Activists Blockade Shell Refinery in Port of Rotterdam
Dozens of Greenpeace activists in Rotterdam port used a ship, buoys and a small flotilla of kayaks on Monday to block traffic around Shell’s Pernis refinery, Europe’s largest, as part of a campaign seeking a ban on fossil fuel advertising.Police ended the blockade after several hours and the port’s authority said economic disruption to the wider harbor was minimal.The action comes as Greenpeace and more than 20 other environmental groups began seeking a million signatures for a European Union-wide ban on adverts and sponsorships by oil and gas companies…
Cheniere Expects Rising LNG Demand with Vaccine Rollout
Cheniere Energy Inc, the top U.S. liquefied natural gas producer, on Wednesday raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast, predicting higher demand for the fuel as COVID-19 vaccinations boost economic recovery.Lockdown measures implemented to curb the pandemic slashed demand for energy and hurt prices for natural gas in 2020. But with economic recovery in Asia, particularly in China, fuel sales have picked up.Shares rose 1% to $70.37 in midday trading, a more than two-year high."We expect continued LNG demand improvements as COVID vaccines are distributed and global economic activity continues to strengthen…
Chevron Cuts Spending, Says Asset Sales Lift Profits
Chevron Corp on Friday slashed its capital spending plans by another $2 billion as the coronavirus pandemic guts demand for oil and gas, while delivering a year-over-year 38% increase in profits.Global fuel demand has crashed by a third while many people shelter at home for an indefinite period. Major oil companies have largely reported losses as an oil glut and a shortage of storage space sends prices to historic lows.Earnings at Chevron beat Wall Street expectations and were $3.6 billion in the first quarter…
Schlumberger Posts Loss on $8.5 Bln Charge as Customers Accelerate Cuts
Schlumberger NV, the world's largest oilfield services firm, on Friday reported a first-quarter loss due to $8.5 billion in charges, as customers accelerated spending cuts amid the continuing decline in oil prices.Crude prices plunged 60% in March after Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to pump full bore and the spread of the novel coronavirus crushed global fuel demand. On Friday, international Brent crude futures were trading around $28 a barrel, well below the cost of production for many big producers.The decline has caused big customers such as Exxon Mobil to cut spending at least 30% and halt some drilling.
Oilfield Services Giant to Cut Spending by 30%
Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services company, on Tuesday said it would cut spending by 30% this year from last year's levels as the oil market has been roiled by the coronavirus outbreak and Saudi-Russia price war.The company expects a rapid reduction in active drilling and hydraulic fracturing activity, estimating the number of rigs in operation could fall to levels last seen during the 2016 downturn.Oil prices have fallen by more than half this year, diving below $24 a barrel on Tuesday…
NOV Warns Virus Fallout Could Hit Supply Chain
U.S. oilfield equipment supplier National Oilwell Varco on Friday called the coronavirus a "wildcard" in the oil industry's outlook, with an extended outbreak potentially hurting access to Chinese-make materials and foreign sales.The Houston-based company said further shutdowns at its Chinese suppliers could limit its production of certain products such as fiberglass resins and drilling pipe.For now, National Oilwell has the latitude to make up lost ground, executives added, noting it has a diversified supply chain."[There is] still a lot of uncertainty related to the extent to which this will impact operations…
Chevron Pulls Staff from Northern Iraq
Chevron Corp removed its expatriate staff operating in northern Iraq as a security precaution, a spokeswoman said on Monday, joining other oil companies pulling staff following the U.S. killing of an Iranian general in the country.U.S. officials last week called for American citizens to leave Iraq hours after a drone strike killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.Chevron said a small contingent of expatriate employees and contractors temporarily left its Kurdistan region operations as a precautionary measure. Other U.S.
