Idemitsu News

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

Idemitsu Tanker, IINO Kaiun Kaisha (IINO Lines), Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), and Nihon Shipyard have established a consortium to conduct joint research and development of design concepts for Malacca Max-type very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs).The design concepts, including machinery and environment equipment, will be developed with a view of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the consortium that was initiated by Idemitsu Tanker said.Aiming to reduce emissions by 40% or more compared to previous levels…

A Chinese research vessel flanked by coast guard and nearly a dozen boats on Wednesday entered a gas block operated by Russian and Vietnamese state firms, two monitoring groups said, another potential flashpoint in the South China Sea.It follows a pattern of assertive moves of late by Beijing in its neighbors' exclusive economic zones (EEZ), as it presses its claim to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, testing the United States and its allies at a time of heightened regional tension.Strong relations between Russia and China are a major factor supporting global stability…

At least four supertankers are waiting to load Murban crude off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates a week after floods shut operations at the oil hub, according to trade sources and shipping data on Refinitiv Eikon.Last Thursday, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said it had shut down its operations at Fujairah terminal due to "exceptional rainfall".The company had said it would divert Fujairah terminal oil lifting to the Jebel Dhanna terminal which can handle Murban shipments.However, supertankers are still waiting off Fujairah and it remains unclear when loading will resume, according to the sources and Refinitiv data.Two…

Aker Solutions received a Letter of Intent (LOI) for a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract from Equinor, for the FPSO for the Wisting field development in the Norwegian Barents Sea.Wisting is a greenfield development located in the Barents Sea, about 310 km from the Norwegian mainland. Equinor is the operator of the field (35%), with partners OMV Norge AS (25%), Petoro AS (20%), Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS (10%) and Lundin Energy Norway AS (10%).The intended FEED contract includes an option for engineering, procurement, construction and integration (EPCI) of the topside for the FPSO. The scope of the FEED is to provide front-end design- and engineering for a circular floating production…

Malaysia Vietnam Offshore Terminal's FSO Golden Star has received the first condensate at the Sao Vang and Dai Nguyet (SVDN) Project offshore Vietnam.MVOT is a 51% MISC Berhad (MISC) owned joint venture with PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC). The condensate delivery milestone was achieved on November 16, 2020, MISC said Friday. FSO Golden Star with a storage capacity of about 700,000 barrels of condensate was converted and sailed away from Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering’s West Yard on September 10…

A group of Japanese partner companies have signed onto a project initiated by Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd. to build the world's first zero-emission, fully electric-propulsion bunker supply vessel.The so-called e5 Consortium, including Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Exeno Yamamizu Corporation, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., Tokyo Electric Power Company, and Mitsubishi Corporation, say they will work toward developing, realizing and commercializing zero-emission electric vessels.

PGNiG Upstream Norway, a subsidiary of Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG), has obtained a final administrative consent to purchase additional 10% interests in the PL636 and PL636B licences in the North Sea.Following the transaction, PGNiG Upstream Norway’s (PUN) interests in both licences increased to 30%. As a result, the volume of Duva field gas production attributable to the Company will rise to 0.2 bcm per year.“Acquisition of fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is one of the investment priorities of the PGNiG Group. Our aim is to ensure that as much as possible of the gas that will flow from Norway to Poland following the launch of the Baltic Pipe will come from our own production. This is part of our strategy to diversify supplies and strengthen Poland's energy security.

At SK Energy's largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule as the firm looks to boost sales of low-emission fuels before new marine fuel standards take effect in just one month.In Japan, the country's second-biggest refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co is taking a more cautious stance, increasing capacity for low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), but also relying on blending to produce IMO 2020 compliant bunker fuel.The different approaches…

Malaysian shipping group MISC Berhad (MISC) has received a time charter contract from Idemitsu Kosan (IKC) for the provision of a floating, storage and offloading (FSO) vessel in Vietnam.The energy-related maritime solutions and services provider said in a press release that the contract that it received through its 51%-owned joint-venture with PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) i.e. Malaysia Vietnam Offshore Terminal (L) Limited (MVOT), represents the expansion of MISC’s footprint as a leading player in providing offshore solutions in the ASEAN region.MISC has close to 10 years of experience in Vietnam’s offshore development in a joint venture partnership with PTSC and currently operates two floating assets…

High-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), essentially the leftovers of an oil refiner's output, will still flow from refineries around the world even after new rules start up in 2020 curtailing its use in the global shipping fleet, a Reuters survey showed.Sixty percent of the 33 refineries contacted by Reuters in a global survey will still produce HSFO in 2020 although the supply will tighten as 70 percent of these refiners plan to reduce their output.Starting that year, ships will have to use marine fuel…

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…

Norway's Equinor said on Tuesday it is considering whether to build a pioneering offshore wind farm with floating turbines to supply electricity to two North Sea oilfields as part of a strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions.The project at the Gullfaks and Snorre oilfields would cost around 5 billion Norwegian crowns ($592 million) and could reduce Norway's emissions of carbon dioxide by more than 200,000 tonnes per year, Equinor said."This could be the first time an offshore wind farm is directly connected to oil and gas platforms," state-controlled Equinor said in a statement.

