ConocoPhillips CEO Says Surprised by Quick Rebound in Oil Prices
ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance on Wednesday expressed surprise at the quick rebound in U.S. oil prices that slipped into the negative territory in April and said he expects prices to remain volatile in the near term.Oil is now trading at near $40 per barrel, almost double of $20 it averaged in April, the same month prices had briefly slumped to minus $38 per barrel due to low demand as countries halted travel to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, while top producers agreed to pump full bore."We were surprised it came back this strong this quickly…
Largest Wind Turbines for U.S. Largest Offshore Wind Project
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy's new wind turbines with up to 15MW capacity have been earmarked for an offshore wind project in the U.S.First, the company on Tuesday morning said it was planning to the giant SG 14-222 DD offshore Direct Drive wind turbines at the 300 MW Hai Long 2 project in Taiwan.Later on the same day, SGRE said the same type of turbine - launched just last week - would conditinally be supplied to the massive 2,640-MW Dominion Energy Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project.
Brent Hits One-month High, U.S. Oil Tops $32 as Lockdowns Ease
Oil prices jumped on Monday, with benchmark Brent hitting a one-month high and U.S. crude topping $30, supported by optimism about the reopening of economies and output cuts by major producers. Brent crude was up $2.32, or 7.1%, at $34.82 a barrel by 1344 GMT, its highest level since mid-April. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $3.35 or almost 11.4% at $32.78 per barrel, its highest since mid-March. "Optimism on the demand side of the oil equation has helped prices climb further…
Petrobras Sees No Need to Cut Oil Production
Brazil's state-run Petrobras sees no need for cuts in oil production, executives say, as the market for its crude remains robust in China, while domestic demand for fuel picks up amid social distancing fatigue in Latin America's largest economy.On a Friday earnings call with analysts, executives credited the company's strong relationship with independent refineries in China's Shandong Province, known as "teapots,"' for allowing Petrobras to export a record amount of crude in recent months, even as some economies are effectively shut.
Belgium: Northwester 2 Offshore Wind Farm Complete
The 219 MW Northwester 2 wind farm has been completed and is now supplying the Belgian grid electricity by all of its 23 fully operational wind turbines producing 9,5 MW each. This wind farm, owned by Parkwind (70%) and Sumitomo (30%) is the first to use the MHI Vestas V164-9.5 MW turbines in commercial operation. The first turbine was installed in December 2019.This is the seventh wind farm in the Belgian North Sea, which now brings the total offshore energy capacity to 1,776 MW and moves Belgium closer to reaching the goal of supplying 10% of energy demand with offshore wind by the end of 2020…
Halliburton Lays Off 1,000 Employees at Houston HQ
Oilfield services firm Halliburton has laid off roughly 1,000 employees, or 22% of staff, at its corporate headquarters in Houston, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday, as oil prices collapse.The cuts by one of the biggest names in oilfield services come with oil prices having plunged to around $24 a barrel, far below production costs for many firms, prompting oil and gas explorers to slam the brakes on drilling. Companies that provide drilling equipment and services have been among the hardest hit.Halliburton…
When Oil Became Waste
A week of turmoil for crude, and more pain to comeThe magnitude of how damaged the energy industry is came into full view on April 20 when the benchmark price of U.S. oil futures, which had never dropped below $10 a barrel in its nearly 40-year history, plunged to a previously unthinkable minus $38 a barrel.In just a few months, the coronavirus pandemic has destroyed so much fuel demand as billions of people curtail travel that it has done what financial crashes, recessions and wars had…
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Turbine Components En Route to U.S.
Dominion Energy and Ørsted have said that the turbine components and monopiles for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) pilot project have started their journey to North America. The foundations, consisting of the turbines' monopiles, transition pieces and anode cages fabricated by EEW SPC, have been loaded onto the Bigroll Beaufort cargo ship in Rostock, Germany. The components for the two, 6-megawatt Siemens Gamesa turbines were loaded in Esbjerg, Denmark, before the vessel embarked in mid-April on the approximately two-week transatlantic journey to Halifax…
Reinauer Group Ramps Up for the Business of Offshore Wind
The promise of a vibrant U.S. offshore wind business has been long in the making. While questions remain on timing and pace, there is renewed confidence in the offshore wind sector, particularly in the northeast United States (global pandemic notwithstanding). Investment in the sector had escalated to start 2020, embodied best by Reinauer Group and its WindServe Marine unit, which when combined with its Senesco Marine boatbuilding and logistics hub give its an ‘ A-to-Z, soup-to-nuts’ enviable position to build…
Schlumberger Posts Loss on $8.5 Bln Charge as Customers Accelerate Cuts
Schlumberger NV, the world's largest oilfield services firm, on Friday reported a first-quarter loss due to $8.5 billion in charges, as customers accelerated spending cuts amid the continuing decline in oil prices.Crude prices plunged 60% in March after Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to pump full bore and the spread of the novel coronavirus crushed global fuel demand. On Friday, international Brent crude futures were trading around $28 a barrel, well below the cost of production for many…
New Offshore Acreage Licensing to Drop 60% in 2020, Rystad says
Newly licensed offshore oil and gas exploration acreage is likely to fall by about 60% and onshore acreage by 30% compared with 2019 levels, Rystad Energy has said, as the Norwegian energy market analytics company expects more than half of the world’s planned licensing rounds to be canceled this year due to the combined effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the low oil prices."This year was slated to be another remarkable year for exploration with about 45 countries launching at least 52 lease rounds, about 60% of them in offshore areas.
