The IEA reports that Russia's oil export revenues fell in August.
The International Energy Agency reported on Thursday that Russia's revenues from crude oil and petroleum products fell in August, to the lowest level since the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine. The Russian energy industry is being challenged by drone attacks on oil refineries, export pipelines and Western sanctions. The IEA reported that revenues dropped by $920 millions from July to $13.51 Billion due to a decrease in crude oil and fuels exports, as well as a widening discount on the Russian flagship Urals blend oil price at around $56 - below the Western-imposed $60 price cap per barrel.
RPT-Private Chinese firm producing oil in Venezuela under rare 20-year pact, source says
China Concord Resources Corp. has started developing two Venezuelan oilfields. The company plans to invest over $1 billion in an investment project that will produce 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day by the end of 2026. An executive involved directly in the project confirmed this. This is a rare private Chinese investment in an OPEC nation that has been struggling to attract foreign capital because of international sanctions against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. This is the first time that the investment amount and production plan have been reported. Beijing is a close ally of Maduro, and of his predecessor, late President Hugo Chavez.
Daily Oil Exports From Russia's Western Ports Will Drop 8% in August
Russia's daily oil exports from its western ports are set to be around 1.77 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, down from 1.93 million bpd in July's plan, amid the expected rise in refinery runs, Reuters calculations based on data from two sources show.On a daily basis oil loadings from Russia's Primorsk, Novorossiisk and Ust-Luga including Urals, Kazakh KEBCO and Siberian Light oil grades will decline some 8% in August from the current month.Russia's offline primary oil refining capacity is set to drop in August from July to some 3.74 million metric tons (some 27.4 million barrels) from some 4 million tons this month…
Energy ministry reports that Russia's crude oil production fell 3.5% between January and May.
The Russian energy ministry announced on Wednesday that the country produced 211 millions metric tons of oil (10.24million barrels per day) between January and the end of May. This is a 3.5% decrease compared to the same period last year. The data were revealed during a presentation by Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev before the Federation Council (Russia's upper chamber of parliament). Gas condensate is a form of light oil. , excluding condensate gas, increased by 41,000 bpd to 9,025 million bpd. This is below the country's OPEC+ quota, which is 9.161 millions bpd.
Rhino Resources to drill new exploration well off Namibia
A company spokesperson announced on Tuesday that Rhino Resources, an African energy exploration firm, and Azule Energy its partner will drill the Volans-1X offshore Namibia at the end of July or beginning of August. Volans is being explored soon after Rhino Resource struck light oil at its second successful exploration, Capricornus 1X, which was drilled off Namibia's coastline in April. A company spokesperson stated that testing Volans was a priority in order to explore a possible fast-track option. He added that the morphology of Volans could make it easier for developers to exploit.
Aster Chemicals will increase Singapore's refining capacity following the acquisition of a splitter stake
Aster Chemicals & Energy plans to increase the crude processing capacity of its Singapore refinery to more than 300.000 barrels per day after purchasing a stake in excess of 50% in a unit that splits condensate, according to a statement released on Monday. The Chandra Asri led joint venture with Glencore, which has taken over the stake of PCS Pte Ltd - one of Singapore's largest petrochemical companies - will now have full ownership of this facility, including a floating roof crude storage tank and two fixed roofing crude recirculation vessels.
Portugal's Galp Q1 profit core falls by 29%, as refinery margins are halved
Galp Energia, a Portuguese company, reported a 29% decline in its adjusted core profit for the first quarter on Monday. This was due to a drop in oil production and a decrease in refining profits that were less than half of what they had been a year earlier. The adjusted earnings before taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which is the average expected by 17 of the company's analysts, fell to 669 millions euros ($761million), a little above the 666 million euro average. The refining margins dropped to $5.60 per barrel from $12 in the previous quarter. Early in the trading session, shares fell by 3.3%.
African energy exploration company Rhino Resources discovers light oil offshore Namibia
Namibia got a boost Thursday after Rhino Resources found "high-quality" light oil at its latest well. U.S. oil company Chevron also announced that it is considering a drilling campaign for 2026 or 2027. The southern African nation, a global hotspot for exploration, aims to produce its oil by the end of the decade, following a series of recent discoveries by Shell, TotalEnergies, and Galp Energia. The African energy explorer Rhino Resource found light oil in Capricornus 1X, its second successful exploration, which was drilled off the coast of Namibia in the prolific Orange Basin.
Guyana will soon sign a oil deal with TotalEnergies led group
Energy Minister Vickram Bharrat said that Guyana is expecting to sign a production-sharing agreement soon with a French consortium led by TotalEnergies, which will allow the country to explore an off-shore area. Guyana, the fastest-growing oil producing country in the world, is on track to produce 940,000 barrels of crude oil per day this coming year. This is nearly 1% more than last year's output. All of Guyana's crude oil is produced by a consortium led the U.S. company Exxon Mobil. TotalEnergies, a consortium led by Exxon Mobil, won the block at an auction held in 2023. The government has been trying to diversify this sector.
Iranian Oil Exports End 2022 at a High, Despite No Nuclear Deal
Iranian oil exports hit new highs in the last two months of 2022 and are making a strong start to 2023 despite U.S. sanctions, according to companies that track the flows, on higher shipments to China and Venezuela.Tehran's oil exports have been limited since former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 exited a 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions aimed at curbing oil exports and the associated revenue to Iran's government.Exports have risen during the term of his successor President Joe Biden, who had sought to revive the nuclear deal, and hit the highest since 2019 on some estimates.
