Putin Has Turned Off Gas to European!!! 2 Months again Europe goes Dark!!!

    Last Sunday, Russia stopped its gas shipments to Poland and Bulgaria, because they didn't want to pay using gold standard rubles or gold, Germany immediately rushed to pay Russia's gas and oil bills with rubles.

    The Russian company Gazprom has stopped its gas shipments to Poland, where 45 percent of the gas source comes from Gazprom, and Bulgaria, where 90% of the gas depends on Gazprom. 

    Currently, it has not had an impact, because it was stopped by Russia. again panicking in a matter of months as his reserves are currently only 75% full and, soon to be depleted.

    The European Union considers Russia to be a challenging war to which Russia answered "I told you not to mess with Russia. We warn you already! We all know since a month ago Putin made the decision that all Russian products are paid for in rubles.

    Kiril Petrov, Bulgaria's prime minister, was annoyed and thought that Russia had violated the gas sale and purchase contract. But Putin doesn't care, we also know that oil and gas are not easily replaced immediately compared to consumer goods at home, for example, when bottled chili sauce and tomato sauce run out, we can replace it with Sambal chili sauce made immediately. replace its sources for gas and oil.

    You have to prepare new pipelines, and new distribution channels, it will take years to build. We return to Russia, which forces us to use gold or rubles based on gold. This reminds us one more thing about the bargaining power of the dollar, which is challenged by rubles, and gold makes our wild brains boiling feel the injustice of the dollar start. 

    Should we also use Gold? How before we decide, we discuss the history of money and the history of gold as a means of payment transactions, payment instruments at first using the barter system, where goods were exchanged for goods recorded in its first history in the Mesopotamian region until the heyday of Babylon.

    The exchange of goods with goods recorded on a piece of clay or a tablet is due to its complexity because it evaluates an item to be exchanged so recording on a tablet is to remind us that there are advantages or disadvantages in the form of numbers, which if done now are very inaccurate.

    For example, eggs are exchanged for goats, 1000 eggs are for example the value of one goat, while those who have eggs only need a portion of goat meat. At that time, the complexity of thousands of years of transactions was solved by simplifying the payment notes on the tablet and replaced with high-value neutral objects, namely by using an agreement to pay using gold.

    Initially, it was in Greek times around 700 BC, aka the world for 2000 years, before Coinmas were used as a medium of exchange of trust, transactions still used barter which was recorded on the tablet with the presence of gold coins of various sizes, the presence of recording on the tablet was no longer needed after buying and selling. 

Gold Bar of PT Freeport Indonesia Gold Mines

    Using gold coins, the trade relationship has ended. Gold coins are also called fungible, because they can be a medium of exchange for any goods because of the similarity in value, fast forward to the 14th century when the paper was used as a means of payment which is lighter and more detailed in value.

    For a moment, let's take a break, here, we will discuss this light and detailed paper money that actually speeds up the exchange of goods and accelerates economic growth in a region. Compared to 2000 years of transactions using barter and tablets, the world economy has not been evenly distributed only in certain areas of the earth, then when using gold, gold coins as a fungible object of exchange, the world economy began to move fast.

    The Silkroad is one of the masterpieces of this transaction using gold. Then since the 14th century, the world's economy has increased again with advances in machinery technology, shipping, and the search for raw materials in the new world region making Europe in an instant the wealthiest continent in the world at that time because of the ease of transacting in medieval Europe which became prosperous quickly because transactions used paper as well. 

    Still in line with transactions using Gold coins because each issue of the paper is supported by physical goods of gold as a guarantee for the issuance of the paper money and the issuance of the money is only from a public trust institution combined from a place for storing money, namely a bank and a government.

    For this reason, the gold standard was finally met to support the value of paper money or Fiat Money where England 1821 was the first country to use it and since then the pound sterling has become the world currency because the majority of trade transactions around the world at that time mostly ended in the British empire which The colonies are all around the earth.

    Then in 1971 America with its dollar which began to dominate 60% of world trade negates the convertibility of gold against the dollar or gold is no longer a guarantee for the issuance of Fiat money dollars.

    Okay, let's limit the information this time about money and the evolution of money, but again reminding the injustice of printing money dollars that Russia is actually being challenged by Ruble backed by Gold or it can be a second option where Russia also accepts pure bullion gold, 99.99 percent as a medium of exchange for buying products. prepare for oil and gas.

