Repsol Given Green Light to Use Maersk Inspirer at Yme
Spanish oil company Repsol has been given a green light to use the Maersk Inspirer jack-up rig at the Yme field, in the North Sea, offshore Norway.The consent, granted by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway, to connection, completion, and start-up preparations in conjunction with previously installed fixed facilities on the Yme field.The Yme is a field in the southeastern part of the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, 130 kilometers northeast of the Ula field. The water depth is 77-93 meters. The field was discovered in 1987. Production started in 1996 and ceased in 2001.
Equinor Sells Eagle Ford Asset for $325 Mln
Norwegan energy company Equinor said it has signed an agreement to divest to Repsol its 63% interest in, and operatorship of, its onshore business in the Eagle Ford in the US state of Texas.The transaction is effective October 1, 2019, and covers all of Equinor’s interests in the Eagle Ford Joint Venture with Repsol, covering 69 000 net acres. Following this transaction Repsol will have a 100% interest in the asset.The total consideration is $325 million.“This transaction supports Equinor’s strategy to optimise our onshore US portfolio…
Indonesia Grants New Oil Blocks Contracts
Indonesia has announced the winner of its third bidding round that will operate oil and gas blocks in three locations, Deputy Energy Minister Arcandra Tahar, said on Thursday.The winners are Pearloil (Theralite) Ltd. for South Andaman block, located at offshore Andaman Aceh; Talisman Java B. V. and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. for South Saka Kemang block, located at onshore South Sumatra; and Pertamina for Maratua block, located at both onshore and offshore North and East Kalimantan.There was no winning bid for Anambas block…
Shell Sells $1.3 Billion of Oil and Gas Assets
Royal Dutch Shell announced the sale on Wednesday of oil and gas assets in Norway and Malaysia for over $1.3 billion, bringing it closer to a target of $30 billion in disposals by year-end.The Anglo-Dutch company agreed to sell to OKEA, a Norwegian producer backed by private equity firm Seacrest Capital, its 45 percent interest in the Draugen Norwegian offshore field and a 12 percent in the Gjoa block for a total of $566 million, the two companies said.Earlier, Shell announced the completion of the sale of a 15 percent stake in Malaysia LNG (MLNG) Tiga to the Sarawak State Financial Secretary for $750 million.Shell committed to the ambitious three
Boosted by Rising Oil Prices, Spain's Repsol Hits Accelerator
Spain's Repsol plans to increase investment and production and lift its dividend by 2020 after years of cost cuts, the oil and gas company said on Wednesday, as a rebound in global oil prices boosted its profits.The refiner will spend 15 billion euros ($17.6 billion) across units including exploration, production, refining and commercial over the next two years, it said in its 2018-2020 strategy plan.Repsol had focused on cost and debt reduction since paying a hefty premium to buy Canadian producer Talisman for $8.3 billion in 2015…
Ecopetrol, Talisman Energy to Open 19 New Wells at Colombian Oilfield
Colombia's state-run oil company Ecopetrol said on Wednesday it will start drilling 19 new oil wells at the Akacias oil field at the end of this month, in partnership with Repsol SA's Talisman Energy.The new wells will join nine which are already operating at the field, in Acacias municipality in central Meta province, the company said in a statement. The nine wells produce an average of 6,300 barrels per day.Ecopetrol plans to invest between $3.5 billion and $4 billion this year as it reboots production and exploration…
New Player Enters the Decommissioning Market
A new entrant to North Sea decommissioning, Well-Safe Solutions was established by a group of oil industry stalwarts Alasdair Locke, Mark Patterson and Paul Warwick, setting out to provide a new approach to the safe and cost-efficient decommissioning of subsea wells. The new start company, which aims to attract £200 million ($260 million) in investment and create 400 new jobs, will offer a specialist well abandonment service. Well-Safe has secured funding from Scottish Enterprise, including investment from the Scottish Investment Bank and a regional selective assistance grant…
SBM Offshore, Repsol Get $247 Mln in Yme Insurance Settlement
Dutch oil industry services group SBM Offshore and Spanish energy firm Repsol will share an insurance payment of $247 million, less legal costs, related to a troubled Norwegian offshore project, SBM said on Monday. SBM said it had reached an agreement in principle with nearly three quarters of the insurers who provided $500 million of primary cover for the Yme project with a final agreement expected to be wrapped up in the coming weeks. SBM will receive a cash payment of around $247 million in full and final settlement with these insurers.
Repsol Markets Corporate Green Bond
In a fresh landmark for Europe's capital markets, Repsol is poised to become the first oil and gas company to sell a Green bond transaction. The Spanish company started marketing a no-grow €500m five-year at 55bp area over mid-swaps on Tuesday morning - only the third investment-grade corporate Green bond in Europe this year. The company is raising the funds to upgrade its renewable energy functions, such as furnaces and turbines, in a bid to reduce its emissions. "It seems slightly perverse for a company like Repsol to be issuing a Green bond…
Repsol to Submit Norway's Yme Field Plan
Says Spain's Repsol, the operator of the Yme field in the North Sea, is expected to submit a new development plan for the Yme field to Norwegian authorities this summer. An earlier attempt at developing the field failed when the platform had to be taken ashore due to cracks found in its legs . "We think that this is a good opportunity.
