Non-OPEC supply, volatility & other matters

One of the big beasts of the non-OPEC supply jungle – Russia – held its latest high level meeting with OPEC earlier this week. Along with the customary niceties came the expected soundbites when Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation and Abdalla Salem El-Badri, OPEC Secretary General, met in Vienna on Tuesday.

 

Both men accompanied by “high-level” delegations exchanged views on the current oil market situation and “underscored the importance of stable and predictable markets for the long term health of the industry and investments, and above all, the wellbeing of the global economy.”

 

OPEC is also eyeing Russia’s Presidency of the G-20 in 2013 where the cartel has only one representative on the table in the shape of Saudi Arabia, which quite frankly represents itself rather than the block. However, non-OPEC suppliers are aplenty – Canada, Brazil, Mexico and USA to name the major ones alongside the Russians. The Brits and Aussies have a fair few hydrocarbons to share too.

 

Perhaps in light of that, OPEC and Russia have proposed to broaden their cooperation and discuss the possible establishment of a joint working group focused on information exchange and analysis of the petroleum industry. The two parties will next meet in the second quarter of 2013 by which time, unless there is a geopolitical flare-up or a massive turnaround in the global economy, most believe healthy non-OPEC supply growth would have actually been offset by OPEC cuts.

 

So the Oilholic thinks there’s quite possibly more to the meeting on September 25 than meets the eye…er…press communiqué. Besides, whom are we kidding regarding non-OPEC participants? Market conjecture is that non-OPEC supply growth itself is likely to be moderate at best given the wider macroeconomic climate.

 

Mike Wittner, global head of oil research at Société Générale, notes that non-OPEC supply growth is led by rapid gains in North America: tight oil from shale in the US and oil sands and bitumen in Canada. North American supply is forecast to grow by 1.04 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012 and 0.75 million bpd in 2013. The reason for the overall higher level of non-OPEC growth next year, compared to 2012, is that this year’s contraction in Syria, Yemen, and South Sudan has  already taken place and will not be repeated.

 

“We are projecting output in Syria and Yemen flat through 2013, with disruptions continuing; we are forecasting only small increases in South Sudan beginning well into next year, as the recent pipeline agreement with Sudan appears quite tenuous at this point. With non-OPEC supply growth roughly the same as global demand growth next year, OPEC will have to cut crude production to balance the market,” he added.

 

With more than anecdotal evidence of the Saudis already trimming production, Société Générale reckons total non-OPEC supply plus OPEC NGLs production may increase by 0.93 million bpd in 2013, compared to 0.75 million bpd in 2012. Compared to their previous forecast, non-OPEC supply plus OPEC NGLs growth has been revised up by 50,000 bpd in 2012 and down by 60,000 bpd in 2013. That’s moderate alright!

 

The key point, according to Wittner, is that the Saudis did not replace the last increment of Iranian flow reductions, where output fell by 300 kb/d from May to July, due to EU and US sanctions. “The intentional lack of Saudi replacement volumes was – in effect – a Saudi cut; or, if one prefers, it was the Saudis allowing Iran to unintentionally and unwillingly help out the rest of OPEC by cutting production and exports,” he concluded.

 

Let’s see what emerges in Vienna at the December meeting of ministers, but OPEC crude production is unlikely to average above 31.5 million bpd in the third quarter of 2012 and is likely to be cut further as market fundamentals remain decidedly bearish. In fact, were it not for the geopolitical premium provided by Iran’s shenanigans and talk of a Chinese stimulus, the heavy losses on Wednesday would have been heavier still and Brent would not have finished the day remaining above the US$110 per barrel mark.

 

On a related note, at one point Brent's premium to WTI increased to US$20.06 per barrel based on November settlements; the first move above the US$20-mark since August 16. As a footnote on the subject of premiums, Bloomberg reports that Bakken crude weakened to the smallest premium over WTI oil in three weeks as Enbridge apportioned deliveries on pipelines in the region in Tuesday’s trading.

 

The Western Canadian Select, Canada’s most common benchmark, also usually sells at a discount to the WTI. But rather than the “double-discount” (factoring in WTI’s discount to Brent) being something to worry about, National Post columnist Jameson Berkow writes how it can be turned into an advantage!

