Key Offshore Wildcat Wells At Risk of Being Suspended
At least nine of the world’s top planned exploration wells for 2020 are at risk of being suspended as a result of the blended impact of COVID-19 on oil and gas activities and the oil price war, Rystad Energy said Tuesday.These wells, the Norwegian energy intelligence firm said, located in Norway, Brazil, the Bahamas, Guyana, the US, Gambia, and Namibia would target a combined 7 billion barrels of oil equivalents (boe).The wells that Rystad Energy has identified as candidates for suspension are at risk because of their commercial viability under the current price levels…
Equinor Sticks to 2019 Output Forecast
Equinor's third-quarter profit fell by more than expected on Thursday after a significant decline in the volume and price of natural gas sold to Europe, although the Norwegian firm reiterated its forecast for flat 2019 production.Shares in Oslo-listed Equinor were up 2.2% by 0730 GMT after it also confirmed plans to reach Phase 1 plateau output of 440,000 barrels at its giant Johan Sverdrup oil field by summer 2020 after new wells are drilled.Equinor's Sverdrup oil field, which only started in early October…
Equinor: Bahamas Spill Estimated at 119,000 Barrels of Oil
The oil spill at Equinor's Bahamas storage terminal is estimated at 119,000 barrels, the Norwegian company said on Wednesday, more than a month after a massive hurricane swept through the region.The South Riding terminal had 1.88 million barrels of oil stored when Hurricane Dorian ripped the roof off several tanks. While Equinor had reported extensively on the spill, this was the company's comprehensive estimate of pollution at the site. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik Editing by Chris Reese)
Bahamas Oil Cleanup Underway
Equinor said on Thursday that an onshore team has started to recover oil and move it into tank storage as part of cleanup efforts at the South Riding Point terminal in the Bahamas after the impact of Hurricane Dorian.Initial recovery assets have been deployed and additional machinery and equipment is being added, as a response team continues to assess the damage and plan recovery work.Equinor said it expects recovery efforts will be significantly stepped up over the coming days in close dialogue with local authorities.It is still Equinor’s assessment that no oil is leaking from the terminal.
Equinor Sends Vessels to Clean up Bahamas Oil Spill
Two vessels with clean-up equipment and personnel will arrive to the Bahamas within a few days to deal with an oil spill at the South Riding Point terminal damaged by hurricane Dorian, operator Equinor said on Monday.The company reiterated there were no indications of ongoing leaks form tanks, as well as no indications that the oil spill was reaching nearby beaches or the ocean.(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
Equinor to Clean up Onshore Bahamas Spill
Equinor will clean up the onshore oil spill discovered this week at its Bahamas storage terminal in the aftermath of hurricane Dorian, the Norwegian energy company said on Sunday.In preparation for the hurricane, Equinor shut down operations at the South Riding Point terminal on Aug. 31 and none of its staff were at the site during the storm."Based on current visual assessments, there are no indications of continued oil leakage from the tanks or of oil spills from the terminal to sea or beaches…
Svitzer: 5 year Contract with Oil Refinery
Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana won a 5-year contract with Limetree Bay Refining, LLC, commencing June 15, 2019.The company expands its market coverage providing tugboat services to some of the key oil refineries and terminals in the region – South Riding Point Terminal in Bahamas, Nustar Terminal in Statia, Buckeye Terminal in St. Lucia and now Limetree Bay Refining in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana adds this contract for two tugs to the company’s portfolio and believes Limetree Bay Refining will benefit from adding these young vessels to their operation…
Top Citgo Executives Removed as PDVSA Chaos Continues
Citgo Petroleum Corp has removed at least three top executives close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, people familiar with the matter said on Monday, in a move to cement management control under a new board of directors.The U.S. refining arm of Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA has been thrust in recent weeks into the center of a political battle between an opposition leader and self-declared president backed by many Western nations, including the United States, and Maduro…
Excelerate, Equinor Perform First STS LNG Transfer
The first ever ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was completed in The Bahamas by Excelerate Energy and Equinor Energy AS.According to Excelerate, which provides transportation and marketing of LNG, its floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) Exemplar and Equinor’s LNG carrier Arctic Voyager were used for the LNG transfer."A full LNG cargo was transferred using the double-banked LNG transfer system while moored at Equinor’s South Riding Point storage and transshipment terminal which is strategically located for storage and transshipment of crude…
SEACOR Marine to Acquire Brazil's UP Offshore
SEACOR Marine Holdings, the provider of marine and support transportation services to offshore oil, has announced the acquisition of UP Offshore (Bahamas) by a new joint venture company that is 49% owned by a subsidiary of SEACOR Marine and 51% owned by a subsidiary of Proyectos Globales de Energía y Servicios CME.UP Offshore is a leading provider of offshore support vessel services to the energy industry in Brazil, the largest regional market in Latin America, said a press release.Of UP Offshore’s 14 vessel fleet, 12 vessels are located in Brazil and registered under the Brazilian flag.
