Chesapeake seeks to sell south Texas shale assets for $2 billion

Chesapeake Energy Corp., the once mighty shale explorer that exited bankruptcy earlier this year, is seeking to sell oil-producing assets in South Texas for as much as $2 billion, according people familiar with the plan. More »

Senate to start undoing Trump’s rollbacks using once-obscure law

Senate Democrats began using a special procedure to undo parts of Donald Trump’s regulatory agenda, starting by rescinding a measure that made it harder for the Environmental Protection Agency to limit leaks of the powerful greenhouse gas methane from oil and gas wells. More »

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Noia comments on industry task force report

While Noia is currently reviewing the government's Oil and Gas Industry Recovery Task Force Report recommendations, the association is initially pleased with the recommendations and the approach of the task force to deal with current challenges and prepare for the future. More »

Exxon rebounds to first profit since 2019 on crude surge

Exxon Mobil snapped a record streak of losses as rising oil and natural gas prices bolstered one of the biggest dividends in the SandP 500 Index. More »

Bristow Group announces contract extension with Aker BP in Norway

Bristow Group Inc. announced a three-year contract extension until August 2024 with Aker BP to support air transportation crew change services for their operations in the Norwegian continental shelf. More »

Oil Sands Pipeline wins bid to hide insurers from activists

Trans Mountain Pipeline LP’s effort to keep its insurers’ names confidential was accepted by regulators in a setback for environmental groups fighting to prevent development of the Canadian oil sands. More »

Sulzer expands presence in Denmark

Sulzer has broken ground on a new service center in Denmark that will provide its full range of product sales and maintenance services throughout the region, all from under one roof. More »

BJ Energy Solutions reaches milestone with its TITAN fleet

BJ Energy Solutions' first 40,000 Horsepower (HHP) TITAN fleet began a phased deployment in the Haynesville on Jan. 5, becoming fully operational by Jan. 31. More »

Vitol near $1 billion-plus deal for Hunt’s Permian oil wells

Vitol Group is said to be near a purchase of Hunt Oil Co.’s Permian Basin oil wells in what would mark the biggest independent crude trader’s first major acquisition of U.S. production assets, according to people with knowledge of the matter. More »

Oil crown jewels no longer off limits in Mideast amid deal surge

In the space of a few weeks, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait have all accelerated multi-billion-dollar plans to sell energy assets or issue bonds off the back of them. More »

Shell pays down debt as profit surges by more than expected

The energy giant became the latest oil major to restore earnings to pre-pandemic levels, thanks to a sharp recovery in the prices of crude, natural gas and chemicals. More »

Oil surges with U.S. demand bump driving global rebound optimism

Oil advanced to the highest in over a month as a combination of declining U.S. petroleum product supplies and signs of stronger demand buttressed expectations for a revival in global consumption. More »

CGG delivers data from Agata Reimaging to support Brazil’s 7th bidding round

CGG announced the delivery of the fast-track data from its Agata Reimaging program over the Agata block in the Santos Basin, a highly prolific area of Brazil’s offshore pre-salt. More »

API: Climate progress requires bipartisan solutions

The American Petroleum Institute issued a statement from President and CEO Mike Sommers in advance of President Biden’s first joint address to Congress this evening. More »

OTC and NAPE Partner for ‘Synergy in Energy’

Two of the most prominent energy conferences – the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and NAPE Summit – announced a first-of-its-kind “Synergy in Energy” partnership. Both events will be held Aug.16-20 in Houston and guests will have the option to purchase a combo pass allowing full access to both conferences. More »

Seven countries account for two-thirds of global gas flaring

Gas flaring satellite data from 2020 reveals that Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria, Venezuela and Nigeria remain the top seven gas flaring countries for nine years running, since the first satellite was launched in 2012. More »

Oil rises a second day with focus on returning fuel consumption

Oil rose to the highest intraday in a week as expectations strengthened for a revival in global consumption despite the resurgent pandemic in India and Brazil. More »

