Equinor's new Arctic Oilfield will pay off $8 billion investment within 2 years
Equinor said that its Johan Castberg oilfield, located in the Arctic Barents Sea, began production Monday, after several delays. The company expects to recoup the 86 billion Norwegian crowns ($8.14 billion), which it paid for the field, in less than two year. Castberg is now the second oilfield to come on stream in the Norwegian Barents Sea sector after Vaar Energi Goliat in 2016. Equinor released a statement saying that the field would produce for at least 30 years, enhancing Norway's position as a long-term and reliable energy supplier. It is estimated that the field holds between 450 and 650 million barrels worth of oil recoverable.
BP approves Ginger Gas Project in Trinidad and Tobago
BP said that it has approved the Ginger gas project in Trinidad and Tobago. This is one of ten projects named by Murray Auchincloss, CEO, in a recent strategy overhaul to support BP's renewed emphasis on oil and natural gas. The company stated that Ginger will start production in 2027 and reach a maximum of 62,000 barrels equivalents per day. Trinidad and Tobago has encouraged BP and other producers of natural gas to increase production in order to meet demand for its flagship liquefied gas facility, Atlantic LNG and its petrochemical factories. LSEG preliminary data shows that BP owns 45% of Atlantic LNG.
China CNOOC 2024's net profit increases 11% on record production
CNOOC Ltd., a state-owned energy company in China, posted an increase of 11.4% on a record production in 2024 despite lower oil prices. The firm is continuing to focus on increasing its reserves and production. In a filing on Thursday to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, offshore oil and natural gas specialist reported net profit of 18.99 billion dollars. Sinopec Corp, a domestic rival, reported a 16.8% drop in net income to 50.3 billion yuan. CNOOC achieved its high-end target by increasing oil and gas production 7.2%, to 726.8 millions barrels of oil equal (boe). The company's total production costs have remained low, at $28.52 per boe.
NEO Energy and Repsol to Merge UK Oil and Gas Assets
NEO Energy and Repsol Resources UK have entered into strategic merger, creating one of the largest U.K. North Sea independent oil and gas companies under the name of NEO NEXT.Under the terms of the transaction, the combined business will be jointly owned by NEO (55%) and Repsol UK (45%) and will have a large and diverse asset portfolio which is expected to generate material cashflows and provide a platform for organic and inorganic growth.Repsol will retain $1.8 billion of the decommissioning liabilities related to its legacy assets…
The deadline for Petrobras' deal with the vessel puts pressure on Foz do Amazonas
According to a government document, Petrobras must receive an environmental permit to drill in the Foz do Amazonas sensitive region before the end of April. Otherwise it will not have enough time to complete the contract for a drilling vessel in October. The document, made public on Tuesday, sets a deadline for Petrobras. It has been waiting for the Brazilian environmental agency Ibama, since May 2023, to make a decision about its request to drill off the coast of Amapa, a state in northern Brazil. The presentation stated that Petrobras…
Suriname's Staatsolie raises 515.8 millions dollars through bond issue
Suriname’s state-owned energy firm Staatsolie raised $515.8 millions through the issuance of debt bond aimed at raising capital for the small South American country’s first offshore oil and gas project. Staatsolie must raise $2.4 billion in order to acquire a 20% stake of the $12 billion GranMorgu Project, which will be operated by TotalEnergies. The first production is expected in 2028. The company is in negotiations with foreign banks for up to $1.5billion in financing. This year. The company also put aside cash reserves.
UK's Energean terminates Carlyle deal
Energean, a UK-based gas company, announced on Friday that it had terminated its agreement with Carlyle to sell some of its assets because regulatory approvals were still pending in Italy and Egypt. In June 2024, the two companies struck a $945 million deal that would allow Carlyle to establish a new Mediterranean-focused oil and gas company, led by former BP CEO Tony Hayward, by utilizing Energean's assets in Egypt, Italy, and Croatia. "While I'm disappointed that Carlyle wasn't able to obtain the necessary approvals for Egypt and Italy…
Energean reports a rise in its annual profit and flags exploration costs
Energean, a UK-based gas company, reported a 2% increase in its annual profit after taxes on Thursday. However, it also flagged $241 million in impairments relating to assets located in Egypt, Morrocco, and Greece. The company reported a profit of $188 millions for the year ending December 31, 2024. This is up from $185 in 2023. The company stated that the increasing demand for electricity and the government's plan to phase out coal in Israel have increased the demand for natural gas in Israel, which is the majority of the country's production. It added that its operations in Israel were not affected by the Middle East conflict.
Financial Times – March 13,
These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Intel named Lip-Bu Tan, a former board member who has worked in the chip industry for many years, as its new CEO on Wednesday. Pat Gelsinger was ousted by the board of the struggling U.S.-based chipmaker back in December. Keir starmer, the British Prime Minister, will pledge on Thursday to reshape government services by tackling a "cottage-industry of checkers and blocks" and using AI to achieve efficiencies. However Downing Street has insisted that he won't take a "chainsaw" to state. The U.S.
Guyana's tax agency will begin dispute resolution with Exxon regarding expenses
The Natural Resources Ministry of Guyana has instructed the country's Tax Agency to start a dispute resolution process with Exxon Mobil regarding the recovery from the U.S. Oil Major, about $214 million worth of expenses. Exxon's expenses as part of operations on the Stabroek block offshore are closely watched because a consortium headed by the U.S. giant can export up to 75 percent of the crude oil it produces under the name "cost oil", whereas Guyana is entitled to the other half. The government followed the mechanisms in the contract that were included to have expenses audited and verified by an external consultant firm.
