Oil and gas explorers headed for IPOs find buyers circling

As oil prices stabilize and confidence returns to the patch, there’s been an uptick in oil and gas companies filing to go public. With prized assets in the industry’s promised lands, not all of them make it that far. ...

Saudi Aramco extends contract for Seadrill jackup

Seadrill has received a three-year contract extension from Saudi Aramco for the jackup rig AOD III. ...

Oil market seen as haven from political risk in 2017

With Donald Trump set to enter the White House in January and populists on the march across Europe, political risk will loom large in 2017. Cautious investors may find stability in an unfamiliar place: the oil market. ...

Brent makes first annual gain in four years

Brent oil, the global benchmark, is headed for its first annual advance in four years before supply cuts from OPEC and other producing nations next month intended to stabilize the market and reduce swelling global inventories. ...

EIA: U.S. crude oil exports are increasing and reaching more destinations

The number of countries receiving exported U.S. crude oil has risen since the removal of restrictions on exporting U.S. crude oil in December 2015. ...

Ophir Energy concludes drilling offshore Tanzania

Ophir and its JV partners, BG Tanzania (Shell) and Pavilion Energy, have concluded the drilling of two exploration wells offshore Tanzania, safely and on time. ...

Oil falls first time in nine days as U.S. crude supplies climb

Oil fell for the first time in nine sessions in New York after a government report showed U.S. crude stockpiles increased for a second week. ...

Petrogas buys stake in Anadarko basin wells

Petrogas has acquired a fractional interest in four wells located in Dewey County, Okla. ...

BP, PTT sign LNG sale and purchase agreement

BP and PTT Public Limited Company (PTT) have entered into a sales and purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas. ...

Exxon Mobil, Oil Search in Papua New Guinea gas find

Exxon Mobil has reported a new natural gas discovery in the Papua New Guinea North Highlands, 13 miles (21 kilometers) northwest of Hides gas field. ...

Shale drillers promise no 2017 binges as oil hangover eases

Shale oil companies are ready to play chicken with supply and demand again. ...

Oil IPOs seen ready to bloom across the U.S.

It may be time for a baby boom in U.S. oil. ...

Aker BP billionaire proven wrong as oil flows from Ivar Aasen

Even billionaires make mistakes. In 2013, Kjell Inge Rokke criticized his oil company and its partners for awarding a contract for a platform deck at the Ivar Aasen field in Norway to a Singaporean company instead of one he part-owned, Kvaerner ASA. ...

One group of investors didn’t cash in on 2016 rally

The world’s most popular oil-tracking exchange traded fund missed out on 2016’s big crude rally. ...

Petronas said to eye new island for $27-billion Canada LNG plan

Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd. is seeking to move ahead with a proposed $27-billion liquefied natural gas plant in western Canada after identifying a new site for shipping the fuel, a shift that may help reduce costs and quell local opposition. ...

Gazprom Neft opens new field in Serbia

Gazprom Neft has opened up a new field in Serbia with recoverable reserves in the order of 432,000 tonnes. ...

Halliburton reports Russian filing in connection with potential acquisition

Halliburton Company has made a filing with the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS) in connection with a potential acquisition of an interest in Novomet Oil Services Holding Limited. ...

Eni awarded two exploration blocks offshore Cyprus

Eni has been awarded two exploration blocks offshore Cyprus, following a competitive international bid round. ...

BOEM to offer 48 million acres in March lease sale

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will offer more than 48 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama for exploration and development, in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area (CPA). ...

Oil extends longest run of gains since August

Oil extended the longest winning streak in more than four months before OPEC and other producing nations start reducing output to stabilize the market. ...

Shale specter haunts OPEC’s feast as oil seen rallying into 2017

After pulling off the biggest oil-market deal in a decade, OPEC faces a new balancing act in 2017: boosting prices without igniting shale. ...

Diamondback Energy expands in Permian with $2.43-billion buy

Diamondback Energy has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire all leasehold interests and related assets of Brigham Resources Operating, LLC and Brigham Resources Midstream, LLC, for an aggregate purchase price of $2.43 billion, consisting of $1.62 billion in cash and 7.69 million shares of Diamondback common stock, subject to certain adjustments. ...

Trio of energy firms to start 2017 with bankruptcy

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Halliburton reaches $100-million deal in securities class action

Halliburton Co. agreed to settle a 14-year-old securities lawsuit for $100 million, resolving claims over its accounting for long-term construction projects and its disclosures related to asbestos liability. ...

Aker BP starts production at Ivar Aasen field

Aker BP has reported first oil from Ivar Aasen field in the North Sea. The field has an expected economic life of 20 years, depending on oil prices and production development, the company said. ...

Investors betting on oil price drop flee as production cuts near

Oil investors seem to have less reason to doubt that OPEC and other producers will make the cuts needed to balance the market. ...

Algeria’s Sonatrach to boost output 20% with new projects

Algeria’s state energy producer Sonatrach Group plans to increase output of natural gas and crude oil by 20% in the next four years as new projects start up, Salah Mekmouche, the company’s V.P. of exploration and production, said. ...

India’s top oil producer spends $1.2 billion to buy gas block

India’s biggest oil and gas producer will pay as much as $1.2 billion to buy a majority stake in a gas field off the country’s east coast, aiming to boost production as the country seeks to cut energy imports. ...

U.S. operators extend revival as oil trades near 17-month high

Oil explorers added rigs for the eighth straight week, extending a ramp-up of activity in the U.S. shale patch as prices hover near $53/bbl. ...

Good show of oil reported at wildcat wells drilled east of Frigg field, North Sea

Aker BP ASA has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 18S and appraisal wells 18A, 18B and 18C, in the Norwegian North Sea, without establishing commercial production. The wells were drilled in 121 m of water, with the Maersk Interceptor drilling facility, 4 km south of the Frigg Gamma Delta oil discovery. ...

Total and Petrobras implement their strategic alliance through an assets package agreement

Total and Petrobras signed today an Assets Package Agreement in the framework of their strategic alliance announced in October 2016. ...

DEA Norge strengthens position in the Njord area

DEA has strengthened its position in Norway by acquiring participating interests in seven licenses in the Njord area of the Norwegian Sea, including a 20% increased interest in Njord field, from Engie EandP Norge. ...

SOCAR, BP agree terms on future development of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field

SOCAR (the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan) and AIOC (the Azerbaijan International Operating Company) have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the future development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. ...

SOCAR, BP-operated AIOC ink agreement on future development of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field

SOCAR (the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan) and AIOC (the Azerbaijan International Operating Company) have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the future development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. ...

Oil advances as Iraq signals compliance with output accord

Oil rose to the highest close in more than a week as Iraq signaled that it would adhere to the OPEC production targets. ...

Imperial Oil, BP in limbo after Canada freezes Arctic drilling

Energy firms including Imperial Oil and BP will get a year of consultations to hash out the fate of their rights in Canada’s Arctic after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s drilling freeze set the stage for a dispute over license extensions. ...

Exxon’s Norwegian oil assets said to lure Aker BP, private equity

Billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke’s Aker BP and two private equity-backed companies are in talks to buy stakes in oil fields off Norway from Exxon Mobil Corp. that are valued at about $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. ...

