CNOOC official In Hoima

In a bid to have locals gain employment in the oil and gas industry, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has urged communities in Hoima to invest in education.

The company, which is developing oil fields in Hoima, seeks to acquaint learners in the region with the oil and gas sector as a way of ensuring that local communities benefit from the natural resources.

More than 20,000 casual and skilled laborers mainly those with technical skills including welders will be required during the development of the oil production related infrastructure including Kabaale oil refinery and the related crude oil pipeline connecting the refinery to Tanga port in Tanzania, according to the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU).

Read Also: China State Owned CNOOC Sees Likely Start of Uganda Oil Field in 2021

Aminah Bukenya, the CNOOC Uganda senior public relations supervisor, said this on May 17 while presiding over Best Performers awards for the 2017 best students in the district.

“The awards affirm our willingness to be a good neighbour to the communities in which we operate and commitment to a win-win situation with its stakeholders in the region,” she said.

CNOOC recognized and awarded 90 best performers in PLE, UCE and UACE under its Corporate Social Responsibility Program codenamed ‘CNOOC Best Performers Awards.’

In all, the learners shared amongst themselves Shs 28 million. The money is meant to help them with tuition as they progress to higher learning institutions. CNOOC started the initiative in 2012 and to date, about 420 students have benefitted.

Meanwhile, Daniel Muhairwe, the Buhaguzi MP, urged other oil companies operating in the Albertine graben to look into supplementing government effort to promote vocational training as a way of preparing the local children for jobs in the oil and gas industry.

Kadiri Kirungi, the Hoima district chairman, hailed CNOOC for its continued support towards education. He, however, highlighted the desire to change from awarding cash and resort to sponsoring at least 15 students at university every year.

The oil prices fall from over $ 100 per barrel In June 2014 to under $ 29 per barrel in January 2016. We have seen the oil price downturn is counting. And nobody knows for sure when the price will recover.

The simple truth is oil price crash has both good and bad consequences to the national economy and oil and gas sector in Tanzania and East Africa.

Effect of Low Oil Price In Tanzania’s oil and gas industry

Tanzania oil and gas value chain has four segment, exploration, production marketing and distribution of oil and natural gas.

The low oil prices affect each of these segment differently. The low oil prices discourage exploration activity. But the higher oil price is the primary motivation for the exploration, development and drilling activity. Tanzania involves two types of oil and gas companies:
1.Major oil and gas companies- These are companies involves in everything from discovering, developing, producing and marketing of oil and natural gas products. Such as Royal Dutch Shell

2.Small or independent oil and gas companies- They only discover, develop and extract natural gas. Example are Uk- based firm Aminex
To cope with low oil prices, major gas companies such as shell may shift investment on the downstream segment of the oil and gas industry- refining, marketing and distribution of petroleum product so as they can benefit from the low petroleum products prices.

They can shift to other oil and gas producing countries, and small gas field being left to small gas companies. The low oil prices may have a severe negative impact on small, independent oil and gas companies because they don’t have such options of shifting the investment to the downstream segment of the industry
When oil prices increase, exploration activity flourishes in the country. The number of rigs is also doubled.

But good prices alone won’t increase exploration drilling and development activities. The key motivators for exploration and development activity to flourish are a good profit.
And this is achieved by reducing production cost. To minimize production cost, companies should develop exploration and development technology that can do more with. Increase efficiency of exploration and development field through good geological knowledge.

And the decision makers should implement policies that associate with risk to explore and develop gas and oil field incurred by small oil and gas independent operators such as tax and investment incentives.

Since the oil and gas sector in Tanzania and East Africa are dominated with small, independent oil and gas companies, good policies should be implemented that associate with risk to explore and develop gas and oil field incurred by small oil and gas independent operators.
To increase profit and make exploration activity more attractive, decision makers should improve tax and investment incentives.

The Effect Of Low Oil Prices In National Economy
The lower oil price s has an impact not only on the oil and gas industry but to the entire economy. The simple truth is that what may be bad for the oil and gas sector is good for state economy or vice versa. The positive effect in decline oil prices is less money is spent in importing oil and related petroleum products.

Tanzania does not produce oil, so we are a net importer of crude oil and refined petroleum products. Drop in oil prices means that less money is invested in the importing of the products. Direct and indirect job losses are bad consequences to the national economy. The job losses in the oil and gas industry may increase health expenditures.
The lower oil prices reduce foreign direct investment in the exploration and extraction of oil and gas, the government might millions of dollars that would come from tax and royalty revenue

Outlook

The oil prices fall from over $ 100 per barrel In June 2016 to under $ 29 per barrel in January 2016. At the end of 2017, we saw supply and demand rebalance.

