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Arctic Oil News

16 Jul 2020

Gazprom Neft Sells Its First Arctic Oil Cargo to China

Russia's Gazprom Neft has sold its first ever Arctic oil cargo to China to ChemChina, two sources familiar with the deal told Reuters on Thursday.This week, Gazprom Neft said it had sent 144,000 tonnes of light Novy Port oil grade to the Chinese port of Yantai on the Bohai Sea from Russia's north-western city of Murmansk, using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) through Russia's Arctic waters.The Delta Hellas vessel used part of the NSR, a route requiring icebreakers and ice-class tankers, Refinitiv Eikon data showed, sailing west from Murmansk to reach Suez and then China.Gazprom Neft said this week the delivery took 47 days, without providing the buyer's name.Gazprom Neft and ChemChina did not reply to Reuters requests for a comment.The company regularly supplies ESPO Blend crude oil to China

02 Oct 2019

Gazprom Neft Ships 11 mln T of Arctic oil via NSR

© Igor Groshev / Adobe Stock

Russia's Gazprom Neft is currently shipping around 11 million tonnes of oil per year (220,000 barrels per day) using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and plans to increase this number, Chief Executive Alexander Dyukov told Rossiya-24 TV channel.He said that in total, Gazprom Neft is producing 18 million tonnes of oil per year in the Russia's Arctic area.

26 Jul 2019

American Shipbuilding Act Re-introduced

Congressman John Garamendi and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker reintroduced the Energizing American Shipbuilding Act (H.R.3829), that seeks to revive domestic shipbuilding and maritime industries by requiring that increasing percentages of liquefied natural gas and crude oil exports be transported on U.S.-built, flagged and crewed vessels.The bill would require 15% of LNG exports to be carried on US-built ships by 2041 and 10% of crude oil exports to be carried on US-built ships by 2033.If enacted, the bill is expected to spur the construction of dozens of ships, supporting thousands of good-paying jobs in American shipyards, as well as the domestic vessel component manufacturing and maritime industries.According to an estimate from the Shipbuilders Council of America


15 Jan 2019

Barclays Rejects Arctic Drilling

U.K.-based international bank Barclays  announced a new energy policy that significantly restricts the bank’s financing for the exploration or extraction of oil and gas in the Arctic.The policy  rules out funding for companies seeking to drill in the Arctic Refuge as well as other climate change threats.According to the British multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in London, arctic oil and gas refers to new exploration and extraction of oil and gas in the area within the Arctic Circle which is subject to sea ice, and includes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Coastal Plains.The ANWR


14 Dec 2018

LRAUV: Arctic Oil-Spill-Mapping Robot Put to the Test

An artist’s depiction of LRAUV under sea ice. Using photo-chemical sensors, the robot scans the density of a billowing cloud of oil coming from an ocean floor well. The red and yellow objects are parts of a communication system consisting of antennas suspended under ice from a buoy installed on top of the ice.  Graphic by ADAC.

As commercial shipping and energy activities picks up in the Arctic region, the prospect of accidental oil spills in this pristine environment remain a concern. In response, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking the lead – through the U.S. Coast Guard – to develop a subsea robotic system to map and report on spills.“Because of ice coverage and the tyranny of distance, it is difficult to get resources and assets up in the Arctic in a quick manner,” said Kirsten Trego, Executive Director of the Coast Guard’s Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research.

14 Dec 2018

Norway Postpones Decision on Arctic Oil Terminal

The Johan Castberg oilfield is expected to start producing in late 2022 (Image: Equinor)

The Norwegian government has postponed a decision on whether to mandate the construction of an oil processing terminal near the Arctic tip of northern Europe until the third quarter of next year, it said on Friday.If built, the onshore Veidnes terminal would receive crude via a pipeline from Equinor's offshore Johan Castberg oilfield, which is expected to start producing in late 2022.Equinor originally ditched plans for an onshore terminal in order to save costs, preferring instead to load oil on to crude tankers at the field before exporting it to global markets.Parliament earlier this year u

25 Sep 2018

Lundin Petroleum Says Arctic Oil Test Points to Bigger Reservoir

(Photo: Lundin Petroleum)

Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum expects to increase its resource estimate for the Alta discovery in Norway's Arctic region following a successful two-month production test.Finding significant oil reserves in the Norwegian Arctic has been challenging for oil firms, but Alta is among the exceptions along with ENI's Goliat field and Equinor's Johan Castberg discovery.Lundin and its partners are considering developing the discovery as a subsea field connected to a floating production and storage vessel


17 Jan 2018

Norway: We Must Prepare for Arctic Oil Race with Russia

Norway must identify potential offshore oil and gas reserves near its northern maritime border with Russia to better protect its economic interest in the remote Arctic region, energy minister Terje Soeviknes said on Wednesday. The two countries agreed in 2010 to split previously disputed areas of the Barents Sea between them, allowing each to exploit resources hidden beneath the seabed. An increase in drilling activity on the Russian side of the border should lead Norway to push its own agenda, the minister said. "We need to start the discussion about what to do in the far north. We see a development on the Russian side of the border, where they are drilling and likely will find oil," Soeviknes told an energy conference in Sandefjord.

