Oil Block News

Exxon Mobil is in discussions with Dutch contractor SBM Offshore NV to build a fourth multibillion-dollar production unit to develop its Guyana oil discoveries, two people close to the negotiations said.The talks include the potential for some future platform assembly in Guyana, the people said. Guyana hopes to develop an oil industry infrastructure to boost the economy and job growth. Officials are under pressure to show the potential oil bonanza will be shared with its citizens.The South American country is home to the world's biggest offshore discoveries in years…

A Chinese government survey ship embroiled in a standoff with Vietnamese vessels moved south near Malaysia, shipping data showed Thursday, amid accusations that China is using the pandemic to assert its presence in the South China Sea.The Haiyang Dizhi 8 was spotted off Vietnam this week, returning after being closely tracked last year in the resource-rich waters, a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges China's sweeping maritime claims.The ship appeared to have started a survey in waters 352 kilometers (218 miles) off the coasts of Brunei and Malaysia on Thursday…

A Chinese ship embroiled in a standoff with Vietnamese vessels last year has returned to waters near Vietnam as the United States accused China of pushing its presence in the South China Sea while other claimants are pre-occupied with the coronavirus.Vietnamese vessels last year spent months shadowing the Chinese Haiyang Dizhi 8 survey vessel in resource-rich waters that are a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges China's sweeping maritime claims.On Tuesday, the ship, which is used for offshore seismic surveys, appeared again 158 km (98 miles) off Vietnam's coast, within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), flanked by at least one China Coast Guard vessel…

A Chinese oil survey vessel that has been embroiled in a tense standoff with Vietnamese vessels in the South China Sea left Vietnamese-controlled waters on Thursday after more than three months, marine data showed.The Chinese vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi 8, was speeding away from Vietnam's exclusive economic zone towards China on Thursday under the escort of at least two Chinese ships, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessels.China claims almost all the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea but neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.Tension between Hanoi and Beijing…

When Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte visits China this week, he'll need to salvage something from a "pivot" to Beijing that has left him empty-handed, and exposed his neighbours to a new level of brinkmanship in the South China Sea.Despite his huge domestic popularity and great affection for China, Duterte is under growing pressure to push back at its growing maritime assertiveness. After avoiding the issue for three years, he has vowed to raise with President Xi Jinping a 2016…

A Chinese survey ship returned to Vietnam's exclusive economic zone off its coast on Tuesday, ship tracking data showed, less than a week after it left the area where vessels from the two countries were locked in a month-long standoff.The Haiyang Dizhi 8 first entered the zone under Chinese coast guard escort in July and appeared to conduct a seismic survey of waters that are a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges China's maritime claims.The survey ship, which according to Vietnam left the area on Aug. 7, was now headed back to the zone under escort from at least two Chinese Coast Guard vessels, according to data from Marine Traffic…

A Vietnamese fishermen's group has called on the government to take stronger measures for the removal of a Chinese oil survey vessel that Vietnam accuses of violating its sovereignty in the South China Sea.Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been in a weeks-old standoff near an offshore oil block, the latest confrontation in waters that are a potential global flashpoint as the United States challenges China's sweeping maritime claims.The busy waterway will be high on the agenda this week as countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Bangkok with foreign ministers from China, the United States and other powers.Vietnam…

Vietnam on Friday accused a Chinese oil survey vessel and its escorts of violating its sovereignty and demanded that China remove the ships from Vietnamese waters.Vietnam and China have for years long been embroiled in a dispute over the potentially energy-rich stretch of waters in the South China Sea.On Wednesday, two U.S.-based think tanks reported that Chinese and Vietnamese vessels had engaged in a standoff lasting several weeks near an oil block in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone.

Vietnamese and Chinese ships have been embroiled in a weeks-long standoff near an offshore oil block in disputed waters of the South China Sea, which fall within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, two Washington-based think-tanks said on Wednesday.China's U-shaped "nine-dash line" marks a vast expanse of the South China Sea that it claims, including large swathes of Vietnam's continental shelf where it has awarded oil concessions.The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a ship operated by the China Geological Survey…

Exxon Mobil Corp and its partners now expect the large Stabroek oil block offshore Guyana to contain about 25 percent more recoverable resources than estimated, they said on Monday.Exxon and U.S.-based partner Hess Corp said more than 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent could be recovered from the Stabroek block, which is part of one of the biggest oil discoveries in the world in the last decade.The previous estimate was 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil producer, said.Besides Exxon and Hess, China's CNOOC is also part of the consortium that is interested in Guyana's Atlantic coast resources.Exxon said production from Stabroek could reach over 750…

To better understand the challenges faced by ship operators in Brazil, Maritime Reporter’s correspondent in Brazil spoke to Paulo Cesar P. Freitas, Fleet Manager for Norsul Shipping company, one of the major shipping operators in Brazil. Established in 1963 and operating continuously ever since, “Companhia de Navegação Norsul”, as it is called in Portuguese, is one of the leading private maritime commerce companies in Brazil. Norsul specializes in dry-bulk, neo-bulk cargoes, general cargo, project cargoes, along with chemicals and liquid cargoes, operating in the Brazilian Cabotage and international shipping markets. Freitas has worked for Norsul for 28 years, starting as Ship Superintendent and today operating as Fleet Manager.