Norwegian drilling rigs workers will end their industrial action after the union representing 1,600 striking employees reached a deal with the group acting for their employers, the parties said on Thursday.The strike began on July 10 after the Safe union and the Norwegian Shipowners' Association could not come to an agreement over wages and pension conditions. The industrial action led to the shutdown of one Shell-operated field."The strike is over ... All workers will go back to work today…

Hundreds of workers on Norwegian offshore oil and gas rigs went on strike on Tuesday after rejecting a proposed wage deal, leading to the shutdown of one Shell-operated field and helping send Brent crude prices higher.One union said hundreds more workers would join the strike on Sunday if an agreement over union demands for a wage increase and pension rights was not reached.Royal Dutch Shell said that due to the strike it was temporarily closing production at its Knarr field, which has a daily output of 23…

Norway has awarded 12 oil and gas exploration licences to Equinor and 10 other companies focused mostly on the Arctic, where Oslo believes it has the greatest potential for significant new discoveries.Nine of the licences are located in the Barents Sea and three in the Norwegian Sea off central Norway, the Ministry of Oil and Energy said on Monday."This licensing round confirms that the oil companies see opportunities for further profitable petroleum activity in the north," Oil and Energy Minister Terje Soeviknes said in a statement.Equinor…

Two VLCCs co-load Qatari, Abu Dhabi grades; impact of shipping restriction less severe than expected. Exports of Qatari crude oil have not been hindered by a port ban imposed by other Gulf states as tankers are loading Qatari grades along with cargoes from the United Arab Emirate, shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed on Wednesday. Two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC), which can each carry up to 2 million barrels of oil, successfully loaded Abu Dhabi grades on Wednesday, despite having taken on Qatari crude in an earlier leg of the voyage, shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed on Wednesday. The loadings come amid Abu Dhabi's easing of restrictions on oil cargoes going to or coming from Qatar, according to a shipping circular seen by Reuters.

Qatargas, the world's largest LNG producer, announced the commercial start-up of Laffan Refinery 2, marking a major milestone in the expansion of refining capacity in the State of Qatar. The project will refine 146,000 barrels per day of condensate from the North Field, the largest non-associated natural gas reserve in the world. Laffan Refinery 2 produces low Sulfur Euro-V specifications products such as Naphtha, Jet-A1, Ultra low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD), Propane and Butane for local and international markets. Alongside Laffan Refinery 1, this new facility is strategically important due to its role in diversifying Qatar’s energy mix, which will double the existing production capacity. Mr.

Wintershall has taken over the operatorship of the subsea oil and gas field Vega from Statoil, Wintershall announced today. Vega is the BASF subsidiary’s first operated subsea tie-in field in Norway. With this transfer, Germany-based Wintershall now operates two production fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Brage and Vega. The takeover of the Vega operatorship is part of a transaction with Statoil that was completed in December 2014. Winteshall is currently producing more than 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Norway.

BG Group announced the Petrojarl Knarr floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel had started production from the Knarr oil field in the North Sea, offshore Norway. The FPSO has been leased from Teekay Corporation and is moored approximately 120 kilometers off the Norwegian coast. It has a production capacity of 63,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and a storage capacity of 800,000 barrels. The Knarr field, discovered in 2008, has estimated gross recoverable reserves of around 80 million barrels of oil equivalent with a production life of at least ten years.

Norwegian Arctic discovery could be game changer; Lundin Petroleum shares rise 7 percent. Noreco, Det Norske shares also rise on news. Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum has made a big oil and gas discovery in the Norwegian Arctic, sending its shares more than 7 percent higher and raising hopes that more oil could be found in the remote region. Lundin Petroleum's find in the Alta prospect contains between 125 and 400 million barrels of oil equivalent, including 85 to 310 million barrels of oil, near Statoil's Snoehvit field and Lundin's own Gohta find, the firm said in a statement on Tuesday. The discovery raises hopes that more oil could be found in a region where only a handful of oil fields have been discovered after several decades, and none have started production.

Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd., NYK Trading Corporation and NYK Line  have executed a joint development agreement for a new model of ULTY that integrates NYK Trading’s optimization system for coal boilers with Idemitsu’s highly efficiency combustion technique. Fluctuations in fuel supply often cause boilers used in power plants and factories to operate in an unstable manner. ULTY is a system that can optimize the combustion control of boilers and resultantly reduce fuel consumption through stable plant operation. Until now, the marketing of ULTY had been managed by NYK Trading, and the main targets had mostly been customers in Japan. Considering the surge in the construction of new coal fired power plants in Asian countries…

Sweden's Lundin Petroleum has found additional oil and gas near its Alta discovery in the Norwegian Arctic, the firm and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Tuesday.   "The total gross resource estimate for the Neiden discovery is between 25 and 60 million barrels of oil equivalents," Lundin Petroleum said in a statement.   Lundin is the operator of the well and has a 40-percent stake. Its partners are Japan's Idemitsu and DEA, the oil firm controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, who have stakes of 30 percent, respectively. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)