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Oil & Gas

Oil & Gas

Upstream cost deflation ‘inevitable’ for the North Sea industry

Upstream cost deflation will be “inevitable” for the North Sea industry as it emerges from a period of intense development activity, according to Wood Mackenzie. The energy analysts said the busy period has caused severe cost inflation as operators competed for access to services. Operating costs will decrease by up to 15% in the UK and 10% in Norway.

Oil & Gas

Victoria Oil & Gas buys processing plant from Expro for $2.5million

Victoria Oil & Gas has purchased the Logbaba gas processing plant from Expro for $2.5million. The company said its wholly owned subsidiary, Gaz Du Cameroun (GDC), has made the payment in full for the purchase of the plant from Expro worldwide. The plant currently processes gas extracted from the GDC wells and produces condensate which is sold to a local refinery, and clean gas which is distributed to customers through the 33km pipeline network in Douala, Cameroon.

Oil & Gas

Wood Group Kenny to advise DECC on CCS

Wood Group Kenny (WGK) is set to provide technical advisory services for carbon capture storage (CCS) policies in a framework agreement with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The four year agreement will see WGK support DECC in ensuring the UK CCS policies are underpinned by robust technical evidence and provide independent advice on the technical understanding of CCS. The company's previous experience in CCS includes the Peterhead Carbon Capture and Storage project being developed by oil major Shell and Southern Energy (SSE).

Africa

Gunmen try to kill Libyan prime minister

Gunmen have tried to assassinate Libya’s internationally recognised prime minister on his way to the airport in the eastern city of Tobruk, a spokesman for his government said. Abdullah al-Thinni’s motorcade was attacked and one of his guards was lightly wounded but there were no fatalities, according to Arish Said, head of the government’s media department. “They managed to escape,” he added.

Americas

Second Petrobas director sentenced

A former international director at state-run oil firm Petrobas has been sentenced to five years in prison. Nestor Cervero is the second person to be convicted in the ongoing corruption scandal. Federal Judge Sergio Moro said there was evidencd that Cervero has created a company, as a front, to launder money.

Oil & Gas

OPEC seen backing Saudi Arabia’s plan to keep supplies elevated

When Saudi Arabia argues next week that OPEC should keep up production to fight the rise in US shale oil levels, prices will be on its side. Crude plunged for eight of nine weeks prior to group’s November gathering, when the kingdom faced down opposition from the majority of fellow members, who advocated output reductions to tackle a global glut. With oil companies around the world cutting investment, US output peaking and prices up, Saudi Arabia’s strategy will be extended at OPEC’s semiannual meeting on June 5, say Societe Generale SA and Bank of America Corp.

Oil & Gas

Chevron says South Africa needs fair clean-fuel cost recovery

South Africa, which sets gasoline prices that fuel producers can charge, needs to ensure companies can fairly recover the cost of upgrading their facilities to handle cleaner fuels, Chevron Corp.’s local unit said. “Petroleum companies are unable through normal market mechanisms to recoup the investments needed to upgrade refineries to produce cleaner fuels,” Chevron South Africa Chairwoman Nobuzwe Mbuyisa said in an e-mailed response to questions Tuesday. The costs “are substantial and, in the absence of a mechanism to recover these costs from the consumer, they are simply not commercially viable,” she said.

Oil & Gas

Industry body says there will be “no winners” if workers strike

There will be “no winners” if unions press ahead with industrial action in the North Sea, the new boss of the oil and gas industry’s trade body warned yesterday. Deirdre Michie, who has taken over as chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, said over 5,000 jobs had been lost in the North Sea - mainly onshore jobs - with “more to come”. But she added while the North Sea was mature and had produced over 43 billion barrels of oil, the body believes that there remains “still half again to go for” in the region if operators and the wider supply chain slim costs and the government provides more fiscal support.

Americas

Brazil oil group seeks changes to local-content rules

Brazil's national oil-industry association, IBP, released a list of suggestions for regulatory changes on Monday that it hopes will boost exploration activity in the wake of falling oil prices, high costs, delays and a graft scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras.

Americas

Texas oil patches brace for more rains, possible floods

Texas oilfields could see strong rains and thunderstorms later this week, though they were spared the heaviest flooding that struck central and eastern Texas over the Memorial Day weekend, the National Weather Service said on Tuesday.