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister sees oil recovering on OPEC cuts

Oil prices are set to recover next year as OPEC fulfills its agreement to cut output, halting the slump that battered the global oil industry, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said. ...

UAE expects oil prices to rise more on global production cuts

Oil prices may rise even more once investors see that OPEC and other major producers are fulfilling an agreement to cut production to curb the global glut, United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said. ...

Saudi Arabia sees oil revenue rising 46% in 2017 as prices climb

Saudi Arabia expects oil revenue to jump by 46% next year after a deal between the kingdom and other producers to curb output drove up global prices. ...

Premier Oilfield Laboratories acquires Corex UK

Premier Oilfield Laboratories, LLC (POL) has acquired COREX UK Ltd. Established over 40 years ago, COREX is an international provider of analytical services for the oil and gas industry, helping to improve hydrocarbon recovery while mitigating risk for EandP operators. ...

SM Energy closes Midland basin acquisition

SM Energy has completed its acquisition of oil and natural gas assets in Howard and Martin counties, Texas, from QStar LLC and a related entity for $1.6 billion, before customary purchase price adjustments. ...

Honeywell, Dover Energy Automation to collaborate to offer asset integrity management

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Harvest Natural Resources to sell Gabon interests

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Ashtead Technology expands Middle East capabilities with new acquisition

Ashtead Technology has acquired Abu Dhabi-based TES Survey Equipment Services LLC. ...

Anadarko sells Marcellus assets to Alta Resources

Anadarko Petroleum has agreed to sell its operated and non-operated upstream assets and operated midstream assets in the Marcellus shale of north-central Pennsylvania to Alta Marcellus Development, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alta Resources Development, LLC, for approximately $1.24 billion. ...

Exxon foe says bigger InterOil offer still isn’t good enough

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s offer to raise its bid for InterOil Corp. to as high as $3.9 billion isn’t enough to pacify the deal’s most prominent opponent. Exxon Mobil Corp.’s offer to raise its bid for InterOil Corp. to as high as $3.9 billion isn’t enough to pacify the deal’s most prominent opponent. ...

Malaysia’s Petronas agrees to study two oil fields in Iran

Malaysia’s state-owned energy company Petroliam Nasional Bhd signed an agreement to study two oil fields in Iran, joining international companies from Russia to France that plan to help boost the Persian Gulf nation’s oil and gas production. ...

Iraq says Kurds, IOCs agree to cut oil output

Iraq said most international oil companies working in the country, along with the nation’s semi-autonomous Kurds, have agreed to cut crude output to fulfill an OPEC accord. ...

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorizes Golden Pass LNG facility

It was announced this afternoon that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted authorization to Golden Pass Products LLC to build and operate the Golden Pass LNG facility, near Sabine Pass, Texas. ...

Chair of Noia board comments on decision to ban Arctic drilling

The Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association (Noia) has responded to the moratorium on new oil and gas leasing in Arctic waters announced late yesterday. ...

NRC announces new Tier 2 oil spill response base servicing Mexico's Bay of Campeche

NRC announces the establishment of its strategic Tier 2 oil spill response base in the Bay of Campeche region of Mexico. Driven by new shallow and deepwater drilling developments in Mexico, NRC’s robust Tier 2 base will support NRC EandP clients now operating in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche. ...

Eclipse Resources sells Utica acreage

Eclipse Resources has completed the sale of approximately 9,900 net acres in eastern Noble County and western Monroe County, Ohio, for approximately $63.8 million. ...

Schlumberger signs two long-term Transocean service agreements

Cameron, a Schlumberger company, today announced the signing of two 10-year pressure control equipment management service contracts on behalf of Transocean, valued at greater than $350 million. ...

Oil trades near $53 as crude supply gains, fuel stockpiles drop

Oil traded near $53 in New York after a government report showed U.S. crude stockpiles increased for the first time in five weeks. ...

Oil seen at $100 by year-end 2018 in lottery ticket options trade

Call it a pre-Christmas lottery ticket, but someone in the oil market has been busy making a bold bet, buying contracts that will be profitable if oil surges again to $100/bbl. ...

Chesapeake to sell second Haynesville shale position for $465 million

Chesapeake Energy has signed an agreement to sell a portion of the company's acreage and producing properties in its Haynesville shale operating area in northern Louisiana for approximately $465 million to an affiliate of Covey Park Energy LLC. ...

Texas American lands $250-million equity boost for Eagle Ford

Texas American Resources has announced that First Reserve, a private equity and infrastructure investment firm, and members of management have made an investment in the company. ...

Cavitation Energy developing next-generation steam technology for EOR

Cavitation Energy Systems (CES) announced that they are developing a next-generation demonstration unit for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The company is also working to upgrade steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) and high pressure cyclic steam stimulation (HPCSS) using their cavitation-based technology. The improvements will produce clean, low-cost steam at the wellhead and eventually downhole (in situ) steam production. EOR and SAGD is used throughout the U.S. and Middle East, while CSS and HPCSS is applied mainly in Canada. Because of its low cost, a CES unit can also be used to extract oil from shale formations. ...

Crestline acquires DJ basin assets from Double Eagle

CL Energy Opportunity Fund, a fund managed by Crestline Investors, has announced the acquisition of the non-operating working interests in the DJ basin of Colorado from Double Eagle Energy Rockies LLC, an affiliate of Double Eagle Energy Holdings II LLC, a Fort Worth-based EandP company. ...

Petronas reports 20,000 bopd production cut as of January

Petronas will make a voluntary adjustment to Malaysia’s crude oil production as of January, the Kuala Lumpur-based company said Wednesday. ...

Peterson awarded marine services contract with ENGIE

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Oil extends gains as API report shows U.S. stockpile drop

Oil extended its advance as industry data showed U.S. crude stockpiles declined last week, trimming an inventory overhang. ...

Oil optimism is back as Norway predicts worst is behind us

The man overseeing energy policy in western Europe’s biggest oil-producing nation says the worst downturn in the history of Norway’s offshore industry appears to have bottomed out as this month’s historic OPEC deal continues to reverberate across the globe. ...

Exxon to greenlight 1.4 Bbbl Guyana discovery in 2017

Exxon Mobil plans to formally approve investing in the 1.4-Bbbl Liza oil discovery off the coast of Guyana by the end of 2017. ...

Libya reopens oil fields as biggest terminal is set to load

Libya reopened two of its biggest oil fields and is set to load its first crude cargo in two years from its largest export terminal as the war-torn country pursues plans to almost double output in 2017. ...

Obama bans new oil drilling on millions of acres of U.S. waters

President Barack Obama banned new offshore oil and gas development in more than 100 million acres of the U.S. Arctic and undersea canyons in the Atlantic Ocean, an announcement certain to provoke a fight with the Republican-led Congress and his successor in the White House. ...

SBM Offshore awarded contracts for Exxon Mobil Liza FPSO

SBM Offshore has announced that Exxon Mobil subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited has awarded the Company contracts for a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) for the Liza development and production in Guyana. ...

Statoil’s Troll B field hits 1 Bbbl production milestone

Statoil’s Troll B field has produced one billion boe since it came on-stream September 1995. Troll fields, B and C combined, have been the largest oil producer on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) for the last three years. ...

