China Ready to Resume Oil & Gas and Maritime Talks with the Philippines
China is ready to resume oil and gas talks and manage maritime issues "cordially" with the Philippines, China President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday, according to Chinese state television.Xi was speaking to his Philippines counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who was on a three-day visit to Beijing.Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, which is rich in oil, gas, and fish and where about $3 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually, had been a source of tension between it and some Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.
Petrobras, Murphy to Explore in GoM
Brazil's state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) said on Monday it had sealed a joint venture with Murphy Exploration & Production Company to explore oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a securities filing.Petrobras received $795 million for the deal, and will have a 20 percent stake in the venture.Reporting by Carolina Mandl
Santos, Kris Energy to Explore Oil and Gas off Bangladesh
Australian oil and gas company Santos and Singapore-based Kris Energy signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) on Wednesday to explore oil and gas in Bangladeshi waters. State-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, known as Petrobangla, awarded shallow water blocks SS-11 in the Bay of Bengal to the two foreign energy firms. Santos, which in October shut down operation of Bangladesh's only offshore gas field, saying it was not commercially viable, will be the operator of the new project and Kris Energy will join as a co-partner. "It (gas exploration) is a continuous process to make Bangladesh a middle-income country by 2021 and also to become a developed country by 2041," Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told reporters at the signing ceremony.