 

But back to Europe where Myrto Sokou, analyst at Sucden Financial Research, feels that very volatile and nervous trading sessions are set to continue as Eurozone‘s concerns weigh on market sentiment. “The rebound on Thursday morning followed growing discussions of a further stimulus package from China that improved market sentiment and increased risk appetite,” she said.

 

However, Sokou sees the market remaining focussed on Spain as news of its first draft budget for 2013 is factored in. “It is quite a crucial time for the markets, especially following the recent refusal from Germany, Holland and Finland to allow ESM funds to cover legacy assets, so that leaves the Spanish Government to fund their Banks,” she added.

 

On the corporate front, Canadians find themselves grappling with the Nexen question as public sentiment is turning against CNOOC’s offer for the company just as its shareholders approved the deal. Many Members of Parliament have also voiced their concerns against a deal with the Chinese NOC. For its part, if a Dow Jones report is to be believed, CNOOC is raising US$6 billion via a one-year term loan to help fund the possible purchase of Nexen. The Harper administration is yet to give its regulatory approval.

 

Meanwhile, the Indian Government has confirmed that one of its NOCs – ONGC Videsh – has made a bid to acquire stakes in Canadian oil sands assets owned by ConocoPhillips with a total projected market valuation of US$5 billion. ConocoPhillips aims to sell about 50% of its stake in emerging oil sands assets, according to news reports in Canada. Looks like one non-OPEC destination just won’t stop grabbing the headlines!

 

Moving away from Canada, Thailand’s state oil company PTTEP has finalised arrangements for its US$3.1 billion share offer for Mozambique’s Cove Energy. Earlier this year, PTTEP won a protracted takeover battle for Cove over Shell. Concluding on a lighter note, the Oilholic has learned that the Scottish distillery of Tullibardine is to become the first whisky distillery in the world to have its by-products converted into advanced biofuel, capable of powering vehicles fuelled by petrol or diesel.

 

The independent malt whisky producer in Blackford, Perthshire has signed a memorandum of understanding with Celtic Renewables Ltd, an Edinburgh-based company which has developed the technology to produce biobutanol from the by-products of whisky production. Now that’s worth drinking to, but it’s all for the moment folks! Keep reading, keep it ‘crude’!

 

© Gaurav Sharma 2012. Oil Drilling site, North Dakota, USA © Phil Schermeister / National Geographic.

Brent & the ‘crude’ fortnight to Friday the 13th!

Despite crude economic headwinds, the Brent forward month futures price spiked back well above US$100 per barrel on July 3. No one was convinced it’d stay there and so it proved to be barely a week later. Since then it has lurked around the US$100 mark. Our crude friends in the trading community always like to flag up supply shocks – some real some and some perceived along with some profit taking thrown in the mix.

The Norwegian oil industry strike which began on June 24 was a very real threat to supply. When oil industry workers down tools in a country which is the world’s fifth largest exporter of the crude stuff, then alarm bells ought to ring and so they did. Being a waterborne crude benchmark, Brent was always likely to be susceptible to one of its main production sources. The Louisiana Light’s fluctuation over the hurricane season stateside would be a fair analogy for the way Brent responded to the news of the strike.

Quite frankly, forget the benchmark; the strike saw Norwegian oil production dip by 13% and its gas output by 4% over the 16 days that it lasted. So when a Reuters report came in that Norway's government had used emergency powers to step in and force offshore oil and gas workers back to work, more than the bulls eased off.

The dispute, which is by no means over, concerns offshore workers' demand for the right to retire early, at 62, with a full pension. The row revolves around the elimination of a pension add-on introduced in 1998 for workers who retire (at 62), five years ahead of Norway's official retirement age and three years ahead of the general age for oil workers.

Accompanying a very real supply shock in the shape of the Norwegian strike were empty threats from Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz in wake of the EU sanctions squeeze. Traders put two and two together and perhaps came-up with 22 out of a sense of mischief.

First of all, the Iranians would be mighty silly if they decided to close the Strait of Hormuz with the US Fifth fleet lurking around. It just would not work and Iran would hurt itself more for the sake of what would at best be a temporary disruption. Secondly, City estimates, for instance the latest one being put out by Capital Economics, suggest that the US and EU sanctions could ultimately reduce oil exports from Iran by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd).

