New base 498 special 16 december 2014

Copyright © 2014 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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NewBase 16 December 2014 - Issue No. 498 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Enec public forums to create nuclear energy awareness
Enec.ae + NewBase
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) will hold a public forum on December 16 in Silla
in the Western Region and another one on December 17 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The public forums are held as part of Enec’s ongoing commitment to community engagement
which focuses on education and awareness of nuclear energy as the company develops the
nation’s first nuclear power plant under the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy programme, said a
statement.
Mohamed Al Hammadi, chief executive officer, as well as members of the senior leadership team,
will present the latest project updates and next steps to attendees, who will include residents from
the Western Region and Abu Dhabi as well as other interested stakeholders. “Enec is building the
UAE’s first nuclear power plant to the highest standards of safety, efficiency and operational
excellence,” said Al Hammadi.
“An important part of the project is our communications and outreach programme where we inform
and educate UAE residents about nuclear energy, and how it will play an important part in the
growth of the country’s economic development.”
“Nuclear power will contribute a vital amount of energy to power the growth of industries and
business and provide highly-skilled local jobs for the long-term benefit of the nation,” he said.
Enec has already been active in supporting local cultural and recreation facilities and has hosted
more than 16 community forums which were attended by more than 6,000 people in most UAE
cities such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaima, Madinat Zayed, and Ruwais in the Western
Region.
It aimed at raising awareness on nuclear energy in the UAE for local residents, build trust with the
public and stakeholders and correct misconceptions about nuclear energy.

The forum, which will be conducted in Arabic in Silla and Arabia with English translation in Abu
Dhabi, is open to all residents and will provide an interactive and open platform where the public
can learn about how a nuclear power plant works and key updates from the programme.
The forums will also include open Q&A sessions where attendees can raise questions directly with
Emirati experts and receive direct responses. Enec will discuss topics such as radiation, the
efficiency of nuclear energy, and training and development of local talent through its Energy
Nuclear Pioneers Program.

UAE:Al Jaber unit wins second offshore Petrofac contract with Dh460m value
Source : Aljaber + NewBase
Al Jaber Energy Services (Ajes) yesterday said that it had won its second contract valued at
Dh460 million from Petrofac Emirates for construction work on the Upper Zakum offshore
oilfield.The Al Jaber Group subsidiary will complete various marine logistics over the next 33
months for the north and south islands, which are part of the four artificial islands developed by Zadco.
The islands 84
kilometres off the coast of Abu Dhabi will hold drilling platforms, oil production facilities and
supporting infrastructure to help increase production at the Upper Zakum field to 750,000 barrels
per day (bpd) in 2015 from 550,000 bpd currently.
The contract is an extension of three other ongoing projects Ajes has on the islands including
another from Petrofac Emirates, Zadco and a Technip- NPCC consortium. “This project reflects
the successful record of Ajes in the execution of giant projects with international construction
standards,” said Obaid Khaleefa Al Jaber Al Marri, the chairman of Al Jaber Group.
The previous contract awarded by Petrofac had Ajes building temporary facilities for Petrofac staff
on all four islands. Petrofac said that temporary facilities construction continued on the south and
central islands, with permanent work commencing on the north and south islands in June and July
this year, respectively.
The London-based oil services firm has been affected by falling oil prices. Last month, Petrofac
issued a warning, revising its expected net profit for next year to US$500m compared to previous
analysts’ estimates of $675m.
The Petrofac chief executive Ayman Asfari said during the investor call last month that the firm
would continue to focus on its activities in the Middle East. On Friday Deutsche Bank lowered its
price target on Petrofac to 800 pence from 1,050 pence as the company dropped the most on the
FTSE 100 list.
“I am confident that Petrofac will meet the challenges presented by certain projects in our portfolio
and the medium-term growth prospects for our business remain strong,” Mr Asfari said. Petrofac
shares rose 1.25 per cent to 686 pence in early afternoon trading in London.

