Coast Guard Probing 350 Reports of Oil Spills in Wake of Hurricane Ida
The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday said it was probing nearly 350 reports of oil spills in and along the U.S. Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Ida.Hurricane Ida's 150 mile per hour (240 kph) winds wreaked havoc on offshore oil production platforms and onshore oil and gas processing plants. About 88% of the region's offshore oil production remains shut and more than 100 platforms unoccupied after the storm made landfall Aug. 29.The Coast Guard has been conducting flyovers off the coast of Louisiana looking for spills.
Timeline: BP Oil Spill Litigation
BP Plc was found "grossly negligent" on Thursday by a federal judge in connection with its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The decision by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, who oversees litigation related to the disaster, is likely to boost the British oil company's costs emerging from the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history. April 20, 2010 Rig Explodes: An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig at the Macondo exploration well kills 11 workers and releases millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The well is capped in mid-July.
Chinese South China Sea Drilling Illegal Says Vietnam
Vietnam says China's plan to move its first deep-water drilling rig into the disputed South China Sea, one of Asia's most volatile hotspots, is illegal and has called for the rig to be removed from what it says is Vietnam's territorial waters. The $1 billion offshore oil rig called Haiyang Shiyou 981 owned by the China's state-run CNOOC oil company has been drilling south of Hong Kong. Maritime Safety Administration of China (MSAC) on Saturday published an announcement on its website saying it prohibits all marine vessels entering into a one mile radius of the Haiyang Shiyou 981's South China Sea drilling work. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Sunday objected to the move…
Late Delivery Expected for CNOOC's First Deep-water Rig
According to a Reuters report, the delivery of China National Offshore Oil Corporation's (CNOOC) first deep-water semi-submersible drilling platform will be delayed, at least for months, state media reported recently. Construction of the platform is expected to be completed in 2011, the official Xinhua news agency cited the company as saying. CNOOC had anticipated the delivery on Oct.1, 2010. This would mean the top offshore oil producer in China has to postpone its first independent voyage, armed with a Chinese rig, to tap deep water oil and gas resources home and abroad. CNOOC has awarded the construction, a $599m deal, to China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation's Shanghai Waigaoqiao plant, the report said, though it did not state when construction will kick off.
COSL Issues Bonds
China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL), the largest oilfield service provider in Asia, has issued corporate bonds valued at 1.5 billion yuan ahead of an expected listing on the mainland stock market, according to a report on Xinhua. It is the first time COSL, and its parent company, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil producer, has issued corporate bonds on the mainland market. The 15-year bonds have an interest rate of 4.48 percent and have been classified as "AAA", the highest rating, by the Dagong Global Credit Rating. They were issued four days before the central bank announced a rise in interest rates and took four days to sell out.
CNOOC Discovers New Oil and Gas field in Bohai Sea
China National Offshore Oil Corp. Ltd. (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil producer, announced that it discovered a new oil and gas field, dubbed Bozhong 28-2 East, in Bohai Sea. Bozhong 28-2 East is located between Bozhong 28-1 oil and gas field and Bozhong 28-2 South oil field near the Yellow River mouth. A 35-meter gas layer and a 35-meter oil layer have been discovered underneath the sea water measuring 20 meters in depth. According to test by drill pipes, the field is estimated to produce 1,600 barrels of oil and ten million cubic feet of gas per day at an average level. Source: Xinhua
Domestically Built FPSO Launched in Shanghai
China's first-ever homemade 300,000 tonnage FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel was successfully launched on Dec. 8 in Shanghai. The vessel, produced by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., involves a contract value of US$240 million, said to be approximately equivalent to the cost of a giant Airbus A380 airliner. Capable of processing 190,000 barrels of oil per day and storing 2 million tons of oil, the vessel will be used by American oil company ConocoPhillips' phase II oil development in Penglai 19-3, a heavy- crude field in the Bohai Sea. Penglai 19-3 is a joint development project between ConocoPhillips and Chinese offshore oil producer CNOOC. The FPSO vessel is a part of the cooperation project. Source: Xinhua
Cnooc Net Rises to Record on China Demand, Oil Prices
Cnooc Ltd., China's biggest offshore oil producer, said first-half profit rose 38 percent to a record because of soaring energy prices and demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy. Net income increased to 16.3 billion yuan ($2.04 billion), or 0.39 yuan a share, from 11.8 billion yuan, or 0.29 yuan, a year earlier, the company said in a statement today. Profit beat the 15.6 billion yuan median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of seven analysts. Rising earnings have given Chairman Fu Chengyu cash to seek oil and gas reserves in Asia and Africa, where Beijing-based Cnooc spent $2.7 billion buying Nigerian fields this year. China's third-largest oil company increased profit at a faster pace than bigger rivals PetroChina Co.
