Crude Oil Output News

Venezuela's oil exports last year declined due to infrastructure outages, U.S. sanctions and rising competition in its key Asia market despite assistance from ally Iran, according to shipping data and documents.Exports this year are expected to get a lift after the United States relaxed oil sanctions by authorizing some partners of state-run firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to resume taking Venezuelan crude.Iran expanded its role in Venezuela last year, sending supplies to boost exports and technicians to repair a refinery.

Oil fell on Monday, reversing earlier gains but continuing a recent losing streak, on concerns that an expected increase in interest rates in the U.S., the world's biggest oil user, may limit fuel demand growth.Brent crude LCOc1 futures for September settlement dropped 48 cents, or 0.5%, to $102.72 a barrel at 0205 GMT, down for a fourth day.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures for September delivery fell 65 cents, or 0.7%, to $94.05 a barrel, also down for a…

Damage to oil production facilities in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico kept output largely halted on Sunday, a week after Hurricane Ida made landfall, according to offshore regulator the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).Energy companies have been coping with damaged platforms and onshore power outages and logistical issues, slowing efforts to restart production. Some 88% of crude oil output and 83% of natural gas production remained suspended.About 1.6 million barrels of crude oil remained offline, with only about 100,000 barrels added since Saturday.

The Biden administration has temporarily suspended oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal lands and waters while it evaluates the legal and policy implications of the program, according to a Department of Interior memo.The move appears to be a first step in delivering on newly sworn-in President Joe Biden's campaign promise to ban all new federal drilling permits, part of his wider agenda to combat global climate change.The order was welcomed by environmentalists and derided by the oil and gas industry…

Supertanker freight rates eased this week as surging demand for floating storage cooled and crude oil output is set to fall, but rates could jump again as fewer tankers become available and as traders take advantage of weak oil prices, sources said.Tanker rates jumped earlier in the week after U.S. WTI crude futures for May turned negative ahead of their expiry for the first time ever on Monday as desperate traders paid to get rid of oil, prompting a spike in demand for tankers…

Saudi Arabian shipping company Bahri chartered more than a dozen very large crude carriers (VLCCs) in Persian Gulf in 24 hours.According to Reuters, the Saudi Arabia’s National Shipping firm has tentatively chartered as many as 14 super-tankers to ship crude oil to customers worldwide, as the Kingdom follows through with its promise to boost crude oil output.The spike in bookings by Bahri has helped to more than double the charter rates for VLCC amid this week’s ‘fixing frenzy’, shipping sources said. The bookings by Bahri are in addition to its own fleet of 42 VLCC’s which it mainly uses to ship Saudi oil to customers across the world…

PAO Novatek announced that cumulative production at the Yarudeyskoye field owned by the Company’s subsidiary Yargeo, reached a milestone of 10 million tons of crude oil production since the commencement of operations.The field’s commercial production commenced in December 2015, and by January 2016, the field reached its full productive capacity, said a press release from the Russia's largest independent natural gas producer.The Yarudeyskoye field is the largest crude oil asset in the Company’s portfolio, and is characterized by unique geology, which combined with the application of state-of-the-art drilling and completion technologies allowed us to achieve the average production flow rate of more than 350 tons per day per well.

Italian oil major expects to invest $1.795 billion in three offshore Mexican oil fields by 2040, according to a development plan approved by Mexico's oil regulator on Tuesday.The plan covering the Amoca, Mizton and Tecoalli shallow water fields is the second one approved by the regulator, known as the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH), following a landmark 2013 energy opening that has led to more than 100 oil and gas contracts being awarded in a series of auctions.Eni sees initial crude oil production of 8…

Oil companies evacuate workers as storm takes aim at Texas. Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall. Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Perdido oil and gas production platform as a precaution. Anadarko said it had shut in production and was evacuating workers from its Boomvang, Gunnison, Lucius and Nansen platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil prices edged lower on Friday and were on track for weekly losses, weighed down by rising OPEC exports and strong output from the United States. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were trading at $51.76 a barrel at 1141 GMT, 25 cents below the last close and heading for a fall of close to 1.5 percent on the week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 30 cents lower at $48.73 per barrel and were set to drop by around 2 percent for the week. Analysts said prices were pressured by rising output, although strong demand limited the losses.

