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Conoco News

22 May 2019

Optimarin Gears Up for BWMS Retrofit Wave

Tore Andersen (Photo: Optimarin)

Optimarin is growing its staff to effectively handle the growing wave of ballast water management system refit activity.The company, which expects to double its turnover this year, has employed Leiv Kallestad as its new CEO, allowing Tore Andersen, the incumbent, to spend his time enhancing market focus and customer service. In order to handle the expected surge in retrofit installations, expected to peak in 2022-23, Optimarin will now make plans for additional expansion, with growth in the technical and sales departments.Optimarin has now sold 750 of its simple…

04 Dec 2018

Arlen "Benny" Cenac Jr.: Navigating a Different Course Line, Making a Difference

Cenac Marine Services and its dynamic, third generation leader, Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr., continue to flourish, in good times and bad. Through it all, leadership, philanthropy and investments that extend far beyond the company’s gates have made all the difference.As this year quickly churns to its inevitable close, Cenac Marine Services isn’t the nation’s biggest towboat operation, but its profound impact on the people and environment of the U.S. Gulf Coast and beyond is unquestionable. At a time when most operators are happy to simply strive for an environmentally correct and regulatory compliant business signature, Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr.

19 Nov 2018

Ineos to Buy ConocoPhillips North Sea Assets

Britain's richest man Jim Ratcliffe's oil and gas company Ineos Group Holdings is in exclusive talks with ConocoPhillips to buy North Sea oil and gas fields worth $3 billion from the U.S. energy company.Various news paper reports say that British petrochemicals company has confirmed it is negotiating to buy several North Sea oil fields from U.S. energy giant.The Sunday Times, which first reported the story, said that the period is said to be set to three months after the entity registered in Switzerland agreed to pay a "substantial" deposit.Accoding to the Financial Times, the potential deal, which has a price tag of more than $3 billion according to industry sources…

21 Aug 2018

PDVSA to Resume Use of Caribbean Oil Terminal

© korkeakoski / Adobe Stock

Venezuela's PDVSA and NuStar Energy LP have reached an agreement over outstanding storage fees, allowing the state-run company to resume use of a key storage terminal in the Caribbean, the U.S. energy firm said on Monday.NuStar had suspended PDVSA several times since 2017 from using its St. Eustatius facility over millions of dollars in missed payments.The terminal played a role in a legal dispute between PDVSA and ConocoPhillips, which earlier this year tried to enforce a $2…

10 Aug 2018

Venezuela's Crude Sales to U.S. Fall in July

Venezuela's crude exports to the United States declined to 494,400 barrels per day (bpd) in July after rising the prior three months, showing the impact of asset seizures against state-run oil firm PDVSA, according to Thomson Reuters data.July was the first month crude exports fell below 500,000 bpd since the months of January through March.U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips in May began seizing PDVSA's overseas assets in an attempt to collect on a $2 billion arbitration award.

07 Aug 2018

Venezuela Dodges Oil Asset Seizures with Export Transfers at Sea

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has limited the damage from an unprecedented slump in crude exports by transferring oil between tankers at sea and loading vessels in neighboring Cuba to avoid asset seizures.But the OPEC member nation is still fulfilling less than 60 percent of its obligations under supply deals with customers.Venezuela has been pumping oil this year at the lowest rate in three decades after years of underinvestment and a mass exodus of workers. The state…

25 Jun 2018

BNSF: Crude Rail Service Could Resume Tuesday

BNSF Railway Co on Monday said it could resume service Tuesday on a stretch of northwestern Iowa track damaged when a train left the track and crude oil spilled from derailed cars. The crude oil train derailed near Doon, Iowa, on Friday sending 32 rail cars off the track and spilling an estimated 230,000 gallons of oil into flood waters and toward a nearby river. Crews are nearly finished removing oil from damaged cars and repairing tracks, BNSF said in a statement. Its crews are using booms to contain the oil and skimmers to remove it from the waters, said BNSF, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The railroad said booms also have been…

06 Jun 2018

PDVSA Raises Prospect of Force Majeure on Oil Exports

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

OPEC member Venezuela has raised the prospect of declaring force majeure on contracts with major crude buyers amid plummeting output from its oil fields and tanker bottlenecks at ports, according to three sources familiar with the matter.Falling production from Venezuela has contributed to a rally in global oil prices to a near four-year high, and other OPEC members may boost output at a meeting later this month to compensate for the shortfall and other risks to global supplies.Oil is the financial lifeline for the embattled socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro…

14 May 2018

Conoco Seized PDVSA Products from Isla Refinery

© Darryl Brooks / Adobe Stock

U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips has seized products belonging to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the Isla refinery it runs on Curacao, an island official told Reuters on Sunday.Conoco has won court orders allowing it to seize PDVSA assets on Caribbean islands, including Curacao, in efforts to collect on a $2 billion arbitral award linked to the 2007 nationalization of Conoco assets under late leader Hugo Chavez.“PDVSA products from the installations of the Isla refinery have been confiscated.

