New base energy news 06 may 2019 issue no 1243 by khaled al awadi

Copyright © 2018 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed,
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NewBase Energy News 06 May 2019 - Issue No. 1243 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE: Adnoc launches second licensing round for oil and gas
The National -Jennifer Gnana + NewBase
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company launched a second competitive bid round for hydrocarbons,
offering unconventional reserves for the first time as it looks to attract international oil companies to
explore for oil and gas.
Five block are on offer, of which three are offshore and two onshore, stretching across an area of
around 34,000 square kilometres, Adnoc said in a statement on Wednesday.
Offshore Blocks 3, 4 and 5, as well as onshore Blocks 5 and 2 are open for bids, with the latter
offering two separate licensing opportunities for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons.
Adnoc will look to close bids by the end of November, with the first awards expected in the first
quarter of 2020, Abdulmunim Al Kindy, upstream director at Adnoc told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
State-owned Adnoc manages much of Abu Dhabi’s crude output, which accounts for 4.2 per cent
of global production. The producer for the first time in 2018 launched a licensing round, which
concluded earlier this year with award of blocks onshore and offshore the emirate to companies
from Abu Dhabi’s biggest buyers such as India and China, as well as western energy firms such as
OMV, Eni and Occidental.
"The launch of Abu Dhabi’s second licensing bid round builds on the momentum of the first and very
successful competitive bid round," Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE state minister and Adnoc Group chief
executive said in a statement. "It demonstrates how Adnoc’s expanded approach to partnerships is
enabling us to utilise value-add partnerships and smart technologies to drive new commercial
opportunities and efficiently accelerate the exploration and development of Abu Dhabi’s untapped
resources,” he added.

Blocks in the second bid round hold multiple billion barrels of oil and multiple trillion cubic feet of
natural gas, according to estimates based on existing data from detailed petroleum system studies,
seismic surveys, exploration and appraisal wells data, the company said.
Some of the blocks already have discoveries and, within the combined geographical area of the
second bid round blocks, there are 290 targeted reservoirs from 92 prospects and leads.
Mr Al Kindy noted that in the latest round, Adnoc will look to leverage the bidders’ technical
capabilities, given the complexity of the reservoirs, some of which hold both conventional and shale
reserves.
"In the second bid round, all the bidders are given the option to bid for both conventional and
unconventional. The Arabian Basin has very high potential for unconventional and a lot of that in
the UAE,” he said

Last year, Abu Dhabi announced discovery of large hydrocarbon deposits equivalent to a one per
cent increase in existing oil reserves as well as a 7.1 per cent addition to proven reserves. The finds,
the largest in recent years for gas, have the potential to end the UAE's dependence on pipeline
imports and transform it into a net exporter of the fuel.
Adnoc aims to increase crude production capacity to 4 million barrels per day by 2020 and 5 million
bpd by 2030. The UAE’s overall crude production in March was 3.09 million bpd, according to figures
by Opec.
Potential bidders for the latest round will have 100 per cent exploration rights, with efforts underway
to make the terms more attractive given the complexity of some of the geological stacks on offer,
said Salem Al Matroushi, senior vice president, exploration at Adnoc.
In the production phase, the operating model is open for discussions with partners, with possibility
of Adnoc’s participation, if required, he added.
In the first bid round, Adnoc awarded US firm Occidental rights to explore Onshore Block 3, two
offshore blocks to Italy’s Eni as well as Thailand’s Exploration and Production Public Company.
India’s Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation were awarded rights to an onshore block while
Onshore Block 4 was awarded to Japan’s Inpex.
Onshore block 2, which had been tendered as part of the first bid round, has been packaged with
conventional and shale components for the second round, with companies having the option to bid
separately.

Oman: Acwa Power-led consortium to develop solar project
Oman Observer + The National + NewBase
The GCC governments are developing new solar power plants as part of their strategy to increase
renewable energy output. Courtesy Government of Dubai. The 500MW-scheme will be located west
of Muscat, as part of sultanate’s renewable energy push
A consortium comprising Saudi Arabia-based utility
developer Acwa Power with Kuwait’s Gulf Investment
Corporation and Alternative Energy Projects Company
signed agreement to develop a 500-megawatt solar
power plant in Oman.
The consortium won the contract in March to develop
the project, called Ibri-2 Independent Power Producer,
for the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company
(OPWP). The winning bid proposed the best economic
tariff for electricity sold to OPWP.
Under the agreement, the consortium will develop, finance and construct the project on a build, own
and operate basis. Acwa Power serves as the lead investor with a 50 per cent stake, while GIC will
have a 40 per cent stake and AEPC will control the remaining 10 per cent, a statement from Acwa
Power on Saturday said.
“[The project demonstrates] the government of Oman’s ambitions related to renewable energy and
diversifying the country’s power mix, as evidenced by the scope of this project and its future potential

