Talos Energy completes drilling of Zama-1 exploration well, offshore Mexico

Talos Energy LLC, as operator, together with its joint venture partners Sierra Oil and Gas S. de R.L de C.V. and Premier Oil Plc, has announced that the Zama-1 exploration well, offshore Mexico, has completed drilling operations, reaching a TD of 13,480 ft (4,109 m). Zama-1 is the first offshore exploration well to be drilled by the private sector in Mexico. ...

Potential U.S. oil sanctions increase risk of Venezuelan default

The specter of tighter U.S. sanctions is pushing up the perception that Venezuela is getting closer to defaulting on its bonds. ...

TransCanada still sees producer support for Keystone XL

TransCanada Corp. said it still expects commercial support for its controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, tamping down speculation that it was having trouble finding customers for the long-delayed line. ...

OPEC to meet with non-OPEC nations to discuss weaker cuts compliance

Representatives of some OPEC and non-OPEC nations will meet in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 7-8 to discuss why some of them are falling behind in their pledges to cut production, according to an OPEC statement. ...

EIA: Wyoming, Texas and Pennsylvania rank as the top net energy suppliers among states

EIA recently released State Energy Data System estimates for net energy supply, which provide data on each state’s total primary energy production and consumption. Wyoming, Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Dakota ranked as the top five net suppliers of energy in 2015. ...

Statoil announces jacket installation for Johan Sverdrup platform

Last week the jacket for the Johan Sverdrup riser platform was installed by Thialf crane vessel owned by Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC). Weighing a good 26,000 tonnes the jacket is the largest on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). ...

Lukoil applies new technique of geophysical surveying in Timan-Pechora

Lukoil has successfully completed a 3D seismic survey at Mishvan area in the Nenets Autonomous District. The company used a survey procedure which had never been used in Timan-Pechora Oil and Gas Province before. ...

Anadarko moves toward FID for LNG project in Mozambique

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has announced that it had finalized two agreements with the Government of Mozambique – together known as the "marine concessions" – which would allow it to design, build and operate the marine facilities for its LNG project in northern Mozambique. ...

OPEC to meet with non-OPEC to discuss weaker cuts compliance

Representatives of some OPEC and non-OPEC nations will meet in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 7-8 to discuss why some of them are falling behind in their pledges to cut production, according to an OPEC statement. ...

Devon Energy announces $340 million of non-core asset sales in the Eagle Ford

Devon Energy Corp. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to monetize its Lavaca County assets in the Eagle Ford play. Combined with other minor asset sales completed across its U.S. operations, proceeds from the company’s recently announced $1-billion divestiture program have now reached $340 million. ...

Premier Oil provides drilling operations update

Premier Oil has provided the following update on drilling operations in the North Sea, Mexico and Indonesia. ...

Qatar crisis is back to square one as economy shows the strain

The Saudi-led alliance that severed ties with Qatar reinstated a list of 13 demands that must be met before talks to resolve the eight-week crisis could start. ...

Oil traders await U.S. reaction to Venezuelan vote

Oil traded near $50/bbl in New York as efforts by Venezuela’s president to seize more power raised speculation the U.S. could step up sanctions. ...

Oil skeptics exit as market dispels gloom to flirt with $50

As pessimism over oil dissipates and investors flirt with $50/bbl again, short-sellers are getting out of the way. ...

Aker BP granted drilling permit for Hyrokkin wildcat

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Aker BP ASA a drilling permit for well 25/4-11, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations. ...

Exxon misses estimates as cuts fail to offset output declines

Exxon Mobil Corp. wrecked the oil industry’s perfect streak of upside profit surprises as the biggest U.S. oil explorer disclosed second-quarter results that failed to live up to analyst forecasts. ...

Chevron swings to second-quarter profit of $1.45 billion

Chevron Corp. swung to a second-quarter profit as the second-largest U.S. oil explorer lifted production from oil and gas wells by the most in more than seven years. The shares rose. ...

Africa Oil Corp. provides update on operations in Kenya

Africa Oil Corp. has provided the following update on its operations in Kenya. ...

Rosneft's RN-Yuganskneftegaz sets new record for daily output since 1986

RN-Yuganskneftegaz, Rosneft’s largest oil-producing enterprise, has set a new record for crude and condensate daily output since 1986 - 184,549 tons per day. ...

Gazprom Neft signs MOU with Iran's OIEC

Gazprom Neft has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran’s Oil Industries’ Engineering and Construction (OIEC), confirming both companies’ mutual interest in combining forces in the preliminary assessment and investigation of the geological potential of oil fields located in the Islamic Republic of Iran. ...

Statoil brings Byrding field on stream in the North Sea

Statoil and its partners have started production on the Byrding field, as planned. Recoverable volumes in Byrding are estimated at 11 MMboe. ...

Shell still thinks Canada LNG project could be a go, says CEO

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it hasn’t written off its Canadian liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat, British Columbia, yet as a global supply glut killed off a competing project earlier this week. ...

Oil sands seen attacking costs amid crude slump

Canada’s oil-sands operators are making progress in shedding their image as high-cost producers destined to fail in a low-price world. ...

Saipem secures $900-million contract for EPCI activities at Zohr field

Saipem and Petrobel have finalized offshore contract variations worth $900 million for Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) activities in relation to the “Optimized Ramp Up” phase of the giant Zohr field development project, situated in the Mediterranean Sea off the Egyptian coast. ...

Faroe Petroleum acquires further interest in the UK North Sea's Blane field

Faroe Petroleum, the independent oil and gas company focusing principally on exploration, appraisal and production opportunities in Norway and the UK, has announced the conditional acquisition of a further 13.9935% interest in Blane field in the UK North Sea from JX Nippon Exploration and Production (UK) Limited (JXN) for a total consideration of $5.25 million. ...

Brent crude set for biggest weekly gain this year as glut eases

Oil headed for its biggest weekly increase this year in London as sliding U.S. inventories and signs of stronger demand signaled the supply glut in the world’s biggest consumer may be easing. ...

Oil sands learn to be “brutal” attacking costs amid crude slump

Canada’s oil-sands operators are making progress in shedding their image as high-cost producers destined to fail in a low-price world. ...

Oil companies slim drilling budgets as caution takes hold

Caution lights are flashing for the oil industry. ...

EIA: U.S. crude production expected to reach record high in 2018

In EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), total U.S. crude oil production is forecast to average 9.3 MMbpd in 2017, up 0.5 MMbpd from 2016. In 2018, EIA expects crude oil production to reach an average of 9.9 MMbpd, which would surpass the previous record of 9.6 MMbpd set in 1970. ...

Halliburton resolves investigations into Angola, Iraq operations violations

Halliburton Company has announced the resolution of the previously disclosed investigations regarding the Company's operations in Angola and Iraq. ...

Cenovus Energy reports strong second quarter, planned divestitures

Cenovus Energy Inc. has reported a strong second quarter that reflected 45 days of results from the assets recently acquired from ConocoPhillips. ...

Petronas to hand over Blocks 01, 02 in Vietnam's Cuu Long basin

Petronas' subsidiary PC Vietnam Limited (PCVL) will hand over Blocks 01 and 02, located at the Cuu Long basin, offshore Vietnam, to the host authority once the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the blocks expires on Sept. 9, 2017. ...

API welcomes Senate support for U.S. offshore energy development

API welcomed a letter sent by 36 U.S. Senators to Interior Secretary Zinke in support of the safe and environmentally responsible development of U.S. offshore energy resources, as the administration begins developing a new five-year offshore oil and natural gas leasing program. ...

Statoil profit returns to pre-crash level after drastic cuts

Statoil ASA lifted profit back to the highest level since oil prices started collapsing three years ago as the Norwegian company reaped the benefits of drastic cost cuts. ...

If Petronas can't beat U.S. LNG suppliers, it may join them

Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd has pulled the plug on its $27-billion plan to ship liquefied natural gas from Canada’s west coast to Asia, losing out to U.S. suppliers who got to market first. Well, if it can’t beat them, it may still join them. ...

Kuwait joins Saudis, UAE in promising more OPEC oil cuts

Kuwait joined the United Arab Emirates in promising to pump less oil after Saudi Arabia called on fellow OPEC producers to cut more supply to help curb the global glut. ...

Nigeria army says Boko Haram attack on oil workers killed 10

Suspected Boko Haram militants ambushed an exploration team working for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., killing 10 people, the Nigerian army said. ...

ConocoPhillips reports second-quarter loss of $3.4 billion

ConocoPhillips reported a second-quarter 2017 loss of $3.4 billion, or $2.78 per share, compared with a second-quarter 2016 loss of $1.1 billion, or $0.86 per share. ...

Oil near eight-week high with U.S. stockpiles at six-month low

Oil traded near an eight-week high above $48/bbl after U.S. crude stockpiles shrank to the lowest level since the start of the year. ...

