Energean UK forecasts higher production in 2025 on the strong Israel growth
Energean, a UK-based producer of gas, said it expected higher production levels in 2025. The company is betting on increased sales in Israel, its main market. The company, which gets its main production from a gas field offshore Israel, wants to double production in the next few years. It will do this primarily by developing new prospects in Israel including the Katlan Field. In 2024, the company produced 114,000 barrels equivalent per day (boepd) from its operations. Of this 112,000 boepd was sourced from Israel. Energean anticipates that production will increase to between 120,000 and 130,000 boepd by 2025.
Enverus says that US energy mergers could slow down in 2025 due to smaller deal sizes.
According to an Enverus report released on Tuesday, the pace of U.S. public-to-public upstream mergers in 2025 could slow from its recent average of five mergers per year and deal sizes may also decrease. Consolidation in the U.S. Energy Sector, which resulted in deals worth $250 billion by 2023, continued into 2024, and will likely continue into this year as companies seek to increase their oil and natural gas reserves. As a result of the wave of mergers, fewer companies were available and fewer pockets were empty. Some announced combinations, however, have been delayed by either antitrust regulations or contract arbitration challenges.
Industry Award for Sustainable Drilling Waste Solution
Specialist drilling waste management company, TWMA, has been announced as a finalist in this year’s SPE Offshore Achievement Awards.Shortlisted for the Sustainability Project Award, this recognition celebrates TWMA’s RotoMill technology, an innovative offshore processing solution that decarbonises drilling waste operations by more than 50%.Now in its 38th year, the Offshore Achievement Awards is the largest and longest established industry awards for the UK offshore energy sector. This nomination is a testament…
BP to slash over 5% of workforce
BP will cut over 5% of its global workforce, it said on Thursday, as part of CEO Murray Auchincloss' efforts to reduce costs and rebuild investor confidence in the energy giant.Around 4,700 employees and 3,000 contractor positions will be cut this year, BP BP.L told Reuters. The cuts were announced in an internal memo seen by Reuters earlier on Thursday.BP shares were up 1% at 1200 GMT.Auchincloss last year said he would cut the British company's costs by at least $2 billion by the end of 2026 to boost returns and…
Guyana exports 225 crude cargoes by 2024
Guyana will export 225 cargoes in crude oil by 2024, said its energy minister on Tuesday. A consortium led the U.S. giant Exxon Mobil has been ramping up its production and updating its facilities. Last year, Latin America's new oil producer became the fifth largest crude oil exporter in the region, after Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. It was also identified as a major contributor to the global growth of oil supplies. Minister Vickram Bharrat announced that detailed figures about output and exports would be released this week. He said that the government will ship 28 cargoes from the crude oil produced by Exxon in 2024.
Norway awards 53 stakes to the latest offshore oil and gas exploration round
Norway's Energy Minister said that in the annual licensing round held on Tuesday, 20 companies received stakes in 53 offshore exploration licenses for oil and gas. The number of licences awarded annually has decreased from 62 in 2023, while the number oil and gas companies receiving permits has declined from 24 one year earlier. Norway's plan to extend oil and gas production in the coming decades is based on the annual predefined area (APA) rounds. This policy, however, is strongly opposed by environmentalist groups.
Norway's gas production will be slightly lower than the record set in 2025.
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate said that the Norwegian natural gas production is expected to decline slightly this year. It rose 6.9% to a new record of 124 billion cubic meters (bcm). Norway is now Europe's biggest natural gas supplier following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022. It provides about 30% of all gas imported to the European Union. The NOD published data on Thursday showing that Norway's output of gas increased from 116 billion cubic meters in 2023. This was a year heavily affected by maintenance issues. It also beat the record set in 2012, 122.8 billion cubic metres.
Shell downplays Namibia's oil discovery as a blow to the country
Shell has written down $400 million in oil discoveries offshore Namibia, which it considered commercially unviable. This is a major blow to Namibia's attempts to become a crude-producing country. Shell, its partners QatarEnergy, and Namibia's National Oil Company discovered hydrocarbons in block PEL39 2022. This discovery along with a second TotalEnergies in a block nearby sparked colossal global interest in this southern African nation that has no oil or gas production. Shell has drilled nine wells on the license in the last three years. In a different licence offshore.
EIA: Cushing Crude Stocks fall to Decade-low levels
U.S. crude stocks fell last week, driving the Cushing, Oklahoma hub to a 10-year low, while fuel inventories surged, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.Crude inventories fell by 959,000 barrels to 414.6 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 3, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 184,000-barrel draw.Brent and U.S. crude futures extended losses following the report. "A ramp-up in refinery maintenance in the coming weeks should usher in a return to crude inventory builds…
Equinor extends Norway LNG Outage by 10 Days
Equinor announced in a Wednesday regulatory filing that it has extended the outage of its Hammerfest LNG facility in Arctic Northern Norway by 10 more days, to January 19, as they continue to repair a faulty compressor. The Hammerfest plant (also known as Melkoeya LNG) has the ability to deliver approximately 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas each year. This is enough to provide about 6.5 millions European homes and accounts for about 5% of Norwegian gas exports. On Jan. 2, the company reported that an outage had occurred in a compressor which re-injects the CO2 removed from the gas stream into the ground.
