Petrobras has initiated a sale process for its remaining assets in Argentina, the Brazilian state-owned oil company revealed on Wednesday.
The company confirmed in a regulatory filing it has “begun negotiations for the sale of its interest in Petrobras Argentina” as it responded to media reports about a possible disposal.
“Until now, there are no deals signed securing the conclusion of the transaction,” Petrobras added.
The beleaguered Brazilian giant is engaged in a major asset disposal programme and aims to sell holdings worth a total of $14.4 billion this year, having met its divestment target of only $700 million in 2015.
Petrobras is also cutting costs amid lower oil prices and a weaker Brazilian currency as it struggles with the costly fallout of a wide-ranging corruption investigation, dubbed Operation Car Wash.
Last year, the company agreed to sell upstream assets in Argentina’s Austral basin, including 26 onshore concessions, for $101 million to CGC.
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French oil company Total SA (TOT) Thursday said it agreed to sell a 20% stake in the Kharyaga oil field to Russian state-owned energy company Zarubezhneft as part of a vast program of asset sales plan to boost cashflow in response to the oil price collapse.
Once the transaction is effective, Zarubezhneft will operate the field in Total's stead, the French company said in a statement. Zarubezhneft would raise its stake to 40%.
Total will keep a 20% stake in the oil field together with Norwegian oil company Statoil (STL.OS) and Nenets Oil Company, which each hold a respective 30% and 10% stake.
The Kharyaga fields are located in Siberia, and Total and its partners currently produce 30,000 barrels of crude a day.
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Just 15 new offshore oil projects are expected to get the go ahead this year, suggesting further trouble ahead for oil services companies, Bernstein research predicts. In total, those projects should generate peak production of 1.5 million barrels of oil equivalent a day -- or just enough to replace estimated offshore field declines. Oil companies have already delayed some $380 billion worth spending in the last year, according to WoodMackenzie, and Bernstein's forecast for fresh offshore investment this year is bleak.
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The average price of crudes produced by the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, known as the OPEC basket price, has dropped to the lowest level available on record, which dates back to the beginning of 2003. The price was $22.48 per barrel on January 20, according to a report released today on OPEC's website. Although it is a spot price, rather than a futures price, it reflects continued weak demand for OPEC crude and a bearish outlook for 2016.
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O Grupo BTG Pactual e outros investidores na Sete Brasil vão se reunir este mês e decidir se a empresa vai entrar com pedido de recuperação judicial após a queda nos preços do petróleo e a citação do nome da empresa na Operação Lava Jato, disseram quatro pessoas com conhecimento do assunto.
Os acionistas podem votar por buscar a proteção legal contra os credores em uma reunião em 21 de janeiro, o que seria o primeiro passo para uma eventual liquidação dos ativos da empresa, de acordo com as pessoas, que pediram anonimato porque as discussões são privadas. Uma pessoa disse que o encontro deste mês não deve aprovar o pedido de recuperação judicial e considera que a Sete Brasil pode ainda conseguir se restruturar.
A Sete Brasil, que teve ambições de construir a maior frota de sondas de perfuração de petróleo em águas profundas do mundo, junta-se a mais de uma dezena de empresas paralisadas pela investigação de corrupção que já dura 22 meses e que ajudou a colocar o Brasil em recessão e deixou os líderes do País lutando por sua sobrevivência política.
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Brazil’s Estaleiro Brasa shipyard expects to have to dismiss more than half of its workers by the end of February, at a point when topsides integration on board the Cidade de Saquarema floating production, storage and offloading vessel will be approaching its conclusion.
The FPSO arrived in Brazilian waters in November 2015 and safely berthed at the Brasa quayside on 20 December, just one day after sister vessel Cidade de Marica left the yard and departed to its future location at the Lula Alto pre-salt field in the Santos basin.
Integration work on the Cidade de Saquarema is at full speed, with Brasa in charge of the final module lifting campaign with the Pelicano crane, which is capable of lifting loads of up to 2050 tonnes.
In total, Brasa will install the last six topsides modules for Cidade de Saquarema — all built at the shipyard — and is expected to complete commissioning of the vessel in about four months, at around April.
