Ministry Of Petroleum News

Esgian reports fresh finds confirmed in Guyana, China and Norway in its Week 12 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDolphin Drilling has announced the award of a $154 million drilling contract from India's exploration and production company, Oil India Limited (Oil India), to the 6,000-ft semisub Blackford Dolphin.Malaysian offshore drilling firm Velesto confirmed Friday it had recently secured long-term contract extensions for three of its jackup rigs with Petronas Carigali…

Offshore seismic survey specialist Shearwater on Friday announced a new project with the Austrian oil firm OMV for a "pioneering" towed streamer survey with Ocean Bottom Nodes over the Berling gas and condensate discovery in the Norwegian Sea. Spanning 1040 sq.km, this hybrid survey starts in July 2023 and will last for three months. Shearwater's vessels, SW Tasman and Oceanic Vega, will lead the operations. SW Tasman will operate as an ROV node deployment vessel for first time…

NYK signed a multi-year time-charter contract with GAIL (India) Limited, India's largest natural gas company, for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. Grace Emilia, the vessel that will be chartered, is equipped with a WinGD-made dual-fuel slow-speed X-DF diesel engine, a unit that has superior fuel-consumption efficiency and can operate on marine gas oil or boil off gas stored in the cargo tank. The vessel also features a re-liquefaction system that can use re-liquefied excess boil-off gas and return it to the cargo tank.The cargo tank has a 174,000 cu.

Marine minerals are coming under sharp focus offshore Norway. Analysts suggest it could be a $20 billion annual revenue industry by 2050, which is why many are taking an interest and developing the technology to make it happen. Marine mineral mining has been something of a slow burner in the wider marine world. It has some clear challenges, not least location and depth of these potential resources, but also concerns around its environmental impact.Yet it now appears to be coming into a distinctly sharp focus…

The United States on Monday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's oil sector, including the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Tehran.The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it was slapping sanctions on key actors in Iran's oil sector for supporting the Quds Force, the elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."The regime in Iran uses the petroleum sector to fund the destabilizing activities of the IRGC-QF…

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Schlumberger introduce the Egypt Upstream Gateway, a unique and innovative national project for digitizing subsurface information and delivering a digital subsurface platform to ensure Egypt's subsurface data is kept evergreen.The Egypt Upstream Gateway will also be a platform to promote Egypt's exploration and production potential worldwide.The Egypt Upstream Gateway will leverage the GAIA digital subsurface platform and provide additional value-added solutions—enabled by digital technology and domain expertise—using the DELFI E&P cognitive environment capabilities and technologies."Leveraging…

PGNiG Upstream Norway, a subsidiary of Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG), has obtained a final administrative consent to purchase additional 10% interests in the PL636 and PL636B licences in the North Sea.Following the transaction, PGNiG Upstream Norway’s (PUN) interests in both licences increased to 30%. As a result, the volume of Duva field gas production attributable to the Company will rise to 0.2 bcm per year.“Acquisition of fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is one of the investment priorities of the PGNiG Group. Our aim is to ensure that as much as possible of the gas that will flow from Norway to Poland following the launch of the Baltic Pipe will come from our own production. This is part of our strategy to diversify supplies and strengthen Poland's energy security.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has announced the appointment of Ingrid Solvberg as Director for the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, replacing Bente Nyland.According to a note from NPD, Sølvberg was appointed by the King in Council on 11 October. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has not yet set the date for the transition.The director general position in the NPD is posted as a fixed term engagement of six years, with the option of an additional six-year period. Bente Nyland’s second term period will expire at the end of the year.She congratulates Ingrid Sølvberg on her new job saying: “This is one of the most exciting jobs in the petroleum activities. I’ve looked forward to going to work every single day.

