Oil And Gas Discoveries Hit 4-Year High
The global oil and gas explorers powered ahead and discovered 12.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in 2019, the highest volume since 2015.According to Rystad Energy, last year recorded 26 discoveries of more than 100 million boe, with offshore regions dominating the list of new oil and gas deposits.Guyana’s success story from 2018 continued in 2019, with ExxonMobil adding four new discoveries within its offshore Stabroek block, while Tullow Oil’s Jethro and Joe exploration wells established the presence of a working petroleum system to the west of the Stabroek block.
EGPC Leads Oil, Gas Discoveries in Q3 2019
Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) led globally among companies in the third quarter (Q3) 2019 in terms of the highest number of oil and gas discoveries, said GlobalData.Of the total 38 discoveries made worldwide, EGPC had four, all being onshore discoveries. Of these, three were conventional oil discoveries while the remaining was a conventional gas discovery, said a report from GlobalData.Soorya Tejomoortula, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, explained: “Of the three conventional oil discoveries made by EGPC in Q3 2019…
38 Oil and Gas Discoveries Made in Q3
GlobalData revealed that a total of 38 oil and gas discoveries were made globally in Q3 2019.South America and Europe led globally with the highest number of oil and gas discoveries during the third quarter (Q3) of 2019, with eight discoveries each during the quarter, according to GlobalData.Out of eight discoveries in South America, six are conventional oil discoveries, one is a conventional gas discovery and the remaining is a heavy oil discovery, said the report.Europe had five conventional oil discoveries and three conventional gas discoveries in the quarter.Adithya Rekha…
Deepwater Leads in Discovered Oil and Gas
Half of the 6.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) new conventional oil and gas discoveries in the first half of 2019 were deepwater finds, signalling a return for explorers to high-risk frontier deepwater plays, said analyst Rystad Energy.Year-to-date average monthly discovered volumes above 1.1 billion boe reflect an uptick of approximate 35% compared to the 827 million boe seen in 2018, according to Rystad's mid-year review. It said so far 2019 has been a year of gas discoveries…
Ghana Resurrects LNG Import Terminal with Chinese Deals
Ghana has chosen two Chinese companies to build the infrastructure it needs to import liquefied natural gas, resurrecting the $350 million Tema terminal project that would make the country the first in sub-Saharan Africa to buy LNG.Tema LNG, backed by Africa-focused private equity firm Helios Investment, signed deals with China Harbour Engineering Company to build onshore facilities and Jiangnan Shipyard for a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the Ghanaian government said in a statement issued on Monday.It gave no further financial details of the deals but said $200 million
Norway Offers Record Number of Arctic Exploration Blocks
Norway offered a record number of blocks for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Barents Sea on Wednesday, brushing off concerns about the risks of drilling in the remote, icy environment. The oil ministry proposed 102 blocks, comprising 93 in the Barents Sea and nine in the Norwegian Sea, despite calls from the Norway's Environment Agency to remove about 20 blocks near Bear Island, an important nesting site for Arctic birds. The application deadline for Norway's 24th Arctic licensing round is Nov. 30 and the aim is to announce awards during the first half of 2018, the ministry said.
Global Oil & Gas Finds at 70-year Nadir
Oil and gas discoveries drop to 6 bln barrels in 2016; companies' reserves replacement ratio drops to 10 pct. Oil and gas discoveries around the world dropped last year to their lowest since the 1940s after companies sharply cut back in their search for new resources amid falling oil prices. The decline in discoveries means companies such as Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell will struggle to offset the natural depletion of existing fields, reinforcing forecasts of a supply shortage by the end of the decade.
Offshore Prospects for 2016: Playing the Waiting Game?
This year, the offshore oil and gas industry has had to come to terms with the worst downturn for more than a decade. With commodity prices plummeting to an 11-year low in December, market research and consulting firm Douglas-Westwood (DW) reflects on the year gone by and considers the outlook for the year to come. Offshore rig markets still have a lot to digest before recovery. Rig dayrates have plummeted as a function of significant oversupply. Many of these rigs were ordered in the previous up-cycle, but have only recently entered the fleet at a time when the appetite to drill is poor.
Rare Run of Oil Finds is Little Respite for Price-Hit Explorers
Exploration firms have made a rare run of oil and gas discoveries in recent weeks as more targeted search strategies bear fruit, but they offer little respite to a sector that remains severely bruised by the oil price slump. Global exploration and production (E&P) companies that scour frontier lands and seas in search of new energy reserves have had meagre success in recent years, putting many under pressure before a near halving of oil prices since last June. Seven successful…
Netanyahu: Nothing Will Stop Israel's Natural Gas Development
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to further develop offshore natural gas fields after the country's anti-trust regulator said he would step down to protest against the lack of competition in the gas sector. Netanyahu is under pressure to strike a balance between moving ahead with plans to develop the large Leviathan gas field while creating competition, since Leviathan is owned by the same firms as the nearby Tamar site that started production in 2013. The fields are off Israel's Mediterranean coast.