Brasa currently employs approximately 1700 workers on the Cidade de Saquarema, but the lack of future contracts will leave the management with no alternative other than to carry out some layoffs.
“This is most unfortunate, because we are like a family here and we are very proud of our entire workforce. However, we expect some 900 people will be laid off in February,” said Brasa executive manager Ivan Fonseca.
Brasa is trying to diversify its business activities in order to cope with the downturn in the Brazilian oil and gas industry, especially after Petrobras and several contractors became embroiled in the wide-ranging corruption scandal investigated by the Operation Car Wash.
“We are aware that after Cidade de Saquarema there will be no more FPSO topsides integration on the horizon, so we are trying to focus on logistics and offshore maintenance to stay afloat,” Fonseca told Upstream.
Fonseca did not rule out further layoffs at Brasa once the Cidade de Saquarema FPSO is completed and delivered to Petrobras.
Petrobras is due to receive commercial proposals on 11 February for the charter of two large FPSOs to serve the Sepia and Libra pre-salt developments, which may inject new life into the market.
Brasa is a 50:50 joint venture between SBM Offshore and the Synergy Group, and while the Dutch floater specialist has been invited by Petrobras to bid for both units, the potential award of new contracts remains conditional upon the conclusion of a settlement agreement between the company and Brazilian authorities.
“Negotiations with authorities are progressing well. There is dedication from both sides to solve this problem as fast as possible,” said Oliver Kassam, SBM Offshore managing director in Brazil.
SBM had been suspended from Petrobras tenders due to long delays in settling potential liabilities for practices exposed by a whistleblower in 2013.
Witness testimonies, including a plea-bargaining statement by former Petrobras executive manager Pedro Barusco, have suggested that about $250 million worth of bribes were paid on SBM charters to Petrobras between 2007 and 2011.
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Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has revised down its current five-year business plan through to 2019, cutting investments by a hefty 25%, as the company works to optmise its portfolio in light of a sharp drop in oil prices and the depreciation of the local currency.
Petrobras now expects to invest $98.4 billion from 2015 to 2019, a decline of about $32 billion from the $130.3 billion capital expenditure previously lined up for the period.
The new plan takes into consideration an average Brent price of $52 per barrel in 2015 and an assumed $45 per barrel in 2016, as well as an average nominal exchange rate of 3.33 reais to the US dollar in 2015 and a forecast 4.06 reais to the US dollar this year.
“These adjustments are designed to preserve the fundamental objectives of deleveraging and the generation of value for shareholders,” said Petrobras.
Petrobras will keep the bulk of its investments targeted at explor-ation and production activities. It will allocate $80 billion, or 81% of the total, to upstream spending, with an emphasis on developing existing discoveries in the Santos basin pre-salt province.
Another $10.9 billion will be channelled to downstream operations, followed by $5.4 billion to gas and energy and $2.1 billion to other departments.
Petrobras invested $23 billion in 2015, less than the $28 billion originally envisioned for the period. For this year, Petrobras has cut the forecast to $20 billion from $27 billion. Divestments for 2016 were kept unchanged at $14.4 billion.
“The biggest problem I see is that Petrobras is publicly confessing that it expects difficulties in carrying out its divestment plan and generating cash flow. The fact that oil prices have tumbled to $30 per barrel are also not helping the mood,” said Mauricio Pedrosa, strategist at Queluz Asset Management.
Diego Mendes and Pablo Castelo Branco, analysts at Itau BBA brokerage, also argued in a report to investors that the new investment cut will not help rebuild the market confidence in the company.
The new investment plan will result in a reduction in the projected domestic production level for 2016. Petrobras now estimates average output of 2.145 million barrels per day of oil, down from 2.185 million bpd in the original forecast.
The company produced 2.128 million bpd on average in 2015, meaning the 2016 outlook represents a mere 0.8% increase over the previous year, despite the fact that three large floating production, storage and offloading vessels are expected to enter operations this year.
The 2015 production figure was, nevertheless, the first time that Petrobras was able to reach its output target in more than a decade.