11 May 2018

PDVSA Retrenches in Caribbean

© Darryl Brooks / Adobe Stock

Venezuela's PDVSA will let the 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery it leases in Curacao halt operations once crude inventories are exhausted as no new shipments are planned to the Caribbean following ConocoPhillips's legal actions, according to two sources.PDVSA is also changing its trade arrangements to start delivering all its oil for exports in Venezuelan waters, including the ship-to-ship transfers that have to be made for sending cargoes to Asian destinations.Conoco last week started several legal actions to satisfy a $2 billion arbitration award issued by the International Chamber of Commerc

08 May 2018

PDVSA Halts Caribbean Storage, Shipping; Diverts Oil Cargo

© white_bcgrd / Adobe Stock

Venezuela's state-run PDVSA suspended oil storage and shipping from its Caribbean facilities following a move by ConocoPhillips to temporarily seize the firm's assets on four islands, according to a PDVSA source and Reuters data.PDVSA has begun concentrating most shipping in its main crude terminal of Jose on Venezuela's eastern coast and recalling tankers to Venezuelan waters to avoid seizures that would further cut its exports and worsen an economy on the verge of collapse.U.S.…

08 May 2018

Tightening Noose: Venezuela's Crisis Deepens

The news that Venezuela's PDVSA has diverted a crude tanker from Curacao after ConocoPhillips moves to satisfy a $2 billion arbitration award signals that worst may be yet to come. Reuters is reporting that Venezuela's state-run PDVSA ordered a tanker waiting to discharge at its Curacao terminal to divert to Venezuelan waters after ConocoPhillips introduced an order in a Caribbean court to seize its inventories and other assets in the island, according to a shipper and Reuters data on Tuesday. More than two days after at least two Caribbean courts ordered the temporary retention of inventories and facilities in Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba and St. Eustatius at U.S.

08 May 2018

PDVSA Diverts Crude Tanker from Curacao

Venezuela's state-run PDVSA ordered a tanker carrying Russian oil that was waiting to discharge at its Curacao terminal to divert to Venezuelan waters after ConocoPhillips introduced an order in a Caribbean court to seize its inventories and other assets in the island, according to a shipper and Reuters data on Tuesday.The Aframax tanker British Cygnet loaded crude at Russia's Primorsk terminal in April. It arrived in Curacao's Bullenbay terminal, operated by PDVSA, on Sunday, two days after at least two Caribbean courts ordered the temporary retention of inventories and facilities in Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba and St. Eustatius at U.S. oil firm Conoco's request to satisfy a $2 billion arbitration award against PDVSA.Reporting by Marianna Parraga

07 May 2018

Conoco Moves to Seize PDVSA's Caribbean Assets

U.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips has moved to take Caribbean assets of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to enforce a $2 billion arbitration award over a decade-oil nationalization of its projects in the South American country, according to three sources familiar with its actions. The U.S. firm targeted facilities on the islands of Curacao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius that accounted for about a quarter of Venezuela's oil exports last year. The three play key roles in processing, storing and blending PDVSA's oil for export. The company received court attachments freezing assets at least two of the facilities, and could move to sell them, one of the sources said. Conoco's legal maneuvers could further impair PDVSA's declining oil revenue and the country's convulsing economy.

09 Oct 2017

LNG Market to Reach USD 20.6 bln by 2025

The global liquid natural gas (LNG) market is expected to reach USD 20.6 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 12.7%, Research and Markets reported. Rising focus on development and expanding gas pipeline infrastructure and growing demand for natural gas from downstream sectors is a crucial driving factor for the industry. Decreasing LNG prices along with execution of favorable government rules and regulations, which are attracting FDIs & tax schemes are also conducive to industry growth. Cumulative emphasis of adequate support infrastructure in numerous economies is anticipated to enhance product demand in the construction sector, since the product is used in building equipment.

22 Aug 2017

Total Overtakes Shell in North Sea Production

Majors still control three quarter of output; even after $10 bln of deals, private equity still plays only modest role. French oil major Total has overtaken rival Royal Dutch Shell to become the second-largest producer in the North Sea with its acquisition of Maersk's Norwegian and UK producing assets. The $7.45 billion deal by Total was welcomed by the market, with analysts saying it helped the French company rebalance its portfolio by adding assets in developed countries after going for projects in riskier places such as Iran and Russia. The deal boosts the share of eight global oil majors in the North Sea - Statoil, Total, Shell, Exxon Mobil, Conoco , ENI, BP and Chevron - to back above three quarters of total output.