Wells Fargo Examines Its Energy Loans After Oil Price Drop
Wells Fargo & Co, one of the biggest lenders to U.S. energy companies, is reviewing each of its loans to the sector in the wake of oil prices tumbling 60 percent since last summer, executives said Wednesday. The bank did not think its energy loan portfolio was at risk enough to justify setting aside any money in the fourth quarter to cover possible defaults, Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry told analysts on a Wednesday conference call, adding that energy represented only 2 percent of the banks outstanding loans.
Statoil CEO: Oil & Gas Investments Needed Now
"The scale of the climate challenge requires us not only to ask how we can do more, but how we can achieve the most. Climate change doesn’t stop at borders – and neither should our solutions,” says Statoil CEO Eldar Sætre at the Statoil Autumn Conference. “We need a global approach that stimulates technology innovation,” Sætre continues. In the 2014 World Energy Outlook the International Energy Agency (IEA) presents “New Policies” as the main scenario. In this scenario global energy demand rises by 37% in the period to 2040.
Energy Sector Key to Powering Prosperity in Sub-Saharan Africa
IEA World Energy Outlook Special Report finds that action in the energy sector could unleash an extra decade of growth. Increasing access to modern forms of energy is crucial to unlocking faster economic and social development in sub Saharan Africa, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Africa Energy Outlook, a Special Report in the 2014 World Energy Outlook series. More than 620 million people in the region (two-thirds of the population) live without electricity, and nearly 730 million people rely on dangerous, inefficient forms of cooking.
Gazprom, Sonatrach make O&G find in Algeria
Algerian state energy firm Sonatrach has made a new oil and gas find with Russia's Gazprom following a successful drilling in the desert Berkin basin, bringing to three the number of joint discoveries there, it said on Wednesday. Last week, Algeria awarded just four out of 31 oil and gas fields on offer in its latest energy bidding round as the North African OPEC producer looks to bolster stagnant oil and gas output. All four were won by foreign consortiums. The new discovery was made in the El Assel area at block 236b after drilling reached a final depth of 4…
East and South China Sea Disputes Need Creative Diplomacy
China and the United States appear headed for a damaging confrontation over the extent of China's territorial claims in the South and East China Seas. Now that China has become the world's largest importer of oil, and energy more generally, the country's need to develop more indigenous energy supplies has become urgent. Expecting China to put the South and East China Seas off limits to exploration and production until disputes over sovereignty can be resolved through some undefined legal or diplomatic process is unrealistic.
Britain's Gas Trading Crown at Risk
Dutch hub closing in on British rival; no currency risk for European traders to hedge in euros. Europe's biggest utilities are from Eurozone; waning British dominance in output. Britain's dominance in European natural gas trading is under threat from a Dutch trading hub where volumes are soaring, buoyed in part by Europe's utility companies who prefer to hedge their deals in euros. Britain has been the region's leading gas trading hub since North Sea oil and gas discoveries in the 1970s made it Europe's main producer.
Smaller Firms Will Lead East Africa's Oil and Gas Development
Smaller oil explorers willing to take financial and operational risks will lead the development of East Africa's oil and gas industry as majors ditch riskier projects as margins fall, executives from several oil and gas firms said on Tuesday. The region has emerged as a significant prospect for the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) because of the size of natural gas discoveries there and its proximity to Asia's major LNG consumers. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that more gas lies off the shores of Kenya…
RWE, SOCAR to Study Potential for Oil off Azerbaijan
German utility RWE said it had signed an agreement with Azeri state energy company SOCAR to examine the potential for oil and gas under the shallow waters off Azerbaijan's Caspian coast. RWE said on Wednesday the joint study would make a geological and geophysical evaluation in order to identify exploration opportunities in the area, which covers 850 square kilometres off the Absheron peninsula, south of Baku. RWE did not provide an estimate of the area's reserve potential other than to say the basin is near other "world class oil and gas discoveries".
Offshore Oil & Gas: Brazil’s Northern Frontier
In an effort to spread out oil and gas production to other parts of the country and increase overall oil production, Brazil has finally intensified hydrocarbon exploration along its northeastern and northern coasts. These are some of the poorest regions in the country and infrastructure for oil and gas exploration is minimal, yet significant discoveries and seismic indicators of large reservoirs are tantalizing and have attracted major local and foreign investors. Potential for oil discoveries in the area is proven…
