Colombia's President suspends peace negotiations with ELN rebels
The Colombian president Gustavo Petro halted peace talks on Friday with the leftist National Liberation Army, (ELN), after accusing them of committing a crime against humanity in the Catatumbo area, located in Norte de Santander, the province in which the country is situated. Petro, on X, said: "The dialogue with this group has been suspended. William Villamizar, the governor of Norte de Santander, reported that more than 30 people died and 20 were injured in Thursday's attack.
Bulgaria claims Azerbaijan has stopped gas supply until January 11
Bulgargaz EAD, the Bulgarian gas state company, has received notification that Azerbaijan suspended gas supplies to Bulgaria for unspecified reasons from January 7 to 11. Bulgargaz reported that Bulgargaz has sourced replacement gas volumes from Botas in Turkey. The company said that it did not incur additional costs to replace the natural gas, nor did the outage affect the market for natural gas in the area. A source in the industry said that "an issue" was at BP's Alpha Platform at the Shah Deniz Gas Field.
Centrica: Britain's gas reserves are "concerningly small"
Centrica, the operator of Britain's largest storage facility, stated on Friday that Britain's gas levels were "concerningly" low, with less than one week's worth of gas left to be consumed following a recent cold snap. Britain relies heavily on gas to heat its homes and generate electricity. As of 9th January 2025, UK stockpiles are 26% less than the inventory of last year at the same date, and they're only half full. Centrica stated that the UK had less than one week's worth of gas in stock.
Bulgaria claims Azerbaijan has stopped gas supply until January 11
Bulgargaz EAD, the Bulgarian gas state company, has received notification that Azerbaijan suspended gas supplies to Bulgaria for unspecified reasons from January 7 until January 11. Bulgargaz reported that Bulgargaz has sourced replacement gas volumes from Botas in Turkey. The company said that it did not incur additional costs to replace the natural gas, nor did the outage affect the market for natural gas in the area. A source in the industry said that "an issue" was at BP's Alpha Platform at the Shah Deniz Gas Field.
Norway's gas production will be slightly lower than the record set in 2025.
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate said that the Norwegian natural gas production is expected to decline slightly this year. It rose 6.9% to a new record of 124 billion cubic meters (bcm). Norway is now Europe's biggest natural gas supplier following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022. It provides about 30% of all gas imported to the European Union. The NOD published data on Thursday showing that Norway's output of gas increased from 116 billion cubic meters in 2023. This was a year heavily affected by maintenance issues.
Shell and Equinor face off against UK North Sea oil, gas projects
Shell and Equinor urged on Tuesday an Scottish court to support Britain's approval of the development two vast North Sea gas and oil fields as environmental activists attempted to block these projects. Shell is fighting Greenpeace's legal challenge at the Court of Session of Edinburgh regarding Britain's approval of the Jackdaw Gas Field in 2022. Equinor, a Norwegian oil company, and Ithaca Energy, its partner in the case are opposing the decision of 2023 to approve the planned Rosebank Oilfield.
Egypt's Petroleum Ministry ties arrears payment to production boost amid decreasing gas output
According to a statement from the petroleum ministry on Monday, Egypt plans to link arrears payment to increased production as part of its plan to settle outstanding debts with international oil companies. The statement said that the ministry recently introduced an incentive package to encourage partners to increase output above current levels. Additional revenue generated by this increase will be used to reduce existing debt. Karim Badawi…
Egypt's President and Eni CEO discuss gas production
Eni, an Italian energy company, said that Egypt's President met with its CEO on Monday in order to discuss measures aimed at boosting gas production. The meeting came after Egypt was forced to use the LNG market to meet domestic demand. Egypt had planned to be a major exporter of gas after Eni found the huge Zohr offshore gas field in 2015. However, domestic gas production has fallen since 2021 and reached a six-year minimum this year. In the first half of 2018…
Equinor is preparing to assess Sleipner B damages
Equinor, a Norwegian company, said it would survey the damage to its Sleipner B platform in the North Sea on Wednesday. The platform was closed late Monday night after a smoke alarm was raised in an electrical installation. Equinor, according to a spokesperson for the company, continued to meet its gas supply obligations to Europe on Wednesday by pumping additional gas from other fields. The spokesperson said that two emergency vessels doused Sleipner in seawater Tuesday, pumping from afar to cool the platform.
The price of gas in Europe is rising due to the Norwegian power outages and a weaker wind output
On Wednesday morning, Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas rose slightly due to the outage in Norway and the forecasts for a weaker wind output. LSEG data shows that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub increased by 0.30 euros to 40.20 Euro per megawatt hour at 0753 GMT. The day-ahead contract in the British market was 1.50 pence more expensive at 97.50 cents per therm. "NBP (UK Gas) is up more than TTF (Dutch Gas). This seems to be more related to the planned Oseberg outage tomorrow.