in supporting the Sultanate’s economy,” said Paddy Padmanathan, president and chief executive
of Acwa Power.
The plant, which will be located 300 kilometers west of Muscat, will be the first utility-scale solar
power project in Oman and contribute towards the government’s aim of increasing the supply of
renewable energy in the sultanate.
It will be able to supply power to around 33,000 houses once it begins commercial operations in
early 2021, and offset 340,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, according to the
consortium.
The project also demonstrates GCC companies' “ability to compete with their international
counterparts to provide competitive solution in renewable and sustainable energy … and Oman’s
long-term vision in encouraging investment in this sector,” added Hassan Qasem, general manager
of Kuwait’s Alternative Energy Projects Company.
Acwa Power, one of the biggest developers of electricity and water projects in the Middle East,
Africa and Southeast Asia, last year said expected to submit bids for around $4 billion worth of
project tenders in the second half of 2019.

Bahrain: Eni signs EPSA for Block 1 offshore Bahrain
Source: Eni + NewBas
Following a joint study conducted by Eni in 2016 and the signature of the Memorandum of
Understanding dated 13th January 2019, Eni has signed an Exploration and Production Sharing
Agreement (EPSA) with the National Oil and Gas Authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain (NOGA)
for Block 1.
The signing took place in the presence of H.E. Sheik Mohamed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of
Oil of Bahrain and Chairman of the board of directors in NOGA, and Claudio Descalzi, Chief
Executive Officer of Eni.

Under the terms of the agreement, Eni will pursue exploration activities in the offshore area of over
2,800 km2, located in the northern territorial waters of the Kingdom of Bahrain, with water depth
ranging from 10 up to 70 metres.
Thanks to this agreement, Eni strengthens its presence in Bahrain, in line with its strategy aimed at
diversifying its exploration portfolio across basins with liquid hydrocarbon potential, as those present
in this Middle East region.
In the Middle East, Eni is already present in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Oman and Lebanon.

U.S has been a net exporter of N.gas for more than 12 months
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly
U.S. net natural gas exports in February 2019 totaled 4.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), marking
13 consecutive months in which U.S. natural gas exports exceeded imports. The United States
exports natural gas by pipeline to both Canada and Mexico and increasingly exports liquefied natural
gas (LNG) to several other countries.
Although U.S. LNG exports have grown in recent years, most U.S. natural gas exports are sent by
pipeline to neighboring Canada and Mexico. Natural gas exports to Canada tend to be seasonal,
increasing in the winter months because of Canada’s use of natural gas as a heating fuel in its more
populous eastern provinces.
In contrast, U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico are steadier, reflecting Mexico’s use of natural gas
for over half of its power generation and for industrial purposes.
U.S. exports by pipeline to Canada have risen since November 2018, when the second phase of
the Rover pipelineand the NEXUS pipeline entered service.
These two projects bring natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica plays in the Appalachian Basin
to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, near the St. Clair border crossing northeast of Detroit,
Michigan. U.S. natural gas exports to Canada were 3.3 Bcf/d in February 2019, the highest on
record. Overall, exports of natural gas by pipeline to Canada averaged 2.3 Bcf/d in 2018.

U.S. pipeline exports of natural gas to Mexico in 2018 averaged 5.2 Bcf/d, up from 4.2 Bcf/d in 2017.
Much of the recent growth is attributed to increased U.S. exports out of the Permian Basin in western
Texas as new pipelines were installed and as natural gas-fired power plant projects in Mexico
entered service. Several existing pipeline expansions in southern Texas were completed during the
past 12 months as well, increasing cross-border capacity.
U.S. LNG exports averaged 3.0 Bcf/d in 2018 and recently hit a high of 4.1 Bcf/d in January 2019.
The volume of U.S. LNG exports rose steadily during 2018 as three new liquefaction units, called
trains, entered service:
 March: A single train at the Cove Point terminal in Maryland
 November: Train 5 at the Sabine Pass terminal near the Louisiana-Texas border
 December: Train 1 at the Corpus Christi terminal in southern Texas
These three trains have a combined capacity of 1.9 Bcf/d, bringing total U.S. LNG export nameplate
capacity to 4.3 Bcf/d as of the end of 2018. LNG export volumes are expected to continue to rise in
2019 as an additional 4.0 Bcf/d of liquefaction capacity is brought online by the end of the year.
EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts that U.S. net natural gas exports will average
4.7 Bcf/d in 2019 and 7.5 Bcf/d in 2020, with most of the growth attributable to increases in LNG
exports. However, pipeline exports of natural gas are also increasing. In three months of 2018
(September through November), the United States exported more natural gas than it imported by

