(Oilprice.com, Nick Cunningham, 19.Nov.2019) — Growth in the U.S. shale industry is dramatically slowing down, with cash-strapped drillers slashing spending and scrapping rigs. At the same time, the oil majors are consolidating their position and moving forward with aggressive drilling plans. The business model for small and medium-sized drillers has […]
Category: USA
Venezuela Using Invisible Oil Tankers To Skirt Sanctions
(Oilprice.com, Irina Slav, 16.Nov.2019) — U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have been squeezing the life out of its economy in an attempt to remove the government of Nicolas Maduro from power, but so far those sanctions haven’t been entirely successful. The reason: Venezuela is still exporting oil. So far in November, […]
Ecopetrol and Oxy Finalize Permian Deal
(Ecopetrol, 13.Nov.2019) — Ecopetrol S.A. completed the joint venture transaction announced on 31 Jul. 2019. Through this deal, the company and Occidental Petroleum Corp agreed to form a strategic alliance or joint venture for the development of unconventional reservoirs in approximately 97,000 acres of the Permian Basin in the state […]
Clorox And Enel Green Power Ink Deal
(Clorox, 13.Nov.2019) — The Clorox Company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Enel Green Power North America signed a 12-year, 70 megawatt (MW) virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for the purchase of renewable energy beginning in 2021. Representing about half of Clorox’s 100% renewable electricity goal in its operations in […]
Rosneft Grapples With Unsold Venezuelan Oil
(Michelle Wiese Bockmann, 12.Nov.2019) — Rosneft’s trading arm is vital to Venezuelan crude sales as Chinese refiners shun direct purchases since the US administration tightened sanctions in August. Instead Venezuela to China shipments arrive via Malaysia, through ship-to-ship transfers undertaken from Rosneft-controlled tankers CRUDE exports from Venezuela have dwindled to […]
Ecopetrol Finds Oil In GOM Deep Waters
(Ecopetrol, 7.Nov.2019) — Ecopetrol reports that its US subsidiary, Ecopetrol America LLC, has participated in the drilling of the Esox-1 well under a Farmout Agreement with Chevron U.S.A. Inc. The well which resulted in the discovery of light oil is located in Mississippi Canyon Block No. 726 in the deep […]
McDermott Appoints Chris Krummel As CFO
(McDermott, 5.Nov.2019) — McDermott International, Inc. announced appointment of Chris Krummel as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Krummel joined McDermott in 2016 and previously served as the company’s Global Vice President, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer. He replaces Stuart Spence, who has resigned from McDermott to […]
Flexential Expands To LatAm With Seaborn
(Flexential, 4.Nov.2019) — Flexential announced it is expanding its FlexAnywhere offering, providing customers direct access to Seaborn Networks’ transoceanic platform for the low latency, high-speed, 72-terabits-per-second seamless connection to Latin America. The Latin American subsea cable, called Seabras-1, spans from New York/New Jersey, U.S. to Sao Palo, Brazil. Via this […]
Hess Announces Oil Find At Esox-1 GOM Well
(Hess, 29.Oct.2019) — Hess Corporation announced an oil discovery at the Esox-1 exploration well located in Mississippi Canyon Block No. 726 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Esox-1 was drilled in 4,609 feet (1,405 meters) of water and encountered approximately 191 net feet (58 meters) of high quality oil bearing […]
CITGO: Worth Protecting?
