E&P NEWS

Egypt is in the process of launching the Egypt Upstream Gateway, a digital subsurface platform that will act as an up-to-date repository of the country’s subsurface data. This unique digital initiative will be used to unlock the potential of Egypt's petroleum sector and promote the country's exploration and production potential worldwide.

India's ONGC has been given Environment Clearance (EC) for its onshore exploration, development and production of oil and gas in 100 locations in the non-forest area of Assam. According to official documents, the firm is investing Rs 3,500 crore in the project. "The EC is however subject to obtaining prior permission from the wildlife angle, including clearance from the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife", informed ONGC.

In its 31st licensing round, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has awarded exploration and production rights to a host of firms. These operators range from new entrants to supermajors. It is being observed that the regulator has reflected a greater interest in this round than the previous offering in 2016. Further, many new proposed work programmes have been secured in this round.

UK Government has decided to pay up to £400 million to Mitsubishi for oil and gas decommissioning relief. The amount will go to Mitsubishi's subsidiaries MCX Osprey and MCX Dunlin. The pay-out will assist the shutdown of the Greater Dunlin Area. It was in 2015 that Dunlin's decommission was decided and its 70% liability was transferred to Mitsubishi. The payment will be made through Decommissioning Relief Deeds.

Chesapeake Energy Corp has announced that it will buy oil producer Wild Horse Resource Development Corp. The deal is worth nearly $4 billion. Chesapeake has strategized this move to increase the oil production capacity in the course of rising crude prices. CEO of Chesapeake said “We plan to focus the vast majority of our projected 2019 activity on our high-margin, higher-return oil opportunities in the PRB and Eagle Ford Shale”

Australia's largest E&P Company, Woodside Petroleum Ltd reported a 6% rise in its half-year earnings backed by the effective performance of company’s Wheatstone and Pluto LNG projects. In the present financial year, i.e. 2018, the company expects the production to lie between 87 mmboe to 91 mmboe. Furthermore, the Wheatstone project is likely to add approximately 13 million barrels of oil equivalent to the annual output after becoming fully operational.

The Houston-based E&P giant, ConocoPhillips is believed to be in contact with BP Plc to move forward with an asset swap deal. This agreement will eventually lead to BP taking over the Clair field asset, UK, while ConocoPhillips acquiring BP’s assets in the Alaskan region. However, no final resolutions have been reached between the companies and discussions might end with no results.

Drilling of first exploration well in a four-well campaign in the Echo Energy plc’s Fracción C asset, onshore Argentina has commenced. The Company will update shareholders with progress on both the exploration drilling program and extended testing as the program advances.

BP and RIL announced the sanctioning of the second of the three projects- Satellite cluster project- in Block KG D6. A total of about 3 Tcf discovered gas resources with a total investment of $6 billion is expected to develop out of these three projects phased over 2020-2022. Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of RIL expressed his delight on the on-schedule progress of the project.

Petronet wants to collaborate with the overseas wing of India’s biggest explorer, ONGC Videsh Ltd., to pick up a stake in an upcoming exploration and liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Qatar, as revealed by a top company official. It will be a maiden venture of Petronet in LNG E&P business and overseas LNG terminals.

PetroChina’s net income jumped to $3.6 billion in 2017 as earnings from E&P overcame asset write-downs and losses from importing natural gas. Analysts are of the view that profit could have been very impressive if not for the large asset write-downs. Efficiency remains an issue, as total production has fallen even as spending exceeded the budget it set at the beginning of last year.

Iraq’s aspirations of production expansion suffer as the global energy companies reduce their investments in the nation’s low-return environment. The leading oil firms that have previously invested an ample amount in Iraq are complaining about the technical service contracts offered by Baghdad, which happen to be too stringent and give a meagre return on investments.