SOCAR lets contract for grassroots gas, petchem complex

State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) subsidiary SOCAR GPC has let a series of contracts to Technip SA, Paris, to deliver technology licensing and design work for a proposed grassroots gas processing and petrochemical complex to be built in Garadagh, Azerbaijan, 15 km south of Baku. Source: News

EIA: US to become net energy exporter in outlook to 2050

According to the US Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2017 (AEO 2017), which has projections through 2050, the US will become a net energy exporter in most cases as petroleum liquid imports fall and natural gas exports rise. Source: News

Lucas Energy enters Permian, changes name

Lucas Energy Inc., Houston, has agreed to partner with a private Houston-based oil and gas holding company in the Permian basin of Texas, and will change its name to Camber Energy Inc. to reflect the firm’s new operational focus. Source: News

Workers for state-owned Petrotrin go on strike

Workers at Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned Petrotrin have gone on strike, effectively shutting down the company’s 165,000-b/d refinery and stopping its 45,000 b/d crude oil production from fields both on and offshore. Source: News

Lebanese offshore licensing logjam loosens

A political logjam that has kept Lebanon out of promising natural gas development in the Eastern Mediterranean has begun to loosen. Source: News

EIA: US crude inventories exited 2016 with 7.1 million-bbl drop

US commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, declined 7.1 million bbl during the week ended Dec. 30, 2016, compared with the previous week’s total, the US Energy Information Administration reported. Source: News