While it is serious stuff for Iran, the figure is less than 2% of global supply. As such hardly anyone in the City expects the implementation of sanctions on Iran to be a game-changer from a pricing standpoint.

“We maintain our view that the imminent tightening of Western sanctions on Iran is unlikely to have anywhere near as large an impact on global oil prices as many had feared. Demand is weakening and other suppliers are both able and willing to meet any shortfall. Admittedly, much could still depend on how the Iranian regime chooses to respond,” said Julian Jessop of Capital Economics.

Causative effect of such a market sentiment predictably sees Brent back in US$90s to lower US$100 range. In fact Capital Economics, Société Générale, Moody’s and many other forecasters have a US$70-100 per barrel forecast for Brent for the remainder of the year.

A spokesperson for Moody’s told the Oilholic that the agency has lowered its crude price assumptions to US$100/barrel for Brent and US$90/barrel for WTI in 2012, with an additional expected decline to US$95/barrel for Brent and US$85/barrel for WTI in 2013.

Moody's also expects that the spread between benchmark Brent and WTI crude will narrow to about US$5 in 2014. In a report, the agency adds that a drop in oil prices and jitters over economic conditions in Europe, the US and China suggest the global exploration and production sector (E&P) will see its earnings grow more slowly over the next 12 to 18 months.

As such, Moody's expects E&P industry EBITDA to grow in the mid-to-high single digits year on year through mid-2013. Expectations for EBITDA growth in the sector above 10% would suggest a positive outlook, while a retreat of 10% or more would point to a negative outlook. Moody's changed its outlook for the E&P industry to stable from positive on June 27, 2012.

The agency also expects little change in US natural gas prices before the end of 2013 with a normal winter offering the best near-term support for natural gas prices as increased utility and industrial demand will ramp up slowly.

On the corporate front, in an interesting fortnight Origin Energy announced that the Australia Pacific LNG project (APLNG) – in which its stake is at 37.5% after completion of Sinopec's additional equity subscription – has received board approval for Final Investment Decision (FID) for the development of a second LNG train.

The expanded two-train project is expected to cost US$20 billion for a coal seam gas (CSG) to liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Queensland, Australia. Elsewhere, India’s Essar Energy subsidiary Essar E&P Ltd is to sell a 50% stake in Vietnam's offshore gas exploration block 114 to Italy’s ENI.

Under the terms of the transaction, which is still subject to approval from the Vietnamese government, ENI is also assuming operator status for the block. Yours truly guesses the Indian company finally decided it was time to indulge in a bit of risk diversification.

Continuing with corporate stuff, the Oilholic told you BP’s planned divestment in TNK-BP won’t come about that easily or smoothly. One of its oligarch partners - Mikhail Fridman - has alleged that there are no credible buyers for BP’s 50% stake in the dispute ridden Russian venture.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on June 29, Fridman said, "We doubt it has any basis in fact. They are trying to buy time, to reassure investors."

However, BP said it stood by its announcement. It also announced an agreement to sell its interests in the Alba and Britannia fields in the British sector of the North Sea to Mitsui for US$280 million. The sale includes BP’s non-operating 13.3% stake in Alba and 8.97% stake in Britannia. Completion of the deal is anticipated by the end of Q3 2012, subject to UK regulatory approvals.

Net production from the two fields averages around 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It is yet another example of BP’s smart management of its asset portfolio in wake of Macondo as the company refocuses on pastures and businesses new.

Elsewhere in the North Sea, Dana Petroleum expects to start drilling at two new oil fields off Shetland named - Harris and Barra – by Q2 2013. The first crude consignment from what’s described as the Western Isles project will come onstream in 2015. A spokesperson said field production could run for 15 years.

The region needs all the barrels it can pull as the UK’s budgetary watchdog – the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) – has projected that future oil and gas revenues from the North Sea may be much lower than previous forecasts.

OBR sees the Brent prices rise from US$95/barrel in 2016 to US$173/barrel in 2040. “This compares lower with a projection in our assessment last year of a rise from US$107/barrel in 2015, rising to US$206/barrel in 2040," a spokesperson said.