Enbridge, Enterprise to Develop GoM Crude Export Terminal
Enbridge Inc and Enterprise Products Partners LP on Monday signed an agreement to jointly develop a deepwater offshore crude oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico capable of loading Very Large Crude Carriers.Both pipeline operators will work to finalize an equity participation agreement that would provide Enbridge an option to purchase ownership interest in Enterprise's Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT), subject to SPOT receiving a deep-water port license, Enbridge said in a statement.The companies would first jointly develop the SPOT project…
Top Shale CEO Says OPEC Shouldn't Worry About U.S. Oil Growth
Pioneer Natural Resources Chief Executive Scott Sheffield said on Tuesday that he expects the Permian Basin, the top U.S. shale field, to "slow down significantly over the next several years.""I don't think OPEC has to worry that much more about U.S. shale growth long term," Sheffield said on Tuesday on a call with analysts.U.S. shale fields have driven domestic production to all time highs, prompting OPEC to cut production to keep global prices stable. But U.S. producers are under pressure to trim spending and return profits to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.Despite new production coming from Norway…
Chevron Profit Falls
Chevron Corp reported a larger-than-expected 36% drop in third-quarter profit on Friday, hit by lower oil and gas prices despite an overall increase in its output.Results mirrored weaker earnings at BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell, which indicated they might delay dividend increases or a buyback program due to low prices. Exxon Mobil earlier on Friday reported its profits fell by nearly half from a year ago, citing lower oil and gas prices."Lower crude oil and natural gas prices more than offset" production increases…
ExxonMobil Profit Halves
Exxon Mobil Corp's third-quarter profit nearly halved, hit by lower oil prices and weaker margins in refining and chemicals, with its three major business reporting lower year-over-year profit.Earnings fell to $3.17 billion, or 75 cents per share, in the quarter, from $6.24 billion, or $1.46 per share, a year earlier, the company reported on Friday.It beat analysts' recently reduced expectations for earnings of 67 cents per share. The company last month warned results would be hurt by weaker chemicals and lower oil prices…
Exxon, Chevron See Consolidation in Top U.S. Shale Field
The two largest U.S. oil and gas companies on Tuesday left the door open for more acquisitions in the country's top shale field.Exxon Mobil Corp expects to see industry consolidation to happen "over some period of time," in the Permian Basin in west Texas and New Mexico, Chief Executive Darren Woods told investors at a Barclays energy conference in New York.If Exxon sees an opportunity it has the balance sheet to "be in a position to transact on that," Woods said, but he added that "time's on our side."Chevron Corp also will take an "opportunistic" approach in the basin…
Mexico's Pemex Narrows Loss
Mexican state oil company Pemex reported a narrower loss of 52.7 billion pesos ($2.7 billion) in the second quarter on Friday, as the heavily indebted firm faces the prospect of a fresh downgrade from credit rating agencies critical of its direction.The loss was nearly 70% lower than what the company, formally known as Petroleos Mexicanos, reported in the second quarter last year, when it lost 163.2 billion pesos.During the April to June period, the company's crude production dipped from the same quarter last year…
IEA: U.S., China to the LNG Lead by 2024
The United States and China will become the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters and importers, respectively, in five years, according to projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA).U.S. LNG exports are expected to rocket to over 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2024, dislodging current market leaders Australia and Qatar, Jean-Baptiste Dubreuil, senior natural gas analyst at IEA, said on Tuesday.He was speaking at a presentation sponsored by Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs Center on Global Energy Policy in New York.China's LNG imports…
Mexico to Invite 4 Firms to Bid on Pemex Oil Refinery
The Mexican government will invite four companies to bid in a restricted tender for work building the new Dos Bocas refinery for state oil company Pemex, Energy Minister Rocio Nahle said at a news conference on Monday.Dos Bocas would be Pemex's seventh domestic refinery and is intended to help wean Mexico off growing fuel imports, a major campaign promise of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December.Nahle said that the refinery, slated to be built in the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco…
Canada-US Pipelines Restart After Weather Disruptions
Two major pipelines carrying oil from Canada to the United States resumed operations on Wednesday after brief disruptions due to power outages from severe weather in Saskatchewan, Canada, a day earlier.A number of lines on Enbridge Inc's Mainline system, which carries about 1.2 million barrels per day of crude and other liquids, and TransCanada Corp's 590,000 bpd Keystone crude pipeline were hit by power outages on Tuesday in the western Canadian province.TransCanada's Keystone pipeline was operational on Wednesday after it experienced a brief outage due to power disruptions…
YPF to Spend Billions to Boost Oil and Gas Output
Argentina's state-controlled oil company, YPF, will significantly boost oil and gas production, investing between $4 billion and $5 billion per year through 2022, Chief Executive Daniel Gonzalez told Reuters on Friday.It plans to raise production by between 5 percent and 7 percent per year, with the largest increase in the Vaca Muerta formation, one of the world's largest reserves of shale oil and gas.The company intends to invest $3.6 billion on infrastructure in Vaca Muerta over the next five years, Gonzalez said…
US GoM Oil Production Off 32% from Storm
U.S. Gulf of Mexico producers have cut oil output by 32 percent and natural gas production by 13 percent as a result of the lingering effects of Hurricane Michael, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Friday, citing reports from 27 companies.The reductions continued as oil and gas companies moved more workers back to production platforms that were evacuated earlier in the week. As of Friday morning, nine platforms were still unoccupied, BSEE said in a daily update, down from 89 platforms on Wednesday.It can take several days after a storm passes to inspect platforms…
Pemex Announces 7 New Crude Finds
Mexican state oil firm Pemex said on Tuesday it has made seven new crude discoveries in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and said it could invest upward of $10 billion to develop six oil and gas fields.Pemex, which has been struggling with declining output for over a decade, said the seven finds at its Manik and Mulach fields could have proven, probable and possible reserves of 180 million barrels of oil equivalent.Pemex also said it forecast peak production 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second half of 2020 at its Manik, Mulach, Kinbe, Koban, Xikin and Esah fields, which are all currently under development.It exp
Petrobras to Pay $853 Mln US Fine in Car Wash Probe
Petróleo Brasileiro SA will pay an $853.2 million fine to settle U.S. criminal charges the Brazilian state-run oil company bribed politicians and then sought to conceal the payments, the Justice Department said on Thursday.The settlement with U.S. prosecutors is an important milestone for Petrobras, as the company is known, as it tries to put behind it numerous corruption allegations stemming from the landmark "Car Wash" investigation."Executives at the highest levels of Petrobras — including members of…
