BP expects higher upstream production in the third quarter, but weaker oil trade.
BP said that it expects to have a higher upstream production than last quarter, in a trading report released on Tuesday. Results are due on November 4. The company also noted BP's weak oil trading results. It had earlier guided for slightly lower output upstream than the second quarter, when it produced approximately 2.3 million barrels equivalent to oil per day. Brent crude oil averaged $69.13 a barrel in third quarter compared to $67.88 a barrel in second quarter. BP expects to see a $100-million drop in the price it receives for its low-carbon gas business compared to the previous three month period. BP reported that the average U.S.
The United States has experienced a number of deadly industrial accidents this century
Officials said that multiple people died in an explosion at a military explosives facility in Tennessee on Friday. They also reported the absence of 19 other people. Here are some of the most notable industrial explosions that have occurred in the United States during this century. An explosion on the 23rd of March 2005 at a BP Refinery in Texas City in Texas City left 15 workers dead and 180 others injured. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board reported that a series of explosions took place during the restarting a hydrocarbon-isomerization unit. The report stated that the explosions happened when a distillation unit was flooded with hydrocarbons, and then over-pressurized.
Baker Hughes reports that US drillers have cut back on oil and gas drilling for the first time in six weeks.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that the U.S. oil and gas companies have reduced the number of oil rigs in operation this week, the first time in six weeks. The number of oil and gas rigs, a good indicator of future production, dropped by two in the week ending October 10 to 547. Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs is down 39, or 7% from this time last. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs dropped by four this week to 418, while gas-rigs increased by two to 120 – their highest level since August. The Permian Basin, which is the largest oil-producing shale production formation in the United States, saw its rig count drop by one this past week, to 250.
Baker Hughes reports that US oil and gas drillers have cut back on rigs in the US for the first time in six-weeks.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that the U.S. oil and gas companies have reduced the number of oil rigs in operation for the first time in six weeks. The number of oil and gas rigs, a good indicator of future production, dropped by two in the week ending October 10. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs dropped by four this week to 418, while gas-rigs increased by two to 120 – their highest level since August. Oil and gas rig counts are expected to decline by 5% and 20% respectively in 2024, as the lower U.S. gas and oil prices in…
Venture Global sinks after BP's arbitral win raises concerns over pending disputes
Venture Global's shares fell by about 20% Friday, after the U.S. exporter of LNG lost an arbitration against BP for failure to meet a long-term contract. This stoked fears of similar verdicts with other customers who are suing for billions of dollar compensation. The recent victory of Venture Global in an arbitration against Shell was a shock to BP. BP wants more than $1 billion plus interest and legal fees in damages. The final amount will be determined at a separate hearing scheduled for 2026. Venture Global, second largest U.S. supplier of liquefied gas…
Petrobras to meet 20% of the country's nitrogen fertilizer demand in 2026
Magda Chambriard, CEO of Petrobras, said that the company will be able meet about 20% percent of the total nitrogen fertilizer demand in Brazil next year once it restarts its operations at three plants. According to Petrobras' strategic plan, the Bahia plant and the Sergipe plant, located in Brazil's northeastern area, will supply 5% of the national market for urea, and 7% respectively. The unit in Parana, in the southern part of Brazil, has resumed operation and is aiming to meet 8% of Brazil's urea needs. The three plants had previously been offline.
BP wins arbitration against Venture Global regarding LNG cargoes
Venture Global announced on Thursday that BP had won the arbitration case it brought against Venture Global for failing to deliver liquefied gas to Venture Global under a contract with BP, which was supposed to begin in late 2022. Venture Global announced to the market that the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration had found Venture Global in breach of its obligations to timely declare commercial operations at the Calcasieu Pass Plant and to act as "reasonable, prudent operators". BP's ruling is in contrast to a similar decision made by Venture Global in August, where they won a similar case from Shell.
US crude stockpiles rise, fuel inventories fall, EIA says
The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude stockpiles increased while gasoline and distillate stocks fell. The EIA reported that crude inventories increased by 3.7 millions barrels, to 420.3million barrels for the week ending October 3. This was a far cry from the 1.9 million barrels analysts had predicted in a recent poll. The EIA reported that crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma's delivery hub, fell by 763,000 barges in a week. The U.S. crude futures remained positive despite the higher-than-expected increase in inventories. Brent futures, the global benchmark, were trading at $65.87 per barrel at 10:39 am EDT (1439 GMT) and were up 42 cents. U.S.
The rising tungsten price is a major concern for oil drillers.
U.S. shale drilling companies are paying higher prices for tungsten. This rare metal is used in industrial tools such as drillbits. Chinese export controls have slowed down the supply of tungsten. This threatens President Donald Trump's plans to increase America's fossil-fuel production. Tungsten is used in up to 75% of drill bits deployed in oilfields. The price of the metal has risen to more than $600 per unit metric ton from $330-$340 when Trump first imposed tariffs on Chinese products. Beijing responded by imposing a ban on five metals including tungsten.
The rising tungsten price is a major concern for oil drillers.
U.S. shale drilling companies are paying higher prices for tungsten. This rare metal is used in industrial tools such as drill bits. Chinese export controls have slowed down the supply of tungsten. This threatens President Donald Trump's plans to increase America's fossil-fuel production. Tungsten is used in up to 75% of drill bits deployed in oilfields. The price of the metal has risen to more than $600 per unit metric ton from $330-$340 early in February. This was after Trump imposed 10% tariffs on Chinese goods, and Beijing responded by curbing exports of critical metals including tungsten.
