Egypt signs $340 million oil and gas exploration deal with global firms
The Petroleum Ministry announced on Saturday that Egypt had signed four agreements worth $340 million with international companies to explore for oil and gas along the Mediterranean and Nile Delta. The state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, or EGAS, has signed a deal that will see 10 wells drilled as part of efforts by the Ministry to increase exploration and production. Egypt, a once-prominent regional exporter, is increasingly importing to meet the rising demand at home, as production from old fields declines and investment in new ones lags.
CNOOC's first-half profits fall 13% due to lower oil prices
CNOOC, the Chinese offshore oil-and-gas major, reported a 13% drop in its interim net income as lower oil prices countered the impact of record oil and natural gas production. According to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, the net profit attributable equity shareholders fell to 69.5 billion Yuan ($9.7billion) following a record-breaking interim profit in 2024. Sinopec, a domestic competitor, reported a 40% drop in earnings at $2.99 billion. PetroChina's net profit fell by 5.4% to $11.7 billion. CNOOC’s net production of gas and oil increased by 6%, reaching a record of 384.6 million barrels equivalent of oil during the period.
DP World Wins Contract to For Floating LNG Facility Off Mexico
Drydocks World, a unit of DP World, a Dubai-owned ports and logistics company, has secured an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the construction of what it said would be the world's largest floating liquefied natural gas facility off Mexico's west coast, the Dubai Media Office announced on Monday.Once operational in the second half of 2028, the four-vessel facility commissioned by AMIGO LNG will provide more than 4.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefaction capacity, it said.(Reuters)
WaterBridge, backed by Five Points, files for US IPO in a hot listings market
WaterBridge Infrastructure, a midstream water management firm, filed for an initial public offering in the United States on Friday. This highlights the growing momentum of new listings. In recent days, a number of corporate issuers joined the IPO pipeline. This could lead to a September launch. Positive IPO sentiment is also expected to be supported by firmer bets on potential rate cuts in the near future. Josef Schuster, CEO of IPOX, said that lower U.S. interest rates and a proliferating rally in U.S. mid- and small-cap stocks could add fuel towards the end of the year.
US Natural Gas Prices Drop 4% on Record Output
U.S. natural gas futures fell about 4% to a nine-month low on Tuesday on near-record output, ample fuel in stockpiles and forecasts for less hot weather and lower demand through early September than previously expected.Another factor weighing on gas prices was a decline in the amount of gas flowing to liquefied natural gas export plants due to small reductions at several facilities.Front-month gas futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 10.8 cents, or 3.7%, to $2.782 per million British thermal units…
Norway Oil Industry Investment to Peak in 2025: Survey
A survey by the Statistics Office of Norwegian industry participants showed that oil and gas investment in Norway is expected to peak this coming year and then start decreasing next year. Major projects will be completed. Norway produces around 2% of the world's oil and is now Europe's leading supplier of pipeline natural gas following Russia's invasion in Ukraine in February 2022. In 2025, the country's largest business sector is expected to invest a record amount of 274.8 billion Norwegian crowns (approximately $26,98 billion). This compares with a May estimate of 269.1 billion crowns and 251.2 billion crowns last year.
Norway prepares its first major licensing round for oil and gas in years
Norway's Energy Minister said Friday that he was preparing to launch a round of oil and gas licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf. This will be the first new offer of drilling permits for frontier areas which have not been explored since 2021. In a statement, Labour Party Minister Terje Aasland said that Norway will be a reliable supplier of oil to Europe for a long time. The Norwegian continental shelf is also expected to continue creating value and jobs in Norway. The exact date of the awards was not immediately known. In 2021, the government agreed to a 4-year moratorium on frontier exploring.
Leviathan Natural Gas Field Signs $35b Supply Deal With Egypt
Israel's Leviathan natural gas field has signed the largest export agreement in the country's history, worth up to $35 billion to supply gas to Egypt, NewMed, one of the partners in the field, said on Thursday.The deal should ease an energy crisis in Egypt, which has spent billions of dollars on importing liquefied natural gas since its own supplies fell short of demand.Egypt's production began declining in 2022, forcing it to abandon its ambitions to become a regional supply hub. It has increasingly turned to Israel…
Occidental Petroleum beats quarterly profit, discloses additional divestments
Occidental Petroleum on Wednesday beat Wall Street's expectations for the second quarter profit, as higher production offset lower crude oil prices. The average quarterly global production of the company was 1.4 million barrels per day (MMboepd), an increase of about 11% compared to a year ago. Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other oil giants reported last week that they had beaten their quarterly profit expectations due to higher production. This helped them to offset the lower crude price. Occidental has also announced $950 million in additional divestitures, with $370 million of them already completed.
Devon Energy's profit forecast for the second quarter was missed due to low oil prices
The U.S. oil-and-gas producer Devon Energy narrowly missed Wall Street's expectations for the second quarter profit on Tuesday as lower commodity prices offset an increase in production. As a result of the growing demand for natural gas, the company has also announced two new supply agreements. Benchmark Brent crude oil prices dropped during the quarter of April-June compared to a year ago, due to a combination of growing market insecurity caused by tariffs, weak demand globally and an increase in supply from OPEC+.
Government sources confirm that Trinidad and ExxonMobil have agreed to terms on deepwater blocks.