Total ready to make acquisitions as financial strength grows

Total plans to make acquisitions and pursue growth, shrugging off uncertainties about oil prices as its financial position strengthens. ...

Shell's cash flow rises to highest since oil crash began

Shell’s cash flow from operations rose to the highest since the oil price slump started in 2014 as asset sales and cost cuts helped Europe’s largest energy company pay down debt and boost profit. ...

Wood Mac: Shale sector to be cash flow positive by 2020

The tight oil sector has struggled to generate positive cash flow since 2010. Last year, only one company in the sector posted positive cash flow. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. ...

Karoon approves FEED for Echidna oil discovery in Santos basin, Brazil

Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. is pleased to announce that its Board has approved the development concept for the Echidna light oil discovery, progressing the project to the next phase in the development, Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED). ...

Petrofac strengthens Iraq presence with contracts worth $100 million

Petrofac has secured a contract extension and a new award with a combined value of more than $100 million for construction management, engineering, commissioning and start-up services for two International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Iraq. ...

Oil's surge masks risk of Brent slumping to $40 after summer

Brent crude could potentially drop to $40/bbl or below in the first quarter of 2018 without deeper output curbs by OPEC, according to an oil analyst at industry consultant JBC Energy GmbH. ...

Tullow plans more Ghana wells once maritime-border spat settles

Tullow Oil Plc plans to drill more wells off Ghana once a ruling on a border dispute is out of the way. ...

Encana closes sale of its Piceance natural gas assets in Colorado

Encana Corporation announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Encana Oil and Gas, Inc., has completed the previously announced sale of its Piceance natural gas assets, located in northwestern Colorado, to Denver-based Caerus Oil and Gas LLC (Caerus). ...

Echo Energy signs technical evaluation agreement for the Rio Salado Block in Bolivia

Echo Energy, the South and Central America focused upstream gas company, has announced the signature of a technical evaluation agreement (TEA) for the Rio Salado Block, onshore Bolivia. ...

Subsea engineering firm SengS nets £1.6 million worth of contracts

A northeast engineering services firm, acquired by a private-equity backed manufacturer last year, has continued to build upon recent momentum with the announcement of new contracts worth £1.6 million. ...

ABIS seals agreement to support Spanish port development

ABIS Holdings Energy Services Ltd. has signed an agency agreement to support the development and operation of an offshore supply base on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. ...

Faroe Petroleum reports positive results from Brasse sidetrack appraisal well

Faroe Petroleum, the independent oil and gas company focusing principally on exploration, appraisal and production opportunities in Norway, the UK and Atlantic Margin, has announced the results of the 31/7-2S Brasse sidetrack appraisal well in the Norwegian North Sea. ...

Halliburton sees North American customers "tapping the brakes"

Halliburton Co. reported impressive second-quarter results on Monday, but warned the growth in North American rig count was "showing signs of plateauing," sending shares down as much as 4.2%. ...

Oil climbs from seven-week high on signs U.S. stockpiles plunged

Oil extended gains from the highest close in seven weeks as industry data showed U.S. crude stockpiles plunged, easing a glut. ...

Major oil companies beating slump as CEOs learn to live with $50 crude

Major oil companies are starting to beat the crude-market slump as the industry rediscovers how to make money at lower prices. ...

Worldwide gas glut claims $27 billion LNG project in Canada

A $27 billion energy project in Canada just became the latest casualty of a worldwide glut of natural gas. ...

Petronas halts $29-billion western Canada LNG project

Malaysian state-owned energy company Petronas will not proceed with a proposed C$36-billion ($28.8 billion) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in western Canada because of weak global prices, the company said on Tuesday. ...

Permian operators’ lofty production targets supported by strong hedging, IHS Markit says

Oil-weighted exploration and production (EandP) companies operating in the prolific Permian basin have 65% of their oil production hedged at an average strike price of approximately $50/bbl. This supports their aggressive production targets for 2017, according to new analysis from IHS Markit. ...

CARBO Ceramics builds on success in the Gulf of Mexico

CARBO Ceramics Inc. has announced that Kryptosphere HD has been utilized by all super major EandPs operating in the Gulf of Mexico, for deep, high stress wells. ...

UAE pledges further oil output cuts starting in September

The United Arab Emirates reiterated its commitment to the OPEC agreement on production cuts and said it would deepen its own curbs. ...

Gazprom Neft begins production at Otdalennaya fields in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug

Gazpromneft-Noyabrskneftegaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, has completed the drilling and testing of its first production well at the Zapadno-Chatylkinskoye field. ...

America's largest oil port looks to catch the shale export wave

The biggest U.S. oil-import hub wants to grab a piece of surging North American crude exports. ...

Oil rallies 2% as Saudi Arabia promises to cut exports

Oil rose by more than 2% on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia vowed to reduce exports from next month and OPEC called on members to boost compliance with agreed output cuts to help curb oversupply and support flagging crude prices. ...

Halliburton sees North America customers "tapping the brakes"

Halliburton Co. reported impressive second quarter results on Monday, but warned the growth in North American rig count was "showing signs of plateauing," sending shares down as much as 4.2%. ...

QEP Resources turns to Permian, sells Wyoming assets for $740 million

QEP Resources Inc. said it would sell its natural gas assets in Wyoming to privately held Pinedale Energy Partners LLC for about $740 million, as the U.S. oil and gas producer focuses on liquids-rich, higher-margin assets. ...

Exxon Mobil announces successful Payara-2 well, offshore Guyana

Exxon Mobil Corp. today announced it has discovered additional oil in the Payara reservoir offshore Guyana, increasing the total Payara discovery to approximately 500 MMboe. ...

China backs joint energy development with Philippines in disputed sea

China's foreign minister on Tuesday said he supported the idea of joint energy ventures with the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea, warning that unilateral action could cause problems and damage both sides. ...

Proserv secures series of decommissioning contracts in Asia-Pacific

Energy services company Proserv has been awarded a series of contracts worth around $4 million for its well severance, platform and FPSO decommissioning services in the Asia-Pacific region. ...

Shell's Prelude FLNG facility arrives in Australia

Shell Australia today confirmed that its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility has arrived in Australian waters. ...

While oil patch bleeds, gas drillers race to unleash wells

Oil prices have been lousy for so long that U.S. producers are hoarding unfinished wells rather than pumping crude out of them. In the natural gas patch, just the opposite is happening. ...

Shale boom may finally have succumbed to oil's price slump

Oil’s bear market may finally be taking its toll on the shale boom. ...

Mexico's Pemex says $5-billion bond deal covers needs through 2018

Mexico's national oil company Pemex said on Monday that recent bond placements totaling about $5 billion would cover its minimum financing needs through the end of 2018. ...

Falcon Seaboard launches $145-million Permian investment fund

Falcon Seaboard Resources, LLC, has announced the launch of the $145-million Falcon Seaboard Permian Fund I, LP. The fund is the first time David Dewhurst, the CEO and chairman of Falcon Seaboard Diversified, Inc., and former Lieutenant Governor of Texas, has accepted outside investments. ...

Reveal Energy Services presents IMAGE Frac 2.0 pressure-based fracture maps

Reveal Energy Services announced today the commercialization of IMAGE Frac 2.0 pressure-based fracture maps that validate completion designs on every well with minimum operational risk and cost. ...

UAE sees OPEC considering oil-cuts extension in November

OPEC may need to consider extending its oil-cuts agreement when the group meets in November, as crude markets are taking too long to recover, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said. ...

Halliburton unveils advanced imaging and borehole inclination service

Sperry Drilling, a Halliburton business, has announced the release of the Radian Azimuthal Gamma Ray and Inclination Service, a geosteering solution that provides real-time, high-quality borehole images and continuous inclination measurements. ...

Anglo African Oil and Gas provides operational update regarding Tilapia field

Anglo African Oil and Gas plc, an independent oil and gas developer, has provided an update on activities with regards to the development of the producing Tilapia oil field in the Republic of Congo. ...

Halliburton smashes profit view on higher demand in North America

Halliburton Co. swung to a quarterly profit and handily beat analysts' expectations on higher demand in North America, sending the world's No. 3 oilfield services provider's shares up 2.5%. ...

Aquaterra Energy signs investment deal with EV

Aquaterra Energy, a leading global offshore engineering solutions provider, has secured a multi-million pound investment from EV Private Equity as the company gears up for service expansion and new technology launches. ...

Saudis to tackle lagging compliance with oil cuts "head on"

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest oil producer, plans to step up pressure on nations that aren’t complying with their commitment to cut output, including a proposal to start monitoring exports. ...

Saipem seen getting work in Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project

Italy's Saipem is likely to get a sub-contractor role in a new project to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic by Russia's Novatek, one of Novatek's partners said. ...