    Even though Russia is only twelve percent of the world's oil and gas producer, where Russia's oil and natural gas in the world, maybe only be one percent of the dollar transaction value, if America and Nato's allied countries are constantly challenged, it will become even more diverse. which is challenging because many countries are inspired, including Indonesia's new mind, the dollar can lose confidence as a country's foreign exchange reserves and as a means of world payment.

# Geopilitics

America as the capital of the Zelensky Party? The mission of the CIA agent is known to Putin!

5 ways the CIA agency America toppled a legitimate government

    Late in 2014 in Ukraine, there was a coup that was built with the people's movement against Yankovic's government persisting like the movement to overthrow Suharto in 1998.

    For that, we will start by analyzing the community first how to overthrow a government in another country. After the story of how intelligence operatives in Yankovic's coup in 2014.

    It is no secret that the American agency CIA often overthrows a legitimate government. There are five ways they did it and until now they still do it.

    The first thing to do is to most often challenge the opposition. This method is the safest and cheapest method of the CIA, usually funding and giving the opposition groups or capitalizing on those who are going to carry out a coup. Like the coup in Iran in 53, Vietnam in 63, Brazil, and Guatemala, one of the intelligence operations with this model was carried out by America.

    The second most common way is by killing the leader. Eliminate the leader of another country and replace it with a pro-American leader. for example President Lumumba in the Congo and many other leaders of various countries whose deaths are not clear but are designed by America to highlight pro-American leaders.

    The third method most often used by the CIA is to paralyze the economy or in the language of the Academy is the Economic Association's tariff war with China, the trade embargo will quickly collapse the country as happened in Cuba until now, then Chile in the '73s when President Salvador Allende who carried out the nationalization of American assets made President Nixon order the CIA with the sentence Make Chilenian Scream or make the Chileans scream.

    Augusto Pinochet's last resort to coup President Salvador Allende. Two things that were done in Chile, economic pressure then supported the opposition coup and now, for example, the Lira currency attack in Turkey which dropped 40% of Turkey value in the last year and made a lot of investment out of Turkey and then Venezuela also met with the Economic Hitman so that inflation was more than one thousand Percent.

    Indonesia in 1997 was part of the Economic Assassination to overthrow the Suharto regime. Then at this time the most frequently used methods number 4 taking control of the media, buying a TV station, buying a radio station, changing public opinion, and carrying out anti-American anti-government campaigns. 

    In Italy, the CIA had bought the American daily newspaper ROME so that Italy would not fall into the hands of the communists, but now CIA officials have said that it is easier to buy journalists and their editors than to buy newspapers or media because now there are a lot of foreign journalists who are paid by the CIA and in media warfare. 

    The key is information control which now extends to the internet and social media with analytics. The last strategy is to create panic or create social. Often there are demos or street protests.

    Take a look, remember that in Indonesia, demonstrations always take to the streets, behind what position we discuss in detail in another chapter, and make sure those who take to the streets don't know what the original motive of the demo was. 

    That was the key to the success of the demonstration, for example, the Iranian figure Muhammad Musadeq who nationalized British oil assets in 1953 was mobilized by massive demonstrations until he was overthrown and then the puppet President of America Shah Iran was made a monarchy again. to overthrow the pro-China Najib several years ago.

    These are all bits of information about the secret organization and how it operates and much more actually. We don't know, so in the future, Indonesia should be careful, we must have a layered strategy and play beautifully, after we will precede everything around the corner that Indonesia can become a big country.

    In 2014, in Ukraine, there was a coup that was built by the people's movement against Yanukovych's government, such as the people's movement that overthrew Suharto in 1998 by playing the Parliament, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), and People's Representative Council (DPR), where the Ukrainian parliament which controlled the opposition made a decision, namely to dismiss the pro-Moscow president Yanukovych on the day of Saturday 22 Feb 2014. Parliament also decided to hold an expedited general election on 25 May.

    At the time, Yankovic said he rejected the decision, speaking on television before holding the meeting, describing the Yanukov meeting itself, and describing the actions of his political opponents as vandalism, bandits, and coups. Yanukovich also said the new parliamentary measure was unlawful.

    Likewise, decision-making on the ground to support the courage of Yulia Tymoshenko's prison also violates the law. Tymoshenko is the leader of the popular movement on independence square in the capital Kyiv in November2013 which has been at the center of action since opposing the government the leadership of Yanukovych.