(AFPM, Chet Thompson, 22.Oct.2019) — In the last ten years the fracking revolution has led to amazing growth and vastly increased energy security for the United States. We’ve gone from the number-one refined product importer in the world to the number-one exporter. Workers in American refineries are fueling the country […]
Ali Moshiri Seeks $500mn For Post-Sanctions Venezuela
(Reuters, Jennifer Hiller, 21.Oct.2019) — The former chief of Chevron Corp’s Latin American operations is moving to raise $500 million from big financial firms to invest in Venezuela once U.S. sanctions are eventually lifted, confident that political change will come and that foreign investment will be needed to boost sagging […]
OFAC Gives Nynas AB Time
(Sputnik, 18.Oct.2019) — The United States has extended a license that allows certain transactions with PDVSA’s joint venture Nynas AB despite US sanctions on the Venezuelan oil sector, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a notice on its website on Wednesday. “All transactions and activities […]
Guaido Team Proposes Truce To PDVSA Bondholders
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga and Corina Pons, 18.Oct2019) — Venezuela’s opposition last week sent holders of state oil company PDVSA’s 2020 bond a proposal to suspend legal actions for 90 days, the latest maneuver to avoid losing U.S. refiner Citgo, three sources familiar with the talks said. The investors have not […]
Chevron To Receive Venezuelan Oil Cargo
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 18.Oct.2019) — U.S. oil major Chevron Corp is scheduled this month to receive at least one cargo of crude oil from sanctioned Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, according to an internal PDVSA document. If the loading proceeds, it would be the first shipment assigned to Chevron since […]
Braskem Launches I’m Green™
(Braskem, 17.Oct.2019) — Braskem, the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas and leading producer of biopolymers in the world, today formally launched its new I’m green™ Recycled polypropylene (PP) in the United States. The roll-out of Braskem’s new I’m green™ Recycled polypropylene represents one of the first new offerings under […]
Chevron Venezuela’s Exit To Aid Putin’s Russia
(S&P Global Platts, Brian Scheid and Rosemary Griffin, 17.Oct.2019) — Chevron is pushing back against the Trump administration’s plans to let the company’s Venezuela sanctions waiver expire, arguing such a move could ultimately drive oil production up, bolstering both the Maduro regime and Russia’s standing in the global market. “It’d […]
Maduro Rivals Seek Break With Citgo
(Argus, 17.Oct.2019) — Venezuela’s main political opposition is pressing for a deal with foreign bondholders to suspend a looming $914mn obligation that is tethered to coveted US refining assets. The high-stakes standoff over the PdV 2020 bond is closely watched by a myriad of other creditors, including Russia and China […]
Guaido Camp Declares PDVSA 2020 Bond Void
(venezuelanalysis.com, 16.Oct.2019) — Venezuela’s CITGO could be seized by creditors. Venezuela’s opposition-held National Assembly (AN) passed a resolution Tuesday branding the country’s 2020 PDVSA bond “invalid.” The move comes on the eve of a hefty US $913 million payment to creditors due October 28. Non-payment could mean the loss of […]
Venezuela’s Prize Oil Asset May Soon Be Up For Grabs
(Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 16.Oct.2019) — Venezuela’s opposition is getting ready to file within days a lawsuit in the United States seeking to prevent bond holders of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA from going after shares in its U.S. subsidiary Citgo over an expected PDVSA bond default this month, Reuters reports, […]
Venezuela’s Opposition Snubs PDVSA Bondholders
(Argus, 15.Oct.2019) — Venezuela’s opposition-controlled National Assembly signaled to bondholders today that it will not honor a $914mn principal and interest obligation because it says the debt issuance is unconstitutional. The controversial PdV 2020 bond issued by Venezuela’s national oil company PdV is collateralized by the firm’s US refining unit […]
Venezuelan Oil Output Could Be Halved Without Chevron Waiver
(S&P Global Platts, Brian Scheid, 14.Oct.2019) — Venezuelan oil production, already averaging a historic low near 600,000 b/d, could quickly plummet below 300,000 b/d if the Trump administration allows a waiver for Chevron and four US oil services companies to expire next week, analysts told S&P Global Platts. “I think […]
Chevron Grabs 5 Blocks In ANP’s 16th Bid Round
(Chevron, 10.Oct.2019) — Chevron Brasil welcomes the results of Brazil’s 16th Bid Round. We are pleased to be part of the following five successful consortia, including two as the operator: — Block S-M-766: Chevron holds an operating 40% interest in this block located in the Santos Basin, along with partners […]
ANP 16th Round Attracts Record R$8.9bn Signings
(ANP, 10.Oct.2019) — The 16th Bidding Round collected R$ 8.9 billions in signature bonuses, a record value among the concession rounds already held in Brazil. The round will generate investments of at least R$ 1.58 billion in the first phase of the concession contracts alone (exploration phase). Twelve of the […]
