Shell cancels FLNG orders for Browse development

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has cancelled a $4.6-billion contract with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. for three floating LNG vessels. Source: News

Midstates Petroleum files bankruptcy

Midstates Petroleum Co. Inc. and Midstates Petroleum LLC, Tulsa, have filed for voluntary bankruptcy and will reorganize under a prearranged financial restructuring. Source: News

MARKET WATCH: NYMEX crude oil price back under $46/bbl

Light, sweet crude prices for June delivery varied widely on the New York market during Apr. 29 trading, closing at $45.92/bbl after swinging from a daily high of $46.78 and a low of $45.24. Source: News

Six years after Macondo

Apr. 20 was the sixth anniversary of the Macondo deepwater well blowout and oil spill. The Center for Biological Diversity marked the occasion by suing the US Department of the Interior for allegedly failing to meaningfully revise procedures for authorizing offshore oil and gas activity, including outright elimination of categorical exclusions. Source: News

Independents see problems in BLM venting, flaring proposal

The Independent Petroleum Association of America and three other associations representing US independent oil and gas producers jointly urged the US Bureau of Land Management to withdraw its proposed venting and flaring rule. Source: News

NATO developing energy security role

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has begun establishing a separate mechanism for addressing the energy security of its European members.  Source: News