O&G Skills Requirements Shifting
Action is needed now to retain, retrain, recruit and renew the workforce in a rapidly changing UK oil and gas sector.These are the findings presented by energy skills body OPITO, who has set out a strategy to prepare the UK oil and gas industry for a shift in skills requirements over the next six years.OPITO’s Skills Landscape 2019 – 2025 report, part of the UKCS Workforce Dynamics research series, reveals technology advances, internationalization and the transition to a lower carbon future are…
Ichthys Ramps Up Output
A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been floating off Australian waters for nearly two weeks as production at Ichthys project ramps up, industry sources told Reuters.The tanker 'Symphonic Breeze' has been moored at Darwin anchorage since April 17 after loading a cargo from the recently launched Ichthys LNG facility, shipping data from Refinitiv Eikon showed.The LNG cargo has already been sold to a North Asian buyer, who chose to lift it at a later date due to high inventory in its tanks, an industry source familiar with the matter said.The "floating cargo" situation has been partly created due to am
Transition to a Hydrogen Future Has Begun
There is a growing international consensus that clean hydrogen will play a key role in the world’s transition to a sustainable energy future, said Noé van Hulst, who chairs the High-Level Advisory Panel for the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s forthcoming hydrogen study.Hulst, the Hydrogen Envoy for the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy, The Netherlands, said that it is crucial to help reduce carbon emissions from industry and heavy transport, and also to provide long-term energy…
US Oil Sees Growing Reach
Two cargoes of U.S. crude oil have been booked to sail to Australia, trade sources and data companies said, highlighting the increasing global reach of exports from the United States.Aframax tanker Esther Spirit loaded U.S. oil in early April at Enterprise Houston Terminal and is scheduled to discharge at Kwinana in Western Australia on May 20, ship-tracking data from Refinitiv and Vortexa showed.BP Plc chartered the Silver Sun, an Aframax, to load from the U.S. Gulf Coast this week to Kwinana for $2.35 million, according to a shipbroker and Refinitiv data.
GasLog Predicts LNG Spot Rate Recovery
GasLog Partners, which owns, operates, and acquires liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers under multi-year charters, said that the longer-term outlook for natural gas demand continued to strengthen in the first quarter of 2019.Despite LNG demand in the first quarter of 2019 being negatively impacted by warmer than usual weather in the Northern Hemisphere winter, global LNG imports during the period totalled 88 million tonnes (mt), compared to 79 mt in the first quarter of 2018, or 11% growth, according to Poten.In particular, China’s LNG imports totalled 15.3 mt, 24% growth over Q1 2018.
CSV Southern Ocean Wins Fugro Offshore Gig
Construction support vessel (CSV) Southern Ocean, which is jointly owned by Bourbon and Oceanteam, has been hired to support Fugro off the coast of Australia."Bourbon - Oceanteam’s CSV Southern Ocean has entered into a contract with Fugro and will undertake a program of IRM work offshore in Australia," said a statement.The Southern Ocean is currently conducting subsea work in India for J. Ray McDermott. Directly after completion of the current job in May, the vessel will mobilise for her next assignment.
Sonangol Plans to Downsize
Angola's state oil company Sonangol plans to divest 52 joint ventures, reduce staff and focus on its core business, part of an ongoing reorganization and package of reforms designed to lure back investors, its chairman said on Friday."We are going to sell, close or put out of our group a lot companies," Carlos Saturnino told an oil conference in Paris. "Last year, we identified 52 joint ventures in which we want to sell our equity.""Instead of investing in Australia, United States etc, Sonangol wants to become an oil company of reference in the African continent.
LNG Prices Nosedive
A mild winter and growing surplus of supply have knocked the legs out from under Asian LNG, with spot prices plummeting more than 60% since last September, Rystad Energy, energy research and business intelligence company.Similarly, British front month prices (NBP) have dropped from $9.90 per MMBtu in September 2018 to $4.40 per MMBtu during the first week of April.Current low prices at importing markets offer producers in the main exporting countries – Australia, Qatar and the US – meagre netbacks of below $4 per MMBtu.This basement price no longer allows all exporters to cover their operational costs…
U.S. FERC Approves Two New LNG Export Terminals
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday approved construction of two proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals, Tellurian Inc's Driftwood in Louisiana and Sempra Energy's Port Arthur in Texas.Tellurian said in a release it planned to make a final investment decision on its $30 billion Driftwood project, which includes pipelines and production fields in addition to the liquefaction plant, in 2019 with first LNG production expected in 2023.Sempra has said it…
Woodside Q1 Revenue Rises 4%
Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd on Thursday posted a 4 percent rise in first-quarter revenue on higher realized prices for its oil and gas.Revenue rose to $1.22 billion for the three-months ended March 31, compared to $1.17 billion a year ago.Australia's largest listed oil and gas explorer said total production for the quarter came in at 21.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), down from 22.2 mmboe a year earlier.The average realized price for the quarter ending March 31 rose to $56 per boe from $51 per boe a year ago.The Wheatstone venture, run by Chevron Corp and in which Woodside has a 13 percent sta
Santos Posts Record Production in Q1
Australia's No.2 independent gas producer Santos Ltd on Wednesday posted record quarterly production, boosted by its acquisition of Quadrant Energy assets, while sales revenue jumped 28 percent.Santos said production for the quarter ended March 31 rose to a record 18.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), up from 13.8 mmboe last year.Revenue came in at $1.02 billion, the second-highest quarterly revenue on record, it said.Santos acquired Quadrant Energy last year in a $2.15 billion deal…
Santos Finds Gas Off Western Australia
Santos announced Tuesday it has confirmed significant gas resource in the Corvus-2 appraisal in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia.Corvus-2 is located in 63 meters water depth, approximately 90 kilometers northwest of Dampier in Commonwealth waters within petroleum permit WA-45-R, in which Santos has a 100% interest.The well was drilled approximately 3 kilometers southwest of Corvus-1 (drilled in 2000) using the jack-up mobile offshore drilling unit Noble Tom Prosser and reached a total depth of 3,998 meters.
