Nigeria Announces Offshore Oil Worker Restrictions to Battle Coronavirus
Nigeria's petroleum regulator has ordered oil and gas companies to reduce their offshore workforce and move to 28-day staff rotations as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to a circular seen by Reuters.Health experts fear a widespread outbreak in Africa's most populous country, which has about 200 million inhabitants, and the country is keen to protect oil production, which provides 90% of much…
Fully Laden LNG Tankers Sit Idle Off Indian Ports after Force Majeure
At least five fully-laden liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are idling offshore India, as yet unable to discharge their cargoes, after importers there declared force majeure earlier this week, according to an analyst and shipping sources.Gas demand is falling globally amid the fast-spreading coronavirus which has capped industrial output, forcing LNG tankers in several regions to remain at sea fully laden with no immediate destination…
Lekoil 'in Process' of Paying $2M to Optimum
Nigerian oil company Lekoil has said it is in the process of paying $2 million to Optimum Petroleum, its partner in an offshore block in Nigeria.The 2 million payment was agreed in January, and it is the first of two installments Lekoil is due to pay to Optimum Petroleum to cover "sunk costs and consent fees” for the OPL 310 offshore block. According to the agreement in January, where Lekoil got more time to make the payments…
Deepwater Acreage to Attract Investments
Deepwater acreage will continue to attract significant company interest through 2020, said a report.According to GlobalData, a significant portion of the acreage available in Q1 2020 is located in either deep or ultra-deep water, up from the previous quarter.In Q1 2020, approximately 60% of the acreage available in licensing rounds either open or scheduled to close in the quarter is located in deep or ultra-deep water, revealed…
China Can't Meet Its US Energy Commitments
The more you delve into the details of China's commitment to buy an additional $52.4 billion in U.S. energy over the next two years, the more it becomes apparent the goal is unachievable, even with the best will in the world.As part of the "Phase 1" trade truce between Beijing and Washington, China undertook to buy energy over and above a $9.1 billion baseline of U.S. imports in 2017, with a split of an extra $18.5 billion in…
Pipeline Fire Kills Three in Lagos
A fire on a pipeline owned by Nigeria's state oil company in the commercial capital Lagos killed three people on Sunday, a Reuters witness said.The blaze broke out in the Abule-Egba district of the southwestern megacity. Residents said it started shortly before 8 p.m. (1900 GMT).A Reuters television camera operator counted three dead bodies at the scene. The fire burned nearby houses and vehicles.Another witness, resident Ayo Adewale, said there were "many dead people".
PetroChina's oil and gas trade turnover up 5% in 2019
PetroChina Co Ltd, China's leading energy firm, expanded its oil and gas trade in 2019, recording a rise of nearly 5% from prior year to exceed 500 million tonnes oil equivalent, according to a statement posted on the website of parent firm China National Petroleum Co on Thursday.PetroChina International, better known as Chinaoil, the trading arm under the state-run PetroChina, achieved "significant" growth in pre-tax profit last year, the report stated, without providing any numbers.Exports of refined fuel hit a record of more t
NLNG Okays Train 7
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell, Total, and ENI on Friday signed the final investment decision (FID) to give the go-ahead for the construction of Train 7 of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) project.The new train is expected to boost output by 35% to 30 million tonnes per year, NLNG said in a statement, and will arrest a decline in Nigeria’s LNG output. NLNG operates six LNG processing units, known as trains, on Bonny Island.