The 2.128 million bpd produced last year was also a record, and an increase of 4.6% from the 2.034 million bpd produced in 2014.
Petrobras also reduced its forecast for domestic production for 2020 to 2.7 million bpd from 2.8 million bpd.
Petrobras’ stock closed down more than 9% on Tuesday on Brazil’s Bovespa stock exchange — the company’s lowest level since May 2004.
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Petrobras originally intended to spud an appraisal well, likely at a prospect called Teleferico, later this year at Block BM-S-50 to gather more information on the play.
However, in the wake of a sharp drop in oil prices and a more conservative investment plan for the next five years, Petrobras asked Brazil’s market regulator ANP for extra time to carry out the appraisal programme at Sagitario.
Petrobras was supposed to complete its assessment at BM-S-50 by August 2017, but the ANP recently gave the company an additional 14 months, until October 2018, to file the Sagitario declaration of commerciality.
Petrobras made the Sagitario find in early 2013 in 1871 metres of water using the Seadrill cylindrical semi-submersible rig Sevan Brasil.
The well detected 159 metres of good quality oil graded at 32 degrees API below the thick salt cap at a depth starting at 6144 metres. A drillstem test carried out a year later revealed carbonate reservoirs with good permeability.
The Sagitario discovery was considered key to Petrobras and partners BG Group and Repsol Sinopec because it was the first major deep-water find west of the giant Lula pre-salt field, opening up a new explor-ation frontier in the Santos basin.
Sagitario and other pre-salt finds still in the exploration phase are included in Petrobras’ ambitious $14.4 billion divestment plan for 2016. Last year, the company only sold $700 million worth of assets.
The state-controlled oil company is looking at farming down or selling its stakes in a number of exploration blocks and producing fields in Brazil and abroad.
Petrobras holds a 60% stake at BM-S-50. Also on offer is the company’s 80% stake at adjacent Block BM-S-51 where it intends to spud the Lebre wildcat, a challenging well due to high-pressure, high-temperature conditions.
The drilling of Lebre has been postponed numerous times and is not expected to happen anytime soon, as Petrobras searches for a new partner to help design the well and to lower its own drilling costs.
According to the ANP, Petrobras has until September 2018 to complete exploration activities at BM-S-51.
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The ANP sanction will allow Petrobras to extend the lifespan of the two fields for an additional 16 years, meaning the concession contracts will now expire in 2041 instead of 2025, giving the company the possibility to produce an extra 900 million barrels of oil equivalent from the area.
In order to continue output at the fields, Petrobras has agreed to make new long-term investments, which include the installation of two new floating production, storage and offloading vessels at Marlim.
The first such FPSO is expected to enter operations in 2019 and is part of the company’s current business plan. It is understood that Petrobras may launch a tender for the charter of the unit in the second half of the year.
The second floater is only meant to start production in Marlim next decade, likely before 2024, when Petrobras will file an updated version of the development plan to the ANP.
According to the regulator, the two upcoming FPSOs should be flexible enough to meet future complementary projects in the area, including production from the Macabu formation.
Petrobras identified Aptian carbonates of the Macabu formation in Marlim in the past, but never exploited these reservoirs.
The ANP also asked Petrobras to carry out a series of improvements to boost the water treatment capacity at several platforms, as well as increase water injection.
Marlim is currently producing about 176,000 barrels per day of oil, 2.5 million cubic metres per day of natural gas and 250,000 barrels per day of water from seven ageing platforms. One unit, the P-20, also serves the Voador field.
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KeyBanc reiterated an Overweight rating and $50.00 price target on National-Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) following the company's announced agreement with Estaleiro Atlantico Sul S.A. and EAS International, Inc. concerning seven contracts for the supply of drilling equipment packages for drillship construction projects in Brazil.
Analyst Robin Shoemaker commented, "NOV announced that it has reached an agreement with Estaleiro Atlantico Sul S.A. and EAS International, Inc. concerning seven contracts for the supply of drilling equipment packages for drillship construction projects in Brazil.
