Upstream Sector Leads O&A M&A in 2019
A latest research revealed that the upstream sector accounted for the bulk of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global oil and gas industry in 2019, generating some high-value transactions during the process.According to GlobalData's theme report, ‘M&A in Oil and Gas – 2020’, the acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum by Occidental Petroleum in April 2019 for a purchase consideration of US$57bn was the highlight of oil and gas M&A activity last year, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.Ravindra Puranik…
Vineyard Wind to Miss Startup Target Over Permit Delay
Vineyard Wind, the developer of the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, said on Tuesday it will miss its target to start sending power to Massachusetts by 2022 due to lengthy federal permitting delays.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, part of the U.S. Department of Interior, posted a revised permitting timeline on its website on Tuesday that said it will issue a final decision on the project by Dec. 18, more than a year after its previous target of August 2019."While we need to analyze what a longer permitting timeline will mean for beginning construction…
Offshore Wind: Half Empty or Half Full?
As a new decade starts, offshore wind development continues to progress. Actually, it’s probably more accurate to write that the development of the development of offshore wind (OFW) continues to, uh, well, develop.Apologies for that mild sarcasm. But even a quick look-back at OFW always raises the same familiar question: is the glass half empty or half full?Consider developments in the east coast leader in offshore wind: New York.In a webinar in December New York’s NYSERDA – New York State Energy Research and Development Authority – provided an update and summary on the State’s 2019 offshore wind initiatives…
Are OSVs Fit for Refit for Offshore Wind?
While it is generally agreed that the nascent offshore wind energy market in the U.S. will be a newbuild market, there is a repair and conversion possibility for some stacked OSVs.Though estimates on the pace of the offshore wind energy market in the U.S. vary widely, the direction is clear: offshore wind will be a huge marketplace for construction and support vessels to be deployed in U.S. waters over the next decade. The starting point for estimated vessel demand is the raft of projects along the U.S. East Coast, and to a lesser extent, in the Pacific waters, now in the pipeline.
Triton Knoll Installs Turbines
UK's Able Seaton Port (ASP) has begun latest transformation into multi-million Triton Knoll turbine base.Preparatory works are underway to transform Able Seaton Port (Able) for its role at the heart of turbine installation for Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm.Able Seaton Port was selected by MHI Vestas Offshore Wind in 2018 to be the offshore wind turbine pre-assembly base for the 857MW Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm.The 90 turbine Triton Knoll project and MHI Vestas are jointly investing in the works at the Teesside facility…
Fire-Damaged Philadelphia Oil Refinery Heads for Auction
The fate of the largest East Coast oil refinery is set to be decided on Friday in an auction that could determine whether the Philadelphia plant is restarted or used for a different purpose for the first time in over a century.The refinery's owner, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, is scheduled to reveal the winning bidder on Wednesday during a hearing at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, which will need to approve the sale.PES fell into bankruptcy on July 21, a month after a fire and explosions destroyed a portion of its 335,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery complex.
Offshore Wind: Decisions Needed Sooner, not Later
On September 26, the State University of New York Maritime College hosted a conference on the emerging east coast offshore wind industry. “Offshore Wind Power, Planning for America’s Ocean Energy” focused on four fundamental topics:• East Coast Wind Farm Overview – Status of the Industry.• Jobs and Supply Chain Technical Working Group.• Wind Farm Port Development.• Offshore Wind Maritime Operations.In some ways, actually clocking in for a day’s work on an offshore wind turbine is tantalizingly close. Ditto for power flowing from an offshore substation to a mainland interconnection.
U.S. Refiners Control Gasoline, Diesel Oversupply
U.S. refiners have cut seasonal crude processing sharply since the start of the second quarter, averting a potential oversupply of gasoline and distillates, but worsening the build up of crude stocks.U.S. refiners have processed an average 16.64 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude since the start of the year compared with 16.94 million bpd at the same point in 2018 (https://tmsnrt.rs/2N9ziVH).Some of the loss can be attributed to the destruction of the 335,0000 bpd Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery by fire near the end of June.But refiners started running below prior-year rates from March…
Canadian E.Coast LNG Export Plans Progress Shell Deal
Pieridae Energy moved closer to building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on Canada's East Coast after taking ownership of fields from Royal Dutch Shell which will feed gas into the plant, the company said.The Goldboro LNG terminal would be the first on Canada's East Coast and compete with the growing number of plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast, hoping its shorter distance to Europe and further west will help sell its LNG by cutting shipping costs.Pieridae said in a statement late on Thursday it had closed a C$190 million ($145 million) acquisition of Shell's gas assets in Alberta's Foothills region…
BP Raises Asian Profile
BP is increasing its Asian presence with an initial agreement, or memorandum of understanding, with China's Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (ZPCC) to build a 1 million tonne a year acetic acid plant, BP said on Friday. The planned production site for acetic acid, which is used in chemical products such as paints and adhesives, would be part of ZPCC's refining and petrochemical plant in Zhoushan in eastern China, BP said in a statement."The potential new plant...would be BP’s largest acetic acid producing site in the world.