US Storm, Weaker Dollar Push Oil to 12-week High
Oil prices edged up to a 12-week high on Monday as a winter storm boosted demand for energy to heat U.S. homes and businesses, and on support from a weaker U.S. dollar and expectations of tighter sanctions on Iranian and Russian oil exports.Brent futures rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $76.78 a barrel by 11:33 a.m. EST (1633 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $74.23.Both crude benchmarks gained for a sixth-straight day with Brent on track for its highest close since Oct. 14 and WTI on track for its highest close since Oct.
Bloomberg News: Biden will ban new oil drilling in vast areas of US Atlantic and Pacific waters
Bloomberg News reported that President Joe Biden will ban any new offshore oil and natural gas development on 625 million acres of U.S. coast territory (250 million hectares), effective immediately. According to the report, which cited unidentified sources familiar with the issue, the ban will be announced on Monday and prevent the sale of drilling licenses in certain areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf of Mexico oceans. The report stated that Biden leaves the door open to new leasing of oil and gas in the western and central areas of the Gulf of Mexico. These two areas account for 14% of America's fuel production.
Equinor's Hammerfest liquefied natural gas plant closed for a week due to compressor failure
Equinor announced on Thursday that its Hammerfest LNG facility in Arctic Northern Norway suffered an unexpected outage because of a compressor failure. The company said the plant's output was halted for a week. The Hammerfest plant (also known as Melkoeya LNG) has the ability to deliver approximately 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas each year. This is enough to provide about 6.5 millions European homes and accounts for about 5% of Norwegian gas exports. A spokesperson for Equinor said that an Equinor compressor, which re-injects the CO2 removed from the gas stream into the ground…
Vermilion's Westbrick deal worth $745 million strengthens Canada’s Deep Basin position
Vermilion Energy, a Canadian company, announced on Monday that it would acquire Westbrick Energy, a privately-held oil and gas company. The deal will be for C$1.075 Billion ($746.53 M), mostly in cash. This acquisition will strengthen Vermilion Energy's position in Alberta's Deep Basin. In premarket trading, U.S. listed shares rose 1.8% to $9.03 per share. This acquisition will likely add 50,000 barrels per day of equivalent oil, consisting 75% of gas and 25% of liquid, to the existing production. Vermilion, based in Calgary…
Norway's oil and gas production fell in November but exceeded forecast
Norwegian Offshore Directorate said Friday that although the combined oil and natural gas production in Norway decreased from November of last year, it was still 2,6% higher than the official forecast. Norway is Europe's biggest supplier of natural gases and oil. However, output can vary from month to months depending on maintenance and other stops at over 90 offshore fields. The total oil, gas liquids, natural condensate and gas production stood at 0.674 standard cubic metres each day. This is equivalent to 4,24 million barrels equivalent oil.
Nigeria approves Shell’s $2.4 billion asset sales to Renaissance
Shell received approval from Nigeria’s oil minister to sell $2.4 billion worth of onshore and shallow water assets to Renaissance Group. Renaissance Group said this in a Wednesday statement. Shell has been operating in Nigerian oil and gas for nearly a hundred years. The Shell approval is part of an overall retreat of western energy companies, such as Exxon Mobil and Eni of Italy, and Equinor of Norway. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, blocked Shell's sale of Renaissance, which comprises five companies, in October.
Oil Climbs After US Crude Stocks Fall
Oil edged up on Wednesday after a drop in U.S. crude inventories, and as investors eyed a potential interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve while weighing its projections for 2025.Brent futures were up 62 cents, or 0.85%, to $73.81 a barrel at 10:40 a.m. ET, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 86 cents, or 1.23%, to $70.94.U.S. crude stocks and distillate inventories fell while gasoline inventories rose in the week ending Dec. 13, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.Crude inventories fell by 934…
Shell submits offshore drilling plan for Suriname to environmental approval
BG International, a Shell unit operating in Suriname plans to submit a proposal to the country's environment agency to drill up to four explorations wells offshore Block 65. This was revealed by a document from the company on Tuesday. Suriname has begun its journey to offshore oil and gas production. An $10.5 billion project between TotalEnergies APA Corp. was approved earlier this year with a goal of starting production in 2028. BG International, Qatar Energy and the state energy company Staatsolie won the rights to explore this area.
Talos Energy will terminate the poison pill following an agreement with Carlos Slim’s firm
Talos Energy announced on Tuesday that it will terminate its "poison pill" after reaching an agreement with the investment firm of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, which stipulates that it won't exceed a 25% threshold in the oil company. The company adopted the Shareholder Rights Plan in October after Slim's Control Empresarial De Capitales had accumulated 24 percent of Talos common stock. Corporates often use the poison pill or shareholder rights plan to deter hostile takeover bids. Talos announced on Tuesday that…
Oil Falls as Chinese Demand Sags, Fed Ponders Rate Cut
Oil futures slipped from the highest levels in several weeks on Monday on weakness in consumer spending in China, which is the world's largest oil importer, and as investors paused buying ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.Brent crude futures fell 39 cents to $74.10 a barrel by 1:10 p.m EST, after settling on Friday at their highest since Nov. 22.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude shed 35 cents to $70.94 after registering its highest close since Nov. 7 in the previous session.Last week, oil benefited from the expectation that supply would tighten with additional sanctions on crude producers Russia and Iran…