Saudi Oil Price Hike Throws Asian Lifeline to U.S. Shale
Saudi Arabia's decision to jack up the price of its July exports to Asia may have opened the door for U.S. crude oil producers to boost sales to the region that consumes more oil than anywhere else in the world.State-controlled producer Saudi Aramco hoisted its official selling prices (OSPs) to all regions for July-loading cargoes, but the biggest hikes were for the key Asian region, which takes the bulk of the kingdom's exports.Benchmark Arab Light crude was boosted to a premium of 20 U.S. cents barrel over the Oman/Dubai average for July, from a discount of $5.90 in June…
Apache Makes Major Discovery Offshore Suriname
Apache Corp and Total SA said on Tuesday they had made a major oil discovery in a closely watched area off the coast of South America's Suriname, sending Apache's shares surging nearly 27%.The discovery, dubbed "among the most anticipated in the world" by one brokerage, is seen as central to Apache's efforts to reduce its reliance on the Alpine High venture in Texas' Permian basin, which has suffered from a dive in natural gas prices.Analysts said it was impossible to ascertain as yet how much oil the well would generate but it is just over the…
Permian Fracking Sets New Records
Hydraulic fracturing operations in the Permian shattered old records in June. The prolific shale basin in Texas and parts of New Mexico in the US has reached new heights in terms of the number of fracked wells – both on a daily basis and in terms of absolute monthly wells. Rystad Energy estimates there were as many as 18 wells fracked per day across the entire Permian Basin, or almost 550 wells during the month of June. Previously, fracking in the Permian peaked at approximately 520 wells fracked in August 2018, while the peak daily rate was reached…
Woodside Plans Maintenance at Karratha Gas Plant
Australia's Woodside Petroleum has planned maintenance at its Karratha gas plant, part of the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project, in the third quarter of the year, according to a notice on the company website.The first scheduled maintenance will affect one unidentified LNG train at the Woodside-operated plant in Western Australia from July 26 to Aug. 13, according to the notice.The second maintenance will be carried out on multiple LNG trains from Sept. 5 to Oct.
Shell Sees Significant Oil Discovery in Albania
Shell Upstream Albania B.V. said on Friday initial tests showed "a flow potential of several thousand barrels of oil per day" from its Shpirag 4 well in central Albania, and it needed more work to determine its commercial volume."We are pleased that these initial tests have confirmed the potential of this discovery and look forward to growing our business in Albania," Marc Gerrits, Shell's Executive Vice-President of Exploration, said.The Shpirag 4 well west of Berat had confirmed the flow potential of a significant light oil discovery, it added.More appraisal work was needed to assess commercial volumes in Shpirag…
Eni Makes Major Oil Find Offshore Angola
Italian oil major Eni said on Wednesday it has made a major discovery in Block 15/06, in the Agogo exploration prospect, in the deep waters offshore Angola.The find is Angola's largest offshore discovery in years. Eni said the discovery is estimated to contain between 450 and 650 million barrels of light oil with further upside.The discovery was made in the Agogo-1 NFW well, located approximately 180 kilometers off the coast and about 20 kilometers west from the N’Goma floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO). The exploration well was drilled by the Poseidon drillship in a water depth of 1…
US to Overtake Saudi in Oil Exports
United States will soon export more oil and liquids than Saudi Arabia, thanks to the continued rise in oil production from US shale plays and the increased oil export capacity from the Gulf Coast.According to Rystad Energy, energy research and business intelligence company, it is a a pivotal geopolitical shift. The US has for decades relied on large-scale imports to satisfy its thirst for oil, but this is about to change.The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that the United States exported more crude and petroleum products than it imported.
Part of Keystone Pipeline Still Shut After Missouri Leak -TransCanada
TransCanada Corp said on Monday a part of its Keystone crude pipeline from Steele City, Nebraska, to Patoka, Illinois, remained shut after a leak was discovered in the St. Louis, Missouri, area last week.The cause and source of the spill have not been determined and there is no estimated timeline for a restart, TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said in an email.The 590,000 barrels-per-day Keystone pipeline system is a critical artery taking Canadian crude from northern Alberta to U.S. refineries.TransCanada told Keystone shippers last week that it was declaring force majeure on shipments affected by the shutdown, according to a notice seen by Reuters.
Block Energy Recovers Oil at West Rustavi
Block Energy Plc, the exploration and production company focused on the Republic of Georgia, is pleased to announce that more than 200 barrels of oil were recovered from the legacy vertical well 16a at its West Rustavi permit during a 10 hour flow period.An additional 300 barrels of light oil flowed to a temporary wellsite production facility over the following days. The results of the test confirm the well lies in an active hydrocarbon system and that the previously producing Middle Eocene reservoir still contains reserves and remains pressurised.
Eni Makes New Oil Find Offshore Angola
Italy's Eni said it ha struck a new oil discovery in the Afoxé exploration prospect located in Block 15/06, offshore Angola.The discovery, estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million barrels of light oil in place, was made in the Afoxé-1 NFW well located in the southeast area of Block 15/06, approximately 120 kilometers off the coast, 50 kilometers southwest from the Olombendo floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) and 20 kilometers west of the recent Kalimba-1 discovery.Afoxé-1 NFW was drilled in a water depth of 780 meters and reached a total depth of 1…