Mexican Wave Energy Project Moving Forward
Energy from the ocean breakers that pound Mexico’s Pacific Coast could soon be turned into electricity as an Israeli joint venture finalizes permits and financing for the country’s first wave energy plant.Wave power development has long lagged renewable rivals such as solar, but Eco Wave Power says it could prove an effective way to deliver power to coastal communities in countries such as Ghana or Kenya that have little access to electricity.“The ocean is the biggest renewable resource that we have and it’s completely untapped…
Gunvor Opening London Trading Office, Closes Bahamas
Global energy trader Gunvor Group is opening its first London office while also closing its trading desk in the Bahamas to increase efficiency in North America, sources familiar with the matter said.Gunvor had recently recruited a natural gas trading team for London, the sources told Reuters, adding that the Switzerland-based firm briefly had one trader in London a few years ago but this latest push was on a larger scale.Natural gas accounted for 23 percent of Gunvor's traded volumes last year while crude oil accounted for 30 percent.
CNPC sells 1st Americas Gasoline Cargo
Chinese state energy giant CNPC said on Tuesday it has sold its first ever gasoline to the Americas, with a 35,000-tonne cargo setting sail for the Bahamas on March 30, the latest sign that a fuel glut in China is growing. The gasoline was produced at its Qinzhou refinery in Guangxi province, CNPC said in a statement posted on its website. Reporting by Josephine Mason and Meng Meng
Caribbean Oil Terminals Prepare for Hurricane Maria
Several Caribbean oil storage terminals that temporarily closed ahead of Hurricane Irma earlier this month have started making preparations in case they have to shut again due to Hurricane Maria, which was a rare Category 5 storm on Tuesday. Shippers and traders in the Atlantic basin are struggling amid this year's very active storm season, which has seen seven hurricanes so far, four of them major hurricanes, defined as at least a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Hurricane Harvey hit the U.S.
Oil Steady as Irma Heads for Florida
Hurricane Harvey shut 8 pct of U.S. oil production; even bigger Hurricane Irma heads for Florida. Oil prices steadied on Friday after almost a week of sharp rises as Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms in a century, drove towards Florida after tearing through the Caribbean. Irma is the second major hurricane to approach the United States in two weeks and has already killed 14, flattening whole islands. Its predecessor, Harvey, shut a quarter of U.S. refineries and 8 percent of U.S. oil production.
Statoil's Bahamas Oil Terminal to Shut ahead of Irma
Norway's state-run oil company Statoil began making preparations on Thursday to shut its South Riding Point storage and transshipment terminal in the Bahamas ahead of Hurricane Irma, traders close to the facility told Reuters. South Riding Point in Grand Bahama has the capacity to store up to 6.75 million barrels of oil. A neighboring terminal in the Bahamas, Buckeye Partners' BORCO, was also expected to halt all operations on Thursday, the company said. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga)
Irma forces Bahamas Borco Terminal to Close
Buckeye Partners LP's Bahamas terminal, also known as Borco, has been closed for vessel traffic and will shut all operations by the end of the day due to Hurricane Irma, a source familiar with operations said on Thursday. That terminal, located in Freeport, on Grand Bahama Island, has more than 26 million barrels of storage capacity for crude, fuel oil, gasoline and other products. Hurricane Irma has already killed several people after hammering the Caribbean as a category 5 storm, with winds up to 180 mph (285 km/h).
US Crude Sails to Asia as OPEC Weighs More Cuts
Oil tankers carrying around 10 million barrels of U.S. crude are en route to Asia, according to shipping data and trade sources, as U.S. producers take advantage of favorable prices to ship to the region while OPEC ponders further supply cuts next week. At least eight tankers are in transit, sources said and the shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed, with one of them carrying the first ever cargo of Southern Green Canyon crude purchased by Japanese refiner Cosmo Energy. Another contains the first Alaskan North Slope cargo to arrive in Asia in eight months.
Fuel Crunch Looms, Terminals in Path as Hurricane Matthew Nears US
The Southeast United States is expected to be hit with fuel shortages in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, as the storm barrels toward one of the largest energy-consuming regions in the country. Some states are already experiencing supply constraints as motorists fill up tanks as an emergency precaution. The region is not known for energy production, but there are significant storage facilities directly in the path of the storm that have already been evacuated. Roads in Florida…
PDVSA Woes Deepen as Caribbean Debt Soars
Unpaid debts and broken promises are making Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA an outcast in several Caribbean countries where it had been a guest of honor. The state-run company's crumbling finances are causing operational disruptions across one of its most essential regions, according to internal company documents, six sources with knowledge of its operations, and Thomson Reuters vessel-tracking data. Business partners in the island nations of Curacao, Bonaire, Jamaica and the Bahamas are turning away from the firm as debts pile up to tugboat operators…
