China Opens Up to Foreign E&P Firms
For the first time, China will this year allow foreign companies to explore for and produce oil and gas in the country, opening up the industry to firms other than state-run energy giants, as Beijing looks to boost domestic energy supplies.The long-awaited opening accompanies a reshuffle of the so-called "midstream" pipeline business, but experts say it may not excite immediate interest from global drillers because of the poor overall asset quality of China's hydrocarbon resources.From May 1, foreign firms registered in China with net assets of 300 million yuan ($43 million) will be allowed to take part in oil and gas exploration and production, the ministry of natural resourc
Chevron: GoM Anchor Project Needs $5.7 bln
Chevron Corp said on Thursday its Anchor project in the Gulf of Mexico would need an investment of about $5.7 billion.Announcing its final investment decision on the planned facility, the oil major said first oil from the field is expected in 2024.The Anchor field is located about 140 miles off the coast of Louisiana and is in water depths of 5,000 feet.The planned facility has a design capacity of 75,000 barrels of crude oil and 28 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The total potentially recoverable oil-equivalent resources for Anchor are estimated to exceed 440 million barrels.Chevron…
US Signs Highest LNG Export Contract
US signed highest volume of global long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) export contracts in 2019, accounting for around a 67% of global share. Abundant shale gas production in the US has enabled the country to export natural gas as LNG. to global markets. According to GlobalData, the US has signed five long-term contracts in 2019 for the export of 22.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG. Of these, the contract signed between Golden Pass Products and Ocean LNG Limited had the highest export volumes with 15.6mtpa.LNG will be supplied from the Golden Pass II LNG liquefaction terminal in Texas for 20 years from 2024 to 2044.Sunrita Dutta…
Sinopec Gets Weirong Green Light
China's Sinopec has received approval from the ministry of natural resources to develop shale gas at the Weirong gas field in the southwestern province of Sichuan, the refiner said on Tuesday.The company plans to build 166 wells at the gas field with total production capacity of 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) each year.The first phase of construction is underway, with two testing wells reaching daily output of 313,000 cubic meters and 253,000 cubic meters, respectively, the company said.China's shale gas production of about 10.9 bcm in 2018 accounted for less than 7% of total gas output.
USA to Make Paris Climate Exit Official
The Trump administration will file paperwork with the United Nations as early as Monday to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, marking the first formal step in a one-year process to exit the global pact to fight climate change.The move would finalize a decision President Donald Trump promised early in his term to unfetter America’s domestic oil, gas and coal industries."What we won’t do is punish the American people while enriching foreign polluters,” Trump said at a shale gas industry conference in Pennsylvania on Oct. 23, referring to his planned withdrawal from the agreement.The United States had signed onto the 2015 pact during the Obama administration…
US Eyes India for Quantum Leap in LPG Exports
Trump administration trade tariffs on China will need to cease and India will have to rely more on U.S. LPG supplies for the world to clear the quantum leap expected for U.S. LPG exports, says a study.The study of global seaborne LPG trade flows using Kpler LPG cargo tracking data questions the global LPG market’s ability to grow fast enough to handle the tsunami wave of new LPG production expected from the United States in 2020 and 2021."The U.S. has become the largest LPG exporter in the world and now exports more LPG than the U.A.E., Qatar and Saudi Arabia combined.
China Aims to Boost Natural Gas Production
Following several years of natural gas consumption outpacing local production growth, China is introducing incentives to spur several forms of domestic production in hopes of reducing its reliance on imports.China’s natural gas imports, both by pipeline and as liquefied natural gas (LNG), accounted for nearly half (45%) of China’s natural gas supply in 2018, an increase from 15% in 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).Recently, Chinese natural gas production has grown largely because of increased development in low-permeability formations in the form of tight gas, shale gas, and to a lesser extent, coalbed methane.
Offshore Wind & Politics: Joe Biden
Offshore wind is hot, and so too is the race to win the Democratic presidential candidate nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election. In its October 2019 edition of Marine Technology Reporter, government reporter Tom Ewing takes a closer look at each of the Dem candidates to give insight and overview on their policies and their potential impact on the offshore wind industry.
BP Spurs $10 Bln Divestment Target
BP will take charges of $2 to $3 billion in the third quarter, the British energy firm said on Friday, as it looks to reach divestments worth $10 billion by the end of 2019, a year ahead of schedule.In a statement, London-based BP said it expects to agree asset sales of $10 billion by end-year after its $5.6 billion sale of its Alaskan business to Hilcorp and divestments in U.S. shale gas.BP shares were down 1.1% by 0948 GMT compared with a 1.3% gain in the broader European energy index.The non-cash, non-operating, after-tax charge will impact the company's headline profit figure but not its underlying cashflow, a spokesman said.
CNOOC Earnings on the Rise
China's national offshore producer CNOOC Ltd reported a near 19% rise in first-half profit on Thursday, as higher sales of oil and gas offset weaker global oil prices.The listed arm of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp said that it was able to manage the impact on its business of the China-U.S. trade war and CNOOC President Xu Keqiang said the company would boost oil output to offset currency effects amid the escalating trade tensions.CNOOC said its net profit totalled 30.25 billion yuan ($4.26 billion) for the six months through June.
