Oil Projects News

Esgian reports that drilling contracts have been announced this week for operations in Brazil and the Philippines, and new discoveries have been confirmed in the UK and Namibia in its Week 11 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.ContractsCOSL Drilling has emerged as the winner for Petrobras' moored semisubmersible tender with the 4,600-ft Nanhai 8 (also known as Nan Hai Ba Hao).Noble has secured a high-dayrate drillship contract with Prime Energy in the Philippines.Drilling Activity and…

Guyana is in "no rush" to draft a new production sharing agreement (PSA) for offshore oil development, its Natural Resources minister told Reuters, reversing a year-long drive to devise new rules for future output.The government of South America's newest crude oil producer said in 2021 it was planning a new agreement to revamp terms and boost royalties for future oil and gas projects. The proposed document was expected to improve terms for Guyana of a 2016 contract with Exxon Mobil and its partners for the prolific Stabroek block.But the tiny nation…

This article will focus on U.S. sanctions on Russia/Ukraine. The Russia/Ukraine sanctions program is a complex mix of comprehensive, noncomprehensive and “sectoral” sanctions. It includes both primary sanctions aimed at U.S. persons and secondary sanctions aimed at non-U.S. persons. It encompasses broad sectors of the Russian economy and significant dealings with sanctioned individuals and entities, while generally permitting most transactions with Russia. Accordingly, it stands alone in U.S.

Three large crude carriers (VLCCs) chartered by units of Russian oil major Rosneft to transport Venezuelan oil left Caribbean waters empty on Saturday after the cargoes were canceled due to sanctions, according to Refinitiv Eikon data and a document from Venezuelan state-run oil firm PDVSA.The vessels - which would jointly export some 5.7 million barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude to Asia - had waited for weeks near Venezuelan waters to load, but the cargoes were canceled this week due to sanctions on PDVSA and Rosneft's trading units…

Heavyweight oilfield service providers like Saipem and Baker Hughes are moving past just oil and gas projects and embracing more renewable energy projects going forward.In 2014, non-upstream oil and gas activities accounted for 22% of revenues among service suppliers. This share grew to 27% in 2018.According to Rystad Energy, the trend to accelerate in the next decade.“If pure-play contractors within drilling, well services and seismic – which don’t have much to offer outside the upstream oil and gas industry – are removed from the equation, activities outside of upstream accounted for nearly 30% of last year’s revenues,” says Audun Martinsen…

The multi-billion capital investment by Equinor at its new Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm will see it rival its major oil and gas projects, according to Rystad Energy."The offshore wind project Dogger Bank in the UK North Sea will not only be Equinor’s largest project through 2026, it will also rank as the sixth largest offshore development project in the world during this period," said the energy research firm.UK authorities announced on Friday that Equinor and joint venture partner SSE have been chosen to develop the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, with an expected $11 billion in capital investments from 2020-2026.Audun Martinsen…

Gas developments in Iraq will overtake oil projects in 2019, measured in resources sanctioned for development, according to analysis from Rystad Energy."For the world’s fourth largest crude producer, natural gas is about to take pole position," said a statement from the energy research and business intelligence company.New developments are on track to triple the country’s gas production from just over 1 Bcfd in 2017 to about 3 Bcfd in 2022, according to Rystad Energy.It forecasts that gas developments in Iraq will overtake oil projects in 2019, measured in resources sanctioned for development, flying in the face of historical norms for the upstream industry in the country.“Rystad Energy sees gas as the clear frontrunner in the region over the next four years…

Model testing ship-ice interactions in the St. In a cavernous room in the heart of a research center in St. John’s, Newfoundland at 8 am, the air temperature is -20 C while the water temperature is hovering at zero. National Research Council of Canada (NRC) staff are preparing the Ice Tank to test the integrity of a newly designed ship’s hull and propulsion system by subjecting a model to a battery of maneuvers and encounters with ice. One of the largest in the world, the Ice Tank is 90m long, 12m wide, and 3m deep.

