Oil and Gas NEWS

Five years after the first discovered small field (DSF) auctions for hydrocarbons, project developers continue to face multiple issues. Till now, none of these discoveries have begun production and officials from many new entrants to India’s upstream oil and gas exploration sector point fingers towards delays in clearances and faulty data. “The efforts of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons are in creative construct, yet achieving the mission of expediting domestic production is being hampered owing to delays in policy decisions.

This will include up to £10bn for hydrogen production and £3bn for a technology called carbon capture, usage and storage - where carbon emissions are either turned into other products such as plastics or buried.The government says the deal should cut pollution by up to 60 million tonnes by 2030, while also supporting up to 40,000 jobs across the supply chain.

Deloitte announced the appointment of Amy Chronis as a vice chairman of Deloitte LLP and leader of its oil, gas and chemicals (OG&C) sector within the U.S. energy, resources and industrials industry. Chronis will lead the overall strategic direction and market eminence of the OG&C practice, as well as the go-to-market strategies for Deloitte’s key businesses including audit & assurance, consulting, tax and risk & financial advisory services.

Exxon reserves of the dense, heavy crude extracted from Western Canada’s sandy bogs dropped by 98%. In practical terms, the revision clipped Exxon’s future growth prospects until oil prices rise, costs slide or technological advances make it profitable to drill those fields.The reserves accounting doesn’t mean Exxon is closing up shop or walking away from Canada because the company can bring them back onto its ledger as crude prices rise.

ExxonMobil agreed to sell some assets in the North Sea for more than $1 billion as the company focuses on newer and larger sources of oil and gas such as Guyana, Brazil and the U.S. Permian Basin. The company will sell most of its non-operated upstream assets in the UK central and northern North Sea to NEO Energy. NEO is an oil producer backed by Norwegian private equity firm HitecVision AS.

ExxonMobil has already upped its climate plans, only three months into an activist investor’s campaign to force change inside the company. Engine No.1, is pushing the oil giant to set new goal, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Engine No.1 released a letter reiterating its call for Exxon to overhaul its board of directors by adding four new members who have the expertise to steer the company towards climate neutrality.

U.S. oil and gas stocks, by far the worst performers last year, are standing out as best in 2021. Companies including Exxon Mobil, Diamondback Energy and Marathon Oil have posted double-digit gains this year as a rebound in oil prices and prospect of an economic recovery have outweighed risks from Joe Biden administration. Energy Index is up 12% this year compared to 2020’s 37% plunge.

The leading representative body for UK oil and gas has today announced appointment of a new co-chair to its board, Arne Gürtner, Senior Vice President UK & Ireland Offshore at Equinor, as the sector focuses on industry’s recovery whilst meeting net-zero targets for 2021. Arne leads organisation supporting Equinor’s UK and Ireland upstream activities, which includes Mariner development and Rosebank.

As a string of infrastructure projects hits the buffers, America’s O&G industry is facing up to the uncomfortable new reality. Joe Biden moved quickly last week to cancel the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline, delivering on a campaign promise to curb emissions by the O&G industry.

The budget provides for additional fund infusion of Rs 1,000 crore for SECI and Rs 1,500 crore for IREDA and the launch of a National Hydrogen Mission in 2021-22 for generating Hydrogen from green power sources.The Union Budget for 2021-22 has laid a major focus on capturing the emerging energy transition trends.

The oil and gas sector has emerged as one of the largest contributors to the overall profit , said Motilal Oswal Financial Services in a report. According to there port, the oil and gas sector was the largest contributor to the overall profit pool of about 22%.

The Biden administration’s moratorium of oil and gas leasing on federal public land faced an legal attack from an energy industry group.Western Energy Alliance, which represents 200 oil and natural gas companies, said the administration’s suspension of leases is “unsupported and unnecessary,” and an overreach by U.S. Bureau of Land Management, according to a petition filed Wednesday in federal court.

Libya is seeking funding from foreign oil companies to fix its ailing infrastructure after years of war and neglect, the nation's top energy official said. The state-owned National Oil Corp. was forced to shut down a leaking pipeline on Saturday, which cut the OPEC member's crude production by around 200,000 barrels a day.

The US Interior Department on Jan. 20 put new oil and gas lease sales and permits on federal lands and waters on hold for 60 days, according to an order signed by Acting Secretary Scott de la Vega. So the 60-day moratorium could lead into a much broader ban on new federal oil and gas leases and permits.

Iraq has reduced annual supplies of Basra crude oil to several Indian refiners by up to 20 per cent for 2021. The supply cuts to India followed a $2.5 billion oil prepayment deal between SOMO and Chinese state oil trader Zhenhua Oil Corp for 48 million barrels of Basra crude.

Incoming US president Joe Biden has drawn up a list of changes he will make on “day one” of his presidency. Biden has pledged significant changes to oil and gas leasing for US operators, but this legislation would need to pass through the US congress.This includes changes to oil and gas policies made by previous president Donald Trump.

Joe Biden’s move to block the $9 billion Keystone XL project is the clearest sign yet that constructing a major new pipeline in the U.S. has become an impossible task. Even before Biden’s inauguration, the oil and gas industry was on its back foot when it came to building major new infrastructure.

Exxon Mobil Corp signalled in a regulatory filing that higher oil and gas prices and improved chemicals margins would aid fourth-quarter results, but the gains would be overshadowed by an up to $20 billion asset write down. Exxon expects higher prices will sequentially lift its oil and gas operating results by between $200 million and $1 billion.