SapuraKencana Bags Contracts of RM 1.34 bln
SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad’s wholly-owned subsidiaries have been awarded contracts with a combined value of approximately USD 300 million (approximately RM 1.34 billion, based on USD/MYR exchange rate of USD1: RM4.47). Award of Provision of Underwater Services by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. SapuraKencana Subsea Services Sdn. Bhd. (“SKSS”) has been awarded a contract for the provision of underwater services for PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (“PCSB”). The scope of work consists of underwater services together with vessels…
OPOL Announces Executive Team Appointments
The body responsible for the offshore oil and gas industry’s voluntary pollution compensation scheme has announced two appointments to its executive team. The Offshore Pollution Liability Association Limited (OPOL) has appointed a new managing director, Jacquelynn Craw, with effect from December 1. OPOL also confirmed the reappointment of its current chairman, Colin Wannell, with effect from January 1, 2017. Craw succeeds Niall Scott as managing director, who has held the post since 2011. Scott will step down at the end of December after completing his handover.
Lundin Petroleum CEO to be Questioned on Sudan Allegations
Swedish prosecutors will question the CEO and chairman of Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum about possible crimes against international humanitarian law in Sudan, a company spokesman said on Friday. In 2010, prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into Lundin Petroleum's activities in the country after a report by the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS) said the company was possibly complicit in human rights abuses between 1997 and 2003. "Personally, I am convinced the investigation will not lead to prosecution," Lundin Petroleum chairman Ian Lundin told the daily newspaper Dagens Industri on Friday.
Repsol's Yme Platform Removed from Offshore Norway
The topside of Repsol's faulty Yme oil platform was removed from the field offshore Norway on Monday, Swiss-based heavy-lift vessel owner Allseas said, a key hurdle for the Spanish oil firm's planned sale of the production license. Using the giant Pioneering Spirit vessel, the removal in a single lift of the 13,500-tonnes topside marks a new step in decommissioning of offshore oil platforms, which previously had to be taken apart piece by piece, meaning longer operations. "This was the first time in the world that a topside was lifted in a single lift," Jeroen Hagelstein, a spokesman for Allseas said in an email on Tuesday.
Statoil Completes Utgard Field Transaction(UK)
On 22 June 2016, Statoil and JX Nippon completed their previously announced transaction whereby Statoil has acquired JX Nippon’s 45% equity share in, and operatorship of, the UK licence for the Utgard field. Through this transaction Statoil now has a 100% interest in UK Continental Shelf licence P312 which, with Norwegian Continental Shelf licence PL046, comprises the Utgard field. Statoil previously acquired stakes in P312 from First Oil in October 2015 and Talisman Sinopec in December 2015. Statoil is the operator in PL046 with a 62% holding. A final investment decision for Utgard is planned before end-2016 with production start-up in 2020.
Sinopec Serves $5.5 bln Arbitration Notice to Repsol
China's Sinopec and its subsidiary Addax Petroleum UK Limited have served an arbitration notice to Talisman Energy Inc and Talisman Colombia, both owned by Spanish oil major Repsol, demanding pay back of its 2012 investment in Addax and Talisman joint venture TSEUK, Repsol said in a statement on Friday. The total value of the demand is around $5.5 billion, Repsol said. Reporting By Sonya Dowsett
Statoil Increases Holding in UK licence for Utgard field
On 1 June 2016, Statoil agreed to acquire JX Nippon’s 45% equity share in, and operatorship of, the UK licence for the Utgard field. On conclusion of this transaction Statoil will increase its holding in UK licence P312 to 100%, having previously acquired stakes from First Oil in October 2015 and Talisman Sinopec in December 2015. Statoil is the operator in NCS licence PL046 with a 62% holding. Utgard, previously known as Alfa Sentral, is a gas and condensate field spanning the UK-Norway median line. It is planned to be developed as a tie-back to existing infrastructure on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) for Sleipner, which Statoil operates.
BP Exploration Boss Leaves in Reorganization
BP's head of exploration Richard Herbert is leaving the British oil major after slightly more than two years in the job, a period in which the company slashed spending on the search for new deposits. Herbert, a BP veteran and a long-time ally of Chief Executive Bob Dudley, rejoined BP in October 2013 after several years at rival Talisman Energy. His task was to lead exploration activity to help the firm rebuild investor confidence following a deadly U.S Gulf oil spill in 2010. But as oil prices began to crash from mid-2014 and BP had to shed assets to pay off some $50 billion in U.S.
Oil Prices Pressure Repsol to Review Strategy
Spain's Repsol has no choice but to deepen investment cuts, hasten asset sales or slash its dividend if it wants to weather a fall in oil prices that far outpaces the worst case scenario it based its strategy on, sources and analysts say. Those issues are set to feature high on the agenda of the board of Europe's fifth-biggest oil company by market value when it meets later on Wednesday, although any decision will likely depend on complex boardroom politics as well as a meeting with credit rating agencies expected to take place soon.
Okea to Buy Repsol's North Sea Yme Stake
Norway's Okea, a new up oil company, will buy Spanish oil firm Repsol's 60-percent stake in the North Sea oilfield Yme for free, its chief executive told Reuters on Monday. The 60-million-barrel oilfield had been a problematic project to develop for its previous owner, Canada's Talisman, which was taken over by Repsol in 2014. "We will bear the costs of the development," Okea's CEO Erik Haugane told Reuters, adding that Repsol will not have to pay for the removal of the current installation. Other partners in the field are Lotos of Poland, Wintershall, a unit of German chemical firm BASF and Kufpec of Kuwait.