Gazprom Lead Oil and Gas Growth Worldwide
Russian giant Gazprom saw the most production growth among world’s exploration and production (E&P) companies during the five-year span from 2014 through 2018.It’s followed by Chinese player PetroChina Company Limited and U.S. shale company EQT Corporation ranking second and third, respectively, said energy research firm Rystad Energy.Onshore resources – whether conventional or unconventional – are a major driver of growth, it said.“Gazprom, the clear leader in production growth, is the only company with a total growth of more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) over the last five years,” said Espen Erlingsen, Rystad’s head of upstream research.
Cheap Gas Killing US Coal -Rystad
A new study revealed that coal power is being replaced by cleaner energy sources in the US – primarily due to an abundance of cheap natural gas.According to Rystad Energy, new renewable energy capacity from solar and wind is on the rise in the US, and April 2019 marked the first month when more electricity was generated in the country from renewable sources than from coal.However, the growing renewable energy sector alone is not wholly responsible for the on-going retirement of coal-fired power plants and the essential moratorium on the construction of new coal plants.“The US thermal coal industry is in severe trouble.
Exmar Commissions Tango FLNG
Belgian owner and operator of gas carriers Exmar has completed the commissioning of the 16,100 cbm Tango floating liquefaction unit (FLNG).The performance acceptance tests has been successful, the first cargo has been offloaded and will be exported out of Argentina, said a release from the provider of specialized floating assets.With this first shipment the start-up of the Tango FLNG is accomplished in a record time following the contract signing in November 2018 and delivery acceptance of the unit in Bahia Blanca in February 2019. The achievement of this milestone has been possible thanks to the excellent cooperation between the teams of Argentina's YPF and Exmar.For YPF…
Natural Gas Consumption Up 10% in China
According to the preliminary estimate, the consumption of natural gas in China exceeded 27 million cubic meters in 2018, registering a YOY increase of more than 10%, said a report.The growing Chinese economy and stricter environmental protection policies drive the growth of natural gas consumption in China. In 2018, the Chinese government introduced several environmental protection policies to further prevent and control atmospheric pollution and replace coal with natural gas in key areas, which pushed up natural gas consumption in China.The market survey by ResearchAndMarkets shows that in 2018…
Natural Gas Liquid Market to Cross 14 mbl/day by 2025
Global Natural Gas Liquid Market is poised to cross 14 million barrels per day by 2025, said a study.Japan natural gas liquid market is projected to surpass an annual consumption of 0.2 mbl/day said the latest study by Global Market Insights.Accelerating funding’s toward chemical industry along with the manufacturing of high value-added petrochemicals will augment the industry growth.In addition, up-surge in investments toward automotive sector coupled with expansion of various industrial base including manufacturing, refineries and chemicals will positively impact the product penetration.The U.S.
New Sonatrach CEO: Foreign Partnerships Essential
Algeria's state energy company Sonatrach wants to develop its partnerships with foreign firms to boost output and exports, its new chief executive said on Wednesday, comments that could reassure investors a week after his appointment.Algeria, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a major gas supplier to Europe, has struggled to lift production to meet rising domestic demand, while foreign investors have often balked at contract terms.Rachid Hachichi, Sonatrach's former head of production and exploration, was named chief executive on April 23…
UK Fracking Tsar Quits
The British government's fracking tsar Natascha Engel said on Sunday she had quit the role after just six months because government policy was preventing the industry from developing.Fracking, or hydraulically fracturing, involves extracting gas from rocks by breaking them up with water and chemicals at high pressure.It is fiercely opposed by environmentalists who have raised concerns about potential groundwater contamination and say extracting more fossil fuel is at odds with Britain's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Engel, who was appointed the Commissioner for Shale Gas to act as a link between local communities…
BP Plans to Exit China's Shale Gas
European oil major BP plans to exit from two production sharing contracts (PSC) for projects drilling for shale gas in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, three sources with the knowledge of the matter said this week.BP is the last of the international oil majors, including Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and ENI, to quit exploring for shale gas in China because of poor drilling results. Its departure leaves the sector firmly in the hands of domestic companies.In March 2016, BP agreed with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) to explore and produce natural gas from shale rock formations in the Neijiang-Dazu block in Sichuan…
Sinopec to Develop Weirong Shale Gas Field
Sinopec Corp, China's biggest shale gas operator, said on Monday it plans to develop a new field this year able to produce 1 billion cubic meters (bcm) of shale gas annually.The state-run company said the field will tap a proven reserve equivalent to 124.7 bcm of gas at Weirong in the southwestern province of Sichuan. This marks its second major shale gas discovery after a flagship development at Fuling in the Chongqing region, situated in the same geological basin of Sichuan.The company is drilling for shale gas in a 20,000 square-kilometer area in southern Sichuan, as well as western Chongqing.
Eni Acquires 70% stake in Oooguruk Field Offshore Alaska
Italian oil and gas company Eni has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in the Oooguruk oil field located offshore Alaska from Caelus Natural Resources Alaska for an undisclosed price.With Eni already holding 30% working interest in the oilfield, the Italian energy major’s operating stake in the same, following the closing of the deal, will be 100%.The Oooguruk oil field, located in the Beaufort Sea approximately 5 kilometers off Alaska’s North Slope coast, has been in production since 2008, and current gross production is of approximately 10,000 barrels…