With familiar faces, new partnerships and Houston office, Damen widens its North American profile with a flurry of new work orders. With a flourish and a flurry of new business, Damen’s new U.S.-based office officially opened in Houston, Texas on July 1, 2016. Registered as Damen Area Support North America BV Co., it has been established to provide a local presence and work hand-in-hand with the North American market, offering a full range of ready built, standard and custom design vessels as well as the products and services of Damen Shipyards group ‘License to Build’ program.

Indonesia wants to send hundreds of fishermen to the Natuna Islands to assert its sovereignty over nearby areas of the South China Sea to which China says it also has claims. President Joko Widodo has launched an unprecedented campaign to bolster fishing, oil exploration and defence facilities around the island chain after a series of face-offs between the Indonesian navy and Chinese fishing boats. "We are aware that if we don't do this there could be many claims that disrupt the integrity of Indonesian territory," Chief Maritime Minister Rizal Ramli told reporters on Wednesday. The announcement of the plan came a day after the Permanent…

Greece will conclude the evaluation of deep-sea oil and gas exploration bids in the coming weeks and will name the preferred bidders soon after, its energy minister said on Friday, as the country seeks to tap into its limited oil reserves. Plunging crude oil prices have cut spending on oil projects around the world but cash-strapped Greece is pushing ahead with investment in the industry in a bid to reduce dependence on oil imports and boost public finances. "We are evaluating three bids made by oil companies whose financial strength, experience and infrastructure ensure they are in a position to successfully perform gas and oil exploration and production," Energy Minister Panos Skourletis said.

Oil companies operating in Mexico's deep waters must use national suppliers for 8 percent of the projects by 2025, the government said on Tuesday, a relatively low rate meant to encourage foreign and private firms to bid on contracts. Mexico's oil regulator has scheduled its first-ever deep water auction in early December for 10 blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, after constitutional amendments in 2013 ended a nearly eight-decade monopoly by state oil firm Pemex. The low rate would allow companies to rely less on Mexican suppliers, which have limited expertise in the country's largely unexplored deep waters. The rule set a 3 percent minimum in 2015…

Hundreds of barrels of oil that gushed from a ruptured coastal pipeline in scenic California this week could stiffen opposition to large oil projects that companies want to build in the state, notably those to deliver cheap U.S. crude on trains. Several proposed oil-by-rail offloading terminals in California were already being contested in light of several fiery crude train derailments since 2013 that have stoked safety concerns about spills and explosions. Now, the sight of oil washing up on the shores of Santa Barbara could further galvanize rail opponents after up to 2,500 barrels of crude leaked on Tuesday from a pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline LP.

Excelerate Energy's Texan liquefied natural gas terminal plan has become the first victim of an oil price slump threatening the economics of U.S. LNG export projects. A halving in the oil price since June has upended assumptions by developers that cheap U.S. LNG would muscle into high-value Asian energy markets, which relied on oil prices staying high to make the U.S. supply affordable. The floating 8 million tonne per annum (mtpa) export plant moored at Lavaca Bay, Texas advanced by Houston-based Excelerate has been put on hold, according to regulatory filings obtained by Reuters. The project was initially due to begin exports in 2018. Excelerate's move bodes ill for thirteen other U.S.

Russia will take counter measures if Washington imposes new sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday. The U.S. Congress has readied new sanctions on Russian weapons companies and investors in the country's high-tech oil projects, but U.S. President Barack Obama has yet to sign a corresponding bill into law. "We will not be able to leave that without an answer," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. He did not say what form of counter-measure Moscow might take. Relations between Russia and the United States are at their lowest since the Cold War because of Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March and its support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) is seeking comments on the agency’s proposed policy to accept, evaluate and process license applications for the construction and operation of offshore deepwater export facilities. The agency is proposing to use the existing Deepwater Port License regulations, found in 33 CFR Parts 148, 149 and 150, for such purposes. However, due to the considerable technical, operational, and environmental differences between import and export operations for natural gas or oil projects, a separate and complete license application, conforming to all licensing requirements and regulations, is required for export applications. The Federal Register Notice may be viewed at https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-24609

