Biden officials ask EU methane regulations to be aligned with US rules to ease LNG flow, says letter
According to a letter obtained by the, President Joe Biden’s administration asked that the European Union ensure that liquefied gas imports meeting U.S. regulations for methane automatically meet Europe’s standards. The linking of U.S. methane and EU standards will protect the United States' LNG trade with Europe, while also securing Biden's rules on methane even if these are repealed in the future by Donald Trump's administration.
U.S. Climate Bill Exempts most of Oil Industry from Methane Fees
The U.S. Senate climate bill’s fee on oil and gas industry methane emissions will cover less than half the sector’s releases of the powerful greenhouse gas, thanks to concessions made to win over party holdout Joe Manchin, according to a review of the legislation and interviews with lawmakers that negotiated it.The reduced scope of the fee is among numerous changes made by Senate Democratic leadership to secure a deal on the hard-won Inflation Reduction Act…
Electrification is Key to Decarbonizing the North Sea
The UK government has set ambitious climate change targets within the oil and gas industry, with The North Sea Transition deal aiming to reduce emissions by 50% before 2030. In the most recent emissions report published by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the 2025 and 2027 targets appear achievable through natural field decline, targeted flaring reduction initiatives, and improved plant production efficiencies.
Floating Offshore Wind: Attention Turns Subsea for Power Transport
From being an ugly duckling, floating offshore wind is now the Cinderella of the offshore renewables world. Attention is now being paid to floating and even subsea substation concepts to help bring this power to shore. Over the past year, expectations around the growth in the floating offshore wind development have grown, significantly. Many are piling into the market, seeing that it could give them a chance to ramp up renewables capacity quickly…
Oil Gains, with Brent above $40
Oil rose on Wednesday, with Brent above $40 for the first time since March, as optimism mounted that major producers will extend output cuts and a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will spur fuel demand.Brent crude futures for August were up 78 cents, or 2%, at $40.35 a barrel, by 0636 GMT. The contract climbed to as high as $40.53, the highest since March 6, after gaining 3.3% on Tuesday.U.S.
Petrofac Expecting Full-year Revenue Dip
Oilfield services provider Petrofac Ltd guided to a more than 5% fall in full-year revenue on Tuesday, with delays in bidding processes constricting order intake in its biggest segment during the second half.Petrofac, which designs, builds and operates oil and gas facilities, said revenue for the year ending Dec. 31 would be $5.5 billion, down from $5.8 billion a year earlier.Backlog stood at $7.4 billion as at Nov.
Jutal Offshore Wins Contracts Worth $490m
Chinese oil and gas techincal services company Jutal Offshore Oil Services has announced that the company has obtained a slew of new contracts with total value of RMB3.5bn ($490mln).The number of new contracts include large-scale core modules construction of Arctic LNG 2 natural gas project, wind turbine jacket construction, and other offshore engineering and services said the company…
Bribery Probe Slows Petrofac Sales
Petrofac Ltd on Wednesday reported a fall in first-half order intake and forecast lower 2020 revenue, citing uncertainty relating to an investigation into the oilfield services company's dealings in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.Petrofac, which designs, builds and operates oil and gas facilities, said in June it had lost out on $10 billion worth of contracts globally due to the investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO)…
Gazprom Neft Expands to Siberia
Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft has secured hydrocarbon exploration, development and production rights to the Leninsky license block in the Gydan Peninsula.The Leninsky license block is located in the Gydan Peninsula in the Taymyrsky district of the Krasnoyarsky Krai, bordered on one side by the Tazovsky district of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and on the other by the Kara Sea.The total size of the block is 3,650 square kilometres.
Port Corpus Christi to benefit from LNG partnership with China
Port Corpus Christi officials are confident that the agreement signed between Cheniere Energy of Houston and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will bring increased traffic to the port, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. Officials from Cheniere accompanies President Trump on his tour to China and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese company. CNPC…
Oil Rises as Kirkuk-Iraqi Fighting Escalates
Iraq forces move into oil-rich, Kurdish-held Kirkuk. Oil markets jumped on Monday as Iraqi forces entered the oil city of Kirkuk, taking territory from Kurdish fighters and raising concerns over exports from OPEC's second-largest producer. Iraq launched the operation in the multi-ethnic region on Sunday as the crisis between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) escalated. Tensions have been building since the KRG voted for independence in a Sept. 25 referendum.
Petrofac JV Wins $2 Bln Refinery Contract in Oman
Petrofac Ltd said Oman's Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries awarded a $2 billion contract to the British oilfield services company's 50:50 joint venture with Samsung Engineering, sending its shares up as much as 9.5 percent. The 47-month project includes engineering, procurement, construction, training and start-up operations for all utilities at Duqm, the Middle East-focused company said on Friday.
Trump Signs Order Sweeping away Obama-era Climate Policies
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to undo a slew of Obama-era climate change regulations that his administration says is hobbling oil drillers and coal miners, a move environmental groups have vowed to take to court. The decree's main target is former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan that required states to slash carbon emissions from power plants…
Trump to Reverse Many Obama-era Climate Policies
U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday to undo a slew of Obama-era climate change regulations, a move meant to bolster domestic energy production and create jobs, but environmentalists say the order is dangerous and vow to challenge it in court. The decree's main target is former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan, requiring states to slash carbon…
Alberta Orphan Well Tally Jumps as Lexin Licences Suspended
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) suspended licences on all oil and gas well facilities and pipelines belonging to Lexin Resources Ltd on Wednesday, nearly doubling the number of orphaned wells in Canada's main crude-producing province. The provincial regulator ordered privately-held Lexin to cease all production, saying it failed to comply with multiple orders and lacked enough staff to manage its more than 1,600 sites.
US Completes Rule to Curb Methane from Federal O&G Production
The U.S. Interior Department finalized rules on Tuesday aimed at preventing methane leaks from oil and gas production on federal and tribal lands, one of the last major Obama administration rules aimed at fighting climate change. Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said on Tuesday the rule, updating 30-year-old regulations that govern flaring, venting and natural gas leaks from oil and gas production…
Militants Blow up NPDC Pipeline
Militants have blown up a crude oil pipeline operated by Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC in the Niger Delta, a youth leader said on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks on oil and gas facilities in the restive region. "The attack on the Afiesere-Ekiugbo delivery line belonging to the NPDC shoreline happened yesterday," said Lucky Solue, a youth leader, referring to a unit of NNPC. There was no immediate information on any impact on production.
Nigeria Peg Oil at $42.5, Production at 2.2 mln bpd
Nigeria is assuming an oil benchmark price of $42.5 per barrel for 2017, $45 in 2018 and $50 in 2019 for its budget calculations, the budget minister said on Monday. Nigeria, an OPEC member, has been hit by a series of attacks on oil and gas facilities in the southern Niger Delta energy hub since January that have cut oil production, which was 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of the year, by 700,000 bpd.
IMF Predicts Nigeria's Economy Will Contract in 2016
Nigeria's economy, the biggest in Africa, is likely to contract by 1.8 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with the impact of low oil prices. The sharp fall in global prices since 2014 has led to a prolonged economic crisis since the crude sales make up around 70 percent of government revenue. The IMF's projection for this year…
Nigerian Oil Trade Union Suspends Strike
A Nigerian union representing oil workers has suspended a strike that some feared would lead to fuel shortages and disrupt crude production, one of its leaders said on Wednesday. The strike by about 10,000 members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), which includes refinery workers and office staff, began on Thursday over issues that include oil sector reforms and pay.
