Oil And Gas Acreage News

Royal Dutch Shell and the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) have signed a deal to boost cooperation in sectors like deep sea exploration as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and unconventional gas sources like shale, CNPC said on Wednesday. The two companies had agreed to join forces in the development of both upstream and downstream energy businesses, CNPC said on its website. Ben van Beurden, in his first overseas visit since becoming Shell's chief executive, told CNPC Chairman Zhou Jiping that both sides have set up deep and wide-ranging ties and have huge room for further cooperation. The Anglo-Dutch firm is already one of the biggest overseas investors in China's energy sector…

The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) intends to divest oil and gas fields in the Dutch part of the North Sea, following similar moves by the two companies in the neighboring U.K. offshore sector, Shell said. In an e-mailed statement, Shell said NAM wants to market producing fields connected to the NOGAT pipeline. It added that NAM will sell its share - which it didn't specify - in the NOGAT pipeline. NAM is 50 per cent-owned by Shell and 50 per cent by ExxonMobil. The total daily gas production from the platforms being put up for sale amounts to some 5.4 million cubic meters per day. Oil production amounts to some 1,700 barrels per day.

ExxonMobil Corp supports legislation that would give companies greater access to offshore U.S. oil and gas acreage, chief executive officer Rex Tillerson said. Two bills that would open up potential oil and gas reserves are being debated in the US Congress. A House of Representatives bill that would end a decades-old moratorium on drilling in federal waters is better than a Senate proposal, which opens tracts only in one section of the Gulf of Mexico, Tillerson said. Tillerson spoke at an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries seminar in Vienna on the importance of technology in meeting world energy demand. The conference, which is being held in Vienna’s Hofburg Palace…

Despite a downgrading in rating from various credit agencies, Kirby Corporation's recent acquisition of Hollywood Marine is designed to reduce costs, as the inland tank barge operations of both companies are highly complementary. Kirby Corp, the largest U.S. tank barge operator, has agreed to buy Hollywood Marine Inc., an inland tank barge company based in Houston, for approximately $325 million. Kirby, also based in Houston, said the purchase price consists of $90 million in stock, $135 million in cash and the assumption or refinancing of about $100 million of Hollywood debt. "Hollywood's operations are complementary to our core inland tank barge operation and are an excellent fit within Kirby's strategy of growing our core businesses through synergistic acquisitions…

Kirby Corp, the largest U.S. tank barge operator, has agreed to buy Hollywood Marine Inc., an inland tank barge company based in Houston, for approximately $325 million. Kirby, also based in Houston, said the purchase price consists of $90 million in stock, $135 million in cash and the assumption or refinancing of about $100 million of Hollywood debt. "Hollywood's operations are complementary to our core inland tank barge operation and are an excellent fit within Kirby's strategy of growing our core businesses through synergistic acquisitions," Kirby CEO and President J.H. Pyne said. As part of the deal, Kirby said it would name C. Berdon Lawrence…