27 Aug 2016

BP, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips 'Quit' Alaska LNG Project

BP, Conoco Phillips, and Exxon Mobil said that the 65-billion dollar megaproject would be too unprofitable for them to move into the next phase of development. The Big 3 oil companies have told state lawmakers that the proposal on the table to pipe, liquefy and export North Slope natural gas is uneconomic and they won't move forward as partners. However, they said they would sell their natural gas to a state-developed project if it comes to fruition, which is more in doubt than ever. A report in WSJ said that Exxon Mobil Corp. has decided not to invest in the next stage of a proposed natural gas export terminal in Alaska and said it would work with its partners to sell its interest in the project to the state government.

19 Apr 2016

New CEO at GulfNav Leads Expansion Plans

From right to left: Khamis Juma Buamim, Group CEO, Abdulla Saeed Abdulla Brook Al Hemeiri, Chairman, and Ahmad Al Kilani, Board Member of Gulf Navigation (Photo: Gulf Navigation)

Dubai-based shipping company Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC (GulfNav) has announced in a press conference at Rose Rayhaan by Rotana April 19 its expansion plans to increase its assets under management and service-based revenue. The shipping company also revealed the appointment of Khamis Juma Buamim as the new Board Member, Managing Director and Group CEO by the Board of Directors during the event. Chairman Abdulla Saeed Abdulla Brook Al Hemeiri, and Khamis Juma Buamim along with other high-level executives…

19 Apr 2016

GulfNav Unveils Expansion Plans

Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC (GulfNav), the Dubai-based shipping company, has announced in a press conference at Rose Rayhaan by Rotana today (Tuesday, April 19, 2016), its key expansion plans to increase its assets under management and service-based revenue. The shipping company also revealed the appointment of Mr. Khamis Juma Buamim as the new Board Member, Managing Director and Group CEO by the Board of Directors during the event. The move forms part of the company’s intensified strategy to become one of the main industry leaders in the regional maritime and shipping industries. Chairman Abdulla Saeed Abdulla Brook Al Hemeiri, and Mr.

10 Feb 2016

U.S. Okays ConocoPhillips LNG Exports

The U.S. Department of Energy has renewed authorization for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the North Kenai ConocoPhillips facility, reports Reuters. The approval is to export about 40 billion cubic feet of natural gas from its Kenai LNG export terminal in Alaska over the next two years starting Feb. 19. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski applauded the decision. Over the last year she has been urging Department of Energy officials to support ways to commercialize Alaska’s natural gas reserves like the current Conoco facility as well as the Alaska LNG project. The Kenai facility was the first LNG export facility in the United States. Most of the gas exports from Kenai have gone to Japan since the plant entered service in 1969.

09 Feb 2016

IOCs Stress on OSV Fuel Management Performance

Growing insistence by international oil companies (IOCs) that oilfield contract vessels (OSVs) are fitted with fuel monitoring systems has prompted an upsurge in interest in marine engine monitoring systems. Diesel power specialist Royston reports that it is equipping a growing number of offshore vessels with its enginei fuel management system as the oil majors increasingly require the availability of accurate on-board fuel monitoring data as part of the support contracts awarded to shipping companies. Around the world, enginei is now installed on nine vessels working for Chevron, two for BP, one for Addax Petroleum, four for Total, two for Conoco Phillips and one for Exxon.

08 Feb 2016

Insights: Benny Cenac, Jr., Owner & CEO, Cenac Towing Company

Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr. is a third-generation owner of Cenac Towing Company. The firm, originally founded in 1927 by his grandfather, now does business as Cenac Marine Services. Benny has led the company since 1981 through several industry downturns by focusing on customer service, efficiency, quality and safety in its marine transportation services. Cenac Towing has clients across the country and maintains a focus on transporting liquid petroleum barges. Cenac is guided by the values and principles established by Benny’s grandfather over 85 years ago: a commitment to employee satisfaction and great company morale. As a leader in the community…

04 Dec 2015

Asian LNG Glut Deepens as Demand Falters

Demand in Japan, South Korea and China stalls; demand from new importers not enough to meet soaring supplies. Asia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) glut is set to deepen in 2016 as long-planned new production comes to the market just as demand from top buyers Japan and South Korea as well as China wanes. While analysts say that new consumer demand may offset dwindling use from established buyers, new supplies will outweigh overall orders, resulting in a low gas price outlook for years to come. "From having been an import basin, Asia will next year be going to have excess supplies and worse so in 2017," said David Hewitt, co-head of global oil and gas equity research at Credit Suisse.