    The protests were marked by clashes with security forces that left many people dead, at least 77 people. Ukraine has been in a political crisis since Yanukovych rejected a trade agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with the Moscow government.

    Here comes the key information. Ukraine under Yanukovych opted for Moscow designed to fall by America and NATO at least that's what Putin said.

    NATO in the end after taking Ukraine is bringing down Putin and Russia. The strategy of creating chaos, driving news in the media, and mobilizing the anti-Yanukovych masses. Then making a coup in parliament by replacing those who are pro-western is indeed a game that the world knows, by the CIA it is usually done. After Yanukovych was fired Ukraine is still tense. Even the Crimea region is said to want to break away.

    The political turmoil that occurred in the region became an opportunity for Putin to take Crimea instead of being taken by NATO. Russia has sent troops under the pretext of protecting its citizens in Crimea since Saturday, March 1, 2014.

    Putin ordered the soldiers to enter Crimea. The southern region of Ukraine as a buffer area if one day Ukraine becomes NATO's possession, including building a militia force in eastern Ukraine in the Donbas region, is the beginning of eight years of turmoil in Ukraine since 2014.

    The 2014 elections in Ukraine were won by Petro Poroshenko, who has a history as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2010, minister of economic development and Trade until 2012, and from 2007 to 2012 he was chairman of the board of the Ukrainian national bank.

    Petro Poroshenko is still considered not to have carried out NATO's will so the presidential election in 2019 was a new history when a comedian in the "servant of the people" series he starred in turned out not only to make himself a star but in the end actually a servant of the people.

    In 2018 he founded the party which is also named after the title of the series he played. "Servant of the People" or Servant of the people. In the 2019 election, Zelinsky managed to win with a landslide victory of more than 73% of the vote.

    Even if he doesn't have politics. There is one statement from Zelinski that you don't need the experience to be a president, you just need to be a good human being. Zelinsky in many political issues has signed a political contract with NATO before establishing the party serving the people, the election of which he will later bring Ukraine into a NATO member. And after that, all instruments moved according to NATO's will and CIA's will of course, namely to win Zelinsky.

Viktor Yanukovych

    We continue with a summary of the strategic information on intelligence operations to overthrow Yanukovych's pro-Moscow government in Ukraine in 2014 the trick is that the Ukrainian opposition was supported by most of Europe and America to take over parliament and then was shaken by a vote of no confidence, the people took to the streets and the media attacked the government in one direction. Victor Yanukovych.

    As a backup plan, NATO even trains nationalists and armed groups in Western Ukraine, Poland to Lithuania so that they are not only ready for a parliamentary coup. If the parliament fails to be a coup, the militias are ready to carry out an armed coup against Ukraine after obtaining Ukraine constitutionally in 2019, a populist figure was chosen to become the president of Ukraine which will make Ukraine NATO which then in 2022 Russia can no longer hold back to protect Russia's sovereignty taking Ukraine before being taken by NATO.

    For Indonesia, the lesson is how, like East Timor, the current government does not follow Indonesia, for example, but leans more toward Australia and East Timor to join the Quad in the Australia India Japan and America Defense Pact or want to join the British-American Australian Aukus or join the FPDA Five Power Defense Agreement of five countries, Common Wealth, Malaysia, Singapore, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, which is certain that East Timor will be invaded by Indonesia.

    If Indonesia has the guts to be a superpower country, by the way, does it not think about buffer countries like the Sarawak region, Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor, because they feel that the South Pacific island nation is not an aggressor country. Australia is also not the aggressor, Singapore is not the aggressor, don't think about it, don't be like that, it's a mistake, you'll be surprised if they start attacking.

#Geopolitics

Almost Complete Design, Construction Phase Next Year

Tuban Grass Root Refinery Project

    The oil and gas industry is increasing downstream development. Pertamina has also increased the progress of the Tuban Grass Root Refinery (GRR) refinery project.

Rosneft

    Director of Development of PT Pertamina Rosneft Processing and Petrochemical (PRPP) Eriyadi stated that his party had entered the finalization of the design details of the project.

    The stage called Front End Engineering Design (FEED) reached 90.99 percent at the end of last month. This figure is higher than the first quarter target, which is 87.84 percent. With this progress, he estimates that the project design can be completed in May.

"This design stage is very important. The completion of this stage is equivalent to 49 percent of the oil refinery construction process," he said.