Reliance To Resume Venezuela Oil Loadings
(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 9.Oct.2019) — Indian refiner Reliance Industries Ltd is scheduled to resume loading Venezuelan crude in October after a four-month pause, according to sources and internal documents from PDVSA seen by Reuters, a move that could help Venezuela’s state-run company drain its large oil inventories. The United States in January […]
Aruba Ends Citgo Deal
(Reuters, 9.Oct.2019) — Aruba on Wednesday reached an agreement with U.S. based Citgo Petroleum Corp to end its contract to refurbish and operate the island’s refinery, a statement from the island’s prime minister said. The Caribbean nation plans to pursue outside candidates to take over the 209,000 barrel per day […]
CITGO Key To Trump’s Venezuela Strategy
(Forbes, Ariel Cohen, 8.Oct.2019) — At last month’s United Nations General Assembly, the Lima Group, the U.S.-led coalition of 14 countries in the Americas seeking a solution to the Venezuela crisis, and the International Contact Group, reaffirmed its commitment to democracy and the rule of law. The human rights record […]
Citgo Bolsters Legal Defenses With Former BP Lawyer
(Reuters, 8.Oct.2019) — Citgo Petroleum Corp this week named a former BP lawyer to take on the company’s top legal job as it faces creditors seeking to seize shares in the U.S.-based refiner over parent PDVSA’s debts. Jack Lynch, who spent 18 years working for BP in Houston, London and […]
Energy Cos Caught In Spat Over Venezuela Sanctions
(Chron, Sergio Chapa, 7.Oct.2019) — Frequent power outages, theft of equipment, a political tug-of-war and billions of dollars in losses would seem to signal to businesses that it’s time to get out of Venezuela. But energy companies with headquarters or major operations in Houston — including the oil major Chevron […]
Exxon Mobil Bars Use Of Oil Tankers Linked To Venezuela
(Reuters, Jonathan Saul and Collin Eaton, 4.Oct.2019) — Exxon Mobil Corp this week banned the use of vessels linked to oil flows from Venezuela in the last year, according to four people familiar with the matter, putting new pressure on the U.S. sanctioned country and on global crude freight rates. […]
Petrobras Reveals 3Q:19 Release Date
(Petrobras, 4.Oct.2019) — Petrobras reports that on October 17, after market closes, the company will release its quarterly production and sales report for 3Q19 and on October 24, also after market closes, it will disclose the financial statements report. On October 25 it will be held two conference calls/webcasts to […]
PdV Floods Cuba With Stranded Oil
(Argus, 3.Oct.2019) — At least three Venezuelan fuel tankers are heading towards Cuba today, part of a flotilla meant to free up domestic storage space while defying a US campaign to cut off Venezuela’s oil supply to its political ally. Up to 3mn bl of refined products and heavy crude […]
Brazil Approves 14 Firms For November Oil Tender
(Reuters, 30.Sep.2019) — Fourteen companies have been officially approved by Brazilian authorities to participate in an oil bidding round in November, in which total signing bonuses are expected to be the biggest so far, exceeding $25 billion, national oil regulator ANP said on Monday. As widely expected, the companies participating include […]
Ibank Jefferies Cuts Bankers As M&A Slows
(Reuters, Gary McWilliams and David French, 27.Sep.2019) — Jefferies Financial Group has laid off 15 people in its energy investment banking team, as the bank reacts to a slowdown of mergers and acquisitions activity among oil and gas companies, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The job cuts […]
Guaido IDB Envoy Hausmann Resigns Post
(Argus, 26.Sep.2019) — Venezuela’s parallel administration headed by opposition leader Juan Guaido has lost its most prominent figure, former planning minister and Harvard professor Ricardo Hausmann. Hausmann, who recently hinted at repudiating some of Venezuela’s debt, had been serving as Guaido’s representative at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a Washington-based […]
IEnova Inks Solar Deal With Liverpool And Circle K
(Sempra, 26.Sep.2019) — Sempra Energy announced that its Mexican subsidiary, Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) (BMV: IENOVA), has signed two 15-year clean energy contracts with subsidiaries of Comercializadora Círculo CCK, S.A. de C.V. (Circle K18) and El Puerto de Liverpool, S.A.B. de C.V. (Liverpool). These corporate contracts will […]
Pemex Announces Early Participation Results
(Pemex, 26.Sep.2019) — Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) announced the early participation results of (a) its offers to exchange any and all of its outstanding series of securities set forth in the table below under the heading “Any and All Offers” (collectively, the “Any and All Securities”, and such offers, the “Any […]
US Press Secretary Statement On Venezuela
(White House Press Secretary, 25.Sep.2019) — Today, President Donald J. Trump and other United States officials hosted leaders from Western Hemisphere countries to discuss the need for a democratic transition in Venezuela to resolve the prolonged political, economic, and humanitarian crisis caused by Nicolas Maduro and his regime. The United […]
