ConocoPhillips has awarded three engineering contracts for front-end engineering and design work for the Barossa gas-condensate development project in the eastern Timor Sea about 300 km north of Darwin. Source: News

ExxonMobil Australia is considering the import of LNG into eastern Australia to help ease the predicted shortfall of gas supply from 2021 and protect its existing market share. The company also is increasing its exploration program in Bass Strait as well as considering the development of a field extension called West Barracouta.  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

The US Department of the Interior expects to publish an initial environmental impact statement (EIS) on oil and gas leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain during this year’s fourth quarter as scheduled, Assistant Sec. for Land and Mineral Management Joe Balash told reporters on June 15.   Source: News

US Rep. Steve Pearce introduced a pair of bills on June 14 that aim to reduce delays and other obstacles in the federal onshore oil and gas leasing process. HR 6016 would authorize additional categorical exclusions to streamline permitting decisions. HR 6107 would order that the US Bureau of Land Management not require permits on […]

Lukoil started production from the third well in second-phase development of Vladimir Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea at an initial rate of 3,200 tonnes/day of oil. The well has a 3,795-m main wellbore and a 3,762-m lateral.  Source: News

The US Bureau of Land Management reminded its field offices to use existing National Environmental Policy Act analyses to evaluate the impacts of proposed oil and gas activity on onshore federal and Indian lands. Source: News