(Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 14.May.2019) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting on Tuesday to discuss various issues, including the fate of Venezuela and Nicolas Maduro—a hot topic for the oil market as geopolitical tensions have mounted in recent weeks. Secretary Pompeo will be […]
Category: Europe
Europe energy
Equinor Boosts Stake In Caesar Tonga Field In Deepwater US GOM
(Equinor, 13.May.2019) — Equinor has exercised its preferential rights to acquire an additional 22.45% interest in the Caesar Tonga oil field from Shell Offshore Inc for a total consideration of USD 965 million in cash. This will increase Equinor’s interest from 23.55% to 46.00%. Anadarko remains the operator with a […]
Delek’s US GOM Caesar Tonga Oil Acquisition Cancelled
(Globes, 12.May.2019) — One of the existing partners has exercised its first right of refusal on the rights in the Caesar Tonga oil field. The share price of Delek Group Ltd. is down about 1% following an announcement by the company this morning that a deal for the purchase of […]
WoodMac: Chevron Exits Bidding War For Anadarko
(WoodMac, 9.May.2019) — Chevron Corporation today announced that it would not offer a counter proposal to Occidental Petroleum’s rival bid to acquire Anadarko Petroleum. Earlier this week, Anadarko said it had received an offer from Occidental that was superior to a previously-arranged deal with Chevron. Chevron said it would allow […]
Braskem Says Consolidated Recurring EBITDA Reached $336 Million In 1Q:19
(Braskem, 8.May.2019) — Braskem S.A. announces today its results for 1Q19. HIGHLIGHTS: Braskem – Consolidated: — Braskem’s recurring EBITDA was US$ 336 million, down 16% and 60% from 4Q18 and 1Q18, respectively, influenced by lower petrochemical spreads in the international market. Including non-recurring impacts, EBITDA was US$ 729 million, reflecting […]
LatAmNRG Argentina Briefs: Gutiérrez Shell Chat, Tecpetrol Accident
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 8.May.2019) — Heard on the street and LatAmNRG briefs related to eight oil and gas sector deaths in the Neuquina Basin in 15 months, Neuquén Governor Gutiérrez to meet with Royal Dutch Shell’s Ben Van Beurden, and Tecpetrol Argentina still investigating fatal Fortín de Piedra […]
What Does IMO 2020 Mean For Downstream, Upstream, LNG and Bulks Sector
(Woodmac, 7.May.2019) — Implementation of IMO 2020 regulation is just eight months away and its implications will be felt beyond refining and shipping. Wood Mackenzie’s Asia Pacific experts weigh in on what this means for the different sectors. Expect wider light-heavy and sweet-sour crude price differentials Research director Sushant Gupta […]
Wintershall DEA Names Manfred Böckmann To Head Argentina Unit
(Wintershall, 2.May.2019) — Wintershall Dea announced a change of leadership at Wintershall Energía (soon to be Wintershall Dea Argentina). Manfred Böckmann took over the position of Managing Director in Argentina on 1 May 2019, the same day the two German companies Wintershall Holding GmbH (Wintershall) and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG […]
Noble Corporation plc Reports 1Q:19 Results
(Noble, 1.May.2019) — Noble Corporation plc today reported a net loss attributable to the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2019 (first quarter) of $71 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, of which $4 million, or $0.02 per diluted share related to discontinued operations. The Company’s net loss […]
BASF And LetterOne Finalize Merger Of Wintershall And DEA
(LetterOne, 1.May.2019) — LetterOne and BASF today announced the completion of the merger of their oil and gas businesses to create Wintershall Dea, the largest independent exploration and production company in Europe. All necessary regulatory approvals were received from nine countries, including Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and Russia. Highlights: […]
Calling Students Ages 13-18 Years Old To Participate In Science And Math Contest
(Breakthrough, 1.May.2019) — The Breakthrough Prize Foundation announced today the launch of its fifth annual Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a global student science and mathematics competition designed to inspire creative thinking about fundamental concepts in the life sciences, physics and mathematics. All students must register at https://breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org and submit completed entries between […]
Oil Tops $73/bbl Then Pares Gains As Venezuela’s Maduro Claims Support
(Reuters, Collin Eaton , 30.Apr.2019) — Oil prices rose on Tuesday above $73 a barrel but then eased off the session high after Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro said military leaders remained loyal to his government despite an attempted coup that could further threaten the OPEC producer’s oil exports. Prices rose […]
Finnish Refiner Neste Hit By Venezuela Oil Sanctions