As a result the OBR now projects tax receipts will be about 0.05% of GDP by 2040-41; half the level it projected in last year. It identified lower projected oil and gas prices as the key driver for the reduced figures given this year. The Oilholic won’t be called upon to vote on Scottish independence; but if yours truly was a Scottish Nationalist then there’d be a lot to worry about.

Finally, it looks like UK regulator – the Takeover Panel – has had enough of the protracted battle for the takeover of Cove Energy between Royal Dutch Shell and Thailand's PTTEP. It has given both parties a deadline of July 16 to make their final offers.

The Takeover Panel announced on Friday 13, July 2012 that if no offer is accepted by the said date, the sale of Cove will be decided by an auction on July 17. It could be lucky for neither, if they pay over the odds. That’s all for the moment folks. Keep reading, keep it ‘crude’!

© Gaurav Sharma 2012. Photo: North Sea oil rig © Cairn Energy.

UK & Norway: A ‘crudely’ special relationship

Unconnected to the current systemic financial malaise in Europe, a recent visit to Oslo by British Prime Minister David Cameron for a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg went largely unnoticed. However, its ‘crude’ significance cannot be understated and Cameron’s visit was the first by a British Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher’s in 1986.

Beaming before the cameras, Stoltenberg and Cameron announced an "energy partnership" encompassing oil, gas and renewable energy production. As production from established wells has peaked in the Norwegian and British sectors of the North Sea, a lot has changed since 1986. The two principal proponents of exploration in the area are now prospecting in hostile climes of the hitherto unexplored far North – beyond Shetland Islands and in the Barents Sea.

Reading between PR lines, the crux of what emerged from Oslo last week is that both governments want to make it easier for firms to raise money for projects and to develop new technologies bearing potential benefits in terms of energy security. That Cameron is the first British PM to visit Norway in decades also comes as no surprise in wake of media reports that the Norwegian sector of the North Sea is witnessing a second renaissance. So of the growing amount of oil the UK imports since its own production peaked in 1999 – Norway accounts for over 60% of it. The percentage for British gas imports from Norway is nearly the same.

"I hope that my visit to Oslo will help secure affordable energy supplies for decades to come and enhance investment between our two countries. This will mean more collaboration on affordable long-term gas supply, more reciprocal investment in oil, gas and renewable energies and more commercial deals creating thousands of new jobs and adding billions to our economies," Cameron said.

For their part the Norwegians, who export over five times as much energy as they use domestically, told their guest that they see the UK as a reliable energy partner. We hear you sir(s)!

Meanwhile, UK Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest production data released this morning shows that extractive industries output fell by 15% on an annualised basis in April with oil & gas production accounting for a sizeable chunk of the decline.

A further break-up of data suggests oil & gas production came in 18.2% lower in April 2012 when compared with the recorded data for April 2011. Statisticians say production would have been higher in April had it not been for the shutdown of Total’s Elgin platform in the North Sea because of a gas leak.

Elsewhere, farcical scenes ensued at the country’s Manchester airport where the airport authority ran out of aviation fuel causing delays and flight cancellations for hours before supplies were restored. Everyone in the UK is asking the same question – how on earth could this happen? Here’s the BBC’s attempt to answer it.

Finally the Oilholic has found time and information to be in a position to re-examine the feisty tussle for Cove Energy. After Shell’s rather mundane attempt to match Thai company PTTEP’s offer for Cove, the Thais upped the stakes late last month with a £1.22 billion takeover offer for the Mozambique-focused oil & gas offshore company.

PTTEP’s 240 pence/share offer improves upon its last offer of 220 pence or £1.12 billion in valuation which Shell had matched to nods of approval from Cove’s board and the Government of Mozambique. The tussle has been going on since February when Shell first came up with a 195 pence/share offer which PTTEP then bettered.

Yours truly believes Cove’s recommendation to shareholders in favour of PTTEP’s latest offer does not guarantee that the tussle is over. After all, Cove recommended Shell’s last offer too which even had a break clause attached. Chris Searle, corporate finance partner at accountants BDO, feels the tussle for control may end up with someone overpaying.

“I’m not surprised that PTTEP have come back in for Cove since the latter’s gas assets are so attractive. Of course the danger is that we now get into a really competitive auction that in the end will lead to one of the bidders overpaying. It will be interesting to see how far this goes and who blinks first,” he concludes.