Nigeria LNG Inks FID for Train 7
Nigeria LNG (NLNG) signed a long-awaited final investment decision on its Train 7 processing unit in Abuja on Friday, taking a step forward in increasing its liquefied natural gas production.NNPC and partners Eni, Total and Shell attended the signing ceremony for Train 7, which is expected to boost Nigeria's LNG output by 35% to 30 million tonnes per year.The agreement is a bright spot for Nigeria, a nation rich in oil and gas that has been working for years…
Nigeria Commits to OPEC Agreements
Nigeria is committed to full implementation of agreements among OPEC and non-OPEC members, its minister of state for petroleum said on Sunday, ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna.Timipre Sylva said he had told Saudi Energy Minister bin Salman that Nigeria's compliance had improved substantially since August. Prince Abdulaziz serves as chairman of the OPEC and non-OPEC joint ministerial monitoring committee.OPEC ministers meet among themselves in Vienna on December 5…
Oil Majors to Raise $27Bln in Selling Spree
Global giants of the oil and gas industry – the so-called supermajors – are looking to sell assets that could fetch a total of $27.5 billion, according to Rystad Energy’s latest assessment.These companies are actively shedding mature assets on a massive scale in a bid to finance higher-yielding investments elsewhere, with the added benefit of pleasing shareholders who are calling for stricter capital discipline.“The expected transactions mean some of the majors are poised to exit certain regions…
Chevron Seeks to Shrink Nigerian Presence
Chevron is seeking to sell several Nigerian oilfields as part of a global drive to reshape its portfolio as it focuses on growing its U.S.
Eni Starts Production at Obiafu 41
Italian oil major Eni said it has started gas and condensate production from the Obiafu 41 discovery, Niger Delta, three weeks after well completion. The discovery contains approximately 28 billion cubic meters of gas and 60 million barrels of condensate, and the gas from this discovery will largely be channeled to the domestic market in order to feed the power sector.This record time-to-market was made possible thanks to an integrated model…
India's Oil Imports at 3-year Low
India's oil imports fell to their lowest in more than three years in September to 3.82 million barrels per day (bpd), data obtained from industry and shipping sources showed, as some refiners cut purchases due to shutdowns for maintenance and fuel upgrades.Last month, Saudi Arabia replaced Iraq as top oil supplier to India after a gap of about 13 months, the data showed.September oil imports, which dropped below 4 million bpd for the first time since June 2016…
Damen Patrol Vessels for Offshore Nigeria
Damen recently delivered a pair of FCS 3307 high-spec patrol vessels to be operated by Homeland Integrated Offshore Services (Homeland IOS Ltd) in Nigeria, and now the boats are being prepared for their assignments. The boats will be deployed in the Gulf of Guinea to protect and support the offshore assets of Homeland’s clients which include many international oil companies.Features of the 33-m vessels include Damen’s trademark…
W. Africa Crude-Freight costs ease, especially for VLCCs
Freight rates eased further on Friday, especially for the largest oil tankers, promising some recovery for West African oil prices which had touched multi-year lows. VLCC freight costs eased more rapidly than smaller Suezmaxes, making it less advantageous to ship on the latter. Prices for Suezmaxes were estimated around world scale 190-200, with one European buyer estimating further relief to around 150 by the end of next week.Nigeria's…
US DOJ Closes Eni Investigations
The U.S. Justice Department has closed its investigations into alleged corruption by oil major Eni in Nigeria and Algeria without taking any action, the Italian energy group said on Tuesday.Eni, the biggest foreign oil and gas producer in Africa, is currently on trial in Milan on graft allegations revolving round the acquisition of a giant Nigerian oilfield in 2011.In that case Eni and peer Royal Dutch Shell are accused of buying…
Swiss Prosecutors Aid Italian Oil Corruption Probe
Switzerland's top court has allowed Geneva prosecutors to share with Italy material they seized more than three years ago that could shed light on a case involving oil majors Eni and Royal Dutch Shell and corrupt payments in Nigeria.In a ruling announced on Monday, the Federal Tribunal rejected Nigerian defendant Emeka Obi's appeal to prevent photocopies of items and computer files from his confiscated suitcase from being sent…
SCD JV Win $10bln NLNG Train7
The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) signed a “letter of intent” with SCD JV as preferred bidder to construct the $10bn NLNG Train 7 project.SCD JV is a joint venture consortium comprising Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo."SCD JV is the preferred bidder for the contract for the Engineering, Procurement & Construction of the Nigeria LNG Train 7 Project after a competitive FEED contract," said NLNG.The intended award of…
Saudi Minister Commits to Output Cuts
Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday after the new Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, confirmed expectations that he would stick with his country's policy of limiting crude output to support prices.Prince Abdulaziz, son of Saudi King Salman and a long-time member of the Saudi delegation to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), replaced Khalid al-Falih on Sunday."The move is bullish for oil prices," Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, said in a note.
