U.S. Offshore Oil Lease Sale Weakest Since 2016
A major sale of oil and gas leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday generated $93 million in high bids, the lowest total for any U.S. offshore auction since 2016, reflecting caution in the drilling industry amid a steep slide in oil prices.Firing up offshore drilling is a crucial part of U.S. President Donald Trump's "energy dominance" agenda to maximize domestic production of crude oil, natural gas, and coal.
Pemex Steering Clear of Deepwater
Petroleos Mexicanos will focus on shallow water projects and onshore plays, and avoid investing in its deepwater riches for now, as the ailing Mexican state-run oil company seeks to turn around a 14-year slide in crude production, a top official said on Thursday.Chief Financial Officer Alberto Velazquez outlined the approach the state-owned oil company known as Pemex will take…
Exxon, BHP to Develop West Barracouta Gas Field
ExxonMobil Corp and the world's top miner BHP Billiton said on Thursday they approved development of the West Barracouta gas field in the Gippsland Basin in Australia, to bring fresh gas to Australian domestic markets.Exxon said the project, located off the shore of the state of Victoria, is part of its continuing investment in the Gippsland Basin, an area rich in oil and gas.
Serica Energy to Buy BHP Stake in North Sea Fields
North Sea operator Serica Energy has struck a deal with commodities giant BHP Billiton to up its stakes in two North Sea fields, taking it above 90 per cent ownership of the assets.Under the a sale and purchase agreement (SPA), Serica UK will acquire a 16.00% interest in the Bruce field and a 31.83% interest in the Keith field and associated infrastructure (BHP Assets) from…
BP Completes $10.5-billion BHP Billiton Acquisition
London-based BP Plc BP has completed the $10.5-billion acquisition of BHP’s U.S. unconventional assets in a landmark deal that will significantly upgrade BP’s U.S. onshore oil and gas portfolio, in a move that upgrades and repositions its American onshore business.The portfolio includes assets in the highly-prized Permian-Delaware basin in Texas, along with two premium positions in the Eagle Ford and Haynesville basins in Texas and Louisiana (see map…
Woodside Energy GWF-2 Commences Production
Australian oil and gas company with a global presence Woodside announced that the Greater Western Flank Phase 2 (GWF-2) Project off the north-west coast of Australia has commenced gas production.A press release from the operator of the North West Shelf (NWS) project quoted its CEO Peter Coleman saying that the project has been delivered $630 million below the expected cost…
US GoM Oil Production Off 32% from Storm
U.S. Gulf of Mexico producers have cut oil output by 32 percent and natural gas production by 13 percent as a result of the lingering effects of Hurricane Michael, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Friday, citing reports from 27 companies.The reductions continued as oil and gas companies moved more workers back to production platforms that were evacuated earlier in the week.
Storm Shuts Nearly 40% of US GoM Oil Output
Nearly 40 percent of daily crude oil production was lost from offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico wells on Tuesday due to platform evacuations and shut-ins ahead of Hurricane Michael.Since Monday, oil producers, including Anadarko Petroleum Corp, BHP Billiton, BP and Chevron Corp , have evacuated personnel from 75 platforms as the storm made its way through the central Gulf on the…
U.S. Crude Rises as One-fifth of Oil Production Lost Ahead of hurricane
U.S. crude prices were modestly higher on Tuesday as nearly one-fifth of daily oil production was lost from offshore Gulf of Mexico wells due to Hurricane Michael.Oil producers including Anadarko Petroleum Corp, BHP Billiton, BP and Chevron Corp have evacuated personnel from 13 platforms as the storm made its way through the central Gulf on the way to landfall Wednesday on the Florida Panhandle.Companies turned off about 324…
GoM Offshore Platforms Evacuated Ahead of Hurricane
Energy companies on Monday halted nearly a fifth of Gulf of Mexico oil production and evacuated staff from 10 platforms as Hurricane Michael intensified and headed for a path up the eastern U.S. part of the Gulf.BHP Billiton, BP, Equinor and Exxon Mobil Corp were evacuating personnel from oil and gas platforms in the Gulf as forecasters predicted the storm would become a Category 3 hurricane.Companies turned off the daily production flow of 324…
Total Rules Out U.S. Shale Investments
French energy group Total is not looking at investing in the U.S. shale oil industry when asked whether peer BP's $10.5 billion acquisition of U.S. shale assets from BHP Billiton, had made that sector more attractive."It's first quite expensive, second we don't have the human resources.