(Reuters, Tarmo Virki, 26.Apr.2019) — Finnish biofuel producer and oil refiner Neste reported a bigger than expected fall in quarterly profit on Friday, with U.S. sanctions against Venezuela having curbed crude oil supply to its Nynas joint venture. First-quarter core operating profit fell 6 percent to 378 million euros ($421 […]
Shell Announces Deep-Water GOM Discovery At Blacktip Prospect
(Shell, 24.Apr.2019) — Shell Offshore Inc. (“Shell”), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, today announced a significant discovery at the Blacktip prospect in the deep water U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Evaluation is ongoing and appraisal planning is underway to further delineate the discovery and define development options. “Blacktip is […]
Reuters Corrects Story Saying Venezuela Is Avoiding U.S. Sanctions by Funneling Oil Sales Through Russia
(The Moscow Times, 24.Apr.2019) — Reuters has corrected a story it published on April 18 saying Venezuela is funneling cash flow from oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft to evade U.S. sanctions after Rosneft threatened to ban the international news agency from operating in Russia. The story, datelined […]
Venezuela Imports Crude For The First Time In Five Years
(Bloomberg, Lucia Kassai, 24.Apr.2019) — Oil production in Venezuela has dipped so low that the owner of the world’s largest reserves is importing crude for the first time in five years. The nation’s output fell below 1 million barrels a day to a 16-year low in March, amid rolling blackouts […]
Phoenix Global Announces Departure Of CEO Anuj Sharma
(Phoenix, 23.Apr.2019) — Phoenix Global Resources plc announces that Mr. Sharma has served a notice on the company, which the company is treating as a notice terminating his employment in accordance with his service agreement and resigning from his position as CEO and a director of the company with immediate […]
Venezuela Seeks To Collect Some Oil Payments Via Rosneft
(Reuters, 19.Apr.2019) — The cash-strapped government is becoming increasingly reliant on the Kremlin. Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has asked at least two of its clients to make payments for Venezuelan oil via Russian state energy giant Rosneft, as it comes under pressure from U.S. sanctions, according to a PDVSA […]
Czech Group Solek Start Work On 16.6 MWp Of PV Plants In Chile
(Renewables Now, 19.Apr.2019) — Czech solar developer Solek Group announced on Thursday its has started construction of three solar parks in Chile with a combined capacity of 16.64 MWp direct current (DC). More specifically, the European company is building the 2.99-MWp Villa Seca and the 10.66-MWp Santa Fe farms in […]
Indian Refiners Turn To OPEC, Mexico, U.S. To Make Up Iran Oil Gap
(Reuters, 18.Apr.2019) — All four Indian state-owned refiners that buy Iranian oil are confident of securing additional barrels from other producers, officials from the companies told Reuters. Indian refiners are increasing their planned purchases from OPEC nations, Mexico and the United States to make up for any loss of Iranian […]
Exclusive: Venezuela Skirts U.S. Sanctions By Funneling Oil Sales Via Russia
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 18.Apr.2019) — President Nicolas Maduro is funneling cashflow from Venezuelan oil sales through Russian state energy giant Rosneft as he seeks to evade U.S. sanctions designed to oust him from power, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters. The sales are the latest sign of the […]
Repsol Cuts Swap For Venezuelan Oil Under U.S. Pressure
(Reuters, Collin Eaton and Marianna Parraga, 17.Apr.2019) — Spain’s Repsol suspended its swaps of refining products for crude with Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA, people familiar with the matter said, as U.S. officials weighed penalties for foreign firms doing business with Venezuela. The Spanish oil company has been swapping fuel […]
Wintershall Expands Portfolio In Argentina
(WorldOil, 17.Apr.2019) — Wintershall won the bidding process for two blocks in the promising Malvinas Basin off the coast of Tierra del Fuego as part of the “Costa Afuera” licensing round. In addition to the CMA-1 exploitation concession, with this award, the company will participate in further offshore exploration projects […]
This New Oil Hotspot Is Replacing Venezuelan Crude
(Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 15.Apr.2019) — The U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry have tightened the global heavy to medium crude oil market, sending oil buyers scrambling for alternatives to the heavy Venezuelan oil. Refiners in the United States and Europe have started to replace Venezuela’s oil with some of […]
Chevron Buys Anadarko In $50bn Cash-And-Stock Deal
(WoodMac, 12.Apr.2019) — Commenting on Chevron’s US$50 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of Anadarko, Roy Martin, senior analyst, corporate analysis, said: “This is the biggest upstream deal since Shell and BG in 2015. “Chevron now joins the ranks of the UltraMajors – and the big three becomes the big four.” Once the […]
