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Oil Producer News

20 Mar 2024

Shipping Companies Turn to Longer-Term Leases as Tanker Supply Tightens

© Vladimir / Adobe Stock

Rising oil tanker chartering rates due to global shipping disruption are forcing oil shippers to take on longer-term shipping charters, executives said this week at an energy conference in Houston.The global oil tanker fleet must now travel further to get crude to refineries and fuel to consumers. European sanctions have forced Russian exporters to send oil to Asia that would have otherwise gone to Europe. Attacks on vessels in the Red Sea have forced some shippers to sail around…

29 Jan 2024

Russian Oil Facilities Hit by Drone Attacks, Fires

© evannovostro / Adobe Stock

Russia energy infrastructure has been hit by drone attacks and fires in the past month, adding to uncertainty in global oil and gas markets already rocked by the conflict in the Middle East.Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other's energy infrastructure in strikes designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics and to demoralise their opponent as they try to get the edge in a nearly two-year-old war that shows no sign of ending.Following are recent major incidents at Russian oil facilities in the past month:* A Russian appointed official said on Jan.

18 Oct 2023

Oil Tanker Hit by US Sanctions Heads to Texas for Unloading - Exxon

An oil tanker that the U.S. government imposed sanctions on for recently carrying Russian oil above the Western price cap is proceeding to the Baytown refinery in Texas for unloading, Exxon Mobil said on Tuesday.Exxon, the current charterer of the Yasa Golden Bosphorus, was not targeted by the sanctions last week since the oil producer chartered the tanker months after it had carried and offloaded Russian oil, a price cap coalition official after the U.S. imposed the sanctions on the tanker.The unloading by Exxon has been authorized by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the company said in a statement. The deliveries are certified products of Canadian origin, according to Exxon.The U.S.

05 Oct 2023

Milan Prosecutors Push for Fraud Trial Over Failed 2019 Eni Tanker Deal

Italian prosecutors have requested a former senior Eni employee, the now chief of a UK oil firm, and others be sent to trial for allegedly defrauding Eni over the attempted sale of an oil cargo to the company, a document from the Milan prosecutor's office shows.Sources previously told Reuters that the 2019 "White Moon" shipment of crude oil, purportedly from Iraq, created panic within Eni over fears it could be, at least partially, Iranian. Eni rejected the cargo, which it has said it bought from Nigerian firm Oando, who in turn bought the oil from the London branch of Italian fuel trading company Napag.Handling Iranian oil would have breached sanctions the United States reimposed in 2018 after quitting a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

04 Oct 2023

Exxon Mobil Finds Buyer for Adriatic LNG Terminal Stake

Credit: Adriatic LNG

Exxon Mobil Corp chose BlackRock as the potential buyer for its majority stake in Italy's main liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, the U.S. oil producer said in a statement.The stake sale drew interest from infrastructure funds and international groups as Italy is expected to increase its LNG imports to partly replace the gas it used to get via pipeline from Russia.In March, Exxon said it was considering selling its 70.68% interest in the offshore Adriatic LNG Terminal…

02 Oct 2023

Biden Angers All Sides with Scaled Back Offshore Oil Drilling Plan

Credit: Lukasz Z/AdobeStock

The Biden administration's plan to slash offshore oil and gas leasing drew fire from both the fossil fuel industry and environmentalists on Friday, with energy companies saying it will raise fuel prices and greens saying it undermines efforts to stop global warming. The criticism from both sides reflects the difficulty Biden's White House has had in dealing with U.S. oil extraction policies, as it seeks to balance national energy security with the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.

30 Aug 2023

Kinder Morgan Says Idalia Caused Minimal Damage to Florida Terminals

(Image: NOAA)

Kinder Morgan KMI.N on Wednesday said its Port Manatee, Port Sutton and Tampaplex terminals in Florida sustained minimal damage due to Hurricane Idalia, and that it was also planning to shut its Charleston area terminals later in the day.The U.S. energy company said it was planning to reopen the terminals on Thursday, while its Tampa facilities including the Tampa refined products terminal and Central Florida Pipeline system have resumed normal operations.The Port Manatee, Port Sutton and Tampaplex terminals handle commodities such as fertilizers…

01 May 2023

Venezuelan Oil Gets More US Buyers as Chevron Steps Up Loadings

© Haris Andronos / Adobe Stock

Chevron Corp has stepped up sales of Venezuelan crude oil to rival U.S. refiners, adding PBF Energy Inc and Marathon Petroleum Corp to its list of customers for the crude, vessel tracking and loading schedules showed.U.S. Gulf Coast refiners, which historically processed Venezuelan oil, have shown a renewed appetite for the heavy sour crude grade after Chevron late last year received authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department to expand its operations in Venezuela and resume oil shipments to the U.S. after a four-year pause.Chevron, the last big U.S.

