While accounting for roughly eight percent of global oil production in 2020, Africa is home to massive untapped natural resource wealth, with a view to becoming a global energy powerhouse. Between 2021 and 2025, an estimated 428 oil and gas projects are expected to start operations on the continent, which is set to become a hive of activity over the next decade. Indispensable to economic and social development, Africa’s rich endowment of oil and gas resources are projected to catalyze growth across the continent, accounting for 7.1% of global proven oil and gas reserves. Show
Tanzania LNG Liquefaction PlantLed by Shell, the $30-billion Tanzania Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Liquefaction Project, also known as the Likong’o-Mchinga LNG Project, is expected to commence construction in 2023, with completion aimed for 2028. The LNG export terminal will be built at Lindi in the southern part of the country, and will have the capacity to produce 10 million tons of LNG per year. The megaproject will be the first and most expensive LNG project in Tanzania, which holds estimated recoverable resources of 57.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, of which 49.5 trillion cubic feet is located offshore. The facility will comprise up to five trains, each with a capacity of producing five million tons of LNG per year. Rovuma LNGWith FID on the project expected by 2023, the $30-billion Rovuma LNG Terminal is set to begin production in 2025. Located approximately 40km off the Cabo Delgado coast in northern Mozambique, the Rovuma LNG project is based on three gas reservoirs in the Area 4 Block of the Rovuma Basin, which contain an estimated 85 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. ExxonMobil is leading the construction and operation of the facility, which is set to promote skills development and create over 5,000 local job opportunities. As one of the largest projects in Africa, the Rovuma LNG facility has a planned capacity of 15.2 million tons of LNG per year and is expected to transform the country’s natural gas industry over the next decade. The project’s initial phase will develop the Mamba reservoirs in Area 4, and will see the construction of two onshore trains, each with a capacity of 7.6 million tons of LNG per year. Mozambique LNGCurrently under construction on the Afungi Peninsula in the Cabo Delgado Province, the inception of the Mozambique LNG facility began with the discovery of vast quantities of natural gas off the country’s northern coast in 2010, which led to a $20-billion FID on the project in 2019. The large-scale development will tap into an estimated 75 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas from Mozambique’s Offshore Area 1, and utilize a two-train liquefaction plant with a capacity of 12.9 million tons per year to deliver LNG and start production by 2024. Similar to the Rovuma LNG project, Mozambique LNG is expected to shape the country’s economic future by supporting socioeconomic development, delivering positive environmental and social projects and providing thousands of jobs over several years. Ogidigben Gas Revolution Industrial ParkFully owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the $20-billion Ogidigben Gas Revolution Industrial Park is a planned downstream refinery and petrochemical complex set for construction in Nigeria’s Delta Region. Covering over 27 km2, the industrial park is planned to feature fertilizer, methanol, petrochemical and aluminum plants to make use of Nigeria’s abundant natural gas volumes as feedstock, and is estimated to create over 250,000 direct and indirect jobs. The project aims to tap into 18 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves located in the nearby Odidi, Okan and Forcados fields, with gas further supplied by the country’s dominant gas pipeline network, the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System. Zabazaba and Etan Integrated DevelopmentIn water depths ranging between 1,200m and 2,400m, the Etan and Zabazaba oil fields are located in OPL 245 offshore Nigeria in the Niger Delta. The 300,000-km2 delta is the world’s twelfth-largest oil and gas resource, estimated to contain 34.5 billion barrels of oil and 93.8 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. Together, the Zabazaba and Etan Fields are estimated to contain a combined 560 million barrels of oil equivalent. The $13.5-billion integrated development project is being undertaken by the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Eni and Nigerian Agip Exploration – the last of which will serve as operator for the project. Expected to support small- and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria, half of the Zabazaba topside is slated for integration into the country. The Zabazaba floating production storage and offloading unit will tap into both fields and will be