's Tangible and Oil and Gas Assets on its statement of financial position totals £17,068,000 as at 31st December 2019.
micktrick - "I would be interested in investing if I could reconcile the £85m tax credit, but I can’t find it anywhere in the cerp accounts. Any ideas?"
Are you perhaps referring to accumulated losses?