Spain GN Fenosa opened LNG/CNG filling station in Barcelona
Source GNF + NewBase
Gas Natural Fenosa opened a natural gas station in the town with a compressed natural gas
pump for light vehicles and a liquefied natural gas pump for lorries
.
The station was opened by the Mayor of Santa Perpetua de Mogoda, Isabel García Ripoll, the
Director-General for Transport and Environmental Affairs of the Regional Government of
Catalonia, Pere Padrosa, and the Director of Mobility Solutions of Gas Natural Fenosa, José
Ramón Freire.
This new station brings the total number of public liquefied natural gas stations in Catalonia to five,
making it the autonomous region of Spain with the highest number of such stations. The facilities,
located at the Tranports Mariné installations, will enable any compressed natural gas or LNG
vehicle to be refuelled, according to GNF statement.
The facilities, which received an investment of close to 1 million euros, is designed to refuel the
equivalent of 115 light vehicles and 32 lorries every day. The public self-service station can be
used 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 400 vehicles have refuelled since it was opened in July.

UK:Chevron and Dana Pet. to extend UK Captain life with chemical injection
The Californian San Ramon-based international oil company (IOC) Chevron Corporation
(Chevron) and its partner Dana Petroleum (Dana), a Korean National Oil Company‘s subsidiary,
have validated the conclusions of the pilot study to test the performances of the chemical injection
as the preferred enhanced oil recovery techniques (EOR) to maintain the production at
their Captain oil and gas field in the UK North Sea.
Located 140 kilometers
northeast of Aberdeen in
Scotland, Captain is lying
by 106 meters of water depth in
the Block 13/22a on the UK
Continental Shelf. Discovered
in 1977, Texaco Corporation
(Texaco) turned Captain on
production only in 1997
because of the complexity of it
reservoir combining heavy
crude oil and gas.
From these early days,
Texaco which in the meantime
merged with Chevron had
decided to develop Captain in
three phases A, B and C.
Currently Chevron and Dana share the working interest in Captain such as:
- Chevron 85% is the operator
- Dana 15%
Through the multiple phases of development Captainis now structured around two platforms, a
wellhead protection platform (WPP) and a bridge-linked platform (BLP), and a floating, production,
storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
The FPSO is separating the oil and gas before processing them and exporting them through
shuttle tankers for the oil and pipeline for the gas.

Because of its viscosity between 19 and 21 degree API, the heavy crude oil requires to mobilize
all available EOR techniques to move it up in beginning with water injection.
Having reached the Phase-2C of its development, Chevron and Dana intend to boost Captain in
order to maintain its UK North Sea production until 2020.
Chevron Captain EOR platform to reach FEED stage
In order to evaluate the most efficient EOR solutions in this perspective, Chevron implemented a
pilot project based on polymers chemical injection.
In 2014, Chevron and its partner Dana validated the performances of this chemical EOR solution
and started the feasibility study to implement it in Captain at large scale.
Unfortunately the existing facilities of the twin platforms and the FPSO are already running at the
limits of capacity in the top sides, thus cannot support any additional equipment.
In order to support the EOR process required to prepare the polymers mixture and perform the
chemical injection inCaptain, Chevron and Dana must consider to add a new bridge-linked
platform, the Captain EOR BLP.
This Captain EOR BLP should be made of a 5,500 tonnes jacket to support 5,500 tonnes top
sides and 150 tonnes bridge.
This new platform should hold 800 cubic meters storage capacity of the polymers.
Then in respect with the aging FPSO, Chevron is also studying its replacement either by
another BLP in combination with a floating storage unit (FSU) or an export pipeline to shore.
In a first step, Chevron and its partner Dana should award the front end engineering and design
(FEED) contract for the Captain EOR bridge-linked platform on early 2015.

Ukraine: Chevron plan to pull out of $10bn shale gas deal
Reuters + NewBase
US energy major Chevron plans to withdraw from a $10bn shale gas deal with Kiev, a senior
Ukrainian presidential official said yesterday. Ukraine signed a shale gas production-sharing
agreement with Chevron amid great fanfare in November 2013, just months before mass protests
in Kiev ousted former president Viktor Yanukovich, plunging the country into a major crisis with Russia.
“There is information that they (Chevron) are planning this decision,” Valeriy Chaliy told
journalists, referring to a report by local media that Chevron had told the government it was pulling
out of the deal.
Chaliy declined to give further details. Local media said a move by the first post-Yanukovich
government to increase taxes for energy companies lay at the root of Chevron’s decision.
Chevron in Kiev refused to comment on the report. A London-based spokesperson for Chevron
said: “We have just delivered to the Ukrainian government our response. Therefore it is premature
for us to comment.”
The agreement had been designed to unfold slowly over 50 years, with an initial investment by
Chevron in the first two or three years of $350m for exploration work.The deal to develop the
Olesska field in western Ukraine followed a similar shale gas agreement with Royal Dutch Shell —
both keystone projects for Ukraine’s bid to lessen its energy dependence on Russia with whom it
is embroiled in a dispute over gas prices and unpaid debts.
The Shell deal could also be under threat as the gas deposit intended for development is close to
the eastern territories now controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Earlier this year, Chevron said
the firm was still interested in the Ukrainian shale gas project, but since then the situation in
eastern Ukraine has deteriorated, claiming more than 4,700 lives.

