PGNiG Inks Exploration Deal with ERU
Poland's dominant gas firm, state-run PGNiG, said on Monday it was signing a contract with Ukraine's ERU Management Services on cooperation on oil & gas extraction and exploration in Ukraine."This contract makes us an active player in the region's gas market and also contributes to the safety of Poland and all countries," said Polish presidential aide Krzysz
Offshore: OSV Market Report
The environment in oil patches onshore and offshore alike has been challenging throughout 2019; worries about an economic slowdown – whether cyclical or induced by a trade war – have weighed heavily on oil prices, even in the face of reduced production by the big producers. Though storm clouds persist…
Majors Press Mexico to Resume Oil Auctions
Big oil companies operating in Mexico have launched a drive to convince leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to resume auctions of oil and gas contracts he has branded a failure in reviving the industry.Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, among other firms in Mexico's Association of Hydrocarbon Companies (Amexhi)…
China to Launch State Pipeline Group
China plans to launch its long-awaited national oil and gas pipeline company on Monday, part of a sector-wide reform aimed at providing fair market access to infrastructure and boost investment in oil and gas production.Most of the country's pipeline infrastructure is controlled by energy giant PetroChina, CNPC's listed arm, and small, non state-owned oil an
Sapura Energy Secures New Order
Malaysian oil and gas services firm Sapura Energy has secured several new contracts and contract extensions for its engineering and construction (E&C) as well as drilling segments.The contracts, valued at approximately RM615 million (USD 148 million), brings the total order book year-to-date to RM15.1 billion…
Croatia Awards Licence to INA for Gas and Oil Exploration
The Croatian government said on Thursday it had awarded a licence to energy group INA for gas and oil exploration and exploitation on one block in the country's central and mountainous southern area.It gave no financial details.Earlier this year Croatia received one bid from INA for exploration…
Oil Companies Swap Stakes in Mexico
With Mexico's government insisting that energy companies increase oil and gas output before it auctions off more of the country's vast reserves or offers more partnerships with state-run Pemex, firms ranging from foreign majors to local players are scrambling to buy and sell blocks they already…
Vietnam Inks Crude Oil Supply Deal with SOCAR
Vietnam's state-run Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co (BSR) has inked an agreement with Azeri state energy company SOCAR to buy five million barrels of crude in 2020, BSR said late on Friday.SOCAR Trading will provide five million barrels of Azeri Light crude to BSR's Dung Quat refinery during the first half of 2020, BSR said in a statement on its web s
Energean Targets Net Zero Carbon Output by 2050
Mediterranean-focused oil and gas producer Energean has joined a U.N.-backed initiative and committed to reducing its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, its chief executive said on Monday.Oil and gas producers have come under heavy pressure in recent years to tackle greenhouse gas emissions as the world battles climate change.Energean's pledge came as the
Indonesia Mulls Production Contract Schemes
Indonesia considers allowing for production sharing oil and gas contracts optionsIndonesia is considering letting energy companies stick with the "cost recovery" system for oil and gas production sharing contracts, the energy minister said on Monday, after the government decided to adopt a new scheme in 2017.In 2017…
Providence to Operate Avalon as Total Exits
As Total E&P Ireland, a subsidiary of the French multinational oil giant, has withdrawn, Providence Resources has taken over operatorship of the Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 2/19, which contains the Avalon prospect, located offshore Ireland.FEL 2/19 is located in the southern Porcupine Basin…
U.S. Drillers Cut Rigs for 12th straight Month
U.S. energy firms reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a record 12th month in a row after this week cutting rigs for a sixth consecutive week as producers slash spending on new drilling.Drillers cut three oil rigs in the week to Nov. 27, bringing the total count down to 668, the lowest since April 2017…
Solveig buys oilfield operator Capricorn from Cairn
Norwegian pipeline firm Solveig Gas has agreed to buy oil firm Capricorn Norge from Cairn Energy for $100 million, completing its transformation into a North Sea field operator, Solveig's owner HitecVision said on Wednesday.The private equity fund told Reuters earlier this year it aimed to turn Solveig into an integrated exploration and production company…
Masirah Contracts Wings Offshore for FSO
Masirah Oil, an exploration and production company operating Block 50 offshore Oman, has awarded a contract to Wings Offshore for a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel, which will be used on a field located offshore Oman.Masirah said it had awarded the FSO contract to Wings Offshore for the Mt Bull Papua…
Mako Gas Field Exceeds Hopes: Conrad
Indonesian oil & gas exploration and production company Conrad Petroleum has flowed dry gas from its Tambak-1 well located in the Duyung PSC in the West Natuna Basin, offshore Indonesia.The Tambak-1 well was designed to both appraise the Mako gas field and test the underlying Tambak exploration prospect.
