Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Ministry Of Petroleum News

NYK Signs Multi-Year Deal with GAIL (India) Limited for Charter of LNG Carrier

Grace Emilia is equipped with a WinGD-made dual-fuel slow-speed X-DF diesel engine. Photo courtesy NYK

NYK signed a multi-year time-charter contract with GAIL (India) Limited, India's largest natural gas company, for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. Grace Emilia, the vessel that will be chartered, is equipped with a WinGD-made dual-fuel slow-speed X-DF diesel engine, a unit that has superior fuel-consumption efficiency and can operate on marine gas oil or boil off gas stored in the cargo tank. The vessel also features a re-liquefaction system that can use re-liquefied excess boil-off gas and return it to the cargo tank.The cargo tank has a 174,000 cu.

India's June Fuel Demand Recovers as Lockdowns Ease

© Lakshmiprasad / Adobe Stock

India's fuel demand recovered last month after slumping to a nine-month low in May, as restrictions to curb the spread of the pandemic were eased and mobility picked up.Fuel consumption, a proxy for oil demand, rose 8% from May to 16.34 million tonnes, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas showed on Friday.A second COVID-19 wave, which stalled mobility and dulled economic activity, dragged fuel consumption to its lowest since August in May.Pandemic infections have…

Nigeria Launches Licensing Round for Marginal Oilfields

Image by Jan / AdobeStock

Nigeria has launched its first licensing round for marginal oilfields in nearly 20 years, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said on Monday, despite court rulings last week that barred some of the fields from being auctioned.Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks that are typically developed by indigenous companies. The new licensing round is the first marginal field round since 2002, which the country hopes will boost oil output and bring in much-needed revenues from fees associated with the licenses."A total of 57 fields located on land…

PGNiG Acquires Duva Field in Norway

PGNiG Upstream Norway, a subsidiary of Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG), has obtained a final administrative consent to purchase additional 10% interests in the PL636 and PL636B licences in the North Sea.Following the transaction, PGNiG Upstream Norway’s (PUN) interests in both licences increased to 30%. As a result, the volume of Duva field gas production attributable to the Company will rise to 0.2 bcm per year.“Acquisition of fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is one of the investment priorities of the PGNiG Group.

Chrysaor Buys Stakes in OKEA’s 2 Licenses

North Sea oil producer Chrysaor Norge has exercised an option to buy stakes in OKEA’s Grevling and Storskrymten discoveries offshore Norway.The Norwegean oil production company OKEA confirmed the sale of 20% of the Company's participating interest in Grevling (PL 038D) and 18.57% of the Company’s participating interest in Storskrymten (PL 974) following Chrysaor's options exercise.The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has approved Chrysaor's purchase, said a stock exchange announcement.Completion of the transactions is expected to occur no later than 31 December 2019…

PGNiG Ups Stake in Duva Field, Norway

PGNiG Upstream Norway bought 10 percent shares in the PL636 and PL636B licenses in the North Sea from Pandion Energy, thus increasing its ownership in the Duva field to 30 percent.Duva oil and gas field (formerly Cara) is located in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea at a water depth of 360m. The field is jointly owned by Idemitsu Petroleum Norge (30%), Neptune Energy Norge (30%, operator), Pandion Energy (20%) and Wellesley Petroleum (20%).“Increasing our share in the deposit, which is close to starting production, brings us nearer to achieving the goal of implementing our strategy for natural gas extraction on the Norwegian Continental Shelf…

Solvberg Appointed NPD Director General

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has announced the appointment of Ingrid Solvberg as Director for the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, replacing Bente Nyland.According to a note from NPD, Sølvberg was appointed by the King in Council on 11 October. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has not yet set the date for the transition.The director general position in the NPD is posted as a fixed term engagement of six years, with the option of an additional six-year period. Bente Nyland’s second term period will expire…

Cost Estimates at Equinor Norway Fields Goes Up

The cost of developing two major Norwegian oil and gas fields has increased due to the complexity of the projects, with the start of production delayed for one of them.The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy reports on the status of major projects that are currently undergoing development or have recently started operation.Thirteen of Equinor’s projects are on this list. Eight of the projects have reduced costs since submitting their plans for development and operation, one project remains unchanged, while four projects have reported higher costs.Two projects have seen an increase greater than 20 per cent…

BP Sells Egypt Assets to Dragon Oil

BP chief executive Bob Dudley (Photo: BP)

BP said on Monday it has agreed to sell its interests in Gulf of Suez oil concessions in Egypt to Dubai-based Dragon Oil, as part of the supermajor’s plan to divest more than $10 billion in global assets over the next two years.Under the terms of the deal, Dragon Oil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), will purchase producing and exploration concessions, including BP’s interest in the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (GUPCO).The deal, which is subject to the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ approval, is expected to complete during the second half of 2019.

Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 Plan Approved

Johan Sverdrup Phase 2 (Image: Equinor)

Norwegian authorities have formally approved the plan for development and operation (PDO) of the second phase of the Johan Sverdrup field, Equinor announced on Wednesday. The Norwegian energy company said the NOK 41 billion ($4.7 billion) project received broad support in Norway’s parliament at the end of April, and today the partnership received the formal approval by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE).“This is a big day for Equinor and the other Johan Sverdrup partners comprising Lundin Norway, Petoro, Aker BP and Total,” said Anders Opedal, executive vice president for Technology, Projects and Drilling in Equinor.