Spain's Repsol said it had suspended oil drilling in a block off Vietnam, where the prospecting in South China Sea waters claimed by China had infuriated Beijing and brought Chinese pressure on Vietnam to stop. Tension has been growing between Vietnam and China over energy development in the waterway, where extensive Chinese claims are challenged by five Southeast Asian countries and disputed by the United States. Repsol's chief financial officer, Miguel Martinez, said work had been suspended off Vietnam, according to the transcript of a conference call with analysts last week. "We are working with the PetroVietnam and with the Vietnamese authorities and the only comment is that right now, operations have been suspended," he said.

Vietnam has extended an Indian oil concession in the South China Sea and begun drilling in another area it disputes with China in moves that could heighten tensions over who owns what in the vital maritime region. The moves come at a delicate time in Beijing's relations with Vietnam, which claims parts of the sea, and India, which recently sent warships to monitor the Malacca Straits, through which most of China's energy supplies and trade passes. Vietnam granted Indian oil firm ONGC Videsh a two-year extension to explore oil block 128 in a letter that arrived earlier this week, the state-run company's managing director Narendra K. Verma told Reuters.

Peru is reducing royalties on oil and gas production to about 5 percent on average from the current 20 percent in order to encourage exploration amid slumping prices, the government said Wednesday. The smaller take should help Peru boost interest in new oil contracts that will come up for bidding soon, said Rafael Zoeger, the president of state energy agency Perupetro. Peru has repeatedly pushed back auctioning on more than two dozen oil blocks because of a lack of interest in recent years. "I'd rather get 5 percent on some production than 20 or 30 on none," Zoeger said at a news conference. Perupetro will tailor royalties for each concession, setting a lower rate for more costly and less accessible areas, he said.

China's biggest oil and gas company China National Petroleum Corp.(CNPC ) has expressed interested in  a terminal in Kyaukphyu in Myanmar  to receive imported Liquefied natural gas (LNG). China National Petroleum Corporation has proposed developing a terminal in Kyaukphyu to receive imported LNG, local media quoted an official from state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise. He said that companies from China, Korea, Japan, Norway, Singapore and Thailand have already proposed investment into LNG development projects in Myanmar, and feasibility studies have been completed. The Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline, which begins at Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State, began full operations in late 2013.

Sonde Resources Corp. announced today that it has filed a voluntary assignment in bankruptcy pursuant to the provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). In conjunction with this filing, FTI Consulting Canada Inc. has been appointed as Trustee in Bankruptcy. Since 2012, Sonde has been pursuing alternatives for the Joint Oil Block. Most recently, in March of 2014, Sonde announced that it had engaged Taylor-DeJongh, Inc. (“Taylor-DeJongh”) to initiate a process to explore and evaluate potential strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value with regard to the Joint Oil Block. Sonde’s Management and Taylor-DeJongh have…

Elenilto, with state oil company Petrosen, awarded Production Sharing Contract (PSC) by the Government of the Republic of Senegal. The contract is to develop the prospective Senegal Offshore Sud Shallow Oil block. Elenilto will be the operator of the block and Petrosen will have minority participation interest in the project. The block is 7,920 sq km and is located in Southern Senegal Casamance offshore basin. Oil Resources volumetric assessment based on reprocessed 2D seismic coverage indicates potential of 500-800 million barrels of oil in first priority leads. Other deeper possibilities are highly likely and will be explored by Elenilto, who have selected two areas of interest as first priority for immediate further exploration and they intend to begin the 3D seismic survey shortly.

Exxon Mobil plans to drill three exploratory wells in an Indonesian offshore oil block over the next three years, a company official said on Wednesday. Exxon Mobil signed an oil contract with the Indonesian government last month 2,062 sq mile of the offshore Surumana block in the Makassar Straits. The government had said that in the case of Surumana, any oil find would be split 65:35 percent between government and contractor. Meanwhile, any gas find would be split 60:40 percent. Officials say Indonesia still has around 4.1 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and about 4.5 billion barrels in potential reserves. Currently Exxon Mobil has several oil and gas working areas in Indonesia, including in Cepu block on Java island.

China's top offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC, has posted a 38 percent jump in earnings for the first half of the year. The better-than-expected results were driven by soaring energy prices and higher output, according to a report on www.voanews.com. Oil and gas production at the state-owned company increased by more than seven percent in the first six months of 2006 compared to a year earlier. CNOOC's chairman Fu Chengyu says the company achieved breakthroughs in its overseas business development. Fu says CNOOC completed the acquisition of a 45 percent stake in a Nigerian oil block and also extended its exploration activities to Equatorial Guinea, Australia and Kenya. China's second-largest lender, the Bank of China, also posted positive interim results.