A 50-50 joint operating company formed by Statoil Azerbaijan and State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will appraise and develop Karabagh oil field in the Caspian Sea and explore an area to the northwest under agreements signed May 30.   Source: News

Three corn ethanol advocacy organizations and the National Farmers Union jointly sued the US Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly abusing its authority to issue hardship waivers to three refineries having trouble meeting quotas under the federal Renewable Fuels Standard. Source: News

Aker BP ASA plans to evaluate a natural gas discovery well drilled in Upper Triassic reservoir rocks 175 km northwest of Hammerfest in the Barents Sea. Source: News

OMV Petrom SA, Bucharest, has let a contract to Honeywell International Inc. to provide a suite of software-based technology and interactive support services aimed at improving productivity, efficiency, and profitability of the CCR Platforming unit at its 4.5-million tonne/year Petrobrazi refinery in the southeast region of Romania, near Ploiesti City.  Source: News

Karoon Gas Australia Ltd., Melbourne, has moved into the development phase of its Kangaroo and Echidna oil fields in the Santos basin offshore Brazil following approval from Brazilian government regulator ANP for the fields’ final discovery evaluation report along with a declaration of commerciality (DOC). Source: News

The rise in medium and heavy refiner demand was already pushing the production-cut agreement among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as well as some non-members towards an end by 2019, ESAI Energy points out in its May Global Crude Oil Outlook. Source: News