Halliburton smashes profit view on higher demand in North American

Halliburton Co. swung to a quarterly profit and handily beat analysts' expectations on higher demand in North America, sending the world's No. 3 oilfield services provider's shares up 2.5%. ...

Saudi economic pain tests Crown Prince's resolve for change

Saudi Arabia’s drive to reduce the economy’s reliance on oil has hit a snag: its reliance on oil. ...

Oil bulls snap out of funk but OPEC doubts still loom large

Oil optimists are back. They’re just not betting the ranch on a rally yet. ...

OPEC, non-OPEC nations may ask Libya, Nigeria to join output cuts

Key OPEC and non-OPEC oil nations will discuss the situation in producers including Libya and Nigeria at a meeting on Monday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Sunday. ...

Wavefront issued 15-well stimulations campaign in Kuwait

Wavefront Technology Solutions Inc., a global supplier of fluid injection technology for oil and gas well stimulation and Improved/Enhanced oil (IOR/EOR) recovery has announced that the Company, through its local distributor, has been issued a campaign of 15 well stimulations in Kuwait. ...

Schlumberger buy a test of Russia-U.S. ties

U.S. oilfield services giant Schlumberger NV has agreed to buy a 51% in Russian peer Eurasia Drilling Co. (EDC) in a deal likely to test Russia-U.S. ties. ...

Husky Energy sees potential for acquisitions on smaller second-quarter loss

Canadian oil and gas producer Husky Energy Inc. sees an increased opportunity for asset purchases, but will have a "high bar" for determining whether to buy, company CEO Rob Peabody said on Friday. ...

Subsea 7 awarded contract extensions offshore Brazil

Subsea 7 S.A. has announced the award of contract extensions for three Pipelay Support Vessels (PLSVs) currently on long-term day-rate contracts offshore Brazil. ...

Maersk Oil completes Culzean jacket installation

The Maersk Oil operated high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) Culzean development in the UK North Sea has reached a key milestone with the safe installation of all three of the project’s jackets, on time and on budget. ...

After biggest gas leak in U.S. history, Aliso Canyon field set to reopen

Almost two years after the biggest gas leak in U.S. history sprung from a Sempra Energy natural gas storage field in Southern California, the state is ready for the complex to reopen. ...

Exxon to challenge U.S. Treasury's fine for violation of Russia sanctions

Exxon Mobil Corp. says it is legally challenging a $2-million fine assessed against it by the U.S. Treasury Department for “egregious” violations of sanctions against Russia when now-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was chief executive. ...

GE takes tumble as earnings favor bottom of forecast

General Electric Co. said it’s trending toward the bottom end of its profit forecast this year as the manufacturer faces ongoing challenges in the oil and gas market. ...

UAE energy minister hopes global oil markets begin to tighten in second half of 2017

The United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said on Friday he hopes that global supplies will start tightening in the second half of the year when demand picks up. ...

Encana exceeds profit estimates, expects strong 2018

Canadian oil and gas producer Encana Corp. on Friday posted a quarterly profit that handily beat estimates and the company said it was expecting a strong 2018, even with current commodity prices. ...

Dana Gas to use AGR software for deepwater exploration in Egypt

Global energy services and technology company, AGR, has signed a SaaS (Software as a Service) contract with Dana Gas PJSC to supply the latest version of its P1 software. ...

U.S. owns 700 MMbbl of oil and Trump wants to sell it

The U.S. government began stockpiling oil July 21, 1977. It started with just 412,000 bbl of Saudi Arabian light crude stashed in a Southeast Texas salt dome. ...

OPEC, Russia to stand pat on oil deal even as glut persists

OPEC and Russia’s plan to clear the global oil glut hasn’t worked as they hoped, but there’s little expectation the world’s largest producers will act more aggressively when they meet this weekend. ...

U.S. owns 700 MMbbl of oil. Trump wants to sell it

The U.S. government began stockpiling oil July 21, 1977. It started with just 412,000 bbl of Saudi Arabian light crude stashed in a Southeast Texas salt dome. ...

Schlumberger to acquire majority share in Eurasia Drilling Company

Schlumberger announced today an agreement to acquire a majority (51%) equity interest in Eurasia Drilling Company Limited. ...

Nigeria oil thieves keep a lid on output even as bombs abate

The Agbada 2 flow station should have been buzzing with activity, pumping crude to one of Nigeria’s largest export terminals. Instead it was idle in the muggy, mid-morning heat as Wilcox Emmanuel, the facility’s manager, shrugged in resignation about the thieves who’d shut him down. ...

U.S. fines Exxon Mobil over violations of Russia sanctions

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday said it was fining global oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. $2 million for violating sanctions on Russia in May 2014. ...

Three years into cheap oil, Gulf Arab nations are still depending on rebound

Energy-rich Gulf Arab nations have scrambled to adjust to the slump in oil prices since 2014. Three years on, their economies are mired in weak growth and largely just as dependent on crude as they ever were. ...

CGG donates full software suite to Heriot-Watt’s Petroleum Learning Center in Russia

CGG GeoSoftware has donated a full suite of its software technologies to the Petroleum Learning Center, a joint educational project of Tomsk Polytechnic University in Russia and Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. The donation includes training licenses for each of the software solutions (HampsonRussell, Jason, PowerLog, EarthModel FT, InsightEarth and VelPro) in its product portfolio. ...

Sparrows Group, SPIE seal first joint cranes contract for Total EandP Congo

Sparrows Group and SPIE Oil and Gas Services have secured their first joint delivery project, which is in West Africa, after Total EandP Congo awarded the partners the crane maintenance contract on the Moho Nord development. ...

Australia's Woodside Petroleum posts 6.8% drop in second-quarter output

Woodside Petroleum reported a 6.8% fall in oil and gas output in the June quarter due to planned and unplanned outages and a previously flagged reduction in its share of pipeline gas from the North West Shelf. ...

Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline to see little progress this year

No major construction will happen on Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion this year, although construction remains on schedule to begin in September, company President Ian Anderson said on Wednesday. ...

African Petroleum allows lapse of sale exclusivity clause for Gambia, Senegal blocks

African Petroleum has agreed to let an exclusive agreement lapse in talks to sell oil licences in Gambia and Senegal, it said on Thursday. ...

Turkish Prime Minister warns Cyprus of "untimely and dangerous" energy moves

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Thursday warned Cyprus its moves to explore for energy around the eastern Mediterranean were "untimely and dangerous," adding that Ankara would continue to protect the rights and interests of Turkish Cypriots. ...

The Philippines shortlists six countries for $2-billion LNG hub

The Philippines has shortlisted six countries and will choose one from them as a partner for its planned $2-billion receiving and distribution facility for imported LNG, an official from the state-run energy firm PNOC said on Thursday. ...

Brent crude advances above $50 for first time in six weeks

Oil climbed above $50/bbl in London for the first time in six weeks after further declines in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories eased concerns over a global glut. ...

Oil holds gain near $47 after U.S. stockpiles extend declines

Crude held gains near $47/bbl as U.S. oil and gasoline stockpiles extended declines, easing concerns over a global supply glut. ...

U.S., UK to propose road map to end Qatar crisis

The U.S. and the UK proposed a road map to help resolve the standoff between a Saudi-led alliance and Qatar during Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to the region last week. ...

Keystone Test Facility enhances efficiencies, reliability with new testing resource

Keystone Test Facility (KTF) brings a new testing resource to the drilling industry with some very useful and innovative features that will enable test engineers a broader range of opportunities. ...

India approves creation of state oil giant in $4.6-billion deal

India approved the sale of a $4.6 billion stake in state-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. to the country’s biggest oil and gas explorer, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. ...

Mexico sets a date for deepwater oil, gas tenders

Mexico's oil regulator, the National Hydrocarbons Commission, set Jan. 31 as the date for the next round of auctions for deepwater oil and gas tenders in the Gulf of Mexico. ...

INPEX reports sail-away of FPSO Ichthys Venturer

INPEX Corp. (INPEX) announced today that the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility—Ichthys Venturer—sailed away on July 18 from waters near its construction site in Okpo, South Korea, en route to Ichthys gas-condensate field offshore Western Australia, following the completion of shipyard commissioning and preparation work. ...

Oil steadies amid mixed signals on U.S. crude inventories

Oil was steady amid mixed signals on U.S. crude inventories, with industry data showing supplies increased last week while government statistics were expected to indicate a decline. ...

China drafts new rules easing state oil majors' grip on storage

Beijing on Wednesday issued a draft of new regulations for China's growing oil and fuel storage industry, helping loosen the state-owned oil majors' grip on the sector as the nation pushes to reform its vast energy markets. ...

Vietnam plans oil reserves equivalent of 90 days of imports by 2020

Vietnam's prime minister has approved a plan for the country's total crude oil and oil product stocks to be at least 90 days' worth of net imports by 2020. ...