Saudis in talks to sell Aramco stake to global energy firm

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said the kingdom is in talks to sell a 1% stake in state oil giant Saudi Aramco to a “leading global energy company” as he forecast an economic rebound after the coronavirus pandemic. More »

Seadrill secures four-year contract for West Saturn drillship with Equinor Brazil

Seadrill Limited secured a four-year firm contract with four one-year options, for the West Saturn drillship with Equinor Brazil Energia Ltda for work on the Bacalhau field in Brazil. More »

Westwood: Offshore wind FIDs to skyrocket 57% outside China by 2022

Analysis from Westwood Global Energy Group indicates offshore wind energy projects final investment decisions (FIDs) will grow by 57% in the next year. More »

Chesapeake searches for next CEO after Lawler’s abrupt exit

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is searching for its next chief executive officer after the sudden departure of Doug Lawler less than three months on from the company’s exit from bankruptcy and as speculation continues to swirl about consolidation in the U.S. shale industry. More »

OPEC+ confirms plan to gently hike supply as demand recovers

OPEC and its allies recommended proceeding with plans to gently revive oil production as global demand recovers from the pandemic, despite surging infections in India. More »

CRES says Republican Congressional Climate Task Force is a win for America

Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions Executive Director Heather Reams commended the formation of a Republican climate task force in Congress. More »

Big Oil sees cash rolling in, but investors won’t get it yet

After one of the most difficult years in the oil industry’s history, crude prices have recovered and major producers are finally generating spare cash. Investors really want to get their hands on it, but most are likely to be disappointed. More »

Halliburton Introduces New Borehole Imaging Technology

Halliburton Company announced a new wireline logging service that helps operators acquire more accurate well data to better evaluate production potential called StrataXaminer. More »

EnQuest buying Bentley discovery from Whalsay Energy

EnQuest PLC, an oil and gas production and development company, announced it signed an agreement with Whalsay Energy Holdings Limited to purchase Whalsay’s 100% equity interest in the P1078 license containing the proven Bentley heavy-oil discovery. More »

Oil and gas companies hedging production farther into the future

Hedging remains a mainstay activity for many oil and gas producers, and some crude producers are hedging their crude production farther out into the future than they have in recent history. More »

Neptune Energy producing natural gas from Merakes project in Indonesia

Neptune Energy announced that the operator, Eni, said production has started from its Merakes development in the East Sepinggan block offshore Indonesia. More »

Moody's: Outlook for the global energy industry revised to positive on higher oil prices, recovery in demand

A sustained uptick in commodity prices on the back of a recovering global economy is set to bolster a turnaround in industry fundamentals over the coming 12 to 18 months. More »

New technology critical for oil and gas industry to manage well integrity

LYTT developed a technology that identifies and differentiates multiple downhole well integrity events by using unique algorithmic pattern recognition capabilities that build on acoustic measurements from Distributed Acoustic Sensing data. More »

Total’s Force Majeure declaration on Mozambique LNG came prematurely, African Energy Chamber says

The African Energy Chamber encourages all parties involved in the force majeure declaration on the Mozambique LNG project to have a better and more open conversation to find a practical and pragmatic commonsense solution for the project to resume, for the benefit of Total, other companies and especially for Mozambique’s people. More »

Nigeria’s president restores four drilling permits revoked from China’s Addax

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari reversed a government decision to revoke four oil permits from a unit of China’s Sinopec. More »

Oil prices end the week down as demand’s rebound gets patchy

Futures in New York rose the most in over a week on Friday, but were unable to reverse a 1.6% weekly loss as the market weighed a global economic reopening that’s coming in fits and starts. More »

California’s Newsom orders an eventual end to fracking in the state

Californian Governor Gavin Newsom will ban new hydraulic fracturing permits in the coming years as the state pushes to eliminate net greenhouse-gas emissions by 2045. More »