NOV will not incur a loss on the cancelled rig equipment packages because advance payments and progress payments made by EAS were at least equal to (and possibly more than) the total costs NOV had incurred as of the settlement date. As a result of the settlement, the Rig Systems segment backlog will be reduced by $1.1 billion. The Rig Systems backlog was $8.0 billion at the end of 3Q15, of which $3 billion (38%) related to rig equipment packages for Brazilian customers. At the end of 3Q15, the Company had Rig System orders for a total of 22 deepwater rigs to be built in Brazil."
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Brazil's state-run oil producer Petrobras ended a drill ship contract with rig contractor Ensco Plc because of corruption allegations, Ensco said, as fallout from the country's largest-ever graft investigation spreads.
Ensco received a notice from Petrobras on Monday saying the oil company believed the contract was void, Ensco said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated Jan. 5.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, chartered the DS-5 drill ship in 2008, when it was owned by Pride International, a company Ensco bought in 2011.
The Petrobras notice said Pride had knowledge the rig's shipbuilder made "improper payments" to a marketing consultant who then shared the money with former employees of Petrobras, Ensco said.
Ensco's shares were down 9.6 percent at $13.46 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning after the filing was made public.
As the world's most indebted oil company, Petrobras has been looking to cut back spending and sell assets to recover from a scandal that has already forced it to write off $2.1 billion in corruption losses.
Dozens of Brazilian engineering firms accused of price fixing and overcharging Petrobras for work, in order to pass on excess funds as bribes to executives and politicians, have been blacklisted from signing new contracts but have not had existing contracts voided by Petrobras.
Brazilian federal prosecutors said in August that criminal charges related to the DS-5 charter were coming "in due course" but have not yet presented them.
Ensco reiterated on Wednesday it had found no evidence that Pride, the company, or any current or former employees were aware of or involved in any wrongdoing.
The rig contractor said it planned to assert its legal rights under the contract.Ensco's other rigs leased to Petrobras will continue to work under their contracts, the filing said.London-based Ensco said it has not been contacted by other Brazil government authorities regarding alleged wrongdoing.
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Menos de três anos depois de adquirir uma participação na Ecovix, um consórcio liderado pela Mitsubishi Heavy Industries vendeu sua fatia.
O consórcio japonês JB Minovix Investimentos e Participações comprou 30% da Ecovix por 30 bilhões de ienes, cerca de 305 milhões de dólares, em outubro de 2013.
A Ecovix é dona do Estaleiro Rio Grande e foi criada em 2010 para fornecimento de cascos de perfuração e sondas para empresas como Petrobras e Sete Brasil, mas hoje enfrenta dificuldades financeiras.
Por isso, pouco tempo depois de seu investimento, o grupo japonês irá vender sua participação para a Jackson Empreendimentos, que é controlador dos ativos da Engevix e já possuía 70% da Ecovix.
O Cade aprovou a operação em dezembro de 2015.
A JB Minovix Investimentos e Participações S.A. é controlada pela Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, com 47,06% do capital, e também tem participações as companhias japonesas MC Corporation, Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltda., Namura Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. e Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
Construção naval em crise
A Ecovix, dona dos três Estaleiros Rio Grande, é subsidiária do grupo de engenharia Engevix. Ela nasceu em 2010 para construção naval e marítima.
O estaleiro Rio Grande tinha contratos com a Petrobras, para a construção de plataformas para exploração no pré-sal, e com a Sete Brasil, para a construção de três sondas de perfuração.
No entanto, tanto a Petrobras quanto a Sete Brasil estão passando por grandes dificuldades e devem cancelar os contratos.
Além disso, a Engevix é investigada na Operação Lava Jato e já teve dois sócios presos. Para tentar se reerguer, ela está tentando vender a hidrelétrica de São Roque, que está sendo construída em Santa Catarina, um projeto orçado em 700 milhões de reais.
A Ecovix também está em meio a um processo de reestruturação, com refinanciamento de dívidas com bancos e dezenas de fornecedores.
