Onshore Oil News

A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused to overturn a California county's decision to block Exxon Mobil Corp from using tanker trucks to ship crude oil from coastal facilities to inland refineries while a ruptured pipeline is fixed.U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles denied Exxon's bid to reverse the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors' denial of a trucking permit in early 2022, saying the board's decision was substantially supported by evidence that transporting crude…

Sweden sent a diving vessel on Monday to the site of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that ruptured last week following blasts in the area, to probe an incident that has added new tension to Europe's energy crisis.Europe is investigating what caused three pipelines in the Nord Stream network to burst in an act of suspected sabotage near Swedish and Danish waters that Moscow quickly sought to pin on the West, suggesting the United States stood to gain."The coast guard is responsible for the mission…

Norway's military said on Monday it had posted soldiers to help guard major onshore oil and gas processing plants, part of a wider effort to boost security amid suspicion that sabotage caused leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines last week.Russia's Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines burst on Sept. 26, draining gas into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Seismologists registered explosions in the area, and police in several countries have launched investigations.Norway…

U.S. crude oil production fell 3.5% in September after Hurricane Ida temporarily halted most crude production in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a monthly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday.Crude output dropped 380,000 barrels per day to 10.809 mln bpd from a revised 11.189 mln bpd in August, the report said. The decline came as production in the offshore Gulf of Mexico fell by 464,000 bpd, offsetting onshore gains.Ida disrupted Gulf of Mexico production as it passed through the Gulf at the end of August.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold an oil and gas lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico on November 17, complying with a U.S. District Court order.To remind, the Biden administration had paused all oil and gas leasing activities on federal lands and waters in January, citing climate crisis. A federal judge in Louisiana in June then ordered the resumption of oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters.Announcing the upcoming Gulf of Mexico lease sale on Thursday…

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.

Oil shipments from nascent crude producer Guyana's prolific Liza field could be affected by a growing storage glut that has contributed to plunging global crude prices, the country's director of energy said.A consortium led by Exxon Mobil began producing crude from the offshore field in December after discovering more than 8 billion barrels of recoverable resources together with partners Hess Corp and China's CNOOC Ltd. The poor South American country had no history of crude production.But a sharp fall in oil demand due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus has rapidly filled crude storage tanks worldwide, raising questions about Guyana's ability to continue producing its crude at the same level."No shipment from the Liza Destiny has been affected due to COVID-19 presently…

Offshore oil and gas drilling operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico emit far more methane than government estimates suggest, according to a study released on Monday by the University of Michigan.Drilling platforms emit about half a teragram (Tg) of the planet-warming gas each year, according to the study, which claims to be the first to use aircraft to take direct samples of emissions during normal operations.By contrast, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agengy's Greenhouse Gas Inventory report last year found Gulf offshore platforms emitted about 0.33 Tg of methane…

At least two cargoes of Venezuelan crude have been delayed due to health inspections aboard tankers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to an internal document from state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela seen by Reuters.The delays add to a growing glut of tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude that preceded the coronavirus crisis as U.S. sanctions spooked potential customers. With domestic onshore oil inventories approaching capacity, PDVSA has been increasingly forced to send barrels onto floating storage.The largest shipment affected by the health measures is the Delta Angelica tanker, which was originally scheduled to depart Venezuela's Jose terminal between March 19-21 with 1.9 million barrels of heavy Merey crude bound for India's Reliance Industries…

Sentinel Midstream LLC has secured shipper commitments needed to move forward on a proposed $1 billion crude export terminal off the Texas coast, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.The firm's Texas GulfLink project is one of eight proposed U.S. deepwater export projects seeking to load supertankers that carry up to 2 million barrels of crude. Sentinel last week became the fifth to apply for federal permits.Sentinel's offshore facility could begin operations in early 2020 and load up to 2 million bpd from single-point mooring buoys in deepwaters 30 miles off Freeport…

The floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel market is anticipated to surpass USD 30 billion by 2025, said a study.The FPSO market is set to witness vigorous growth on account of shifting trends toward offshore exploration & production driven by depleting onshore oil & gas reserves, said a market report by GM Insights.Development challenges including excessive costs, material transportation, environmental conditions and decommissioning associated with fixed infrastructures will further shift the industry focus toward the utilization of these vessels as an alternative, it said.Furthermore, advancement in subsea technologies along…

Australian energy services group Three60 Energy  has acquired Aberdeen-based North Sea Construction and Commissioning (NSCC) for an undisclosed sum. This is now the fourth company to be added to the fast-developing energy services group which now employs over 320 people.Established in 2017, NSCC specialises in the provision of construction, mechanical completion and commissioning support services for the offshore and onshore oil and gas industry, whose focus is on maximising safe and efficient delivery in both the North Sea and overseas.The company has established a track record covering all aspects of topsides infrastructure construction and campaign delivery covering heavy-lift…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) released its newest valve standard as part of the industry’s continuous efforts to improve operational safety and environmental protection.According to a release from the agency, the “Specification 6A” governs the design and operations of the critical safety valves at wells used in the offshore and onshore oil and gas industry. The latest edition includes new automatic closure requirements, to ensure additional protection for workers and the environment in loss of power and emergency situations.Among the other improvements now included in the 21st edition of Specification 6A - Wellhead and Tree Equipment - are rigorous new requirements for modern technologies…

