Barclays Rejects Arctic Drilling
U.K.-based international bank Barclays announced a new energy policy that significantly restricts the bank’s financing for the exploration or extraction of oil and gas in the Arctic.The policy rules out funding for companies seeking to drill in the Arctic Refuge as well as other climate change threats.According to the British multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in London, arctic oil and gas refers to new exploration and extraction of oil and gas in the area within the Arctic Circle which is subject to sea ice…
US to Become Third Largest LNG Exporter in 2019
The coming year is expected to make the U.S. the third largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, creating jobs stateside while reducing emissions and providing reliable energy to countries around the world, said American Petroleum Institute (API).API, Center for LNG, and LNG Allies, the three national trade associations specializing in U.S. LNG, today issued a first-of-its-kind joint statement on the extraordinary developments expected in U.S. LNG in 2019.Todd Snitchler, Vice President of Market Development at the American Petroleum Institute, said: “The dramatic expansion of U.S.
LNG to Fuel Central American Plant
Finnish technology group Wärtsilä said it recently started site work for a new 378 megawatt power plant in El Salvador, Central America to be fired by liquefied natural gas (LNG).The technology group said that this facility, ordered by Energía del Pacífico, will be the largest and most efficient power plant in El Salvador, and one of the first in Central America to be fired by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The installation will feed electricity to the national grid. A dedicated floating…
BP Energy Partners Acquires Cryopeak LNG Solutions
The private equity firm focused on the energy industry BP Energy Partners (BPEP), LLC announced it has purchased a controlling interest in Cryopeak LNG Solutions Corp, a customer-centric liquified natural gas (LNG) solutions company.Cryopeak will become a portfolio company in BPEP's second private equity fund, BP Natural Gas Opportunity Partners II, LP. In addition to the controlling interest acquisition, BPEP will also commit additional capital to Cryopeak to support its continued growth…
US Energy Investors Eye Cheap Takeovers as Oil Prices Sink
Sinking oil prices are turning distressed US energy companies into takeover targets for opportunistic private investors who are prepared to offer expensive debt in return for ownership stakes, as the sector struggles to access traditional forms of bank financing.A slowing global economy and fears of excess oil supply sent the benchmark crude oil index spiraling to as low as US$53 in October from a 14-year high of US$86 earlier that month. Brent Crude was US$58.18 on Tuesday.High operating costs have also reduced oil and gas companies’ margins and free cash flow…
PGS Updates on Seismic Acquisition Contract in South America
Norwegian seismic player Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS) updated on changes of the contract for the 3D survey in South America announced November 14, 2018.The vessels Ramform Atlas and Ramform Tethys mobilized early December 2018 for this survey. The contract had an estimated total duration of approximately 13 vessel months and an estimated value in excess of $75 million, the marine geophysical company said.Due to unresolved issues affecting the survey, both vessels have been on paid standby from December 23, 2018.The client, ExxonMobil, has notified PGS that the Ramform Atlas is no longer required.
EMGS Vessel Utilisation Stands at 32% in 4Q
Norwegian geophysical services company Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) said that its vessel utilisation for the fourth quarter 2018 was 32% compared with 13% for the fourth quarter in 2017.For the full year 2018, the vessel utilisation was 33%, whereas the utilisation for the full year 2017 was 56%, it said.In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company's vessels were allocated 32% to proprietary work and no time was spent on multi-client projects. In the comparable quarter of 2017…
Moody's Says Global Oil and Gas Heads into 2019 on Steady Footing
The global Oil and natural gas prices will be volatile, but also range-bound in 2019, Moody's Investors Service says in its annual report outlining key credit themes in oil and gas for the year ahead.While the recent announcement that OPEC and Russia will cut production helps alleviate concerns about oversupply, the pivotal questions in the coming year are whether OPEC and Russia will maintain their production discipline and what might happen in June, when the current agreement expires.Moody's expects the medium-term price band for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude…
A 'Chicago Boy' Takes the Reins at Petrobras
Depending on who you ask, Roberto Castello Branco, the new chief executive of Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA, will either save the indebted oil major - or strip it to the bone.Tapped by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who took power on Tuesday, Castello Branco had said in a June newspaper column he thought Petrobras - as the company is known - should be privatized, a hardcore proposal even in an administration packed with free market advocates.He has walked back on that idea since being named as CEO in November…
Ørsted Bids to Build NJ's First Offshore Wind Farm
Danish energy company Ørsted submitted a bid to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) to build an offshore wind farm in response to the first offshore wind request for proposal under Gov. Phil Murphy’s clean energy agenda.Ørsted, the global leader in offshore wind energy, has pioneered and refined the approach to developing and constructing offshore wind farms since it launched the world’s first offshore wind farm in 1991.Ørsted owns and operates the Block Island Wind Farm…
Ørsted Tapped for Connecticut Offshore Wind Farm
Denmark based Ørsted has been selected by Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to move forward to negotiate a fixed-price power purchase agreement (PPA) with the state’s power distribution companies for 0.42TWh (terawatt hours) per year equivalent to 100MW offshore wind capacity. Subject to contract signing and Ørsted’s final investment decision (FID), construction on the Revolution Wind project is expected to start in 2022, and the wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2023.With the 100MW added capacity…
Argentina's Energy Chief Quits
Argentina's energy secretary resigned on Friday, the government said in a statement, less than 24 hours after news leaked that the administration of President Mauricio Macri plans to increase electricity prices by an average 35 percent next year.Higher power bills are sure to be unpopular as they would hit families already struggling with 47 percent inflation and a shrinking economy that has caused job losses and an increase in poverty.The statement announcing Energy Secretary Javier Iguacel was stepping down gave no reason for his resignation.