KLR Energy Acquisition and Tema Oil and Gas Co. to form Rosehill Resources in the Delaware basin

KLR Energy Acquisition Corp., an oil and gas EandP focused special purpose acquisition entity, has announced that it has entered into a Business Combination Agreement with Tema Oil and Gas Company, a private company with assets in the core of the Delaware basin, in Loving County, Texas. ...

Statoil announces Troll B field has produced one billion boe

Statoil’s Troll B field has produced one billion boe since it came on-stream September 1995. Troll fields, B and C combined, have been the largest oil producer on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) for the last three years. ...

WTI rises third day as U.S. crude supply seen extending decline

Oil climbed before government data forecast to show U.S. crude inventories dropped for a fifth week, trimming a glut. ...

BP awards global engineering agreements to KBR

KBR has been awarded two global agreements by BP International Limited. One agreement is for the provision of conceptual engineering services and the other is for the provision of pre-front end engineering design (FEED) and FEED engineering services. ...

Petrobras awards Benthic geotechnical investigation contract

Benthic has been awarded a contract by the Libra Consortium for an offshore geotechnical investigation in the Libra field area, which lies about 140 miles off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ...

Energy ‘tsunamis’ threaten to drag oil down to $10, Engie says

The oil industry must brace for five energy “tsunamis” that threaten to drag prices as low as $10/bbl in less than a decade, according to Engie SA’s innovation chief. ...

Total invests $207 million in Tellurian to develop integrated gas project

Tellurian Investments and Total announced Tuesday that Total is acquiring approximately 23% of Tellurian for $207 million to develop an integrated gas project, from the acquisition of competitive gas production in the U.S. to the delivery of LNG to international markets from the Driftwood LNG terminal. ...

Iraq's Rumaila oil field achieves 3 Bbbl production landmark

The Rumaila Operating Organisation (ROO), composed of BP, PetroChina and the South Oil Company of Iraq, has announced that Rumaila oil field has produced 3 Bbbl of oil since the joint venture began operating in January 2010. ...

OPEC deal makes oil investors most bullish since slump began

Investors are the most optimistic on oil since the slump began two and a half years ago. ...

Iran’s OPEC win lacks substance without deals with Big Oil

Few countries have benefited from the oil market’s 2016 recovery like Iran. ...

BP piles up assets as the CEO says the worst is over

BP is piling up assets with more than $3 billion of deals in three days as CEO Bob Dudley sees the company emerging from the doldrums after a two-year price slump. ...

Obama said to use 1953 law to block drilling in Arctic, Atlantic

President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in much of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to two people familiar with the decision. ...

Emerson expands reservoir modeling capabilities to maximize recovery

STAVANGER, Norway -- Emerson Automation Solutions has launched the Roxar application programming interface (API), its extensibility solution for reservoir modeling and, in particular, for its software Roxar RMS. The Roxar API helps operators customize their workflows to achieve specific goals; improves data management capabilities with greater interoperability and flexibility; preserves vital reservoir information across multiple-stage workflows; and enables users to analyze and visualize their models in different and innovative ways for improved reservoir interpretation and increased recovery. ...

New year offers stability and opportunity, WoodMac says

LONDON -- Wood Mackenzie's global corporate outlook for 2017 forecasts the oil and gas industry will turn cash flow positive for the first time since the downturn, if OPEC production cuts drive oil prices above $55/bbl. ...

Atwood Oceanics secures one-well contract for ultra-deepwater rig

Atwood Oceanics has agreed to a one-well drilling services contract with Woodside Energy for the ultra-deepwater rig, Atwood Osprey, offshore Australia. ...

AGR signs new Frame Agreement with Wintershall Norge

AGR has been awarded a Frame Agreement with Wintershall Norge for delivering qualified technical manpower supporting Wintershall’s onshore and offshore teams. ...

Hurricane discovers ‘very significant’ oil column West of Shetland

Hurricane Energy discovered a “very significant” hydrocarbon column with its Lincoln well, about 60 miles West of Shetland, the company said Monday. ...

Hurricane discovers ‘very significant’ oil column

Hurricane Energy discovered a “very significant” hydrocarbon column with its Lincoln well, about 60 miles West of Shetland, the company said Monday. ...

BP awarded 10% interest in Abu Dhabi’s ADCO onshore concession

BP signed an agreement with the Supreme Petroleum Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) that grants BP a 10% interest in Abu Dhabi’s ADCO onshore oil concession, which has a life of 40 years. ...

Penspen forms alliance with Nigeria’s Crestech Engineering

Penspen, a provider of engineering and project management services, has signed a strategic alliance agreement with Nigerian engineering firm Crestech. ...

Libya’s Elephant, Sharara oil fields restart said halted

Libyan oil-facility guards prevented two of the country’s biggest fields from resuming production, days after the National Oil Corp. reached an agreement to restart operations there to boost output in the politically divided OPEC state. ...

Rosneft could accelerate global expansion in 2017, WoodMac says

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Aramco IPO could still be in U.S. as kingdom plays down rift

Saudi Arabia could still decide to sell shares of oil giant Aramco in New York, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said, even after the U.S. passed a law that allows victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue the kingdom. ...

BP builds gas empire with $916 million purchase from Kosmos

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U.S. operators add twelve oil rigs in Permian basin

Operators in the U.S. put 12 more oil rigs in the field this week, according to the latest data from Baker Hughes. ...

Goldman sees oil lower for longer after getting a bump from cuts

Oil prices boosted by global output reductions will be capped because of new supply before long, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The cuts by OPEC members and nations outside the group, as well as strong demand growth, will probably help curb inventories by next summer, analysts including Damien Courvalin said in a note dated Dec. 16. While the bank raised its oil-price forecasts for the second quarter of 2017, it decreased its crude estimates for 2018 on concern that new production will enter the market. ...

Jessica Uhl to succeed Simon Henry as Shell’s CFO

Royal Dutch Shell has announces that, after more than seven years in the role, Simon Henry will conclude his service as CFO of the company and will be succeeded by Jessica Uhl. ...

Geological Remote Sensing Group elects CGG's Charlotte Bishop as chair

Charlotte Bishop, remote sensing projects manager, NPA Satellite Mapping, CGG, has been elected as chair of the Geological Remote Sensing Group (GRSG). ...

Weatherford names new CFO, president of regional operations

Weatherford International has announced the appointment of Christoph Bausch as executive V.P. and CFO, effective Dec. 13, 2016. ...

Statoil awards Snorre modifications contract to Aibel

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Anadarko hits pay in Gulf of Mexico, closes FMOG acquisition

Anadarko Petroleum has closed its acquisition of Freeport-McMoRan Oil and Gas's deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets. The Woodlands, Texas-based company has also reported success with its Warrior wildcat well and its Phobos appraisal well in the Gulf. ...

Oil patch job postings increase seen as early signal of recovery

Job postings are returning to the U.S. oil patch as the global crude market continues to recover. ...

What global oil flows might look like after OPEC’s supply shock

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OPEC deal tests oil majors’ appetite for risk and reward

OPEC’s deal to cut production and boost prices gives oil companies the opportunity to shake off two years of layoffs and slumping profits to start investing again—if they still have the risk appetite. ...