GoM Oil Output Set for Record Year
The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is positioned for another year of record oil production in 2020, despite massive cuts in investment.According to Rystad Energy, most of this growth coming from deep water projects.“2020 is expected to be another record year with average production above 1.9 million barrels per day…
CNPC Inks Two Cooperation Deals in Kazakhstan
China's CNPC said it has signed a Memorandum on expanding cooperation with KazMunayGas (KMG) and a Memorandum on natural gas cooperation with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and KazTransGaz, respectively.Signing of the two agreements will further promote comprehensive cooperation between the two sides in oil and gas business…
Petrobras to be World's Largest Oil Producer
Brazil’s Petrobras is on track to become the world’s largest oil producer among publicly listed companies by 2030, based on Rystad Energy’s latest data and forecasts.Brazil’s biggest-ever oil auctions in November were generally deemed to be disappointing, receiving muted interest from international exploration and production companies.However…
ConocoPhillips targets $50 bln free cash flow over next decade
ConocoPhillips unveiled a long-term plan on Tuesday to boost oil and gas production by about 3% per year, restrain annual spending to about $7 billion and return $50 billion to shareholders over the next decade.The announcement comes as investors, frustrated by weak commodity prices for 5 years…
Hackers Demand $5M from Pemex
Hackers demanded about $5 million in bitcoin from Mexico's Pemex, they told Reuters on Tuesday, saying the state oil firm missed a special discount by not paying immediately after a cyberattack that fouled up the company's systems.The hack, which Pemex said it detected on Sunday, forced the company to shut down computers across Mexico…
Iran Finds New Oil Field of 53bln Barrels
Iran has discovered a new oil field in the country’s south with an estimated 50 billion barrels of crude oil in the oil-rich Khuzestan province, its president Hassan Rouhani said.However, the US sanctions against Iranian oil could make it difficult for the oil to find its way to international…
Iran Finds New 53 Bln Barrel Oilfield
Iran has discovered a new oilfield in the southwest of the country that has the potential to boost its reserves by about a third, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday."Workers and the exploration arm of the National Iranian Oil Company ...have found an oilfield with 53 billion barrels of reserves…
Shell Eyes Brazil Exploration Areas
The head of Royal Dutch Shell Plc in Brazil said on Friday that it currently made more sense for the company to look for exploration areas.Speaking after Brazil's disappointing oil auctions this week, which Shell chose to sit out, Andre Araujo said the Buzios block, where state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA won rights to extract proven reserves…
West of Shetlands Ups Offshore Production
West of Shetland production likely to overtake North Sea for Shell and BP’s UK portfolios by 2020, said a report.Over the last four years oil and gas production in the West of Shetlands has risen and with that, a growing relevance for the biggest players still active in the UK continental shelf (UKCS)…
Big Oil Stuns Brazil in Back-to-back Auction Flops
Major global oil firms snubbed a second Brazilian oil auction in a row on Thursday, passing up offshore blocks and forcing officials to reconsider a bidding system that gives a privileged position to state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA.The only block awarded in Thursday's bidding went to Petrobras…
Aramco Signs 34 EPC Contracts Worth $18bn
Saudi Aramco has signed 34 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) related contracts (worth over US$18bn) for projects such as the Marjan and Berri field incremental development program in Saudi Arabia, during Q3 2019, according to GlobalData.The most important is ADNOC’s US$3.6bn…
Ghana Energy Official Calls for Regulatory Changes
Ghana's Deputy Energy Minister Amin Adam said on Wednesday that domestic laws must be changed to allow companies already producing to further explore offshore areas for more oil."We're changing our law to allow companies that are already producing in a certain area to continue with exploration.
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…
India Gets 8 Bids for 7 Onshore Blocks
India has received 8 bids for 7 onshore oil and gas exploration blocks under the latest auction, a government statement said.State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp has submitted bids for all 8 blocks.State-run Oil India has put in a bid for 1 block.(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; editing by David Evans)
E&P Companies Struggle on RoI
International exploration & production (E&P) are struggling to make money from offshore investments made during the latest investment upturn, according to a new study by Rystad Energy.Rystad Energy has evaluated all offshore oil fields sanctioned since 2010 and ranked them by estimated value per barrel of oil (boe) under various oil price scenarios.
