Energean reports a rise in its annual profit and flags exploration costs
Energean, a UK-based gas company, reported a 2% increase in its annual profit after taxes on Thursday. However, it also flagged $241 million in impairments relating to assets located in Egypt, Morrocco, and Greece. The company reported a profit of $188 millions for the year ending December 31, 2024. This is up from $185 in 2023. The company stated that the increasing demand for electricity and the government's plan to phase out coal in Israel have increased the demand for natural gas in Israel, which is the majority of the country's production.
Mexico's Pemex has confirmed that it is in discussions with Slim regarding Ixachi investments.
Claudia Sheinbaum, president of the Mexican Energy Company Pemex, said that Pemex was in discussions with Carlos Slim's companies about an investment into Ixachi, Mexico's largest natural gas field. Last week, it was revealed that officials from Pemex's and Slim’s companies were considering an alleged mixed contract for Ixachi field in Veracruz and a joint operation agreement for deepwater Zama in the Gulf of Mexico. Sheinbaum said that GrupoCarso, which is one of Slim’s companies, was already involved with some aspects of Ixachi’s operation.
Sources: Russian-Kazakh joint venture suspends LPG supply from Orenburg plant because of EU sanctions
Kazrosgaz is a joint venture between Russia’s Gazprom, and Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas. It has suspended production of liquefied gas and its supplies at the Orenburg gas processing facility in Russia this year because EU sanctions have been imposed on imports from Russia for propane and propane butane. Kazrosgaz delivers raw natural gas from Kazakhstan's Karachaganak gas field to Orenburg gas treatment plant in Russia. The company usually sells its LPG to Europe through trading firms.
Mexican tycoon Slim targets two of Pemex’s key fields to gain clout within the energy sector
Sources familiar with the matter say that the Mexican state energy company Pemex has been in contact with Carlos Slim, and the billionaire could be asked to help fund two of the most promising crude oil fields and natural gas deposits in the country. These negotiations, which were not previously reported, show Slim's increasing influence in Mexico's energy sector. His business empire, which includes telecommunications and banking, retail, insurance, and hospitality, is expanding.
Boeing, Apple and GE will join US business delegation to Vietnam next week list shows
A list of participants, including Boeing, Apple, and other top U.S. companies in tech, defence, and energy, will be joining a large mission to Vietnam, next week. This could be a sign of confidence, as Vietnam tries to avoid U.S. tariffs on trade. The US-ASEAN Business Council is an advocacy group that organizes the annual mission. This year, Vietnam is reviewing its tariffs on U.S. products, including liquefied gas, agricultural and high-tech goods, while U.S.
Egypt leases German gas liquefaction units to boost production
The Egyptian Petroleum Ministry announced in a Tuesday statement that Egypt plans to lease an German floating gas-liquefaction unit. Egypt, the largest Arab country by population, is seeking to increase production of its offshore giant Zohr gas field in order to meet the rising demand for domestic gas during the summer heat. Eni, the operator of Zohr, resumed drilling in late October after the output in the largest Mediterranean gas field dropped to 1.9 billion cubic foot per day by early 2024. This is well below the maximum reached in 2019.
Vitol signs 10-year LNG contract for delivery to Philippines
Vitol, a global energy trading company, announced that it had signed a long term deal with a Philippine-based entity to supply LNG to the country starting in 2025. It is the first long-term LNG supply agreement signed in the Philippines. The country only started importing super-chilled fuels in 2023. In a 10-year deal with LNGPH, Vitol has agreed to supply LNG up to 0.8 millions tons annually. The trading house announced this in a late-Tuesday statement.
Leviathan Partners eye large expansion of natgas fields for Israel and export
One of the partners said that the Israeli Leviathan project, which involves the offshore natural gas field, has submitted to the government a multi-billion-dollar plan for the expansion and boosting of production. NewMed Energy's plan, which it submitted to the Energy Minister’s Petroleum Commissioner, calls for drilling three additional production systems as well as expanding the processing facilities at the platform. This will increase the total gas production capability to 21 billion cubic meters (bcm), a cost of $2.4 billion.
Cyprus and Chevron led group agree on updated offshore field plan
Cyprus and the Chevron-led group have reached an agreement on a new development plan for an offshore gas field near Cyprus. The two parties released a joint press release on Friday. Chevron tried to change a field development plan for 2019 and this led to protracted discussions on the future of the Aphrodite field, south-east from Cyprus. This plan was agreed upon between Cyprus and Noble, a former license holder and independent energy operator Chevron purchased in 2020.
Equinor will continue with the Rosebank oil and Gas Project in Britain
The UK manager of Equinor, the Norwegian oil and natural gas producer, said Wednesday at a conference on energy in New Delhi that the company will continue to develop its Rosebank oil field. Equinor, along with its partner Ithaca Energy, wants to develop the Rosebank Oil and Gas Field. However the plans to develop one of Britain's final major oil reservoirs have been a lightning-rod for climate activists who are calling for an end to fossil fuel production.
Mexico's Carlos Slim: 'Complicated' deepwater project being evaluated
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim announced on Monday that he and his team are re-evaluating the deal they signed with Pemex, Mexico's state oil company to develop Mexico’s first deepwater gas field. The project has been plagued by issues over its commercial viability for years. The comments are in line with an exclusive published last month, which revealed that representatives from Grupo Carso of Slim and Pemex had discussed changes to the agreement to make the Lakach Project profitable despite lower gas prices forecast.
Reforms to the Mexican oil company Pemex will give it more flexibility in forming partnerships
A bill that was sent to Congress Wednesday will allow Pemex, the state-owned Mexican oil company, to work with private companies. This will ease restrictions imposed by the previous administration. The bill is expected to be passed by a large margin. Pemex can then enter into exploration and extraction contracts with private companies, after these contracts were canceled by the former president Andres Manuel Obrador. In August, just before Lopez Obrador’s successor Claudia Sheinbaum assumed office in October of that year…
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Mexico's Pemex, billionaire Slim renegotiate deepwater gas project
Five sources with knowledge of the situation said that the team of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and the state energy company Pemex were discussing significant changes to the deal to develop Mexico's first deepwater gas field. Grupo Carso, Slim's Mexican holding firm, signed a partnership agreement with Pemex last year in order to jointly develop the Lakach oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. The deal was made to revive the project that the state-owned company had twice abandoned due to high costs. Mexico-U.S.
Energean UK forecasts higher production in 2025 on the strong Israel growth
Energean, a UK-based producer of gas, said it expected higher production levels in 2025. The company is betting on increased sales in Israel, its main market. The company, which gets its main production from a gas field offshore Israel, wants to double production in the next few years. It will do this primarily by developing new prospects in Israel including the Katlan Field. In 2024, the company produced 114,000 barrels equivalent per day (boepd) from its operations. Of this 112,000 boepd was sourced from Israel.
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.
