The region-wide Gulf of Mexico lease sale, held Mar. 21 in New Orleans by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, generated $124,763,581 in apparent high bids for 148 tracts in the gulf’s federal waters. Source: News
Papua New Guinea white paper addresses domestic gas use
Papua New Guinea has formulated a new white paper on the oil and gas industry, stressing the importance of increasing domestic gas usage in the country. Source: News
Curacaoan refinery due Venezuelan gas supply
Operator Refineria Isla Curazao BV—a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA)—recently let a contract to Axens SA, Rueil-Malmaison, France, to perform preliminary front-end engineering design work on a project to supply Venezuelan natural gas to the Curacaoan state-controlled Refineria Di Korsou NV’s (RdK) 320,000-b/d Isla refinery at Emmastad, Curacao. Source: News
BSEE implements new permitting process quality assurance program
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has implemented a new quality assurance process to review and assess its permitting systems. The process aims to help inform best practices for offshore energy permitting, BSEE Director Scott A. Angelle said. Source: News
Carbon policy, technology pose hurdles to North American gas systems
Carbon policy and technology are two factors influencing North American pipeline infrastructure growth, panelists said at CERAWeek by IHS Markit Mar. 7 in Houston. Source: News
Zinke on reorganization
Beyond some heated exchanges with critical Democrats, US Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke provided some glimpses at what he is finding as he pursues reorganizing the department he leads. Source: News
US sanctions on Venezuela could backfire, speakers warn
Conditions in Venezuela have deteriorated under the Maduro regime to a point where other countries are beginning to consider ways to intervene and rescue the country’s citizens who haven’t fled already, speakers suggested during a Mar. 13 discussion at the Atlantic Council. Source: News
Brazil's fateful year
Brazil’s oil and gas industry grows despite political turmoil newly darkened by assassination. The country’s total oil supply, now about 2.7 million b/d, should exceed 3 million b/d by yearend as production projects come online, mainly in the presalt play of the offshore Santos basin. Source: News
ADNOC lets contracts for Ruwais refinery
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. subsidiary ADNOC Refining has let two contracts to Samsung Engineering Co. to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for separate projects on its 80,000-b/d Ruwais refining complex in the UAE. Source: News
Industry in transition
The energy industry is in transition, again. This year’s CERAWeek by IHS Markit, which took place Mar. 5-9 in Houston, was the most recent showcase of acknowledgement to that fact. Scratch that. An hour into this writing Statoil AS announced a proposal to remove “oil” from its name, but more on that later. Source: News