Russian think tank expects oil exports to decline in 2017

A think tank that advises the Russian government on taxes and energy-related issues said on Wednesday it expects the country's oil exports to fall this year thanks to a global deal to cut output, contrasting with official forecasts for a rise. ...

Sound Energy provides extended well test update at Tendrara, onshore Morocco

Sound Energy, the African and European focused upstream gas company, has provided an update on the TE-7 extended well test, including an initial measurement of the reservoir pressure build-up response. ...

Libya's ascendant oil boss poses challenge for Saudi Arabia, Russia

Libya’s rebounding oil output is undermining the supply curbs masterminded by Saudi Arabia and Russia. ...

Libya's ascendant oil boss poses challenge for OPEC, Russia

Libya’s rebounding oil output is undermining the supply curbs masterminded by Saudi Arabia and Russia. ...

U.S. crude exports are set to increase

A growing surplus of light crude oil is setting the stage for exports to take off as new pipeline capacity takes Permian crude to the Gulf Coast. ...

CGG wins Brazil data processing contract for world’s largest seabed seismic survey

CGG announced the award by Petrobras of a contract to process the seismic data from a 3D Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) survey covering a full-fold area of 2180 km2 in Brazil’s deepwater Santos Basin. ...

Top oil buyer's demand in peril as OPEC wrestles over output

Oil bulls grappling with OPEC’s weakened resolve to curb output are also having to worry about waning demand in the world’s biggest buyer of overseas crude. ...

Total, BP unit, YPF announce $1.15-billion investment in Argentina's Vaca Muerta

Argentina's state-run oil firm YPF SA, France's Total SA, Wintershall Energía SA and BP unit Pan American Energy LLC announced a $1.15-billion joint investment on Tuesday to increase shale gas production. ...

Top oil market summons Poseidon to U.S.-Mideast crude fight

Poseidon is wading into the battle between U.S. crude and Middle East supplies in the world’s biggest oil market. ...

Brazil mulls easing local content rules in older oil contracts

Brazil's oil regulator is proposing a plan to allow companies to apply more flexible local content rules to pre-existing contracts, the agency chief said on Tuesday, in a bid to attract fresh investment by foreign oil majors into Latin America's top economy. ...

SOFEC awarded contract for Coral South Project, offshore Mozambique

MODEC, Inc., has announced that SOFEC, Inc., a MODEC Group company, has been awarded the turret mooring system supply contract for the Coral South Project by the joint venture consisting of TechnipFMC and JGC Corporation. ...

API: Modernizing NAFTA to strengthen North American energy markets will benefit consumers

API President and CEO Jack Gerard was pleased to see the administration’s recommendations for modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) seek to preserve and strengthen North American energy markets and its benefits for consumers. ...

Statoil granted drilling permit for wells in PL 124

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Statoil Petroleum AS a drilling permit for wells 6507/8-9 and 6507/8-U2, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations. ...

Oil majors see salvation in gas, but what if it's a wrong bet?

Talk to a major oil executive these days, and the chances are they’ll steer the conversation toward gas. ...

Exxon, Chevron downgraded on weak outlook for crude

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. had their recommendations cut at Wolfe Research as the outlook for oil prices deteriorates. ...

Oil and Gas UK launches new guidelines in effort to boost production efficiency

Highly anticipated industry guidelines designed to boost production efficiency in the UK Continental Shelf have been published by Oil and Gas UK. ...

Oil Search output dips as PNG LNG June production hits record

Australia's Oil Search said on Tuesday that its second quarter output had slipped from the previous quarter due to maintenance, but production in June at its main asset, the PNG LNG project, had hit a record rate. ...

Ethos Energy awarded multi-million-dollar contract by Brunei Shell Petroleum

Ethos Energy has been awarded a multi-million-dollar, five-year maintenance service agreement by Brunei Shell Petroleum for the provision of engineers and improvement of compressor packages on the Champion 7 offshore platform in the South China Sea, off the coast of Brunei. ...

Crude climbs on report Saudi Arabia considering more export cuts

Oil climbed to the highest level in almost two weeks following a report that Saudi Arabia is considering deeper export curbs. ...

In blow to OPEC unity, Ecuador exits oil cut deal

Ecuador has dealt a blow to OPEC unity by announcing it will start raising oil production this month, arguing it needs the money. ...

In blow to OPEC unity, Ecuador exits deal to cut oil output

Ecuador has dealt a blow to OPEC unity by announcing it will start raising oil production this month, arguing it needs the money. ...

Oil majors sees salvation in gas, but what if it's a wrong bet?

Talk to a major oil executive these days, and the chances are they’ll steer the conversation toward gas. ...

Oil gets some respite as bears give summer optimism a chance

Oil skeptics are letting a little sunshine in. ...

Egypt sets sights on doubling natural gas output by 2020

Three recently discovered major gas fields are expected to raise Egypt's natural gas output by 50% in 2018 and 100% in 2020, the petroleum ministry said. ...

Oil edges up towards $49 amid U.S. drilling slowdown

Oil edged up to about $49/bbl on Monday after fewer drilling rigs were added in the United States last week, helping ease concerns that surging shale supplies will undermine OPEC-led production cuts. ...

Global upstream FIDs on track to double in 2017, Wood Mac says

According to a recent Wood Mackenzie report "A big year for FIDs: 2017 marks a turning point," the number of upstream projects reaching FID (final investment decision) in 2017 could double to 25 compared to only 12 last year. ...

Mexico delays next oil auction, letting huge new find sink In

Mexico will delay its next offshore oilfield auctions by a month, giving international bidders more time to evaluate recent major crude discoveries that highlight the potential value of the assets. ...

Schlumberger awarded EPCIC contract for Taqa's Otter field in the UK North Sea

OneSubsea, a Schlumberger company, has announced the award of an engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning (EPCIC) contract for a subsea multi-phase boosting system by Taqa for Otter field in the UK North Sea. ...

Statoil reports small gas find southeast of Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea

Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 849, has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 7121/8-1. The well was drilled about 25 km southeast of the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea. The well proved gas. ...

TFKable to acquire JDR Cable Systems

JDR Cable Systems (Holdings) Ltd., a supplier of subsea umbilicals and power cables to the offshore energy industry, has announced that it is to be acquired by TELE-FONIKA Kable (TFKable). ...

Centrica merges oil business with Bayerngas to tap younger fields

Centrica has agreed with Bayerngas Norge to merge the companies' North Sea assets, creating the region's largest non-major oil and gas producer and allowing Centrica access to younger fields and to lower its decommissioning liabilities. ...

Saipem set for Arctic LNG 2 platform contract

Russian gas producer Novatek is expected to select Italy's Saipem to build offshore platforms for its second liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in the Arctic, four sources said. ...

Canada's LNG failure is its own fault, according to Seven Gen founder

The Canadian natural gas industry shouldn’t blame environmentalists, First Nation communities or the government for its failure to get LNG export infrastructure built. It should blame itself. ...

Oil holds above $46 amid robust economic growth in China

Oil steadied above $46/bbl after China’s economic growth in the second quarter surpassed expectations, while OPEC’s commitment to supply curbs faltered. ...

Turkey adds troops in Qatar in defiance of Saudi-led isolation

Turkey is building up its military presence in Qatar in defiance of a Saudi-led bloc’s demand that the Turkish military pull out of the emirate. ...

Oil giants make a play for millennial hires

“This ain’t your daddy’s oil,” the commercial proclaims, cutting to shots of spray paint being made and a wall covered in fanciful graffiti. “Oil strikes a pose. Oil taps potential. Oil pumps life.” ...

Oil giants target new demographics, make a play for millennial hires

“This ain’t your daddy’s oil,” the commercial proclaims, cutting to shots of spray paint being made and a wall covered in fanciful graffiti. “Oil strikes a pose. Oil taps potential. Oil pumps life.” ...

Syrian army takes more oil fields from Islamic State in Raqqa and eastern desert

The Syrian army, backed by heavy Russian air strikes, seized a string of oil wells in southwest Raqqa province on Saturday, as retreating Islamic State militants battle to defend their remaining territory in the country. ...

Magnitude 4.2 earthquake strikes near Cushing oil storage hub

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 on Friday struck Stroud, Okla., about 20 mi (32.2 km) from the key oil storage hub in Cushing, Okla., the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) said. ...

Deeper OPEC cuts would help shale, former Qatar minister warns

OPEC would hurt itself and help U.S. shale producers if it adopted deeper cuts, the former oil minister of Qatar warned. ...

Oil sands seen helping shale counter OPEC efforts to rebalance market

OPEC producers are finding that shale oil drillers aren’t their only adversaries in their battle to drain a three-year crude glut. ...

Oil firm as signs of higher demand outweigh worries of excess

Oil prices edged higher on Friday and were on track for solid weekly gains following positive demand signals, production issues in Nigeria and a reported decline in stocks. ...

