Non-OPEC liquids growth potential of 5.5 MMb/p over the next five years has been reduced by over 2 MMb/d to 3.3 MMb/d, according to forecasts by energy analysts Rystad Energy.
The Norwegian firm’s research shows investments in oil and gas production are estimated to drop 20% in 2015, compared to 2014. Outside OPEC, US$200 billion in yearly capex is considered to be axed over a two-year period.
The year thus far has seen a lot of fluctuations per country production and a large effect coming in from the drop in oil prices by over 60% in November 2014. The withdrawal of investments from oil and gas projects across the continent have not been so surprising owing to issues ranging from the current oil price, civil unrest, unfavourable policies and diverse politically uncertain scenarios.
French oil company Total has said today it has achieved the significant milestone of producing a cumulative two billion barrels from its operated deep offshore Block 17 located 150 km off the coast of Angola.
With the recent start up of CLOV, Block 17 has become Total’s most prolific site with production of over 700,000 barrels per day, the company has revealed.
When Saudi Arabia argues next week that OPEC should keep up production to fight the rise in U.S. shale oil, prices will be on its side.
Crude plunged for eight of nine weeks prior to the group’s November gathering, when the kingdom faced down opposition from the majority of fellow members, who advocated output reductions to tackle a global glut. With oil companies around the world cutting investment, U.S. output peaking and prices up, Saudi Arabia’s strategy will be extended at OPEC’s semiannual meeting on June 5, say Societe Generale SA and Bank of America Corp.
Oil prices have recovered more than 40 percent from a six-year low in January as U.S. production eases from the highest in more than four decades. The rebound will help vindicate the approach taken by Saudi Arabia as it steers the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to favor market share over prices in a bid to drive out high-cost producers.
Energy firm Savannah Petroleum has announced that 14 drill-ready exploration sites with prospective oil resources of 215 million barrels were found in Niger. The prospects were found following detailed 3D seismic mapping over a 260-square mile area in the R1/R2 permit region, which is situated in the Agadem Rift Basin of southeast Niger.
Independent oil company Erin Energy Corporation announced Monday that its Oyo-8 well offshore Nigeria has exceeded expectations by producing a stable rate of 7,080 barrels of oil per day.
Erin Energy is the operator of Oyo-8 and holds a 100 percent interest in the well. The company is currently undertaking drilling and completion operations on its Oyo-7 development well and expects to achieve first oil production from the site in the next few weeks.
Erin Energy Senior Vice-President of Exploration and Production Segun Omidele commented in a company statement: “We are pleased with the Oyo-8 well’s performance and delighted that well parameters are stable. We plan to continue this very cautious well management approach and expect to bring Oyo-7 on production in a similar manner. We are advancing both our development and exploration work offshore Nigeria and look forward to an exciting second half of 2015.”
Millions of barrels of untapped oil that U.S. shale drillers discovered during the boom years are about to disappear from their inventories.
Six years ago, the industry pushed the Securities and Exchange Commission to make it easier for companies to claim proved reserves for wells that wouldn’t be drilled for years. Some prospects considered sure-things when crude was $95 a barrel are money losers at today’s $60. When crude crashed in 2008, 44 U.S. companies wiped 630 million barrels from their books.
Norway has overtaken Russia in terms of European gas supply, having delivered more gas to Western Europe in the first quarter of 2015, according to data from gas operators.
Norway surpassed Russian gas exports to Europe for the first time since a brief period in 2012, Reuters reported Friday comparing the figures released by Gassco and Gazprom.
Anadarko, one of the largest independent leaseholders and producers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, has launched a video, or better yet, a movie, showing a long, but interesting process of bringing its Lucius development into production.
The film presents the project from its early beginnings and design selection, through construction of the Lucius production platform, to its first oil in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Final Investment Decision (FID) for the project was made in December 2011.
Construction of the platform was carried out in two parts: Lower, truss spar, was made by Technip in Finland, and the topside was built in Texas.
The Lucius truss spar, Anadarko’s largest, is today located in 7100 feet of water, in Keathley Canyon 875, 236 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. First oil from the platform started flowing three years after the FID, in January 2015.
In its first quarter results for 2015, Anadarko said it continued to ramp up production at the Lucius spar toward its design rate of 80,000 barrels of oil per day.
Three sailors kidnapped in April offshore Nigeria have been released.
Bourbon, a France-based provider of offshore support vessel has confirmed that the 3 Nigerian crew members abducted on board the Surfer 1440 off the coast of Nigeria on April 8, 2015, have been set free.
“They are in good health and arrived at Port Harcourt on May 8, 2015. This news comes as a great relief to all BOURBON employees as a whole, who share the joy of the families. For obvious reasons of confidentiality, BOURBON shall not make any further comment.”
Junior energy firm Eland Oil & Gas reported Monday that its Nigerian joint venture company has received consent from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to operate the OML 40 license, onshore Nigeria.
Researchers at Norway’s SINTEF together with a consortium of industrial partners have developed technologies to enable real-time condition monitoring reports from within pipelines to be transmitted to shore.
The Research Council of Norway-supported SmartPipe technology carries out condition monitoring in real time. This is achieved by installing belts around the pipelines packed with a multitude of sensors which measure pipewall thickness, tension, temperature and vibration.
BP confirmed today the start of oil production from the Exxon Mobil-operated Kizomba Satellites phase 2 development in Block 15, offshore Angola.
The deepwater project is expected to produce around 70,000 barrels of oil per day at peak, and is expected to increase total daily Block 15 production to 350,000 barrels.
Oil is likely to stay relatively weak for at least the next year, a Reuters poll forecast on Thursday, suggesting a slowdown in oil production in the United States will not be enough to offset a global supply glut.
Reuters monthly survey of 32 analysts predicted North Sea Brent crude would average $60 a barrel in 2015, up 80 cents from the projection in last month's survey.
EDISON Research believes Royal Dutch Shell’s “pull-back” from South Africa is not the harbinger of doom for the country’s nascent shale gas industry analysts have predicted, as there’s more to the super-major’s decision than meets the eye.
Shell announced in March it was putting its South Africa shale gas exploration program on hold and pulling its shale gas head, Jan-Willem Eggink, out of the country – with more “highly skilled staff” to follow him – as it continues to seek an exploration licence.
Shell cited falling oil and gas prices and the need for greater clarity on legislation and technical regulations before deciding on its next steps.
Italy's Eni S.p.A. announced Wednesday that it started production two weeks ahead of schedule at the Cinguvu oil field, from the West Hub Development Project in Block 15/06 in the Angolan Deep Offshore, approximately 217 miles (350 kilometers) northwest of Luanda and 81 miles (130 kilometers) west of Soyo. The start-up follows the achievement of West Hub’s first oil through Sangos field start-up, during last November 2014.
Seplat Petroleum on Tuesday posted a 47 percent drop in first quarter pretax profit, blaming lower crude prices and pipeline shutdowns in Africa's biggest oil producer. The oil and gas exploration firm said its oil price during the first three months to end-March averaged $52.8 per barrel, booking a premium of $1.52 per a litre, compared with $112.9 bbl a year earlier.
Non-OPEC liquids growth potential of 5.5 MMb/p over the next five years has been reduced by over 2 MMb/d to 3.3 MMb/d, according to forecasts by energy analysts Rystad Energy.
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