London-based BP Plc BP has completed the $10.5-billion acquisition of BHP’s U.S. unconventional assets in a landmark deal that will significantly upgrade BP’s U.S. onshore oil and gas portfolio, in a move that upgrades and repositions its American onshore business.The portfolio includes assets in the highly-prized Permian-Delaware basin in Texas, along with two premium positions in the Eagle Ford and Haynesville basins in Texas and Louisiana (see map, below).The assets currently produce 190,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boed) per day, of which about 45% are liquid hydrocarbons.Key to unlocking their full potential is BP’s innovative Lower 48 team…

Blackstone Energy Partners announced today that it has entered into binding agreements to acquire a controlling, majority interest in Ulterra Drilling Technologies from affiliates of American Securities LLC. American Securities and certain members of management will retain a minority equity interest in the Company going forward. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close prior to year-end 2018. Ulterra is the largest pure-play, independent supplier of polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) drill bits to the oil and gas industry. The Company is one of the fastest growing PDC drill bit manufacturers, having more than doubled total revenue since 2016. Ulterra currently has a leading position in many of the most active U.S.

Said bin Homoud Al Maawali, CEO, Oman Drydock Company (ODC) means business when he aims to triple revenue by 2021, but it’s anything but business-as-usual at ODC. A neophyte to the shipyard world, he is a veteran business man with a long resume in multiple industries, a turnaround specialist. He sees potential at ODC, but bigger picture, he sees the shipyard as a means to help Oman broaden its business and revenues outside of the traditional energy industry.As the global shipbuilding community shakes off a historic slump, new thinking is creeping into a space steeped in tradition.

MOL Group significantly outperformed its initial USD 2bn target for 2016 and delivered a clean  EBITDA of USD 2.15bn, which is only moderately down compared with the previous year. Upstream has shown great resilience to the deteriorating external environment. A further 17% decline in Brent prices and a 23% decline in realized gas prices were offset by higher production and cost discipline. As a result, EBITDA remained nearly flat at USD 675mn and the business generated over USD 250mn free cash flow equalling USD 7 per barrel of oil equivalent. Production grew by 6% to 112 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day with additions from CEE’s onshore fields – where production was the highest since 2012 –, Pakistan, UK and the Baitugan field in Russia.

Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Friday it plans to sell its rights to 104 onshore oil and gas concessions, part of efforts to raise cash and focus increasingly scarce capital on more profitable offshore assets. The company, known as Petrobras, said in a securities filing that 98 of the areas are producing fields. Oil output from those areas is about 35,000 barrels a day, or less than 2 percent of the company's petroleum output and less than some single wells in Petrobras' giant offshore Lula field. The Petrobras statement did not say how much natural gas the areas produce. Six of the areas are still in the exploratory phase. Small Brazilian and international oil companies have long called on the company to sell the bulk of its onshore oil and gas portfolio.

DNV GL said it has acquired ComputIT, a specialist independent company for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software and R&D. ComputIT develops unique high-end technology for simulating fires, explosions and gas dispersion. “This acquisition brings us world-leading capabilities in the CFD domain,” says Are F. Tjønn, CEO, DNV GL - Software. With its roots in the offshore sector, ComputIT has also served onshore oil and gas, power generation, chemical, transport, maritime, and construction industries. It has been engaged by governmental bodies for investigation of fire accidents.

The Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on August 11 forecasts that North Sea Brent crude oil prices will average $54 per barrel (b) in 2015 and $59/b in 2016, which is $6/b and $8/b lower than projected in last month’s STEO, respectively (Figure 1). The price decline reflects concerns about lower economic growth in emerging markets, expectations of higher oil exports from Iran, and continuing growth in global inventories. WTI prices are expected to average $5/b below Brent in both 2015 and 2016. EIA’s updated projection remains subject to significant uncertainties as the oil market moves toward balance. During this period of price discovery, oil prices could experience periods of heightened volatility.

Cathelco will provide a marine growth prevention system (MGPS) for the latest in a series of jack-up drilling rigs to be built by Lamprell, the UAE based  leading provider of fabrication, engineering and contracting services to the offshore and onshore oil and gas and renewable energy industries. This will be the ninth MGPS to be supplied to Lamprell for jack-up rigs constructed at its Hamriyah facility. The order was won by Cathelco Middle East FZC based in Sharjah which was set up in 2015 to provide sales and engineering support for customers throughout the region.

In an interview the departing head of the KfW IPEX-Bank Maritime Industries department, Dr. Carsten Wiebers offers insight into the facets of international ship finance as well as the challenges it currently faces. His successor Holger Apel casts a glance into the future. Carsten, KfW IPEX-Bank is once more stepping up its presence at SMM. Why? SMM is increasingly becoming a platform for topics beyond technology, such as environmental regulation or market intelligence. We meet with experts of the shipbuilding and manufacturing industry to discuss how to support their sales efforts.

Britain's first shale gas delivery from the United States sailed into a heated European political debate on fracking on Tuesday and immediately ran into its first practical problem - the Scottish weather. The huge "Ineos Insight" tanker had entered the Firth of Forth at sunrise, a lone Scots piper playing on its bow, as it headed for the Grangemouth refinery, west of Edinburgh. But gusty squalls prevented it from unloading its controversial cargo before an assembled crowd of dignitaries. "The Insight vessel was unable to dock at the port due to high winds," said a spokesman for Zurich-based chemicals giant Ineos. It would arrive at the port as soon as wind died down, he added. Ship tracking data on Reuters showed the vessel had turned back into deeper waters.