spread-moored with a capacity of 120,000 barrels of oil per day. The highest-earning oil and gas companies lost billions in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A trade war and massive slump in demand led the price of crude oil to fall and many wells to become unprofitable. In 2021, revenues have started recovering, but practices have changed to work with a lower price of oil. At the same time, crude oil prices have more than recovered, causing several producers to increase profit predictions. Here, we list the top ten highest-earning oil and gas companies in 2021, according to their full-year earnings from 2020. The biggest oil and gas companies by revenue1. Sinopec, also known as China Petroleum and Chemical Corp – $323bn in 2020Chinese state-owned Sinopec was one of the first companies to feel the effects of the pandemic when China imposed lockdowns in early 2020. Since then, the company has rapidly recovered. While Chinese companies publish much less information than those in many other countries, official document show that Sinopec earned $323bn in 2020. According to GlobalData information, the company’s revenue fell by 28.8% in 2020. At the same time, net income fell by 43%, leaving Sinopec with a value of approximately $70bn. The company’s refining and exploration/production units jointly made losses of approximately $22bn in 2020. However, earnings of $21bn from its marketing and distribution sector offset these losses. How well do you really know your competitors?Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.  Company Profile – free sample Thank you!Your download email will arrive shortly Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sampleWe are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form By GlobalData In May, the first ship docked in the Sinopec Zhongke Refinery Port, the largest oil terminal in China. The dock includes a 300,000-ton berth and eight terminals, allowing a throughput of 5.61 million tons per year. More than 18,000 builders constructed the dock, with the first phased costing more than $6bn. In line with China’s upcoming Five Year Plan, the company has moved toward developing hydrogen production. It has installed hydrogen refuelling stations in at least four provinces, and started developing infrastructure and technology for all colours of hydrogen. 2. PetroChina, part of CNPC – $296bn in 2020PetroChina is the publicly listed arm of the state-owned company China National Petroleum Corp. According to its 2020 annual report, the company exceeded its post-pandemic expectations. Chairman Zhou Jiping put this down to focusing on high-yield developments during Covid-19’s spread. Across the year, the company increased oil output by 4.8% and gas output by 9.9% compared to 2019. At the same time, it pushed the cost of gas production down by 8.3%, to $11.1 per barrel. The company’s revenue fell by 23.2% in 2020, with PetroChina’s annual report stating that its financial position “remained stable”. Still, the company increased its full-year dividend by more than 20%. In 2021, PetroChina has achieved new record levels of gross profit, lifted by economic recovery and rising oil prices. The company discovered hydrocarbon reserves in the Sichuan, Ordos, and Tarim basins, which it will now develop. Abroad, the company made discoveries in Chad and Kazakhstan. PetroChina aims to start reducing its emissions from 2025, reaching “near-zero” emissions by 2050. 3. Saudi Aramco – $230bn in 2020In April 2020, Saudi Aramco achieved its highest-ever single-day crude oil production rate, at 12.1 million barrels per day. In August, it pumped a record 10.7 billion cubic feet of gas in a single day. At the same time, worldwide lockdowns forced Saudi Aramco to pump 6% less hydrocarbons than in 2019. That year, Saudi Aramco floated itself on the Saudi Arabian stock market, although the company remains mostly owned by the Saudi Government. This link played a key role in 2020, when Saudi Arabia collaborated with other OPEC members and the Russian Government to limit oil production when demand declined. This made Saudi Aramco responsible for limiting its own production in mid-2020, aiming to push crude oil prices up. The company’s capital expenditure fell by $6bn in 2020. However, Aramco spent some money in acquiring a majority stake of chemicals company Sabic in June. It also invested in a joint-venture materials company with oilfield service company Baker Hughes and agreed to build a chemicals plant in eastern Saudi Arabia with TotalEnergies. The company attained pre-tax earnings of $101bn and a net income of $49bn in 2020, both around 60% of the previous year’s total. In 2021, the company has done significantly better, with profits almost tripling as oil prices recovered. Saudi Aramco also joined the Hydrogen Council, which aims to accelerate hydrogen development. In August, the company sent a trial shipment of blue ammonia to Japan, testing hydrogen export infrastructure. However, the company’s flaring intensity slightly rose in 2020. 