Oil majors buy up West African oil blocks to prepare for the next Brazil
Chevron, TotalEnergies and other oil majors are snatching up offshore blocks off the coast of West and Southern Africa. Geology, regulatory reforms and the need to replenish the reserves have prompted the search for the next Brazil. Companies are restocking oil and gas assets as fossil fuel demand is expected to remain higher than forecasted just a few short years ago. Justin Cochrane is the African Upstream Regional Research Director for S&P Global Commodity Insights. He said that of all of the oil and natural gas discovered in West Africa since 2020…
Vietnam is willing to increase US purchases, says the trade minister as new tariff talks begin
Vietnam's trade minister said that the country is ready to increase its purchases of U.S. products, particularly machinery and high-tech items. The Southeast Asian nation has begun a sixth round of tariff negotiation in Washington, this week. According to a ministry statement, Trade Minister Le Manh Hung held meetings with executives of Apple, Exxon Mobil and GE as well as Excelerate Energy and 'AES. In October, the 'White House' announced that?the United States?and Vietnam will finalise a trading agreement which will keep tariffs at 20% on most Vietnamese products but remove them on certain goods.
Sources say that the US will soon issue a general license for oil extraction in Venezuela
Three sources said that the U.S. is preparing to issue a general license allowing oil and gas companies to operate in Venezuela as soon as 'this week'. Washington aims to encourage increased production in the OPEC country since capturing the president. Sources said that the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury would allow companies to explore for and pump crude oil and gas. OFAC has already granted U.S. companies permission to store, refine and sell Venezuelan oil under a general license that was issued last month. On Tuesday, OFAC also issued a license for the sale of U.S.
Libya plans to increase gas exports to Europe before 2030
Massoud Suleman, Chairman of the National Oil Corporation said that Libya will increase its natural gas production in the next five to ten years to?have a greater supply available to export to Europe before early 2030. Suleman, who spoke at the LNG2026 Conference in Qatar, told the delegates that the country intends to increase its gas production by nearly 1 billion standard cubic feet per day and begin drilling for shale in the second half of this year. Foreign investors are wary about investing in OPEC-member Libya. The country has been?in a'state of chaos?
Libya plans to increase gas exports to Europe before 2030
Massoud Suleman, Chairman of the National Oil Corporation, said that Libya intends to?boost? its natural gas production over the next five to six years in order to increase supply to Europe before early 2030. Suleman, who spoke at the LNG2026 Conference, said that the country plans to increase its gas production up to a maximum of nearly 1 billion cubic feet per day. It will also begin drilling for shale-gas in the second half of this year. He said that Libya's 80 trillion cubic feet (80 trillion cubic meters) of gas resources are split between conventional and unconventional sources.
Venezuelan Oil Exports Increase to 800,000 bpd in January Under US Control
Venezuelan oil exports rose to some 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, from 498,000 bpd in December, after the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro and the ending of an oil blockade which has let traders carry most exports, shipping data showed.Washington imposed an oil embargo on the U.S.-sanctioned country in December to pressure Maduro and seized seven tankers.The blockade led to the accumulation of more than 40 million barrels of crude and fuel in onshore tanks and vessels that…
Kazakhstan announces that oil production at Tengiz has resumed
The energy ministry announced on Saturday that oil production at Kazakhstan's massive Tengiz Oilfield has been restored, with five wells now operating again. Since the outage, production data for the largest field in Kazakhstan has been unavailable. Kazakhstan announced on Wednesday that it would restart the Tengiz Oilfield in stages. It aims to reach full production within a week. Three unexplained electric?fires cost it 7.2 millions barrels of crude oil earlier this month. Tengiz…
Trinidad and Tobago talks with Indian Oil about reviving refinery
Trinidad and Tobago is in talks with ?Indian Oil Corp to restart its mothballed 165,000-barrel-per-day Guaracara oil refinery, Energy Minister ?Roodal ?Moonilal said, as the Caribbean nation looks to revive refining capacity shut more than seven years ago. The refinery in the south was shut down in 2018 by the previous government, which blamed its closure on massive losses and debt. Moonilal said in an interview at the India Energy Week that "we can come up with a new type of commercial structure" for Indian Oil.
Chevron beats Q4 profit estimate, eyes Venezuela investment opportunities
Chevron's profits for the fourth quarter fell, but were still higher than expected. The company focused on cutting costs to make its operations more efficient in order to compete with lower crude oil prices through 2025. Chevron is the only U.S. oil producer currently operating in Venezuela. Now in the spotlight due to the U.S.'s capture and removal of Nicolas Maduro, the former Venezuelan president this month, Chevron said that it would be evaluating other opportunities in Venezuela.
Chevron beats Q4 profit estimate, eyes Venezuela investment opportunities
Chevron's profits for the fourth quarter fell, but were still higher than expected. The company focused on cutting costs to make its operations more efficient in order to compete with lower oil prices through 2025. Only U.S. oil producer currently operating in Venezuela, and in the spotlight of geopolitics after the 'U.S. Chevron said that after the capture and removal of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's former leader this month, it is evaluating other opportunities in Venezuela. Chevron’s adjusted earnings were $1.52 for the three-month end of December period…
Chevron beats Q4 profit estimate, eyes Venezuela investment opportunities
Chevron's profits for the fourth quarter fell, but were still higher than expected. The company focused on reducing costs and improving its efficiency to "contain" lower crude oil prices through 2025. Chevron, the only U.S. producer of oil currently operating in Venezuela is now in the spotlight due to the U.S. capture and removal of Nicolas Maduro as Venezuelan president this month. The company also announced on Friday it was evaluating other opportunities in the nation. Chevron’s adjusted earnings were $1.52 for the three-month end of December period, which was ahead of a LSEG consensus of $1.45.