Schlumberger CEO looks forward to a profitable 2022 in non-U.S. markets

The world’s biggest oilfield contractor joined rivals Halliburton and Baker Hughes this week in predicting expansion in overseas work and a more muted recovery in North America through the rest of 2021. Global oil demand should return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year, if not sooner, Schlumberger CEO Olivier Le Peuch told analysts on Friday. More »

Equinor submits Troll West electrification plan to Norwegian authorities

Equinor and partners Petoro, Shell, Total and ConocoPhillips have decided in favour of Troll West electrification, and today submit the plan for development and operation to the minister of petroleum and energy. The decision includes partial electrification of the Troll B platform and full electrification of Troll C in the North Sea. More »

Maersk Drilling awarded one-well exploration contract for Maersk Discoverer

Maersk Drilling has been awarded a one-well contract by CGX Resources Inc., operator and joint venture partner with Frontera Energy Guyana Corp, for the semi-submersible rig Maersk Discoverer to perform exploration drilling in the Corentyne Block offshore Guyana. More »

NOV globally launches new ION+ PDC cutter technology

Further improving upon the successful ION platform, ION+ cutters comprise a wide range of application-specific cutter grades that incorporate refined diamond feeds, higher manufacturing pressures, and new, nonplanar interfaces. More »

Appalachian basin tops Permian as biggest methane emitting region in the US

Kayrros has released measurements quantifying the total methane emissions across the Appalachian Basin. The findings, derived from satellite data and proprietary algorithms, place the Appalachian Basin ahead of the Permian as the biggest source of methane in the US and identify the primary sources behind its emissions. More »

CGG and dCarbonX sign strategic agreement for decarbonization exploration

CGG has signed a strategic agreement to support dCarbonX in the subsurface assessment of its operated clean energy projects offshore Ireland and the UK, which include geothermal energy and storage sites for CO2, hydrogen and ammonia. More »

Oil price slide continues as India reports 300,000 new Covid cases a day

West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.6% following a 2.1% decline on Wednesday, when U.S. government data showed the first increase in crude stockpiles in a month. In India, coronavirus cases have topped 300,000 a day, the biggest jump globally, endangering consumption. More »

McDermott's CBandI Storage Solutions awarded LNG storage contract for Philippines' first LNG import terminal

McDermott International, Ltd announced that its CBandI Storage Solutions business has been awarded a contract by Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Company of Manila Inc. (AGandP) for the engineering, procurement and construction of an LNG storage tank for AGandP's Philippines LNG import and regasification terminal, currently under construction in Batangas, Philippines. More »

Russia projects OPEC+ will maintain oil price course at this week’s meeting

“If nothing extraordinary happens, we have already formed our three-month plans,” Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday, “Our task will be to look at these plans and maybe confirm or adjust them - yet most likely, this is the meeting to assess the current situation,” he said. More »

Halliburton reports pickup in oilfield services demand overseas

“I expect international activity growth to accelerate, and the early positive momentum in North America gives me confidence in the activity cadence for the rest of the year,” CEO Jeff Miller said in a statement. “I am optimistic about how this transition year is shaping up.” More »

Abu Dhabi said to consider selling $4 billion Taqa stake

Abu Dhabi is weighing the sale of a stake in its biggest utility as the oil-rich emirate seeks more international investment in its marquee assets, people familiar with the matter said. More »

Islamic State attacks turn Mozambique’s LNG boom into a bust

Mozambican businesses looking to cash in on Africa’s biggest private investment are facing disaster after an attack by Islamic State-linked militants on a town close to Total SE’s $20 billion natural gas export project. More »

Exxon proposes federally-funded $100B carbon capture facility on Texas Gulf Coast

In what would be the world’s biggest carbon carbon and sequestration project, Exxon, along with a multitude of private and public partners, would build a facility to collect emissions from refineries, petrochemical plants and other industrial facilities along the Houston Ship Channel, Joe Blommaert, president of Exxon’s new low-carbon business said in a blog post. More »