4. Royal Dutch Shell – $181bn in 2020Shell, the highest-earning oil company not owned by a government, responded to the spread of the virus by cutting its spending and operating costs. It backed out of the Lake Charles LNG project and sold its Appalachian assets to ensure it had enough cash to respond to the threats of Covid-19. The company still lost $21bn across the 2020 financial year. Most of this came as a result of revenue almost halving, falling to $180bn. However, Shell still invested in several projects, such as LNG processing in Nigeria. As oil prices recovered, the company used the available income to pay down debts, later increasing its dividends. In 2021, the company sold many of its Canadian assets to Crescent Point Energy for approximately $707m. It also entered an agreement with Cairn Energy and Cheiron Petroleum Corp for onshore extraction in Egypt. Alongside this, Shell continued its push into renewable ventures, with wind investments in the Netherlands and the US. The company also experimented with floating wind and airborne wind projects, while agreeing to a set of principles for the energy transition with seven other leading companies. 5. BP – $180bn in 2020British giant BP also agreed to the transition principles after announcing a net-zero target shortly before the onset of Covid-19. The company’s financial mirrored those of Shell, with revenue falling to $180bn. The company’s upstream segment recorded a net loss of $21bn across the 2020/21 financial year. Despite this, it maintained a cost per barrel of oil equivalent of approximately $6.30. The revised value of BP’s non-operating assets led to the loss of $16bn of value, though this would change with the value of oil rising. In June, BP sold its petrochemicals business to Ineos for $4bn. In early 2020, the company started operations on the Alligin field, UK, and the Ghazeer field in Oman. Engineers achieved the first gas out put from Egypt’s Qattameya field in October 2020, while the ultra-deepwater R Cluster project in India produced its first gas in December 2020. Meanwhile, the company continued its diversification efforts. It announced investment in US wind farms and a UK carbon capture project, as well as a green hydrogen project in Germany. Its Lightsource division developed several solar farms in the US, while its Chargemaster division installed electric vehicle charging stations throughout the UK. 6. ExxonMobil - $179bn in 2020In 2020, ExxonMobil made its first quarterly loss since Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999. The company lost $22.4bn in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to a $14.3bn profit one year before. Most of this came from the devaluation of its previously discovered reserves. Since then, the rising price of oil has boosted the company’s assets. To adapt to the financial hardships of Covid-19, ExxonMobil wiped $10bn off its investments budget and cut operating costs by $7bn across 2020. This led 450 fewer wells to be drilled in 2020 compared to the year before. Regardless, crude liquids production across the year fell by only 80,000 barrels per day, though gas production fell significantly further. The company’s upstream division went from earning $14bn in 2019, to losing $20bn in 2020. Revenue fell by approximately $77bn, though most analysts expect this to reverse again across 2021. The company made three major oil discoveries in Guyana, while continuing to develop its leases in the country’s waters. In the US, a new processing and export facility opened, while construction on new chemical projects continued. 7. TotalEnergies, formerly known as Total – $120bn in 2020In the last year, Total became TotalEnergies to emphasise the company’s move to broader energy investments. As with BP, its small renewables division fared reasonably well, but the company’s oil losses made 2020 a tough year. Income from sales fell by $60bn compared to the year before. Overall net income went from $11.4bn in 2019 to a loss of $7.3bn in 2020. CEO Patrick Pouyanné praised the company’s actions that pushed its breakeven point down to $26 per barrel, helping with the “dual crisis” of Covid-19 and low oil prices. Reservoir discoveries off the coasts of the UK, Egypt, and South Africa helped maintain the company’s assets. In the UAE, Total and ADNOC agreed to collaborate on developing carbon capture, utilisation, and storage applications. Soon after, the company announced it would invest in a Norwegian CCS scheme alongside Shell and Equinor. In May 2020, TotalEnergies formally adopted a target of net zero by 2050. As part of this, Total bought 50% of a 2GW solar portfolio form Adani Green Energy, acquiring 20% of the company itself in 2021. Via a subsidiary, Total will itself develop a 2GW solar portfolio in Spain. In the UK, France, and South Korea, the company partnered to launch trial floating wind schemes. Total also announced intentions to move into the vehicle charger market. The company acquired a contract to install 20,000 chargers in Amsterdam, and later acquired a charging network in London. 