How BP Found Shale Profits With 'Crystal Ball' Oilfield Technology
In the pine forests of eastern Texas, oilfield workers equipped with virtual-reality goggles are helping BP's shale business turn a profit for the first time.Thousands of automated wells feed data on their performance into the firm's supercomputers each evening. If they show a need for maintenance, an Uber-style system summons a subcontracted repair firm to keep the shale wells…
BP Pays $10.5 bln for BHP Shale Assets
BP Plc has agreed to buy U.S. shale oil and gas assets from global miner BHP Billiton for $10.5 billion, expanding the British oil major's footprint in some of the nation's most productive oil basins in its biggest deal in nearly 20 years.The acquisition of about 500,000 producing acres marks a turning point for BP since the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010…
Plans for Another South Australia LNG Import Plant in the Works
A private firm is looking to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to South Australia starting in 2020, around the same time as two other proposed import projects, looking to fill a supply gap as domestic gas gets sucked into LNG exports.Venice Energy, set up by former BHP Billiton executives, plans to submit a development application to the South Australian government within the next month to park a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Port Adelaide…
ExxonMobil Considers Importing LNG to Australia
ExxonMobil Corp, southeastern Australia's biggest gas supplier, is considering importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) to help plug a looming gas shortage from 2021 and protect its market share.The move would compete with plans by both Australia's no.2 energy retailer AGL Energy to start importing LNG by 2021 and a consortium involving Japan's JERA to start imports from 2020.ExxonMobil…
AGL Decision on LNG Import Terminal Expected in FY2019
AGL Energy Ltd, Australia's biggest power producer, expects to make a final investment decision on the country's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in the financial year of 2019, a company official said on Friday.The A$250 million ($189 million) project will consist of a leased floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and jetty at Crib Point in the southeastern state of Victoria.
Colombia Coal Output falls 11.7%
Colombia, the world's fifth-largest exporter of coal, produced 19.6 million tonnes in the first quarter, down 11.7 percent from output the year before, the Energy and Mining Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. In the same period last year, Colombia produced 22.2 million tonnes. In full-year 2017, the Latin American nation produced 89.4 million tonnes, slightly below 2016 when output was 90.5 million tonnes.
Trump's State Department Energy nominee Approved by Senate Panel
President Donald Trump's nominee for the top U.S. State Department job dealing with matters related to energy and the global oil industry was approved by a Senate committee on Wednesday, as the United States gears up to re-impose sanctions on Iran's oil exports. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Francis Fannon, a former head of corporate affairs at mining company BHP Billiton and senior director of Murphy Oil Corp…
Mexico's Pemex to Operate Two Shallow Water Projects With Partners
Mexican national oil company Pemex plans to operate at least two new blocks it won with partners in a shallow water auction on Tuesday, the company's exploration chief said in an interview. Pemex expects to invests as much as $300 million overall in a four-year exploration phase for the seven contracts it won, more than any other company, said longtime head of exploration, Jose Antonio Escalera.
ExxonMobil Expects to Resume Paying Australian Corporate Tax in 2021
ExxonMobil Corp said on Wednesday it is likely to resume paying corporate tax in Australia only in 2021, after recouping billions of dollars in investments made in the country in the past decade. The oil giant was grilled at an Australian Senate hearing on tax avoidance, after having paid no tax since 2013, despite reporting billions of dollars in income from operations in the country.