Tecnicas Reunidas SA (TRSA)

    The FEED activity has been running since March 16. PRPP collaborated with Tecnicas Reunidas SA (TRSA), an engineering company from Spain, as a design contractor. In the FEED stage, TRSA develops the design of open-art units, off-site facilities, and utilities, as well as overall design oversight and integration.

    In parallel, it also cooperates with other partners. Among them, are PT. Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) for the supply of electricity at the construction stage and Kris Energi for the supply of gas. Supporting infrastructure such as the Demak-Tuban toll road, reactivation of the Babat-Tuban city railway, as well receive support from other stakeholders.

"We have received other tax incentives to support the Tuban GRR refinery," he said.

    The land clearing process has also entered stage IV. In that phase, the target is an area of ​​221.17 hectares. The completion of stage IV land clearing as of March 31 has reached 49.01 percent. This figure is faster than the target, which is 45.3 percent.

    Eriyadi added, that after the FEED is completed, the company will enter the final investment decision (FID) process at the shareholder level.

"Furthermore, the engineering, engineering, procurement, construction/EPC phases are expected to start in the third quarter of 2023," he said.

Jawa Pos, Page-3, Wednesday, April 27, 2022

#Rosneft, #Tecnicas Reunidas SA (TRSA)

Phase II Oil and Gas Working Area Auction Brings US$ 14 Million Investment

    A total of four Working Areas (WA/WK) were offered in the Phase II Oil and Gas Block Auction which was held in 2021, all of which attracted investors, and resulted in an investment commitment of US$ 14.14 million and a Signature Bonus of US$ 1.2 million.

BP

    Director-General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Tutuka Ariadji, said that the working area auctioned, namely the North Ketapang Working Area, was won by Petronas Carigali Ketapang II Ltd., the Agung I Working Area was won by BP Exploration Indonesia Limited. 

Blogger Agus R Purnomo in Petronas Carigali Ketapang

    The Agung II Working Area was won by BP West Papua I Limited and the Bertak Pijar Quail Working Area was won by PT Mitra Multi Karya.

Auction For Oil and Gas Working Area Phase II 2022

    The investment details for the Firm Commitment and Signature Bonus are US$ 8.1 million and US$ 500 thousand for Petronas Carigali (PC) Ketapang. BP Exploration has a definite commitment of US$ 2.5 million and a Signature Bonus of US$ 100 thousand. Then the BP West Papua Definite Commitment investment is US$ 1.5 million and the Signature Bonus is US$ 100 thousand.

    Meanwhile, Mitra Multi's Fixed Commitment investment is US$ 2 million and the Signature Bonus is US$ 500 thousand. Tutuka said that he was very interested in the Working Area auction this time, giving a positive signal for Indonesia's upstream oil and gas investment at a time of challenging global conditions. 

    In the next stage after the announcement, the Government will send an official notification of the winner and the winner of the auction must submit this letter of intent within 14 working days of receiving the notification of the winner.

    In accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 35 of 2021, the signing of the Cooperation Contract is carried out no later than 60 calendar days from the announcement of the winner today.

"For this reason, we hope that the winning bidders can immediately prepare the required documents for signing the KKKS," he said.

Regarding Offer privileges

    Participating Interest 15% PT Pertamina (Persero), Pertamina gets 15% Participating Interest Offering Shares in accordance with the provisions in the Bid Document in accordance with the ESDM Ministerial Regulation Number 35 of 2021, the Government will also submit this to Pertamina.

    In addition to the announcement of the Working Areas, there is currently a Regular Auction for the Oil and Gas Working Area Phase II 2021 which consists of four Working Areas, namely Karaeng, Maratua II, Pope, and West Palmerah. The schedule for access to Bidding Documents is still open until March 24, 2022, while the submission of Participation Documents is from March 24 to 25, 2022.

    Director-General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Tutuka Ariadji, said that the working area being auctioned, namely the North Ketapang Working Area was won by Petronas Carigali (PC) Ketapang II Ltd, and BP Exploration Indonesia Limited won the Agung I Working Area. The Great II Working Area was won by BP West Papua I Limited and the Pijar Puyuh Bertak Working Area was won by PT Mitra Multi Karya.

Investor Daily, Page-10, Monday, March 21, 2022

FRESH WIND FROM PETRONAS AND BP

 

    The national upstream oil and gas industry gets fresh air from the commitments of Petronas and BP in three of the four work areas offered by the government through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

BP

    The inclusion of Petronas and BP in the Working Areas (WK) or oil and gas blocks North Ketapang, Agung I, and Agung II is considered as the success of the government is seeking to improve the investment climate in the country.