Senegal Awards LNG, Oil Advisory Job to Doris Engineering

French engineering services provider Doris Engineering has been awarded an advisor contract by the Senegalese ministry of petroleum and energies for the development of oil & gas projects offshore Senegal.This two-year mission consists in reviewing the optimization and the robustness of the field development performed on these projects to be in line with the Ministry expectations. It focuses on two projects: Grand Tortue Ahmeyim, operated by BP, and the SNE project, operated by Woodside.Grand Tortue Ahmeyim is located at the border between Senegal and Mauritania and lies in ultradeep-water.

CGG Survey Favours Gabon's Offshore Expansion

Geoscience company CGG is extending its Gabon multiclient data footprint with a 9,800-km offset 2D seismic survey in an unexplored deepwater area of the South basin.The integrated Geoscience company said it is building on the recent success of its 25,000-sq-km 3D BroadSeis survey, which led to the Boudji-1 and Ivela-1 oil discoveries. A subset of the data over the offered license blocks will be available in advance of Gabon's 12th offshore licensing round planned for June 2019.The new 2D data will help define the full extent of existing and new plays in the region.

Aker BP Bags 21 in Norwegian Licensing Round

The oil exploration and development company focusing petroleum resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf Aker BP has been offered interests in 21 new production licenses in Norway, of which 11 as operator, through the Awards in pre-defined areas (APA 2018) licensing round.Of the 21 production licenses awarded to Aker BP, 12 are located in the North Sea (5 as operator), 3 in the Norwegian Sea (2 as operator) and 6 in the Barents Sea (4 as operator)."We are excited about the opportunities in the licenses that Aker BP has been awarded today…

Equinor Grabs 29 New Licenses on Norwegian Continental Shelf

Norwegian energy major Equinor has been awarded 29 new licences by Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy as part of the Award in Predefined Areas (APA) for 2018 – 13 licences as operator and 16 as partner.Norway's government says it awarded a record 83 licenses for exploration in mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf, in a welcome sign of continuing interest in the country’s oil sector.“The APA rounds are important for Equinor to maintain exploration activity and replenish our portfolio on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

OKEA Gets Approval to Acquire Shell's Draugen, Gjoa Fields

Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and Ministry of Finance has approved the transaction from AS Norske Shell and OKEA concerning the transfer of the licenses associated with the Draugen field in the Norwegian Sea and the Gjøa field in the North Sea.The Trondheim-based oil company informed in a press release that the Ministry of Petroleum has also approved OKEA as new operator for the Draugen field.AS Norske Shell and OKEA AS aims to close the transaction on November 30, it said.Norwegian producer backed by private…

Vedanta Granted Rajasthan Extension

The Government of India, acting through the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has granted its approval for a 10-year extension of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Vedanta subsidiary Cairn, Oil & Gas at the onshore Rajasthan Block RJ-ON-90/1.The tenure of the RJ Block PSC, which was due to expire on May 14, 2020, has been extended for an additional period of 10 years with effect from May 15, 2020.

Maritime Decarbonization: The Path Starts in Norway

Images Courtesy: Brødrene Aa

Breaking new ground: the all-electric, zero-emissions Future of The FjordsNorwegian cruise vessel offers amazing tourist experience while protecting fragile UNESCO World Heritage environmentFuture of the Fjords, the world’s first all-electric and completely emissions-free ship, launched in April this year by Norwegian tours operator The Fjords, is now operating as a cruise vessel on the spectacular Gudvangen to Flåm route along the Nærøyfjord, Sognefjord and Aurlandsfjord of western Norway. Future of The Fjords was commissioned as part of the shipowner’s program of fleet renewal with the backing of Fjord1…

Johan Castberg PDO Approved

Photo: Equinor

The plan for development and operation of the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea was approved by the Norwegian Parliament on Monday, June 11. The plan will now be submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for formal approval.With first oil scheduled for 2022, the field has a production horizon of 30 years. Capital expenditures for the project are NOK 49 billion ($6.2 bln), and recoverable resources are estimated at 450-650 million barrels of oil equivalent. The field development consists of a production vessel and a comprehensive subsea system, including a total of 30 wells distributed on 10 templates and 2 satellite structures.

If Subsidized, Statoil Will Eye Norway's Offshore Wind

Photo: Statoil

Norway's Statoil may take part in the country's first tender to build floating offshore wind turbines, as long as there are sufficient long-term subsidies, Chief Executive Eldar Saetre told Reuters on Tuesday. "If there are (offshore wind) opportunities in Norway being opened with a relevant incentive structure that makes it profitable, that's obviously something that we will assess," Saetre said on the sidelines of a conference. "It would have to be subsidised, definitely, for a long time," he added. The Norwegian state…

South Sudan: U.S. Sanctions Undermine 'search for peace'

U.S. sanctions on 15 South Sudanese oil operators will work against efforts to restore peace and stability in the nation, the government said on Thursday. The sanctions, which were announced on Wednesday, will require companies and government bodies to apply for special licences to do business in the United States, an action designed to increase pressure on President Salva Kiir to end the conflict and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. "These measures are viewed by the Ministry of Petroleum as counterproductive to the shared mission of the Republic of South Sudan's and the United States' governments to bring peace and stability to South Sudan…