Cairn Energy Group has let a 110-day contract to Maersk Drilling for the Maersk Developer semisubmersible drilling rig with an option for four additional wells offshore Mexico. The contract is expected to start in September, Maersk Drilling said in a fleet update. Source: News

India has launched the third bid round under its Open Acreage Licensing Policy, offering 23 onshore and offshore blocks covering more than 31,000 sq km for exploration. Dharmendra Pradhan, minister of petroleum and natural gas, announced OALP-3 at the Petrotech conference in Noida, outside Delhi. Source: News

Venezuela’s oil industry has been in a tailspin in recent years, with the country’s crude oil production falling to just 1.34 million b/d at yearend 2018 from 2.4 million b/d in 2015. This freefall is poised to carry over into 2019, according to energy research and consulting firm Rystad Energy. Source: News

The government of Mongolia—through wholly owned Mongol Refinery State Owned LLC—has signed a memorandum of understanding with Engineers India Ltd. for delivery of additional work on the country’s first refinery project now under construction on 150 hectares in Altanshiree Soum near Sainshand in the southeastern province of Dornogovi. Source: News

Crude oil benchmark prices rose modestly Feb. 8 with light, sweet crude oil for March delivery settling above $52.70/bbl and Brent settling above $62/bbl although both crude benchmarks declined for the week overall ended Feb. 8. US futures tumbled 4.6% for the week, which Dow Jones Market Data said was the largest loss since the week […]

Environmental assessment can—dare a humble scribe say it?—go overboard.   Source: News

The US House Judiciary Committee approved a fresh bill by voice vote on Feb. 7 to amend the Sherman Antitrust Act to make oil producing and exporting cartels illegal. H.R. 948, which committee member Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) introduced on Feb. 4, reportedly gained traction following reports that OPEC was considering formalizing its relationship with Russia and […]

Eni SPA and Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) have signed a joint development agreement to advance a technology for conversion of natural gas into synthesis gas. The partnership will build a demonstration plant at an Eni facility. The technology is based on the short contact time catalytic partial oxidation of natural gas. Source: […]

The US drilling rig count is up 4 units to 1,049 rigs working for the week ended Feb. 8, according to Baker Hughes data. The count is also up 74 units from the 975 rigs working this time a year ago. With a 4-unit gain week-over-week, 1,029 rigs are drilling on land. The number of […]

Houston independent Apache Corp. reduced its preliminary upstream capital budget for 2019 by 20% but expects full-year total adjusted production to trend to the midpoint of the projected 410,000-440,000 boe/d target—a 3% reduction from previous estimates. Source: News