MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell is to cease production from Norway's Knarr oil field, which has been producing at over 10,000 b/d, after an in-fill development well was drilled to maximize recovery, reported S&P Global with reference to the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas major's statement on July 17.
Knarr produces from a floating production storage and offloading vessel in the northern part of the North Sea and came on stream in 2015. Production last year averaged 13,000 b/d of liquids, mainly crude oil, falling in the first five months of this year to 11,000 b/d, data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate shows.
Shell has scaled back its presence in Norway and unlike BP and Total does not hold a stake, direct or indirect, in the Johan Sverdrup field, which has been replenishing production in Europe's highest-producing country.
However, it operates the Ormen Lange gas field, with a stake of just 17.8%, and holds minority stakes in other fields, and is also a partner in the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project.
In an email, Shell noted it is obliged by Norwegian regulations to submit a decommissioning plan to the authorities at least two years before closing down a field, which it did earlier this year. "A final end of field life timing has not been set," it said.
It added that an in-fill well had been drilled in the second quarter "as part of the strategy of maximizing value from Knarr."
The NPD in a separate statement listed the field as one of three for which cessation of production plans have been submitted this year, the others - Heimdal and Vale - already having production under 1,000 b/d.
Shell has announced a 20% capital expenditure cut this year and said it expects to take a post-tax impairment of between USD15-USD22 billion in the second quarter, while also slashing its dividend for the first time since World War II.
As MRC wrote previously, Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to idle a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at the joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery in 2021, said Shell spokesman Curtis Smith in July 2020. Currently, the refinery is operating at about 75% of its 318,000 barrel-per-day capacity because of reduced demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We remind that in May 2020, CNOOC Oil & Petrochemicals Co. Ltd (CNOOC), Shell Nanhai B.V (Shell) and the Huizhou Government announced a strategic cooperation agreement to further expand the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Company (CSPC) 50:50 joint venture in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.
The expansion is planned to serve the growing number of intermediate and performance chemicals customers in the key market of China, supplying products including SMPO, polyols, ethylene glycol, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). These chemicals are used in a wide range of end products, in healthcare, construction, fabrics, packaging, transport and electronics. For the first time in Asia, Shell would apply its advanced technology for linear alpha olefins. The project is intended to include construction of a new 1.5 million-tonnes-per-year ethylene cracker, with the mega-site bringing economies of scale and enhanced competitiveness.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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