Bloomberg News reports that Exxon is planning to return to Iraq in order to explore the Majnoon oilfield.
Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that Exxon Mobil may re-enter Iraq after nearly two years by signing agreements to lay the foundation for exploring the Majnoon oil field. Majnoon Oil Field is located 60 km from Basra, in southern Iraq. It has an estimated 38 billion barleys of oil. The report stated that Exxon intends to sign a heads-of-agreement with Basra Oil, Iraq's State Oil Company, and SOMO in the next few days. In an email to Bloomberg News, the company said: "Exxon Mobil has been in talks with the Iraqi Oil Ministry.
Peru Minister touts Saudi mining interests and Chevron offshore Potential
A top minister announced on Tuesday that Peru is seeking major investments from Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. oil company Chevron, to develop its energy and mining resources. This is part of a broader strategy to revitalize this sector. Peru, the third largest copper producer in the world, is pushing to jumpstart investments, which have slowed down over recent years due to political unrest and social conflict. In an interview with the, Energy and Mines minister Jorge Luis Montero stated that he expects to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia by November for developing projects for lithium and strategic minerals.
OMV reduces investment targets and cuts back on spending for renewables until 2030
Austria's OMV announced on Monday that it would cut sustainable investments, and reduce its target for organic capital expenditures yearly by 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion). This was also to reflect Borealis' deconsolidation following a merger. The group has set a new organic capital spending goal of 2.8 billion euro per year. This is down from its previous projections of 3.8 billion euro. The oil, gas and chemicals group has set its new organic capital expenditures goal at 2.8 billion euros per year, down from the previously projected 3.8 billion euros.
Baker Hughes reports that US oil and gas drillers have reported the same number of rigs for the week, 549.
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company in the United States, said that this week U.S. firms kept the number oil and gas rigs almost unchanged. In the week ending October 3, the rig count, including a miscellaneous group, which is an early indicator of future production, remained at 549. Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs was 36, or 6.2% lower than this time last. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs dropped by two this week to 422 while gas rigs increased by one to be at 118. Oil and gas rig counts declined by approximately 5% in 2020 and 20% in 2030 as lower U.S.
Wall Street Journal, October 3,
These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. - A multibillion-dollar deal to send Nvidia's artificial-intelligence chips to the United Arab Emirates is stuck in neutral nearly five months after it was signed, frustrating CEO Jensen Huang and some senior administration officials. Google announced that it would build a $4 Billion data center in Arkansas on more than 1000 acres, creating hundreds and thousands of jobs in construction as well as operations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of the pill used to end pregnancies.
BP seeks partner for Brazil Bumerangue Block
BP's Brazil Chief Andres Guevara de la Vega announced on Thursday that the oil giant will look for a partner in order to evaluate the discovery made at Brazil's Bumerangue Block. It could also reach a deal with a partner before making a final decision about investing in the project. In August, the British company, who currently own 100% of this block, announced that Bumerangue was its largest oil and natural gas discovery in over 25 years. Vega, speaking at an event in Rio de Janeiro, said that the search for a new partner would take place over the next year or two. He added: "For me, it is almost certain that the partnership will end before we take a FID.
Nigeria increases oil production and drilling activity in response to reforms that attract investment
Nigeria's daily crude oil production has increased from between 1.7 and 1.83 millions barrels, and the number active drilling rigs have increased from 31 in January to fifty by July. This is due to the reforms implemented under President Bola Tinubu to open up the petroleum sector to investment. The figures were announced by Senator Heineken Lopobiri (Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Oil) during his keynote speech at the Africa Energy Week, Cape Town. He was speaking on behalf of President. He said that the "Project One Million Barrels", launched in October 2020, is driving the recovery in the upstream industry.
Iraq signs contract with BP for development of Kirkuk oilfields; initial target is 328,000 bpd
Iraq's oil ministry announced on Thursday that it has signed a contract with BP for the development of Kirkuk oilfields. The initial production target is 328,000 barrels a day. The agreement was signed in early this year and involves BP and Iraq's North Oil Company and North Gas Company working together to rehabilitate the Baba and Avana Domes of the Kirkuk Field, as well the Jambour Bai Hassan and Khabbaz field. Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani stated in a press release that the contract has a target production of 328,000 barrels / day with future increases anticipated through field development.
The new BP chair says the strategy is correct but it needs to be implemented faster
A memo obtained by revealed that Albert Manifold, the new BP chair, told employees on Monday that the group’s portfolio was “overly complex” and that it needed to implement its strategy to shift focus back to oil & gas quicker. Manifold became the new chairman of BP on Tuesday. Helge Lund was criticized by investors for his close relationship with former CEO Bernard Looney who led BP's disastrous foray into renewables. BP has pledged to sell assets worth $20 billion in order to reduce its net debt from $26 billion down to between $14 and $18 billions by the end 2027.
Diamondback CEO says US crude production growth will slow down with $60/bbl.
The CEO of Diamondback Energy - one of the top oil producers in the United States - said that the growth of U.S. crude oil production will slow down if oil prices remain near $60 per barrel. Fewer drilling sites can be profitable at this level. Kaes van't Hof, speaking at a conference on energy in Austin, said "There are only so many Tier 1 rocks" in reference to the best locations for drilling. It's hard to imagine growth at $60 oil. At $50, it's even more difficult. On Wednesday morning, U.S. crude oil futures were trading at around $61.50 per barrel. In order to control spending, many energy companies announced the elimination of thousands of jobs this year.