China: CNOOC's Liuhua 34-2 gas field commences production
Source: CNOOC Ltd + NewBase
CNOOC Limited has announced that its Liuhua 34-2 gas field has commenced production.
The Liuhua 34-2 gas field is located in the Eastern South China Sea with the water depth in
the range of 850 to 1,250 meters. The gas field consists of one producing well and shares
the existing facilities of Liwan 3-1 gas field for overall development.
The gas field is producing approx. 30 million cubic feet per day and expected to reach its
ODP designed peak production of approx. 45 million cubic feet per day in 2015.
CNOOC Limited has a 51% working interest in Liuhua 34-2 gas field, while Husky Oil
China holds the remaining 49% working interest and acts as the operator.

UK: Aker Solutions wins hook-up and commissioning contract for
Mariner development in UK North Sea
Aker Solutions has secured a contract from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to
provide engineering, construction and commissioning services for the hook-up phase of
the Mariner oilfield development in the UK North Sea.
The agreement is worth more than GBP 120 million. It comes in addition to a five-year
maintenance and modifications services contract awarded in June by Statoil for the Mariner field,
which is set to start production in 2017.
'We are very pleased to be expanding our already significant role in developing the Mariner field
and to be working with Daewoo and Statoil,' said Tore Sjursen, head of Aker Solutions'
maintenance, modifications and operations (MMO) business. 'This is a testament to the strength
and know-how of our UK operations.'
The work will be managed by Aker Solutions' UK MMO unit through an integrated construction
and completions (ICC) organization with Daewoo and Statoil. At the peak of the offshore phase,
the contract will secure as many as 950 jobs in the UK.
Separately, Aker Solutions' Norwegian MMO unit secured a two-year contract extension worth
NOK 360 million for asset integrity management work at 11 offshore and three onshore locations
in Norway. The extension is part of a four-year contract awarded in October 2010 by Statoil.

Japanese utilities up LNG use in November
Japan’s ten regional electric power companies consumed 4.7 million tonnes of LNG in
November, compared to 4.6 million tonnes the companies used in November of 2013.
The power companies bought 4.55 million tonnes of LNG in November, compared to 5.01 million
tonnes a year ago, data from the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC)
showed.
Total electricity generated and purchased across the ten companies in November dropped by
3.5% from a year earlier to 69.44 billion kWh, due principally to decreased heating demands
caused by relatively higher temperatures in late November than the previous year.

Oil Price Drop Special Coverage
Why oil prices are so unstable
Reuters + NewBase
The inherently cyclical nature of some commodity prices has fascinated economists since the late
19th century but still continues to catch both investors and producers unprepared.
Ezekiel's paper, entitled simply "The Cobweb
Theorem" and published in 1938, remains the
clearest and most persuasive explanation of
commodity market cycles. Adaptive
expectations models fell out of favour during
the rational expectations revolution of the
1970s and 1980s, as they appeared to imply
that investors would make systematic
forecasting errors.
Backward-looking expectations about prices
coupled with the delays in adjusting supply
provide a good explanation for the deep and
recurrent cycles in the oil industry. Price
expectations do indeed appear to be strongly
backward looking in the oil industry. In the first few years of the 21st century, painful memories of
the long period of low prices in the 1990s held back plans to expand production even as prices
surged.
More recently, the production and investment plans of the major oil companies and U.S. shale
drillers appear to have been based on the assumption the period of ultra-high prices experienced
since 2011 would be sustained indefinitely.
When prices have been high for some time, it becomes an entrenched assumption that high
prices will persist for the foreseeable future, and vice versa. Many oil industry analysts and
leaders appear to rationalise from prices to theories, rather than the other way around.
At the same time, changes in investment and production take a long time in the oil industry. It can
take a decade or more to train an experienced driller or seismologist, and at least that long to
bring many complex offshore oil fields into production.
The availability of oil supplies in the early 2020s depends on investment and hiring decisions
being made now, just as the availability of oil supplies in the mid-2000s was heavily influenced by
reduced investment and layoffs of skilled personnel a decade earlier in the 1990s.
Owing to the delays in changing expectations and investment, oil supply lagged behind the
change in demand and prices during the first phase of the boom (2002-2010), then overshot
demand as the cycle started to turn (2011-2014).

