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[cpap man] 05/7/2018 10:07

UOG



Irish exploration company United Oil and Gas [UOG] is eyeing opportunities in Eastern Europe as it looks to grow its licence portfolio.

[waldron] 05/7/2018 06:10

Oil Markets Look Forward To A Quiet Hurricane Season
By Irina Slav - Jul 04, 2018, 5:00 PM CDT rigs

Last year, hurricane season disrupted a lot of oil production and refining capacity along the U.S. Gulf Coast, sending oil prices soaring. This year, however, oil bulls may be in for a disappointment as forecasts are for a quieter hurricane season.

Colorado State University recently revised its forecast for the number of named storms this season to 11 from 14, Bloomberg reports, and meteorologists from AccuWeather predicted the formation of an El Nino in August, which will reduce the likelihood of tropical storm formation. AccuWeather expects between 10 and 12 named storms this season, and between 2 and 4 major hurricanes. Colorado State University expects just one storm to develop into a major hurricane.

With 20 percent of U.S. crude production capacity and 45 percent of refining capacity in the Gulf of Mexico, it is easy to see why storm forecasts are important for oil traders—bulls and bears alike. Last year the bulls had reason to celebrate (although they probably didn’t do so openly) as storm losses hit US$200 billion, the highest storm bill in history.

That said, there is always room for a surprise with weather. As the lead author of Colorado State University’s latest forecast, Phil Klotzbach told Bloomberg, “it only takes one hurricane to hit where you are to make it an active season.”

There are also plenty of other reasons for oil bulls to expect a good run in the coming months. The two biggest among these reasons are Libya and Iran. While Iran has been occupying headlines since May when President Trump announced that the United States would pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, recently it has been Libya grabbing the headlines.

Last week, the eastern-affiliated Libyan National Army passed control of the Oil Crescent to the eastern NOC, which prompted the western—and UN-recognized—NOC to declare force majeure on almost all production.


Meanwhile, production in Venezuela continues to fall and analysts have doubts that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members will be able to bring back enough production quickly enough to compensate for the shortfalls.



As a result of these developments, Brent and WTI have been climbing higher, with the international benchmark earlier this week passing US$78 a barrel. This is the opposite of what OPEC and Russia had in mind when they agreed last month to start pumping more crude. And it is also the opposite of what President Trump wants: he has repeatedly berated OPEC for keeping prices “artificially” high.

However, in an interesting twist of events, the U.S. sanctions against Iran, and especially the State Department’s insistence that every importer of Iranian crude cuts imports to zero, are now the biggest driver behind higher oil prices. Also, some analysts have warned that Trump’s Twitter activity has had the opposite of the desired effect on oil prices.

However hurricane season turns out, prices at the pump are likely to remain higher for the next few months. What the upward potential is remains uncertain. Earlier this week the Russian and Saudi energy ministers reaffirmed their commitment to bring back 1 million bpd online—a figure Saudi Arabia’s Al-Falih had called “nominal”; at the June meeting—but chances are that the biggest oil buyers want to actually see these barrels rather than hear affirmations. Until they do, prices will remain elevated with or without hurricanes.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

[la forge] 04/7/2018 10:10

Will the saved co2 be used to stop the beer shortage

cheers grey

[greyingsurfer] 04/7/2018 10:04

When you read "Through a closed-loop system, Petroteq can extract 99 percent of all hydrocarbons without releasing ANY greenhouse gases.", and then see "Sponsored article" at the top of the page, all sorts of alarm bells start ringing.

This is a minor amendment to the existing heavy oil extraction method - they still dig the stuff out of the ground in a mine (just how they do that CO2 free is not explained!). What's changed is that they claim to have a better solvent for extracting the oil from the sand, which can be reused and save s few bob. To be read with bags of salt, not pinches!

Peter

[florenceorbis] 04/7/2018 08:11

Agreement with ConocoPhillips
BP ‘significantly’ raises stake in key North Sea oil field
Terry Murden, Editor | July 4, 2018

BP rig pic from company

North Sea: great potential



BP is significantly increasing its holding in one of the North Sea’s biggest oilfields in a sign of continued confidence in the region.

The company is acquiring from ConocoPhillips a 16.5% interest in the BP-operated Clair field. It is also selling its non-operating interest in the Kuparuk and satellite oilfields in Alaska.

The transaction takes BPs stake in Clair field, west of Shetland, to 45.1% and leaves ConocoPhillips with a 7.5% interest.

Separately BP has entered into agreements to sell to ConocoPhillips BP’s entire 39.2% interest in the Greater Kuparuk Area on the North Slope of Alaska as well as BP’s holding in the Kuparuk Transportation Company.

Details of the transactions are not being disclosed but are expected to be cash neutral for BP and ConocoPhillips.

BP Upstream chief executive Bernard Looney, said: “This is a further step in focusing our portfolio around core assets and developments which have the potential for significant growth.




“Clair is a key advantaged oilfield for our North Sea business, a giant resource whose second phase is about to begin production and which holds great potential for future developments.

“In Alaska, this transaction will increase our focus on managing our deep resource base at the massive Prudhoe Bay oilfield and help enable a more competitive and sustainable business for BP.”

The giant Clair field west of Shetland, 47 miles (75 kilometres) west of Shetland, was discovered in 1977. The field had more than 7 billion barrels of hydrocarbons estimated originally in place but held in a highly complex and fractured reservoir. .

The field is operated by BP which currently holds a 28.6% interest. Production from Clair’s first phase of development began in 2005 and the field produced an average of 21,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed) in 2017.

A major second development phase, Clair Ridge, is expected to start production later this year with production capacity of 120,000 boed. Appraisal has also identified potential for future stages of development of Clair.

[waldron] 04/7/2018 06:59

Exxon, Total Win Tender to Explore for Oil and Gas Off Greece’s Crete
By
Tasos Kokkinidis -
Jul 4, 2018
1 0 Google +0 0 0 1

A consortium of U.S. Exxon Mobil , France’s Total and Hellenic Petroleum has been awarded a tender to explore for oil and gas off Greece, the energy ministry said on Tuesday.

The consortium will explore two sites off the western and northwestern shores of Crete. The areas cover 19,868 sq.km and 20,058 sq.km, respectively.

Greece launched the tender for the sites last year after expressions of interest by the consortium, in which Exxon and Total each have 40 percent. The group was the sole bidder.

The licences must be ratified by parliament before exploration work can begin.

Exxon and Total are currently exploring off Cyprus.

US Ambassador to Greece, Jeoffrey Pyatt hailed the decision by Greece, saying in a tweet that it is “big news” for Exxon Mobil.