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[collapse title=葡萄牙语原文请点击]A produção total de petróleo em novembro foi de aproximadamente 2,380 milhões de barris por dia (bbl/d), uma redução de 1,1% na comparação com o mês anterior e aumento de 0,9% em relação ao mesmo mês em 2014. Já produção de gás natural totalizou 94,2 milhões de metros cúbicos por dia (m³/d), uma redução de 3,5% frente ao mês anterior e aumento de 2,7 % na comparação com o mesmo mês em 2014.
A produção total de petróleo e gás natural no Brasil no mês de novembro totalizou 2,972 milhões de barris de óleo equivalente por dia (boe/d).
A redução da produção em novembro com relação a outubro teve como principal causa as diversas interrupções de produção, em diferentes plataformas, devido à greve de funcionários da Petrobras, que durou aproximadamente 15 dias.
A produção do pré-sal, oriunda de 53 poços, foi de 820,2 mil barris por dia (bbl/d) de petróleo e 32,3 milhões de metros cúbicos por dia (m³/d) de gás natural, totalizando 1,023 milhão de barris de óleo equivalente por dia (boe/d), um aumento de 1,7% em relação ao mês anterior. Os poços do “pré-sal” são aqueles cuja produção é realizada no horizonte geológico denominado pré-sal, em campos localizados na área definida no inciso IV do caput do art. 2º da Lei nº 12.351, de 2010.
Os campos marítimos produziram 93,7% do petróleo e 76,1% do gás natural. A produção ocorreu em 8.950 poços, sendo 779 marítimos e 8.171 terrestres. Os campos operados pela Petrobras produziram 93,8% do petróleo e gás natural.
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[collapse title=英文原文请点击]Petrobras concluded two formation tests in the 3-SPS-105 (Carcará Norte) well, confirming the high productivity of the pre-salt carbonate reservoirs.
The well is in the area of the Carcará Discovery Evaluation Plan (PAD), 4.6km north of the discovery well (4-SPS-86B), in water depth of 2070m and reached final depth of 6338m, inside basaltic rocks.
Petrobras conducted two formation tests in the pre-salt reservoirs, confirming excellent productivity in both intervals. The well's output potential may be equivalent to the results achieved by the best producing wells of the pre-salt layer in the Santos Basin, with good quality oil (31º API), free from contaminants (H2S and CO2).
The results from the fluid and pressure analyses in the formation tests in 3-SPS-105 and the tests conducted in the discovery well and the Carcará Noroeste well (3-SPS-104DA) indicate that it is a single oil accumulation.
Petrobras is the operator of the consortium (66%), in partnership with Petrogal Brasil (14%), Barra Energia do Brasil Petróleo e Gás (10%) and Queiroz Galvão Exploração e Produção (10%).
The consortium will give continuity to the activities of Carcará’s PAD, approved by the National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), with conclusion expected for March 2018.
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[collapse title=英文原文请点击]Brazilian state-run player Petrobras will reportedly present a five-year investment plan next month with a target lower than the $19 billion plan announced last year.
Despite two budget cuts last year, Petrobras' plans for the 2016 to 2020 period will include a further drop, with the cuts expected to come from onshore and shallow-water areas, according to a report in the Brazilian daily Estado de S Paulo.
The revised investment plans will focus on deep-water production, with less dedicated to exploration and almost nothing set aside for onshore or shallow-water blocks, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources.
The debt-laden company is thought to have sufficient cash to meet its commitments through July 2017.
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Fine, thought to be largest imposed on a North Sea operator, welcomed by environmental campaigners but union leaders fear it will have little impact
Total’s Elgin platform, which was closed for nearly a year when an estimated 6,000 tonnes of gas leaked in 2012. Photograph: Total E and P UK Ltd/PA
The French oil and gas multinational Total has been fined more than ￡1m for safety breaches that led to a major leak at its Elgin platform in the North Sea.
Total will pay ￡1.125m – thought to be the largest fine imposed on a North Sea operator – and court costs, after it was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive, pleading guilty at Aberdeen sheriff court.
The Elgin field gas leak in March 2012 led to the evacuation of 238 staff from the main platform about 150 miles off Aberdeen and of workers from two adjacent platforms.
