Ernest Scheyder News

The International Seabed Authority will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean's floor, a decision that came after the U.N. body spent the past two weeks debating standards for the new and controversial practice.Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called "polymetallic nodules" on the ocean's floor at depths of 4 to 6 km (2.5 to 4 miles). They are abundant…

Last July 6, Major General Manuel Quevedo joined his wife, a Catholic priest and a gathering of oil workers in prayer in a conference room at the headquarters of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.The career military officer, who for the past year has been boss at the troubled state-owned oil company, was at no ordinary mass. The gathering, rather, was a ceremony at which he and other senior oil ministry officials asked God to boost oil output."This place of peace and spirituality…

Chevron Corp wants to build or buy a refinery along the U.S. Gulf Coast to process crude oil from its rapidly growing Permian Basin operations, a senior executive said on Tuesday.The company would like to have refining operations on the Houston Ship Channel, in the western part of the U.S. Gulf, to complement an existing eastern Gulf refinery in Mississippi that makes lubricants and other materials, Pierre Breber, Chevron's head of downstream and chemicals, said."Something on the ship channel side could make a lot of sense for our company…

Exxon Mobil Corp will exit some joint ventures with Russia's Rosneft, citing Western sanctions first imposed in 2014, while the Russian company said the pullout will result in serious losses for its U.S. partner. The move is an about-face for Exxon, which had opposed the sanctions over Russia's invasion of Crimea and argued they unfairly penalized U.S. companies while allowing foreign energy rivals to operate in the country, the world's largest oil producer. Yet the sanctions…

Exxon Mobil Corp is selling its entire stake in the Terra Nova oil project off the eastern coast of Canada, though the world's largest publicly traded oil producer said it was committed to remaining an investor in the region. The project, located about 217 miles (350 km) off Newfoundland and Labrador, produced about 5,000 barrels of oil per day in 2016. Exxon is selling all of its 19 percent stake in the project and initial bids are due March 30, according to data and a document from Schlumberger's oil and gas asset sale business.

President Donald Trump's administration has proposed opening up nearly all of America's offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, but the industry says it is mainly interested in one part of it, now cordoned off by the Pentagon: the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The industry's focus on an area located near a sprawling network of existing platforms, pipes and ports could ease the path to new reserves, and assuage the drilling opponents near other places offered under the Interior Department's proposed drilling plan issued last week, like California's Pacific, the Atlantic and Arctic. But accessing it would likely require the consent of the U.S. military.

Exxon Mobil Corp and Petróleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-controlled oil producer also known as Petrobras, said on Thursday they had formed an alliance to develop energy projects around the world.   The deal, which was signed in Rio de Janeiro, will have the companies study ways they can cooperate on exploration, production and chemical ventures inside and outside of Brazil.   The deal comes two months after Exxon and Petrobras were jointly awarded six oil-rich blocks in Brazilian coastal waters. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; editing by Diane Craft)

About 71 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production is offline ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Friday.   Nate is forecast to enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall late Saturday in Louisiana, near several major refineries.   Oil companies have evacuated staff from Gulf platforms and curtailed output ahead of the storm, with production equaling 1.24 million barrels of crude per day already offline, according to BSEE.   About 53.2 percent of Gulf natural gas production remains offline, BSEE said.   Reporting by Ernest Scheyder

About 14.6 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production is offline ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Thursday.   Nate is forecast to enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall early on Sunday in Louisiana, near several major refineries. Several producers have started evacuating staff from Gulf platforms ahead of the storm, with production equaling 254,607 barrels of oil per day already offline, according to BSEE.   About 6.4 percent of Gulf natural gas production remains offline, BSEE said.   Reporting by Ernest Scheyder

Oil and natural gas producers began evacuating staff at U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms on Thursday ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the second storm in as many months to threaten Gulf Coast oil and refining facilities. Nate, which has already killed three people in Costa Rica, according to local authorities, is forecast to scrape past Honduras and Mexico, enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall early on Sunday in Louisiana, near several major refineries. That path takes it through an area populated by offshore oil and natural gas platforms, which pumps more than 1.6 million barrels of crude per day, about 17 percent of U.S. output, according to government data. Forecasts for Nate have shifted in the past 24 hours.

About 22 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production is offline due to Tropical Storm Harvey, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Sunday. Output levels rose slightly from Saturday, when roughly 25 percent of Gulf oil output was offline. The amount of production offline on Sunday was roughly 378,633 barrels of oil per day out of the roughly 1.75 million bpd pumped from the Gulf. About 26 percent of Gulf natural gas production is offline, or about 828 million cubic feet (23.4 million cubic meters) per day, BSEE said. Roughly 105 platforms have been evacuated in the Gulf so far as a result of Harvey, about 14.3 percent of those in the region. Half of the drilling rigs in the Gulf remain evacuated, BSEE said.

Carnival Corp said on Friday that three of its cruise ships are unable to return to the Port of Galveston, Texas, which is closed ahead of Hurricane Harvey. Two of the ships, the Carnival Freedom and the Carnival Valor, will head for New Orleans where they will pick up fresh supplies. Passengers will have the option of disembarking there, but Carnival advised them to not do so and said the ships will return to Galveston as soon as feasible. A third ship, the Carnival Breeze, will extend its stay in Cozumel, Mexico, and begin sailing back to Galveston this weekend, the company said. The next scheduled cruises on all three ships will be shortened and customers will receive refunds, the company said.