U.S. proved reserves declined in 2015 because of lower prices: EIA

U.S. crude oil proved reserves declined 4.7 Bbbl (11.8%) from their year-end 2014 levels, to 35.2 Bbbl at year-end 2015, according to EIA’s recently released U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves report. ...

Policy, digital and workforce innovation ahead in 2017, says EY

As tax reform and regulatory easing across the U.S. oil and gas industry are anticipated in a new administration, EY expects innovation in financial and operational excellence will be a main driver of value and competitiveness in 2017. ...

Seatronics inks frame agreement with Bibby Offshore

Seatronics Ltd, an Acteon company, has secured a contract with Bibby Offshore to be their preferred supplier of subsea rental equipment. ...

Pioneer Natural Resources sees oil at $70 in 2018

Texas driller Pioneer Natural Resources sees crude prices surging to $70/bbl in a year’s time as the world finally burns through its surplus of oil and drilling in the Permian basin heats up. ...

ENGIE achieves first gas from North Sea’s Cygnus field

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Technip awarded engineering and project management services contract

Technip has been awarded an engineering and project management services contract by Shell Australia. This contract will provide multi-disciplinary engineering and design services in support of the Prelude FLNG project, and will allow the delivery of brownfield engineering scope as the project moves into operations. ...

Technip awarded multi-disciplinary engineering and project management services contract

Technip has been awarded an engineering and project management services contract by Shell Australia. This contract will provide multi-disciplinary engineering and design services in support of the Prelude FLNG project, and will allow the delivery of brownfield engineering scope as the project moves into operations. ...

Statoil sells its Canadian oil sands business

Statoil has signed an agreement to divest its 100% owned Kai Kos Dehseh (KKD) oil sands projects in the Canadian province of Alberta to Athabasca Oil Corp (TSX: ATH). The transaction covers the producing Leismer demonstration plant and the undeveloped Corner project, along with a number of midstream contracts associated with Leismer’s production. Following this transaction, Athabasca will take over operatorship of Leismer and Corner and Statoil will no longer operate any oil sands assets. ...

Saipem wins North Sea decommissioning job from BP

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Subsea 7 wins contract for Centrica’s Oda field development

Subsea 7 has been awarded a contract by Centrica for Oda field in the Norwegian North Sea. ...

Petrofac secures $75-million contract with South Oil Company

Petrofac has secured a contract worth $75 million from South Oil Company (SOC) for its Iraq Crude Oil Export Expansion Project (ICOEEP). ...

Nobody agrees when oil market will re-balance after OPEC deal

The first half. No, the second. Certainly this year. Or next. That’s the range of views you’ll hear if you ask the International Energy Agency, OPEC, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. government when the production cuts announced last week will end the global oil glut. ...

Libya’s biggest oil port, fields set to reopen this week

Libya is preparing this week to reopen two of its biggest oil fields and ship the first cargo from its largest export terminal in two years, as the war-torn OPEC state pursues plans to almost double crude output in 2017. ...

OPEC threatened by tiny Oklahoma town with soaring supplies

For OPEC, there are few enemies more fearsome than the tiny Oklahoma town of Cushing. ...

Exxon Mobil names Darren Woods as Tillerson's successor

Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation, has announced his intention to retire at year-end after more than 41 years of service. ...

Gulfport Energy enters SCOOP play with acquisition of about 85,000 net effective acres

Gulfport Energy Corporation today announced that the Company has entered into a definitive agreement with Vitruvian II Woodford, LLC, a portfolio company of Quantum Energy Partners, to acquire approximately 46,400 net surface acres in the core of the SCOOP, including approximately 183 MMcfged of net production for October 2016 for a total purchase price of $1.85 billion. ...

Rex Tillerson to retire, Darren Woods elected chairman, CEO of Exxon Mobil

Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation, has announced his intention to retire at year-end after more than 41 years of service. ...

BP's Lower 48 business to establish headquarters in Colorado

BP’s U.S. Lower 48 onshore business is to establish its headquarters in Denver to be closer to its substantial operating asset position in the Rocky Mountain region and an important energy hub of the future. ...

Callon Petroleum in $615-million Delaware basin deal

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EPA distorts science in hydraulic fracturing study, API says

API today blasted the EPA's abandonment of science in revising the conclusions to the Assessment Report on hydraulic fracturing. ...

Trump picks former Texas Governor Perry as energy secretary

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a onetime rival of Donald Trump in the Republican primary, will be nominated by the president-elect as energy secretary, joining other cabinet picks considered friendly to the oil industry. ...

Powerwave well stimulation project kicks off in Bahrain

Wavefront Technology Solutions Inc. is pleased to announce that the first two wells of a seven well Powerwave stimulation program have been completed in Bahrain. ...

EPA distorts science in hydraulic fracturing study: API

API today blasted the EPA's abandonment of science in revising the conclusions to the Assessment Report on hydraulic fracturing. ...

CGG/Sercel sells four 508XT acquisition systems to Indian seismic companies

CGG announced that its equipment business, Sercel, has delivered four of its new-generation 508XT land acquisition systems to two seismic companies recently awarded survey work in India by ONGC and Oil India, as part of a new national seismic program commissioned by the Indian government. ...

Continental Resources reports record STACK Meramec well

Continental Resources has announced a new company record well in the over-pressured oil window of the Oklahoma STACK play. ...

INPEX to develop Russian oil field

INPEX is to enter the production phase at Ichyodinskoye oil field, the company said Wednesday. ...

Shell starts oil production from Malikai deepwater platform in Malaysia

Shell has started oil production from the Malikai tension leg platform (TLP), located 100-km off the coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Located in waters up to 500 m deep, Malikai is Shell’s second deepwater project in Malaysia, following the successful start-up of the Gumusut-Kakap platform in 2014. Malikai is expected to have a peak production of 60,000 bopd. As the company’s first TLP in the country, Malikai is an example of the strength of Shell’s global deepwater business, applying TLP expertise from decades of operations in the U.S. GOM. ...

Shell starts oil production from Malikai deep-water platform in Malaysia

Shell has started oil production from the Malikai tension leg platform (TLP), located 100-km off the coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Located in waters up to 500 m deep, Malikai is Shell’s second deepwater project in Malaysia, following the successful start-up of the Gumusut-Kakap platform in 2014. Malikai is expected to have a peak production of 60,000 bopd. As the company’s first TLP in the country, Malikai is an example of the strength of Shell’s global deepwater business, applying TLP expertise from decades of operations in the U.S. GOM. ...

Maersk Supply Service offloads two more vessels

Maersk Supply Service has sold two more vessels, the Maersk Seeker and the Maersk Supplier, as part of the company’s recently announced divestment plan. ...

Gazprom signs oil deal with Iran as Russians return in force

Russian companies including Gazprom PJSC signed a raft of initial agreements with Iran that could lead to contracts worth billions of dollars, as Energy Minister Alexander Novak outlined Russia’s ambition to become a major investor in the Persian Gulf nation. ...

Saudi minister sees oil glut ending in months

OPEC and other major oil producers are committed to a “high level of compliance” with their agreements to cut output, and the shared strategy will balance the market in 2017, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. ...

Aramco keeps building rigs even as Saudis agree to pump less

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. signed contracts with U.S. companies to build dozens of oil rigs over 10 years as the kingdom builds for the long-term future of its most prized industry even while coordinating with other producers to cut output for six months to stabilize crude. ...