Deep price cycles are inherent in capital intensive industries like oil and mining, and exacerbated
by the tendency to project fairly recent conditions into the far future. Yet the desire for some sort of
stability remains deeply ingrained among commodity producers and even some consumers.
As a case in point, OPEC's founding statute, from 1960, commits the organisation to "devise ways
and means of ensuring the stabilization of prices in international oil markets with a view to
eliminating harmful and unnecessary fluctuations."
Senior officials, including Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali Naimi, sometimes suggest "stable" prices
are in the best interest of producers and consumers, as if this were a normal or possible state of
affairs.
Even the International Energy Agency, which represents the interests of consumer countries,
sometimes seems to subscribe to the idea price stability would be a good idea. In fact, OPEC has
never managed to stabilise prices, and there are good reasons to believe it never will given the
characteristics of the oil industry (long investment lead times coupled with extreme uncertainty
about future prices).
OPEC's fondness for stable (high) prices is shared by Glencore's chief Ivan Glasenberg.
Glasenberg has blamed rival coal and iron ore producers for
over-investing during the boom years and creating the
conditions for a supply-driven slump.
Glasenberg has repeatedly called for a more "disciplined"
approach to investment in future, as if the commodity price
cycle was somehow voluntary and driven by ill-considered
management decisions. "Capital misallocation, not a lack of
demand, remains a key issue for the (mining) sector," Glasenberg told Glencore's investors this
week.
"We will continue our disciplined approach to capital allocation based on the supply-demand
fundamentals. We don't want to oversupply and cannibalise our own business," he insisted in
remarks quoted in the Australian Financial Review ("Glencore's Ivan Glasenberg questions iron
ore majors' big bet" December 11).
Glasenberg might as well wish for the moon. Deep price cycles are normal in capital-intensive
resource industries, and there is nothing he or anyone else can do to eliminate them. US shale
producers, OPEC and the rest of the petroleum industry are currently getting a brutal reminder.
Until recently, many seemed convinced oil prices would find a floor close to $100 per barrel.
Continental Resources lifted its hedges at around $85 per barrel on the assumption the market
would quickly bounce back. Instead Brent prices have continued to fall to less than $65. Now most
oil industry leaders have been forced to adjust their expectations and investment plans to assume
prices will remain lower for longer.
This is almost certainly an over-reaction to recent price moves and will set the stage for the next
stage in the cycle when investment and production prove inadequate. In the meantime, however,
new production is still coming onstream as drilling and investment programmes agreed in 2013 or
even before are only now coming to completion. Non-OPEC oil production will continue rising for
several months more because of the long delays in the system, even as industry leaders
recognise the need to rein it back.

Prices will remain under pressure, even as many analysts, investors and business leaders wonder
if they have not already fallen too far. But commodity markets have always operated that way.
Instability and disequilibrium, rather than the opposite, are the norm.
Oil hits five-year low before rallying above $62
Reuters + NewBase
London: Brent crude oil hit a fresh five-year low close to $60 a barrel on Monday after producer
group Opec restated its determination not to cut output despite a global fuel glut, but the North
Sea benchmark later rallied to above $62.
Market momentum appeared to
be downwards, with analysts
saying oil could plumb new
depths before a sustained
recovery. Oil prices have
collapsed over the last six months
as high-quality, light crude from
North America has overwhelmed
demand at a time of lacklustre
global economic growth.
The Organisation of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries
(Opec) has kept production
steady, worried that any reduction in its output would have little impact on price and instead mean
surrendering market share.
“The decision has been made. Things will be left as is,” Opec Secretary-General Abdullah Al Badri
told a conference in Dubai on Sunday. “We agreed that it is important to continue with production
[at current levels] for the ... coming period.” Brent for January fell to a low of $60.28 a barrel in
Asian trade, down $1.57 and its lowest since July 2009. The futures contract then rallied to trade
around $62.65 by 1145 GMT, up 80 cents.
US crude for January was trading at $58.20 a barrel, up 39 cents, after hitting a low of $56.25
earlier in the day — its weakest level since May 2009. Analysts said Monday’s bounce was partly
speculative buying, and partly a reaction to news that Libya’s two biggest oil ports had shut due to
fighting between armed factions allied to the country’s two rival governments.
“The market may just have moved down too far too quickly today,” said Tamas Varga, energy
analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates. “It was a bit overdone and people may be
‘bottom-picking’.” Spreadex financial analyst Connor Campbell said Monday’s rally was “no
signifier of renewed health in the black stuff”.
“Oil has found it notoriously difficult recently to hang onto any gains,” Campbell said. Analysts
have cut oil price forecasts sharply over the last few weeks. “Oil prices may move below $60 per
barrel in the near term,” analysts at Barclays Bank said, but added that “this [level] is not
sustainable in the long run”.
Barclays said it expected Brent to average $67 per barrel in the first half of 2015 and $78 in the
second half of next year.

