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Crude Oil Production News

21 Dec 2023

OSG to Upgrade Engines on Its Alaska Class Tankers

(Photo: MAN Energy Solutions)

U.S. shipping company Overseas Shipholding Group announced it will upgrade all four vessels in its Alaskan Class fleet with new methanol-ready engines from MAN Energy Solutions.The vessels Alaskan Explorer, Alaskan Frontier, Alaskan Legend and Alaskan Navigator, all approaching 20 years in age, will receive significant engine and operational improvements, resulting in environmental benefits as well as extending their commercially useful life, OSG said.The lifecycle engine upgrades involve a series of technical and commercial enhancements…

24 Nov 2023

Eni to Invest $10 Billion in Ivory Coast Baleine Field

Source: Eni

Eni will invest $10 billion in the development of the Baleine field offshore Ivory Coast, which will take place in three phases from 2023 to 2027, Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly said on Thursday.The Baleine field, where certified reserves are estimated at 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 3.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, was discovered in 2021 by the Italian energy group off the east coast of the West African country.The field's crude oil production should reach 200,000 barrels per day by 2027, compared with 30,000 barrels per day in 2023, the energy minister said."With a tota

23 Nov 2023

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Shuts in Around 3% of Daily Output

Credit: US Coast Guard

Around 61,165 barrels of daily oil output from at least six producers, making up about 3% of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, has been shut in by Third Coast Infrastructure's underwater pipeline leak, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday.The oil producers whose facilities are impacted include W&T Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Walter Oil and Gas, Cantium, Arena Offshore and Talos Energy Ventures, the Coast Guard said, citing the U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of…

23 Oct 2023

US Gulf Coast Oil Patch Gets Lucky, So Far, in Busy Hurricane Season

© Michael Rolands / Adobe Stock

A very active Atlantic hurricane season so far this year has not sent storms across U.S. oil and natural gas fields in the northern Gulf of Mexico, sparing energy companies billions of dollars of losses and consumers higher fuel costs.The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season has been another in a string with above average activity producing three major hurricanes with winds above 111 mph (179 kph) out of six hurricanes among 20 named tropical storms.So far this year, only one storm, Tropical Storm Harold, on Aug.

12 Oct 2023

OSG Buys Laid Up Jones Act Tanker from BP

U.S. shipping company Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG) on Thursday announced it has reached an agreement with BP Oil Shipping Company to purchase the Jones Act compliant crude oil tanker Alaskan Frontier.Built by General Dynamics NASSCO in 2004, the 1.3-million-barrel capacity tanker is a sister to three other Alaskan Class vessels operated by OSG’s wholly owned subsidiary, Alaskan Tanker Company. It was part of Alaska Tanker Company's active fleet  until 2019 when the vessel was placed in cold lay-up in Labuan, Malaysia.OSG said it expects the transaction will be completed in early November. Afterward, the company intends to reactivate the tanker…

02 Oct 2023

Biden Angers All Sides with Scaled Back Offshore Oil Drilling Plan

Credit: Lukasz Z/AdobeStock

The Biden administration's plan to slash offshore oil and gas leasing drew fire from both the fossil fuel industry and environmentalists on Friday, with energy companies saying it will raise fuel prices and greens saying it undermines efforts to stop global warming. The criticism from both sides reflects the difficulty Biden's White House has had in dealing with U.S. oil extraction policies, as it seeks to balance national energy security with the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.

29 Sep 2023

US Plans Sharp Reduction in Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sales

Credit: scandamerican/AdobeStock

The Biden administration on Friday unveiled a plan to phase down oil and gas auctions in federal waters with the release of a long-awaited leasing schedule that includes a maximum of three sales in the Gulf of Mexico through 2029.The Interior Department's plan includes by far the lowest number of sales since the agency began producing Congressionally-mandated five-year oil and gas leasing schedules in 1980. Previous programs have ranged between 11 and 41 sales, according to Interior's U.S.

