'This could be the one that gets me,' Says Oilfield Service Veteran
Tim Harris was preparing to relocate for an assignment with energy services firm Halliburton Co for the fifth time in 15 years when his career came to a halt.A third-generation employee, Harris rose through the ranks at the top shale-oil services provider to oversee oilfield crews. He sailed through several busts…
Ecuador Scrambles to Contain Oil Spill in Amazon Region
Ecuadorean authorities on Thursday were scrambling to limit the environmental impact of a crude oil spill in the country's Amazon region, where pipeline bursts prompted by a landslide this week caused crude to enter the Coca river.The Energy Ministry said in a Wednesday evening statement that it…
Operations Suspended at Ecuador Oilfields Amid Protests
Ecuadoran state-run oil company Petroamazonas EP suspended operations at three oil fields in the Amazon region on Monday, the country's energy ministry said, as protests against austerity measures convulse the country.Taken together, the suspensions could reduce crude output by 59,450 barrels per day (bpd) if not lifted…
BP Dishes Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Contracts
Oil major BP has awarded subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) and subsea production system (SPS) equipment contracts to services providers McDermott International and Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim natural gas project, located offshore Mauritania and Senegal.The…
Vandals Cause Oil Spill in Peruvian Amazon
Peru state oil company Petroperu said approximately 8,000 barrels of crude oil had spilled in the Amazon after vandals severed the pipeline and then impeded technicians seeking to repair the damaged pipe.The pipe began to spill oil on Tuesday night after sabotage by members of the Mayuriaga indigenous community in the Loreto region of the Amazon, Petroperu said in a s
McDermott Bags Petrobras Contract
McDermott International announced a large contract award by Petrobras for a natural gas pipeline project in support of the client’s Santos basin pre-salt field program.The contract covers the implementation of the ultra-shallow segment of the new Rota 3 gas export pipeline, said the provider of technology…
New Book Release: Why Only Two FPSOs in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico?
The Late Start and Twenty Year Saga.More than 40 years have passed since the trailblazing Shell Castellon started operation as the first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit in 1977. Ever since, hundreds of these vessels have operated worldwide, and the oil industry has reaped their benefits.
Novatek Spuds First Well at North-Obskiy
PAO Novatek announced that its subsidiary OOO Arctic LNG 3 commenced drilling of the first well at the North-Obskiy license area located in the shallow waters of the Ob Bay.The initial well is drilled using a jack-up floating drilling rig “Amazon” leased from “Gazprom flot”. The drilling process is based on zero discharge principle…
Total Determined to Drill Amazon Basin as Greenpeace Storms AGM
Total is determined to push ahead with its plans to drill for oil in the Amazon basin, it said on Friday as Greenpeace activists interrupted its annual general meeting in protest at the project.The French oil major wants to explore Brazil's Foz do Amazonas basin, but Brazil's environmental agency…
Brazil Denies Total License to Drill Amazon Basin
Brazilian environmental agency Ibama on Tuesday rejected French oil company Total SA's application for an environmental license to drill in the sensitive Foz do Amazonas basin.It is the fourth time that Ibama has rejected the application and requested additional information.(Reporting by Jake Spring Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Indian, Chinese Oil Companies Look to Invest in Ecuador
Indian oil company ONGC Videsh is looking at buying a stake in oil fields in Ecuador and may also participate in an upcoming tender for the Intercampos blocks, Ecuador's oil minister Carlos Perez said on Wednesday. "We will be signing a confidentiality agreement with them (ONGC Videsh) in the following weeks and we will provide them with information in new blocks…
New Projects in Brazil's Amazon? Not Without Congressional Approval, says court
Brazil's government has been told that development projects, including hydropower dams, in protected areas can no longer go ahead without the prior approval of lawmakers. Last week's ruling by the supreme court followed the use by the government in recent years of the controversial "provisional measure"…
Awaiting Trump's coal comeback, miners reject retraining
When Mike Sylvester entered a career training center earlier this year in southwestern Pennsylvania, he found more than one hundred federally funded courses covering everything from computer programming to nursing. He settled instead on something familiar: a coal mining course. "I think there is a coal comeback,” said the 33-year-old son of a miner.
Brazil Oil Regulator Sees Total Winning License in Amazonas
The head of Brazilian oil regulator ANP on Thursday expressed confidence that French oil company Total SA would win an environmental license for an exploration venture in the Amazon river basin. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Rio de Janeiro, Décio Oddone also said he saw no…
Brazil Regulator Rejects Total Study on Drilling at Amazon River Basin
Brazil's environmental regulator Ibama said on Tuesday it has rejected Total SA's environmental study on drilling in the Foz do Amazonas basin, warning it needs more information or it will suspend the French oil firm's license application. Ibama's repeated refusals to accept Total's environmental…
Scientists Turn to Big Data in Hunt for Minerals, Oil and Gas
Scientists searching for everything from oil and gas to copper and gold are adopting techniques used by companies such as Netflix or Amazon to sift through vast amounts of data, a study showed on Tuesday. The method has already helped to discover 10 carbon-bearing minerals and could be widely applied to exploration, they wrote in the journal American Mineralogist.
Peru to Auction Natgas Pipeline Project in 2018
Peru is planning to hold a new auction for a natural gas pipeline in the first half of 2018 after rescinding a $5 billion contract for the project with Brazil's scandal-racked Odebrecht, the head of state bidding agency Proinversion said on Thursday. The government rescinded the contract for the proposed 1…
France to Restrict Use of Palm Oil in Biofuels
France will take steps to restrict the use of palm oil in producing biofuels in order to reduce deforestation in the countries of origin, French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot said on Thursday. France has opposed other uses of palm oil in the past. Several bills have been presented to parliament since 2012 proposing a special tax on its use in food…
Court Orders Petrobras to Supply Natural Gas to Eletrobras
A Brazilian court ordered state-controlled oil firm Petróleo Brasileiro SA to sell natural gas to Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras SA despite the power utility's billionaire debt with the oil company. Eletrobras, as the state-controlled utility is known, plans to use the gas to begin testing a thermal…
PTT Exploration and Production Plans Asia Investment
Thailand's largest oil and gas explorer PTT Exploration and Production Pcl (PTTEP) is planning new investments or an extension of its operations in fields in Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar, it said on Tuesday. In Thailand, state-owned PTTEP would bid to extend its concession to operate the Bongkot gas field beyond the existing expiry date of 2023…