Cove’s main asset is an 8.5% stake in the Rovuma Offshore Area 1 off the coast of Mozambique where Anadarko projects recoverable reserves of 30 tcf of natural gas. Someone just might end-up overpaying.

On the pricing front, instead of the Spanish rescue calming the markets, a fresh round of volatility has taken hold. One colleague in the City wonders whether it had actually ever left as confusion prevails over what messages to take from the new development. Instead of the positivity lasting, Spain's benchmark 10-year bond yields rose to 6.65% and Italy's 10-year bond yield rose to 6.19%, not seen since May and January respectively.

Last time yours truly checked, Brent forward month futures contract was resisting US$97 while WTI was resisting US$82. That’s all for the moment folks! The Oilholic is off to Vienna for the 161st OPEC meeting of ministers. More from Austria soon; keep reading, keep it ‘crude’!

© Gaurav Sharma 2012. Photo: Oil Rig in the North Sea © Royal Dutch Shell.

Out of its ‘Shell’ & into the ‘Cove’ plus ‘Providence’

Many analysts thought supermajor Royal Dutch Shell which was embroiled in a bidding war for London-listed Cove Energy for better parts of Q1 this year, would emerge out of its conservative shell and trump rival bids from Thailand’s PTTEP and a couple of interested parties from India outright.

In the end the deal was sealed by a conservative, albeit apparently successful, counter offer by Shell for the East Africa focussed E&P company. Having seen its offer for US$1.6 billion back in February trumped by PTTEP, the Anglo-Dutch major returned to the table with a bid of US$1.81 billion which matched rather than bettered the Thai state company’s offer.

On April 24, Cove’s directors accepted and recommended Shell's offer which the Oilholic thinks had much to do with Mozambique as a nation wanting Shell’s expertise as well as its investment. The possibility of a bid battle has now receded; more so as the agreement includes a break fee clause, under which Cove Energy will have to pay Shell US$18 million if it now accepts a rival bid.

An approval from the government of Mozambique is awaited as Shell eyes Cove’s main asset – an 8.5% stake in the Rovuma Offshore Area 1 in the country where Anadarko projects recoverable reserves of 30 tcf of natural gas. Shell as a company continues to be in good nick having recently announced a rise in Q1 profits while rival ExxonMobil saw its profits dip. On an annualised basis, Shell Q1 profits were up 11% at US$7.66 billion while in a strange coincidence Exxon’s profits fell 11% to US$9.45 billion. Both majors said oil prices would be ‘volatile’ in the coming months.

Talking about the luck of the Irish, London and Dublin listed Providence Resources’ quest for Black Gold off the coast of Ireland appears to be on song. The company, which dug Ireland’s first oil prospection well that might be anywhere near profitability, looks good for its 520pence plus share price on the AIM when the Oilholic last checked.

This accolade of Ireland’s first profitable oil well goes to Barryroe prospection field, some 70km off Cork, where a future full-scale extraction to the tune of nearly 4000 barrels per day – which makes a lot of commercial sense – is within relative touching distance. Providence Resources also holds drilling permits in Northern Ireland. Since Irish crude prospection has been riddled with disappointments, Providence deserves a pat on the back and its current share price for its effort.

Finally, the Oilholic is a bit miffed about being told by people that the UK now has the most expensive petrol price in the world, which it clearly does not. Yours truly knows that prices at the pump bite everyone, but we Brits aren’t the worst off.

However, to argue otherwise often results in farcically loud arguments especially with people who think the more inexpert they are, the more valid their opinion is! Thankfully, experts at Staveley Head – a provider of specialist insurance products – have some handy figures to back up the Oilholic which suggest that while UK is almost always on the list of the most expensive countries to buy petrol – it is not the most expensive (yet).

Click on their infographic - the Global Petrol Price Index (above right) - to compare the UK with the others. It would suggest that current price per litre is the highest in Norway, followed by Turkey, Netherlands, Italy and Greece. That’s all for the moment folks! Keep reading, keep it ‘crude’!

© Gaurav Sharma 2012. Photo: Shell Gas Station © Royal Dutch Shell. Infographic: Global Petrol Price Index © Staveley Head.