FSRU Suppliers Shift from Emerging Markets, Cut Back New Orders
Political instability and low credit ratings in emerging economies are putting some shipowners off ordering new floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), as they shift focus to more mature gas markets.Liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand from emerging markets in Asia, Africa and South America was expected to be boosted by FSRU technologies that are less expensive and time-consuming than onshore import terminals.But a boom in speculative FSRU orders from shipowners led to an oversupply of units this year as import projects across the world were delayed or cancelled…
SEACOR Marine to Acquire Brazil's UP Offshore
SEACOR Marine Holdings, the provider of marine and support transportation services to offshore oil, has announced the acquisition of UP Offshore (Bahamas) by a new joint venture company that is 49% owned by a subsidiary of SEACOR Marine and 51% owned by a subsidiary of Proyectos Globales de Energía y Servicios CME.UP Offshore is a leading provider of offshore support vessel services to the energy industry in Brazil, the largest regional market in Latin America, said a press release.Of UP Offshore’s 14 vessel fleet, 12 vessels are located in Brazil and registered under the Brazilian flag.
Sempra Energy's Port Arthur LNG in Pact with PGNiG
Poland's state-owned gas company Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG) and Port Arthur LNG, LLC, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, have entered into a definitive 20-year sale-and-purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Port Arthur LNG liquefaction-export facility under development in Jefferson County, Texas. The agreement defines basic terms and conditions of a 20-year contract to be finalized between the parties for the sales and purchase of two million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of LNG…
Offshore Outlook Appears 'Strong', Say Analysts
The outlook for offshore oilfield service contractors is strong as more than 100 new projects are aiming for 2019 sanctions, according to Rystad Energy, a Norway-based energy research and consulting firm.An expected $210 billion will be spent on offshore oilfield services globally next year, said Rystad Energy’s latest project sanctioning report.Offshore contractors have experienced four consecutive years of declining revenues, but those still standing can expect revenues to start growing again next year.“The offshore service market is like a super tanker: It takes time to accelerate.
EDF, Shell Form JV for New Jersey Offshore Wind
The independent power producer EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US, offshore wind company in the U.S, have formed a 50/50 joint venture, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind to develop a lease area within the New Jersey Wind Energy Area (WEA).The area, spread over 183,353 acres and located off the coast of Atlantic City on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), has the potential to produce about 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy - enough to power close to one million homes…
Tilting at Windmills: Spain Strains to Meet Record Renewables Goal
Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa is booking 14 colossal specialized cranes, has hired new staff and boosted capacity by up to 80 percent at its Spanish factories as developers strain to meet a 2020 deadline for cutting carbon emissions.More wind farms are set to be built across Spain in 2019 than in any previous year, the APPA association of renewable energy companies calculates, surpassing a pre-recession boom in 2008 and putting unprecedented pressure on the supply chain."It is an enormous challenge ...
BP Launches $3 Bln Sale of US Onshore Assets
Britain's BP has launched the sale of U.S. oil and gas onshore assets that could raise more than $3 billion to help pay for other fields in the United States it bought in October from BHP, industry and banking sources said.The sale proceeds will partly fund the $10.5 billion acquisition of BHP's onshore assets that are mostly around oil-producing fields in Texas and Louisiana. BP had said it would sell $5 billion to $6 billion to finance the deal.The London-listed firm wants to focus…
Spain Strains to Meet Record Renewables Goal
Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa is booking 14 colossal specialized cranes, has hired new staff and boosted capacity by up to 80 percent at its Spanish factories as developers strain to meet a 2020 deadline for cutting carbon emissions.More wind farms are set to be built across Spain in 2019 than in any previous year, the APPA association of renewable energy companies calculates, surpassing a pre-recession boom in 2008 and putting unprecedented pressure on the supply chain."It is an enormous challenge ...