pipeline, in part because of the October 9, 2018 explosion on the Westcoast pipeline in British
Columbia that led Canada to restrict natural gas imports into Sumas, Washington. According to
STEO forecasts, the United States will become a net exporter of natural gas by pipeline on an
annual basis in 2019.

NewBase 06 May 2019 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil prices tumble 2% as Trump announces new tariffs on Chinese
Reuters + NewBase
Oil prices tumbled by more than 2 percent on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday
said he would sharply hike tariffs on Chinese goods this week, risking derailing months of trade talks
between the world’s two biggest economies.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $60.44 per barrel at 0032 GMT on
Monday, down $1.50 per barrel, or 2.4 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude oil futures
were at $69.34 per barrel, down $1.51 per barrel, or 2.1 percent, from their last close.
Trump on Sunday said on Twitter he would drastically hike U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods this week,
pulling down global financial markets, including crude oil futures.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing is considering cancelling all trade talks with
Washington.
“Trump has taken the proverbial sledgehammer to the walnut this morning ... by threatening to slap
a 25 percent tariff on a mind-boggling $525 billion of Chinese goods by this Friday,” said Jeffrey
Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore.
Oil price special
coverage

Within the oil industry, there are signs of a further rise in output from the United States, where crude
production has already surged by more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) since early 2018, to a
record 12.3 million bpd. That has made the United States the world’s biggest producer ahead of
Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The number of rigs drilling for gas in the United States fell by 3 to 183 in the week to May 3, while
oil-directed drilling rigs rose by 2 to 807, data from oil services firm Baker Hughes showed on Friday.

U.S:The number of drilled but uncompleted wells are climbing
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Drilling Productivity Report
The number of drilled but uncompleted wells in seven key oil and natural gas production regions in
the United States has increased over the last two years, reaching a high of 8,504 wells in February
2019, according to well counts in EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The most recent count,
at 8,500 wells in March 2019, was 26% higher than the previous March.
Drilled but uncompleted wells, also known as DUCs, are oil and natural gas wells that have been
drilled but have not yet undergone well completion activities to start producing hydrocarbons. The
well completion process involves casing, cementing, perforating, hydraulic fracturing, and other
procedures required to produce crude oil or natural gas.
The number of DUCs has generally increased since the end of 2016. A high inventory of DUCs may
be attributable to economic factors or resource constraints. For example, a low oil and natural gas
price environment may postpone well completion activities in areas where the wellhead break-even
price is too high relative to the current market price.
Another example may be the lack of available well completion crews to perform hydraulic fracture
activities in areas of high demand. Takeaway capacity, or the ability to transport hydrocarbons
through pipelines away from the resource, may also place additional constraints when pipeline
networks are insufficient to accommodate supply.

Most of the recent increase in the DUC count has been in regions dominated by oil production,
especially the Permian region that spans western Texas and eastern New Mexico. As of March
2019, nearly half of the total DUCs included in the DPR were in the Permian region.
The Permian Basin experienced takeaway constraints in the second half of 2018, but recent pipeline
capacity additions in the region have reduced some of the takeaway constraints. Other pipeline
projects are planned or currently under construction.
In contrast to oil-directed regions, the number of DUCs in natural gas-dominated DPR regions such
as the Appalachian and Haynesville regions has decreased by nearly half over the past three years,
from 1,230 wells in March 2016 to 713 wells in March 2019. New pipelines in these regions have
increased the ability to transport natural gas to demand centers in the Northeast and Midwest.