    Moshe Rizal, Executive Director of the Association of National Oil and Gas Companies (Aspermigas), said Petronas in the North Ketapang WK, and BP in the Agung I and Agung II WKs is a good thing. The reason is that the two companies are large National Oil Company (NOC) and International Oil Company (IOC).

Blogger Agus Purnomo in Petronas PC Ketapang 

"We hope like that, we will see the realization in the next three years," he said.

    Moshe also hopes that the government will continue to support oil and gas companies in realizing their investment in the country, especially when conducting exploration activities.

"The challenges that will be faced are both technical and non-technical, and the exploration stage is always the riskiest period."

    When announcing the winner of the direct bid bidding for the oil and gas Working Area phase II 2021, Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Tutuka Ariadji said that the terms and conditions offered by the government this time received a good response from the cooperation contract contractors or KKKS.

“We also received input from KKKS that the terms and conditions offered in this auction are very attractive, and their terms are solid. We can see that in Working Area with high risk, the split can be up to 50-50, and if the risk is reduced, the government's share will be bigger," he said.

    He said the government would seek to improve the investment climate in the national upstream oil and gas industry and offer 17 other Working Areas this year.

    To note, the government received a definite investment commitment of US$14.14 million from Petronas, BP, and Mitra Multi Karya in the auction. In addition, there is also a signature bonus of US $ 1.2 million obtained by the State.

Working Area Ketapang Block Petronas 

    In detail, Petronas through PC Ketapang II Ltd. will conduct a G&G study at WK North Ketapang with a budget of US$1 million, 3D seismic covering an area of ​​300 square kilometers worth US$6.39 million, multi-client uplift fee from 3D seismic covering an area of ​​​​262 square kilometers US$750,000, and a signature bonus of US$500,000

    In WK Agung I, BP through BP Exploration Indonesia Limited will conduct a G&G study with a budget of US$500,000, 2D seismic covering an area of ​​2,000 square kilometers worth US$2 million, and a signature bonus of US$100,000. As for WK Agung II, BP through BP West Papua I Limited is ready to conduct a G&G study worth US$500,000, 2D seismic covering an area of ​​2,000 square kilometers with a value of US$1 million, and a signature bonus of US$100,000.

    Then Mitra Multi Karya will do a workover of eight wells with a budget of US$2 million, and a signature bonus of US$500,000.

    Tutuka said that the investment commitments from the three companies were a positive signal for national upstream oil and gas investment in times of challenging global conditions.

Blogger Agus Purnomo in SKK Migas

FULL SUPPORT

    Head of SKK Migas Dwi Soetjipto ensured that his party will provide full support so that the management of the North Ketapang Working Areas (WK) ​​can run smoothly until new reserves are found.

    According to him, the election of Petronas as the manager of North Ketapang shows that Indonesia's upstream oil and gas investment is still attractive to world-class investors.

“Petronas is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. With the additional investment in Indonesia, hopefully, this will be able to attract other world-class investors to follow Petronas' footsteps."

    Petronas Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Upstream Adif Zulkifli said his party was very happy with the results of the auction. Moreover, Working Areas (WK) North Ketapang is located close to where the company discovered oil reserves last year.

"We will continue to strengthen our upstream oil and gas business to provide value and contribute to the development of the energy industry in Indonesia. As a progressive energy and solutions partner, Petronas is committed to providing Indonesia with a safe and reliable energy supply," he said.

    Separately, BP through its official statement stated that Working Areas (WK) Agung I and II are unexplored areas. The two Working Areas (WK) with very significant gas sources are close to the increasing demand for gas.

"The addition of Agung I and Agung II Blocks to our portfolio reflects our ongoing commitment to invest and grow our business in Indonesia," said BP Regional President Asia Pacific Nader Zaki.

Bisnis Indonesia, Page-4, Monday, March 21, 2022

Strategic Nigeria-Morocco Gas Line

    The Ukraine war, which has escalated into an energy war, is not expected to contribute to the strategic value of the Nigeria-Morocco gas line project. Why is that? Europe, with 40 percent of its gas needs imported from Russia, must now immediately look for alternative gas sources after the United States and Europe maneuvered to impose sanctions on Russia after the military invasion of Ukraine.