Maersk Oil cuts Culzean costs by $500 million in North Sea

Maersk Oil CEO announced that the capital costs of its marquee Culzean HPHT gas project, located in the UK Central North Sea, have been reduced by $500 million U.S. as a result of improved drilling efficiency and robust upfront design and project planning. ...

Maersk reduces costs by $500 million in Culzean gas project, UK North Sea

Maersk Oil CEO announced that the capital costs of its marquee Culzean HPHT gas project, located in the UK Central North Sea, have been reduced by $500 million U.S. as a result of improved drilling efficiency and robust upfront design and project planning. ...

Packers Plus frac system cuts costs/saves time for an operator in Egypt

Packers Plus Energy Services worked with an operator in Egypt to complete a 6-stage StackFRAC system using the drillable closeable (DC) FracPORT sleeve in a short timeframe. ...

NextDecade and FLEX LNG join forces to develop LNG regasification solutions

In a joint announcement, NextDecade Global Solutions, a subsidiary of NextDecade, LLC, and FLEX LNG revealed that the two companies have signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) to create a full value chain solution for customers looking to purchase LNG from NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas. ...

Oil and gas industry collaboration to help simplify commercial and legal practices

A rising number of UK operator companies are demonstrating their commitment to working smarter by signing up to two initiatives designed to reduce the legal and commercial complexity of offshore operations. ...

How Big Data is reducing costs and improving performance in the upstream industry

Among the challenges that the oil and gas industry faces today, there is a bright spot of optimism in the form of Big Data ...

Tiger Liquidity Services Energy Partners to conduct online auction for equipment

Tiger Liquidity Services Energy Partners (TLSEP), a strategic alliance between Tiger Group and Liquidity Services, Inc., will conduct an online auction on Dec. 13 for assets that are no longer needed for the continuing operations of Aly Energy Services, Inc., a Houston-based oilfield manufacturing, rental and services company. ...

Patterson-UTI buys Seventy Seven Energy in $1.76-billion deal

Patterson-UTI Energy and Seventy Seven Energy have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Patterson-UTI will acquire Seventy Seven Energy in an all-stock transaction. ...

Extraction Oil and Gas closes DJ basin acquisitions

Extraction Oil and Gas, an EandP company with primary assets in Wattenberg field in the Denver-Julesburg basin of Colorado, has closed two separate transactions to acquire approximately 16,800 net acres in the DJ basin for an aggregate cash consideration of $177 million. ...

Qatar Petroleum confirms reduction of oil production

Qatar Petroleum announced Tuesday that the nation’s oil production levels will be reduced effective Jan. 1, 2017. ...

U.S. sees higher shale output for first time in six months

Crude output at major U.S. shale plays is poised to climb for the first time in six months, as oil prices rise on planned cuts by OPEC and other producers. ...

As U.S. shale seeps into top oil market, Saudis hone defense

As Saudi Arabia goes on a shock and awe attack to curb a global oil glut, it’s also playing defense to hold on to its most prized customers. ...

U.S. shale production seen rising next year amid oil price rally

U.S. shale oil production is set to rise next year following the rally in prices since OPEC’s Nov. 30 meeting in Vienna, according to the International Energy Agency, which had predicted a decline in its previous report. ...

Sinopec said to eye takeover of Kurdistan producer Gulf Keystone

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., the world’s biggest refiner, is weighing a takeover of beleaguered Kurdish oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum, people familiar with the matter said. ...

OPEC deal to create oil-supply deficit in first-half 2017, IEA says

Global oil markets will swing from surplus to deficit in the first half of 2017 as OPEC and other producers follow through on an agreement to cut supply, according to the International Energy Agency. ...

Oil climbs to 17-month high on Saudi pledge, non-OPEC output cut

Oil advanced to the highest since July 2015 after Saudi Arabia signaled it’s ready to cut output more than earlier agreed and non-OPEC countries including Russia pledged to pump less next year. ...

Shell to idle two ultra-deepwater drillships as part of deal with Noble

Noble Corporation and subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell have agreed to amend the existing long-term contracts on three ultra-deepwater drillships. ...

Russian energy minister says oil cuts to start in January

Russia’s oil producers have started preparations to meet the nation’s pledge to curb output as part of the “historic” pact between OPEC and 11 producers outside the group, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. ...

Rampart Products develops next generation HPHT electrical connector

Rampart Products has specified VICTREX HT polymer for a new HPHT KTK (Kintec) electrical connector for the efficient and safe transmission of power and data during the drilling process. ...

Tenaris inaugurates Midland service center, enhances presence in Permian basin

Tenaris has inaugurated a new service center in Midland, Texas—an investment critical to the deployment of Rig Direct, the company’s new business model of working directly with oil and gas customers to synchronize pipe manufacturing with drilling operations. ...

Qatar Petroleum to integrate Qatargas, RasGas into single entity

Qatar Petroleum (QP) is to integrate the activities of RasGas and Qatargas operating companies under a single entity, Qatargas, which will operate all of the ventures currently being operated by both entities. ...

EnerMech secures first Subsea 7 contract in Australian market

EnerMech has been awarded its first contract by Subsea 7 in the Australian oil and gas market. ...

Eni sells 30% stake in Shorouk concession, offshore Egypt, to Rosneft

Eni has agreed to sell Rosneft a 30% participating interest in the Shourouk concession, offshore Egypt, in the supergiant Zohr gas field. Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds a 90% stake in the block after selling 10% interest to BP in Nov. 2016. ...

OPEC’s ideal price is $60 to avoid shale revival, Nigeria says

Oil prices at $60/bbl would be “ideal” for OPEC, as higher levels risk sparking a recovery in competing supplies from the U.S., according to Nigeria’s petroleum minister. ...

Noble, Shell amend contracts on three ultra-deepwater drillships

Noble Corporation and subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell have agreed to amend the existing long-term contracts on three ultra-deepwater drillships. ...

Saudis wrong to rule out U.S. shale oil rebound, Goldman says

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Trump ‘very close’ on Secretary of State, lauds Tillerson

President-elect Donald Trump said he’s “very, very close” to naming his secretary of state, and lauded front-runner Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson in an interview broadcast Sunday as “a world-class player.” ...

Rick Perry said to be trump’s top candidate for energy secretary

Donald Trump has narrowed his search for energy secretary to four people, with former Texas Governor Rick Perry the leading candidate. ...

Oil seen headed to $60 as Saudis signal deeper output cuts

Oil may climb to $60/bbl for the first time in almost a year and a half after Russia and other unaffiliated nations joined an OPEC pledge to reduce production and Saudi Arabia surprised the market by saying it will cut more than previously agreed. ...

Saudis signal deeper cuts after deal with non-OPEC countries

Saudi Arabia signaled it’s ready to cut oil production more than expected, a surprise announcement made minutes after Russia and several non-other OPEC countries pledged to curb output next year. ...

Perenco acquires assets, offshore Trinidad and Tobago

Perenco has announced the acquisition of a 70% interest in the Teak, Samaan and Poui Block (TSP) in Trinidad and Tobago. ...

U.S. operators put 27 more rigs in the field

Operators in the U.S. added 27 rigs this week, according to the latest data from Baker Hughes. The number of rigs seeking oil rose 21 to 498, the highest level since January. ...