U.S. NatGas Prices Near 25-year Low as Glut Weighs
In the shale field that helped launch the U.S. natural gas boom a decade ago, Chesapeake Energy Corp this month set aside its last drilling rig. The problem for the once No. 2 U.S. gas producer was not a lack of gas, but too much of it.A long, steady increase in U.S. gas production – much…
Oilfield Services Firms Moving Beyond Oil
Heavyweight oilfield service providers like Saipem and Baker Hughes are moving past just oil and gas projects and embracing more renewable energy projects going forward.In 2014, non-upstream oil and gas activities accounted for 22% of revenues among service suppliers. This share grew to 27% in 2018.According to Rystad Energy…
Premier Oilfield Group Names Keenan CEO
Premier Oilfield Group has appointed Patrick “Paddy” Keenan as CEO, beginning October 28, 2019, the oilfield services company announced on Tuesday.Keenan brings to the role experience in both the US and international oil and gas industries, having held leadership roles in a number of oilfield service companies…
South Sudan to Offer Oil Blocks for 2020
South Sudan plans to offer 14 oil blocks to exploration companies in a licensing round by the first quarter 2020, its oil minister said on Tuesday, switching from its previous method of direct negotiations with explorers.The country gets almost all its revenue from oil and has boosted output…
ConocoPhillips Profit Beats Estimates
US oil and gas company ConocoPhillips' quarterly profit shot ahead of analysts' estimates on Tuesday, as higher shale production offset the impact from lower crude prices and higher exploration costs.Total production, excluding Libya, rose 98,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) to 1.322 million boe/d, with output from U.S.
Orca-1 is Largest Gas Discovery of the Year
On 28 October 2019 oil giant BP announced a major gas discovery, Orca-1, exploration well in the BirAllah area off the coast of Mauritania.“The deepest and largest discovery so far this year, Rystad Energy estimates Orca-1 holds around 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of recoverable resources…
Keenan Leaves Apache Corp
Oil and gas industry veteran Steven Keenan, who was credited with a high-profile shale discovery for Apache Corp, resigned on Wednesday from his position as senior vice president of worldwide exploration, the company said on Friday.Houston-based Apache told Reuters that Keenan's resignation…
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…
Total, Zhejiang Energy Establish Bunkering JV
French oil and gas company Total has signed a deal with Chinese state-owned Zhejiang Energy Group (ZEG) to create a joint venture company to supply and delivery marine fuels in the Chinese region of Zhoushan.Total China Investment (TCI) will hold a 49% share in the new company while Zhejiang…
19 Fields in Production at Norwegian Sea
Norwegian Sea area, which is twice the size of the North Sea, has 19 fields in production and numerous discoveries are being developed and around 350 exploration wells have been drilled over the past 40 years, said Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).In many ways, the Norwegian Sea is a miniature version of the Norwegian shelf.
Shell Aims to Operate Egypt Concessions in 2020
Royal Dutch Shell is aiming to start operating in its concession areas in Egypt in the second half of 2020, a senior executive said.Shell won three oil and two gas concessions in Egypt in February.Eni, BP and ExxonMobil also won some of a total of 12 tenders as Egypt looks to sustain an investment…
Drilling Activity Buoyant in Norway
The number of wells drilled could challenge all-time high levels by the end of the year in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), while global offshore exploration activity has been flat year-to-date.Rystad Energy expects that this high activity level will be sustained through the winter season and into 2020.