The HSE estimates the 6,000 tonnes of gas which escaped would have filled 300 road tankers.
The platform, which accounted for 3% of total UK gas production, was closed for nearly a year after the leak.
Observers believe a disaster was averted because winds kept the plume of gas away from nearby flares. The petrol condensate that spread across the sea around the rig risked causing serious damage to nearby marine life.
The hefty fine was welcomed by environment campaigners, who had feared a far lower punishment after Shell was fined ￡22,500 by a Scottish court in November after 200 tonnes of oil leaked from a pipeline at its Gannet Alpha platform in 2011 – the worst for a decade.
“The gas leak at the Elgin platform endangered lives, cost the company millions and added to climate change,” said Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland. “It’s therefore good to see a fine that reflects the seriousness of the incident. Hopefully the outcome of this case will send a clear message to the rest of the oil and gas industry to massively improve safety procedures.”
But trade union leaders said the cash was still insignificant against Total’s total profits: the court should have ordered the HSE and Total to publish all their internal investigation findings into the background to the leak, they said.
Jake Molloy, the oil industry representative for the RMT, said the pre-trial negotiations and Total’s guilty plea meant some of the key information about the cause and handling of the leak would never be made public.
“How hefty is hefty when a firm is making a million pounds an hour?” Molloy said. “Total, like so many other producers, has come into court, pleaded guilty and begged forgiveness, and assured us all that it won’t happen again.”
Releasing the investigation reports would be far more effective in exposing the industry to proper scrutiny and accountability, Molloy added.
“It would send a pretty powerful message to the industry that it would be held to account publicly, rather than just being allowed to write off its fine in its accounts at the end of the year.”
Molloy said the nearest fine of this magnitude following a North Sea safety breach was a ￡1m fine for Shell after two workers were killed on its Brent Bravo installation in 2003. But Shell was given a 10% discount on the fine for cooperating with the HSE, he said.
A fatal accident inquiry in Aberdeen in 2006 ruled the workers’ deaths, after breathing hydrocarbon fumes while working 170 metres down a platform leg, were preventable as Shell had failed to properly repair a leaking pipeline that it knew was a risk.
U.S. reverses decades of oil-export limits with Obama’s backing
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Bloomberg) -- With the stroke of a pen, President Barack Obama on Friday ended 40 years of U.S. crude oil export limits by signing off on a repeal passed by Congress earlier in the day.
The restrictions lift immediately under a provision in the spending and tax package that the president signed into law. Congressional leaders earlier in the week reached an agreement to end the trade restrictions, established during U.S. oil shortages in the 1970s, as part of a grand bargain that includes tax breaks for renewable-energy companies and refiners.
“I don’t doubt you’ll see some exports next year,” ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in a telephone interview after the Senate vote. “We’re pretty excited about it, but we’ve also got to get the infrastructure” in place.
Repeal of the crude-export restrictions reverses four decades of a policy that has defined the nation’s relations with the rest of the world. Without the trade limits, the U.S. is free to export its crude, as it already does with refined products including gasoline. The U.S. Senate passed the bill with a vote of 65-33 after the House approved the measure 316-113 hours earlier.
Oil producers including ConocoPhillips and Continental Resources Inc. had lobbied in favor of repeal, which American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard described in a statement as “a historic moment in our energy renaissance.”
While the law allows these and other producers to ship their crude abroad, it may also lure investment to the U.S. from foreign oil companies that want to be able to export oil for consumption in their home countries, according to Scot Anderson, global head of the energy natural resources group at law firm Hogan Lovells in Denver.
“I would suspect that it would make foreign direct investment into the U.S. energy market more attractive,” he said in an interview. The firm represents producers, refiners and midstream companies.
Some independent refiners, such as PBF Energy Inc., said they may be harmed by an end to the crude-export restrictions. The spending bill contains a tax deduction for those refiners to help blunt any potential negative impact on them. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said that when Congress returns from its recess in January, she may seek to provide additional assistance to some mid-Atlantic refiners who could be excluded from the tax benefit.
