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Petroleum industry

Multiple Oil Industry Developments: Shell Ship Sinks, Aker Streamlines, and BP in Turkey and Azerbaijan

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

A Shell-chartered ship has sunk off the coast of France, carrying nearly 4,000t of styrene and other petrochemicals, stirring up public relations issues for the company. Meanwhile, Eni is open to a merger with Spain's Repsol-YPF, while Aker Maritime has sold its deepwater business to Coflexip Stena Offshore for $625mn. In other developments, Statoil has declared dry its first wildcat well in the Nordland VI area, and BP hopes to agree a contract with Turkey on gas deliveries from Azerbaijan's Shakh-Deniz field.

Key Takeaways:

  • A Shell-chartered ship sank off the coast of France, carrying nearly 4,000t of styrene and other petrochemicals, which both Shell and ExxonMobil claim are biodegradable.
  • Eni is open to a merger with Spain's Repsol-YPF, citing the companies' "homogeneous cultures" and the potential for creating shareholder value.
  • Aker Maritime has sold its deepwater business to Coflexip Stena Offshore for $625mn, allowing the company to "increase the scale and efficiency of its core business".
  • Statoil has declared dry its first wildcat well in the Nordland VI area, with the West Navion drill ship heading to test the Falk structure to the northeast of Statoil's existing Norne field.
  • BP hopes to agree a contract with Turkey on gas deliveries from Azerbaijan's Shakh-Deniz field within a month, with working groups holding consultations and potential buyers including Iran's Oil Industries' Engineering and Construction.
  • The Polish government has stopped domestic oil firm PKN from bidding for a majority stake in the country's 90,000 b/d Gdansk refinery, citing shifting priorities.

Statistics:

  • The Shell ship was carrying nearly 4,000t of styrene and around 1,000t each of isopropyl alcohol and methyl ethyl ketone for ExxonMobil.
  • Aker Maritime's sale to Coflexip Stena Offshore is valued at $625mn.
  • Statoil's first wildcat well in the Nordland VI area was declared dry.
  • BP hopes to agree a contract with Turkey on gas deliveries from Azerbaijan's 700bn [m.sup.3] Shakh-Deniz field within a month.
  • The Polish government plans to sell a 75pc stake in the Gdansk refinery in the first half of next year.

Sources:

  • Shell oil company
  • Eni chief executive Vittorio Mincato
  • Aker Maritime
  • Statoil
  • BP
  • Polish government
  • WPA (World Pipelines & Accessories), 9 October, p9
  • WPA (World Pipelines & Accessories), 17 July, p9
  • WPA (World Pipelines & Accessories), 18 September
  • WPA (World Pipelines & Accessories), 2 October, p9

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