Battery-Electric Surge: ESS Scales Up in Maritime
Ask the right government department in any G7 state and you’ll find funding to put battery power for your vessel. Beyond funds, new battery makers and system integrators are ironing out safety issues, and a growing number of giga-sized cell factories offer hope that costs will fall for marine energy storage, as ESS choice grows. Efforts are also underway to recycle rare earth elements and to augment or greenify staggeringly high plant electricity inputs.
Norway Fund to Sell E&P Firms
Norway's trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, will sell its stakes in oil and gas explorers and producers but still invest in energy firms that have refineries and other downstream activities, according to a government plan.The proposal announced on Friday said the fund's stakes in integrated companies, such as Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and other majors involved in everything from exploration to selling fuel at the roadside…
Norway's Snow Crab Ruling Boosts Oil Claim
A court delivered a painful nip to European Union fishermen on Thursday by tightening Norway's grip on snow crab catches in the Arctic, a ruling that may also let Oslo claw more control of oil and gas from other nations.Fishermen from the European Union must ask permission from Oslo to catch snow crab — whose meat is a delicacy for gourmets from Canada to Japan — in Arctic waters north of Norway, the Norwegian Supreme Court said in a unanimous…
Exxon to Be Indonesia's Top Oil Producer
Exxon Mobil Corp unit Exxon Mobil Cepu Limited is expected to produce 216,000 barrels per day of crude oil in 2019, making it Indonesia's biggest oil producer, the country's upstream oil and gas regulator (SKKMigas) said.In second place Chevron Corp unit Chevron Pacific Indonesia is expected to produce 190,000 bpd of crude oil in 2019, SKKMigas chief Dwi Soetjipto told reporters on Wednesday.State-owned Pertamina unit Pertamina EP is expected to produce 85,000 bpd of oil in 2019.Pertamina unit Pertamina Hulu Mahakam is tipped to become the country's
Norway Supreme Court Hears Snow Crab Case with Implication for Oil
Norway's Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Tuesday on whether EU ships can fish for snow crab off Arctic islands north of Norway without permission from Oslo, a case that could decide who has the right to explore for oil in the region.At stake is whether the snow crab - whose meat is considered a delicacy by gourmets in Japan and South Korea - is a sedentary species living on the seabed or a fish stock that moves around - and who gets to decide about it.If it is seen as a sedentary species…
Orsted Loses Political Support for Divestment
Shares in Orsted fell on Monday after the energy company, which is 50.1 percent owned be the Danish state, on Sunday announced that there was no longer political support for the divestment of its power business.The world's largest offshore wind farm developer had put its Danish power distribution and residential customer businesses up for sale in June to focus on developing its international renewable energy operations.But as Denmark's Social Democrats, the main opposition party, on Sunday said it no longer supported the sale because it wanted democ
Indonesia to Issue Rules on Crude Oil Sales Next Week
* Indonesia expects to issue rules next week prioritising Pertamina and other domestic refinery operators in sales of crude oil produced locally by contractors, Oil and Gas Director Djoko Siswanto said on Wednesday* The rules require Pertamina to agree on crude purchases at prices based on business negotiations with domestic oil producers, Siswanto told reporters at a news conference* This could affect up to 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil produced by Chevron and 27,000 bpd from Exxon Mobil at their operations in Indonesia, he said* The rules h
Orsted Buys US Onshore Wind Developer LCE
Danish energy group Orsted has agreed to buy U.S. onshore wind farm developer Lincoln Clean Energy (LCE) in a $580 million deal, aiming to gain a foothold in what it sees as a key growth market.The acquisition is the latest move for Orsted as it seeks to shed its fossil fuel business and become an entirely green energy company.Orsted, which has so far mainly developed offshore wind farms in Europe, said the global market for onshore wind power…
Indonesia's Pertamina to Take Over Chevron's Rokan Block in 2021
Indonesia has decided Pertamina will take over operation of the Rokan oil block, the country's second-biggest crude producing field, once Chevron's operating contract there expires in 2021, Deputy Energy Minister Arcandra Tahar said on Tuesday.Rokan has been a focus area for Chevron, which asked Indonesia earlier this year to extend its operating contract beyond 2021.A proposal made by Chevron for an extension of its contract after 2021 was "far below" an offer made by Pertamina…
Chevron exits Indonesia's Makassar Strait block
Chevron will exit the Makassar Strait gas block in the Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD) offshore natural gas project to focus on more promising areas in the venture, Indonesian officials said on Wednesday.Indonesia's energy minister had issued a decree terminating Chevron's Makassar Strait production sharing contract (PSC) after it decided not to extend its operation of the block beyond 2020, upstream oil and gas regulator SKKMigas said."Chevron was not interested in requesting an extension," SKKMigas chairman Amien Sunaryadi told reporters.
