ConocoPhillips estimates Bohai Bay oil spill at 1,500 bbl ConocoPhillips estimates 1,500 bbl aggregate of oil and oil-based fluids spilled into Bohai Bay during two incidents in Penglai 19-3 oil field. The company said it continues working with independent experts to validate the total spill volume. China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) requested ConocoPhillips China Inc., operator of Penglai 19-3, to suspend production from Penglai Platforms B and C until the risk of another oil spill is eliminated (OGJ Online, July 13, 2011).
Anadarko BP claims head to arbitrationBP can halt litigation with minority business partner Anadarko Petroleum so the companies can arbitrate liability over costs of the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, a judge said.Anadarko sued BP, asking a federal judge in New Orleans to exonerate it for damages and clean-up costs created by the worst offshore oil spill in US history. The Woodlands, Texas-based Anadarko, which owned 25% of the well, said BP�s conduct caused the blowout and the spill. BP asked US District Judge Carl Barbier to stall the lawsuit, contending that a partnership agreement required the companies to first attempt arbitration to resolve disputes. Barbier today sent the claim to arbitration, Bloomberg reported.
BHP Billiton has boosted its presence/ in the booming shale gas market as it agreed to buy US firm Petrohawk Energy.BHP will pay $12.1bn (7.5bn) in cash, giving it access to shale oil and gas assets across one million acres in Texas and Louisiana. The deal comes just months after BHP agreed to buy Chesapeake Energy's Arkansas-based gas business for $4.75bn. Demand for shale gas has increased as other fuel costs have risen.
The gas platform that will be the world's biggest 'ship'Shell has unveiled plans to build the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) platform. The 600,000-tonne behemoth - the world's biggest "ship" - will be sited off the coast of Australia. But how will it work? Deep beneath the world's oceans are huge reservoirs of natural gas. Some are hundreds or thousands of miles from land, or from the nearest pipeline. Tapping into these "stranded gas" resources has been impossible - until now. At Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard on Geoje Island in South Korea, work is about to start on a "ship" that, when finished and fully loaded, will weigh 600,000 tonnes.
A joint venture between BP and India's Reliance Industries is being considered by the Indian cabinet on Thursday. If approved, BP will buy a stake in 23 oil and gas blocks in India run by Reliance. The deal is worth $7.2bn. Reliance has had some trouble with production at gas deposits off India's east coast and its hoping BP can help.Tony Regan from consultancy firm Trizen, told the BBC that the deal will benefit both firms
3bn to be invested in Shetland oil fieldsOil giant BP and partners are to invest 3bn in redeveloping two oil fields off the Shetland Islands. The company believes 450 million barrels of oil could be extracted from the Schiehallion and Loyal oil fields which lie to the west of Shetland. The fields in the north Atlantic Ocean have produced nearly 400 million barrels since 1998. BP is undertaking the work with other oil companies - production is due to start in 2016. BP will have a 36.3% stake in the venture, as will Royal Dutch Shell, Hess Ltd will hold 12.9%, and Statoil (UK) and Murphy Petroleum 4.84% each.
Thailand's PTTEP has spent close to $500 million on a single platform at Singaporean yard group Sembcorp Marine.The company has ordered the integrated production and accommodation unit at Sembcorp's subsidiary SMOE, Sembcorp wrote in a statement today. PTTEP is splashing out close to S$600 million ($492.94 million) on the unit which is destined for work off Myanmar. SMOE will begin work on the platform in October this year with delivery slated for November 2013.
ConocoPhillips will spinning off its refining arm US supermajor ConocoPhillips willbe spinning off its refining arm in hopes that each operation would be worth more as a separate company, it said today. Shares of ConocoPhillips, the third-largest US oil company, rose nearly 5%. With the move, ConocoPhillips becomes the first of the supermajors to shift away from the strategy that led the industry to consolidate into a handful of players with global reach in the oil and gas production and oil products businesses, Reuters reported.
Drilling giant Transocean is preparing to tow its semi-submersible rig Transocean Marianas to shallower water for a closer look at the hull damage inflicted on 6 July when the rig was picking up anchors. The apparent hull breach allowed seawater to invade the rig to the point of listing before the water ingress was checked. The water ingress has been temporarily plugged, Transocean spokesman Guy Cantwell told Upstream. The rig remains seaworthy, he added, and is now being de-watered.