28 Sep 2023

No Restart for ExxonMobil's California Offshore Platforms as Judge Upholds Tanker Trucks Ban

Credit: Patrick
/AdobeStock

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…

21 Aug 2023

Storm Brewing in Gulf of Mexico Set to Strengthen

(Photo: NOAA)

A storm system brewing in the Gulf of Mexico could strengthen into a named storm as it takes aim at the Texas coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday.The system, named Potential Tropical Cyclone 9, was about 480 miles (770 km) east-southeast of Port Mansfield, Texas and was packing maximum sustained winds of 30 miles (45 km) per hour, the Miami-based hurricane center said. It could cause coastal flooding along the south Texas coast between Monday night and Tuesday…

17 Oct 2022

Guyana Launches Tender for Its First Oil Refinery

©TTstudio

Guyana has called for proposals to design, finance and build a 30,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery, the first for the South American country as it becomes a force in crude oil production. Construction work on the facility, to be located on public land near the Berbice river, is expected to begin by the first half of 2023 with project completion two years after. Requests are due in mid-December. An Exxon Mobil-led consortium has ramped up oil and gas output to almost 400,000 bpd this year, a rapid increase for a country that only inaugurated crude production in 2019.

02 Sep 2022

Normal Atlantic Hurricane Activity Forecast over Next Two Weeks

Credit: GJGK_Photography/AdobeStock

There will likely be normal levels of tropical storm activity over the next two weeks as the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season hits its peak, forecasters at Colorado State University said on Thursday.An upper-level trough in the atmosphere is expected to continue bringing near-normal to above-normal wind shear over the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean, the forecasters said.“This increased shear is likely due to a vigorous tropical upper-tropospheric trough which has been one of the primary reasons why the Atlantic hurricane season has not been as active as projected…

09 Aug 2022

Third Oil Storage Tank Collapses in Cuba Terminal Following Fire, Spill

Credit:vichie81/AdobeStock

A third crude tank caught fire and collapsed at Cuba's main oil terminal in Matanzas, its governor said on Monday, as an oil spill spread flames from a second tank that caught fire two days earlier in the island's biggest oil industry accident in decades.Cuba had made progress fighting off the raging flames during the weekend after drawing on help from Mexico and Venezuela, but late on Sunday the fire began spreading from the second tank, which collapsed, said Mario Sabines, governor of the Matanzas province…

04 Feb 2022

Rystad on Nigerian FPSO Explosion: 'No Impact on Oil Price. Environmental Implications Still Hard to Quantify'

Video Screenshot

The Trinity Spirit FPSO, operated by Nigeria's SEPCOL, exploded Wednesday and started burning, and, according to videos shared on social media, sinking. However, according to Rystad Energy, the incident is not expected to have an impact on Nigerian production as the unit was not producing at the time of the explosion. Environmental implications, however, are yet to be quantified.According to a Reuters report on Wednesday, an industry source active in Nigeria's oil sector said the FPSO had about 50…

13 Jan 2022

More Shuttle Tankers Needed, Rystad Says

© Fotos von Schiffen / Adobe Stock

More shuttle tankers will be needed in the years ahead to keep pace with a projected rise in oil volumes needing transport, Rystad Energy said.Produced volumes requiring transport key shuttle tanker markets Brazil, Canada, Norway, the U.K. and Russia are expected to rise to 3.3 billion barrels per year before the end of the decade, jumping 35% from 2.5 billion in 2021, according to a recent report from the Norwegian analyst group.Apart from minor dips in total utilization across these countries in 2018 and 2021…

01 Dec 2021

U.S. Crude Output in September Fell 3.5% after Ida Hit Offshore Platforms

Hurricane Ida in August - Image credit: European Space Agency via NASA

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.

