E&P
India May Lose Prize Iranian Gas Field To Saudi Arabia
India’s state-owned oil and gas giant ONGC risks losing a massive Persian Gulf gas field in a contracting hurdle, as it races against Saudi Arabia to extract gas reserves from two fields spanning the Iran-Saudi Arabia border. India’s flagship explorer does not have the necessary contract to exploit..
BP Faces Setback in World’s Largest Unexplored Oil Basin
As if the current oil markets weren’t tough enough for producers, companies are increasingly finding that regulators are making it harder to drill new sources of oil. For instance, BP was recently told by regulators that it will need to revise and resubmit its plan to explore for oil off of the Sout..
AP Interview: Qatar Energy Minister Wants 'Fair' Oil Price
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The oil market is slowly recovering from its steep drop over the past two years but crude is still not trading at a “fair price” to encourage necessary investment, Qatar’s energy and industry minister said Tuesday, ahead of next week’s meeting of OPEC producers. Speaking to The A..
Why The Arctic Oil Dream Is Not Over Yet
The race to discover oil and gas in virgin Arctic waters is now on, as Norway offered oil majors a lifeline on Wednesday by opening up what experts say could be home to 15 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 33 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas. Norway officials on Wednesday a..
Many Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants Being Built Near Shale Plays
Natural gas-fired power generation increased 19% in 2015, because of low natural gas prices, increased gas-fired generation capacity, and coal power plant retirements. EIA’s May 2016 Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts that this year, natural gas-fired generation will exceed coal generation in the U..
Norway Offers New Offshore Drilling Licenses in Barents Sea
TROMSOE, Norway (AP) — Norway awarded on Wednesday 10 new licenses for offshore oil and gas exploration in the Barents Sea, including three in previously untouched waters near the Russian border. The Oil Ministry said it is the first time new acreage has been opened for drilling in Norwegian waters..
Natural Gas Production Sets Record
Even in the face of low prices, U.S. natural gas production hit its highest level ever. Average daily output in the U.S. set a record in February of 73.3 Bcf, up about 2% from the previous month, Platts Bentek said. The Energy Information Administration reported March 24 that producers had begun sto..
European Leak Detection Market Expected to Grow
Increased pipeline infrastructural investments coupled with high exploration and production activities in the oil and gas sector and high consumer demand for energy will propel growth in the European oil and gas pipeline leak detection market, according to a report issued by Research and Markets. T..
Recent U.S. Oil Imports Generally Heavier than Domestic Production
In 2015, more than 70% of the crude oil produced in the Lower 48 states was light oil with an API gravity above 35 degrees. At the same time, 90% of imported crude oil was heavier, with a gravity below 35 degrees API. To accommodate increasing U.S. production of light crude oil, refineries have adju..
Fracking Wells Provide Two-Thirds of US Natural Gas Production
For decades, hydraulic fracturing had been referred to as an unconventional completion technique, but over the past 10 years it has become the technique by which most natural gas is produced in the United States. Based on the most recent data from states, EIA estimates that natural gas production fr..
Hurdles Exist Using CO2 to Boost Oil Output in North Dakota
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Significant barriers exist in using carbon dioxide to enhance oil recovery in North Dakota but the “long-term prize” could be billions of extra barrels of oil, a consultant told lawmakers Wednesday. Curtis Smith, a geologist with Houston-based IHS Inc., told the North Dakota L..
Wood Mackenzie: Global Oil Supply Shortfall of 4.5 Million b/d by 2035 if Exploration Results Don't Improve
A new study by Wood Mackenzie warns the global oil market could face a supply shortfall of 4.5 million b/d by 2035, if exploration success doesn’t improve. Wood Mackenzie says discoveries in recent years have been disappointing, with the volume of liquids discovered per annum more than halving over ..
Canada Expects Lower Natural Gas Exports to US, Higher LNG Exports Elsewhere
In its recent publication, Canada’s Energy Future (CEF), Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) projects that both Canada’s natural gas production and its domestic natural gas consumption will increase through the next decade. Exports of natural gas by pipeline to the United States are expected to con..
ExxonMobil Begins Production at Point Thomson Project
ExxonMobil has started production at its Point Thomson project, the first company-operated project on Alaska’s North Slope. Central pad facilities are designed to initially produce about 5,000 bpd of condensate and 100 MMscf/d of recycled gas. The recycled gas is re-injected for future recovery. At..
Expected Fall in Lower 48 Oil Production Partially Offset by Rising Gulf Output
In response to continued low oil prices, onshore crude oil production in the Lower 48 states is expected to decline from an average of 7.41 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015 to 6.46 million b/d in 2016 and to 5.76 million b/d in 2017. Increased production from the federal Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is..
ExxonMobil Starts Production at Julia Oil Field in Gulf of Mexico
IRVING, TX – Oil production started under budget and ahead of schedule at the Julia oil field in the Gulf of Mexico, ExxonMobil said Tuesday. The first production well is now online and a second well will start production in the coming weeks. The Julia development is located 265 miles southw..
