Aker BP Plans Output, Dividend Hike
Norway's Aker BP will boost dividend payments between now and 2023 and step up investment in developing offshore oil and gas fields next year, the independent oil company said on Thursday.The result of a 2016 merger between the Norwegian operations of BP and the Det norske oil firm owned by Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke, Aker BP has become the second largest licence holder on the Norwegian continental shelf.While Aker BP expects its output to be broadly flat year-on- year in 2019 at between 155…
Oil Majors Face Climate Target Pressure by Investors
U.S. and Norwegian oil majors Chevron and Equinor have become the latest target of activist investors moving to force five of the biggest oil companies to commit to fixed emissions targets and align with the Paris climate agreement.The effort, part of a wave of climate-related proxy resolutions planned for spring 2019 annual shareholder meetings, is being led by investor groups Follow This, As You Sow and Arjuna Capital.The Paris climate agreement, adopted by almost 200 nations in 2015, set…
DNO Makes $780 Mln Cash Bid for Faroe Petroleum
Norway's DNO is sticking to its offer to buy Faroe Petroleum for 152 pence per share, valuing the company at about 610 million pounds ($761.65 million), insisting it is an attractive offer despite its rejection by the Faroe board.The Faroe board has said the company was worth substantially more than the bid, first announced on Nov. 26. DNO already owns 28 percent of Faroe Petroleum.Faroe Petroleum shares traded up 0.3 percent to 153.4 pence per share by 0840 GMT while DNO's were up 0.8 percent…
Norway Oil Firms Raise 2019 Investment Forecast
Oil and gas companies operating in Norway have raised their investment forecasts for 2019 to 175.3 billion Norwegian crowns ($20.6 billion) from 165.1 billion seen in August, a survey by the country's statistics agency (SSB) showed on Thursday.Investments for 2018 were revised down to 155.5 billion crowns from 156.3 billion, it added.However, upcoming revisions to the numbers are likely to increase the forecast for this year to reflect ongoing work by the industry, it said, meaning year-on…
DNO Beats Forecasts with Q3 Operating Profit
Norwegian oil firm DNO said on Thursday third-quarter earnings beat forecasts, helped by higher oil prices and rising output in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.The region's largest international oil producer posted a third-quarter operating profit of $71 million, above expectations of $64 million in a Reuters poll of analysts.Operating profit in the same quarter a year ago stood at $469 million, boosted by one-time recognition of a $556 million settlement with Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for overdue oil export payments.DNO's working interest production in the quarter stood at 81…
Aker BP Q3 Operating Profit Beats Forecast
Aker BP's third-quarter operating profit rose more than expected, helped by a boom in oil prices, the Norwegian oil firm said on Friday, while reducing planned capital and exploration spending.Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose to $548 million from $219 million in the same quarter a year ago, beating the $521 million expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.The company slightly reduced its 2018 capital spending guidance to $1.25 billion from $1.3 billion, and exploration spending to $400 million from $425 million, while maintaining its production guidance at 155,000-160,000 barrels of oil equivalen
Equinor's Martin Linge Field Costs Rise Again, Start-up Delayed
Norway has again revised up the estimated cost of developing the Martin Linge oil and gas field, which state-controlled Equinor bought from France's Total last year, with the start-up delayed until 2020, according to the fiscal budget.The North Sea field is now expected to cost 47 billion crowns ($5.7 billion) to develop, up from the 41 billion crowns estimated last year, and 59 percent more than originally seen in 2012.The field's start-up has also been pushed back to the first quarter of 2020 from the first half of 2019…
Norway Gets Bids from 38 Oil Firms in Licensing Round
A total of 38 oil companies have submitted bids for exploration acreage offshore Norway in a so-called predefined areas (APA) licensing round, the country's energy ministry said on Friday.Bidders include oil majors Shell, ConocoPhillips and Total, as well as Norway's Equinor and Aker BP, Sweden's Lundin and Italy's Eni.The total number of bidders was almost as high as the record 39 in the previous APA round last year.When announcing the round in May, the government expanded the pre-defined areas near existing discoveries by a total of 103 blocks in the Norwegian and the Barents Seas.Norway's right-wing gover
Aker BP, Maersk Drilling Sign Rig Contract off Norway
Maersk Drilling and Aker BP have signed a one-year contract to deploy the Maersk Integrator jack-up rig off Norway from June 2019, Aker BP said in a statement on Thursday.The contract, based on an alliance created between the two firms and Halliburton in 2017, is based on market-rate terms and holds the possibility of a sizeable upside for all parties, based on actual delivery and performance, it said.Maersk Integrator will finish its current campaign on the Gina Krog field off Norway in June 2019, and then go directly to the Ula field in the North Sea for a new one-year assignment with Aker BP.(Reporting by
PGS Below Q2 Expectations but Outlook Improves
Shares of seismic services company PGS, which surveys the seabed for oil and gas deposits, dropped on Thursday on lower-than expected second-quarter results but its CEO said the market outlook was improving.PGS's April-June core operating earnings (EBITDA) rose to $136.0 million, below the $144 million expected by analysts in a Reuters poll, but up from $112.5 million in same quarter last year.Its shares traded three percent down by 0911 GMT, after dropping eight percent in early trade."We see a clear sign of improvement, it's a lot more tender activity, and we have realised higher contract prices in first h
BW LPG Offers to Buy Dorian LPG in $1.1 Bln Deal
The world's largest liquid petroleum gas (LPG) shipper, Norway's BW LPG, is offering to buy competitor Dorian LPG in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal in an effort to boost its earnings in a weak market, it said in a statement on Tuesday.Dorian shareholders will receive 2.05 BW LPG shares for each Dorian share, equal to $7.86 per share, a premium of 13 percent from Friday's closing price, and based on BW LPG's share price on May 28.New York-listed Dorian LPG's equity is valued at about $441 million and including debt the transaction is valued at $1.1 billion.The deal is backed by shipping conglomerate BW Group,
Prosafe Mulls Scrapping as it Awaits Market Upturn
Accommodation rig firm Prosafe will continue to scrap old rigs and take part in consolidation if opportunities arise while it awaits better market conditions, it said on Friday, after posting a low utilisation rate in the first quarter. Prosafe provides rigs where oil firms can house staff working offshore. That market has declined since 2014, when the price of crude slumped, and has yet to significantly recover despite oil firms posting booming profits. Prosafe said on Friday it had saw more tendering activity and expects a gradual market pick-up from next year.