US: factory production accelerates in sign of economy’s strength
Reuters
US manufacturing output recorded its largest increase in nine months in November as production
expanded across the board, pointing to underlying strength in the economy. Factory production
increased 1.1% last month after an upwardly revised 0.4% advance in October, the Federal
Reserve said yesterday.
“There is little evidence here that weaker global growth or a stronger dollar has hurt US
manufacturing,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York. The upbeat
factory data joined bullish employment and retail sales reports in suggesting strength in the
economy, even as growth in the fourth quarter is expected to moderate sharply after two back-to-
back quarters of robust expansion.
Wall Street had expected manufacturing output to rise only 0.5% in November after a previously
reported 0.2% gain in October. But the optimism over the manufacturing sector was tempered
somewhat by a second report from the New York Federal Reserve showing its Empire State
general business conditions index fell to -3.58 in December, the first contraction since January
2013, from a reading of 10.16 in November.
Economists said the New York Fed survey was volatile because of limited factory activity in the
region. “On balance, however, the weak reading is consistent with slower manufacturing activity
late in the quarter,” said Jesse Hurwitz, an economist at Barclays in New York.
A third report showed homebuilder sentiment ebbed in December, though builders remained more
optimistic than in the first half of the year. The data comes a day before Federal Reserve officials
gather for a two-day meeting to assess the economy’s health and deliberate on monetary policy.
Economists expect the US central bank to open the door a bit wider to interest rate hikes next
year after the recent run of bullish data. US stocks were trading slightly lower, while prices for
Treasury debt fell. The dollar was up marginally against a basket of currencies.
An employee works to manufacture diesel truck engines at the
Cummins Mid-Range Engine Plant in Columbus, Indiana. US factory
production increased 1.1% last month after an upwardly revised
0.4% advance in October, the Federal Reserve said yesterday.

Overall manufacturing output increased broadly in November, with a 5.1% jump in automobile
production after three straight months of decline. There were also solid gains in machinery,
apparel and leather, and
petroleum and coal
products.
Mining output slipped 0.1%
last month, while utilities
production jumped 5.1% as
a cold snap boosted
demand for utilities.The gain
in manufacturing and utilities
combined to lift overall
industrial production by
1.3% in November, the
largest increase since May
2010. The amount of
manufacturing capacity in
use last month rose to its highest since December 2007. Overall industrial capacity use hit its
highest level in more than 6-1/2 years.
“The sharp rise in pace of capacity utilisation is of particular interest as it could be seen as an
indication of accelerating resource slack absorption in the US economy,” said Millan Mulraine,
deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York. Officials at the Fed tend to look at capacity
use as a signal of how much “slack” remains in the economy and how much room there is for
growth to run before it becomes inflationary.

Your Guide to Energy events in your area

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NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and
sponsored by Hawk Energy Service – Dubai, UAE.
For additional free subscription emails please contact Hawk Energy
Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MSc. & BSc. Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
ASME member since 1995
Emarat member since 1990
Mobile : +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for
Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy
consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE
operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations
Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &
gas compressor stations . Through the years , he has developed great
experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating stations
and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas
transportation , operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local
authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE
and Energy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase 16 December 2014 K. Al Awadi

New base 498 special 16 december 2014

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