New refineries bring down profits for global refiners
Oil refiners across Asia, Europe, and the United States have seen their profitability drop to multi-year-lows. This is a significant downturn in an industry which had previously enjoyed booming returns following the pandemic. It also highlights the global slowdown. This weakness is another sign of a softening consumer and industrial demand in China due to the slowing of economic growth and increasing penetration of electric cars.
Alaska's North Slope Holds 3.6 Bn Barrels Oil
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) department estimated that Alaska's Central North Slope 3.6 billion barrels of oil. Assessment also included estimate for 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.This assessment does not include discoveries made by industry between 2013 and 2017.“Alaska is synonymous with energy, and this assessment just reinforces that,” said USGS Director Jim Reilly.
Qatar Ups LNG Production by 64% to 126 MTPA by 2027
Qatar Petroleum has announced that it will raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity to 126 million tons per annum (mtpa) by 2027, representing an increase of 64% from the current 77 mtpa.The announcement was made by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, at a press conference held in Doha, during which he also…
ExxonMobil Looks to Sell Australian Assets
Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday it was looking to sell its 50% stake in the Gippsland Basin oil and gas development in Australia's Bass Strait as part of a broader review of its global portfolio of assets.The sale could fetch up to $3 billion, however decommissioning costs for the ageing fields could dent the price tag, analysts and bankers said.The Gippsland Basin joint venture…
High Impact Exploration on The Rise
In the first few weeks of 2019 there have been four high impact discoveries of conventional oil and gas, finding 25% of the high impact volume discovered globally in the whole of 2018.According to Westwood Insight, one of these discoveries, Glengorm in the UK North Sea, is reported to be the biggest there since 2008.The second and third are offshore Guyana in the Stabroek licence…
Equinor Completes NCS Asset Sales
Norwegian energy company Equinor announced Friday it has completed the sales of two non-core discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) for a combined $470 million.Equinor announced in October that it would divest from the King Lear and Tommeliten discoveries as part of an effort to prioritize and refocus its asset portfolio.The first sale, of a 77.8 percent operated interest in the King Lear discovery to Aker BP…
Indonesia Grants New Oil Blocks Contracts
Indonesia has announced the winner of its third bidding round that will operate oil and gas blocks in three locations, Deputy Energy Minister Arcandra Tahar, said on Thursday.The winners are Pearloil (Theralite) Ltd. for South Andaman block, located at offshore Andaman Aceh; Talisman Java B. V. and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. for South Saka Kemang block, located at onshore South Sumatra…
Qatar Buys Eni's Mexican Oil Stakes
Qatar Petroleum (QP) signed an agreement with Italy’s Eni SpA to acquire a 35% stake in three offshore oil Fields in Mexico.The agreement cover the Amoca, Mizton, and Tecoalli offshore oil fields, which lie in Area 1 in Mexico’s Campeche Bay, said a press statement from the Arab country's government-owned energy company.The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals by the government of Mexico.
ExxonMobil Makes Discovery Off Guyana
U.S. major ExxonMobil has made its 10th discovery offshore Guyana and increased its estimate of the discovered recoverable resource for the Stabroek Block to more than 5 billion oil-equivalent barrels, reinforcing potential for at least five floating storage, production and offloading (FPSO) vessels producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025.The resource estimate…
Aker BP Adds More Acreage off Norway
Norway's independent oil firm Aker BP has agreed to buy stakes in 11 production licenses off Norway from French Total for a cash consideration of $205 million, the company said on Tuesday.The portfolio includes four discoveries with net recoverable resources of 83 million barrels oil equivalents based on estimates from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), it added."With this transaction, we get access to new tie-back opportunities in the Alvheim and Skarv area
U.S. Crude Stockpiles Rise Unexpectedly - EIA
U.S. crude oil stockpiles unexpectedly rose last week ,as imports grew and refineries cut output while gasoline inventories decreased nearly double forecasts, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. Crude inventories rose 1.2 million barrels in the week to June 29, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 3.5 million barrels. Oil prices dropped on the news…
Cairn Buys Into Seacrest-backed British North Sea Oilfield
Cairn Energy has bought a 50 percent stake in the Agar-Plantain oilfields in the British North Sea from Azinor Catalyst, the companies said on Thursday, amid renewed interest in North Sea assets.Oil producers are returning to the North Sea having sold many assets in the past few years, often to private equity investors, after oil prices collapsed."There has clearly been a sentiment change in the North Sea.