Trump administration reduces royalty rates in first U.S. lease sale

The Trump administration on Thursday announced its first offshore oil and gas lease sale, offering 76 million acres (30 million hectares) in the Gulf of Mexico and reduced royalty rates for shallow-water leases to encourage drilling at a time of low oil prices. ...

Bullish oil funds lead hedge fund losers at half-year mark

Many of last year's most successful oil market bulls have seen their winnings dissolve in the first half of this year, as the crude price has wallowed below $50/bbl despite output cuts by some of the world's largest producers. ...

Parker Hannifin introduces range of double block and bleed valves

Parker Hannifin has introduced a complete range of valves that conform to the API 6A specification for Christmas tree and wellhead applications. ...

Xodus wins subsurface contract with Cairn Oil and Gas in India

Xodus Group has won a contract with Cairn Oil and Gas of Vedanta Ltd. to conduct exploration and appraisal work on its Rajasthan block in northwest India over the next two years. ...

Exxon Mobil acquires interest in acreage offshore Suriname

Exxon Mobil Corporation has announced that its subsidiary Exxon Mobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V., along with co-venturers Hess and Statoil, signed a production sharing contract for Block 59 with Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V., the national oil company of Suriname. ...

Record Norwegian Troll gas may help beat UK winter woes

Norway is turning on the taps at Europe’s biggest offshore gas field at just the right time for Britain. ...

U.S. said to stymie Japan's plan to explore for Russian oil

A Japanese group’s plans to explore for Russian oil with state-run Rosneft have been stymied by U.S. intervention over sanctions. ...

Collecting cash from shale without spending on drilling

Bob Ravnaas raised a paddle in a Houston auction house to secure his first block of mineral rights 19 years ago, when oil prices were about $20/bbl. ...

EIA expects oil prices to average $50/bbl through 2018

EIA now forecasts Brent crude oil spot prices to average $51/bbl in 2017 and $52/bbl in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are expected to be $2/bbl lower than Brent prices in 2017 and 2018. ...

BOEM approves Eni Beaufort Sea exploration plan

After a comprehensive review and consideration of comments received from the public, stakeholders, and Federal and state partner agencies and tribes, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today conditionally approved a Beaufort Sea exploration plan (EP) it received from Eni U.S. Operating Co. Inc. ...

Premier Oil says North Sea exploration no longer attractive

Premier Oil, which produces more than half its oil in the British North Sea, said on Thursday that exploring for resources in the basin was no longer attractive, a day after it announced a major discovery off Mexico. ...

Japan's Tokyo Gas pushes to revise LNG supply contracts

Japan's Tokyo Gas, the biggest city-gas supplier in the world's largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is in talks to renew supply contracts and will push to revise terms to get more flexibility and cut prices, a senior official said on Thursday. ...

Dutch court hearing pits oil giants against Groningen locals

Angry Dutch residents living near the huge Groningen gas field demanded a total halt to production, accusing oil giants of causing house-damaging earth tremors and the government of lying at a hearing in the Netherlands' highest court on Thursday. ...

Trendsetter Engineering completes live well operations with 15,000-psi subsea hydraulic intervention system

Trendsetter Engineering has successfully completed live well operations with the new 15,000-psi subsea hydraulic intervention system (STIM). The STIM system, which had previously been utilized for subsea hydrate remediation work, has now completed seven subsea projects in the GOM since November 2016, in water depths ranging from 2,500 ft to 7,200 ft. ...

Tide turns for sulphur-rich oil in a sea of light crude

The world is awash with oil, but in pockets of the market lower-quality, sulphur-rich crude is limited and buyers are competing for cargoes. ...

Barryoe Partners granted two-year extension for exploration contract offshore Ireland

The Barryroe Partners have been granted a two-year extension to the term of the First Phase of SEL 1/11 to July 2019 and overall term to July 2021 by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment subject to the Barryroe Partners carrying out a work program that includes the evaluation of newly reprocessed 3D seismic data together with an assessment of the Jurassic and Triassic exploration potential of the lisence area. ...

Bbbl offshore Mexico find could spur rush on next lease auctions

A billion-barrel crude discovery in Mexico could be just the lure the country needs to boost investment from oil majors. ...

Billion-barrel offshore Mexico find could spur rush on next lease auctions

A billion-barrel crude discovery in Mexico could be just the lure the country needs to boost investment from oil majors. ...

Canadian oil patch losing Loonie's cushion as Poloz lifts rates

Add costlier debt and thinner profit margins to the list of woes for Canada’s oil patch. ...

IEA less confident on crude rebalancing as OPEC supply rises

The rebalancing of global oil markets has become less certain, with OPEC production rising and little evidence that bloated stockpiles are shrinking. ...

Industry executives see more pain as price recovery slips to 2020

Three years into the biggest oil downturn in a generation, industry leaders see the recovery slipping further from view. ...

Nigeria signals willingness to agree on oil production cap

Nigeria signaled its willingness to cap its oil production to support OPEC’s efforts to ease a global supply glut. ...

Billion-barrel offshore Mexico find could spur rush on next oil lease auctions

A billion-barrel crude discovery in Mexico could be just the lure the country needs to boost investment from oil majors. ...

Billion-barrel Mexico find could spur rush on next oil auctions

A billion-barrel crude discovery in Mexico could be just the lure the country needs to boost investment from oil majors. ...

Aker BP receives consent for exploration drilling in the North Sea

The Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway has given Aker BP consent to drill exploration wells 25/4-11 and 25/4-12, in a prospect named Hyrokkin, which is north of Alvheim in the North Sea. ...

Lundin Petroleum encounters hydrocarbons in Barents Sea's Alta appraisal well

Lundin Petroleum AB has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Lundin Norway AS has successfully completed the drilling and production testing of Alta appraisal well 7220/11-4 (Alta-4) located in PL609 in the southern Barents Sea. ...

Statoil secures Seadrill rig for exploration drilling in Brazil

Statoil Brasil Oleo e Gas Ltda has awarded Seadrill two service contracts for exploration drilling in the BM-S-8 license in Brazil's Santos basin. ...

Tillerson is said to make progress in Qatar crisis talks

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s diplomacy has yielded ideas that could solve the diplomatic crisis. ...

IEA less confident on oil rebalancing as OPEC supply rises

The rebalancing of global oil markets has become less certain, with OPEC production rising and little evidence that bloated stockpiles are shrinking. ...

Oil bosses see more pain as price recovery slips to 2020

Three years into the biggest oil downturn in a generation, industry leaders see the recovery slipping further from view. ...

Oil industry bosses see more pain as price recovery slips to 2020

Three years into the biggest oil downturn in a generation, industry leaders see the recovery slipping further from view. ...

API: Oil and gas drilling sees 62% increase over 2016 levels

API today announced that estimated total wells drilled and completed in the second quarter of 2017 increased 62% compared to the second quarter of 2016. ...

Pipelines secured as wildfires rage in western Canada

Major pipeline companies in western Canada have created fire breaks, installed sprinklers and taken other measures to protect operations as raging wildfires spread to more than 38,000 hectares (93,000 acres) in British Columbia. ...

Eni boosts resource estimate at Amoca field to 1 Bboe

Eni has successfully drilled and tested the Amoca-3 well in the shallow waters of Campeche bay, in offshore Mexico. It has proven the presence of multiple significant oil levels in the Orca and Cinco Presidentes Formations. ...

Rosneft wins auction for Erginskoye license area

Rosneft, based on the results of the auction, obtained the right to develop Erginskoye license area of federal importance. Acquisition value amounted to 20.7 billion rubles. ...

Indonesia unlikely to need imported gas until at least 2020

Indonesia is unlikely to need to import natural gas until at least 2020 due to robust production at home, a senior government official said on Wednesday. ...

Ophir Energy to cut 15% of global workforce amid oil glut

Ophir Energy Plc will cut about 15% of its global workforce, the UK oil and gas explorer said on Wednesday, as low oil prices force producers to trim costs. ...

Ophir Energy to cut 15% of global workforce amid oil price glut

Ophir Energy Plc will cut about 15% of its global workforce, the UK oil and gas explorer said on Wednesday, as low oil prices force producers to trim costs. ...

Philippine official says drilling for oil in disputed sea may resume this year

Drilling for oil and natural gas on the Reed Bank in the South China Sea may resume before the end of the year, a Philippine energy official said on Wednesday, as the government prepares to offer new blocks to investors in bidding in December. ...

North Oil Co. takes over as operator of giant Al-Shaheen oil field in Qatar

Under the patronage, and in the attendance, of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Qatar Petroleum held a special event to mark the inauguration of North Oil Company (NOC) as the new operator and developer of the offshore Al-Shaheen oil field, north of Qatar. ...