ADIPEC 2016 sets new records

The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) posted continued global success, celebrating a milestone year in its 19th edition, and realizing ongoing industry acclaim from world oil and gas leaders. ...

Shale revolution that shocked U.S. markets heads to Japan

The U.S. shale revolution that turned North American energy markets upside down is finally headed to the world’s largest consumer of LNG: Japan. ...

CHC to provide additional aircraft for Shell’s Prelude development

CHC Group has announced that three new Sikorsky S-92 aircraft will begin serving Shell for the company’s Prelude FLNG project from its base in Broome, Australia. ...

WellDog partners with Wyoming’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute

WellDog has partnered with the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute (EORI) to adapt WellDog’s patented downhole Reservoir Raman system for use in oil fields using CO2 to enhance the recovery of oil. ...

PFLNG Satu produces first LNG offshore Sarawak

Petronas’ first floating liquefied natural gas facility, PFLNG SATU, achieved an industry breakthrough on Dec. 5 with the successful production of its first drop of LNG from Kanowit gas field, offshore Sarawak. ...

Saudi Arabia starts telling refiners oil supply will be cut

Saudi Arabia has started to tell its customers it will reduce crude shipments from January, with the curbs focused on Europe and North America while Asian refineries are so far largely spared. ...

Canadian oil sands producers turn eyes to expansion

Canadian oil sands producers are finally ready to grow again as Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources announce they are pushing ahead with expansion projects two years into the worst crude slump in decades. ...

Trader who called price slump sees OPEC deal boosting crude to $70

Hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand expects the combined output cut agreed to by OPEC and Russia will boost oil to $70/bbl in the first half of next year. ...

Oil, gas exploration spend to fall to 12-year low as prices bite

Global spending on oil and natural gas exploration is set to fall next year to the lowest level in 12 years as the industry cuts costs and shuns more expensive areas, such as the Arctic, according to Wood Mackenzie. ...

OPEC deal won’t be enough to drain oil stockpiles

OPEC is likely to bring the oil market into balance by the middle of next year, but its production cut looks set to fall short of its stated goal of draining the stockpiles that are depressing prices. ...

Chevron focuses on near term with 15% budget cut

Chevron has announced a $19.8-billion capital and exploratory investment program for 2017. The budget, which includes $4.7 billion of planned affiliate expenditures, represents a reduction of 42% from 2015 outlays and is expected to be at least 15% lower than projected 2016 capital investments. ...

Schneider Electric, Halliburton collaborate to transform upstream decision-making

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, has announced a collaborative project with Landmark, a Halliburton business line and provider of integrated EandP software. ...

Schneider Electric collaborates with Halliburton to transform upstream decision-making

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, has announced a collaborative project with Landmark, a Halliburton business line and provider of integrated EandP software. ...

Devon expands Delaware basin resource with Leonard shale test

Devon Energy has announced an increase to its risked drilling inventory in the Delaware basin following a successful Leonard Shale stacked spacing test in southeast New Mexico. ...

OMV Petrom begins experimental gas production from Romania's Padina field

OMV Petrom begins experimental gas production from Romania's Padina field. ...

Cenovus boosts 2017 budget, plans to up production

Cenovus Energy plans to invest between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion in 2017, a 24% increase compared with the company’s forecast capital spending for 2016. ...

Polarcus awarded two projects offshore South America

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China’s drag on oil prices that OPEC’s cuts can’t alleviate

One of the biggest engines soaking up the world’s oil is starting to sputter. ...

Deloitte launches Upstream Diversification Index

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Chevron focus on near term with reduced budget

Chevron has announced a $19.8-billion capital and exploratory investment program for 2017. The budget, which includes $4.7 billion of planned affiliate expenditures, represents a reduction of 42% from 2015 outlays and is expected to be at least 15% lower than projected 2016 capital investments. ...

Emerson releases major updates to seismic reservoir modeling and simulation software

Emerson Automation Solutions has launched the latest version of its reservoir characterization and modeling software. Through a host of new features and greater workflow integration to support the Big Loop solution, Roxar RMS 10 provides improvements to the seismic to simulation workflow; new decision-support tools for improved reservoir management; and increased user performance and productivity. ...

Zilift in world first as company installs, operates and retrieves ESP on live well

Zilift, a developer of permanent magnet technologies for artificial lift applications, has achieved a world first in the installation, operation and retrieval of a slim-line cable deployed electrical submersible pump (ESP), under live well conditions. ...

Glencore, Qatar buy $11-billion stake in Russia's Rosneft

Commodity trader Glencore and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to buy a 10.2-billion euro ($11-billion) stake in Russia’s largest oil producer from the state in a triumph for President Vladimir Putin over sanctions imposed by the West. ...

Glencore, Qatar buy $11-billion Rosneft stake

Commodity trader Glencore and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to buy a 10.2-billion euro ($11-billion) stake in Russia’s largest oil producer from the state in a triumph for President Vladimir Putin over sanctions imposed by the West. ...

Iraq can’t count on Kurds or oil companies to meet OPEC cuts

Iraq can’t count on self-governed Kurds in the country’s north or international oil companies to help it cut crude production as promised at an OPEC meeting last week. ...

Oil tanker market heads for worst year since 2013 on OPEC cut

Oil-hauling supertankers are bracing for the worst earnings year since 2013 as they become collateral damage in OPEC’s quest to trim a global glut of crude. ...

PDC Energy closes core Delaware basin acquisition

PDC Energy, Inc., has announced that the Company closed the previously announced Delaware basin acquisition. ...

Energean receives approval for acquisition of Karish and Tanin fields in Israel

The Petroleum Council of Israel has announced its approval of the acquisition of 100% of the Karish and Tanin natural gas fields by Energean Oil and Gas from Delek Drilling and Avner. ...

Oil slides on rising U.S. supply outlook, follow-up OPEC talks

Oil fell in New York on speculation that OPEC production cuts will bolster U.S. shale production, and amid signs that the organization won’t insist all its partners deliberately reduce output. ...

Shell returns to Iran with deal to assess oil and gas fields

Royal Dutch Shell and Total will sign initial agreements on Wednesday to develop oil and gas fields in Iran, in the first European petroleum deals in the Persian Gulf country since sanctions eased earlier this year, an Oil Ministry official said. ...

Service companies exposed to shale seen as winners of OPEC deal

Up to $15 billion in increased spending will flow into the non-OPEC shale market in 2017, according to a new analysis from Rystad Energy. This incremental change comes after OPEC’s decision to cut production by 1.2 MMbpd. ...

Petrofac secures contract extension for North Sea’s Cygnus field

Petrofac is to build on its provision of integrated support services on Cygnus gas field following the award of a four and a half-year contract extension. ...

Investors price junk-energy bonds like $80 oil is back

It's back to the future in the market for junk-rated debt sold by oil companies. ...

Tenaris’ billionaire owner expects oilfield lift from Trump’s trade plans

Billionaire steel tycoon Paolo Rocca is expecting the Donald Trump presidency to be a competitive boon for his oilfield tube-making business Tenaris SA in the U.S. ...

