Polish PGNiG and Qatari Black Cat join forces for oil & gas projects

Polish oil and gas player PGNiG and Qatari Black Cat Engineering & Construction have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on oil and gas production projects in the Gulf region.

Under the MoU, PGNiG and Black Cat will work on the development of a cooperation agreement in the area of hydrocarbon production. The companies wish to combine their experience and technological capabilities to prepare a joint offer for the markets of the largest crude oil and natural gas producers, the Polish company explained in a statement on Thursday.

Paweł Majewski, President of the Management Board of PGNiG, stated: “The shared ambition of PGNiG and Black Cat is to dynamically develop our foreign operations”.

Majewski is convinced that by joining forces with Black Cat, the two companies will secure a competitive advantage even in the most demanding and mature oil and gas markets.

According to PGNiG, the potential joint offer will include digital solutions developed by PGNiG as a part of the company’s “Smart Field” programme, which employs such tools as computer modelling, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to increase the efficiency and profitability of hydrocarbon production.

Implementing this programme in Poland allowed PGNiG to increase its recoverable natural gas reserves by more than 11 billion cubic meters, which is about 12 per cent of the proven recoverable reserves at its disposal.

Paolo Borchetta, CEO of Black Cat Engineering and Construction, said: “Black Cat has broad expertise in EPC projects, including infrastructure for hydrocarbons transport and storage. In addition to our extensive track record of successful projects, the company’s strength is its ownership structure, our agile operating model, international project management expertise and result-driven culture”.

As a 100 per cent Qatari owned company, Black Cat is free to operate in the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Last year their combined production was about 937 million tons of crude oil and 407 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

PGNiG’s cooperation with Black Cat is another step to strengthen the company’s presence in the Gulf region, where it has been active since 2018. However, the two companies do not plan to focus solely on the Gulf states, but also to include hydrocarbon-rich countries in the Middle and the Far East, Central Asia, and Africa.

Earlier this month, PGNiG received regulatory approval from Norwegian authorities to acquire all assets of Ineos E&P Norge. The assets are expected to meaningfully contribute to the delivery of PGNiG’s strategic objectives in natural gas production.

Ineos reported on Thursday that the deal has now been concluded, giving the Polish company access to all of Ineos’ oil & gas interests in production, licenses, fields, facilities and pipelines on the Norwegian continental shelf.