Oil And Gas Sales News

Randall Luthi, President of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), does not pull any punches as he weighs in on the Obama administration’s release of the Final 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The good news is we now have an offshore leasing plan for the next five years that includes a schedule for regular oil and gas sales in the Gulf of Mexico. The bad news is it is only half a plan. Offshore energy development is a vital part of the U.S. economy, providing jobs, energy security and much needed government revenue.

Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil and gas explorer, posted a 56 percent decline in profit for the first half of this year. Net income dropped to 14.73 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), or 0.33 yuan a share, from 33.59 billion yuan, or 0.75 yuan, a year earlier, the Beijing-based explorer said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Wednesday. That exceeded the 13.9-billion yuan average of three analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Despite profit fall, the company kept its dividend payout the same as the year-earlier level. Planned capital expenditure reduction by about 30 billion yuan this year and first-half savings of 12 billion yuan on an oil production tax helped offset lower cash inflows due to lower oil prices.

CNOOC Limited announced its key operational statistics for the first quarter of 2013. During the quarter, the Company achieved a total net production of 93.6 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), representing 17.3% increase year over year (YoY), primarily attributable to the production contribution from the acquisition of Nexen Inc ., the new oil and gas projects on stream, the resumption of Penglai 19-3 oil field and the overseas projects. For the first quarter, the Company made four new discoveries and six successful appraisal wells in offshore China. The appraisal confirmed that Penglai 15-2 was a mid to large sized crude oil discovery. In the perspective of overseas development, the Company successfully completed the acquisition of Nexen.

Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Yields $133.8 Million in High Bids on Over 652,520 Acres, Only Latest in a Series of Recent Major Offshore Oil and Gas Sales. As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today held Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 229, which offered over 20 millions acres and attracted $133,767,074 in high bids for 116 tracts covering 652,522 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Texas. A total of 13 offshore energy companies submitted 131 bids.

Nautronix specialists in through water communications and positioning technologies, has announced the appointment of 3 Vice Presidents to their sales team. Experienced subsea development manager, Dan Williams, is serving as the company’s VP Sales, Commercial Acoustics. In his new role, Dan will assume direct responsibility for building the awareness of Nautronix ADS² technology in the global marketplace. He will also facilitate the company’s development in the diver communications market.

Chevron Corp.’s fourth-quarter profit rose to $4.14 billion from $3.44 billion as oil and fuel prices jumped. Per-share profit climbed to $1.86 from $1.63 a year earlier, according to Bloomberg. Shares of Chevron yesterday fell $1.04 to $60.22 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock, which has climbed 6 percent this month, has 16 buy ratings, eight hold recommendations and one sell rating from analysts. U.S. crude-oil futures traded at a record fourth-quarter average of $60.05 a barrel, up 24 percent from a year earlier, as damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita crimped production in the Gulf of Mexico, the biggest domestic source of oil and natural gas.

Kerr-McGee Corp. reports net income for the 2005 fourth quarter of $2.2 billion ($18.46 per diluted common share), compared with $133.8 million ($.86 per share) for the 2004 fourth quarter. Fourth-quarter 2005 operating profit from continuing operations was $653.9 million, compared with $276.1 million for the 2004 period. Exploration and production operating profit was $633.8 million, compared with $266.5 million in the 2004 fourth quarter. Higher operating profit in 2005 reflects net pretax gains on property sales of $169.1 million compared with a net loss of $21.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Additionally, higher oil and gas…

The third quarter proved to be a prosperous one for oil companies, as most of our sampling realized substantial gains in net income and net operating income for the period, as compared to 1998's third quarter. A higher average worldwide crude oil price was chiefly responsible for the increases, although in some cases, cost-cutting measures also contributed heavily to the financial results. Exploration and production net operating income was up, nearly across the board. However, for the first nine months of 1999, earnings and net income are still down from the same period in 1998. Phillips Petroleum Company reported third-quarter net income of $221 million up from $46 million for the same period last year. Total revenues were $3.8 billion, versus $2.9 billion a year ago.

Once again, quarter and year-end earnings reported in the offshore market reflected a familiar trend: oil majors saw gains - sometimes significant; while oilfield service companies continued to struggle, compared to the year-earlier marks. Unocal Corporation reported fourth quarter 1999 preliminary unaudited net earnings of $97 million and adjusted net earnings (excluding special items) of $77 million. The fourth quarter results compare with a reported loss of $29 million for the same period a year ago. Adjusted net earnings for the fourth quarter 1998 were $28 million. The fourth quarter earnings reflect higher oil and gas prices, offset partially by lower net oil and gas sales volumes and a higher international tax rate.