Sonangol to Buy Cobalt's Stake in 2 Offshore Blocks
Angolan state oil company Sonangol said it would buy oil and gas producer Cobalt International Energy Inc's 40 percent stake in two oil blocks offshore Angola for $1.75 billion. Cobalt operates three blocks covering 3.4 million acres off the Angolan coast. (Reporting by Anannya Pramanick; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
Chevron Makes Oil Discovery in Deepwater US Gulf
Chevron Corporation announced an oil discovery at the Anchor prospect in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Anchor is Chevron’s second discovery in the deepwater Gulf in less than a year. “The Anchor discovery, along with the previously announced Guadalupe discovery, are significant finds for us in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. We had one of our best years with the drill bit in 2014, reporting more than 30 discoveries worldwide and adding an estimated one billion barrels of new resources to our holdings,” said Jay Johnson, senior vice president, Upstream, Chevron Corporation.
BP Disaster Strands Billions of Barrels of Crude
According to a May 13 report from Bloomberg, a regulatory crackdown on offshore oil drilling after the fatal rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico will delay development of U.S. deposits with billions of barrels of crude and may spawn industry job cuts. BP Plc, ConocoPhillips, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Cobalt International Energy Inc. and Plains Exploration & Production Co. are among explorers with projects on hold in the Gulf or coastal California after the April 20 explosion prompted federal and state officials to halt new drilling. An estimated 7,500 jobs on offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico may be lost if the ban on new well permits continues through July 1, Lee Hunt, President of the International Association of Drilling Contractors in Houston, told Bloomberg.