Oil trader Vitol sees crude demand recovering quickly

Demand for crude will increase by 7 million to 8 million barrels a day by the end of 2022, up from current levels, and producers will be stretched to meet that surge, Vitol Chief Executive Officer Russell Hardy said in an interview. More »

Libya’s oil recovery slows as fight brews over infrastructure spending

Libya’s oil production has fallen below 1 million barrels a day for the first time in months as a budgetary dispute hinders the OPEC member’s ability to fix war-damaged infrastructure. More »

Maersk Drilling secures four-well intervention contract for Mærsk Developer in Brazil

The contract is expected to commence in the first half of 2022, with a firm duration of 110 days. The value of the firm contract is approximately USD 34m, including rig modifications and a mobilization fee. More »

Oil trades above $64 one year after it crashed below zero

Oil’s forward curve suggests growing confidence, with the spread between WTI’s contracts for December this year and 2022 at the widest backwardation in about a month. Yet there are still reasons to be cautious, with India suffering a fresh wave of coronavirus infections and refiners there starting to curb processing. More »

Equinor to share energy transition plan with shareholders in 2022

Equinor announced that starting in 2022 it will submit its energy transition plan for advisory vote to shareholders at its Annual General Meeting. Equinor will update the plan every three years for an advisory vote. Progress on the plan will be reported annually. More »

BP to end Permian flaring by 2025 with $1B+ pipeline network: WSJ

BP will spend about $1.3 billion to build a network of pipelines and other infrastructure to collect and capture natural gas produced as a byproduct from oil wells in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported. More »

Historic oil glut amassed during the pandemic is almost gone

The unprecedented oil inventory glut that amassed during the coronavirus pandemic is almost gone, underpinning a price recovery that’s rescuing producers but vexing consumers. More »

Higher U.S. shale output could spark an OPEC price war, warns Pioneer CEO

Shale, and not the pandemic, was responsible for the initial oil-market crash of 2020, Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield said at an industry summit. He added that the cartel, frustrated at U.S. producers’ success in taking market share from OPEC, allowed prices to tumble. More »

Goldman projects transportation fuel demand will peak in 2026

The bank brought forward its forecast for peak oil demand in the transportation sector by one year to 2026, if not sooner, largely due to the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles. Overall crude consumption will keep expanding this decade due to jet fuel and petrochemicals, but growth will be at an “anemic” pace past 2025. More »

Biden targets oil industry’s methane emissions ahead of climate summit

Oil industry officials have encouraged the administration to seek methane reductions across the economy, including from agriculture. While some independent oil producers oppose new methane-cutting mandates, the trade group American Petroleum Institute supports explicit regulation of methane. More »

Jump in Asian refinery orders augurs well for global oil demand

The pick-up in activity across the key Asian market comes amid a flurry of signs that global oil consumption is improving as economies including the U.S. shake off the impact of the pandemic. So far in 2021, Brent futures have soared 30%, and last traded near $67 a barrel. More »

Shell joins key large-scale carbon capture project in the UK

Shell will team up with the UK’s biggest independent oil and gas producer Harbour Energy Plc, and the project’s developer Storegga Geotechnologies Ltd, a unit of the latter said Friday. The companies will be equal partners in the Acorn venture, it said, without disclosing potential investments from them. More »

AFG Holdings names Michael Walter as Chief Executive Officer

AFG Holdings, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Michael Walter as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mike succeeds Curtis Samford following his unexpected passing in February. More »

U.S. startup plans to build first zero-emission gas power plants

A new kind of power plant that doesn’t add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is being built in the U.S., potentially providing a way for utilities to keep burning natural gas without contributing to global warming. More »

Europe kicks the can on defining role for natural gas in a clean energy transition

The process of taxonomy is crucial because it will keep the EU on track to meet its commitment to climate neutrality. The challenge for the EU is to ensure it gets the political and social support while avoiding the risk of greenwashing, or overstating the significance of emissions reductions. More »