Raja Maroko Muhammad VI

    One alternative source that is in high demand today is the Nigeria-Morocco gas line project. The Nigeria-Morocco gas line project, as reported by the Al Jazeera website, Tuesday (8/3), was launched in December 2016, when the King of Morocco, Muhammad VI, visited Abuja and met the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

Muhammadu Buhari

    At that time, Muhammad VI and Buhari agreed to conduct a study on the construction project of the Nigeria-Morocco gas line to Europe along 5,560 kilometers. The study began in May 2017. Furthermore, in June 2018, Nigeria and Morocco announced the construction of a Nigeria-Morocco gas line project to Europe which will pass through 13 countries in West Africa and North Africa. The project value reached 30 billion US dollars.

Gas line from Nigeria to Morocco

    In June 2021, the construction of the pipeline from Nigeria to Morocco began. Its construction will last 25 years. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates support the project and will principally invest in the project. The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on January 6 signed an agreement with Morocco and Nigeria. IDB will spend 15.45 billion US dollars for the construction of the gas pipeline.

ECOWAS

    The Nigeria-Morocco gas line megaproject will provide great benefits to the West African Region, North Africa, and Europe in the form of jobs, electricity supply in many areas of West Africa that are not yet electrified, and can help with fertilizer production. The project is considered to be strengthening the economic cooperation of the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS), which consists of 15 West African countries. The pipeline is said to pass through most of the ECOWAS member countries.

    Two Arab countries in North Africa, Morocco, and Mauritania have applied to join ECOWAS. Europe is also now paying attention to the project. Its existence is seen as part of the diversification of gas sources. So far, Europe is very dependent on Russia.

Strategic

    The outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war since February 24, followed by Western bloc sanctions, namely stopping European imports of Russian gas, has made the Nigeria-Morocco gas route project more strategic for Europe. Moreover, Germany has frozen the Nord Stream 2 project, namely the gas pipeline project from Russia to Europe via Germany, immediately after Russia attacked Ukraine.

the Nord Stream 2 project

    So far, the Nord Stream 2 project is the toughest rival of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project because the Nord Stream 2 project line is much shorter (about 1,230 kilometers) than the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline (5,560 kilometers). 

    However, Nord Stream 2's investment value is much lower so gas prices from the Nigeria-Moroccan pipeline are more expensive. However, Germany's action to freeze the Nord Stream 2 project left the Nigeria-Morocco gas line project without any more serious competitors.

    The only rival for the Nigeria-Morocco gas line will be the East Med gas route, which is a gas pipeline project in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea through Greek territory for gas exports to Europe. According to the US agency for geological studies, oil and gas reserves were found in an area of ​​83,000 square kilometers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. 

    It is estimated that the mine has gas reserves of up to 287 trillion cubic meters and liquid oil of 1.7 billion barrels. Almost certain, path Nigeria-Moroccan gas, the East Med gas line plus gas from Qatar, can become the new backbone of gas supply to Europe, replacing Russia.

Saad Sherida-Al-Kaabi

    It is impossible to cover Europe's enormous gas demand from a single source. There must be a collaboration between several large gas sources to be able to meet the European market. Qatar's Minister of Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida-Al-Kaabi, at the summit of world gas exporters in Doha on February 22, emphasized that Qatar is willing to increase gas supplies to Europe, but on the other hand, Qatar is unable to meet Europe's gas needs alone.

    This is because Qatar has long-term contracts for gas exports with many other countries. Al-Kaabi's statement shows Qatar's need to collaborate with gas sources in other regions, such as the East Med and the Nigeria-Morocco axis. This cooperation is necessary to fulfill the European gas market.

Kompas, Page-4, Friday, March 11, 2022

Ukraine Crisis Turns Into Energy War

 

    The Ukrainian crisis, which was actually a cooperative relationship between the United States and Russia, turned into an energy war. After being subjected to a barrage of economic sanctions, Russia is now retaliating.

    The Ukrainian crisis that took place with dozens of economic sanctions from Western countries on Russia developed into an "energy war". The United States stops energy imports from Russia. In return, Russia will also retaliate for its energy exports to America and Europe.

    President of the United States (US) Joe Biden in Washington DC, Tuesday (8 March 2022) UTC time or Wednesday (9 March) West Indonesia time, announced the termination of all imports of oil, gas, and coal from Russia to his country. This he called as part of pressure for Russia to stop attacks on Ukraine. Similar moves are being planned by two UK-based oil giants, BP and Shell.

