BOEM employees work on preparing offshore lease sales during shutdown

US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management employees have continued to work on upcoming federal offshore oil and lease sales despite the partial government shutdown that has closed much of the Department of the Interior. BOEM’s updated Fiscal 2019 Contingency Plan for a shutdown called for 124 excepted employees to be available to handle administrative services, […]


MARKET WATCH: NYMEX oil price gains slightly to stay above $52/bbl

Light, sweet crude oil prices gained modestly on the New York market Jan. 16 after a US government report showed crude oil supplies fell sharper than expected while product inventories rose for the week ended Jan. 11. Source: News


India approves Numaligarh refinery expansion project

Numaligarh Refinery, a group company of Bharat Petroleum, has received clearance to proceed with the long-planned expansion of its 60,250-b/d Numaligarh refinery in the Golaghat district of Assam in far-northeastern India. India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Jan. 16 approved the 225.94 billion-rupee project, which intends to expand crude processing capacity at the refinery by […]


EIA: IMO regulations drive up US, global refinery runs

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is set to enact the Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL Convention), which lowers the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel oil used in ocean-going vessels from 3.5% to 0.5%. Source: News


EIA expects modest global oil inventory builds in 2019-20

Global liquid fuels production will average 101.8 million b/d in 2019 and 103.5 million b/d in 2020, and consumption will average 101.5 million b/d in 2019 and 103.1 million b/d in 2020, which will contribute to modest inventory builds in both years, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook. The STEO […]


Equinor reports gas, condensate discovery south of Kristin field

Equinor has, together with partners ExxonMobil, Total, and Norway’s Petoro, made a natural gas and condensate discovery with the Ragnfrid North (6406/2-9 S) exploration well in the Norwegian Sea. The well, drilled in production license 199 about 20 km south of the Kristin platform, will be evaluated for development and tie-in to Kristin field and […]


Baldridge elected chairman of TPA

Don Baldridge, president of commercial for DCP Midstream, has been elected chairman of the Texas Pipeline Association (TPA). Source: News


Woodside lets contracts for Scarborough project

Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Perth, has let four contracts for the front-end engineering and design phase of its proposed Scarborough gas development on the Exmouth Plateau off Western Australia. Source: News


Rystad Energy: Offshore service market growth to outpace shale in 2019

Rystad Energy forecasts offshore spending will outgrow spending on onshore shale activities this year. Service companies exposed to the offshore subsea market and the maintenance, modifications, and operations (MMO) sector are set to benefit from this trend reversal. Source: News


EIA: US crude inventories down 2.7 million bbl

US crude oil inventories for the week ended Jan. 11, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 2.7 million bbl from the previous week, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed. At 437.1 million bbl, US crude oil inventories are about 8% above the 5-year average for this time of year, the report indicated. […]