Eni SPA has been awarded the three blocks offered in Sharjah’s first international competitive exploration licensing round while expanding further in the Middle East with deals in Oman and Bahrain. Eni will operate 437-sq-km Concession Area A and 1,184-sq-km Concession Area C with 75% participating interests. Sharjah National Oil Corp. will hold the remaining interests. […]
LLOG Exploration reports deepwater gulf discovery
LLOG Exploration Co. LLC, Covington, La., reported the drilling of a successful discovery on its Nearly Headless Nick exploratory prospect on Mississippi Canyon Block 387 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Source: News
ADNOC awards two offshore exploration blocks to Eni, PTTEP consortium
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has awarded two offshore blocks to a consortium led by Eni and PTT Exploration & Production following a competitive bid round. The two blocks in the northwest of Abu Dhabi—Offshore 1 and Offshore 2—are the first to be awarded among the geographical areas that were offered for commercial bidding by […]
Ivory Coast secures loan to support refinery revamp
Societe Ivoirienne de Raffinage has secured a €577-million debt financing to enable modernization work on its 76,300-b/d refinery in Vridi district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The purpose of the long-term debt financing funding is to repay historical obligations on crude supply, provide a long-tenured facility, and reduce the interest rate of SIR’s stock of debt, […]
Phillips 66, partners to develop ACE Pipeline system
Phillips 66 Partners, Harvest Midstream Co., and PBF Logistics LP plan to jointly develop the ACE Pipeline system to provide crude oil transportation service from the market hub in St. James, La., to downstream refining destinations in Belle Chasse, Meraux, and Chalmette, La., and have launched an open season for transportation service. Source: News
Par Pacific acquires US Oil & Refining’s Tacoma refinery, assets
Par Pacific Holdings Inc. has completed its previously announced deal to purchase privately held US Oil & Refining Co.’s downstream assets, including the 42,000-b/sd refinery near Tacoma, Wash. Par Pacific finalized the transaction for total consideration of $358 million plus net working capital on Jan. 14, the operator said. Source: News
NKNK lets contract for methanol unit
PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK) has let a contract to Haldor Topsoe to deliver technology licensing and engineering services for a methanol unit to be built at NKNK’s petrochemical complex at Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan. The 500,000-tonne/year unit will be used to produce methanol for production of formaldehyde that will be used as a feedstock for NKNK’s isoprene production. […]
MARKET WATCH: Crude oil benchmarks end week with price drop
The light, sweet crude oil price for February dropped $1/bbl on the New York market Jan 11 while Brent crude settled more than $1/bbl lower on London’s Intercontinental Exchange. Price declines by the benchmarks ended more than a week of consecutive price gains. Source: News
Baker Hughes: Canada gains 108 rigs for the week
Canada has added 108 rigs for the week ended Jan. 11, according to Baker Hughes data. While the large jump puts the total number of rigs running at 184, the count is less than the 276 units drilling this week a year ago. Source: News
Saudi Arabia reports post-audit reserves of 268.5 billion bbl
Saudi Arabia reported that it now holds 268.5 billion bbl of proved crude oil reserves—a figure higher than the previously reported 266.3 billion bbl. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry also revised upward the country’s natural gas reserves to 325.1 tscf as of yearend 2017. Source: News