Woodside Expands LNG Supply
Australian exploration and production company Woodside has opened a liquefied natural gas (LNG) truck loading facility at its Pluto LNG project in Western Australia (WA), as it looks to develop the domestic LNG market for remote power generation and transport fuels.The Pluto LNG project is located 190km north-west of Karratha in WA, in the Northern Carnarvon Basin. It processes LNG from the Pluto and Xena gas fields, which have total dry gas recoverable reserve volumes of 4.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and 0.6tcf respectively.Following the completion of commissioning activities…
Aus Upstream Capex Touches at US$10bln pa
The Australian renewable energy pipeline is surging above 100GW of solar, wind and utility storage projects. Investment is currently matching upstream capex, at US$10 bn per annum.Only 1GW is currently owned by Upstream companies – the majors, said Rystad Energy, the energy research and business intelligence company.By the end of the decade, upstream companies will be the dominant renewable developers in country and regionally. The driver will be economics as much as an increasing desire to ride the solar-coaster.Woodside and Santos are absent from the chart (for now) but both are making strides in the sector.
Petronas Expands LNG Supply
Malaysian oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) said that it is well-positioned to meet rising LNG demand and expands its flexible and innovative LNG solutions for existing and new markets."With its growing portfolio of LNG supply sources in Malaysia, Australia, Egypt and soon in Canada, Petronas is well-positioned to provide clean energy through its flexible and innovative LNG solutions to existing and new demand markets, as well as to emerging trading hubs," said a press…
$13 Bln Papua LNG Project Pushes Ahead
France's Total and its partners signed a long-awaited deal with Papua New Guinea on Tuesday that will allow initial work to start on a $13 billion plan to double the country's liquefied natural gas exports.Developing the Pacific island nation's gas reserves is seen as crucial to its economy as LNG is its biggest export earner, while demand for the fuel is surging globally.Total's partner Oil Search said the agreement would allow the parties to start engineering and design work for a project dubbed Papua LNG also involving Exxon Mobil.They now aim to make a final investment decision in 2020…
Guanghui Signs 10-year LNG SPA with Total
France’s Total and Guanghui Energy, a China-based company, principally engaged in the natural gas and coal business, have signed a long-term sale and purchase agreement (SPA) for the supply of 0.7 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for a period of 10 years.According to Total, the gas will be delivered to Guanghui’s regasification terminal in Qidong, Jiangsu Province, from Total’s global LNG portfolio.“We are delighted to start a long-term relationship with Guanghui, an increasingly successful LNG market player in China with clear ambitions for growth.
Woodside Inks LNG Supply Deal with ENN
Australia's Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX has signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China's ENN Group for 10 years from 2025, both companies said on Friday.Woodside, Australia's biggest listed oil and gas explorer, said in a statement the volume covered by the HOA is 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), to be sourced from Woodside's portfolio of gas supply. Signed at the LNG 2019 conference in Shanghai, the HOA follows a cooperation agreement sealed last October.ENN is aiming to increase its market share in China's gas distribution and retailing sector…
Bourbon Wins Shell Contract in Bulgaria
Bourbon Marine & Logistics said on Thursday it has been awarded a contract from Shell to support the oil major's exploration drilling in the Black Sea offshore Bulgaria.The French services company said its project scope covers the full logistics solution project management, offering for the first time both marine logistics together with shore logistics: marine services, logistics base, warehousing, port facilities, cargo carrying units, waste management, customs clearance, etc.Two large supply vessels will be dedicated to the project…
Shell Starts Exploratory Drilling off Bulgaria
Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it will start drilling an exploration well in a block off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast next month for oil and gas.Shell has teamed up with Spain's Repsol and Australia's Woodside Energy after sealing a contract with Bulgaria in 2016 for deepwater exploratory drilling as part of Sofia efforts to end its almost complete reliance on Russia's natural gas supplies. It is Shell's only upstream project in Bulgaria."With partners and with good data... we started preparation for drilling 18 months ago.