Providence Resources begins drilling operations in Ireland's southern Porcupine basin

Providence Resources, the Irish based exploration company, has provided an operational update regarding Frontier Exploration Licence (FEL) 2/14 located in the southern Porcupine basin. FEL 2/14 is operated by Providence Resources plc (56%) on behalf of its partners Capricorn Ireland Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC, 30%) and Sosina Exploration Limited (14%), collectively referred to as the “JV partners”. ...

Halliburton sees 2020 oil spike after industry cuts $2 trillion

Halliburton expects that the worst crude crash in a generation will lead to a spike in oil prices by 2020. ...

Abrado operates PandA barrier placement in Gulf of Mexico

Abrado announced today that it has completed the fourth well in a multi-well campaign using the “Investigate, Operate and Validate” system, by performing downhole video pre and post-window inspection as well as multi-string section milling with its proprietary Medusa cutting technology. ...

Statoil strengthens position in Brazil with $379-million transaction

Statoil ASA and Queiroz Galvão Exploração e Produção (QGEP) have signed an agreement for Statoil to acquire QGEP’s 10% interest in the BM-S-8 licence in Brazil’s Santos basin. ...

India wants $300 billion in oil spending to meet growing demand

India wants $300 billion in investments over the next 10 years to satisfy accelerating demand in the world’s fastest-growing oil market. ...

Oil rises above $48 as U.S. fuel stocks drop

Oil rose above $48/bbl on Wednesday in response to a fall in U.S. fuel inventories and a cut in the U.S. government's forecast for crude output, despite suggestions from OPEC that the oil market will see a surplus next year. ...

Contrarian who predicted OPEC's woes says group should end cuts

When OPEC and its allies unveiled their plan last year to re-balance world oil markets, prices rallied and most analysts expected the supply cuts would succeed. With the strategy now faltering, one bank that predicted failure says the group should call it quits. ...

Talos Energy discovers oil offshore Mexico

Talos Energy announced that the Zama-1 exploration well, offshore Mexico, has discovered oil. ...

OPEC’s first 2018 outlook shows it's pumping too much oil

OPEC’s first assessment of world oil markets in 2018 showed that, despite cutting output, the group is still producing too much crude. ...

Talos Energy announces oil discovery offshore Mexico

Talos Energy announced that the Zama-1 exploration well, offshore Mexico, has discovered oil. ...

Shell to divest upstream interests in Ireland for up to $1.23 billion

Royal Dutch Shell to sell its interests in Ireland for up to $1.23 billion USD. ...

New analysis indicates OPEC facing huge challenges

The price of a barrel of Brent crude has more than halved over the past five years, triggering an existential crisis for the world’s biggest oil producers. ...

Shell purchases Turritella FPSO from SBM Offshore

Shell Offshore, Inc. announces today that its affiliate, Shell E and P Offshore Services B.V., will exercise a contractual right to purchase the Turritella floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel from SBM Offshore. ...

Lukoil reaches production milestone at Vladimir Filanovsky field

Lukoil has reached another milestone with 3 million tonnes of oil produced at Vladimir Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea. ...

U.S. cuts 2018 crude production forecast amid lower prices

U.S. crude producers are still set to pump record amounts of the commodity next year, but less so than previously projected, according to the latest government estimates. ...

Total starts work at biggest Qatari oil field to maintain output

Total SA will start work this week on Qatar’s biggest oil field and is willing to make more investments in the country, which faces a trade boycott led by fellow OPEC producer Saudi Arabia. ...

OPEC figures show June oil output rise led by exempt nations

OPEC oil output has risen in June by more than 300,000 bpd, according to figures the exporter group uses to monitor its supply, as a recovery in two nations exempt from a supply cut deal countered high compliance by many others. ...

Veolia, Peterson receive first offshore structure for decommissioning at Great Yarmouth

Veolia and Peterson have accepted the first offshore structure into their Great Yarmouth decommissioning facility. The Shell Leman BH platform accommodation block, known as the ‘topside’, arrived into the harbor on July 11 and the 50-m-high steel jacket structure that supported the topside is due to follow later in July. ...

Halcón shifts focus to Permian with $1.4-billion Bakken sale

Shale oil producer Halcón Resources Corp. said it would sell most of its North Dakota operations for $1.4 billion cash, part of a plan to shift its focus to Texas' Permian basin, the largest U.S. oilfield. ...

COSL Drilling Europe has secured a contract from Lundin Norway for COSLInnovator

COSLInnovator has been a awarded a contract for drilling of one well with the addition of an option of eight wells for Lundin Norway AS. ...

Devon Energy reports record STACK well, reaching 6,000 boed

Devon Energy Corp. has announced that it has brought online a record-setting Meramec well and commenced production on several high-rate wells in the core of the over-pressured oil window of the STACK play during the second quarter of 2017. ...

Stena Drilling extends inspection contract with Sparrows Group

Sparrows Group has been awarded a three-and-a-half-year extension to its inspection services contract for Stena Drilling’s global fleet of drilling vessels. ...

Cairn Energy announces results of FAN South-1 well, offshore Senegal

Cairn Energy has announced the results of the FAN South-1 well in the South Fan prospect offshore Senegal. ...

China sets sights on oil benchmark after years of delays

China has opened more than 6,000 trading accounts for its long-awaited crude futures contract - with three-quarters coming from individual traders - as it pushes ahead with plans to compete with global pricing benchmarks. ...

Production caps for Libya, Nigeria wouldn't fix global glut

A proposal that Libya and Nigeria could have to accept limits on their crude production probably wouldn’t be enough to put OPEC’s faltering efforts to eliminate a global supply glut back on track. ...

Oil slides as Saudi Arabia is said to produce above output cap

Oil fell in New York after Saudi Arabia’s production last month rose above the cap it agreed on with fellow OPEC members. ...

Goldman Sachs warns of oil below $40 without OPEC “shock and awe”

OPEC needs to “shock and awe” the oil market for prices to gain, according to Goldman Sachs Group. ...

Goldman warns of oil below $40 without OPEC “shock and awe”

OPEC needs to “shock and awe” the oil market for prices to gain, according to Goldman Sachs Group. ...

Venezuela's PDVSA says it guarantees investor security amid uncertainty

Venezuela's PDVSA is guaranteeing "legal security" for all foreign companies in the leftist-run nation, the state oil producer said in a statement, rebuffing a government adviser's suggestion that their operations could be nationalized. ...

Tesco receives API specification Q1 certification

Tesco Corporation (Tesco) has achieved certification to API Q1, ISO 9001: 2015 and the license to monogram products to API 8C at its facilities in the greater Houston area. ...

Statoil completes two-well exploration drilling campaign offshore Newfoundland

Statoil, along with its partner, Husky Energy, has finalized a two-well exploration drilling program in the Flemish Pass basin offshore Newfoundland. ...

Turkey warns Greek Cypriots, oil companies against offshore energy grab

Turkey warned Greek Cypriots on Friday not to make a grab for energy reserves around the divided island and President Tayyip Erdogan told oil companies to be careful they did not lose a "friend" by joining in. ...

Tillerson to tour Gulf capitals as U.S. seeks to end spat

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia this week to meet with Gulf leaders as the U.S. seeks to help end a standoff that pits U.S. allies against one another. ...

Simmons Edeco secures major contract win for all Maersk wells in Danish North Sea

Simmons Edeco, a supplier of wellhead and valve maintenance, asset integrity solutions and onshore drilling services to the global oil and gas industry, announced that it has been awarded a major contract by Maersk Oil. ...

Money managers raise bullish bets on Brent crude

Money managers last week raised their bets on a price rise in Brent crude oil futures for the first time in a month, according to data from the InterContinental Exchange. ...

Mature fields seen dying amid OPEC, shale tussle

The tussle for supremacy between OPEC and U.S. shale drillers is killing off older oil fields at the fastest pace in almost a quarter century. ...

Libya, Nigeria may attend OPEC, non-OPEC meeting on July 24

Libya and Nigeria may attend a joint meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC this month, Russia's energy minister said on Monday, as oil producers look for ways to cap rising production to help support oil prices. ...

DNV GL increases research and testing portfolio in UK

DNV GL has reorganized their research and testing capability in the UK adding a facility at Bishop Auckland, County Durham, UK, to the portfolio. ...

Wood Group secures management services contract for Culzean field

Wood Group has been awarded a new contract by Maersk to deliver mechanical and management services for the hook-up and commissioning of the Culzean gas condensate field in the UK central North Sea. ...

DNO spuds third Peshkabir well in Kurdistan

DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, has announced resumption of appraisal drilling at the Peshkabir discovery on the Tawke license in the Kurdistan region of Iraq following extended testing of the Cretaceous and Jurassic reservoirs in the Peshkabir-2 well. ...

Aramco to spend $300 billion as CEO warns about world oil supply

Saudi Aramco will invest $300 billion over the next decade to maintain its spare oil-production capacity and explore for more natural gas. ...