Enel Ups Stake In Chile Unit, Supports $3.5bn Capital Hike Plan
(Renewables Now, 11.Apr.2019) — Italian renewables-focused utility Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL) on Wednesday said it has concluded the purchase of an additional 4.62% stake in its Chile-based unit and announced plans to support an upcoming capital hike at the same subsidiary. Enel has settled two previously announced share-swap transactions, buying nearly […]
TechnipFMC Inks Significant Subsea Deal For The Lapa Pre-Salt Field In Brazil
(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 9.Apr.2019) — TechnipFMC said it has been awarded a significant contract for the Lapa field by Total E&P do Brasil Ltda., on behalf of the Lapa Field Consortium, comprised of Total (35% WI), Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. (30% WI), Repsol Sinopec Brasil S.A. (25% WI) […]
Repsol And Petro-Peru Raise Fuel Prices Again In Peru
(Energy Analytics Institute, Ian Silverman, 8.Apr.2019) — Repsol and Petro-Peru released details of their new fuel prices over the weekend. According to the details, fuel oil and gasoline prices rose between 0.6% and 3% per gallon, including taxes, online media El Comercio reported, citing data from Peru’s Consumers and Users […]
Shell Invests In Nature In Move To Tackle CO2 Emissions
(Shell, 8.Apr.2019) — Carbon-neutral driving launch in the Netherlands complements investments in new electric vehicle charge points. Reforestation partnerships announced in the Netherlands and Spain Shell today announces a programme to invest in natural ecosystems as part of its strategy to act on global climate change, including addressing carbon dioxide […]
Knowledge Exchange Spurs China-Argentina Infrastructure Projects
(Xinhua, 8.Apr.2019) — Knowledge exchange between Chinese and Argentine technicians spurs large-scale joint infrastructure projects within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said Argentine workers at Chinese company Power China. Chinese company Power China is currently helping develop Argentina’s alternative energy sources by building a series of […]
Chile, India, And Jordan Set The Green Standard
(The Christian Science Monitor, Timmy Broderick, 8.Apr.2019) — Solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal vents – all three are technologies that were once solely the province of wealthy nations. Now they have been swiftly adopted in developing countries as costs have plummeted. In fact, global emerging economies added more clean power […]
Students Put Energy Efficient Cars To The Test At Shell Eco-marathon Americas
(Shell, 7.Apr.2019) — Make the Future Live California featuring Shell Eco-marathon Americas drew more than 1,000 students to Sonoma Raceway to compete for the title of most fuel-efficient vehicle. Northern Illinois University of DeKalb, Illinois took home first place in the Internal Combustion Engine Prototype category with their gasoline-fueled vehicle […]
New U.S. Sanctions Seek To Block Venezuelan Oil Shipments To Cuba
(NYT, Annie Karni and Nicholas Casey, 5.Apr.2019) — The Trump administration announced on Friday its latest round of economic sanctions against the government of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, this time aimed at oil shipments between Venezuela and Cuba, a country that the administration has accused of propping up Mr. […]
Venezuela Blackouts Cut Oil Output by Half During March
(Bloomberg Fabiola Zerpa, 4.Apr.2019) — Power failures that plunged Venezuela into darkness for much of March also briefly slashed the country’s crude production by half, according to people familiar with the situation. Rolling blackouts across much of the country that started on March 7 paralyzed most of the country’s oil […]
IGU Releases 2019 World LNG Report As Global Trade Continues To Grow
(IGU, 2.Apr.2019) — The International Gas Union (IGU) released its 2019 World LNG Report – an annual, in-depth analysis of the current state of the Global LNG Industry over the previous 12 months. Examining a range of metrics, the latest report illustrates that 2018 was another strong year for LNG, […]
Wintershall Says Low Costs Will Boost Profits After Merger With DEA
(Reuters, Vera Eckert, 21.Mar.2019) — BASF’s oil and gas subsidiary Wintershall will boost profitability after its planned merger with rival DEA, drawing on cost cuts from the move, an expansion of proven reserves and increased output, its chief executive said on Thursday. “We have cheap production and development costs and […]
Germany’s Wintershall Says Focusing On Brazil Offshore Oil Among Other Regions
(Reuters, 21.Mar.2019) — BASF’s oil and gas subsidiary Wintershall on Thursday said it would build up its presence in the Brazilian offshore oil sector this year where it won exploration licences in 2018. “It is part of our growth course that we are also active in new regions, and Brazil […]