Saudi Attacks, High Demand Leaves U.S. Short on Oil Tankers
A disruption in global oil flows following attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities has left U.S. crude exporters without enough tankers to cover rising demand for cargoes, traders and shipping sources said.Missile attacks last Saturday temporarily cut Saudi oil production by more than 5 million barrels per day, or about half the country's output.That set off a scramble for alternative cargoes of crude, particularly in the United States, which lined up available tankers sailing from the Mediterranean, West Africa and continental Europe to pick up cargoes.
Equinor, SSE Win Contract for Largest Offshore Wind Project
Equinor and Britain's SSE have won a tender to build three wind farms off Britain, which the Norwegian firm said together will form the world's largest such development.Like other European oil firms, Equinor is developing its renewables business and is focused on offshore wind given its experience as an offshore oil platform operator."The successful bids for the world’s largest offshore wind development represent a game-changer for our offshore wind business and support the development of Equinor as a broad energy company…
Mitsui Looks to Sell BassGas Stake
Japan's Mitsui & Co has put its 40% stake in the BassGas project off southeastern Australia up for sale, the company said on Thursday.Mitsui's stake in the BassGas project, which includes the undeveloped Trefoil gas project, could be worth about A$360 million ($244 million), according to Credit Suisse. However, a person with knowledge of the asset estimated it at about A$140 million.Mitsui Australia's spokesman said Rothschild has been engaged to advise on the sale of the stake, which Mitsui acquired with its takeover of oil and gas producer AWE last year.
ExxonMobil Looks to Sell Australian Assets
Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday it was looking to sell its 50% stake in the Gippsland Basin oil and gas development in Australia's Bass Strait as part of a broader review of its global portfolio of assets.The sale could fetch up to $3 billion, however decommissioning costs for the ageing fields could dent the price tag, analysts and bankers said.The Gippsland Basin joint venture, off the state of Victoria, has long been the mainstay oil and gas supplier for southeastern Australia, but output…
Ireland Calls for More Offshore Wind
Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) chief executive Dr David Connolly has called for greater urgency from the government in the country and across the political system to support the development of offshore wind energy.Ireland currently only has a single offshore wind farm but there is an estimated 4-5,000 MW of offshore wind energy ready to be developed off the country’s east coast.Dr Connolly said: “Our industry is ready, willing and able to deliver the 3,500 MW of offshore wind energy by 2030 required in the Climate Action Plan.
Triton Knoll Selects Seacat for OESV
Offshore energy support vessel (OESV) operator Seacat Services signed a deal to support the construction phase of Triton Knoll offshore wind farm.The contract, which includes options for further vessel charters, will initially see two Seacat Services OESVs – one 26-meter and one 24-meter catamaran – operating out of Triton Knoll’s new Grimsby construction base, providing specialist crew transfer and logistical support at the 90-turbine, 857MW project off the UK’s East Coast.With offshore construction set to commence in Q1 2020…
Offshore Wind: Regulatory “Takes” – Take a Close Look
On April 30 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a notice, requesting public comments, on a proposed “incidental harassment authorization” (IHA). An IHA is a legal and enforceable document presenting the terms and conditions with which a company must adhere in order to protect wildlife. In this case, the draft IHA was for Vineyard Wind, the wind energy company ready to start construction on an 800 MW offshore wind farm in the Atlantic, covering about 675 square kilometers, starting 14 miles from the coastline of Martha’s Vineyard.
Kinder Morgan: Bankrupt Refiner Owes $1.5 mln
Kinder Morgan Liquids Terminals LLC says Philadelphia Energy Solutions failed to make payments for fuel storage and other services totaling nearly $1.5 million since December, roughly seven months before the Pennsylvania refiner filed for bankruptcy.In a Wednesday filing, Kinder asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to allow it to sell fuel stored by PES at its Carteret, New Jersey, facility to pay itself back for the missed payments.PES, which shut its last crude unit this week…
Ørsted Offshore Wind Hub Comes in East Coast
Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind announced a landmark agreement to develop Maryland’s first offshore wind energy staging center at Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,300-acre global logistics center in Baltimore County, Maryland.Establishing a facility for offshore wind at Tradepoint Atlantic marks a major milestone in the development of Ørsted’s Skipjack Wind Farm located 19.5 miles off Maryland’s coast, and the expansion of Maryland’s offshore wind energy workforce.The developer will work with Tradepoint Atlantic…
Beach Energy to Boost Drilling Spend
Beach Energy, Australia's third-largest independent oil and gas producer, ended the 2019 financial year more cashed up than expected and plans to step up spending on drilling while keeping an eye out for acquisitions, its boss said on Wednesday.Beach paid off debt on its A$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion) acquisition of Lattice Energy within just 18 months, two years earlier than originally planned, with the help of an asset sale and strong cash flow from its expanded portfolio.The company ended the year to June 30 with net cash of A$172 million…