Production in the seven DPR regions, which are characterized by tight oil or shale gas formations,
totaled 8.2 million barrels per day of crude oil and 77.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in
February 2019, or 70% of total U.S. crude oil production and 71% of total U.S. natural gas
production.
EIA’s estimates of DUC counts may differ from other sources because of differences in methodology
and assumptions. EIA develops its estimates of DUC counts using a consistent methodology and
uniform assumptions across regions.
More information on drilling and production metrics is available in EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report,
and more comprehensive information on total oil and natural gas production is available in
EIA’s Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production Report.
Principal contributor: Owen Comstock

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release 06 May 2019
World’s first ‘BioSolar Leaf’ to tackle air pollution Global Cities
by Deborah Evanson + NewBase
Imperial College London is to collaborate with startup Arborea to develop pioneering ‘BioSolar Leaf’
technology to improve air quality in White City.
The technology, which is the first of its kind in the world, purifies the air through the photosynthesis
of microscopic plants, removing greenhouse gases from the environment whilst generating
breathable oxygen.
Arborea have developed an innovative cultivation system which facilitates the growth of tiny plant-
life - such as microalgae, diatoms and phytoplankton - on large solar panel-like structures. These
can then be installed on land, buildings and other developments to improve surrounding air quality.
The team say that Arborea’s cultivation system can remove carbon dioxide and produce breathable
oxygen at a rate equivalent to a hundred trees from the surface area of just a single tree.
The system also produces a sustainable source of organic biomass from which Arborea extracts
nutritious food additives for plant-based food products.
Arborea was founded by alumnus Julian Melchiorri, who completed two masters in Innovation
Design Engineering in 2014, a course administered jointly by Imperial College London and
the Royal College of Art.

Pilot project
In 2017, Julian’s ‘Bionic Chandelier’ – a living and breathing structure which purifies the air indoors
using microalgae – became part of the V&A’s permanent collection.
As the V&A’s first Engineer in Residence, Julian Melchiorri was interested in exploring how the latest
advances in biotechnology and engineering could be applied to everyday objects to improve the
quality of our lives.
Imperial will be partnering with Arborea as part of its commitment to mitigating the environmental
impact of its development at White City. The College will be providing the company with funding to
facilitate the development of an outdoor pilot of their BioSolar Leaf cultivation system on Imperial’s
White City Campus South Site.
The Arborea team
Over the length of the project, the pilot will showcase how pioneering technologies are addressing
environmental and social issues in real working conditions. It is envisaged that the pilot will become
the centre piece for outreach activities with school students from the local White City area.
This news comes as Imperial and Hammersmith and Fulham Councilare collaborating on a
Partnership for Growth and Innovation - or ‘Upstream’ - which aims to transform White City into a
world-leading innovation district fuelled by close collaboration between academics, businesses,
entrepreneurs and the local community.
Arborea are currently based in the Translation & Innovation Hub (I-HUB) at Imperial’s White City
Campus and recently received the ‘Peres Award for Social Innovation’ from The European House
Ambrosetti. The company were previously supported by the European Institute of Innovation and
Technology’s Climate-KIC Accelerator and Innovate UK.
Sustainable solution
Professor Neil Alford, Associate Provost (Academic Planning) at Imperial College London, said: “Air
pollution is one of London’s most urgent challenges, and Imperial is committed to finding sustainable
and resilient solutions to this threat.
This collaboration with Arborea is an exceptional opportunity to showcase the power of Cleantech
at our White City Campus. Through our White City masterplan we are bringing forward sustainable
solutions that have the potential to improve environmental outcomes in west London, throughout
the UK, and across the world.”
Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, said: “Arborea’s
BioSolar leaves are set to revolutionise air quality in London and across the world. Our
administration is planning to be the first to put them into our borough as we're determined
Hammersmith & Fulham will lead the way in cleaning our filthy air.

"This cutting-edge biotech is the latest and most radical innovation to come out of the White City
biotech hub – the cornerstone of the Hammersmith & Fulham industrial strategy.
The Imperial campus in White City, including the I-HUB, is already changing the world, and shows
what can be achieved when a council, a world-leading academic institution and business come
together to lead the way and grow a local economy that works for all.”
Julian Melchiorri, Founder and CEO of Arborea, said: “We are proud to be part of the world-class
innovation district that is flourishing at White City and excited about this new collaboration with
Imperial. In our ever-growing modern cities, cooperation between start-ups, academic institutions
and governmental bodies is critical to enable and accelerate sustainable innovation that benefits
both our society and environment.”
“When I founded Arborea my goal was to tackle climate change while addressing the critical issues
related to the food system. This pilot plant will produce sustainable healthy food additives while
purifying the air, producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from the surrounding environment.
It will provide the opportunity to fully harness Arborea’s BioSolar Leaf dual action in real operating
conditions and help to unlock the technology’s full potential.”

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
The Editor :”Khaled Al Awadi” Your partner in Energy Services
NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and
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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
Emarat member since 1990
ASME member since 1995
Hawk Energy member 2010
Mobile: +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 28 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 2019 K. Al Awadi

New base energy news 06 may 2019 issue no 1243 by khaled al awadi

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