Tenaris US to add nearly 1,000 employees to its workforce

Tenaris is pushing ahead with plans to increase its operations across the US, bringing its facilities in the Northeast back online. With the ongoing expansion, Tenaris is working to boost its employee base in the States by about 1,000. More »

AMLO makes headway towards reinstating Mexico’s state energy monopoly

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has sought to clamp down on private competition to state-owned companies, saying in October he intends to protect the interests of state oil producer Pemex and electricity firm Comision Federal de Electricidad. At the time, he accused foreign companies of ransacking the country. More »

Exxon mulls sale of West Qurna-1 stake, says Iraq’s oil ministry

Iraq’s oil ministry took the unusual step of saying it’s in talks with U.S. companies about the possibility of them buying Exxon’s 32.7% stake in the field in southern Iraq, near the city of Basra. More »

Honeywell rolls out AI-enabled tech to support the EU’s methane emissions reduction strategy

Honeywell is launching its gas cloud imaging system in Europe to provide automated and continuous monitoring for leaks of dangerous and polluting gases such as methane at oil and gas, chemical and power generation facilities across the continent. More »

Houthi rebels attack Saudi Aramco sites for the second time in a week

The Yemeni rebels launched missiles at a Saudi Aramco facility in the refinery city of Jazan, and other targets including a site housing Patriot air-defense missiles, the group’s Al-Masirah TV reported. The Houthis said they used explosive-laded drones and 11 missiles. More »

Talos Energy announces successful deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration results

Talos Energy, along with affiliates of BP and Chevron U.S.A. announced successful drilling results from the Puma West exploration project located in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Green Canyon Block 821. More »

Oil prices surge on falling U.S. crude inventory

A U.S. government report showed domestic crude inventories fell by 5.89 million barrels last week, the biggest decline in two months, bringing nationwide supplies to the lowest since late February. A gauge for gasoline demand ticked higher for a seventh straight week. More »

Permian oil output nears pre-pandemic levels as crude prices build driller confidence

Crude production in the Permian basin will reach 4.466 million barrels a day in May, the most in a year, and rig counts have touched a one-year high, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration. More »

NOIA elects Tim Duncan of Talos Energy as Chairman, Paul Danos of Danos as Vice Chairman

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) Board of Directors has elected Tim Duncan, President and CEO of Talos Energy, as Chairman and Paul Danos, Owner, President and CEO of Danos, as Vice Chairman for the 2021-22 term. More »

ADNOC mulls a public offering for its drilling business

Petrostates in the Persian Gulf are trying to bolster their economies after they were hit last year by coronavirus lockdowns and the crash in oil prices. They also want to diversify from fossil fuels by using money raised from their oil assets to invest in other industries. More »

Canada moves to defend Enbridge’s Line 5 from Michigan shutdown efforts

With Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer locked in a legal battle over the state’s efforts to decommission Enbridge’s Line 5, Canadian Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan said he has reached out to all levels of government in the U.S. Legislators on both sides of the border have also held over 20 meetings to seek an agreement. More »

U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production set to increase through 2022, says EIA

The Energy Information Administration forecasts U.S. crude oil production in the U.S. Federal Gulf of Mexico to increase in the next two years, according to the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook. By the end of 2022, 13 new projects could account for about 12% of total GOM crude oil production, or about 200,000 barrels per day. More »

Biden taps former BOEM chief for key Interior oil regulation role

Tommy Beaudreau, a veteran of the Interior Department who charted new restrictions for Arctic oil drilling under former President Barack Obama, is being tapped to return to the agency as its No. 2 official. More »

Global oil demand forecast rises on U.S. and China’s growing economies

The International Energy Agency boosted estimates for this year’s growth in oil consumption by 230,000 barrels a day to 5.7 million a day amid a stronger outlook for the U.S. and China. That puts the world on track to recover about two-thirds of the demand lost last year. More »

