Petrobras CEO: Production at Foz do amazonas could start in seven years
Magda Chambriard, Chief Executive of Petrobras, said on Tuesday that the Brazilian state-owned oil company could begin oil and gas production within seven years in the Foz do Amazonas Basin if the presence of large reserves is confirmed. Petrobras will drill an exploratory hole in Foz do Amazonas near the mouth the Amazon River. The drilling process should take around five months. In an interview, Chambriard stated that "we could delineate a reservoir in two years. Chambriard said that if this deadline is met production will begin as Petrobras output in Brazil's presalt region begins to decline.
Court rules that Biden's ban on offshore drilling is illegal
Former U.S. A federal judge in Louisiana found that the president had exceeded his authority when he withdrawn large areas of U.S. coasts from offshore oil and natural gas development. U.S. District judge James Cain, in Lake Charles in Louisiana, sided against Republican states and groups from the oil and gas industries who sued to stop Biden's plan to protect federal waters along the East and West Coasts, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the northern Bering Sea of Alaska. Under the 70-year old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the areas were withdrawn.
Brazil environmental agency approves Petrobras emergency drill results in Foz do Amazonas
Documents seen by revealed that Petrobras passed the emergency response test set by environmental regulators for the Foz do Amazonas Basin on Wednesday. This marks a major victory for the state oil company in its goal to drill in this environmentally sensitive area. The company's long-awaited drilling license will be decided by the Brazilian environmental agency Ibama, following the August inspection. Documents show that Ibama requested adjustments to the emergency plan in its decision before the licensing process was completed.
Chinese independent oil companies in Iraq
A few independent Chinese oil companies have poured into Iraq and are planning multi-billion dollar projects to develop the vast reserves. They want to compete with global state-backed majors who dominate production in OPEC’s second largest producer. These are some details about the activities of independent firms in Iraq. Around 120,000 barrels of oil are produced per day by the small Hong Kong listed company that produces oil and natural gas in Pakistan, and in China's Liaohe Oilfield. This is the largest independent oil block in Iraq.
Petrobras wins in Amazon drilling but licensing is in doubt
The Brazilian environmental agency Ibama announced a decision on Monday that will allow state-run Petrobras to move closer to drilling oil in a highly sought after offshore region. However, it also came with a warning for future permits. The documents seen by us show that Ibama's Rodrigo Agostinho warned against the "disorderly multiplicity of future requests for environment licenses" near the mouth the Amazon River. Petrobras considers this area to be the most promising oil frontier in Brazil. It shares geology with Exxon Mobil's huge fields being developed in nearby Guyana.
US accelerates oil and gas land parcel review for federal leasing
Interior Department announced on Tuesday that the Trump administration would reduce the time required to review land parcels for oil and natural gas development on federal lands by half. The new process will take six months. The decision to streamline the leasing process for oil and gas is in line with President Donald Trump’s energy dominance plan, which seeks to increase fossil fuel supplies domestically, reduce fuel costs, and boost national security. Adam Suess said that this policy would put the United States on the fast track to Energy Dominance.
Democratic State Attorneys General sue Trump to stop his energy emergency
15 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, the president of the United States, on Friday in an attempt to stop his National Energy Emergency. The states said that it was an illegal effort to ignore regulations and to fast-track permits for oil and natural gas development. The Democratic state attorneys general from California, Washington, and New York said that using emergency powers to bypass the normal permitting process for hundreds of projects would cause irreparable damage to natural and historical resources, and undermine drinking water and wildlife habitat.
Democratic State Attorneys General sue Trump to stop his energy emergency
15 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump Friday in an attempt to stop his National Energy Emergency, which they said was an illegal effort to ignore regulations and speed up permitting for oil and natural gas development. The Democratic state attorneys general from California, Washington, and New York said that using emergency powers to bypass the normal permitting process for hundreds of projects would cause irreparable damage to natural and historical resources and undermine drinking water and wildlife habitat.
Republican-led states file suit against Biden administration for offshore drilling ban
A group of Republican states filed a suit on Friday to challenge a ban on offshore oil and natural gas development announced earlier this month by the outgoing Democratic U.S. president Joe Biden. According to a court document, the lawsuit is seeking a reversal Biden's prohibition with declaratory and judicial relief. The filing argues that Biden does not have the authority or power to impose a such a restriction and that this authority belongs to the U.S. Congress. Biden's announcement on January 6 was largely symbolic as it won't impact areas where oil-and-gas development is already underway.
Trump announces that he will immediately revoke the offshore drilling ban imposed by Biden
Donald Trump, the U.S. president-elect, said Tuesday that he would move quickly to lift a ban on offshore oil and natural gas drilling announced by Joe Biden, the outgoing Democratic president. "Banning off-shore drilling will not hold. Trump announced at a press conference that he would reverse the ban immediately. The Republican Trump will take office on January 20, but it may be difficult to reverse Biden’s order that 625 million acres (253.3 million hectares of ocean) would not be used for new offshore oil and natural gas development.