21 Mar 2023

Sempra Reaches FID on Port Arthur LNG Plant's Phase 1

Credit: Sempra Energy

U.S. power and gas utility Sempra Energy said on Monday the first phase of its proposed Port Arthur liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal received the financial greenlight to move ahead with investment firm KKR & Co agreeing to a minority stake in the project.Though KKR's investment was not disclosed, an infrastructure fund managed by it will buy a 25% to 49% indirect, non-controlling interest in the project. Sempra Infrastructure Partners, the 70%-owned unit of Sempra, would target 20% to 30% of indirect ownership interest in the project…

01 Mar 2023

Lukoil Sets up Ship-to-ship Russian Oil Loadings Near Kaliningrad

© yriy47 / Adobe Stock

Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil has set up ship-to-ship (STS) loadings of Urals oil near the western port of Kaliningrad, Refinitiv Eikon data showed and trading sources told Reuters on Wednesday.The data shows 100,000 tonnes of Urals crude was loaded on the Andaman Skies tanker at the Baltic port of Primorsk on Feb. 11.

20 Feb 2023

US LNG Producers Poised to Leapfrog Rivals with Three New Projects

© moofushi / Adobe Stock

At least three proposed U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants have likely found enough customers to receive financial approvals this year, according to Reuters calculations, developments that would make the country the world's largest LNG exporter for years to come.After a dearth of plant approvals last decade, developers have secured dozens of long-term contracts to finance new multibillion-dollar LNG plants. The pace of approvals has accelerated as Europe has shifted…

13 Jan 2023

Guyana's Oil Exports Double, with Europe Taking Half of Cargoes

(File photo: Hess Corp)

Guyana's oil exports jumped 164% last year, boosted by growing output and demand for the newest Latin American oil producer's light sweet crudes, particularly in Europe, where thirsty refiners ramped up imports to replace Russian supplies.Since a consortium led by Exxon Mobil began pumping in late 2019, Guyana's shipments have soared, bringing the South American nation's oil export income to $1.1 billion last year, according to official figures provided to Reuters.The government's $1.1 billion share of oil revenue was up sharply from a combined $409 million in profit and royalties in 2021.

05 Jan 2023

Hess Signals Guyana's Seventh Oil Platform

(File photo: Hess Corp)

Hess Corp on Thursday said drilling results expected this month could add a seventh platform in Guyana, which would lift the nascent oil producing nation's output above the 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day planned.The U.S. oil producer is part of the Exxon Mobil Corp-led consortium that controls all production in the tiny South American nation. The group has confirmed so far plans for six floating production vessels in the country, home to the world's largest offshore…

05 Jan 2023

Lack of Dredging Could Delay Chevron's Venezuela Oil Exports

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A shipping channel snafu is slowing Chevron Corp’s efforts to load tankers at one of its four Venezuelan joint ventures and bring heavy crude to the United States, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.Washington in November authorized the last major U.S. firm still operating in Venezuela to restore lost output and begin exporting oil as a way to encourage talks between Nicolas Maduro’s government and the country’s political opposition.But a plan to move heavy…

03 Jan 2023

Chevron to Send 500,000-barrel Cargo of Venezuelan Oil to Its Pascagoula Refinery

© David David Potter / Adobe Stock

U.S. oil producer Chevron Corp plans to export this month its first cargo of Venezuelan crude to its Pascagoula, Mississippi refinery following a U.S. license granted last year, according to shipping documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday.The 500,000-barrel cargo of Hamaca heavy crude, to be loaded at state-run PDVSA's Jose port, comes from the Petropiar oil joint venture operated by both companies.As of Tuesday, the tanker scheduled to carry the shipment, the Bahamas-flagged Caribbean Voyager…

01 Jan 2023

Chevron Sending Two Oil Tankers to Venezuela Under US Approval

U.S. oil company Chevron Corp is sending two oil tankers to Venezuela, one of which will load the first cargo of crude destined for the United States in nearly four years, according to a person familiar with the matter and shipping data.On Friday, a Chevron-chartered vessel approached the South American country's waters to pick up a cargo of Venezuelan crude. A second tanker carrying a cargo of diluents to a Chevron oil joint venture is due to arrive in Venezuela early next month, the person said.The U.S. last month issued a six-month license to Chevron authorizing it to take an expanded role at four Venezuelan oil joint ventures that produce, process and export oil, and to bring their oil to the United States.The U.S. license will reopen oil flows that were shut by U.S.

