Gas Blocks News

Singapore's Temasek Holdings has shortlisted energy giants Shell and Saudi Aramco among a handful of companies to purchase most of the assets of liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading firm Pavilion Energy, sources with knowledge of the matter said.The sale process comes a decade after the state investment firm set up Pavilion Energy to focus on LNG-related investments, and takes place as spot Asian LNG prices LNG-AS have fallen more than 40% since mid-August, potentially weighing on the deal's valuation.Temasek is evaluating bids for the sale of Pavilion Energy's assets…

Indonesia is looking to offer more oil and gas blocks in North Sumatra basin this year following a major discovery by Mubadala Energy in a bid to accelerate gas production, a senior energy ministry official said on Tuesday.The energy ministry is currently reviewing potential energy blocks for auction this year, director general for oil and gas Tutuka Ariadji told reporters."North Sumatra basin is one of the potential area for further exploration after a major discovery recently in Layaran-1 by Mubadala Energy," Tutuka said.United Arab Emirates' Mubadala said in December it had discovered a maj

A Chinese research ship and five escort vessels were in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Friday, close to gas blocks operated by Russian firms in the South China Sea, a day after Vietnam urged the ships to leave.The Chinese vessel Xiang Yang Hong 10 began operating in Vietnam's EEZ on May 7, representing the most significant incursion since 2019, according to Ray Powell, who leads Stanford University's Project Myoushu on the South China Sea.He said China's conduct and Vietnam's reaction were a "worrying escalation."China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, including areas that are within Vietnam's EEZ. The 2019 standoff lasted for more than three months and largely targeted a block then operated by Russian state oil firm Rosneft ROSN.MM.

As shipowners ponder future fuels, MAN Energy Solutions is sailing full speed ahead optimizing dual fuel marine powerplants while preparing to start testing ammonia fueled engines in early 2023. Bjarne Foldager, Senior Vice President, head of two stroke business at MAN ES hosted Maritime Reporter & Engineering News in Copenhagen for a look behind the scenes at a cornerstone of its mandate to ‘Move big things to Zero.’Just 10 years ago, in December 2012, word came that General Dynamics NASSCO finalized a contract with TOTE…

Guyana has called for proposals to design, finance and build a 30,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery, the first for the South American country as it becomes a force in crude oil production. Construction work on the facility, to be located on public land near the Berbice river, is expected to begin by the first half of 2023 with project completion two years after. Requests are due in mid-December. An Exxon Mobil-led consortium has ramped up oil and gas output to almost 400,000 bpd this year, a rapid increase for a country that only inaugurated crude production in 2019.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said that it has launched the second exploration bid round for five new oil and gas blocks.The bidding will be for both conventional and unconventional resources, and the successful bidders will enter into agreements granting them exploration rights, ADNOC said in a statement.The new blocks are three offshore and two onshore.The five new blocks open for are known as Offshore Block 3, Offshore Block 4, Offshore Block 5, Onshore Block 5 and Onshore Block 2, with the latter offering two separate licensing opportunities for conventional and unconventional oil and gas, respectively. In total, the five blocks comprise an area of approximately 34…

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded contracts worth AED 5.88bn (US $1.6bn) for the world’s largest continuous 3D onshore and offshore seismic survey, covering an area up to 53,000 square kilometres, as the company continues to identify and unlock new opportunities and maximize value from its hydrocarbon resources and deliver on its 2030 smart growth strategy.Adding to the 2D and 3D seismic data already acquired across Abu Dhabi, the new seismic survey will cover an area of up to 30,000 km2 offshore and 23,000 km2 onshore.The contract has been awarded by ADNOC to BGP Inc., a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Company (CNPC)…

Oil service and mapping firms still emerging from an industry recession have received a boost from about $800 million of data sales to energy firms considering bidding for Mexican oil and gas blocks. Mexico will on Wednesday hold its most important auction since a 2013 reform ended the 75-year monopoly on the energy sector held by state-run oil firm Pemex. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto hopes the deepwater sale will attract tens of billions of dollars of investment to turnaround a slump in the country's oil output. Seven previous auctions drew investment pledges of $61 billion.

Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said. "The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview on Monday. He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas. "So, like the South China Sea and the borders in North Kalimantan, we need to have some activities there," he said. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea…

Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said. "The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview on Monday. He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas. "So, like the South China Sea and the borders in North Kalimantan, we need to have some activities there," he said. China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea…

Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina, Royal Dutch Shell, and Malaysia's Petronas  were among the companies awarded 11 Indonesian oil and gas blocks last year, government officials said on Wednesday. Indonesia offered a total of 16 conventional and unconventional oil and gas blocks last year, Wiratmadja Puja, acting director general of oil and gas at the Indonesian energy and mines ministry said. Government officials previously put the number at 21. "We will bid (another) 12 oil and gas blocks this year -- two conventional blocks and 10 shale gas blocks," Naryanto Wagimin, director oil and gas upstream at the Indonesian energy and mines ministry said, referring to 2015. "We want more realistic (bids) and prioritize the more credible companies." Reporting by Wilda Asmarini

Tanzania has held talks with France's Total and Britain's BP over oil and gas exploration, its energy ministry said on Saturday, aiming to add to major companies active in its thriving energy sector. Companies already present in the east African state include Norway's Statoil, Brazil's Petrobras, Royal Dutch Shell , BG Group and Exxon Mobil.. Total executives were in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam this week with Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo, the ministry said. "Total has expressed interest to explore for gas and oil in the Lake Eyasi (open acreage area)," Muhongo said in a statement. "We welcome competition and we would like many companies to participate in this sector," he added.

