Oil Majors to Raise $27Bln in Selling Spree
Global giants of the oil and gas industry – the so-called supermajors – are looking to sell assets that could fetch a total of $27.5 billion, according to Rystad Energy’s latest assessment.These companies are actively shedding mature assets on a massive scale in a bid to finance higher-yielding investments elsewhere, with the added benefit of pleasing shareholders who are calling for stricter capital discipline.“The expected transactions mean some of the majors are poised to exit certain regions…
APAC to Fuel Global Wind Power
Global wind power market size increased from $71.6bn in 2010 to $96.4bn in 2018. During the 2019–2030 forecast period, significant capacity additions in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region are expected to drive that market, increasing the market size to $124.6bn by 2030.A report from GlobalData revealed that China is the global leader in terms of both capacity additions and in terms of cumulative wind capacity in 2018. The report also finds that offshore wind power will gain popularity and increase its share of total capacity during 2019–2030.Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham…
Big Oil Stuns Brazil in Back-to-back Auction Flops
Major global oil firms snubbed a second Brazilian oil auction in a row on Thursday, passing up offshore blocks and forcing officials to reconsider a bidding system that gives a privileged position to state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA.The only block awarded in Thursday's bidding went to Petrobras, as the Brazilian state-run firm is known, and Chinese state firm CNODC, a unit of China National Petroleum Corp, which offered the minimum bid. Four other blocks received no bids.The result, following a lack of foreign interest in an even bigger Wednesday round…
Aramco Signs 34 EPC Contracts Worth $18bn
Saudi Aramco has signed 34 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) related contracts (worth over US$18bn) for projects such as the Marjan and Berri field incremental development program in Saudi Arabia, during Q3 2019, according to GlobalData.The most important is ADNOC’s US$3.6bn contract for the supply of one million metric tons of casing and tubing to support exploration and production activity in United Arab Emirates (UAE).The global oil and gas industry has witnessed a substantial boost from those contracts activity in the Middle East…
Moment of Truth for Brazilian Oil Auction is Here
Executives from many of the world's biggest oil companies gathered in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to compete in Brazil's long-awaited transfer-of-rights (TOR) oil bidding round, the largest offer of crude and gas reserves in the nation's history.Lawyers and executives have been working feverishly in recent weeks to sort out terms of consortia that will place bids on the four blocks available in the TOR area — offshore fields with billions of barrels in confirmed reserves.If all the areas receive a bid…
USA to Make Paris Climate Exit Official
The Trump administration will file paperwork with the United Nations as early as Monday to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, marking the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact to fight climate change.The move would finalize a decision President Donald Trump promised early in his term to unfetter America’s domestic oil, gas and coal industries."What we won’t do is punish the American people while enriching foreign polluters,” Trump said at a shale gas industry conference in Pennsylvania on Oct.
Investors Still Unclear on Saudi Aramco IPO Value
Saudi Aramco's blockbuster listing remained shrouded in mystery on Monday, a day after the company finally announced its plans, with scant details disclosed and expert valuations varying wildly from around $1.2 to $2.3 trillion.The state oil giant, the world's most profitable company, fired the starting gun on a domestic initial public offering (IPO) on Sunday after a series of false starts that had kept the investment world guessing.However potential investors, already rattled by a crippling attack on Aramco's facilities in September…
Mayflower Wins 800MW Massachusetts OWF
Mayflower Wind Energy, a joint venture of Shell New Energies US and EDPR Offshore North America, has been chosen by Massachusetts for an 804-MW offshore wind farm (OWF), located 20 miles south of Nantucket.“Mayflower Wind is proud to have been selected to provide low cost renewable energy to Massachusetts,” said Mayflower Wind President John Hartnett. He added, “Development of the Mayflower Wind project will contribute to the building of an offshore supply chain on the South Coast and across the Commonwealth, helping to launch a new clean, safe and innovative sector of our economy.
Drilling Ban Proposals Divide Democrats
In the southeast corner of New Mexico, new houses, hotels and jobs are sprouting like flowers in the desert. Trucks hauling equipment and laborers jam once-barren highways on the way to thousands of oil rigs.The Democrats who control the state's government have lofty plans for the billions of dollars in projected tax revenues from the drilling industry in the Permian Basin, the world’s biggest oil field, starting with an overhaul of New Mexico's ailing public education system. The biggest threat to those plans…
Offshore Wind: a Freshening Breeze?