Venezuela Oil Exports To Cuba Rising: Sources
(Reuters, Mircely Guanipa and Marianna Parraga, 25.Sep.2019) — Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA ordered an increase in exports to ally Cuba to ease fuel shortages on the island this month, challenging U.S. sanctions on shipping firms involved in the trade, according to three industry sources and Refinitiv Eikon data. The […]
US Targets Entities, Vessels Moving Venezuelan Oil To Cuba
(US Treasury, 24.Sep.2019) — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four entities that operate in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850. Additionally, OFAC identified four vessels that transport oil and other petroleum products from Venezuela […]
US Actions Against Entities Assisting Venezuela
(US Treasury, 24.Sep.2019) — On September 24, the United States designated four companies that operate in Venezuela’s oil sector as sanctioned, and identified as blocked property four vessels associated with this activity. This action further targets Venezuela’s oil sector and the mechanisms used to transport oil to Nicolás Maduro’s Cuban […]
Maduro Plots Assembly Grab, Oil-For-Food Floated
(Argus, 24.Sep.2019) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s constitutional claim to the Opec country’s interim presidency could be undermined by today’s tumultuous return of the governing United Socialist Party (PSUV) to the National Assembly. Over 50 elected PSUV deputies entered the legislative chamber this morning for the first time since […]
Jinkosolar Invited To UN Climate Action Summit 2019
(JinkoSolar, 23.Sep.2019) — JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. has been invited to the UN Climate Action Summit 2019, which will be held at the UN headquarters in New York on September 23, 2019. To move forward on ambitious climate action globally, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has invited over 100 heads of […]
Argentina’s Vaca Muerta Comparable to Permian Basin
(Energy Analytics Institute, 4.Sep.2019) — “The massive Vaca Muerta formation is geologically comparable to the best US oil basins, particularly the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, and has the potential to join the ranks of the best oil plays in the world,” Exterran Vice President Federico […]
Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Awarded Module Fabrication Contract
(McDermott, 17.Sep.2019) — McDermott International, Inc. announced that its joint venture Qingdao McDermott Wuchuan Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd (QMW) in Qingdao, China, has been awarded a large* contract to provide three complex modules for the Arctic LNG 2 Project in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region in Russia. “This award recognizes QMW’s […]
Sur de Texas Marine Pipeline Achieves Commercial Operation
(IMG, 17.Sep.2019) — Infraestructura Marina del Golfo (IMG), a joint venture between TC Energy Corporation (TC Energía) and Infraestructura Energética Nova (IEnova), announced commencement of the commercial operation of the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan (Sur de Texas) marine natural gas pipeline. With a transportation capacity of 2.6 billion cubic feet per […]
ExxonMobil Reports Tripeltail Find Offshore Guyana
(Exxon, 16.Sep.2019) — ExxonMobil made an oil discovery on the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana at the Tripletail-1 well in the Turbot area. The discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of more than 6 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block. Tripletail-1 encountered approximately 108 feet (33 meters) […]
Alaska Airlines Launches #FillBeforeYouFly
(Alaska Airlines, 12.Sep.2019) — Alaska Airlines today announced its #FillBeforeYouFly initiative to partner with guests and employees to continue reducing the use of single-use plastics inflight. The aim: rally with flyers to bring their own water bottle and fill it before they board. This is one of Alaska Airlines’ many […]
CNPC Skips Venezuelan oil Loading For Second Month
(Reuters, Chen Aizhu, 10.Sep.2019) — China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), a leading buyer of Venezuelan oil, will skip cargo loadings for a second month in September as the state oil giant looks to avoid breaching U.S. sanctions, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. CNPC made a surprise halt […]
Rosneft Issues Statement On Venezuela
(Rosneft, 10.Sep.2019) — In connection with statements by US special envoy Elliott Abrams, Rosneft reaffirms its position regarding the Company’s operations in Venezuela. Rosneft is an investor in the oil and gas sector of Venezuela and has been such long before the introduction of US sanctions against Venezuela. Accordingly, any […]
Bolton Exit Shifts Oil Market Outlook
(Bloomberg, Lucia Kassai and David Wethe, 10.Sep.2019) — The firing of U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton gave oil markets some near-term supply comfort, while analysts were divided on whether the move will lead to a longer term softening in U.S. foreign policy toward Iran and Venezuela. Brent crude oil […]