Pertamina Ends 'Unfeasible' LNG Terminal Project
Indonesia's state owned energy holding company, Pertamina, has decided not to go ahead with what would have been the country's second land-based receiving terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG), its chief executive said on Monday.Indonesia has forecast sharp increases in gas demand after 2020, but increases in domestic consumption of the super-cooled fuel have been hampered by an abundance of cheap coal and sluggish development of gas infrastructure."Today we are not going ahead…
Noble Group to Exit Oil Trading: Sources
Trader exodus in London, Singapore; Vitol bought core of oil business based in Americas in Oct. Noble Group is closing down its London oil desk and winding down its Asia oil operations, sources familiar with the matter said, as heavy losses and high debt force what was once Asia's biggest commodities trader to restructure. The closures follow the sale of its larger U.S. oil trading business to Vitol, announced in October, and a nine-month loss of some $3 billion reported in November.
Maersk Drilling: One Dead After Tambar Oilfield Accident
Maersk Drilling said on Friday that an employee, a Norwegian citizen, has died following an accident on a drilling rig at Aker BP's Tambar oilfield off Norway on Thursday. Another person was injured and is receiving medical treatment but his condition is not critical, said Maersk Drilling, which is owned by A.P. Moller-Maersk. The field's production has been shut, Aker BP said in a separate announcement. Reporting by Teis Jensen
Indonesia to Keep OPEC Membership Frozen
Indonesia will keep a freeze on its membership of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), deputy energy minister Arcandra Tahar said on Tuesday, following "directions" from the country's President. Indonesia's OPEC membership was suspended in December 2016, less than a year after it rejoined the cartel, when the net oil importer could not agree to production cuts. "There are several reasons, but what is clear the decision was we will keep the (membership) freeze," Tahar told reporters, declining to comment further.
North American Exodus at PetroChina Sparks Speculation
A flurry of departures across the U.S. and Canadian units of Chinese state energy firm PetroChina Co Ltd have sparked speculation that the oil trader is reducing its presence in North America, even though the company says it is committed to the region. More than 30 people in its Houston and Calgary offices have left PetroChina since 2016, including heads of desks in crude, financial, natural gas and chemical trading, the company confirmed to Reuters.
Big MHI Vestas Test Wind Turbine on Fire
A test version of MHI Vestas' V164, the world's most powerful windturbine, has caught fire at a test centre in the west of Denmark. "Our technicians and experts will look into what has caused the fire," a Vestas spokesman told Reuters, declining to comment further. The V164 model is MHI Vestas' top model designed to challenge Siemens Gamesa, the market leader in the growing offshore market. MHI Vestas is a joint venture of Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Denmark's Vestas.
Brent Oil Climbs Above $50 for First Time Since Early June
Brent crude oil rose above $50 per barrel for the first time since early June on Thursday, adding to gains made the previous session when falling U.S. crude and oil product inventories lifted the market. Brent futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, stood at $50.10 at 1257 GMT, 40 cents up from their last settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $47.42 per barrel, 30 cents higher. Both benchmarks were…
DONG to Sell O&G Business to Ineos for $1.3 Bln
Danish utility and offshore wind farm developer DONG Energy has agreed to sell its oil and gas business to petrochemicals firm Ineos for $1.3 billion, it said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of North Sea deals. The sale is a blow to shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk , which had sought to merge its oil and gas business with DONG into a company worth more than $10 billion as part of a major restructuring. Talks between the two stalled late last year over price…
Indonesia Offers 15 Oil Blocks amid Thin Industry Interest
Indonesia is offering 15 conventional and unconventional oil and gas blocks to potential bidders, government officials said on Friday, hoping more flexible terms will help reverse flagging interest in the sector after lacklustre performance in 2016. This year the government is applying new production sharing rules and will revise rules on recoverable costs and cut import duties on exploration equipment where possible, said deputy energy minister Arcandra Tahar, among efforts to incentivise new investment.
Goldman Sachs to Sell 2.1% of DONG Energy
Goldman Sachs has launched an accelerated bookbuilt offering to institutional investors of 8.8 million existing shares in Danish utility and offshore wind farm developer Dong Energy, the U.S investment bank said on Monday. The shares are equivalent to 2.1 percent of the existing shares in Dong Energy and are owned by New Energy Investment, which is indirectly owned by Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs and Danske Bank are acting as joint global coordinators and reserve the right to close the books at any time.