VLCC's likely to struggle to break even for next two months; three-tier VLCC market weighs on sentiment. Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are likely to become steady around the current levels as owners resist charterers' attempts to pull down hire rates with the emergence of a three-tier market, brokers said on Friday. That came as brokers said South Korean charterers GS Caltex/S-Oil failed to charter a VLCC at below 40 points on the Worldscale measure for a voyage from the Middle East to Korea as owners balk at hiring out their ships at a price equivalent to operating costs. That is equivalent to earnings of around $8,000 per day compared with daily operating costs of $7,500 for a 300,000 deadweight tonne VLCC.

Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which fell to five-month lows this week, are set to drop further as excess tonnage and an absence of port congestion weigh on the market, brokers said. Supertanker charter rates, which are already below the breakeven levels for ship owners, could fall further due to new vessel deliveries, reactivation of older vessels from offshore crude storage, crude oil output cuts and refinery maintenance, brokers said. That will add to the volume of available tonnage as demand for cargo declines. Average VLCC earnings, which are down to about $18,400 per day, could fall towards $17,000 per day despite resistance from owners to at least maintain current rate levels. This compared with breakeven costs of about $22,500 per day, brokers said.

Gazpromneft Shelf, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, brought on production two more wells in Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea, bringing crude oil output to more than 6,000 tonnes/day. The company now has four production wells at its ice-resistant rig, located 60 km offshore, and envisions the commissioning of 32 wells. The first well was commissioned in December 2013. All wellheads are within the platform. Drilling for the four new wells, undertaken by Russia’s Gazprom Bureniye LLC, ran to more than 19,000 metres. Development of the Prirazlomnoye field, under implementation by Gazprom Neft on the Pechora Sea continental shelf, envisages the commissioning of 32 wells, the first production well having been commissioned in December 2013.

Supported by slow fleet growth and ongoing positive refinery margins, VLCC earnings in Q1-2016 were up from a year ago, but down from Q4-2015 as we expected at $58,367 per day for VLCC (+5.7% year on year). For the minor crude oil carriers, rates were down from Q1-2015 and Q4-2015. Rates in Q1-2016 were $37,914 per day for suezmax (-25% year on year), $30,197 per day for aframax (-24% year on year). For the oil product tankers, Q3-2015 stands out as the peak quarter of the current cycle. Earnings in Q1-2016 were the lowest since Q3-2014 when the markets started to rise. The same patterns of slightly falling freight rates reappears in the time charter market. BIMCO recommended back in January putting some capacity away on time charter. Time charter rates have dropped somewhat since then.

Mexican oil company Pemex said an accident on Tuesday has left an offshore maintenance rig in the southern Bay of Campeche listing, killing two workers, but has not affected crude production. Pemex said the Troll Solution rig, which was contracted to operate in Pemex's Abkatun-Pol-Chuc shallow water oil field, was positioning itself to carry out maintenance on wells linked to the Caan Alf platform. It earlier reported that two workers had suffered minor injuries. "The accident on the Troll Solution platform does not affect production because it is a mobile platform dedicated to well maintenance," Pemex said in a Tweet. Photos circulated on social media showed dark streaks in the water stretching a few hundred meters (yards) from what appeared to be the platform, which was tilting steeply.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) plans to invest around US$25bn over the next five years in a bid to boost oil production from offshore fields. The investment is part of the UAE's strategy to increase its crude oil output potential from its current production of 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to 3.5 million bpd by 2017-18, Reuters reported. ADNOC’s offshore exploration and production directorate manager Qasem al-Kayoumi said that ADNOC plans to drill 160 wells per year over the next couple of years. One of the main UAE oilfields being developed by Exxon is the giant Upper Zakum, whose production capacity ADNOC would like to increase to 750,000 bpd by 2017-18, This may be further increased to one million bpd by 2024, added the company.

