Natural Gas Field News

The U.S. government is not planning a systematic easing of sanctions on Venezuela after an initial round allowed partners of state-run oil firm PDVSA to resume taking oil for past debts, a State Department official said.In November, Washington issued a six-month license allowing Chevron Corp. to expand operations and export Venezuelan oil to the United States. Eni and Repsol also began taking Venezuelan crude for debt with U.S. approvals, This year, Trinidad and Tobago received a U.S. nod to jointly development an offshore natural gas field with Venezuela. Those moves by U.S.

Qatar's state-run energy firm QatarEnergy, until recently known as Qatar Petroleum, has ordered six LNG tankers, four from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and two from Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) in support of its North Field expansion project.Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “We are pleased to take this further step with DSME and SHI, which have built 23 Q-Flex and 14 Q-Max LNG vessels for Qatar as part of our previous LNG expansion project.”Al-Kaabi further said: These orders…

Qatar Petroleum has ordered four new LNG carriers from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group, a subsidiary of China's CSSC, as part of its North Field expansion project."These four carriers are the first batch of orders in Qatar Petroleum’s massive LNG shipbuilding program, which will cater for future LNG fleet requirements for the North Field expansion projects as well as for existing vessel replacement requirements. This order is also the first ever placed by Qatar Petroleum or any of its affiliates with a Chinese shipyard for LNG ships…

The move to autonomy on the world's waterways is undeniable, with the direction clear, the pace hazy. What is clear is the need for reliable, fuel efficient propulsion, and last month Torqueedo announced a deal to provide hybrid-electric propulsion systems to power XOCEAN’s XO-450 USV, a custom-designed composite wave-piercing catamaran about the length of a typical automobile.XOCEAN is embarked on a mission to to transform the way subsea data is collected, and the three-year…

U.S. oil major Chevron has completed the exit from the Shell-operated Malampaya gas project offshore the Philippines with the sale of its 45% non-operating interest in the field to Udenna Corporation. The sale deal was signed in October 2019.The Malampaya natural gas field lies about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the Philippine island of Palawan. Net daily production during 2019 averaged 136 million cubic feet of natural gas and 3,000 barrels of condensate.Produced from fields at water depths of about 2…

Azerbaijan is an important supplier of crude oil and natural gas in the Caspian Sea region, particularly to European markets, the US Energy Information Administration said in its report.The EIA’s report notes that Azerbaijan’s exports of natural gas are poised to become a more significant part of the country’s economy.Azerbaijan produced about 600 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of dry natural gas in 2017 and exported about 210 Bcf, according to EIA’s International Energy Statistics.“Azerbaijan is planning to expand its natural gas exports to Europe. European Union leaders consider connecting Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz natural gas field to Southern Europe to be a step toward the strategic goal of diversifying Europe’s natural gas supply.

Indian refiners cut imports of Iranian oil last month as they started weaning their plants off crude from the country to avoid sanctions by the United States that are set to take effect in November.India's monthly oil imports from Iran declined to 592,800 barrels per day (bpd) in June, down 16 percent from May, according to data from industry and shipping sources.The United States in May said it would reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a 2015 agreement with Iran, Russia…

Azeri state oil company SOCAR and Norway's Equinor on Wednesday signed a risk service contract for the development of the Karabakh offshore oil and natural gas field in the Caspian Sea.The two companies also signed a product-sharing agreement for Ashrafi, Dan-Ulduzu and Aypara exploration area."The agreements signed today represent a natural next step in the region. This will strengthen our position in a prolific basin and develop growth options," Equinor Chief Executive Eldar Saetre said in a statement.To operate the licences, Equinor and SOCAR will form a 50-50 joint operating company.

Winter sea ice on the Arctic Ocean covered the second smallest area on record this year, part of a thaw that is opening the region to shipping and oil exploration and may be disrupting weather far to the south, scientists said on Friday. The extent of floating ice likely reached an annual maximum of 14.5 million square kilometers (5.6 million square miles) on March 17, fractionally bigger than a record set in 2017, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said. Sea ice around the North Pole freezes to its biggest at the end of the winter in March…

Cyprus accused Turkey on Friday of threatening to use force against a drillship chartered by Italy's Eni, in a standoff over hydrocarbons rights in the eastern Mediterranean. There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, which has vowed to prevent Greek Cypriots from exploring for oil or gas around the ethnically-split island and says some areas of Cyprus's offshore maritime zone fall under its jurisdiction. On Feb. 9, the Turkish navy on manoeuvres in the Mediterranean stopped the Saipem 12000 vessel on its way to drill for gas in the waters off Cyprus, triggering a diplomatic standoff which has underscored tensions in the region over competing claims for offshore resources.

BP and Kosmos Energy have moved closer to approving development of the Tortue natural gas field offshore Mauritania and Senegal after the two West African countries agreed to split production from the cross-border field. Kosmos said on Monday it expected to make a final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2018, with first gas expected in 2021. BP had previously indicated it expected to reach an FID on the project towards the end of this year. The Greater Tortue Complex, which straddles the maritime boundaries of the two countries, is estimated to hold more than 25 trillion cubic feet of gas. The production is expected to be exported via a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility.

Production from Egypt's huge Zohr offshore gas field in the Mediterranean will reach 2.9 billion cubic feet per day by mid-2019, Italy's Eni said on Monday. Speaking at an industry event in Cairo, CEO Claudio Descalzi said the goal was to reach output of 1.8 bcf to 2 bcf per day by the end of 2018 and then ramp up to 2.9 bcf per day by mid-2019. Discovered in 2015 by Eni, the field contains an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. Descalzi confirmed that by mid-2019, seven trains would be operating. Egypt has been seeking to speed up production from recently discovered fields, with an eye to halting imports by 2019 and achieving self-sufficiency.

