May Starts with Contract Wins in Africa and Asia

After enduring an exceptionally painful April, the oil market received some positive news during the first week of May. As the following recap of some of the most viewed downstream-related articles on Rigzone from the past week shows, positive developments emerged via contract wins for projects in Africa and Asia. Read on for details.

Chinese Firm Building Floating Oil Storage Tanks

Haiyan Submarinenergy Ltd. recently revealed that it is rolling out a solution for the world’s increasingly tight availability of crude oil storage: the crude floating storage unit (CFSU). Among the most popular articles from the past week among Rigzone’s downstream readers, this staff-written piece discusses the non-metal CFSU. According to Submarinergy, the floating units can be produced quickly. Moreover, the company contends a CFSU can last more than five decades in crude and seawater environments.

TechnipFMC to Design $10B LNG Terminal

News that TechnipFMC and Russian firm are teaming up to design a $10 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility also piqued the interest of many Rigzone readers this past week. The liquefaction terminal, slated for construction near Russia’s border with China, reportedly will boast 13 million tonnes per annum of LNG. TechnipFMC is expected to complete the design phase by the end of this year, and the facility’s targeted completion is 2025.

Joint Venture Team Wins $365MM Mozambique Contract

As this staff-written piece points out, a joint venture of Mota-Engil and BESIX has secured a $365 million contract for the Mozambique LNG project that Total and others are developing. The $20 billion complex will be the southeast African country’s first onshore LNG facility. Under their 32-month contract, Mota-Engil and BESIX will build a pier bridge and an offloading facility.

Oil Rally Runs Out of Steam on Trepidation

During the past week, crude oil prices have posted gains amid newly implemented OPEC+ supply curbs as well as production shut-ins by U.S. producers. In fact, the major investment bank Morgan Stanley has even expressed the view that the worst of the oil supply glut is probably over, according to this Bloomberg article posted to Rigzone. Nevertheless, concerns about the economic recovery from demand destruction caused by the COVID-19 response has left some in the oil market to speculate that consumption will not return to pre-virus levels for a year or more. Such fears have tempered the recent growth trajectory in oil prices.

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.