Total Sells Two Norwegian Oilfields to Statoil
Statoil will become operator of both fields. French oil and gas major Total said on Monday it had agreed to sell its stakes in two Norwegian oilfields to Statoil for $1.45 billion as it reviews its North Sea portfolio after acquiring Denmark's Maersk Oil in August. The company said Statoil will take over its 51 percent stake in the Martin Linge field and its 40 percent holding in the Garantiana discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Europa Completes Sale of Wressle Discovery Interest
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM traded oil and gas exploration, development and production company focused on Europe, informed that its proposed sale of a 3.34% working interest in PEDLs 180 and 182 (‘the Licences’) in North Lincolnshire to Union Jack Oil plc (‘UJO’) for a cash consideration of £600,000 (‘the Transaction’) has been approved by the Oil and Gas Authority (‘OGA’).
Statoil: Sizeable Oil Finds in North Sea Still Possible
Norway's Statoil believes sizeable oil finds can still be made in the North Sea even though the area has been explored for decades, a senior company executive said on Tuesday. The search for oil and gas has been hit by energy firms' reduced spending, triggered by a slump in crude prices since mid-2014, yet the oil major still sees a large potential. "We believe there is at least another 500 million barrels oil discovery to be made in the North Sea…
Statoil: Sizeable North Sea Finds Still Possible
Statoil believes in another $500 million oil discovery in N.Sea; discovered volumes are down both globally and in Norway. Norway's Statoil believes sizeable oil finds can still be made in the North Sea even though the area has been explored for decades, a senior company executive said on Tuesday. The search for oil and gas has been hit by energy firms' reduced spending, triggered by a slump in crude prices since mid-2014…
Keppel to deliver third FPSO for Shapoorji Pallonji, Bumi Armada JV
Keppel Offshore & Marine's (Keppel O&M) wholly-owned subsidiary Keppel Shipyard Ltd (Keppel Shipyard) is on track to deliver a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel to Armada Madura EPC Limited (Armada Madura), a joint venture between Shapoorji Pallonji Group (Shapoorji Pallonji) and Bumi Armada Berhad (BAB). The spread-moored FPSO unit was named Karapan Armada Sterling III during a naming ceremony held earlier this month at Keppel Shipyard.
Europa Acquires Shale Petroleum
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc, the AIM listed oil and gas exploration, development and production company focused on Europe has completed the acquisition of Shale Petroleum (UK) Limited for a nominal consideration of £1. As consequence of this acquisition Europa has increased its equity interest in PEDL299 and PEDL343 exploration licences awarded in the 14th UK Landward Licensing Round to 33.32% and 45.0% respectively.
Refined Product Glut adds to Crude Gloom
A glut of refined products has worsened the already-grim outlook for U.S. crude oil for the rest of the year and the first half of 2017, traders warned this week, as the spread between near-term and future delivery prices reached its widest in five months. A stubborn, massive supply overhang punished crude over the winter as U.S. oil futures hit 12-year lows in February. As supply outages and production cuts increased…
Marathon Oil Takes Q3 Hit on Low Oil Prices
Marathon Oil Corp, on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss compared with a year-earlier profit, as low commodity prices prompted the a U.S. oil company with operations in Texas and Equatorial Guinea to write down the value of assets. Marathon, which slashed its dividend 76 percent last week, reported a third-quarter loss of $749 million, or $1.11 per share, compared with a profit of $431 million, or 64 cents per share.