Chevron Corp said on Friday it does not expect Hurricane Harvey to affect its U.S. Gulf of Mexico production.   The company, which pumped on average about 128,000 barrels of oil per day from the Gulf last year, has not evacuated any staff, spokesman Morgan Crinklaw said.   Most of Chevron's Gulf offshore operations are east of Harvey and are not being inundated with major wind or waves.   Reporting by Ernest Scheyder

Exxon Mobil Corp said on Friday it and partners would spend $4.4 billion to develop part of the Liza oilfield off the coast of Guyana, approving a megaproject at a time when the oil industry has grown obsessed with lower-cost shale. Exxon's decision shows that oil companies remain interested in large projects, especially offshore, even in an era of belt-tightening after two years of low crude prices. The Guyana announcement from Exxon and partners Hess Corp and CNOOC was the fifth deepwater project to gain approvals this year. BP Plc and Reliance Industries said on Thursday they would spend $6 billion to develop natural gas reserves off the Indian coast.

Exxon Mobil Corp said on Tuesday that production and exports of liquefied natural gas from Qatar have not been affected by rising diplomatic tensions in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt on Monday cut ties with Qatar, accusing the country of supporting extremism. Qatar denies the allegations. The growing diplomatic rift has raised concerns about global access to Qatar's LNG, especially after some regional ports in the Persian Gulf said they would not accept Qatari-flagged vessels. Commodities traders have grown concerned Qatar's LNG could be barred from Saudi Arabia or from traversing Egypt's Suez Canal, though so far no limitations have been imposed.

OPEC will likely agree to extend production cuts for another nine months, delegates said on Tuesday as the oil producer group meets this week to debate how to tackle a global glut of crude. OPEC's de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, favours extending the output curbs by nine months rather than the initially planned six months, as it seeks to speed up market rebalancing and prevent oil prices from sliding back below $50 per barrel. On Monday, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih won support from OPEC's second-biggest and fastest-growing producer…

General Electric Co said on Monday it would merge its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes Inc, creating the world's second-largest oilfield services provider as competition heats up to supply more-efficient products and services to the energy industry after several years of low crude prices. The deal to create a company with $32 billion in annual revenue will combine GE's strengths in making equipment long-prized by oil producers with Baker Hughes's expertise in drilling and fracking new wells. Shares of Baker Hughes were down nearly 7 percent, a drop that executives said likely was due to the deal's complicated structure. GE is already the world's largest oilfield equipment maker, supplying blowout preventers, pumps and compressors used in exploration and production.

The population of a U.S. oil boomtown that became a symbol of the fracking revolution is dropping fast because of the collapse in crude oil prices , according to an unusual metric: the amount of sewage produced. Williston, North Dakota, has seen its population drop about 6 percent since last summer, according to wastewater data relied upon heavily by city planning officials. They turned to measuring effluent because it was a much faster and more accurate way to track population than alternatives such as construction permits, school enrollment, tax receipts or airport boardings. U.S. Census Bureau figures are usually too old as a full-fledged population count only happens once a decade, with sporadic updates in between.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Moscow saw no need for counter sanctions against the West, but could reconsider the participation of Western companies in its economy, including energy projects. "We would very much wish not to resort to any measures in response. I hope we won't get to that point," he told reporters after meeting with the leaders of Belarus and Kazakhstan. The United States on Monday unveiled a new round of sanctions aimed at business leaders and companies close to Putin, while the European Union followed up on Tuesday by naming 15 Russians and Ukrainians to its blacklist, moving to freeze assets and deny visas.

Argentina has won the "geological lottery" with its 1,000-foot-thick Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field in Patagonia, a spokesman for Chevron said on Thursday, as the U.S. energy giant increases its investments in the country. The company and state-owned oil firm YPF announced plans last month to invest an additional $1.6 billion to develop Vaca Muerta. "The shale play in Argentina is unique because of the rock. Its thickness. Argentina has kind of won the geological lottery," Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson told Reuters on Thursday during a trip to Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires. Shale formations often resemble layer cakes, with shale squeezed between layers of unproductive rock.

Continental Resources Inc, the largest oil producer in North Dakota's Bakken shale formation, said on Thursday that Rick Bott, its president and chief operating officer, had resigned. Bott, 54, was widely considered the likely successor to Continental Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm, 68. His departure leaves a talent gap at the top of the company, which is in the midst of an ambitious attempt to double its 2012 production levels by 2017. Continental said Bott's duties will be divided between remaining executives. It was not immediately clear why Bott resigned or if he had secured a new job. Before joining Continental in 2012, Bott had worked at Cairn India Ltd and in Devon Energy Corp's international division. Calls to Bott were not immediately returned.

Continental Resources Inc, the largest oil producer in North Dakota's Bakken shale formation, promoted Jack Stark to president on Wednesday, less than a week after Rick Bott quit the position. Stark, 59, had worked at Continental since 1998, most recently as head of exploration. The promotion instantly makes Stark the top contender to replace founder and Chief Executive Harold Hamm. Bott stepped down as president last week, a move that surprised many on Wall Street, and even some inside the company. Continental is set to hold an analyst day on Thursday in Oklahoma City. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by David Gregorio)

Chevron Corp halted its 2015 share repurchase program on Friday, a move to conserve cash amid tumbling oil prices.   The company's shares extended loses on the news, falling nearly 4 to $99 after being down 2.6 percent before the buyback halt was announced.   "Given the change in market conditions, we are suspending our share repurchase program for 2015," Chevron CFO Pat Yarrington told investors on a conference call.     (Reporting By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Terry Wade)