14 Nov 2017

Norway's Arctic Oil Plan Violates Constitution, Lawsuit Says

© h368k742 / Adobe Stock

Norway's plan for Arctic oil exploration is unconstitutional because it violates the right to a healthy environment, a lawyer for Greenpeace and the Nature and Youth environmental group told an Oslo court on Tuesday. The case is the first of its kind in Norway and says a 2015 oil licensing round in the Arctic that gave awards to Statoil , Chevron and others violates the constitution. Norway signed the 2016 Paris accord, which aims to end the fossil fuel era this century. The country is Western Europe's largest oil producer and oil and gas are its most important exports.

09 Nov 2017

Arctic Oil Expansion Panned by Scientists

Image: © Nightman1965/Adobe Stock

A group of 37 U.S.-based scientists whose research focuses on Arctic wildlife asked two U.S. senators in a letter on Thursday not to open the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, according to a copy seen by Reuters. The scientists, including several retired former officials from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, said in a letter to Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Maria Cantwell


19 Oct 2017

Arctic Research Explores the ‘Roomba’ Approach

The pace and quality of oil spill research in the United States typically ebbs and flows as a function of two, if not three important variables. First, after the 1989 Exxon Valdez grounding, there was a flurry of activity to ramp up oil spill research because it had been dormant for so long. The need was recognized, with plenty of money made available. Primarily, this research centered on conventional spill remediation techniques – for example, a tanker or barge spilling oil – and not much else. Predictably, when memory of the spill faded, so did interest in research and funding followed.

21 Jul 2017

Activists Protest near Oil Rig in Norway's Arctic Sea Area

Environmental activists protested on Friday near an offshore rig contracted by Statoil in the remote Norwegian Arctic, where the firm is looking for oil and gas deposits. The Nordic country wants to open up northern areas for exploration to offset declining production in the south. Oil and gas production is Norway's leading industry, accounting for 20 percent of its economy. From the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship, 11 campaigners launched inflatable boats carrying banners opposing Statoil's Songa Enabler oil rig, 275 km (170 miles) north of the Norwegian coast, in the Arctic Barents sea. One of the banners read "“The People Vs. Arctic Oil”.

16 Mar 2017

EU Lawmakers Reject Call for Ban on Arctic Oil Exploration

© ggw / Adobe stock

The European Parliament rejected a call to ban Arctic oil and gas exploration on Thursday, in a symbolic vote seen as a barometer for future moves by Brussels to regulate to protect the region. Lawmakers who back the ban, which had drawn the ire of Norway, say the European Union needs a strategy for future developments in a region being transformed by climate change. Lawmakers voted 414-180 to reject the non-binding motion calling for the European Commission and member states to work with international forums towards "a future total ban on the extraction of Arctic oil and gas".

21 Dec 2016

Obama Bans New Drilling off Alaska, Part of Atlantic Shore

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday banned new oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, in a push to leave his stamp on the environment before Republican Donald Trump takes office next month. Obama used a 1950s-era law called the Outer Continental Shelf Act that allows presidents to limit areas from mineral leasing and drilling. Environmental groups said that meant Trump's incoming administration would have to go court if it sought to reverse the move.

01 Nov 2016

Incentivizing Spill Response Innovation

Researchers tackle the tough problems despite a lack of funding and official incentives to move forward. Progress, in particular for Arctic spill response equipment and techniques, is being made. Even in the messy but now seemingly distant wake of such environmental disasters such as the Exxon Valdez grounding and the Deepwater Horizon accident, domestic oil spill response requirements still provide little or no incentive for responders in the U.S. to develop and deploy new equipment. Elsewhere, other countries (especially Norway) have better options for testing and approving systems using an intentional spill. Here at home, this approach has been recommended especially for the Arctic by many stakeholders, to no apparent avail.

17 Oct 2016

Sailing into the Arctic’s Future

Randall Luthi (Photo: NOIA)

Last month, a large cruise ship completed its inaugural cruise through the Northwest Passage. The historic journey brought nearly 1,700 passengers from Seward, Alaska, past the rugged wilderness and isolated villages of the Arctic, to the concrete jungle of New York City. Along the way, passengers and crew were treated to a stunning contrast of climates, geography and culture. While understandable, concerns over passenger safety, wildlife disruptions and water pollution went unrealized during the historic cruise through the passage.