July brought news about offshore wind. There was something for everyone: optimism, disappointment, and construction, too.Finally, starting with Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, a joint venture with Danish wind developer Orsted is underway. True, this is a small project – just two wind turbines to be installed 27 miles east of Virginia Beach. But considering all the preceding hurdles, news about Dominion blew in as proverbial, hopeful fresh air. Surely, additional offshore wind construction news would quickly follow…
Big Corn, Big Oil Unhappy with Fed's Biofuel Plan
Corn farmers, ethanol producers, refinery representatives, energy traders and state and local officials from the Midwest all blasted away at the Trump administration's proposed biofuels plan for next year during a public hearing on Wednesday hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The hearing in Ann Arbor, Michigan, marks the second public meeting on the topic in as many days, airing the grievances of the opposing oil and corn constituencies President Donald Trump has…
OP/ED: Offshore Wind
Set to Soar, Taking Offshore Support Industry With it.Offshore energy development is opening a new front in the United States -- the Atlantic seaboard, with strong winds, a shallow continental shelf and a proximity to dense population centers is driving strong interest in offshore wind development. The offshore oil and gas supply chain stands to benefit in a big way from billions in coming investment. In fact, it is already playing a role. Companies in the Gulf of Mexico, which traditionally support the offshore oil and gas sector…
Baker Hughes Profit Rises on Strong Foreign Demand
Baker Hughes Co reported a rise in quarterly adjusted profit on Wednesday, helped by increased demand for its oilfield services and higher margins for its turbomachinery such as gas turbines and compressors.The company's results contrasted with steep falls in revenue reported by some of its rivals in the oilfield services industry as it benefited from stronger equipment sales to customers building liquefied natural gas plants and a rise in business outside the United States.The company, which was separated from General Electric Co.
B.C. Backs LNG Bunkering
The British Columbia Government has joined Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and FortisBC to establish the first ship-to-ship LNG marine refueling – or bunkering – facility on the west coast of North America.The use of LNG to power the world’s ocean-going vessels is forecast to expand and B.C. is well positioned to benefit from this growth.According to industry standards, replacing diesel fuel with LNG has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by approximately 20%. Because FortisBC’s Tilbury facility runs on clean B.C.
Mitsui, Sempra Energy Sign LNG Deal
North American energy infrastructure company Sempra Energy and Japanese trader Mitsui & Co. have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which the latter would take part in the Cameron LNG Phase 2 project in Louisiana.The MoU also encompasses a future expansion of the Energía Costa Azul (ECA) LNG project in Baja California, Mexico."This agreement signals continued momentum in the growing U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market, while reinforcing the unique competitive advantage that Sempra offers customers seeking LNG export capabilities from the Gulf Coast…
Hunting Warns on Profit
British oilfield services firm Hunting Plc warned on Tuesday that annual core profit would be at the lower end of market expectations as it grapples with a slowdown in the U.S. onshore drilling market, sending its shares down as much as 7%.Without giving numbers, Hunting said profit for the third-quarter had declined compared with the two preceding quarters while quarterly revenue and operating profit at its biggest unit Hunting Titan also fell.It reported underlying earnings before interest…
Premier Oilfield Group Names Keenan CEO
Premier Oilfield Group has appointed Patrick “Paddy” Keenan as CEO, beginning October 28, 2019, the oilfield services company announced on Tuesday.Keenan brings to the role experience in both the US and international oil and gas industries, having held leadership roles in a number of oilfield service companies, including technology startups, and was also the CEO of an exploration & production (E&P) company. These include GeoMechanics International, Coherence Technology Company, NUMAR Corporation…
RCG Opens Vancouver Office
Sector-specialist advisory firm The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG) said it has appointed Matthew Irvine as Director and head of a new office in Vancouver, Canada., as the firm looks to strengthen its local presence in North America and deliver long-term market support for technical advisory clients.Irvine will lead a team that provides technical advisory solutions for financial sponsors and corporate clients. He joins RCG from Wood, where he was responsible for business operations and strategic development of the Americas wind and solar advisory service line.
Precision Drilling's Quarterly Loss Narrows
Oilfield services company Precision Drilling's loss narrowed for the third-quarter, helped by higher drilling activity across North America, the Canadian company reported on Thursday.Net loss narrowed to C$3.5 million ($2.68 million), or 1 Canadian cent per share, from C$30.6 million, or 10 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.Revenue fell about 2% to C$376 million($1 = 1.3076 Canadian dollars)(Reporting by Taru Jain; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
Qilak LNG, ExxonMobil Pact on Gas Supply
Alaska-based Qilak LNG announced that a Heads of Agreement (HOA) has been entered into with ExxonMobil Alaska Production regarding the potential supply of natural gas from the Point Thomson field to Qilak LNG's proposed Alaska North Slope liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project (Qilak LNG 1 Project).According to the Lloyds Energy company, which was formed to identify and develop Arctic LNG projects in North America, the he HOA foresees ExxonMobil providing at least 560 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of natural gas to Phase 1 of the Qilak LNG 1 Project…