A fire at BPs Valhall oil platform off NorwayA fire at BP's Valhall oil platform off Norway in the southern part of the North Sea forced the UK supermajor to halt production and evacuate the facility today. BP, which characterised the incident as 'serious', said there was no risk of an oil spill. "Production is shut-in and there is no risk for an oil spill," BP spokesman Jan Erik Geirmo told Reuters. "It is serious when you have a fire on a production platform and the cause of this is something we need to investigate,' he added, saying it was too early to speculate on what caused the fire. "It is quite clear that it was a serious incident," Geirmo told the news agency. The fire, which started in a compressor on the production platform today at around 1500 GMT, has been extinguished, Geirmo said
Norway's Odfjell Drilling has merged a business unit with compatriot Ross Offshore as the pair eyes likely new drilling contracts off the country. No financial details of the deal to form a new joint venture with Odfjell Well Management, to also be called Ross Offshore, were revealed in today's announcement from Odfjell. Drilling activity on the [Norwegian Continental Shelf] is expected to increase significantly over the next three to four years, which supports a strong underlying growth in the well management
US independent Hess has made a final payment of US$17.5 million to Falcon Oil & Gas to complete its farm-in to three onshore exploration blocks in the remote Beetaloo basin in northern Australia. Upon receipt of regulatory permits, Hess will begin acquiring seismic data over Blocks EP 76, EP 98 and EP 117. After completion, processing and interpretation of the seismic data, Hess can elect to acquire a 62.5% ownership in the permit area and continue to the next phase of the work programme which includes conducting a five-well drilling programme beginning in 2012.
Operators that have �behaved badly in the past� may be blocked from obtaining new permits to drill offshore, the boss of the US� top offshore regulator said today. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) director Michael Bromwich said that the agency is reviewing steps it can take to prevent companies with bad safety records from drilling off US shores. �We continue to be interested in that issue (and) to explore that issue,� the Houston Chronicle quoted Bromwich as telling reporters on a conference call today. Bromwich said he is deciding the best way to treat �operators who may have behaved badly in the past and whether they should be allowed to continue operating in the future�, according to a Chronicle report.
A joint venture between London-listed Kentz and Netherlands-based Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) has been awarded a $2.3 billion construction contract by Chevron for its Gorgon liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia. Kentz said the scope of the contract included the structural, mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation and commissioning support for the construction of three LNG trains, with a total capacity of 15 million tonnes per year. "We are delighted that Chevron has selected the CB&I Kentz JV for this contract on the Gorgon project, where Kentz already has two teams onsite executing services for this world class facility,� Kentz chief executive Hugh O�Donnell said.
SBM Offshore has secured contracts with a consortium led by Brazilian giant Petrobras for the 20 year charter and operation of the Cidade de Paraty floating production, storage and offloading vessel. The FPSO will be deployed in the Lula Nordeste field on Block BM-S-11 in the Santos basin, about 265 kilometres off the coast of Brazil, in a water depth of 2100 metres. The award follows a letter of intent for the unit SBM received in May last year from the BM-S-11 consortium, which consists of operator Petrobras with a 65% interest, BG Group with a 25% stake and Galp Energia on 10%.
State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is discussing with Cuba the possible leasing of one or more offshore exploration blocks in Cuban Gulf of Mexico acreage, a Cuban state oil company official said today. "They are discussing that. They have to look at the data and see if that's what they want, and that's up to the company," Guillermo Hernandez Perez, exploration director of Cuba's state oil company Cupet, told Reuters. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and CNPC President Jiang Jiemen signed energy accords in Havana earlier this month during a visit to the Communist-ruled island, but the text of the agreements were not disclosed.
UK independent Warrego Energy could have added �billions of Australian dollars� to an asset in Australia as a US report pointed to a �potentially substantial shale gas resource�. The Scottish company is staring at the possibility of over 9 trillion cubic feet of gas at the licence off Perth, it claimed citing a report from the US Energy Institute Administration. The potential lucrative strike of Kockatea Shale is at the 224 kilometre squared EP 469 licence in Western Australia�s North Perth Basin which Warrego acquired in 2008.
India�s Reliance Industries plans to move its chartered drillship Discoverer India from India to the US Gulf of Mexico next month. The year-old drillship has been contracted to Reliance since December last year at a dayrate of $508,000. According to Transocean�s latest fleet status report, released today, it will remain under contract to Reliance in the US Gulf through February 2013 before returning to India the following month. However, a footnote to the report indicates Reliance can extend the drilling programme in the US Gulf for another six months.
Blasts hit Syrian gas pipelines An explosion at a gas pipeline in Syria has set off a fire as the country continues to suffer social and political tensions. Another gas pipeline was also hit by an explosion but production has continued as gas was rerouted to other pipelines, Reuters reported. One of the blasts occurred at a minor pipeline near Tayanah close to the Iraqi border late on Tuesday, Associated Press quoted a spokesperson for the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying. The other explosion is said to have occurred at a pipeline in the Busaira region.