Oil & Gas

US Department of Energy authorises natural gas exports to Canada

The US Department of Energy has authorised Pieridae Energy to export natural gas to Canada. The company has also been given permission to export LNG produced from natural gas from Canada. The authorisation was issued earlier this month after Pieridae Energy made the application to export up to 292 billion cubic feet per year of natural gas via the Maritimes US and Canada pipelines.

Oil & Gas

Eni makes second discovery in Libya

Eni has made a second discovery at its exploration prospect off the coast of Libya. The company said it had made a natural gas and condensate discovery about 85 miles away form the coastline.

Oil & Gas

Research shows non-OPEC production to drop 20%

Oil field research has shown investment in oil and gas production is estimated to drop 20% this year. In comparison to 2014, non-OPEC liquids growth potential of 5.5million bopd (barrels of oil per day) over the next five years has been reduced by more than two million.

Oil & Gas

Rosneft said to mull purchases, aid to meet $50 billion gas deal

OAO Rosneft may have to turn to competitors to buy natural gas and state aid to help honor a $50 billion contract it won away from OAO Novatek three years ago, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Rosneft may supplement its own output with fuel purchases when the contract with power utility OAO Inter RAO UES starts next year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. In 2016, the state-controlled company may even turn to Novatek for fuel, according to one person. Rosneft will fulfill its obligations, its press service said.

Middle East

McDermott International wins Saudi Aramco contract

McDermott International has been awarded a large brownfield contract by Saudi Aramco for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of 12 jackets for offshore oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabian waters. The work is scheduled for completion by the end of the first quarter of 2016. The award is the second for the company from Saudi Aramco this year, and represents a work scope bud under an existing long-term agreement.

Oil & Gas

Rosneft produces reaches ‘milestone’ with Chayvo Field

Oil giant Rosneft has produced its one millionth ton of oil at the northern tip of the Chayvo Field. A spokesperson for the firm said the milestone had been reached just eight months after drilling the first well at the field which was completed in September 2014 from the onshore site. RN-Shelf-Far East, Rosneft subsidiary, is currently producing crude oil at the field with two unique extended-reach wells that are 10,825 m and 9,923 m of measured depth. Their cumulative daily output amounts to over 5,000 million tons.

Oil & Gas

Barakah Offshore Petroleum receives Shell award

Barakah Offshore Petroleum has received an LOA (Letter of Award) from Sarawak Shell and Sabah Shell Petroleum for the supply of equipments and services. The duration of the LOA, for the company's PBJV Group unit, is expected to last three years with an option to extend for a further year.

Africa

South Sudan oil field becomes battleground as economy reels

After 17 months of civil war spanning a swathe of South Sudan bigger than Syria, President Salva Kiir’s survival may hinge on the fate of a single oil field. Paloch in Upper Nile state, the only region still pumping crude in a nation with sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest reserves, has re-emerged as the rebels’ prime target. While the insurgents probably couldn’t find a market for its oil, the facilities’ capture or damage could spell disaster for a government that’s battling surging inflation and a slumping currency, and which depends on crude for about 90 percent of its income, according to analysts including Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School in Massachusetts.

Oil & Gas

Big Oil investors give cold shoulder to environmental changes

Investor resolutions urging corporate leaders to be more environmentally friendly in how they run their businesses are being rolled out at a record pace this year for the energy industry. Just don’t expect them to pass. Proposals meant to nudge Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. into nominating directors with environmental expertise, setting greenhouse gas targets, and compiling reports on minimizing fracking risks are among seven such resolutions being voted on Wednesday when the two biggest US oil companies hold their shareholder meetings.

Oil & Gas

Exxon, Chevron clear to bid on Mexican shallow-water blocks

Mexico approved 19 companies and seven groups to bid on 14 shallow-water exploration blocks as the country prepares to allow private producers to drill in its waters for the first time since 1938. Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., and Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., were among the companies that Mexico’s oil regulator, known as CNH, cleared to develop an estimated 80,000 daily crude barrels in the Gulf of Mexico, Commissioner Juan Carlos Zepeda said in a live feed of the meeting. Some 34 companies applied to pre-qualify for the July 15 auction.

Oil & Gas

Petronas achieves first oil from Bukit Tua field

Petronas has achieved first oil from the Bukit Tua field. The project is the company's biggest Upstream project in Indonesia to date. It is expected to produce around 3,700 barrels of oil per day and two million standard cubic feet of gas per day in its initial production stage.