8. Chevron - $94bn in 2020Chevron’s big moment in 2020 came with its acquisition of US shale oil and gas producer Noble Energy in October. Because of the heightened cost of production, the US shale sector felt the effects of a falling oil price more keenly than most. When Noble’s profit margins shrank and debts remained high, Chevron took the opportunity to acquire its reserves in a $4.2bn deal. Meanwhile, Chevron had its own finances to think of. Losses peaked in the second quarter of 2020, when the company saw a net loss of $8.3bn. Across the whole year, the company made a net loss of $5.5bn, though net production remained mainly the same. When several major companies paused or decreased their payments to shareholders in 2020, Chevron increased its dividend by 8%. In 2021, the company’s profits recovered, though had still not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The company has also increased its production of biofuels by converting exiting refineries. The company has also joined the Hydrogen Council, later buying into a hydrogen joint venture and announcing plans to scale up its own hydrogen production. A collaboration with Algonquin Renewable Energy also saw construction begin on 500MW of renewable generation by Chevron. 9. Gazprom - $85bn in 2020Throughout 2020, Gazprom continued construction of the politically controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The pipeline, completed in September 2021, will transport massive quantities of gas from Russia to Germany. This will allow Gazprom easier access to the central European market, which has caused concern for eastern European countries that rely on Gazprom pipelines for income. In June, construction began on an ice-resistant platform for the Astrakhan field, while drilling began on the Kharavskoye field. Gazprom continues negotiations with OMV over selling a stake in the Urengoyskoye field. In August, Gazprom discussed the possibility of a gas pipeline between Russia and China, crossing Mongolia. Gazprom also announced its intention to develop its helium production upon the completion of the . The first unit of the plant came online in September 2021, producing 20 million cubic metres of the gas per year. Sales fell from $29bn in 2019 to $22bn in 2020, partly because of production restrictions following Russia’s deal with OPEC. As a result, net profits fell from $10bn to a loss of $9.7bn. 10. Marathon - $70bn in 2020Marathon almost halved its capital spending to deal with the pandemic, with further cuts in 2021. The company still had a tough year, broken up by a massive sale in August 2020. Marathon’s sale of Speedway, its chain of vehicle filling stations, included a 15-year supply deal with buyer 7-Eleven. Marathon CEO Michael Hennigan said that the $21bn cash transaction allowed the company to “deliver on [its] commitment to unlock the value of assets”. Including income from Speedway, Marathon’s adjusted raw earnings fell to $4.4bn in 2020, down from $11.1bn the year before. Most of this fall came from the company’s refining and marketing segment, where raw earnings went from $2.8bn to a loss of $5.1bn across the year. In April 2020, Marathon set a goal of reducing emissions per barrel of oil by 30% by 2030. Since then, it has also started converting more refineries to make “renewable diesel” from plant products and use more energy-efficient equipment. What is the world's most expensive energy project?Kashagan oil field is the world's most expensive energy project. The safety, engineering, logistical and environmental challenges make it one of the largest and most complex industrial projects in the world. What is the most expensive power plant to build?But here's the truth: At $35 billion, Plant Vogtle is the most expensive power plant ever built on earth. Vogtle's electricity is estimated to cost $170–$180/MWh, which is astoundingly high. These high costs are why 49 other states decided against building nuclear plants, even with lavish federal subsidies. What is the most expensive source of energy?Concentrating solar has been the most expensive renewable resource. What are the upcoming oil and gas projects in Australia?Browse Upstream Development (Torosa, Brecknock & Calliance Fields) Value: $15 billion. ... . Browse Basin Satellite Fields (WA-314-P and WA-315-P) Value: $10.4 billion. ... . Surat Gas Project. ... . Gorgon LNG Train 4. ... . Pluto LNG Train 2. ... . West-East Gas Pipeline. ... . Prelude, Toccata and Concerto Gas Fields (CO2) ... . Burrup Peninsula Urea Project.. |