Two senior government officials confirmed that Trinidad and Tobago has awarded ExxonMobil, the U.S. oil giant, acreage to explore for oil and natural gas in an ultra-deep area. Negotiations began earlier this year between the parties for the area off the coast of the Caribbean nation that ExxonMobil abandoned more than 20-years ago. The blocks are northwest of ExxonMobil’s Stabroek Block in Guyana where its consortium has confirmed that more than 11 billion bbls of recoverable resource can be recovered. According to people familiar with the negotiations who are not authorized to speak in public…
New Zealand lifts the ban on oil and Gas Exploration imposed by Ardern
The New Zealand parliament passed legislation on Thursday to reopen New Zealand for offshore oil exploration. This lifted a ban placed by the former prime minister Jacinda Ardern. The law allows companies to apply for permits as early as September, even if they are not located in Taranaki. This energy-rich region of the North Island is a rich source of petroleum. Environmental groups have said that the decision to restart the exploration is a setback to the country's move to renewable energy. In 2018, the centre left Labour government…
Nippon Steel to Supply Material for Vestas Wind Towers
Nippon Steel signed a cooperation memorandum with Denmark's wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems on Wednesday to supply steel for Vestas' wind towers for European, Asian and Japanese markets, Japan's industry ministry said.The agreement was part of a broader push by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to strengthen the supply chain for wind generation in the country where renewables are key to reducing import costs and dependency on fossil fuels.Offshore wind is a pillar of Japan's renewable energy strategy…
Guyana's crude oil production fell to 664,000 barrels per day in June.
The government reported that the average crude oil production in Guyana, a country rich in oil, fell to 664,000 barrels a day (bpd), down from 667,000 the month before. Guyana, where the entire oil and gas production is controlled by Exxon Mobil, a U.S.-based major, since it began offshore production in 2019 expects to reach 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity by the end of this year, once a new floating output facility starts operations. The figures show that in June production at Liza 2 increased, but not enough to compensate for a decline at Liza 1.
Equinor extends Norway LNG Outage until August 3
Equinor, a Norwegian company, has extended a maintenance outage to its Hammerfest LNG Terminal, Europe's biggest liquefied gas export facility by another five days, until August 3. The company announced this in a filing with the regulatory authorities on Saturday. The Melkoeya plant, which is also known as Hammerfest in Arctic Norway, was scheduled to resume operation on July 19, but went offline on April 22 for maintenance. Equinor announced earlier this month that the plant would be back in operation by July 29. The regulatory filing didn't explain why the outage lasted until Saturday.
Mellitah Oil and Gas, Hill International to Collaborate on Libya Gas Project
Mellitah Oil and Gas will work with U.S. construction consulting firm Hill International to manage a project which aims to boost Libya's gas output, the country's National Oil Company (NOC) said in a statement on Wednesday.NOC said a cooperation agreement was signed during a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, to Tripoli.Launched by Mellitah Oil and Gas, a joint venture between NOC and Italy's Eni, "Structures A&E" is a strategic project that aims to increase local gas production and ensure exports to Europe…
Norway's total oil and gas production beats expectations in June
Norwegian Offshore Directorate, NOD, said that Norway's combined oil-and-gas production in June exceeded the official forecast by 2,3%. Norway is Europe's biggest supplier of natural gases and oil. However, output can vary from month to months depending on maintenance and other stops at over 90 offshore fields. The total oil, gas liquids, condensate and natural gas production was 0.587 standard cubic metres per a day. This is equivalent to 3.69 millions barrels of crude oil. This represents a 10.9% decrease year-on-year, due primarily to increased maintenance.
Oil Prices Rise Alongside High Demand, Red Sea Shipping Attacks, and Lower US Production
Oil prices rose on Wednesday as investors weighed strong U.S. gasoline demand data, attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and a forecast for lower U.S. oil production.Brent crude futures were up 38 cents, or 0.54%, to $70.53 a barrel by 1:25 p.m. EDT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 43 cents, or 0.63%, to $68.76 a barrel.U.S. crude stocks rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.Crude inventories rose by 7.1 million barrels to 426 million barrels in the week ended July 4…
Exxon returns Stabroek land to Guyana: Government
The Ministry of Natural Resources announced on Wednesday that an Exxon Mobil led oil consortium had returned 2,534 sq km of the Stabroek Block to the Guyana government. This relinquishment was part of an obligation for Exxon in order to begin the final exploration phase of the Stabroek Block. The block contains one of the largest oil discoveries of recent decades. The original deadline was October but discussions between Exxon, the government and other stakeholders slowed down the process. Exxon’s final exploration phase for the Stabroek Block will end in 2027.
Germany supports cross-border gas deal with Netherlands
The German cabinet backed a deal on Wednesday with the Netherlands that would support the extraction of gas from a reservoir located in the North Sea. Berlin is looking to increase its domestic gas production. After the Ukraine conflict and Germany's decision not to import Russian gas, the government is now focusing on alternative solutions, such as increasing domestic exploration and extraction. Since decades, the German natural gas industry has seen a decline. In 2022, the annual consumption of natural gas in Germany was only around 5.5%. This would be roughly 6-16% of the 80 billion cubic meters that Germany will consume in 2024.
