Exxon Set to Order Fifth Guyana FPSO, Sizing up More Blocks
Exxon Mobil Corp. is preparing to approve its fifth oil production project in Guyana and is considering taking additional exploration acreage, the head of its Guyanese operations, Alistair Routledge, told Reuters in an interview. The efforts would add significantly to the $30 billion committed thus far by Exxon and Guyana partners Hess Corp and CNOOC Ltd. The latest development will cost about 27% more than the last, a new estimate showed, reflecting inflation and the larger scope of the project.
Tanker Bottleneck Emerges in Venezuela as Crude Stocks Run Low
More than a dozen large tankers were waiting on Wednesday at Venezuela's main oil port and nearby anchorage zones for state-run PDVSA to assign them slots to load crude, as an outage and low inventories caused delays, according to documents and sources.Venezuela's crude output declined in April to 445,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to secondary sources consulted by OPEC, down 81,000 bpd from March levels. The drop was mainly due to a lack of diluents to produce exportable grades from the country's largest oil region…
Oil Rallies on Chinese Import Boost and Mideast Tensions
Oil prices firmed on Friday as bullish news from strong Chinese oil imports to turmoil in the Middle East put Brent on track for a nearly 3 percent weekly gain. The developments added to other signs that the market was finally rebalancing after years of excess, but analysts warned that the 2018 balance was still shaky. Brent was at $57.20 at 1335 GMT, up 95 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $51.44 per barrel, up 84 cents from its last settlement. The contracts were on track for weekly gains of more than 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Offshore Innovation: A Real ‘Riverboat’
Central Asia is a booming oil region not far from the Persian Gulf. Energy companies ply the big lake to rack up staggering barrel counts at elephantine oilfields with names like Tengiz (Kazakhstan) or Kashagan (Azerbaijan). Painstaking, oil-fueled nation-building is underway across an oil province, where very shallow water hinders plant and equipment moves by platform supply vessels. Until now — new module-carrying vessels, or MCVs will float high-capital cargoes through Russia’s river system and across the Caspian shallows to Chevron’s Tengiz Extension project.
Gunmen Attack Shipbuilding Facility
Gunmen riding in two boats attacked a waterside shipbuilding company Tuesday in Nigeria's southern oil region, injuring one person, according to an AP report. The gang escaped with spare parts as the military moved in to restore order, the report claimed. The attack in the Borokiri area of the southern oil center of Port Harcourt happened shortly after midnight, she said.
Chevron Threatened In Nigerian Ethnic Clashes
Chevron Corp. reportedly contacted Nigeria's newly-installed democratic government over threats by ethnic Ijaw militants to its facilities in the latest fighting in the oil region.