17 Oct 2022

Rosneft Moves Into Tanker Chartering as EU Ban Looms

© vladimir18 / Adobe Stock

Russia's biggest oil exporter Rosneft has expanded its tanker chartering business to ease oil shipments for buyers amid looming Western sanctions on insurance of Russian oil shipments, three sources familiar with the matter said.Previously, state-controlled Rosneft, which produces more than 40% of Russian oil, would sell its oil at the port of loading, meaning the buyer would have to find tankers and handle freight and insurance costs for the voyage.But with new, tighter Western sanctions looming…

17 Oct 2022

Exxon's Russian Oil Output Collapsed after Rejecting Local Tanker Insurance

Credit: Rosneft

Oil output at the giant Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 Russian Pacific project collapsed following the U.S. major's refusal to accept local insurance for tankers after Western insurers pulled out due to sanctions, several industry sources told Reuters. Western insurers withdrew cover from tankers operated by state-run Sovcomflot, Russia's biggest shipping group, which was sanctioned following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "Exxon has refused to take Sovcomflot's tankers," one industry source said.

06 Oct 2022

Norway Limits Access for Russian Fishing Trawlers

© GunnarE / Adobe Stock

Norway said on Thursday it would impose limits on Russian fishing vessels using its ports, in a further tightening of security following last week's suspected sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the nearby Baltic Sea.Russian trawlers will now only be allowed to visit three of several dozen ports along the Norwegian coast and must undergo security checks when they do, foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt told a news conference.She stopped short of imposing a total ban on Russian vessels demanded by some security experts and opposition politicians…

11 Aug 2022

Oil Leak Contained at Three US Gulf Platforms, Shell Says

(File photo: Shell)

Top U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil producer Shell said on Thursday it halted production at three U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater platforms after a leak shut two pipelines connecting the platforms, adding it expected pipeline service to resume on Friday.A failure at an onshore pipeline junction in Louisiana leaked about two barrels of oil, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of Greater Lafourche Port Commission. A fix is expected to take about a day, he added.A Shell spokesperson said the leak…

18 Jul 2022

Guyana Races Against the Clock to Bank Its Offshore Oil Bonanza

Liza Destiny FPSO offshore Guyana - Credit: Rolf Jonsen

For the poor, small South American country of Guyana, there's no time like the present when it comes to reaping the rewards of its offshore oil jackpot.With sky-high oil prices, a transition to renewable energy on the horizon, and 750,000 citizens desperate for better lives, Guyana is putting its foot on the gas to exploit its vast oil reserves, even if that means sacrificing some longer-term gains.Already locked into contracts with oil firms that have been criticized for being too one-sided…

24 May 2022

Bolsonaro Fires Second Petrobras CEO in Two Months

Jose Mauro Coelho - Credit: Petrobras

Brazil's right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro fired the chief executive of oil producer Petrobras - the second in two months - after the company refused to sell fuels at a discount to consumers warning it would lead to diesel shortages. Bolsonaro also called for the election of a new board, according to a statement released close to midnight local time on Monday by the state-controlled company, opening the way to a full executive management shake-up.José Mauro Ferreira Coelho is the third Petrobras CEO fired by Bolsonaro over fuel prices.

06 May 2022

Guyana in 'No Rush' to Draft New Offshore Oil Production Sharing Agreement

An FPSO offshore Guyana - (File photo: Hess Corp.)

Guyana is in "no rush" to draft a new production sharing agreement (PSA) for offshore oil development, its Natural Resources minister told Reuters, reversing a year-long drive to devise new rules for future output.The government of South America's newest crude oil producer said in 2021 it was planning a new agreement to revamp terms and boost royalties for future oil and gas projects. The proposed document was expected to improve terms for Guyana of a 2016 contract with Exxon Mobil and its partners for the prolific Stabroek block.But the tiny nation…