04 Oct 2016

Op-Ed: Alaska's Golden Offshore Opportunity

Credit: Shell McCown

Offshore energy presents a golden opportunity for Alaska and the United States. As we enter the final quarter of the year, one of the last and most pressing pieces of business facing the Interior Department is to finalize its next offshore leasing program, which will specify exactly which parts of the United States’ Outer Continental Shelf will be open to oil and gas development between 2017 and 2022. Having already cut the Atlantic from its proposed program back in March, the


28 Sep 2016

US Boatbuilding: Sink or Swim

Joe Hudspeth

Navigating interesting times has the nation’s shipbuilding industry searching in unusual places. The answers could be blowing in the wind. Conducting commerce and forecasting the future for shipyards is akin to setting out in uncharted waters. For some, the voyage might prove to be easy sailing with favorable winds. Other times, it can be a rough ride, forcing long and unprogressive diversions. In the worst cases, one might run aground temporarily, hit rock bottom, capsize belly up, or be forced to turn around and give up.

19 Jun 2016

Hundreds of Scientists Urge Obama to Halt Arctic Oil Drilling

Nearly 400 scientists from more than a dozen countries signed a letter urging U.S. President Barack Obama to take the Arctic Ocean out of the next federal offshore lease sale plan, thus ruling out the possibility of offshore drilling in the Arctic in the near future. Scientists from 13 countries have signed the letter saying global warming will be accelerated by burning oil found in the Arctic Ocean. “No new oil and gas leasing or exploration should be allowed in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the foreseeable future,” the scientists said. The proposed federal oil and gas leasing program would last from 2017 to 2022 and includes two sales in the Arctic Ocean: the Beaufort Sea in 2020 and the Chukchi Sea in 2022.

13 Apr 2016

WWF-Canada Brings Lawsuit Against Shell on Arctic

WWF-Canada, represented by Ecojustice lawyers, is taking legal action to quash Arctic oil and gas exploration permits that continue to obstruct conservation efforts in Lancaster Sound, Nunavut. The environmental group believes they “continue to obstruct conservation efforts” in Lancaster Sound, Nunavut, which is said to be one of the world’s richest areas for marine mammal and harbours one of the highest densities of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. While the federal registrar has refused to delist the permits, the lawsuit argues that Shell Canada’s permits for offshore oil and gas exploration in Lancaster Sound – issued more than 40 years ago – are expired and therefore invalid.

20 Oct 2015

Arctic Oil Drilling: Why Does U.S. End It?

The Obama administration has taken steps to keep drill rigs out of Alaska's northern ocean for a decade or more. The sudden of turnabouts is attributed to slowing down of economy. The U.S. Department of Interior announced that it is canceling two lease sales and will not extend current leases for companies interested in drilling in the Arctic waters off the Alaska coat. "The federal government is cancelling federal petroleum lease sales in US Arctic waters that were scheduled for 2016 and 2017," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. This happened three weeks after Royal Dutch Shell announced it was walking away from exploratory drilling in US Arctic waters.

01 Oct 2015

Italy's Eni Arrives Arctic as Shell Departs

As Shell retreats from the Arctic, the Italian oil giant Eni is making final preparations for its own oil exploration venture in the Norwegian Arctic, reports the Guardian. Eni has vowed to press ahead with oil production - a $5.5bn (£3.6bn) project - in the Norwegian Arctic. in the Arctic by the end of the year, undeterred by Shell’s decision to abandon its quest for Arctic oil. The project - Goliat - is set to become the world’s northernmost offshore oil field to come on stream, eventually pumping 100,000 barrels of oil per day from reserves believed to hold around 175m barrels of oil and 8bn cubic metres of gas. Goliat has been hit by several cost overruns and delays during construction, but Eni said last month it was only a few weeks away from starting production.

31 Aug 2015

Obama Defends Arctic Oil Drilling

United States' President Barack Obama defends his decision to allow Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean. He insisted that there was no contradiction between his climate change agenda and Arctic drilling. “I share people's concerns about offshore drilling,” Obama said, while emphasizing that Shell bought its exploration leases before he took office. His televised message did not stop several environmentalist organizations from criticizing the contradictions in his words and policies. Obama said the bottom line is that “safety has been and will continue to be my administration’s top priority when it comes to oil and gas exploration off America’s precious coasts – even as we push our economy and the world to ultimately transition off of fossil fuels”.