Goliat Field Output Resumed After Fire
Oil firm Eni said output from Norway's Goliat field has resumed after being shut since Friday morning following a small fire. The platform has a capacity to produce almost 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil. "Production resumed Sunday morning," a Eni spokeswoman told Reuters. (Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord Editing by Edmund Blair)
Fire in Sauna Shuts World's Northernmost Oilfield
The world's northernmost oilfield was shut on Friday when a fire broke out in a sauna in the oil platform's living quarters, Eni, the Italian oil company that operates the field, said. The Arctic Goliat field is in the Barents Sea about 88 kilometers off the coast of Norway and inside the Arctic Circle. The platform has floating production, storage and offloading facilities and can produce close to 100,000 barrels of crude per day. The fire was quickly put out, and no crew members were injured, although some smoke did develop, Eni said.
Statoil Buys U.S. GoM Deepwater Discovery
Statoil and Total have completed their acquisition of Cobalt international Energy's 60 pct operated interest in North Platte discovery in US Gulf of Mexico for an aggregate purchase price of USD 339 million. The partners had jointly presented the winning bid for the asset in a bankruptcy auction of some of Cobalt’s assets that was held on 6 March 2018. "We will now work together with Total to clarify the resource potential of this field and we hope to start production in the mid 2020's", said Statoil spokesperson Erik Haaland.
TGS Boosted by Seismic Market Recovery
Q1 revenues rose by 56 pct; shares jump 13 pct. Oslo-listed seismic data provider TGS, a key supplier to the oil industry, reported first-quarter revenues far above forecasts as markets continue to improve, it said on Tuesday, sending its share price surging. Net revenues for the January-March quarter rose by 56 percent year-on-year to $135 million, beating the average $106 million forecast by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. TGS, whose vessels scan the seabed for potential oil and gas deposits…
Oil Firms Must Pay More for Service Vessels -Norway Ship Owners
Oil companies should be prepared to pay higher rates for renting offshore service vessels, in order to secure the long-term survival of a key part of the industry's supply chain, the Norwegian Shipowners' Association said on Thursday. Energy firms sharply curtailed investments in the wake of the 2014 oil price crash, idling many service vessels and driving down market rates to unsustainable levels, Chief Executive Harald Solberg of the Norwegian lobby group said. At the peak last year, some 183 offshore vessels and rigs…
Seadrill, Creditors Reach Joint Restructuring Deal
Shipping tycoon John Fredriksen has reached an agreement with a majority of creditors over a restructuring plan for oil rig firm Seadrill, according to U.S. court documents on Monday. The company, once the world's largest offshore driller by market value, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with debt and liabilities of over $10 billion last September after a sharp drop in oil prices in 2014 cut demand for rigs. "It's good for all parties that Seadrill comes out of an expensive and time-consuming process," said Frederik Lunde, head of research at brokerage Carnegie.
BW LPG Sees Better Market Sentiment for 2018 vs 2017
Natural gas shipper BW LPG expects a better freight market in 2018 than in 2017 and will not make any new long term contracts below $20,000 per day for its very large gas carriers (VLGC), CEO Martin Ackerman said on Thursday.
Statoil to Pay Up to $2.9 Bln to Triple Brazilian Output
Norway's Statoil will triple its output off the coast of Brazil after agreeing to buy a 25 percent stake in Roncador, one of the country's largest oilfields, from national oil company Petrobras for up to $2.9 billion. The deal announced on Monday fits Statoil's strategy of bolstering its presence in Brazil as it seeks to add new barrels which are becoming more difficult to obtain closer to home on the Norwegian continental shelf. "This transaction adds material and attractive long-term production to our international portfolio…