Chevron Technology Ventures takes first foray into offshore wind energy

Chevron's investment in Ocergy, Inc. is part of a $300 million-a-year plan to foster early-stage technologies that may play a future role in the energy transition. More »

Saudis cover Asian refinery orders as oil output ramps up

Saudi Arabia will supply all the crude oil that was requested by India’s state-owned refiners and at least five other Asian customers next month as the linchpin producer starts to ramp up output. More »

ABS ISQM process evaluates critical software systems risk

One of the world’s largest semi-submersible, heavy-lift crane platforms has been awarded the ABS Integrated Software Quality Management (ISQM) notation, recognizing its risk-based approach to critical software control safety systems. More »

TGS to reprocess 9,024 km2 cross-border survey for offshore Timor-Leste and Australia license rounds

TGS anticipates significant uplift in quality beyond the original PSTM data which was acquired in 2012. Utilization of modern imaging techniques, including full waveform inversion, will enable a significantly enhanced evaluation of the prospectivity of the area. More »

Norway’s oil regulator taps Halliburton’s cloud services to power its national data repository

Halliburton has signed an eight-year contract with the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate to deploy and operate Diskos, the Norwegian national repository of seismic, well, and production data for the oil and gas industry. More »

Oil prices climb above $60 as weaker dollar influences commodities

Oil has gotten stuck in recent weeks, as traders look for more signs of a recovery in consumption from the Covid-19 pandemic. Trading volumes fell below their 15-day average every day last week as the market awaits a breakout. In the meantime, the OPEC+ alliance agreed to add more barrels from May. More »

Total’s latest African deal will position Uganda among major oil exporters

Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne called the pacts a historic milestone for the production work and export pipeline that will draw more than $10 billion of investment. “It’s a very large development, one of the largest that will be developed on this continent,” though just the beginning of a process that will see oil flow in early 2025, he said. More »

Yemen’s Houthis step up drone attacks with new Saudi Aramco strikes

The Houthis attacked Saudi Aramco sites in the eastern oil terminal of Jubail and the western city of Jeddah with explosive-laden drones on Sunday evening and Monday morning, the group’s Al-Masirah TV reported. More »

Argentina considers oil price controls to support Vaca Muerta shale exploration

Argentina believes a price ceiling would prevent bull runs in oil markets from triggering a surge in fuel prices, while a price floor would discourage oil companies from pulling out of a marginal asset like Vaca Muerta if markets collapse. More »

U.S. keeps Dakota Access Pipeline open during environmental review

The Biden administration’s decision to allow the line to keep operating is a victory for pipeline owner Energy Transfer LP and drillers such as Continental Resources Inc. that use it transport crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field. More »

Texas oil and gas signals recovery as March 2021 drilling permits outpace 2020

The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 798 original drilling permits in March 2021 compared to 744 in March 2020. The March 2021 total includes 682 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, 13 to re-enter plugged well bores, and 99 for re-completions of existing well bores. More »

Total expected to proceed with $5.1 billion Uganda oil project

The final investment decision on a key pipeline will see Total tap more than a billion barrels of crude from Uganda and ship it across East Africa to the coast. A decision on the development of the oil fields feeding the pipe is likely at the same time. More »

Enbridge upgrading pipelines to move more shale gas to the U.S. Northeast

Enbridge Inc. is moving forward with upgrades to its pipeline network serving the northeastern U.S. to ship more shale gas from the prolific Appalachian Basin as opposition to new conduits mounts in the region. More »

Oil closes lower, despite mounting evidence of underlying market strength

Oil closed lower Thursday, yet its underlying market structure firmed, as investors assessed the challenges to a global economic recovery. More »

Repsol to furlough staff on energy transition concerns

Spanish oil refiner Repsol SA plans to furlough 830 workers at two refineries, citing a combination of lower demand due to the pandemic and uncertainty caused by the transition to cleaner energy. More »