According to notices given by international organizations to Iran by January 1st, all Iranian vessels must use low-sulfur fuel, otherwise they may face many consequences.Jalil Eslami, the Deputy Director of Maritime Affairs of Ports & Maritime Organization (PMO). warned: "As a sovereign body, we are obliged to declare the necessities of using low sulfur fuel and international issues, and in this regard all the necessary actions have been taken. Therefore, within the time-frame notified to all Iranian vessels, they should use low Sulfur fuel by January 1, 2020."Numerous meetings have been held between the Ports and Maritime Organization…

Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) informed that candidates can now register for “Course for the industry" (Kurs for næringen) which will be held on 14 November in our offices in Stavanger. The registration deadline is 8 November.The course provides an introduction to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s roles and tasks, and how our work affects your working day in the oil and gas industry.This is a popular course that has received good feedback from the participants in the three previous courses, it said.Torhild S. Nilsen, the NPD’s assistant director Framework and finances, explains why we hold the course: “It’s important to have a good dialogue between the authorities and the industry players on petroleum resource management.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) announced that it has just completed a successful data acquisition expedition on the Mohns Ridge in the north-western Norwegian Sea, using the Seabed Constructor vessel.According to the Norwegian government agency responsible for the regulation of the petroleum resources on the Norwegian continental shelf, during the four-week expedition, the NPD has made several discoveries of previously unknown sulphide deposits, and collected data covering large areas. These deposits include metals and minerals that are important in battery technology, wind turbines and mobile telephones.The Mohns Ridge is an oceanic spreading ridge that separates two tectonic plates…

For the next month, Jan Stenløkk will trade his office in Stavanger for the vessel "M/V Seabed Constructor" in the Norwegian Sea.On this voyage, the geologist will continue the task of mapping seabed minerals for the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy – which is responsible for managing the minerals."The voyage will go to the volcanic Mohns Ridge between Jan Mayen and Bjørnøya, a sea area that is still virtually unexplored. It’s exciting that the NPD has been given the task of exploring the geology and the deposits, as well as performing the mapping. We are now at the very beginning of work that could have a significant impact on Norwegian resources and industry in the future…

French engineering services provider Doris Engineering has been awarded an advisor contract by the Senegalese ministry of petroleum and energies for the development of oil & gas projects offshore Senegal.This two-year mission consists in reviewing the optimization and the robustness of the field development performed on these projects to be in line with the Ministry expectations. It focuses on two projects: Grand Tortue Ahmeyim, operated by BP, and the SNE project, operated by Woodside.Grand Tortue Ahmeyim is located at the border between Senegal and Mauritania and lies in ultradeep-water. The facilities under review include the subsea network…

As the marine industry ponders decarbonization, the world’s first all-electric and completely emissions-free ship, Future of the Fjords delivers. Future of the Fjords was commissioned as part of the shipowner’s program of fleet renewal with  the backing of Fjord1, the largest ferry operator in Norway, and of Flåm AS, the company that  promotes tourism in the Flåm area, to provide vessels that deliver optimal passenger experiences with minimal environmental impact.Constructed by specialist shipbuilder Brødrene Aa…

Breaking new ground: the all-electric, zero-emissions Future of The FjordsNorwegian cruise vessel offers amazing tourist experience while protecting fragile UNESCO World Heritage environmentFuture of the Fjords, the world’s first all-electric and completely emissions-free ship, launched in April this year by Norwegian tours operator The Fjords, is now operating as a cruise vessel on the spectacular Gudvangen to Flåm route along the Nærøyfjord, Sognefjord and Aurlandsfjord of western Norway.

Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum entered in a partnership with the Ministry of Public Business Sector to establish a petrochemical plant in Suez governorate at a total cost exceeds $4 billion, Zawya reported quoting Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla. The Ministry of Petroleum will build the complex in partnership with Ministry of Public Business Sector, el-Molla added. The Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) as well as refineries affiliated to the petroleum sector will also cooperate to implement the project, the Egyptian minister said. Molla added that the feasibility studies will take 28 weeks. The Suez plant is set to depend on the refineries affiliated to the petroleum sector in Suez governorate.

