Production Sharing Agreements: Learning Lessons from Russia and Nigeria

This paper lays the foundation of what Production Sharing Agreements are, what they were intended to be, and how they have failed to meet the current requirements of the State and, in turn, have ended up exploiting the economic resources of the countries by not giving the State their rightful due. Moreover, this paper highlights the consequences of implementing the Production Sharing Agreements in two major oil producing States namely Nigeria and Russia. Subsequently, an earnest attempt has been made to bring to light the flaws of the Production Sharing Agreements accompanied with the inefficiency of the States to amend their respective laws according to their economic requirements.

Listening to/with Mar Paradoxo: a collective practice for sharing listenings

This paper presents an experimental methodology developed by the collective Laura: Place for Research on Aurality for approaching listening as a shared experience. As a motif for the application of this methodology, we take the work Mar Paradoxo (Raquel Stolf, 2016) as a proposition for experiencing multiple modes of listening. To contextualize our understanding of Stolf’s work, we refer to the concept of otography as a way of approaching the listening experience as something that makes and is made out of traces. By means of the production, sharing, and analysis of listening reports, we outline different modes through which our listening navigates. These modes help us understand listening as an experience that is multi-mediated and relational, singular and situated. In the end, we emphasize the presence of the other in the listening subject, resonating the thesis that the listening activity is driven by a desire of making one’s listening listened.

Vertical Integration Strategy Implementation Through Hybrid Upstream and Downstream Concession Agreements

Upstream developments in prolific oil and gas fields are highly profitable and hence attract various investors/partners, whereas Downstream developments profitability is margin based and challenging under certain situations to receive similar interest for investment in the same location. Vertical Integration Strategy implementation through hybrid upstream and downstream concession agreements can help address this issue. The seventies witnessed major changes in the oil industry's structures and strategies resulting from the nationalization of oil and gas reserves. This ultimately led to a separation between the upstream sector with national oil companies (NOCs) controlling most of the world reserves and crude production, and the downstream sector with the international oil companies (IOCs) controlling the largest share of the refining and marketing aspects in the main consuming countries. In the recent past, NOCs have started forward integration of its upstream sector with downstream sector to take advantage of the synergies and increase profitability. This paper takes the strategy a step more forward by exploring the possibility of developing oil and gas assets through a hybrid upstream/downstream concession agreement that can be awarded by the host government. The model hybrid agreement is built by integrating a typical upstream concession agreement with downstream equity-based joint venture (JV) agreement. It also takes the learnings from Production Development Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA) applied in the development of a Gas-To-Liquids (GTL) asset or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) asset which are usually developed as an integrated upstream and downstream business model. It is also feasible to build the hybrid agreement based on upstream Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) instead of a Concession Agreement. The paper will discuss how the hybrid upstream and downstream concession agreement is built and how it will distribute the risk and rewards across the entire value chain for investors, expand the scope of investment and support in the economic development of the host country.

Enabling and Shaping Decommissioning Alternatives in Malaysia

This paper is to demonstrate the significance of structured planning, holistic assessment and synergies, as key value drivers in enabling and shaping decommissioning alternatives leading to sustainable decommissioning and circular economy. PETRONAS as the regulator of Malaysia's Upstream activities manage decommissioning obligations through Production Sharing Contracts, internal guidelines and other relevant procedures and standards. The Decommissioning Options Assessment (DOA) is the process used to land on the most feasible option. Throughout PETRONAS’ 18-year decommissioning journey thus far, decommissioning projects were successfully executed using various alternatives. The valuable learnings gained are applied to further strengthen our decommissioning processes in regulating, enabling and shaping future executions at the lowest cost with safety of life and protection of the environment as our utmost priority. Upon a decision to proceed with decommissioning, a gated technical review process is used as the governing process to ensure safety, protection to the environment and cost efficiency. It is during this gated technical review that DOA is conducted. The output from the DOA is deliberated within the ambit of five (5) key criteria, i.e. Health, Safety & Security, Environment, Society, Technical & Operational, and Economy. Upon completion of execution, lessons learnt coupled with findings from post-decommissioning surveys are analyzed and applied to future projects. Synergies and collaborations are key drivers in shaping sustainable and replicable alternative decommissioning solutions. PETRONAS continuously pursues strategic collaborations with all stakeholders, including but not limited to, government ministries/agencies, academia, and industry players to tap into global decommissioning solutions, scientific researches, technologies, and best practices. This key lever will be discussed in the paper. From actual experiences, supported by studies, it is evident that decommissioning alternatives, including Rigs-to-Reef, add value in terms of marine habitat protection, biodiversity enhancement, fish aggregation, etc. It has also contributed positively to the livelihoods and well-being of society. Re-using platforms for new field development maximizes value by extending the platform's useful life. In addition, PETRONAS also advocates the ‘design for decommissioning’ mindset during a field's development phase in achieving a robust life cycle cost. PETRONAS further believes the values gained from these decommissioning alternatives will contribute to the decommissioning ecosystem in Malaysia. Moving forward, PETRONAS aspires to elevate the sustainable decommissioning model with the mindset that, ‘no single piece of an abandoned structure goes to waste’. There is a need to mature studies, collaborations and supply chain readiness in realizing more options on the 3Rs (Reduce, Re-use and Recycle).