Small Scale FSRU: Think Smarter Not Bigger
The global search for lower carbon forms of energy and demand for cost-effective ways to serve power demand in emerging markets and remote locations is driving interest in floating storage and regasification units (FSRU).FSRUs are a faster and more flexible way to import natural gas to power-constrained places…
Eni Committed to Cyprus Exploration
Italian oil major Eni is committed to the exploration of Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone and its contractual engagements with the country, its chief executive said on Friday.Turkey said last week it had sent an oil-and-gas drilling ship to waters off southern Cyprus where Greek Cypriot authorities have already awarded hydrocarbon exploration rights to Italia
Novatek Launches Arcticgas
Russia's second-largest natural gas producer Novatek announced that Arcticgas, a joint venture between Novatek and PAO Gazprom Neft, commenced commercial production at the East-Urengoyskoye+North-Esetinskoye field within the Samburgskiy license area.It has an estimated annual production capacity…
BP Wins Offshore Oil Block in Brazil with $75 mln Bid
BP PLC won the production and exploration rights for Brazil's offshore S-M-1500 block in the Santos Basin on Thursday, paying the government a signing bonus of roughly 308 million reais ($74.6 million).Relatively major blocks in the Santos Basin received no offers in the bidding round in Rio de Janeiro, although there was significant interest in the nearby C
Shell Consortium, Petronas Win Oil Blocks Off Brazilian Coast
A consortium of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp and Qatar Petroleum won oil exploration and production rights in the C-M-713 block off the coast of Brazil on Thursday, paying the government a signing bonus of roughly 551 million reais ($133 million).Shortly before, Petronas won a separate offshore block, C-M-661, with a signing bonus of roughly 1.116 bil
Mozambique Awards Rovuma LNG Project Gig
Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV) has awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to a consortium of Fluor, JGC, and TechnipFMC for its Mozambique Rovuma LNG Phase 1 project in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.MRV, a joint-venture composed of Eni, ExxonMobil and CNPC, holds a 70% interest in the exploration and production concession of Area 4…
Angola Seeks to Reduce Gas Flaring to Capture Revenue
Angola wants to cash in on the roughly 3 billion cubic feet per day of associated natural gas it produces, most of which is now flared, the petroleum minister said on Wednesday.The announcement of efforts to generate more revenues by reducing gas flaring comes as Africa's second largest crude…
Digitalization: Oil Industry Could Save up to $100Bln
The global oil and gas industry can save as much as $100 billion through automation and digitalization in the 2020s, energy research firm Rystad Energy said."As much as $100 billion can be eliminated from E&P upstream budgets through automation and digitalization initiatives in the 2020s.
U.S. Drillers Cut Rigs Again: Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a seventh week in a row as producers follow through on plans to cut spending on new drilling this year.Drillers cut 3 oil rigs in the week to Oct. 4, bringing the total count down to 710, the lowest since May 2017, General…
Milito Named NOIA President
Veteran energy industry association executive Erik Milito has been named as the new president of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and will to take the helm of the offshore energy association effective November 1, 2019.“Erik is a strong leader and an effective communicator…
Norway Sovereign Fund to Divest E&P Firms
Norway's $1.1 trillion sovereign fund will divest companies solely dedicated to oil and gas exploration and production in a bid to shield itself from a long-term fall in oil prices, the finance ministry said late on Tuesday.The move will partly shift the world's largest sovereign wealth fund away from oil and gas…
PTTEP, Halliburton Ink Automation Deal
PTTEP, a national petroleum exploration and production company in Thailand, selected Halliburton Landmark for joint development of new well design workflow to automate drilling and completion engineering processes across the well lifecycle, the US-based oilfield services company announced.Halliburton…
Oil Search Boss to Retire in 2020
Papua New Guinea's biggest company Oil Search Ltd said on Tuesday long-serving Managing Director Peter Botten will retire from the firm next year after 25 years in the role, just as the company enters a major growth phase in PNG and Alaska.Botten will be succeeded by senior executive Keiran Wulff in February and will step down from the board on Aug.
Eni CEO's Wife Under Investigation in Congo Probe
Italian prosecutors are investigating the wife of Eni's chief executive as part of a wider probe into allegations of corruption involving the oil and gas major in Congo Republic, a prosecution document seen by Reuters showed.State-controlled Eni has previously said it was under investigation…
Malaysia Could List Petronas' Exploration Arm
Malaysia is considering listing the exploration and production arm of state energy company Petronas, the world's third-biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, state news agency Bernama reported on Friday citing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.Mahathir has previously said that the government was looking to sell or list some state assets to reduce debt.
Var Energi Buys Exxon's Norway Assets for $4.5 Bln
ExxonMobil said on Thursday it will sell its Norwegian upstream oil and gas assets to independent exploration and production company Vår Energi for $4.5 billion as part of an ongoing large-scale global divestment plan.The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, includes ownership…
US Shale is Not Doomed, Says Rystad Energy
Though bankruptcies among U.S. onshore exploration and production (E&P) companies are on the increase during these days, Rystad Energy doesn’t believe this indicates doom for the shale industry.“In a nutshell, we do not believe the recent bankruptcies that have beset a number of shale players are indicative of an industry-wide epidemic…
Ireland to Freeze New Offshore Oil Exploration Licences
Ireland plans to freeze the issuing of new exploration licences for oil in Irish waters but not for gas, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told journalists on Monday during a visit to New York, Irish media reported.Varadkar said he would announce at a U.N. climate summit "that Ireland will also…