Record Oil Output Cuts Fail to Make Waves in Coronavirus-hit Market
The minimal impact on oil prices from a global deal for record output cuts showed that oil producers have a mountain to climb if they are to restore market balance as the coronavirus shreds demand and sends stockpiles soaring, industry watchers said.After several days of discussions, oil producing and consuming countries aim to remove nearly 20 million barrels per day (bpd) or 20% of global supply from the market, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Monday.The oil market has barely shrugged, however: Brent crude gained 1.5% on Monday, while U.S. crude ended the day lower.
Equinor Finds Oil at Monument Prospect in U.S. Gulf of Mexico
Norwegian oil firm Equinor, with partners Progress Resources and Repsol, has made an oil discovery in the Monument exploration well in the US Gulf of Mexico.The Monument exploration well found approximately 200 feet (c. 60 meters) of net oil pay with good reservoir characteristics in Paleogene sandstone. This provides an early indication of the productive reservoir interval at the well location, Equinor said Monday.The offshore well was drilled to a total depth of 33,348 feet (10,164…
COVID-19 Oil Demand Hit Renders OPEC+, Trump Actions Irrelevant
Imagine for a moment that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia had agreed at the start of this month to extend and deepen their crude oil output cuts. It wouldn't have made the blindest bit of difference.While it was only three and half weeks ago, though it feels as long as a lifetime, the collapse of the deal between OPEC and allies, including Russia, to limit output is no longer relevant in a world devastated by coronavirus.If OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+…
Deepwater Acreage to Attract Investments
Deepwater acreage will continue to attract significant company interest through 2020, said a report.According to GlobalData, a significant portion of the acreage available in Q1 2020 is located in either deep or ultra-deep water, up from the previous quarter.In Q1 2020, approximately 60% of the acreage available in licensing rounds either open or scheduled to close in the quarter is located in deep or ultra-deep water, revealed the report: ‘Q1 2020 Global Bid Round Outlook – Increase in Deepwater Acreage Offered in Q1 2020’.Toya Latham…
Saudi Aramco Launches Largest Shale Gas Development Outside US
Saudi Aramco is launching the biggest shale gas development outside of the United States to boost domestic gas supply and end the burning of oil at its power generation plants, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser told Reuters on Monday.The world's top crude oil exporter has for years battled for market share with rapidly expanding shale oil producers in the United States, which in just a decade have developed capacity to pump millions of barrels per day of oil from rock formations that were previously too costly to tap.Saudi Arabia fought a price war aimed at putting the U.S.
Tendeka Appoints BD Manager for S. America
Tendeka has appointed a new business development manager for South America as the company increases its support for oil and gas operators in the region.Renato Barbedo will work with operators across the continent to deploy Tendeka’s broad range of products and technologies.Barbedo brings over two decades of global experience in upstream projects to the position. He previously worked with Schlumberger and Emerson and has vast experience in the areas of sand control, well construction and completions…
TWMA Appoints Aslaksen as New CEO
Specialist drilling waste management company, TWMA, has announced the appointment of Halle Aslaksen as its new CEO.Aslaksen joins the Aberdeen-headquartered company from the Norwegian hydropower operator Småkraft, where he served as CEO. He was previously CEO at TCO and president of ALTUS Intervention in Scandinavia.With more than 20 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, Aslaksen has built a career across several disciplines and has worked across various roles for Smith International, Schlumberger and Aker Solutions in the North Sea, Continental Europe, North America, Russia and Central Asia.
Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Set for March
U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will offer over 78 million acres for a region-wide lease sale scheduled for March 18, 2020, as part of President Trump’s America First Offshore Energy Strategy.The sale would include all available unleased areas in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said: “A strong and safe offshore energy program fuels the American economy…
USA Ups BOEM Offshore Wind Budget
The Trump Administration has proposed a $189m fiscal year 2021 budget for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), designating just under $27m for offshore wind.The FY 2021 budget includes approximately $26.5 million to advance offshore renewable energy development.In recognition of the role renewable energy can play in securing the Nation’s energy independence and supporting economic growth, BOEM continues to advance renewable energy through its leasing program and streamlining its permitting and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes.In addition…