House Republicans to unveil their own climate change plan

House Republicans plan to unveil their own plan to fight climate change later this month, according to three people familiar with the matter, a reflection of the pressure on the party to come up with solutions to a problem it had previously denied or ignored. More »

Hess to reduce Bakken acreage in $312 million Enerplus deal

The sale consists of approximately 78,700 net acres, which are located in the southernmost portion of Hess’ Bakken position and not connected to Hess Midstream infrastructure. More »

Biden seeks oil and gas tax code changes to help cover $2.2T infrastructure program

President Joe Biden’s plan to eliminate subsidies claimed by oil and gas companies and raise levies on corporate polluters would increase government receipts by $35 billion over the coming decade. More »

Halliburton and Optime Subsea form global subsea services alliance

The strategic alliance between Halliburton and Optime Subsea will jointly commercialize and deploy innovative and efficient subsea interventions and controls. More »

Shale CEO lauds OPEC’s efforts to rebalance crude oil markets

Occidental Petroleum Corp. praised OPEC and its allies for managing crude markets out of last year’s historic crash and said the U.S. shale industry is thankful for its efforts. More »

Shell reports first profit from upstream operations since pandemic began

Shell’s upstream unit was able to capture “the upside from the current commodity price environment” in the first quarter, according to a statement April 7th. More »

While OPEC ramps up production, U.S. oil output is projected to fall

With the U.S. unlikely to ever reach previous crude production levels, OPEC+ is moving to roll back part of their oil supply cuts in the coming months. More »

API says cross-border infrastructure key to U.S.-Canada energy trade

The American Petroleum released a new report examining how growth in cross-border petroleum trade between the United States and Canada has led to the further integration of North American energy markets, delivering economic benefits, lowering consumer energy costs and strengthening energy security on both sides of the border. More »

Oxy CEO opposes carbon tax plans, in contrast to API and rival operators

“A carbon tax would be bad for a lot of the industry, a carbon tax would be bad for the consumers and especially for those consumers who are more disadvantaged from an economic standpoint,” Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub said at a conference hosted by Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association. More »

U.S. oilfield service companies added 23,000 jobs in March

The monthly Oilfield Services and Equipment Employment Report, compiled and published by the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, estimates a peak of 102,000 pandemic-related job losses. Since then, the industry has gained back more than 23,000 jobs. More »

U.S. oilfield services companies added 23,000 jobs in March

The monthly Oilfield Services and Equipment Employment Report, compiled and published by the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, estimates a peak of 102,000 pandemic-related job losses. Since then, the industry has gained back more than 23,000 jobs. More »

VARD wins North Star Renewables contract for three SOVs to operate on Dogger Bank Wind Farm

VARD has secured contracts for the design and construction of three Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) for North Star Renewables in Scotland. The state-of-the-art hybrid trio will operate on the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea. More »

Wärtsilä lands energy storage project at Hickory Park Solar in the U.S.

The Wärtsilä system will enable a subsidiary of RWE Renewables, Hickory Park Solar, LLC, to sell nearly 200 MW of generation from the solar PV panels to Georgia Power Company. More »

Enbridge seeks Canadian tax credits to fund hydrogen and CO2 capture push

North America’s biggest oil pipeline company, which for years has invested in wind and solar power projects, is also looking at gaining scale and becoming competitive in technologies such as hydrogen production using renewable electricity. More »

Resurging virus sours India’s appetite for Saudi oil

India has become a vocal critic of the kingdom’s hawkish stance on oil prices and OPEC+ output policy in recent months, with mounting tensions prompting the country to seek alternative sources of crude. More »

Oil prices rebound ahead of Iran nuclear deal talks

Oil prices showed signs of recovery in advance of multiparty negotiations taking place in Vienna later on Tuesday, though the chances of a breakthrough are seen by analysts as slim. More »

Nature Conservancy investigating its own sales of potentially meaningless carbon credits