US contractor giant Halliburton has bagged a deal to provide services for compatriot supermajor Chevron for its Polish shale gas plays. Financial details of the contract, revealed by Halliburton today, are being kept under wraps, however. Under the three-year contract, Halliburton is to provide integrated services such as drilling and hydraulic fracturing at Chevron�s Polish shale gas assets. The deal also involves an unspecified number of possible extensions, although it is unclear which party has the right to exercise these options
Websites such as eBay may be liable for trademark infringements if they play an "active role" in promoting fake goods, the European Court of Justice has said. The court's ruling came in response to a case brought by French cosmetics giant L'Oreal against eBay in the UK. L'Oreal claims eBay is liable for sales on its website of counterfeit goods and "parallel imports" - L'Oreal products not intended for sale in the EU. EBay said the court gave "some clarity" while others saw it as a "blow". L'Oreal said it was "satisfied" with the ruling.
Nigeria Boko Haram attacks: Thousands flee Maiduguri Thousands of Nigerians are fleeing the north-eastern city of Maiduguri following a spate of recent attacks, which have killed at least 40 people. Some of those leaving are students after the university was closed. The attacks have been carried out by the radical Islamist group, Boko Haram, which opposes Western education and fights for Islamic rule. The security forces have been accused of firing indiscriminately and killing civilians after the raids.
Singapore�s Keppel Fels has delivered its third and final KFELS N-Class jack-up rig to Houston-based Rowan. The jack-up rig Rowan Norway was successfully delivered to the rig owner and will be transported to Dundee using the OHT Hawk heavy lift vessel, according to London-listed junior Xcite Energy. The rig will undergo final testing in Dundee before being crewed and equipped for deployment on Xcite�s Bentley heavy oilfield in the UK North Sea. Xcite signed a deal with Rowan earlier this year to charter the rig for an initial 240-day period on a dayrate in the low $250,000s
US budget cuts may hit Alaska drilling The US Interior Department is concerned potential cuts in the government's 2012 budget, to take effect this October, could slow oil and natural gas drilling off the Alaskan coast, an official said on today. "The Arctic is a very good example of an area that could be affected in very significant ways by budget negotiations," David Hayes, the Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Interior told a meeting at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Hayes said proposals by Republicans in the House of Representatives to slash next year's budget would mean the Interior Department would not have "close to what we think we need in order to have sufficient inspectors, technical experts and others to do the work necessary" for offshore oil and gas drilling, Reuters reported
Pioneer Drilling plans to sell 6 million shares US onshore driller Pioneer Drilling plans to sell 6 million shares of common stock to raise cash for new rigs.Goldman Sachs and Jefferies & Company will underwrite the offering, Pioneer said in a statement. The company said the offering �is subject to market conditions� and that it could not guarantee how much the offering would raise or how long it would take to complete.
A single UK ticket has won Europe's biggest-ever lottery prize, the �161m EuroMillions jackpot. The winner matched all five main numbers and both the Lucky Stars to scoop the jackpot, which had been capped after a series of rollovers. It is not known whether the ticket belongs to an individual or syndicate, or where they come from in the UK. The winning EuroMillions numbers were 17, 19, 38, 42 and 45, and the Lucky Stars were 9 and 10. The exact amount to be claimed is �161,653,000.
EIA ups US gas output growth forecast The US Energy Information Administration today sharply raised its estimate for domestic natural gas production growth in 2011, expecting total output this year to be up 5.8% from 2010 levels.In its July Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA said it expected marketed natural gas production to rise by 3.56 billion cubic feet per day this year to a record 65.39 Bcf, up sharply from its June outlook that had output this year at 64.61 Bcfd, Reuters reported. EIA said much of the growth in 2011 gas output was expected to occur in the first three quarters of the year, with a more moderate increase in the fourth quarter.
Opec: Oil demand to slow in 2012 World oil demand is likely to grow more slowly in 2012 because of a fragile global economy and deepening decline in consumption in Europe, Opec said in its first forecast for next year. Oil prices could draw some support from a lingering supply shortfall of more than 1 million barrels per day between the anticipated demand for Opec crude and the amount pumped by the 12-member group, although increased output from top producer Saudi Arabia has narrowed the gap. In its monthly report out today, Opec predicted world oil consumption would rise by 1.32 million bpd next year, slightly lower than the growth of 1.36 million bpd expected this year.