Faroe completes acquisition of Norwegian assets from DONG

Faroe Petroleum has completed its acquisition of interests in five Norwegian North Sea producing oil and gas fields—Ula (20%), Tambar (45%), Tambar East Unit (37.8%), Oselvar (55%) and Trym (50%)—from DONG EandP Norge. ...

Gulfport Energy expands Utica footprint with $87-million acquisition

Gulfport Energy Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement with a third-party to acquire approximately 12,600 net undeveloped acres in northern Monroe County, Ohio. ...

N-Sea, University of Strathclyde collaborate on subsea inspection

Integrated subsea service provider, N-Sea, and the University of Strathclyde’s Institute of Sensors Signals and Communications at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, have secured substantial funding from the Data Lab Innovation Centre for an innovative research project to automate subsea pipeline inspection. ...

OPEC deal seen helping Norway oil investment as soon as 2017

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Oil trades near $51 after slumping on signs of shale fightback

Oil traded near $51 a barrel amid speculation a production boost from U.S. shale producers will counter the first output cuts from OPEC in eight years. ...

Shell, Total said to sign initial oil deals with Iran

Royal Dutch Shell and Total will sign initial agreements on Wednesday to develop oil and gas fields in Iran, in the first European petroleum deals in the Persian Gulf country since sanctions eased earlier this year, an Oil Ministry official said. ...

Oil market seen balanced if non-OPEC joins production cut

A global oil output cut of 1.8 MMbpd would be enough to balance the market, and OPEC is ready to take further action if prices fail to stabilize, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said. ...

Total awarded exploration blocks offshore Mexico

Total has been awarded exploration licenses on three blocks in offshore Mexico, following the country’s first competitive deep water bid round. ...

Joint Kuwait-Saudi oil fields to stick to OPEC caps if restarted

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia agreed that any resumption of crude production from shared oil fields along their border won’t raise their output beyond limits set at an OPEC meeting last week, according to two officials familiar with the talks. ...

WellAware, Halliburton collaborate on launch of Integrated Radio and Controller

WellAware has announced the launch of the WellAware Integrated Radio and Controller for oil and gas producers as well as a global distribution collaboration with Landmark, a Halliburton business line and a leading provider of EandP software. ...

BP is most-exposed among oil majors to OPEC-Russia cuts

Big Oil may have to play a part in cutting supply after the landmark agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC producers last week. ...

Atwood Oceanics agrees to delay delivery of ultra-deepwater drillships

Atwood Oceanics Inc. announced today that it has agreed with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) to delay the requirement to take delivery of Atwood's two newbuild ultra-deepwater drillships, the Atwood Admiral and the Atwood Archer, by two years to September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2020, respectively. ...

Trump vows prompt review of Obama's Dakota Pipeline rejection

President-elect Donald Trump backs the Dakota Access Pipeline and will review a decision by the Obama administration to deny a permit needed to complete the $3.8-billion project, a spokesman said. ...

Faroe Petroleum completes acquisition of Norwegian production assets

Faroe Petroleum, the independent oil and gas company focusing principally on exploration, appraisal and production opportunities in Norway and the UK, has announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of interests in five Norwegian North Sea producing oil and gas fields, Ula (20%), Tambar (45%), Tambar East Unit (37.8%), Oselvar (55%) and Trym (50%) from DONG EandP Norge AS. ...

OGA offers additional blocks offshore the UK

Companies can now apply for new licences to drill for offshore oil and gas in a number of blocks in the Offshore 2016 Supplementary Round. ...

China International Maritime Containers Group acquires Frigstad Deepwater shares

Frigstad Deepwater Holding Ltd, a subsidiary of Frigstad Offshore Group, has decided to sell all of its shares in Frigstad Deepwater Ltd to a subsidiary of China International Maritime Containers Group (CIMC) with effect from Dec. 6, 2016. ...

Wood Group and Heerema Fabrication sign memorandum of understanding

Wood Group and Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The companies will join efforts to offer wellhead platform development, from design to installation, hook-up and commissioning, to clients on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). ...

Oil falls from 16-month high as OPEC production keeps on rising

Oil retreated from the highest close in 16 months as OPEC pumped a record amount of crude in November, partly led by members exempt from cutting output as part of last week’s deal to curb supply. ...

CGG achieves near real-time imaging for offshore Morocco survey

PARIS, France -- CGG announced the delivery of near real-time imaging results for a 4,200 sq km BroadSeis 3D marine seismic survey acquired offshore Morocco. CGG delivered the very-fast-track (VFT) RTM PSDM volume to the client only four days after the last shot. ...

Chesapeake sells portion of Haynesville shale acreage for $450 million

Chesapeake Energy has signed an agreement to sell a portion of the company's acreage and producing properties in its Haynesville shale operating area, in northern Louisiana, for approximately $450 million to a private company. ...

Saudi Arabia switches OPEC tack with eye on world’s top IPO

To understand why Saudi Arabia changed course and decided OPEC should go back to managing supply, look at two of the kingdom’s biggest policy challenges: the urgent need to plug holes in its budget and the plan to sell a stake in the state-owned oil monopoly. ...

Mexico's deepwater auction draws world’s biggest drillers

Mexico’s first competitive deepwater oil auction surpassed expectations as eight of 10 blocks were awarded to some of the world’s top oil companies. ...

OPEC target gets harder as African members boost November output

OPEC’s mission to implement last week’s historic deal to curb production for the first time in eight years just got a little bit harder after three of its African members increased output in November. ...

OPEC seeks cuts from nations pumping a fifth of world's oil

OPEC has invited 14 other crude producers, who together pump about a fifth of the world’s oil, to talks this week in Vienna aimed at securing wider cooperation with production cuts. ...

Exxon Mobil announces executive management changes

Tom Walters, president, Exxon Mobil Production Co., has announced his intention to retire after more than 38 years of service. Walters joined Exxon USA in 1978 in Los Angeles and has held a variety of technical and managerial positions in production, operations, development and global services. ...

Bibby Offshore wins North Sea contract with Shell

Bibby Offshore has secured a significant contract with Shell. The campaign, which is due to commence in first-quarter 2017, will see Bibby provide engineering and subsea construction activities in Gannet G field in the Central North Sea. ...

Subsea Integration Alliance awarded deepwater integrated EPCIC contract by Murphy EandP

Subsea Integration Alliance has announced the industry’s first deepwater integrated subsea engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) multiphase boosting system award. ...

BP commences drilling activity on new Carboniferous prospect, southern North Sea

BP has started drilling on a potential gas play in southern North Sea block 43/26a that, if successful, could open up a new phase of development in the region. The well, being drilled with partners Perenco and Premier, will test the potential of a deep Carboniferous age horizon several hundred meters beneath the mature reservoirs produced by the Ravenspurn ST2 platform. ...

Post-OPEC rally no miracle cure for Latin America’s crippled oil giants

For the three titans of Latin American oil—Pemex, PDVSA and Petrobras—last week’s OPEC-driven price rally won’t be enough to halt a slow descent from the ranks of international crude heavyweights. ...

Dakota Access pipeline in new setback as U.S. permit denied

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied Energy Transfer Partners a permit to build a section of the $3.8-billion Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota after weeks of opposition from Native Americans, environmentalists and other groups. ...