Following concerns that it is facilitating the sale of meaningless carbon credits to corporate clients, the Nature Conservancy says it’s conducting an internal review of its portfolio of carbon-offset projects. More »

Global LNG demand climbs to year-long highs

Imports jumped 5.8% in March from a year earlier, the biggest increase since March 2020. Demand for the fuel used in heating and power generation had been steadily growing before Covid-19, as nations shift away from coal-fired power over climate concerns. More »

Total’s CEO cites humanitarian reasons for continuing Myanmar gas production

French oil major Total SE must continue to produce gas in Myanmar and pay taxes to the military junta to protect staff from forced labor and maintain electricity supplies, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said in an op-ed in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper. More »

Oil prices slide on OPEC output call and surging India virus cases

Crude has rallied this year as vaccine rollouts help major economies reopen. The decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies was seen as a vote of confidence in the outlook for energy demand. The U.S. also added more than 900,000 jobs in March, the most in seven months. More »

Total provides refuge for 10,000 at its Mozambique LNG site after Islamic State attack

An estimated 10,000 people fleeing an insurgent attack in northern Mozambique have sought refuge in a village within the concession area of Total SE’s $20 billion natural gas project, with more still arriving, according to two people with direct knowledge. More »

Total provides for 10,000 refugees at its Mozambique LNG site after Islamic State attack

An estimated 10,000 people fleeing an insurgent attack in northern Mozambique have sought refuge in a village within the concession area of Total SE’s $20 billion natural gas project, with more still arriving, according to two people with direct knowledge. More »

Russian oil production rose in March under higher OPEC quota

Russia pumped 43.34 million tons of crude and condensate last month, according to preliminary data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. That equates to 10.249 million barrels a day, based on 7.33 barrel-per-ton conversion ratio, or 1.3% more than in February. More »

Saudis cut U.S. oil prices, raise rates for key Asian buyers

Saudi Arabia raised prices for oil shipments to customers in its main market of Asia, signaling the kingdom’s confidence in the region’s economic recovery. More »

U.S. Interior chief reviewing “fundamentally broken” oil rights system

One day after the U.S. energy secretary phoned Saudi Arabia on the "importance of affordable and reliable energy for consumers," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland called the domestic fossil fuel industry "fundamentally broken," suggesting that Biden's oil and gas leasing moratorium will be anything but temporary. More »

Pioneer buys Permian’s DoublePoint Energy in $6.4 billion deal

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. is buying DoublePoint Energy LLC in a deal valued at $6.4 billion, less than three months after completing its purchase of fellow shale driller Parsley Energy Inc. as it expands in the U.S. Permian Basin. More »

Drilling rig count climbs at fastest rate since the pandemic began

Optimism has also been buoyed by expectations that global crude supplies won’t grow fast enough to satisfy demand as Covid-19 vaccinations proliferate and economies that shut down for the better part of a year begin reopening. More »

OPEC agrees to slowly increase oil production on Covid recovery bet

Defying market expectations for the second time in less than a month, the group agreed to add more than 2 million barrels a day to global oil supplies from May to July. That will return about a quarter of the crude they are still withholding after making deep cuts a year ago in response to the pandemic. More »

OPEC with either keep cuts or ramp oil production slowly, says delegate

Even if OPEC+ decided to resume phased increases, it would review each step every month, allowing it to hit pause if oil demand growth were to disappoint, according to a delegate. More »

U.S. phones Saudis ahead of OPEC talks to discuss need for “affordable energy”

Many OPEC-watchers had been expecting the group to roll over its production quotas for at least one month, so any deviation from that could be bearish. It remains to be seen whether the call from U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to her Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman could tip the balance in the another direction. More »

Exxon faces $800MM earnings hit from Texas freeze

Exxon was forced to shut or reduce runs at its large refining and petrochemical plants along the Gulf Coast, but its quarterly filing showed that its oil and gas production facilities also suffered substantial reductions in earnings. More »