Problems of development and economic evaluation of production of natural hydrocarbons on the offshore of the Arctic Seas

The purpose of this article is to substantiate taxation models that have contributed to an increase in the efficiency of offshore oil and gas fields that are at the stage of mature development in the harsh Arctic conditions. The development of Arctic fields under the current tax regime is on the verge of profitability. As an experiment, an economic assessment of the main economic indicators of the option for the development of the Prirazlomnoye field was carried out, taking into account various tax mechanisms used to assess the effectiveness of the development of offshore oil and gas fields. The calculation results showed that the application of the tax regime in force in Russia makes the development of the Prirazlomnoye field efficient, but with a relatively low profitability for the license holder. As an alternative, the tax mechanisms laid down in the production sharing agreements in China and Russia were used, which showed a high economic effect with a low level of risk. It can be concluded that the use of taxation models, which are similar in nature to a production sharing agreement, significantly increases the efficiency of the Prirazlomnoye field development, and can bring greater financial benefits to the license holder in comparison with the current tax regime in the Russian Federation.

Enhancing Economics of Resources Development of Mature Mahakam Fields Through Innovation, Design Optimization, and Value Engineering

Mahakam Contract Area is located in East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. It covers an operating area of 3,266 km2, and consists of 7 producing fields. Most of Mahakam hydrocarbon accumulations are located below body of water, with wellhead production facilities installed in the estuary of Mahakam river (referred as swamp area, 0 to 5m water depth) and the western part of Makassar Strait (referred as offshore area, 30 to 70 m water depth). Mahakam production history goes as far back as mid 1970s with production of Handil and Bekapai oil fields. Gas production started by the decade of 1990s along with emergence of LNG trading, supplying Bontang LNG plant, through production of 2 giant gas fields: Tunu and Peciko, and smaller Tambora field. In the mid 2000s, Mahakam attained its peak gas production in the level of 2,600 MMscfd and was Indonesia's biggest gas producer. Two remaining gas discoveries, Sisi Nubi and South Mahakam, were put in production respectively in 2007 and 2012. Due to absence of new discoveries and new fields brought into production, Mahakam production has entered decline phase since 2010, and by end of 2020, after 46 years of production, the production is in the level of 600 MMscfd. In 2018, along with the expiration of Mahakam production sharing contract, Pertamina Hulu Mahakam (PHM), a subsidiary of Indonesian national energy company, Pertamina, was awarded operatorship of Mahakam Block. This paper describes the efforts undertaken by PHM to fight production decline and rejuvenate development portfolio, with focus on expanding subsurface development portfolio and reserves renewal by optimizing development concept and cost through fit-for-purpose design, innovation, and full cycle value engineering.

MODEL PEMBERDAYAAN HUKUM PEMBUDI DAYA IKAN MELALUI PENDEKATAN PENGEMBANGAN MODEL TRIPLE HELIX (STUDI DI KABUPATEN GRESIK)

The real contribution of fish farmer in the development of the national economy through the amount of fisheries production is not followed by the level of welfare of the fish farmer. That the welfare of fish farmers to be able to fulfill their needs with the income they obtain is still very limited. This article aims to analyze the legal empowerment model of fish farmer through the triple helix model development approach. This research is a sociolegal research which is a mixed method between legal research methods and social science. The data used are primary data and secondary data. The results showed that normatively, the role provisions of the government and fish breeders have been clearly regulated, but the provisions for tertiary institutions have not been regulated, even though the role played by universities is no less important. Higher education as one of the elements in the triple helix has human resources who are able to provide knowledge and understanding related to production sharing agreements through legal assistance and mentoring workshops. The government is responsible for the welfare of its citizens, not only acting as a regulator, but also as a facilitator, dynamist and catalyst. Keywords : Legal Empowerment, Fish Farmer,Triple Helix

REGIMES DE EXPLORAÇÃO E PRODUÇÃO DE PETRÓLEO NO BRASIL E O NOVO MARCO REGULATÓRIO

The New Regulatory Framework for the oil and gas sector, in force since August 2009, brought a major change to the political and economic landscape of Brazil. The main proposal of the new law is to change the form of bidding for operating companies, more precisely from the Concession Regime to the Production Sharing Regime. This work exposes the differences between the regimes and the end of Petrobras obligation to be the explorer of all exploration blocks in the Pre-Salt.