State-run Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) has shortlisted six countries and will choose one from them as a partner for its planned US$2 billion receiving and distribution facility for imported LNG, Reuters reported. The company has received six proposals from China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to co-build the LNG hub, PNOC’s head of LNG team and technical adviser Arwin Ardon quoted as saying. He said all proposals include storage, liquefaction, regassification, a power plant, and distribution facility as part of the LNG terminal. The construction of the project, which includes a 5 million tonnes-per-annum storage facility…

The Leviathan reservoir partners announced on Sunday their plans to begin drilling a new well in the basin during the first quarter of next year, reports The Jerusalem Post. The partners announced today that work will commence in the first quarter of 2017 and a budget of $77 million has been allocated for the drilling. The first stage of the Leviathan drilling will begin immediately after completion of the drilling for the Tamar 8 gas field. The Leviathan partners are Noble Energy Inc.(39.66%) Delek Group Ltd. units Avner Oil and Gas LP and Delek Drilling LP (22.67% each) and Ratio Oil Exploration (15%). The Petroleum Commissioner in Israel’s Ministry of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources approved the Leviathan development plan in June.

Bibby Offshore won a contract with Shell, due to commence in Q1 2017, that will see Bibby Offshore provide engineering and subsea construction activities in the Gannet G field in the Central North Sea. Bibby Offshore is contracted to use utilize its multipurpose dive support and offshore construction vessel - Bibby Polaris - and its integral 1000 ton basket carousel to lay flexible pipe systems in water depths of approximately 95m. The company has also collaborated with a third party operator who will carry out trenching operations after the initial workscope is complete.

Bibby Offshore, the leading subsea services provider to the oil and gas industry, has this year been awarded two contracts from Shell to provide inspection services on assets in the Corrib Natural Gas field in the North Atlantic Ocean. The first contract, completed in June this year, saw Bibby Offshore’s construction support vessel Olympic Ares - equipped with Quantum Work Class and SeaEye Cougar Inspection Class ROVs - perform subsea inspections 83km off the North West coast of Ireland, in water depths of approximately 360m. The 40 day campaign involved pipeline survey inspection work on a 83km long 20” gas pipeline, and internal wellhead and manifold fault diagnostics, structural inspection and cathodic protection measurements, to ensure optimum levels of productivity were achieved.

Semco Maritime, a global provider of communications solutions, telecoms systems integration services and collaborative applications to the offshore oil and gas industry, has won a multi-million dollar contract to deliver communications systems and infrastructure for the production platforms at the new Maersk Oil operated Culzean field in the UK sector of the North Sea. The award of this contract by Singapore based yard Sembcorp Marine Offshore Platform Pte. Lts. continues Semco…

Energy majors BP and Eni on Thursday announced a significant natural gas discovery off the Egyptian coast. The discovery is in the Baltim southwest exploration prospect in the East Nile Delta. It is 10 km north of the Nooros gas field which was discovered in July last year and has a production rate of 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the companies said. Italy's Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds a 50 percent stake in the licence of Baltim South and BP holds the other 50 percent. The new discovery "further confirms the significant potential of the so called Great Nooros Area, which is now estimated to hold 70-80 billion cubic metres of gas in place," Eni said in a statement. BP said that appraisal activities will be required to understand its full resource potential.

An Israeli exploration group reported on Sunday it has discovered another large natural gas field off Israel's Mediterranean coast. The group, led by Isramco Negev and Modiin Energy, said that a resource report showed there could be an estimated total of 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas at the Daniel east and west fields. Large natural gas deposits have been discovered in nearby waters in recent years. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Tova Cohen)

The emergence of the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) concept has seen an unprecedented focus on development activity and has reinforced the commercial interest in these facilities. However, as the industry strives to make the concept a reality, in addition to the already formidable risks present in conventional projects, a plethora of distinctive risks associated with FLNG have now been added to the mix, with little industry experience to learn from. Simply adapting risk and safety concepts of land-based LNG developments is not the solution…

First Gen Corp. hopes to secure a partner for its planned $1-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Batangas this year as the company gears up for the project’s construction phase in 2016, reports local media. The Lopez-controlled company is currently in talks with possible partners, according to First Gen President and Chief Operating Officer Francis Giles B. Puno. “We hope to announce a partner by the end of the year. It could be multiple partners, both local and foreign. We are talking to a number of them,” he said. After securing a partner, First Gen will start site preparation early next year and then bid out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, Puno said. “We will start bidding out the EPC next year.

The Italian energy major Eni SpA discovered a “super giant” natural gas field offshore Egypt in what the Italian oil company said is the largest find in the Mediterranean Sea. The Zohr gas field covers any area of 100 square kilometers and Eni said that "it could become one of the world’s largest natural-gas finds” and supply Egypt's needs for decades. Eni, owned by the Italian government, said that the field contains an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas. This compares with up to 22 TCF in Israel's Leviathan field. "This historic discovery will be able to transform the energy scenario of Egypt," said Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of Eni. Eni, which has full concession rights to the area, is the biggest foreign energy firm in Africa.

Maersk Oil says there is still huge potential value in the North Sea, citing projects like Culzean – which received board approval this month – and Johan Sverdrup, as the Danish oil and gas company aims to improve from its current rank of ninth to become a top-five producer in the region. Maersk Oil informs it is looking for new long-term growth opportunities in the North Sea, investing heavily in projects and improving the efficiency of operations. The North Sea region has an estimated remaining potential of 26-38 billion barrels…