And in the mid of 2018, the outlook looks bright as company start to spend again.
The Royal Dutch Shell drilled exploration offshore well in Tanzania but found no oil and gas. Also, Norwegian Statoil has drilled offshore well in Tanzania.
And Uk-based firm Amnex , announced to go forward with the drilling program of its onshore well Tanzania.

So companies have started to spend money again. And that’s is good news for everyone in the energy sector. The Tanzania oil and gas outlook looks a lot brighter than the past two years

                                                              Hussein.boffu@tanzaniapetroleum.com

                                                                +255655376543

As the term implies, a national oil company (NOC) is an organization somehow linked to a country’s government. Unlike a multinational or international oil company (IOC) whose shareholders hail from the private sector, a government partially or fully owns a NOC.

The profit motive does matter to NOCs, but these entities’ ties to the public sector also dictate that they achieve other goals. For instance, some NOCs function as extensions of governments to provide jobs, fund social programs and subsidize citizens’ energy costs. Other NOCs, though not official units of their host governments, count governments as well as private investors as shareholders. Such enterprises attempt to create value for shareholders and support other, national objectives advocated by political elites. NOCs with varying ownership structures and missions can be found in Rigzone’s 2018 Ideal Employer Survey.

Which NOCs enjoy the highest esteem among oil and gas professionals? Participants in Rigzone’s survey – 6,621 respondents from 2,990 different companies in more than 100 countries – have determined which NOCs would be best to work for. Individuals completing the survey, which Rigzone conducted from June to November 2017, responded to a variety of questions given current market conditions.

What follows is a countdown of the top 10 highest-scoring NOCs. Note that all figures reflect the most recent publicly available information that Rigzone was able to obtain from sources such as company websites and annual reports.

10. Gazprom
Established in 1993, Russian Joint Stock Company Gazprom reports that it produces 11 percent of the world’s gas output. At the end of 2016, owners of the Moscow-based company included:

Federal Agency for State Property Management, Russian Federation (38.37 percent)
Rosneftegaz (10.97 percent)*
Rosgazifikatsiya (0.89 percent)*
American Depository Receipt (ADR) holders (28.86 percent)
Others (22.91 percent)
*Controlled by Russia’s government

 Read Also. List Of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Companies In Tanzania

The chief executive of 467,400-employee Gazprom is Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee. As of 2016, Gazprom’s reserves (proven and probable) included 23,855.1 billion cubic meters (Bcm) of natural gas, 1,018.9 million tons of gas condensate and 1,378.7 million tons of oil. In the same year, the company produced 419.1 Bcm of natural and associated gas, 15.9 million tons of gas condensate and 39.3 million tons of oil.

9. Ecopetrol
Known for its green iguana mascot, Bogota-based Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos (Ecopetrol S.A.) is Colombia’s NOC. More than 88-percent owned by the Colombian government, Ecopetrol also counts pension funds and other investors as shareholders. CEO Felipe Bayón Pardo leads the approximately 8,700-employee-strong company, which was established in 1951.

In 2017, Ecopetrol boasted proven hydrocarbon reserves of 1.66 billion barrels-equivalent and average production of 715,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day. During the same period, the company processed 346,000 barrels (bbl) of crude oil per day at its refineries in Cartagena and Barrancabermeja. Outside of Colombia, the company holds offshore exploratory acreage in Mexico and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

8. Kuwait Oil Co.
One of two Kuwait Petroleum Corp. subsidiaries to make Rigzone’s list of top NOCs, Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC) traces its origins to 1934 and focuses on exploration, drilling and production of oil and natural gas within Kuwait. Moreover, state-owned KOC’s activities include storing crude oil and delivering it to tanker vessels for export.

Led by CEO Jamal Abdul Aziz Jaafar, KOC produced an average of nearly 2.9 million barrels of crude oil per day and more than 1.7 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of associated and non-associated gas in 2015-2016. In addition, the company has set a goal of increasing its crude production capacity to 3.65 million barrels per day (MMbpd) by 2020.

Headquartered in the city of Al-Ahmadi, KOC reported a total employee headcount of 9,818 at the end of the 2015/2016 fiscal year.

7. Petroleum Development Oman
Formed in 1937, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) employs just under 8,800 individuals. Led by Managing Director Raoul Restucci, the Muscat-based NOC is 60-percent owned by Oman’s government. Other PDO owners include Shell (34 percent), Total (4 percent) and Partex (2 percent).