Plunging global oil prices may turn hopes for cheap liquefied natural gas supplies from the United States into a costly disappointment for Asian buyers who have already invested billions of dollars in long-term contracts. The 26 percent price slide since June to $85 a barrel exposes cracks in the assumption by utilities and industrial companies from Japan to India that cheap U.S. LNG would muscle into high-value Asian energy markets from 2016. Oil prices form the backbone of LNG trade to Asia, because exporters outside the United States typically tie 25-year supply deals to crude oil prices. If prices continue to fall, these suppliers from Qatar to Australia will regain their edge over upstart U.S. producers. "From the buyer's view, $80 oil makes oil-linked supplies less expensive ...

Saudi Arabia's decision to slash the official selling price for its oil has sparked trader talk of an emerging OPEC price cutting war, as members of the producer group could compete to defend their market share amid ample supplies and tepid demand. Industry and trading sources in the Middle East say there was now a risk of a race to the bottom, at a time when many were calling for unity from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as it faces one of the steepest price slides since the financial crisis. The group's next meeting in November will be closely-watched to see whether it cuts supply. Benchmark Brent crude prices continued to slide towards $90 a barrel on Thursday…

Investors could spend up to $1.1 trillion over the next decade on oil projects and assets that never reach production if governments enforce measures to curb climate change, a report by Carbon Tracker Initiative said. The Carbon Tracker report, released on Thursday, could help funds and other investors avoid putting their money in oil assets that remain buried forever. The $1.1 trillion, around 15 percent of the decade's total global oil and gas spending at current rates, is earmarked for projects to 2025 that require a market price of at least $95 a barrel to break even. That investment is at risk if governments enforce plans to curb the global rise in temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius, which scientists say is the threshold for avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

Currently, 320 oil/gas floating production units are now in service, on order or available for reuse on another field. FPSOs account for 65% of the existing systems, 76% of systems on order. Production semis, barges, spars and TLPs comprise the balance. Total oil/gas inventory is down two units since last month – two off-field FPSOs have been scrapped. Another 27 floating LNG processing systems are in service or on order. Liquefaction floaters account for 15%, regasification floaters 85%. No liquefaction floaters are yet in service – all four are on order.

Foster Wheeler AG (Nasdaq:FWLT) announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by Glencore Oil Projects AG for the engineering and material supply of a steam reformer heater for hydrogen production for the Orsknefteorgsyntez Refinery at Orsk, Russia. The value of Foster Wheeler’s contract was not disclosed and was included in the company’s first-quarter 2014 bookings. The heater will be based on Foster Wheeler's Terrace WallTM design. Foster Wheeler’s scope of work is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2015. This latest award follows Glencore’s award to Foster Wheeler of a Terrace WallTM visbreaker heater for this refinery in 2013.

Oil firms are purposefully delaying the development of oil and gas fields off Norway, the head of the agency tasked with managing the country's oil and gas resources told Reuters on Thursday. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate was expecting some 13 development projects to be submitted by energy firms to Norwegian authorities this year and the next, but none have so far been submitted. "Our impression is that there is an increased number of oil projects that are being delayed," Bente Nyland, the head of the NPD, told Reuters on the margins of a news conference. "We see that they are being moved by a few weeks or by a quarter, or even longer ...

Oil service companies will have to assume more risk in the coming years as investor pressure and a flat crude price make oil company clients push harder to avoid delays on megaprojects, the chief executive of FTSE 100 contractor Petrofac said. The biggest oil companies have seen huge delays and broken budgets at projects ranging from record-breaking Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) schemes to the enormous and technically challenging Kazakhstan oilfield in the freezing Caspian Sea.