Sonatrach, Baker Hughes Form JV
State energy company Sonatrach and Baker Hughes, part of GE (BHGE), will set up a joint venture and build an oil equipment plant in Algeria at a cost of $45 million under a deal signed on Thursday, Sonatrach said. Algeria's Sonatrach will hold a 51 percent stake and BHGE the remaining 49 percent in the project which will be based in Azrew in western Algeria, it said in a statement. The site is due to start production in December 2019. "With Sonatrach, we are able to establish a strong manufacturing hub that will increase local capacity and boost exports," BHGE CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said in the statement. Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed
Argentina Cuts Tariffs on Used Oil Equipment Imports
Argentina's government published a decree on Thursday eliminating or reducing tariffs on imports of used equipment for oil and natural gas companies, a measure long sought by the industry, but it included requirements to buy some locally produced goods. The new rules would go into effect on Friday and apply through June 2019, according to a resolution published in the Official Gazette. Developing the Vaca Muerta shale fields, some of the world's largest, is a key goal of Argentine President Mauricio Macri's administration. "In many cases, the goods in question cannot be provided by the local industry…
Tariff Fight Roils Argentina’s Shale Patch
Argentina needs oil rigs to develop its vast shale oil and gas resources. The United States has plenty of idle equipment laying around after its own unconventional drilling boom cooled. But moving that machinery from the plains of Texas to the windswept Patagonian desert is proving complex and costly for global oil majors who say Argentina's protectionist past is slowing efforts to spark its own shale revolution. A move by Argentina's government to cut import taxes on used oil-field equipment has sparked fierce opposition from local manufacturers, who are lobbying the government to include protections for them in a measure they fear will destroy their livelihoods.
Subsidy-Reliant Offshore Wind Takes Cue from Big Oil
From a helicopter, it looks like just another North Sea oil rig, a grey cube supported by massive yellow pillars, 90 kilometres (56 miles) off western Denmark. But the DanTysk facility is the world's first accommodation platform for offshore wind, which is borrowing techniques and labour from the crisis-hit oil sector as it tries to cut costs and end an addiction to state subsidies. The wind industry is moving further offshore and into the deeper waters tamed long ago by oil companies to increase scale and capture stronger and more constant winds.
Former PDVSA Boss Denies $11 Bln Corruption Allegations
Former PDVSA President Rafael Ramirez denied as "irresponsible lies" a Venezuelan congressional investigation accusing the state oil company of corruption to the tune of $11 billion during his decade-long tenure. The National Assembly's comptroller commission on Wednesday accused PDVSA of failing to account for the money, lost it says between 2004 and 2014 when Ramirez was at the helm. "I want to totally DENY the lies, declarations and infamies of those lawmakers and the 'supposed report,'" said Ramirez in a statement published on the website of the Venezuelan mission to the United Nations, which he now leads.
Brazil Oil Measures Could Unlock $120 Bln in Investments
Measures to encourage oil and gas exploration in Brazil published in the official gazette on Wednesday could unlock $120 billion in investments, Energy Minister Eduardo Braga said in a statement. The National Council of Energy Policy (CNPE) authorized the country's oil agency to extend the concession of oil fields auctioned off in 1998 and proposed the extension of a special customs regime for oil equipment known as Repetro, according to the official gazette on Wednesday. (Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Writing by Silvio Cascione)
US Issues Alert on Offshore Oil Equipment Problems
The U.S. Interior Department issued a safety alert on Tuesday, warning offshore oil and gas drillers about a "recurring problem of connector and bolt failures" in equipment including blowout preventers. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), a unit of the department, said it was aware of the problem, which affected components used in risers and underwater blowout preventers used in offshore drilling. "These failures are of great concern to BSEE due to their frequency and the potential for a catastrophic event," the agency said. In 2012, failures led to a global recall of bolts and a temporary stop to drilling activities, BSEE said.
Two Arrested in Venezuelan Corruption Scheme
Two men including an oil equipment supply firm executive have been arrested on charges related to an alleged scheme to corruptly secure energy contracts from Venezuela's state-owned energy company, the U.S. Justice Department said Sunday. Roberto Rincon, the president of Texas-based Tradequip Services & Marine, was arrested on Wednesday in Houston on charges including that he violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and engaged in money laundering, a Justice Department spokesman said. A second defendant, Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas of Coral Gables…
Bargain Hunters Swarm to Oil Equipment Auctions
In an auction room a few dozen potential bidders scan a picture of a used oil drilling rig projected on the wall while an auctioneer raises his voice to drum up enthusiasm. "If you came to this sale not looking for a rig you should be looking at it now," the auctioneer bellows into his microphone. Initial asking price on the rig - complete with water, mud and shale tanks - was C$150,000 ($107,650) and it eventually sold for C$52,500, a fraction of a cost of a new rig that can fetch between $7 million and $15 million. Business is brisk at this 180-acre (0.73 square km) Edmonton site and other North American locations of Ritchie Bros.
GE Profit Rises Despite Flagging Oil Unit Sales
General Electric Co reported a 9 percent rise in quarterly industrial profit on Friday as its businesses that sell power-generating turbines and jet engines helped offset weak sales in its oil and gas unit. Investors have been concerned that plunging oil prices will hurt GE's sales of oil equipment if customers slash spending. Orders in the unit also fell. "It's going to be an albatross ... as long as energy prices stay low," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management. GE Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt said the U.S.
Putin Urges to Develop Russian Science
President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia should make a leap in developing its fundamental science after Western powers limited the country's access to modern technology as part of sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. The West has introduced sanctions against Russia, ranging from visa bans and asset freezes to restricting its access to foreign drilling technologies, key to Russia's development of untapped Arctic oil and gas deposits. Speaking to a government meeting, Putin said the ban could stimulate Russia to develop its own technologies. "This is not very good, but it could also possibly play into our hands," he said.
Brazil's Lupatech Share Surge May be Unwarranted
A 39 percent surge in shares of Lupatech SA, a Brazilian oil equipment company coming out of bankruptcy, is not justified by the terms of a recent restructuring and capital increase, traders and investors told Reuters. Lupatech, which traded at 26 centavos before a debt restructuring plan was approved last week, closed at 36 centavos on Tuesday, five sessions after announcing the plan that helped cut debt by more than two-thirds but gave the company little or no new cash for investment. During the period, Lupatech stock rose as high as 63 centavos and volume soared.
China Inc Joins the Big League in Oil and Gas Services
Global oil companies are increasingly turning to China for services and equipment, attracted by lower costs and a newly acquired expertise that is challenging more established rivals. State-run and privately controlled Chinese rig makers, oil and gas services and engineering firms are showing up in the supply chain everywhere from the Middle East, the North Sea and North America to frontier areas like Mozambique. Chinese yards, having come from nowhere in less than a decade, are building more jack-up rigs - the most common offshore rig used for shallow water drilling - than all the other yards in the world put together, data from industry consultants IHS Petrodata shows.