Reliance Industries Limited and BP today announced a historic partnership between the two companies. Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, and Mr. Robert Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, signed the relationship framework and transactional agreements in London. The partnership across the full value chain comprises BP taking a 30 per cent stake in 23 oil and gas production sharing contracts that Reliance operates in India, including the producing KG D6 block, and the formation of a 50:50 joint venture between the two companies for the sourcing and marketing of gas in India. The joint venture will also endeavour to accelerate the creation of infrastructure for receiving, transporting and marketing of natural gas in India.

According to a report from Reuters, state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation clinched a preliminary deal with U.S. firm ConocoPhillips on Oct. 10 for oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal, subject to signature of a production sharing agreement. ConocoPhillips will start seismic surveys and exploration around two deepwater gas blocks after signing the PSC. The deal, concluded after two years of talks, is intended to address acute gas shortages, with production hovering at around 2,000 million cubic feet per day against demand of about 2,500. (Source: Reuters)

(Source: Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has issued a construction services tender covering its offshore fields as part of a three-year deal. The scope of works includes fabrication, piping, welding, painting, hydro testing and crane support facilities. In addition, three boats equipped with a deck-mounted crane and offshore construction crew will be required to work on QP's offshore facilities and operational structures. QP says the deal may be split into four separate contracts or could also be awarded as one job. The closing date for bids is 22 June with the contract scheduled to start by 26 September. While Qatar has halted exploration on its mammoth North field, four new gas blocks are to be tendered to oil majors in the next 12 months.

According to Thomson Financial, the Indonesian government launched a tender for 26 oil-and-gas blocks to boost the country's oil and gas production. The oil and gas blocks that were offered today include the Bawean II, East Bawean I, Situbondo, and the North East Madura blocks onshore and offshore East Java province, as well as the South Barito (onshore and offshore) and Mahakam Hilir (onshore) blocks on Kalimantan island. [Source: Thomson Financial]

Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. (8031.TO) said that a subsidiary, Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., has agreed to extend for 10 years the contract on its rights and interests in offshore oil and gas blocks in Thailand, according to a Dow Jones report. The Tokyo-based company said the unit, Chevron Corp. (CVX) and PTT Exploration & Production PCL (PTTEP.TH) have reached an agreement extending the accord, which was due to expire in April 2012, to April 2022. [Source: Dow Jones]

Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA could tender exploration and production licenses on seven offshore natural gas blocks in eastern Venezuela in 2006, according to a Business News: Americas report. In the Deltana Platform area there are five blocks, with two in the Gulf of Paria. There are plans to accelerate offshore exploitation, for which licenses are required. PDVSA will partner with Brazil's federal energy company Petrobras to explore four other blocks in the Mariscal Sucre region, according to the report. PDVSA recently awarded three offshore gas blocks in western Venezuela in the second phase of the Rafael Urdaneta project but plans to carry out more seismic studies in the area before restarting the project in 2007.

According to a report on www.business-standard.com, the Petroleum Ministry in India is planning to offer up to 80 oil and gas blocks -- perhaps half of them offshore -- in another auction round this August under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). The report said that in the previous six rounds, 162 oil and gas blocks have been awarded.

China National Offshore Oil Corp, the parent of CNOOC Ltd, said it has set an oil and gas output target for 2010 of 48 mln-50 mln tons of oil equivalent. CNOOC, the country's largest offshore oil and gas producer, said overseas oil and gas output is expected to hit 20-25 mln tons in 2010. CNOOC had oil and gas output of 40.33 mln tons of oil equivalent in 2006 with overseas output at 5.57m tons, it said in a statement. CNOOC has invested in 45 overseas oil and gas blocks in 10 countries including Nigeria, Australia, Kenya and Indonesia. Source: AFX News

According to a recent Reuters report, European energy major Total SA (TOTF.PA) will begin exploring for hydrocarbons in the Bay of Bengal in November, a senior energy official recently stated. In March this year, Total acquired the major stakes of UK-based Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.L) in offshore blocks 17 and 18 and received energy ministry approval to extend the exploration period stated in the production sharing contract by three years until May 5, 2009. The acquisition has left Tullow with a 32 percent stake, U.S.-based Okland Oil Co with 8.0 percent, while Total holds the remaining 60 percent in the offshore blocks. The firm will also drill one exploratory well to a depth of at least 3,000 metres (9,840 ft) in the Bay of Bengal to find new gas reserves in the structure, the official said.

India will announce the auctioning of 80-85 oil and gas blocks for exploration and production in the seventh licensing round under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in the first week of November. Oil regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has carved out 80-85 blocks to be offered for bidding under NELP-VII. The total acreage of the blocks on offer is about 0.4 million square kilometers. Offshore blocks on both east and west coast would be offered, in addition to a few on-land blocks. NELP-VII had been postponed several times. It was originally due in March-April, but the controversy over pricing of gas forced the government to defer it on fear of investors' backlash.