Washington on Tuesday imposed sanctions on the trading arm of Russia's Rosneft. This has created a difficult situation for Reliance Industries, a key buyer of Venezuelan oil. The Indian refiner said, "Reliance will continue its direct communications with the US Government to ensure that Reliance's purchases of Venezuelan oil after the RTSA sanctions are both compliant with US sanctions and consistent with US policies regarding Venezuelan oil sector".

With a significant drop in the new coronavirus cases in the epicentre of the outbreak, oil prices increased by 1% on Thursday. Brent went up by 0.8% and was traded at $59.57 a barrel. WTI rose by 0.9% and was traded at $53.78 per barrel. On the other hand, blockade of ports and oilfields in Libya and US sanctions on Rosneft has reignited the global oil supply worries.

A recent survey by Accenture on “Accenture Upstream Oil and Gas Digital Trends Survey 2019” reveals that cybersecurity is the main focus of upstream oil and gas companies’ digital investments. The report also says that though the focus is set, the companies are still finding it difficult to scale digital technologies and unlock additional value. The second biggest focus was identified as cloud technologies.

Oilfield services provider, Petrofac yesterday informed about securing two contracts worth ~$1.65 billion from state-run ADNOC for the Dalma gas development project in the UAE. The first package of the contract, priced at $1.07 billion, pertains to developing gas processing facilities at Arzanah island. The second tranche is estimated to be worth $591 million. The contract award comes as the UAE looks to achieve gas self-sufficiency.

Indonesian state-run, PT Pertamina inked a framework agreement with Malaysia's Petronas to sell and buy crude this year. The deal, which was announced through a statement yesterday, will see Petronas and Pertamina swapping crude produced in the Malaysian fields of Kikeh, Kimanis and Kidurong with crude from Indonesian fields of Jabung and Ketapang. The agreement follows up from Petronas and Pertamina's plan last year to exchange crude.

Oil prices edged higher in the international market on Wednesday, however, gains were capped by the lingering economic impact due to the coronavirus epidemic. Brent crude was priced at $57.81 a barrel. US WTI fell to $51.97 a barrel. One of the world's largest economies, China is battling to get manufacturing back on track after Coronavirus epidemic pushed the country to impose stringent city-wide lockdowns and travel obstructions.

Mexican state-run Pemex has commenced signing contracts with oilfield service firms specifically invited for submitting regarding a new batch of priority E&P projects. Octavio Romero, CEO, Pemex, who was speaking on the sidelines of an energy event in Ciudad del Carmen, informed that the closed bidding process allows Pemex to save on costs. Romero foresees all the contracting for this year's projects to be concluded by the middle of 2020.

Oil prices continued its downward journey in the international market on Tuesday, stressed by the concerns of coronavirus severely impacting the economy and its effect on oil demand. Brent crude was priced 0.6% lower, at $57.30 a barrel. US WTI fell by 0.3%, to $51.90 a barrel. Even though new coronavirus infection cases in mainland China fell below 2,000 yesterday, global experts cautioned against the early prediction of outbreak containment.

Oil prices fell in the international market on Monday, slipping ahead of Asian economic data release that is due this week. Brent crude was priced at $56.99 a barrel. US WTI fell to $51.92 a barrel. Asia's economic data will indicate the effect of China’s coronavirus epidemic on oil demand. The IEA has already forecasted a dip of 435,000 barrels per day (bpd) in oil demand due to coronavirus spread.

A worker on Taqa's North Sea platform was quarantined for suspected infection to coronavirus. The worker was deployed on Taqa's Tern Alpha platform, offshore Shetland, and had recently returned from a holiday in Thailand. The energy company informed that the worker is currently kept under isolation. Taqa said: "A member of crew on board our Tern Alpha platform has presented with minor symptoms after returning recently from a holiday in Thailand."

State-run oil major, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) yesterday recorded a 44% dip in consolidated net profit for 3Q19, at Rs 5,384 crore. The upstream major's profit slipped over lower production and a decline in price realization. ONGC reported a 7.7% decline in the Cumulative natural gas production to 6.17 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) during the quarter.

State-run refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) reported a nearly three-fold jump in its net profit to Rs 2,051.43 crore, for the fourth quarter. BPCL's net profit in 3Q2018 was Rs 698.62 crore, the company reported in a regulatory filing. However, revenue from operation slipped over lower oil prices to Rs 85,926.70 crore.

Oil supermajor, Total has awarded a contract renewal to CGG's Geoscience division, to continue operations at its Dedicated Processing Center (DPC) in France. The contract renewal will extend CGG's activities for the next five years. The two firms have been collaborating at the DPC since 2006. The DPC has been recognized for excellence, especially in 4D processing.

Oil prices held ground in the international market on Friday but remained on course for its first weekly gain in six weeks. While Brent crude fell to $56.25 a barrel. US WTI was priced at $51.41 a barrel. Crude prices have seen a 20% downfall in 2020-highs achieved on Jan. 8 as investors remained largely worries about large fuel demand declines in China amidst coronavirus outbreak and spread.

US E&P major, Marathon Oil Corp, yesterday, recorded a 54.5% dip in fourth quarter's adjusted profit, slipping over weak oil and gas prices. The firm's adjusted income dropped to $55 million from $121 million, a year earlier. Marathon's US production climbed to 328,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) from 306,000 boe/d for the same quarter last year.

Oil supermajor, BP Plc has established a new purpose and 2050 net-zero emissions plan. BP's new Group CEO, Bernard Looney said the company does not currently have short-term targets, adding: “We don’t expect progress to be in a straight line. But make no mistake… The direction is set.” BP has published a ten-point plan, that proposes a company restructuring, a new corporate purpose and an ambition to continue evolving despite changes.

Oil prices continued its upward journey in the international market on Thursday, buoyed up by the expectations of deeper production cuts to negate the tumbling demand due to the coronavirus outbreak in China. Brent crude climbed 0.3%, to $55.96 per barrel. US WTI rose 0.6%, to $51.46 a barrel. OPEC yesterday decreased its 2020 forecast for the demand of cartel's crude by 200,000 bpd, prompting expectations of deeper output cuts.

Oil supermajor, BP has acquired majority stakes in fibre optic innovation company, Fotech through its business development branch, Launchpad. Founded in 2008, Fotech develops fibre optics products for transportation, smart cities, energy and the security sector. The UK-based firm deploys artificial intelligence and edge computing in its products, spanning areas like surveillance, transport management, cable monitoring and rail management.