Trump-touted LNG deal hinges on Norway link for Polish PGNiG

After Donald Trump’s visit to Warsaw last week, where he encouraged Poland to buy U.S. LNG, it’s time for careful calculations by Poland’s gas company. ...

Aramco to spend $300 billion, CEO warns on world oil supply

Saudi Aramco will invest $300 billion over the next decade to maintain its spare oil-production capacity and explore for more natural gas. ...

Shell plans to spend $1 billion a year on clean energy by 2020

Shell plans to spend $1 billion a year on its New Energies division as the transition toward renewable power and electric cars accelerates. ...

Aramco to spend $300 Billion as CEO frets about world oil supply

Saudi Aramco will invest $300 billion over the next decade to maintain its spare oil-production capacity and explore for more natural gas. ...

Oil fields pumping a third of supply die fastest in 24 years

The tussle for supremacy between OPEC and U.S. shale drillers is killing off older oil fields at the fastest pace in almost a quarter century. ...

Pace slows as U.S. drillers add seven rigs

U.S. energy firms added oil rigs for a 24th week in the past 25 as the year-long drilling recovery continues but the pace of additions has slowed in recent months as crude prices declined despite OPEC-led efforts to end a global supply glut. ...

Apache Corp. announces exit from Canada

Apache Corporation has announced that it will complete an exit from Canada upon the closing of three recent transactions. ...

Lundin Norway granted drilling permit for wildcat in licence 533

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Lundin Norway AS a drilling permit for wellbore 7219/12-2 S, cf. Section 8 of the Resource Management Regulations. ...

Gazprom Neft, Repsol sign MOU for development in Russia

Gazprom Neft has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Spain’s Repsol. The Memorandum outlines areas for evolving collaboration through a joint enterprise to develop hydrocarbon resources in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. The document was signed by Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov and Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz. ...

IPAA says permitting program will help restore certainty, efficiency to federal permitting process

Representing the independent producers that develop 90% of America’s oil and natural gas wells, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) senior V.P. of government relations and Political Affairs Dan Naatz issued a statement on the secretarial order aimed at improving America's onshore energy program. ...

Lower shallow water royalty rate announced for upcoming Gulf of Mexico lease sale

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Randall Luthi issued a statement applauding BOEM’s decision to lower the shallow water royalty rate for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 249. ...

Premier Oil acquires additional interest in Wytch Farm field

Premier is pleased to announce that it has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a further 3.75% interest in Licences PL089 and P534, which contain the Wytch Farm field, from Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd for a cash consideration of £11.7 million. ...

Zennor Petroleum acquires interest in North Sea's Arran project

Zennor Petroleum Limited has announced that on June 30, 2017, its subsidiary, Zennor North Sea Limited, completed the acquisition of interests in and under United Kingdom Petroleum Production Licence P359. ...

Oil prices fall 2% despite efforts to curb oversupply

Oil prices fell more than 2% on Friday after data showed U.S. production rose last week just as OPEC exports hit a 2017 high, casting doubt over efforts by producers to curb oversupply. ...

Culzean jackets set sail for UK North Sea

Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) has completed construction of the Culzean jackets for client Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited. ...

Sound Energy reports successful Koba-1 well test in Morocco

Sound Energy, the Moroccan and European focused upstream gas company, is delighted to report the success of operations to date at the Koba-1 well at Sidi Moktar, onshore Morocco. ...

Hungary commits to Russia gas route as Poland looks to U.S.

Hungary sees a new pipeline for Russian gas as the “only realistic” step toward energy diversification now, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on the same day Poland used a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to announce plans to wean itself off fuel supplies from its Soviet-era master. ...

Qatar flexing LNG muscle puts U.S., Australia at risk

As if billions of dollars of liquefied natural gas project cost overruns and the prospect of a glut well into the next decade weren’t enough, proposed export sites now face increased competition from the world’s biggest producer. ...

Western Europe's biggest oil producer now less addicted to crude

There was a time, not so long ago, when Swedes were the help and oil revenue poured into the nation's wealth fund. Today, the neighbors are returning home and the flow of cash has been reversed to plug budget holes. ...

Japan to raise crude storage capacity for Saudi Aramco in Okinawa

The Japanese government is preparing to raise the crude storage capacity that it lends to state-owned Saudi Aramco by 1.9 MMbbl (300,000 kilolitres) this summer, the trade ministry said on Friday. ...

Russia to continue working with others to harmonize energy markets, Putin says

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia planned to keep cooperating with other countries to harmonize global energy markets and reduce price volatility. ...

Pakistan orders Shell subsidiary to pay $2.4 million for tanker blast

Pakistan's oil and gas regulator on Friday ordered a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell to pay about 257 million rupees ($2.4 million) in damages and compensation for a tanker explosion that killed more than 200 people. ...

No sign of Saudi “whatever it takes” at critical OPEC moment

Now is the time to maximize the impact of OPEC’s oil production cuts, yet the market is still waiting for the group’s biggest member to eliminate the global oversupply. ...

World's top oil traders bet American shale is here to stay

The world’s biggest energy traders are betting shale oil production is here to stay. ...

U.S. to speed approval for oil, gas exploration on federal land

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday signed an order to hold more lease sales and to speed up approving permits to explore for oil and gas on federal land, a process he said got bogged down under former President Barack Obama. ...

AFGlobal acquires Advanced Measurement Inc.

AFGlobal today announced its acquisition of Advanced Measurement Inc. (AMI), a key provider of automation, controls and data management systems. This acquisition enhances the company’s current upstream drilling, completion and production smart technology, providing better answers and efficiencies for its clients. ...

Empyrean receives drilling permit for Dempsey well, onshore California

Empyrean, the oil and gas development company with interests in China, Indonesia and the United States, is pleased to announce that it has been informed by Sacgasco Limited, the operator of the Dempsey 1-15 well in the Sacramento basin, onshore California, that a drilling permit for the well has been granted. ...

Trump urges eastern Europe to loosen Russia's grip with U.S. gas

President Donald Trump encouraged eastern European leaders worried about their dependence on Russian energy to buy U.S. gas instead. ...

Statoil to develop Snefrid Nord gas discovery, near Aasta Hansteen field

Statoil and partners have decided to develop the Snefrid Nord gas discovery near the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea. The discovery, scheduled to come on stream in late 2019, will be tied back to Aasta Hansteen. ...

Total's Martin Linge project delayed following tragic accident in South Korea

Following the tragic accident at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) Geoje yard in South Korea on May 1, 2017, Total has assessed the status of some of its projects given that the yard is being used for construction works related to three of its major projects: Martin Linge (Norway), Egina (Nigeria), Ichthys (Australia). ...

Saudi Aramco's crude output hit annual record in 2016

Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s largest oil exporter, increased production to an annual record last year before the kingdom led OPEC and other major producers to curb output to counter a global oversupply. ...

Qatar charts second gas boom as Saudis try to tighten the noose

Qatar’s neighbors are trying to isolate it from the outside world by cutting off transport and diplomatic links. There’s one major area where their ostracism campaign is falling short: energy. ...

RasGas delivers 500th LNG cargo to long-term customer

RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) celebrated the 500th liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo delivery to its long term customer, Edison, under the Long Term Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) signed between Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company (II) and Edison in November 2003, for deliveries of 4.6 million tonnes (or 6.4 Bscm) of LNG per year. ...

C-Kore Systems inks agreement with Shell for subsea technology

C-Kore Systems have developed a new subsea technology which is expected to save the UKCS subsea industry time and money. ...

Trump backs Croatia's LNG facility, urges reconciliation in Balkans

U.S. President Donald Trump, in a meeting with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic in Warsaw, "expressed support for timely completion of the Krk Island liquefied natural gas facility." ...

Thanks to Belgium, U.S. shale has arrived in the UK

It took a surge of gas flowing out of Britain for the country to finally take part in the U.S. shale boom. ...

Saudis are said to delay energy-subsidy cuts amid economic pain

Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, will probably delay plans to raise gasoline and other energy prices until later this year or early in 2018 amid an economic slowdown, according to four people familiar with the matter. ...

Oil rebounds from biggest slump in four weeks on stockpile drop

Oil rebounded from the biggest daily loss in four weeks as industry data showed U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles declined. ...

Poland expects long-term deal for U.S. LNG supplies

Poland expects to sign a long-term deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from the U.S. to reduce its reliance on Russian gas, the country's President Andrzej Duda said after meeting U.S. president Donald Trump. ...

One of oil's most prominent bulls is sounding like a pessimist

One of oil’s most prominent bulls is starting to sound like a skeptic. ...

Arab states announce no new sanctions following "negative" Qatari reply to demands

Four Arab states refrained on Wednesday from slapping further sanctions on Qatar but voiced disappointment at its "negative" response to their demands and said their boycott of the tiny Gulf nation would continue. ...