Malaysian PM: Petronas exploration in South China Sea to continue
Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's prime minister, reiterated on Tuesday that the state-owned energy company Petronas would continue to conduct oil exploration in Malaysia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the South China Sea despite China's objections. He told the parliament that this includes exploration activities for Petronas Kasawari Gas Development off Sarawak State on Borneo. Anwar stated, "We will continue to discuss with all countries.
Senegal announces a 25-year plan for economic and social development
Senegal’s government released a 25-year plan of development on Monday. It said that the plan would lay the groundwork for economic sovereignty by focusing on competitiveness, resource management sustainability and good governance. The agenda was launched in March, seven months after the West African president Bassirou Diomaye Faye won a landslide victory at elections on the promise of improving livelihoods. He said: "Our... economic model has been neutralised because it relies on exploitation of raw materials…
Norway court rejects environmental order against oil and gas field
The Norwegian Court of Appeal ruled on Monday in favor of the Government in an appeal brought by environmentalists who wanted to stop the development of three gas and oil fields. Greenpeace, among others, sued the Norwegian Government to stop the development of new oil and natural gas resources. This is the latest dispute related to climate change. In January, a lower court found that Norway's Energy Ministry failed to assess fully the climate impact of future oil and gas use in the fields, also known as scope three emissions.
East Timor spoke with Sinopec and other Chinese companies about stalled multibillion dollar gas project, President says
After a disagreement with Australia about the future of the joint field, East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta announced on Wednesday that it had spoken with Chinese companies, including the state-owned Sinopec, to develop the Greater Sunrise gasfield. The field's revenues, estimated at $65billion in 2018, are vital to the economy. However, the development of the project has been held up for years due to disagreements between Australia, who shares the field with the country, and Woodside Energy.
East Timor spoke with Sinopec and other Chinese companies about a stalled multibillion dollar gas project, President says
After a disagreement with Australia about the future of the joint field, East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta announced on Wednesday that it had spoken with Chinese companies, including the state-owned Sinopec, to develop the Greater Sunrise gasfield. The field's revenues, estimated at $65billion in 2018, are vital to the economy. However, the development of the project has been held up for years due to disagreements between Australia, who shares the field with the country, and Woodside Energy.
Petrobras claims that the Sirius gas field in Colombia could produce 13.3 million cubic metres of gas per day.
Petrobras' exploration general manager Rogerio Soares, who spoke at a conference for the industry on Thursday, said that Colombia's offshore Sirius well could produce 13.3 million cubic metres per day in 10 years. Soares, speaking at the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP)'s forum on oil and gas in Cartagena, said that the initial concept of Sirius envisioned the first offshore gas production in 2029- 2030. Four wells would be producing and a total of 13,3 million cubic metres per day was expected for a period of 10 years.
Gas prices in Europe are falling, but the Middle East premium is still there
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas fell on Thursday morning, but they remain close to their highest levels in a week as fears persist about disruptions in gas production in the Middle East due to the intensifying conflict in that region. LSEG data shows that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was down 0.20 euro at 38.47 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), which is $12.45 mmBtu at 0850 GMT. The British equivalent fell by 0.10 pence to 96.30 pence a therm.
Grid operator: Dutch gas reserves must be 90% full before 25/26 winter.
The Netherlands must have its gas storages at 90% capacity by the beginning of winter 2025/2026 to avoid shortages in the event of a severe cold snap, Dutch national grid operator GTS announced on Monday. Why is it important? Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Netherlands are now heavily dependent on imported gas due to the permanent closure of Groningen's major gas field. A disruption in supply could cause shortages both in the Netherlands as well as abroad.
ConocoPhillips wins approval from a judge for the seizure of payments made to Venezuelan PDVSA
ConocoPhillips won approval from a Trinidad court on Friday to seize payments made by the Caribbean nation to Venezuela's oil company in connection with a proposed offshore project between the two countries. ConocoPhillips is trying to recover money for many years from Petroleos de Venezuela for the expropriation of its assets. PDVSA paid Conoco $700 million as part of a settlement deal, but stopped payments at the end of 2019. Conoco, since then, has tried to enforce arbitral rulings against Venezuelan and PDVSA.
Kazakhstan asks for a delay in maintenance of the giant Kashagan Oilfield.
Trading sources familiar with the matter claim that Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry has asked shareholders to delay next year's maintenance, which was scheduled to start at the site on October 1st. Two sources claim that the ministry requested a delay in a letter sent to the partners of the North Caspian Operating Company consortium (NCOC), which operates Kashagan. The letter cited the fear of natural gas shortages during the winter season as the main reason. They added that a decision is expected on September 10.