Subsea 7 Awarded Contract Off Egypt
Subsea 7 S.A. is working under a contract from BP, and partner DEA (Deutsche Erdoel AG), to development of the Giza, Fayoum and Raven subsea fields offshore Alexandria, Egypt. This is the second phase of the West Nile Delta project, where the field development will be at depths of up to 800 meters. ..
BP Sets Up Shale Gas Operation in China
UK-listed BP and China’s CNPC aren’t exactly strangers, already jointly developing Iraq’s Rumaila oilfield, but BP’s new shale gas deal with CNPC is the British company’s first foray into China – and it’s a major strategic move that gauges which way the winds are blowing in today’s energy sector. L..
US Judge OKs $20 Billion BP Oil Spill Settlement
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval Monday to an estimated $20 billion settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation’s history. The settlement, first announced in July, in..
U.S. Production of Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids Expected to Increase Through 2017
U.S. production of hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL)—a group of products including ethane, propane, butanes, and natural gasoline—is expected to increase from 3.86 million barrels per day in 2015 to 4.33 million b/d in 2017, according to EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). HGLs are produced at both ..
United Kingdom Increases Oil Production in 2015, but New Field Development Declines
After many years of decline, production of petroleum and other liquids in the United Kingdom (U.K.) increased by about 100,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2015. The largest contribution to this increase came from fields that were brought online in the second half of 2014. Significant increases also cam..
Dubai's Dodsal Finds $8B Natural Gas Deposit in Tanzania
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai-based Dodsal Group says it has discovered 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas deposits in Tanzania’s Ruvu Basin Coast Region valued at around $8 billion. The conglomerate says it had initially estimated that the gas deposits held 2.17 trillion cubic feet, but mor..
Kuwait Oil Company Says It's Found New Oil and Gas Field
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait’s state oil company says it has discovered a new oil and gas field in the Western part of the country. Kuwait Oil Company said in a statement to the country’s state news agency Thursday that preliminary tests suggest the new field in the al-Jathatheel region will provide a..
Is This The Next Offshore Sweet Spot For Big Oil?
France’s Total SA is searching for an “elephant” oil field off the coast of Uruguay. Uruguay does not have much of an offshore oil industry. But the Pelotas Basin, where Total is focusing, is starting to garner more interest. It borders Brazil and there is speculation that both countries have large..
Shale Primed to Decline Substantially this Year
U.S. shale has weathered the oil crash better than many expected, but the stubborn persistence of low prices through 2016 could amount to the “straw breaking the camel’s back” for shale production. The International Energy Agency released its Medium Term Oil Market Report on Feb. 22 at the IHS ..
Struggling Eagle Ford Still the Sweet Spot
If development in Eagle Ford from 2008 to 2014 felt like a drag racer flying down the track, then 2015 must have felt like skidding to a halt. This year will be like hitting a brick wall − or a shale wall, but it’s a wall that will eventually be torn down. For now, though, the bad news keeps piling..
Oil Production in Federal GOM Expected to Hit Record High in '17
U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) crude oil production is estimated to increase to record-high levels in 2017, even asprices remain low. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects GOM production will average 1.63 MMbpd in 2016 and 1.79 MMbpd in 2017, reaching 1.91 MMbpd in December 2017. GOM prod..
Biggest Natural Gas Discovery Of 2016 Just Got Bigger
International natural gas is shaping up as one of 2016’s most interesting spots in energy, given that prices in many world markets are still running high, even as valuations for E&Ps subside. And one of those markets is in Southeast Asia — where the year’s most interesting natural gas drilling dis..
Production Rates in Tight Oil Formations Still Rising
Tight oil production in the United States increased from 2007 through April 2015, based on estimates in EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), and accounted for more than half of total U.S. oil production in 2015. Tight oil growth has been driven by increasing initial production rates from tight..
Oil Majors Converging Here Could Mean A New Hotspot
Even with oil at $30, the petroleum industry continues to see a few bright spots. Particularly when it comes to offshore activity — such as Shell this week announcing the first natural gas production from its ground-breaking Corrib field off the northwest coast of Ireland. And this week also saw ..
- Mexican President: Billionaire Slim Interested in Pemex Natural Gas Project
- Freeport LNG Sues Three Contractors Over Defects at Texas Plant
- Energy Transfer Adds 6,000 Miles of Pipeline with $3.25 Billion WTG Midstream Acquisition
- FERC Approves Transco's Texas to Louisiana Gas Pipeline Project
- Williams Says Court Rules in Its Favor in Pipeline Dispute with Energy Transfer
- U.S. to Buy 4.5 Million Barrels of Oil to Replenish Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- Kurdish Oil Smuggling to Iran Flourishes
- U.S. Court Overturns Alaska Oil Lease Sale, Halting Energy Development
- Second Gas Pipeline Rupture in Texas’ Reeves County Raises Environmental Concerns
- Williams Begins Louisiana Pipeline Construction Despite Ongoing Legal Dispute with Energy Transfer