Geopolitics loom large over Big Oil earnings as investors seek Venezuela details
Exxon Mobil executives and Chevron executives will likely face more questions about their investment opportunities in Venezuela when they speak with analysts this Friday. After President Trump announced that he wanted to invest $100 billion to increase and control Venezuelan production, the U.S. captured and removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The dramatic shift in geopolitics that occurred after renewed U.S. - China trade tensions, and Russia - Ukraine peace talks in the fourth quarter 2025 led to fluctuating oil price.
Geopolitics loom large over Big Oil earnings as investors seek Venezuela details
Exxon Mobil executives and Chevron executives will likely face more questions on their investment opportunities in Venezuela when they speak with analysts this Friday. After President Donald Trump announced that he wanted to invest $100 billion to increase and control Venezuelan crude oil production, the U.S. captured and removed?Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in early this month. The dramatic shift in geopolitics that occurred after renewed U.S. - China trade tensions, and Russia - Ukraine peace talks during the 4th quarter of 2025 led to fluctuating oil price.
Oil Prices Surge 3% on Worries of US Action Against Iran
Oil prices climbed about 3% to a five-month high on Thursday on rising concerns that global supplies could be disrupted if the U.S. decides to attack Iran, one of the biggest crude producers in OPEC.Brent futures rose $2.10, or 3.1%, to $70.50 a barrel by 11:07 a.m. EST (1607 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained $2.09, or 3.3%, to $65.30.That pushed both crude benchmarks into technically overbought territory and put Brent on track for its highest close since July 31 and WTI on track for its highest close since September 26.U.S.
Chevron to Boost Exports of Venezuelan Oil to US in March
Oil producer Chevron is set to boost exports of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. to some 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, from 100,000 bpd in December and some 230,000 bpd so far this month, two sources with knowledge of the plans said on Wednesday.The U.S. company, which is the main partner of Venezuela's state-run energy firm PDVSA, has chartered about a dozen tankers to increase shipments and drain inventories accumulated at its projects since December, when a U.S. blockade hit the OPEC country's exports…
Sources say that Chevron wants better terms with Iraq before acquiring the Lukoil Oilfield.
Sources say that Chevron is seeking better terms for the West Qurna 2 Oilfield. Iraq nationalized oilfield operatorship after U.S. Three sources with knowledge of the matter said that Chevron, the U.S. oil major, is pressing Iraq to increase returns on the West Qurna 2 field in order to buy the project from Russia’s Lukoil. Iraq nationalised its oilfield earlier this month after the U.S. imposed restrictions on Lukoil in order to pressure Russia to stop the war in Ukraine. Lukoil was unable to run its international operations, including West Qurna.
Sources say that the US will issue a general license to lift some sanctions against Venezuelan oil industry
Four sources said that the U.S. is preparing to issue a license to lift sanctions against Venezuela's energy industry. This would be a shift from the previous plan of granting individual exemptions for companies wishing to do business with Venezuela. After the capture by the U.S. of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in early this month, U.S. official have stated that Washington will ease sanctions on Venezuela's Energy Industry to facilitate a $2 Billion oil supply deal between Caracas Washington and an ambitious 100 billion dollar reconstruction plan for Venezuela's Oil industry.
Sources say that the U.S. will soon issue a general license lifting sanctions against Venezuelan oil industry.
Three sources familiar with preparations said that U.S. officials were working on a general license to be issued soon, which would lift some sanctions against Venezuela's energy industry. This is a change from the previous plan of granting individual exemptions to sanctions to companies that wanted to do business there. U.S. officials said that following the capture by the U.S. of Venezuelan president?Nicolas Maduro in the first week of this month, Washington would ease the sanctions…
Venezuelan oil reform encourages immediate investments, but executives still need to go deeper
Foreign and local executives and attorneys said that a proposed reform to Venezuela's oil laws is sufficient to encourage existing companies to expand, and to start investing. However, deeper reforms are needed to attract the $100 Billion the U.S. estimates is necessary to overhaul the nation's energy industry. The U.S. now controls Venezuela's oil revenue and exports after a military invasion to capture President Nicolas Maduro in early this month and a naval blockade since December to stop oil shipments from sanctioned ships. Venezuela's government relies heavily on oil revenue.
US energy sector reels as winter storm knocks 2 million bpd crude production
Analysts and traders estimate that U.S. producers lost as much as 2 million barrels per day or 15% of their production during the weekend. This was due to a winter storm which ravaged the nation, straining the?energy grids and infrastructure. Energy Aspects estimates that oil production outages peaked at 2 million barrels per day on Saturday. The Permian basin is likely to have experienced the greatest share of this decline, at about 1.5 million bpd. Production losses decreased on Monday.