The Fjords DA has confirmed that is building a sister ship to the diesel-electric plug-in hybrid Vision of the Fjords, launched in 2016. However, unlike its predecessor, this 42m long carbon fibre vessel will be all electric and completely emission free. The Future of the Fjords is slated for launch in April 2018. Currently under construction at specialist shipbuilder Brødrene Aa, the new vessel retains Vision of the Fjords’ eye-catching ‘mountain path’ design and environmentally friendly build, with a hull that minimizes wake and reduces shoreline impact erosion.

Wärtsilä informs it has signed an agreement with Norway’s Eidesvik Offshore to install a hybrid system with batteries on board of its offshore supply vessel (OSV) Viking Princess. Batteries will reduce the number of generators on board Viking Princess, and the new energy storage solution will improve engine efficiency, generating fuel savings and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Wärtsilä said. The five-year-old Viking Princess, which provides supplies to oil rigs in the North Sea and Barents Sea, runs on four LNG-powered Wärtsilä engines.

The media in Tehran said on Saturday that Japan plans to extend a contract to purchase crude oil from Iran. Shana news agency – affiliated to Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum – has reported that Japan’s contract will be extended until April 2017. It added that the volume of oil that the country will purchase from Iran will also increase from the current level of 110,000 barrels per day. No figure was nevertheless provided on how much this will increase. Japan is one of Iran's biggest oil buyers but its crude imports have nearly halved from 2011 levels before sanctions. Japan has chose to lift its sanctions on Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed the country had implemented measures promised under the newly-reached deal on its nuclear programme…

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has announced the results of the APA (Award in Pre-Defined Areas) licensing round, which granted four licences to MOL Norge on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. MOL Group’s Norwegian subsidiary, MOL Norge participated in the second APA licensing round since MOL Group entered Norway in 2015. The awarded licences are located in MOL Norge core areas. “MOL Group unveiled a 2030 long-term strategy that targets that Exploration and Production should be a self funding and value generating business even in a low oil price environment. Besides our legacy CEE and international onshore and offshore assets we have built an oil weighted portfolio in Norway with a net unrisked prospective resource base of ~750 mmboe…

MOL Group expanded its exploration portfolio by acquiring new licenses in Hungary and Norway. MOL acquired 6 new licences in the 4th bid round in Hungary, doubling its exploration acreage in the country. MOL Norge participated in the latest APA licensing round and acquired 4 licences in the Norwegian Continental Shelf, one of which with operatorship. These successes significantly contribute to the implementation of the MOL 2030 strategy. MOL has won 6 new licences in the fourth Hungarian hydrocarbon exploration tender and the concession contracts have been signed by the representatives of the Ministry of National Development and MOL.

India may contract long-term supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia if price is comparable to Indian coal which remains the fuel of choice for power generation companies in New Delhi. Power Minister Piyush Goyal, who is currently on a visit to Australia for energy dialogue, conveyed India’s willingness to buy Australian LNG during a roundtable in Brisbane. Goyal stated that additionally, opportunities to control the entire value chain right from gas production, liquefaction, shipping, re-gasification and power generation can be evaluated at the current historic low prices of many of these activities. He also stressed that since coal based power is available in India at less than 5 cents per unit…

Spectrum ASA entered into a Multi-client master co-operation agreement with the federal government of Somalia during a signing ceremony on September 5th at the SYL Hotel, Mogadishu. The agreement allows Spectrum to acquire approximately 28,000 km of long offset 2D seismic data offshore south Somalia. The new acquisition has been specifically designed to complement 20,000 km of existing seismic that was acquired in 2014. Spectrum has also been granted the marketing rights for this data. Together, these seismic surveys will allow the in-depth study of hydrocarbon prospectivity offshore Somalia, which lies in close proximity to major discoveries on the East African margin. Spectrum will use its global reach to market both data sets and raise industry interest.