Petro Matad inks drilling contract with Sinopec in Mongolia

Petro Matad, the AIM quoted Mongolian oil explorer announces that further to the press release on May 31, 2017, a comprehensive drilling contract has now been signed with Sinopec International Petroleum Service Mongolia Co. Ltd. (Sinopec) and that the initial drilling targets have been selected. ...

Odfjell Drilling awarded contract with Total EandP South Africa

Further to the conditional letter of award (CLOA) as announced on March 1, 2017, Odfjell Drilling has now been awarded the contract as described in the CLOA. The contract is awarded by Total EandP South Africa and is for a one well, plus one optional well, to be drilled by the sixth-generation semisubmersible, Deepsea Stavanger, offshore South Africa. ...

Industry, government collaboration key to competitiveness of Alberta’s energy sector

The provincial government and the energy industry could create more than 24,000 new jobs for Albertans and grow the province’s economy by nearly $5 billion over the next three years by working together to enhance the competitiveness of Canada’s leading trade sector, according to report, A Competitive Policy and Regulatory Framework for Alberta’s Upstream Oil and Natural Gas Industry, by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). ...

African Petroleum shares tumble as Gambia ends exploration talks

Shares in Oslo-listed African Petroleum plunged over 40% on Wednesday, a day after falling 50%, as Gambian Oil Minister Fafa Sanyang confirmed that his country had ended talks to extend exploration rights for two offshore areas. ...

UK needs Europe more than ever to look after its natural gas

The UK is becoming more dependent than ever on the European Union to look after its natural gas, even as it negotiates its exit from the bloc. ...

Nigeria's cabinet approves national gas policy

Nigeria's cabinet has approved a national gas policy that aims to reduce the country's dependence on crude oil by increasing gas exploration and facilities, the oil ministry said in a statement. ...

Arab foreign ministers begin talks on Qatar crisis in Cairo

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Thursday started a meeting in Cairo on the Qatar crisis, hours before a deadline for Doha to meet demands set by the four Arab nations, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official told Reuters. ...

Halliburton buys Summit ESP to strengthen artificial lift business

Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. said on Wednesday that it would buy oilfield equipment supplier Summit ESP, Inc., which is backed by Oklahoma energy and banking billionaire George Kaiser. ...

Add Energy awarded contract with BP in Trinidad and Tobago

Add Energy, the international energy consultancy provider, has been awarded a maintenance build contract with BP Trinidad and Tobago LLC for work on the Angelin gas field, a development located 60 km offshore Trinidad and Tobago’s east coast. ...

World's costliest natural gas clouding China's quest for bluer skies

China has promised to make its skies blue again, but having some of the world’s most-expensive natural gas isn’t helping. ...

Poland sees Trump visit catalyst to cut Russian gas reliance

Polish leaders are betting Donald Trump’s visit to Warsaw will bolster their efforts to reduce the nation’s dependence on Russian natural gas. ...

Crude tumbles after Russia said to oppose deeper production cuts

Crude fell, snapping the longest winning streak this year, as Russia opposes deeper OPEC-led production cuts. ...

Nigerian state oil firm saved $2 billion with cheaper contracts

Nigeria's state oil company has saved $2 billion in the past year by renegotiating its upstream servicing contracts, it said in a statement on Tuesday, as it tries to reduce high overheads. ...

ONGC Videsh enters offshore Namibia with Tullow agreement

ONGC Videsh has signed definitive binding agreements with Tullow Namibia Limited (Tullow), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tullow Oil plc, acquiring 30% participating interest in Namibia Petroleum Exploration License 0037 for Blocks 2112A, 2012B and 2113B. ...

OPEC output at highest this year as exempt nations pump more

OPEC’s crude production rose to the highest this year in June as member nations exempt from output curbs pumped more. ...

Qatar says fellow OPEC state UAE halts oil imports in row

Qatar Petroleum is taking “legal actions” after Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. declared force majeure to halt shipments of condensate, a light oil liquid, from Qatar, according to QP CEO Saad Sherida Al Kaabi. ...

Petrobras awards two-year contract to Fugro in Brazil

Fugro has been awarded a further two-year contract by Petrobras to provide comprehensive inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) and pipeline inspection services in Brazil. ...

Maersk Supply Service lands major contract in Mexico

Maersk Supply Service has secured a long-term contract with Subtec S.A de C.V. of Mexico, a subsidiary of Blue Marine Group, for one of its Stingray new-building vessels. ...

Qatar to boost LNG output by 30%, flouting Saudi-led boycott

Qatar Petroleum, the largest producer of liquefied natural gas, plans to increase output by 30% within seven years, a step that would entrench the Gulf nation’s role as a major energy supplier amid a boycott by a Saudi-led coalition of countries. ...

UK's Hunting says U.S. shale boom helping business

Oilfield services company Hunting Plc said on Tuesday its revenue for the first half was boosted by onshore drilling in the United States, particularly in shale oil regions such as the Permian basin in West Texas. ...

Oil prices fall on U.S. holiday after eight days of gains

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, halting a run of eight straight days of gains on signs that a persistent rise in U.S. crude production is running out of steam. ...

Nigerian state oil firm says saved $2 billion with cheaper contracts

Nigeria's state oil company has saved $2 billion in the past year by renegotiating its upstream servicing contracts, it said in a statement on Tuesday, as it tries to reduce high overheads. ...

Trump to promote U.S. gas exports in Russia's backyard

President Donald Trump will use fast-growing supplies of U.S. natural gas as a political tool when he meets in Warsaw on Thursday with leaders of a dozen countries that are captive to Russia for their energy needs. ...

Maersk Convincer takes over contract from Maersk Completer

Jack-up Maersk Convincer, currently finalizing its five-yearly Special Period Survey (SPS) yard stay in Singapore, will be taking over a contract from its sister rig, the Maersk Completer, currently operating offshore Brunei. ...

Saipem awarded contracts, change orders in Saudi Arabia, West Africa and Caspian Sea

Saipem has been awarded a new EandC Offshore contract by Saudi Aramco for EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation) activities and TandI (Trunklines and Installation) works in Saudi Arabia, under the Long-Term Agreement in force, renewed in 2015 until 2021. ...

Baker Hughes, GE close deal to form industry giant

Baker Hughes, a GE company, announced today that the transaction combining GE’s oil and gas business with Baker Hughes is complete. ...

Gazprom Neft establishes JV with Repsol in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

Gazprom Neft PJSC has acquired a 25.02% stake (with the right to increase this to 50%) in Evrotek-Yugra. Evrotek-Yugra, owned by Spain’s Repsol, holds exploration and production rights to seven license blocks in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. ...

Faroe Petroleum reports DST results at Brasse appraisal well

Faroe Petroleum has announced the results of the Drill Stem Test (DST) on the 31/7-2 S Brasse appraisal well in the Norwegian North Sea (Faroe 50% and operator, Point Resources 50%). ...

Statoil wildcat strikes oil south of Johan Castberg, Barents Sea

Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 532, has completed the drilling of wildcat well 7219/9-2. The well proved oil. ...

Rebirth of Canadian oil sands from fire stymied by slump

In the heart of Canada’s biggest oil province, life is slowly returning to normal in Fort McMurray, Alberta. After a fire last year destroyed entire neighborhoods in the town and halted about 1 MMbbl of daily production, green leaves are beginning to bud on charred trees and new construction is replacing homes that were burned to the ground. ...

Libya oil output at four-year high loosens OPEC grip on supply

Libya’s oil production has climbed to more than 1 MMbpd for the first time in four years, further complicating OPEC’s struggle to regain control of the oil market. ...

Bets on oil rout seen peaking as shale boom starts to falter

Oil short-sellers have been on a roll, but their bets on declining prices may have begun to hit a wall. ...

India gives Iran $11-billion "best offer" on Farzad-B field

An Indian consortium is willing to spend as much as $11 billion to develop a giant Iranian natural gas field and build the infrastructure to export the fuel as long as the Persian Gulf nation guarantees a “reasonable return” on the project, according to the company leading the group. ...

Statoil brings Gina Krog field on stream in North Sea

On June 30, Statoil started production on the Gina Krog oil and gas field in the North Sea. ...

Oil slides as rising OPEC output outweighs U.S. decline

Oil prices eased on Monday after rising for seven sessions in a row, as evidence of increasing OPEC crude production snuffed out earlier gains made on the back of data that pointed to moderating U.S. output. ...

Low oil price hurts Norway's economic case for northern drilling

Low oil prices mean drilling for oil and gas in an offshore zone between Russia and Norway will not bring the economic benefits Oslo had predicted, according to a report commissioned by two green groups that are suing the Norwegian state over its plans. ...

Total, NIOC sign contract for development of phase 11 of the giant South Pars gas field

Total and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) have signed a contract for the development and production of phase 11 of South Pars (SP11), the world's largest gas field. ...