Tanzania announces that it will launch a round of oil exploration licensing in May
Tanzania announced on Thursday that it would launch its fifth round of oil and gas licensing in May, in which 26 explorations blocks will be auctioned to attract new investment to the hydrocarbon sector in east Africa. Charles Sangweni of the Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority in Tanzania (PURA), the director general, said that 23 blocks are located offshore in the Indian Ocean, while three others are in Lake Tanganyika. This will be the first round of oil and gas licenses in Tanzania for more than 10 years. Exploration in the past led to the discovery that more than 57 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were available.
Source: Kazakhstan increased oil production to a record of 2,12 million bpd during February.
A source said that Kazakhstan increased crude oil and condensate output in February by 13% compared to January, reaching a record of 2,12 million barrels a day. This was again a higher production than its quota for the OPEC+ oil producing group. According to a source familiar with official statistics and calculations that take into account Kazakhstan’s tons per barrel ratio of 7, the crude oil production in January was up 15.5%. Last month, it reached 1.83 million barrels per day. Kazakhstan consistently exceeded its production quota of 1.468 millions bpd…
Equinor Norway LNG plant will be off-line March 10-14
According to a Friday regulatory filing, Equinor will shut down its Hammerfest LNG Terminal from March 10 through March 14 to perform "corrective maintenance". This will reduce the daily production capacity from 18.4 millions cubic metres to zero. 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. Equinor spokesperson stated…
EOG Resources exceeds profit expectations for the fourth quarter on higher production
EOG Resources surpassed fourth-quarter profit expectations on Thursday as higher production helped offset lower oil price. The company's shares were down 3.5% in after-hours trading as the net income fell by more than half, to $1.25 Billion from $1.998 Billion the previous quarter. The overall quarterly revenue dropped 12%, to $5.59 Billion. This was due to lower oil revenues as well as losses on derivative contracts. Operating expenses rose by 3.6% compared to last year. The company's quarterly crude equivalent volume was up 6.7%, at almost 1.1m barrels per day (boepd), compared to the previous year.
Shale producer APA misses fourth-quarter profit estimates
APA Corp, a U.S. shale oil producer, missed Wall Street's expectations on Wednesday for its fourth-quarter profits as low commodity prices offset a higher production. Brent crude futures declined 3% in 2020 as the economy of the major consumer, China, remained weak. The OPEC+ producer's group also postponed their planned supply increases to 2026 and extended the deep cuts in output until the end of the year. The company produced 488,000 barrels equivalent to oil per day (boepd) in the fourth quarter. This is higher than the 414,000 that it produced one year ago.
Diamondback Energy exceeds profit expectations for the fourth quarter on higher production
Diamondback Energy, a U.S. shale oil producer, surpassed Wall Street's expectations for the fourth quarter profit on Monday as higher production offset lower prices. In extended trading, shares were up 3% to $159.95. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that the total oil production of the United States reached a record 13.6 million barrels a day (bpd), as increased efficiencies allowed producers to pump more oil. Diamondback's fourth quarter production nearly doubled, to an average 883.424 barrels equivalent per day (boepd), helping offset a drop of 9% in oil prices.
Chevron restructures its business and reshuffles the leadership
Chevron announced on Monday that it will reorganize its business structures, and reshuffle its leadership team. This is the latest step taken by the U.S. oil major to streamline its operations. As it deals with cost overruns, delays and delays on a major Kazakhstan project, the company said that it could lay off as much as 20% of its worldwide workforce by 2026. The $53 billion purchase of Hess by Exxon Mobil has been delayed due to an arbitral battle. Oil, Products and Gas will be consolidated in two segments - Upstream and Downstream, Midstream & Chemicals.
ExxonMobil’s Esso, Mitsui and Woodside to Invest $200M in Gas Project Off Australia
ExxonMobil’s Australian subsidiary Esso Australia Resources and its partners have announced a nearly $200 million investment in the Kipper 1B project which will bring online additional gas supply from the Gippsland Basin.The project, which was approved by Esso Australia, and its co-venturers, MEPAU A (Mitsui), and Woodside Energy, will utilize the Valaris' jack-up rig VALARIS 107 to drill and install one subsea well into the Kipper field, and involve significant upgrades to the West Tuna platform.Drilling into the Kipper field is set to begin later this year…
Guyana will soon sign a oil deal with TotalEnergies led group
Energy Minister Vickram Bharrat said that Guyana is expecting to sign a production-sharing agreement soon with a French consortium led by TotalEnergies, which will allow the country to explore an off-shore area. Guyana, the fastest-growing oil producing country in the world, is on track to produce 940,000 barrels of crude oil per day this coming year. This is nearly 1% more than last year's output. All of Guyana's crude oil is produced by a consortium led the U.S. company Exxon Mobil. TotalEnergies, a consortium led by Exxon Mobil, won the block at an auction held in 2023. The government has been trying to diversify this sector.
Exxon to build large-scale gas projects in Guyana, a country dominated by oil
Exxon Mobil, the U.S. oil giant, announced a massive project on Wednesday to increase natural-gas production and supply in Guyana. This follows the government's request for more gas as fuel to power onshore projects and petrochemical ones. Alistair Routledge of Exxon Guyana, the head of Exxon in Guyana, outlined a "Wales Gas Vision" that will provide gas to produce fertilizers via a pipeline worth $1 billion completed last year. Through its Gas-to-Energy Project, the government will use a portion (of the gas) supplied by Exxon to generate electricity and produce natural gas liquids.