Novak says Russian oil output to rise 0.6 pct in 2014; Natural gas production seen down 4 pct this year. Russia's oil exports are expected to fall by 4.3 percent this year, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday, citing preliminary data. He said oil exports will be 229 million tonnes (4.6 million barrels per day), while natural gas production will fall by 4 percent to 641 billion cubic metres (bcm) and exports by 6.7 percent to 183.3 bcm. Russia, one of the world's top oil producers, has been cutting crude exports in recent years due to rising domestic demand and refining volumes. Novak said that crude oil output will edge up 0.6 percent to 526.6 million tonnes, in what would be a post-Soviet record high. Output may edge down to 525 million tonnes next year, he added.

Brent crude fell below $104 a barrel on Thursday, after briefly bouncing off a 13-month low the previous day, on ample supplies and concerns about weak demand despite the ongoing political turmoil in Iraq and Ukraine. * Coming up: U.S. Oil exports from Libya's Ras Lanuf port have resumed after a year of blockades by armed protesters, while U.S. crude stocks unexpectedly rose last week. September Brent crude fell 48 cents to $103.80 a barrel by 0655 GMT. The contract, expiring on Thursday, fell to $102.37 on Wednesday, its weakest since July 2013. U.S. crude was down 46 cents at $97.13 a barrel. "The supply outlook has been pretty rosy. OPEC production has been pretty good. Supply in Iraq is unaffected," said Phin Ziebell, economist at the National Australia Bank (NAB).

ConocoPhillips Indonesia, a unit of U.S.-based ConocoPhillips , posted an 11 percent rise in crude oil output in the first quarter of this year at 10,000 barrels of oil per day, said Director Daren Beaudo. The firm also said its liquefied natural gas (LNG) output reached 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 25 percent from 4,000 bopd a year earlier. ConocoPhillips Indonesia produces crude and gas from its two blocks - South Natuna Sea Block B and Corridor South Sumatra block. (Kontan) Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy. (Compiled by Jakarta Newsroom; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

OSX Brasil S.A., a Brazilian corporation engaged in the equipment and services sector for the offshore oil and gas industry, by means of integrated operations in shipbuilding, chartering of exploration and production (E&P) units, and operation and maintenance (O&M) services, announces to its shareholders and the market in general that: The Board of Directors of the Merchant Marine Fund (Fundo da Marinha Mercante - FMM) approved the prioritization of financial support for the Açu Shipbuilding Unit ("UCN Açu") project of OSX Construção Naval S.A., pursuant to the resolution published today in the Federal Official Gazette (Diário Oficial da União).

Dana Gas, one of Middle East’s largest regional private sector natural gas company, announces its financial results for the third quarter and nine month ended September 30, 2013 with a net profit of $28 million and $121 million (USD) respectively. Gross revenue for the third quarter was significantly higher at $170 million, an increase of 21% on Q3 2012. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and exploration (EBITDAX) was $93 million which was considerably higher by $6 million than in Q3 2012. Net profit remained flat year-on-year due to higher royalty and higher depreciation in line with higher production in Egypt. Accordingly, the Group posting a net profit of $28 million in Q3 2013 compared to $29 million in Q3 2012.

China's refinery crude throughput in March rose 2.6 percent from a year earlier to 41.92 million tonnes, or 9.87 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. Daily crude runs, however, fell 5.7 percent from 10.47 million bpd in February, as refineries scaled back production amid high product stocks. (Reporting by Judy Hua and Jonathan Standing; Editing by Ed Davies) (1 Tonne=7.3 barrels

According to a May 2 report from Reuters, the government said on May 1 that two offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were shut as a safety precaution, the first sign that the giant oil slick was affecting the region's energy production. But analysts said the location of the spill was well east and north of the heart of the region's oil and gas production, which accounts for about 15 percent of U.S. natural gas supply and 25 percent of crude oil output. (Source: Reuters)