Chevron eyes Liberia deep-water spud US supermajor Chevron said today that it expects to start drilling its first deep-water well off the coast of Liberia in the fourth quarter of this year in its three deep-water concessions. The Liberian government last year approved its investment in the blocs off the West African country's coast, giving it a 70% interest in deep-water blocks LB-11, LB-12 and LB-14, 12 to 110 miles south of Liberia's capital, Monrovia. "We recently secured the drillship and expect to begin drilling Chevron's first deep-water exploration well in the fourth quarter of this year," Chevron chief executive John Watson said in a statement, Reuters reported. "If our exploration programme is successful, we look forward to working with you to bring Liberia's resources to the world energy market," he added
McDermott in Murphy Malaysian EPIC Murphy Oil and McDermott have signed a deal that will see the US contractor provide engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of pipelines for a project in Malaysia.The contract, which will be carried out by McDermott�s Malaysian subsidiary, includes the transportation and installation of an umbilical and subsea hardware package, McDermott said in a
Saudi oil output rises Saudi Arabia significantly increased its oil production in June compared with May and could produce more this month, the executive director of the International Energy Agency said today. "There is a significant increase from Saudi in June, and probably in July too," Nobuo Tanaka said on the sidelines of a meeting at the European Parliament, Dow Jones reported. "It is a very, very good increase in production" for June, Tanaka said, adding that the IEA has data for June and more is still coming. The IEA will release its monthly oil market report Wednesday morning.
CNOOC: Bohai spill 'minor' "Equipment malfunction" was reponsible for an oil leak which shut production at a China National Offshore Oil Corporation oilfield today, the company has said. The spill which occurred around the Suizhong 36-1 platform is, however, "minor" and should be cleared up before Wednesday, the Chinese oil giant contended. CNOOC was forced to put its emergency response plan into operation after the oil leak was discovered at the platform in northern Bohai Bay today.
Bill Barrett makes Rocky splash US independent Bill Barrett Corporation has penned a lucrative deal to buy assets in the Rocky Mountain region.The NYSE-listed player has splashed out $150 million on properties owned by a subsidiary of Texas American Resources. Bill Barrett is to target production from the Codell and Niobrara formations with the plays in the Denver-Julesburg Basin.
Norwegian minnow North Energy is poised to kick off drillingof the highly touted Heilo prospect in the Barents Sea next month after the well was given the green light by the authorities. The Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) today gave its approval for the 7124/4-1S well at the oil prospect in Production Licence 530, operated by GDF Suez E&P. The wildcat will be drilled by Aker Drilling�s harsh environment semi-submersible Aker Barents in about 300 metres of water, with drilling expected to take 55 days. Licence partner North Energy has earlier suggested that Heilo, which lies off Hammerfest north-east of the Snohvit gas field, could hold a gross potential resource of 308 million barrels � more than Statoil�s recent Skrugard find in the region.
Shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries has landed a contract from India�s government for the construction of a single seismic research vessel. The deal for the high-specification unit was apparently penned in March but has only come to light after a UK company won the seismic consultancy contract.
Swedish independent Lundin Petroleum has struck gas with its debut exploration well off Malaysia. The Tarap-1 well was drilled by Seadrill jack-up Offshore Courageous in Block SB303 off Sabah, east Malaysia and hit gas in all five targeted zones in Miocene sands, with a total pay thickness of 150 metres. Data acquired from the well, drilled in a water depth of 70 metres to a measured depth of 2675 metres, will now be analysed to determine resource estimates, Lundin said in a statement. �This is an encouraging start to the drilling campaign in Malaysia and provides strong support for our strategy in South-East Asia of pursuing organic growth and value creation in focused core areas,� said Lundin chief executive Ashley Heppenstall.
UK independent Premier Oil can finally drill the Gardrofa prospect in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea after gaining official permission from the authorities. It follows an about-turn by Norway�s Petroleum Safety Authority, which had earlier rejected the company�s drilling application. Premier aims to start drilling well 9/1-1S in Production Licence 406 next month using the Fred. Olsen-owned semi-submersible Bredford Dolphin.
Saboteurs have launched another assault on the Egypt-Israel pipeline, this time blowing up an Egyptian pipeline distribution station in northern Sinai, one week after the last attack. The official Mena news agency quoted witnesses saying the assailants attacked the Al-Tawil security guard before the station, located near the northern town of Al-Arish, was blown up in the early hours of this morning, Reuters reported. The security guard and some members of his family were believed to have been hurt, the agency said, quoting witnesses.
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