Biden bans offshore oil and gas drilling before Trump's term
The U.S. president Joe Biden has announced that he will ban all new offshore oil and natural gas development along the majority of U.S. coasts. This is a decision which President-elect Donald Trump who has pledged to increase domestic energy production may find hard to reverse. Biden, according to the White House on Monday, will exercise his authority under 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in order to protect federal waters along the East and Western coasts of the United States as well as the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Biden bans offshore oil and gas drilling before Trump's term
The U.S. president Joe Biden has announced that he will ban all new offshore oil and natural gas development along the majority of U.S. coasts. This is a decision which President-elect Donald Trump who has pledged to increase domestic energy production may find hard to reverse. Biden, according to the White House on Monday, will exercise his authority under 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in order to protect federal waters along the East and Western coasts of the United States as well as the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Bloomberg News: Biden will ban new oil drilling in vast areas of US Atlantic and Pacific waters
Bloomberg News reported that President Joe Biden will ban any new offshore oil and natural gas development on 625 million acres of U.S. coast territory (250 million hectares), effective immediately. According to the report, which cited unidentified sources familiar with the issue, the ban will be announced on Monday and prevent the sale of drilling licenses in certain areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf of Mexico oceans. The report stated that Biden leaves the door open to new leasing of oil and gas in the western and central areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
Rystad reports that Argentina's Vaca muerta region has achieved record oil production during the third quarter.
Rystad, a consultancy, said that Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale formed produced a record 400,000 barges of oil per day (bpd), in the third quarter. This figure represents a 35% increase in production year-over-year, thanks to improvements in productivity and evacuation capability. The formation is on track to reach its goal of 1,000,000 bpd, by 2030. YPF, the state-owned oil company of Argentina, led the production in the area with 55% Vaca Muerta’s oil output during the third quarter. This contributed to the strong results for the company in its third quarter.
Equinor, Aker BP, Vaar face rising project costs, Norway budget shows
The Norwegian government announced on Monday that Aker BP, Equinor and Vaar Energi had raised their estimates of costs for major oil and natural gas development projects in the Norwegian continental shelf. The government's fiscal budget documents revealed that the cost of Equinor Johan Castberg is expected to rise from 80.3 billion crowns, which was estimated a year ago. Aker BP’s Yggdrasil will likely cost 134.4 billion crowns compared to 120.2 billion crowns a year ago, and Vaar’s Balder Future is expected at 52.2 billion crowns compared to 44.5 billion crowns.
Sources: TotalEnergies will sign a $10 billion deal for Suriname's offshore project
Four sources familiar with the project said that TotalEnergies, a French oil company, will sign the final investment decision on Tuesday, for the first offshore oil and natural gas development of Suriname. The development is expected to cost more than $10 billion. Gran Morgu, located in Block 58 140 km off of the coast of South America, has estimated recoverable reserves of 700 million barrels. This is comparable to ExxonMobil’s 11 billion barrel discovery in the neighbouring oil-rich Guyana. Annand Jagesar told reporters last week that the FID will be implemented in the first quarter of 2024.
COOEC-Fluor Completes Module Fabrication
Texas-based multinational engineering and construction firm Fluor Corporation announced that its joint venture COOEC-Fluor Heavy Industries fabrication yard has completed the central and wellhead platforms for CNOOC’s Dongfang 13-2 Gas Fields Development Project.The central platform recently departed the COOEC-Fluor yard in Zhuhai, China, and follows the successful loadout of the wellhead platform in August 2018. The modules will make up part of a new offshore oil and gas production platform in the western South China Sea…
Australia's Best Option is LNG Imports
Australia has painted itself into a corner with its natural gas industry and faces the stark reality that there are no easy choices to alleviate the dual problem of a looming supply crunch and the associated higher prices.Australia is far from the first country to find itself with an energy issue, but it is unusual insofar as the country is about to become the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and still it can't get its policy settings right to ensure domestic supplies.It sounds counter-intuitive and somewhat bizarre…
McDermott Winds FEED for Scarborough FPU
McDermott International, Inc. on Tuesday announced it has signed a contract with Woodside Energy Ltd. to undertake a front-end engineering and design (FEED) activities for a floating production unit (FPU) for the Scarborough field natural gas development in Western Australia.McDermott’s center of excellence in The Hague, Netherlands, will lead the study and early engineering. Upon completion, the contract includes the option to progress to an engineering, procurement, construction…
ADNOC, Inpex in LNG Bunkering Pact
ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S), a wholly-owned subsidiary of UAE's ADNOC, has signed an agreement with Japan's Inpex Corp to collaborate on LNG bunkering activities.Under the agreement, ADNOC L&S and Inpex will explore opportunities for LNG bunkering in the UAE as well as the potential to jointly expand LNG bunkering activities to cover other regions, including Southeast Asia, said a press release from the Abu Dhabi-based integrated shipping and logistics company.The use of…