“That’s some unfinished business that we have to do,” she said at a press conference after Friday’s vote.
Environmental groups including the Sierra Club opposed ending the crude-export limits, saying that any increase in oil output would exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill is a “massive giveaway to Big Oil” while phasing out tax breaks for wind and solar producers, Senator Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement.
Repeal may not provide an immediate boost to U.S. crude exports. A global oil-supply glut has pushed prices to their lowest levels in almost seven years. In addition, U.S. crude isn’t significantly cheaper than international grades at the moment. Transportation costs may make it uneconomic to ship the crude to refineries outside the U.S., according to analysts from groups including Energy Aspects Ltd. and Morgan Stanley.
U.S. oil exports are “not going to happen Monday, but within a week or two, you’re going to see contracts be developed and a system come into place,” Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and the House’s chief advocate for ending the export restrictions, said in an interview Thursday.
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UK offers explorers 159 onshore blocks in latest licensing round
LONDON -- The Oil & Gas Authority (OGA)—the UK’s oil and gas regulator—announced Thursday that 159 onshoreblocks under the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round are being formally offered to successful applicants. These blocks will be incorporated into 93 onshore licenses.
A Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) does not itself give any direct permission for operations to begin. A PEDL grants the licensee exclusivity over an area of land for onshore hydrocarbon exploration, appraisal and extraction. The exclusivity applies to both conventional and unconventional operations.
The UK has a long history of onshore gas exploration, and has developed a robust regulatory system to ensure that any such operations will be carried out to the highest standards of safety and environmental protection.
Before a PEDL licensee can begin operations, they must be granted a number of further permissions and consents. These include, for example, planning permission, environmental permits from the Environment Agency, scrutiny of well design by the Health and Safety Executive, and OGA consents under the terms of the PEDL.
Around 75% of the 159 blocks being offered relate to unconventional shale oil or gas, and additional regulatory requirements apply to this kind of activity.
“I am pleased that the 14th Onshore Round attracted strong interest and a high quality of proposed work programs. This round enables a significant amount of the UK’s shale prospects to be taken forward to be explored and tested,” OGA Chief Executive Andy Samuel said. “Upon acceptance of these offers, applicants will be issued with licenses and will be able to begin planning their future strategies for exploration activities.”
“Now is the time to press ahead and get exploration underway so that we can determine how much shale gas there is and how much we can use,” Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom said.
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Pakistan Petroleum’s Hatim X-1 well strikes gas in Gambat South Block
KARACHI -- Pakistan Petroleum Ltd.—operator of the Gambat South Block with a 65% working interest (WI) along with its joint venture partners Government Holdings Private Ltd. and Asia Resources Oil Ltd. with 25% and 10% WI, respectively—has announced another gas discovery at an exploration well in District Matiari, Sindh, Pakistan.
The Hatim X-1 well was spud on Oct. 8 and reached the final depth of 3,800 m on Nov. 26. Based on wireline logs, potential hydrocarbon bearing zones were identified in the Lower Goru formation. Initial testing in the Lower Goruformation flowed 56 MMscfgd on a 48/64 inch choke.
The well is being flowed at different choke sizes to measure gas flow rates, and the actual flow potential of the well will be determined after the completion of the test, Pakistan Petroleum said.
White House announces support for plan allowing oil exports
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Bloomberg) -- The White House announced its support for a deal reached by congressional leaders on a package of spending and tax legislation that would avert a U.S. government shutdown and lift the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports.
WTI Likely to Surpass Brent if U.S. Lifts Crude Export Ban
Prices of U.S. West Intermediate Texas oil could easily surpass Brent prices by a few dollars if the U.S. goes through with the proposed lifting of the ban on crude export, says Daniel Ang, a Phillip Futures energy analyst. "However, if this bill gets a veto from the U.S. president, spreads should move towards -$2," he adds. He notes the WTI-Brent spread for February and March contracts narrowed sharply soon after the news the U.S. Congress agreed to repeal the four-decade old ban. The Brent crude oil premium to WTI spread for the Feb contract is at a difference of $1.05 a barrel.
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