22 Nov 2021

ADNOC Weighs IPO of Logistics, Marine Services, and Shipping Unit

State oil firm Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is weighing an initial public offering (IPO) of its marine services, logistics and shipping arm next year, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S) has been selected for a potential float in Abu Dhabi in 2022, said the sources, declining to be named as the matter is not public.A deal could follow after testing investor appetite and market conditions, they said.ADNOC declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Sunday.Gulf oil producers are looking at sales of stakes in energy assets…

01 Sep 2021

First Look at Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Finds No Major Damage after Hurricane

LOOP - Credit: Edibobb / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 3.0

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest deepwater oil import and export terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast, has found no major damages to its marine operations during an initial review [of the impact of the hurricane Ida], but operations remain offline as assessments continue, according to a person familiar with the matter.Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Llc - a joint venture of Marathon Petroleum Corp, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp - has a crude oil loading and unloading facility 18 miles (29 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

26 Aug 2021

US Offshore Oil Workers Flee as Storm Approaches Gulf of Mexico

© andrej pol / Adobe Stock

U.S. energy companies on Thursday began airlifting workers from Gulf of Mexico oil production platforms and moved vessels from the path of what could become a devastating hurricane by the weekend.A storm is brewing in the Caribbean Sea and is forecast to grind through the main oil-producing region of the Gulf. It could become a major hurricane ahead of landfall on the central Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricanes with winds of up to 111 miles (178 km) per hour are classified as major and can bring devastating damage onshore.BHP…

29 Apr 2021

Indonesia to Stop LPG and Fuel Imports by 2030

© Alex Stemmer / Adobe Stock

Indonesia will stop both liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and fuel imports by 2030 and plans big changes to its energy infrastructure to meet that target, a top energy official said on Thursday.President Joko Widodo has tasked the National Energy Council, a board made up of seven ministries and other stakeholders that plans energy policy, to devise a strategy to allow for a halt on LPG and fuel imports, said the council's secretary general, Djoko Siswanto.Once a former OPEC member, maturing fields and investment lags has turned Indonesia to a net importer of oil and gas.

15 Apr 2021

U.S. Crude Oil Exports: When 'Less is More'

© SHUTTER DIN/AdobeStock

Longer sailing distances cushion fall in US crude oil exportsTon mile demand generated by US crude oil exports has fallen by 9.7% in the first two months of 2021 compared with the start of 2020. The fall could however have been much worse; In volume terms, seaborne crude oil exports have fallen by 18.8%, to 20.9m tonnes, a 4.8m tonnes decline compared with last year, according to data from the US Census Bureau.While seaborne crude oil exports to all regions have fallen, those to Asia are among the least affected, down just 1.0%, or equivalent to one Aframax load (101,088 tonnes).

13 Apr 2021

ADNOC L&S Adds Two More VLCCs to Its Fleet

Credit: ADNOC L&S

Abu Dhabi-based ADNOC Logistics & Services, the shipping and maritime logistics branch of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), has ordered two additional Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), bringing the total number of VLCCs added to its fleet in 2021 to eight.ADNOC L&S said Tuesday that the VLCC fleet expansion played a significant role in supporting ICE Murban Futures, which is expected to boost trading of the UAE’s flagship Murban crude oil, enabling it to reach new customers and markets around the globe.

03 Feb 2021

VIDEO: 2021 Will Be a 'Step-change' for U.S. Offshore Wind Industry

Credit:  chungking/AdobeStock

Despite being the second-largest global market for onshore wind, the United States is today a very minor player in comparison to the European and East Asian offshore wind markets, however, this is about to change.Philip Lewis, Director of Research, World Energy Reports said in an interview with Maritime Reporter TV, that 2021 is expected to be a "step-change" for the U.S. Offshore wind industry.But first, where are we today? Per Lewis, the U.S. currently has only two operational projects for a total of 42MW of installed capacity versus a global offshore installed base of 34…

12 Jan 2021

Oil Rises to 11-month High

© viking75 / Adobe Stock

Oil hit an 11-month high just below $57 a barrel on Tuesday, bolstered by Saudi Arabia's plans to limit supply, offsetting worries that rising coronavirus cases globally would curtail fuel demand.Brent crude settled up 92 cents, or 1.7%, at $56.58 a barrel by after touching its highest level since last February at $56.75. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 96 cents, or 1.8%, to $53.28.Saudi Arabia plans to cut output by an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February…