Two blocks offered off Sable Island, NS

Two blocks nominated by the oil and gas industry are on offer off Sable Island in the northern Atlantic. The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board will accept bids through May 8, 2019, for exploration licenses covering 75,788-hectare Parcel 1 and 73,004-hectare Parcel 2, both in less than 100 m of water on the Scotian Shelf. […]


IPC closes BlackPearl Resources acquisition

International Petroleum Corp. (IPC), Vancouver, BC, has closed its $675-million (Can.) acquisition of BlackPearl Resources Inc., Calgary. BlackPearl Pres. and Chief Executive Officer John Festival becomes an IPC director. Source: News


PTTEP wins Bongkot, Erawan concessions

PTT Exploration & Production will remain operator of Bongkot natural gas field in the Gulf of Thailand and replace a Chevron Corp. subsidiary as operator of Erawan gas field in 2022. The state-owned company won bidding for new concessions covering both fields. The current Bongkot license will expire in 2023, and the Erawan license will […]


MARKET WATCH: Crude oil benchmark make gains on deficit concerns

Crude oil benchmark prices settled more than $1 higher Dec. 13 as signs point to an emerging global oil market deficit. News of a drop in US crude stocks was reported Dec. 12. The weekly Petroleum Status Report showed US oil production dropped 100,000 b/d to 11.6 million b/d for the week ended Dec. 7. […]


Inpex gains interest in Ichthys LNG project from Total

Inpex agreed to acquire an additional 4% interest in the Ichthys LNG project in Australia from Total SA for $1.6 billion, increasing the operator’s participating interest to 66.245% from 62.245%. The first offshore condensate cargo was exported on Oct. 1, the first LNG cargo was exported on Oct. 22, and the first LPG cargo was […]


Mexico plans new refinery, rehab work

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico has announced a plan to rehabilitate six refineries and build a 340,000-b/d refinery a Dos Bocas, Tabasco. Source: News


ExxonMobil makes FID to develop West Barracouta gas project

ExxonMobil Corp. plans to produce natural gas for the Australian market by 2021 following a final investment decision to develop West Barracouta gas field in Bass Strait. The project, on the VIC/L1 Block offshore Victoria, is part of the Esso-BHP Gippsland basin joint venture. Source: News


IEA revises downward non-OPEC supply growth forecast for 2019

In its latest monthly oil market report, the International Energy Agency has revised its 2019 non-OPEC supply growth forecast down by 415,000 b/d to 1.5 million b/d, partly due to expected cuts from Russia agreed last week, and to lower growth in Canada. “By agreeing a cut of 1.2 million b/d, and additional output curbs […]


CruzSur seeks test of old well in Colombia

A subsidiary of CruzSur Energy Corp., Vancouver, BC, wants to test an old well near a recent technical discovery on the Maria Conchita block in the Department of La Guajira, Colombia. The subsidiary, MKMS Enerji Sucursal Colombia, is seeking modification to an environmental license that would allow it to test the Aruchara-1 well drilled by […]


Witnesses give US House RFS quota discussion draft a frosty reception

Witnesses at a Dec. 11 US House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing generally applauded the sponsors’ effort in releasing a discussion draft weeks earlier that would reform the Renewable Fuel Standard’s quotas by establishing a national octane specification beginning in 2023. Source: News