PDO in 2016 reported production of 600,000 bpd crude oil, 81,000 bpd condensate, and 80 million cubic meters per day of natural gas. In addition to sourcing energy from the ground, PDO is also relying on a resource from above. The company’s Miraah solar energy venture with GlassPoint Solar will produce steam for thermal enhanced oil recovery, according to PDO.

6. China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC)

China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC also operates in more than 40 countries and regions. The Beijing-based NOC, established in 1982 and headed by CEO Yang Hua, had 106,000 employees at the end of 2016. That year, it reported 76.97 million tons crude oil production, 24.5 Bcm of natural gas production and 51.2 million tons of refining capacity. The People’s Republic of China’s Assets Supervision and Administration Commission operates state-owned CNOOC.

5. Qatar Petroleum

Qatar occupies an area smaller than Connecticut. Thanks in part to Qatar Petroleum (QP), however, the tiny Arabian Peninsula country’s impact on the global oil and gas industry could be called “Texas-sized.” Formed in 1974, the Doha-based NOC produces oil and gas from onshore and offshore acreage. Most noteworthy is QP’s North Field in the Persian Gulf.

Boasting 900 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, North is the world’s largest non-associated gas reservoir, according to QP. The company, led by CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, exports much of its North production as liquefied natural gas (LNG) through its Qatargas subsidiary. In fact, Qatargas is the world’s top LNG producer and – as the International Gas Union observes – Qatar exports more LNG than any other country.

4. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC)

Already a significant downstream player with 922,000 bpd of refining capacity, ADNOC wants to elevate its downstream profile. The state-owned company, established in 1971, has adopted a downstream growth strategy that aims to create the world’s largest integrated refining and chemicals site at Ruwais, UAE by 2025.

To be sure, the downstream is not ADNOC’s sole focus. The company produces approximately 3 MMbpdand more than 9.8 billion cubic feet of raw gas per day. In all, the NOC’s holdings encompass 18 different companies and subsidiaries. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber serves as ADNOC’s chief executive.

3. Kuwait National Petroleum Corp. (KNPC)

The domestic downstream unit of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC), KNPC garnered the number four ranking in Rigzone’s breakdown of Ideal NOC employers. Headquartered in Al-Ahmadi south of Kuwait City, KNPC can process up to 936,000 bbl of crude oil per day at three refineries.

The 58-year-old company, headed by CEO Mohammad Ghazi Al-Mutairi, also runs a four-train LNG plant at its Mina Al-Ahmadi (MAA) refinery that can produce approximately 2.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (scfpd) of LNG. KNPC is adding a fifth train at MAA that will raise liquefaction capacity to nearly 3.3 billion scfpd.

2. Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)

Headquarters of Malaysia’s integrated oil and gas company Petronas, the twin Petronas Towers, leave a distinctive mark on Kuala Lumpur’s skyline. Petronas also is making a growing impression on the oil and gas industry, both in Malaysia and abroad.

Established in 1974 and present in more than 60 countries, Petronas in 2016 reported daily production of nearly 2.4 million boe. Currently able to process 570,000 bpd of crude oil at refineries in Malaysia and South Africa, Petronas aims to add 300,000 bpd of new capacity by 2020 through its Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project on Johor Island. The company also is a major player in Asia’s LNG sector, having deployed noteworthy projects such as the PETRONAS LNG Complex in Malaysia’s Sarawak state and the floating LNG facility PFLNG Satu in the South China Sea. In addition, Petronas is developing its second floating LNG vessel: PFLNG Dua.

Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin serves as Petronas’ CEO.

1. Saudi Aramco

Topping the list of NOCs in Rigzone’s Ideal Employer Survey ranking for the second consecutive year is Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Saudi Aramco. Established in 1933 and fully owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Saudi Aramco reported the following production figures in 2016:

• 10.5 MMbpd of crude oil
• 8.3 billion scfpd of sales natural gas
• 920 million scfpd of ethane
• 1.4 MMbpd natural gas liquids

During the same period, Saudi Aramco reported reserves of 260.8 billion barrels of crude oil and condensate and 298.7 trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas. Also, its total share of refining capacity at domestic and international facilities amounted to 3.1 MMbpd in 2016.

CEO Amin H. Nasser is leading Saudi Aramco at a time when the KSA is trying to open state-owned enterprises to private investors. Along those lines, the Kingdom is seeking to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of a minority of Saudi Aramco’s shares to investors to raise capital for growth projects. At this writing, when the approximately 65,000-employee company’s IPO will occur is uncertain.

Credit. Rigzone