Oil hits 16-month high as focus shifts to non-OPEC cuts

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Shale rushes to hedge production as market turns upside down

U.S. shale oil companies are using the post-OPEC rally to hedge their oil price risk for next year and 2018 above $50/bbl, bankers, merchants and brokers said, pushing the forward oil curve upside down. ...

OPEC deal can work, but ‘We tend to cheat,’ Al-Naimi says

OPEC’s agreement to cut production for the first time in eight years has the potential to balance the oil market, as long as everyone sticks to it, former Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said. ...

Brent heads for biggest weekly advance since 2009

Brent oil is headed for its biggest weekly gain since 2009 after OPEC approved its first supply cut in eight years, with attention now shifting to compliance with the deal and how other producers will react to a price rally. ...

Zion Oil and Gas receives approval to drill in Israel

While Israel is not able to currently meet their energy needs domestically, few companies are well positioned to take advantage of the demand for energy. One such company is Zion Oil and Gas. ...

GeoPark awarded final approval for Morona Block acquisition in Peru

GeoPark Limited--an independent Latin American oil and gas explorer, operator and consolidator with operations and growth platforms in Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Peru--today announced that it has obtained final regulatory approval for its acquisition of the Morona Block in Peru. ...

Apex International Energy awarded first blocks in Egypt

Apex International Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Egypt, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded Blocks 8 and 9 by the Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) from their 2016 Bid Round. ...

Gardner Denver increases sale of pump units as operators prepare for stronger market

Gardner Denver’s Petroleum and Industrial Pumps (PandIP) division, is announcing the sale of six Thunder Series pumps in October. The company continues to see a strong interest from service companies who are looking to reduce their total cost of ownership with the latest innovation. ...

New president of Chevron Africa and Latin America EandP named

Chevron Corporation has named Clay Neff as president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production, effective Jan. 1, 2017. ...

Subsea 7 awarded surf contract, offshore Australia

Subsea 7 S.A. announced the award of a sizeable contract by Woodside Energy Ltd for the Greater Western Flank Phase 2 Project, offshore Australia. The Greater Western Flank is located on the North West Shelf of Australia, 60 km southwest of the Goodwyn Alpha (GWA) platform. The contract scope comprises the subsea tie-back of adjacent fields to the GWA platform, including the installation of manifolds, umbilicals and spool pieces, together with the pre-commissioning of the system. ...

Zion Oil and Gas recieves approval to drill in Israel

While Israel is not able to currently meet their energy needs domestically, few companies are well positioned to take advantage of the demand for energy. One such company is Zion Oil and Gas. ...

Production drilling underway on Statoil’s Mariner field, UK North Sea

Up to five wells will be drilled before Statoil’s Mariner A platform hook-up and commissioning activity starts next summer. First oil is expected to be produced from Mariner in 2018. Hedda Felin, managing director, Statoil Production UK said, “This is an exciting period for us as a UKCS operator as we transition from the planning phase to active offshore operations.” ...

FMC, Technip pass final antitrust review with Brazilian clearance

The pending combination of FMC Technologies and Technip has received a clearance decision from the General Superintendent of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), the Brazilian antitrust authority. ...

OPEC history shows hard work on cuts deal is only just beginning

OPEC’s work isn’t done yet. ...

Russian oil output near post-Soviet record as it prepares to cut

Russia, the world’s largest energy exporter, held November output near a post-Soviet record, which is likely to remain a high-water mark in the near term after a pledge to cut production. ...

OPEC focuses on shrinking stockpiles to pave the way for $60 oil

OPEC’s first production cuts in eight years are intended to shrink the world’s bloated oil stockpiles back to a normal level, paving the way for prices to rise to more than $60/bbl. ...

OPEC deal is bad news for U.S. gas and good news for LNG

OPEC’s decision to shrink oil production is both a blessing and a curse for natural gas markets. ...

Brent oil jumps to highest in more than a year after OPEC accord

Brent oil climbed to the highest level this year after OPEC approved its first supply cuts in eight years, with the focus now shifting to how strictly the group will implement the deal. ...

Mexico's reign dismantled as it welcomes oil giants

In Mexico, the era of big oil is just getting started. But for the state oil dinosaur, its best days appear to be behind it. ...

BP to add second platform to the supergiant Mad Dog field

BP has sanctioned the Mad Dog Phase 2 project in the U.S., highlighting its long-term commitment to the country despite the current low oil price environment. Mad Dog Phase 2 will include a new floating production platform with the capacity to produce up to 140,000 gross bopd from up to 14 production wells. Production is expected to begin in late 2021. ...

BP plans to add second platform to the super-giant Mad Dog field at less than half of original cost

BP has sanctioned the Mad Dog Phase 2 project in the U.S., highlighting its long-term commitment to the country despite the current low oil price environment. Mad Dog Phase 2 will include a new floating production platform with the capacity to produce up to 140,000 gross bopd from up to 14 production wells. Production is expected to begin in late 2021. ...

Petrofac completes world’s largest scale squeeze operation in North Sea

Petrofac’s Anasuria operations team has completed the largest scale squeeze operation in the world. More than 50,000 bbl of treatment were injected into the Teal well—within the Anasuria cluster in the North Sea—to dissolve and remove scale that had formed in the well and production tubing. ...

Single wellhead control panels delivered for Tempa Rossa field in southern Italy

Frames, a supplier of oil and gas solutions, successfully completed and delivered six single wellhead control panels (WHCPs) for Tempa Rossa oil field. ...

Energy Hunter Resources to acquire Midland basin properties

Energy Hunter Resources has agreed to acquire an undivided ownership interest in certain oil producing properties in Reagan County, Texas, from an undisclosed seller. ...

Port Arthur LNG files application to construct liquefaction, export facilities in Texas

Sempra Energy’s liquefied natural gas subsidiaries have filed applications with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking authorization to site, construct and operate the proposed Port Arthur LNG natural gas liquefaction facility along the Sabine-Neches Waterway in southeast Texas. ...

Premier Oilfield Laboratories has acquired MUD Geochemical

Premier Oilfield Laboratories (POL) has acquired MUD Geochemical, a geochemical laboratory and consulting company that provides X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analysis, and other geophysical services. ...

CGG delivers final preSDM data sets for Gabon south basin multi-client survey

CGG announced that the final processed depth volumes (Kirchhoff and RTM PreSDM) from the company's recent 3D BroadSeis multi-client survey in the highly prospective Gabon South Basin are now available for license. ...

Russia to cut oil output by 300,000 bpd but details remain unclear

Russia has committed to cooperate with OPEC by cutting as much as 300,000 bpd from its oil output but offered no clear method for enforcement, creating uncertainty about how easily the reduction can be delivered. ...

OPEC’s oil rally seen setting stage for 2017 price retreat

After jumping the most in nine months, oil is expected to climb further after OPEC beat the odds to agree on an output cut. Just don’t expect the rally to last. ...

Goldman sees oil breaking $60 if OPEC deal done as promised

Oil prices may break above $60/bbl if OPEC and Russia fully adhere to their promises to pump less, says Goldman Sachs Group. ...

Shale cheers former enemy as OPEC cut ends years of starvation

The U.S. shale industry, gutted by 2 1/2 years of bankruptcies, writedowns, credit downgrades and layoffs, is poised to step back from the brink, thanks to an old enemy: OPEC. ...