Two blocks awarded in Indonesian round

Kufpec Regional Ventures (Indonesia) Ltd. and a combine of Sonoro Energy Ltd. and PT Menara Global Energy won production-sharing contracts for two of five blocks offered in a licensing round opened by the government early this year, the Jakarta Post reported. Source: News

MARKET WATCH: Crude oil prices rise on EIA’s lower oil inventory

Light, sweet crude oil rallied to settle above $62/bbl on the New York market May 8 while Brent crude oil for July gained modestly to settle above $70/bbl on the London market after a weekly government report showed US oil inventories dropped more than expected. Source: News

Chevron will not counter Occidental’s offer for Anadarko

Chevron Corp. will not make a counterproposal to acquire Anadarko Petroleum Corp. following Anadarko’s determination that a revised bid from Occidental Petroleum Corp. constitutes a “superior proposal” and will allow the 4-day match period to expire. Source: News

Baker Institute studies possible shale-development ban in Mexico

Rice University’s Baker Institute researchers say limited water access and a lack of infrastructure are likely to stall shale gas development in Mexico regardless of whether Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador implements his campaign promise to ban hydraulic fracturing. Source: News

MRPL partially shutters units at Mangalore refining complex

Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals, a subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corp., has implemented a partial shutdown of process units as part of a force majeure at its 300,000-b/d integrated complex in Mangalore, India. Source: News

Official: Normal Druzhba flow due mid-May

The Druzhba oil pipeline between Russia and Europe will resume normal operations in mid-May after a month-long curtailment responding to contamination, according to Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak in a report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Source: News

Dutch refiner lets contract for Zeeland refinery

Dutch refiner Zeeland Refinery, a joint venture of Total and Lukoil, has let a contract to Aspen Technology to implement asset optimization software designed to bridge gaps in planning and scheduling at its 72,300-b/d refinery at Vlissingen, the Netherlands. Source: News

DOE laboratories, ExxonMobil launch lower-emissions research effort

Two US Department of Energy national laboratories and ExxonMobil Corp. plan to invest as much as $100 million over 10 years to advance lower emissions energy technologies that could be brought to a commercial scale. The agreement involving DOE’s National Energy Technology and National Renewable Energy Laboratory is one of the largest between DOE’s labs […]