BP

“We banned all imports of Russian oil, gas, and energy. This means Russian oil is no longer welcome at US ports," Biden said.

sHell

    The move immediately responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin by banning the export and import of raw materials and a number of other goods. In Moscow, Putin issued a decree banning the export and import of raw materials to ensure the safety and sustainability of the industry in Russia. The policy is temporarily implemented until December 31, 2022.

Government and parliament

    Russia will soon decide on commodities that are on the banned list. Moscow ensures there will be no ban on private consumption. The prohibition only applies to industrial consumption. 

Alexander Novak

    Before the decree was announced, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russia had the right to deliver gas to Europe. However, he said the termination would be detrimental to all parties.

    Previously, the Ukrainian crisis had raised oil prices above 100 US dollars per barrel. However, with the announcement from Washington and Moscow, world oil prices skyrocketed. The price of Brent crude oil had reached the price level of 130.38 US dollars per barrel.

    Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate oil price reached 125.58 US dollars per barrel.

    The increase in oil prices always raises the prices of other global commodities. This is also what is currently happening. For example, nickel and tin are widely owned by Indonesia the price rose more than 4 percent. The metal price increase was also noted in palladium, very important in the semiconductor industry. As much as 40 percent of the world's supply comes from Russia.

Fatih Birol

    Oil prices were discussed at an energy conference in Paris. Executive Director of the Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol said the IEA could release more international sugar oil stocks creating fuel prices. The IEA represents 31 industrialized countries. Russia is not included.

    The Executive Director of the Reforminer Institute, Komaidi Notonegoro, said the increase in oil prices would further depress the balance of the national oil and gas trade. This is because Indonesia is an importer of clean oil and national energy consumption for oil and gas reaches 51 percent. 

    In the end, the oil and gas trade balance deficit will get bigger. In fact, additional foreign exchange earnings from rising commodity prices. Komaidi is worried that he will not be able to cover the need for additional foreign exchange to finance oil and gas imports.

    As an illustration, the need for foreign exchange for imports of oil and gas can reach around 49.27 billion US dollars assuming an oil price of 120 US dollars per barrel. The needs consist of imports of oil and fuel products worth 44.04 billion US dollars and LPG imports worth 5.23 billion US dollars.

"With such an illustration, foreign exchange needs for oil and gas imports could reach almost 35 percent of Indonesia's current foreign exchange reserves, which are recorded at around US$ 141 billion," he said.

    In fiscal matters, Komaidi is of the opinion that every increase in the oil price of 1 US dollar per barrel will increase oil and gas revenues in the 2022 State Budget (APBN) by around Rp. 3 trillion. However, when the price of oil increases, it will also increase the need for additional subsidies and compensation for oil and gas in larger amounts.

    Furthermore, he added, rising prices triggered by geopolitical conflicts and wars now confirm that even in a transition era, energy, security of oil and gas supply are major issues that cannot be ignored.

    Separately, the Institute for Essential Service Reform (IESR) Transformation Program Manager, Deon Arinaldo, said that when gas supplies from Russia were hampered, European countries would start thinking about not focusing on energy commodities. Indonesia can make an energy transition. However, the challenge for Indonesia is to attract new and renewable energy investments into the country.

“There are many business/industry players who are willing to invest in renewable energy, they just need how the government can facilitate it. It is time for the energy transition to be seen as a strategy for development and economic growth," he said.

Kompas, Page-1, Thursday, March 10, 2022

SKK Migas Expects Onstream Schedule to Match POD

    The Abadi gas field project in the Masela Block is delayed in production in 2030. Meanwhile, the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities or SKK Migas still hopes that the onstream schedule will match the development plan.

Inpex Masela Ltd and Shell

    The Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) asked Inpex Masela Ltd and Shell as the operator of the Masela Block to carry out the Masela Block Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) investment in accordance with the approved Plant of Development (PoD). The Masela Block LNG project is agreed to be completed and start production by the end of 2027.

Blogger Agus Purnomo in SKK Migas

    The Deputy of Operations for the Special Unit for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas), Julius Wiratno stated that his party continues to push for the project to be completed in accordance with the approved PoD. SKK Migas also said that it had not yet received a revision proposal from Inpex.

Inpex

"SKK Migas to this day continues to push for implementation according to the approved PoD, for immediate production as soon as possible. We have not received a revision proposal from Inpex at all and we are still fighting for acceleration efforts," said Julius.

    Julius emphasized that the government through SKK Migas is still encouraging Inpex's investment in Masela, this must be realized immediately. Because some preparatory work has been and is being started, such as the approval of the Environmental and Impact Analysis (AMDAL), metocean surveys, and land acquisition.

Takayuki Ueda

    Previously, Inpex CEO, Takayuki Ueda explained, that Inpex is conducting comprehensive size studies such as the introduction of carbon capture, utilization, and storage facilities, known as CCUS.

the Masela Block LNG

    The CCUS installation is intended to make the Masela Block LNG project more environmentally friendly, but the project could be delayed until 2030.

"SKK Migas has asked Inpex to immediately revise the POD, if that is what is desired, for us the planning team, in particular, can immediately conduct a review and evaluation," explained Julius.

    As is known, currently Inpex Masela Ltd and Shell as the operator of the Masela Block are revising the PoD of the oil and gas working area that is included in the National Strategic Project (PSN). The PoD revision relates to the inclusion of CCUS. This is done so that the assets of the Masela Block in this case the Masela LNG can be said to be competitive because it has green energy requirements.

    The majority of Masela Block's participating shares are 65 percent owned by Inpex Masela. The rest is owned by Shell. But Shell has said it will leave the block. However, the plan failed to materialize because there were no investors who wanted to buy Shell shares.

    In addition to the Masela Block, SKK Migas also hopes that the Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD) project located in the Kutai Basin, East Kalimantan, can be completed immediately and start production in the fourth quarter of 2025. The IDD project is a development project for five deep-sea gas fields that are carried out in an integrated manner to meet the gas needs of the domestic market and the Bontang LNG Plant. The IDD project has production reaching 844 MMscfd for natural gas and 27,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD).

the IDD project Chevron

    In the IDD project, Chevron acts as the operator. The company controls 62% of the participating interest or interest (PI). The rest is controlled by ENI with a 20% stake and Sinopec Group 18%. However, the continuation of this mega project is still uncertain. Because, since 2020, Chevron declares to discontinue the IDD project.

ENI

"For this IDD project, the update now is that the operator Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) is still looking for a replacement operator," said Julius.

DIFFICULT MISSION

    On the other hand, the government has targeted oil lifting of 1 million BOPD and gas of 12 BSCFD by 2030. However, this target is impossible to achieve without new large-scale oil and gas projects. Previously, the government through the Directorate General of Oil and Gas together with SKK Migas and cooperation contract contractors [KKKS] had identified the planned production profile of each KKKS and it was known that total oil production would reach 1 million BOPD in 2030.

    The government has also prepared several strategies to increase production, namely routine work programs such as infill drilling/step out in existing fields, and workover/well service. In addition, acceleration of the transformation of resources into production is also carried out, by accelerating new PoDs and pending PODs.

    An energy and oil economist from Trisakti University Pri Agung Rakhmanto said that without a new large-scale oil and gas project the oil lifting target of 1 million bopd would not be possible to achieve.

"To achieve the oil and gas production target of 12 MMscfd and 1 million BOPD, there needs to be a new project on a large scale," said Pri Agung.

    According to him, efforts to increase the production of existing oil and gas fields are not sufficient to achieve the government's ambitious targets.

“If it's EOR, we need EOR on a large-scale oil and gas field. The current EOR has just been done on a small scale. EOR and other efforts can only stop the rate of decline in production in existing fields so that it doesn't decline further," he explained.

    Pri Agung is of the view that this 1 million BOPD is not worthy of being called a target because there is no clarity on the details of the work program. For example, from which field the production target was produced.

    The Executive Director of the Reforminer Institute Komaidi Notonegoro also said the same thing. According to him, without finding large reserves, the target of 1 million BOPD is just wishful thinking.

"To be able to reach 1 million BOPD, it is calculated that additional production from large-scale oil and gas fields or the majority is generated from large-scale investments made by major International Oil Companies [IOCs]," said Komaidi.

Jambaran Tiung Biru in Central Java

    Currently, Indonesia has four giant oil and gas projects, namely, Jambaran Tiung Biru in Central Java, the Abadi Field in the Masela Block in the Arafura Sea, IDD in the Kutai Basin in East Kalimantan, and Tangguh Train 3 in Papua. Unfortunately, these projects are expected to be completed longer than the target set. The reason is, recently, the foreign oil and gas giant that manages this mega project has stated that it will leave Indonesia.

Bisnis Indonesia, Page-4, Wednesday, February 23, 2022