OPEC+ may meet this week to update production limits

The move, if confirmed, would give the oil cartel more flexibility to change its current production limits. The existing deal, struck in April as energy demand and prices collapsed because of the coronavirus pandemic, calls for curbs to ease from July. More »

Weekly Preview podcast: How prepared is the industry for an oil price rebound?

Our look ahead the coming week, including how drillers' ability to react to an increase in oil and gas demand could be impacted by technical and manpower limitations, and what key OPEC players have in store for the first week of June. More »

Oxy reduces its dividend to $0.01 per share

Occidental shareholders will receive a penny per share on July 15, the Houston-based company said in a statement Friday. The payout compares to the 11-cent dividend announced in March. More »

Saudis focus oil shipments on China during production cuts

An early look at Saudi Arabia’s crude exports for May shows that historic production cuts have done little to squelch the kingdom’s flood of oil to China, which is just getting back on its feet from the coronavirus. More »

Renewable energy firms scooping up cast-off oil and gas workers

Much of oil, gas, wind and solar is about building projects and selling the output. That requires workers with backgrounds in geology, land acquisition, engineering, finance, asset management and energy contracts. More »

Oil’s biggest monthly advance ever stalls on U.S.-China tensions

While futures in New York edged lower to trade near $33 a barrel, crude is still set for the biggest monthly gain in data going back almost four decades. More »

Halliburton launches real-time wireless depth correlation system

Halliburton introduced the DynaTrac Real-Time Wireless Depth Correlation System, a new technology that reduces uncertainty and saves rig-time by enabling operators to accurately position packers, perforating guns and the bottom-hole assembly without running wireline or moving the work string. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Talent retention and development post-pandemic

Airswift CEO Janette Marx discusses how talent acquisition, career development and diversity will evolve in the energy sector during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. More »

ConocoPhillips completes Australian asset sale to Santos

Production associated with the assets being sold averaged approximately 46 Mboepd for the first three months of 2020, and proved reserves were approximately 17 MMboe at year-end 2019. More »

Petrofac secures Iraq contract extension with Basra Oil Company

The confirmation of the contract extension is recognition of Petrofac’s successful seven-and-a-half-year track record of safe and efficient delivery and ability to sustain and improve export levels as incumbent operations and maintenance service provider. More »

nanoActiv treatment preserves wells during shut-in periods

Treating a well with nanoActiv can alter the wettability of the rock surface, providing a preferential coating of nanoparticles which may help prevent asphaltene, condensate, and/or paraffin deposition. More »

Precision Drilling CEO sees shale’s recovery a year away, at best

Even if the economy continues to recover and a second wave of the pandemic is less damaging than the first, U.S. shale drillers may still take at least a year before moving rigs back into the field, according to the leader of an oilfield-services company. More »

Chevron shareholders want evidence of climate change performance

In a rare move against Chevron Corp.’s board, shareholders of the U.S. oil giant are calling on the company to disclose lobbying efforts and ensure that they support international goals to combat global warming. More »

Oil prices continue to slide on growing U.S. stockpiles

The American Petroleum Institute reported that stockpiles expanded by 8.73 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data, raising questions about the strength of the market’s return to balance. More »

Chevron’s cost-reduction measure may eliminate up to 15% of workforce

Chevron’s cuts equate to about 6,000 of its 45,000 non-gas station employees. It’s “streamlining our organizational structures to reflect the efficiencies and match projected activity levels,” the San Ramon, California-based company said Wednesday in a statement. More »

Saudis, Russians plan to work together at June’s OPEC+ meeting

Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to closely coordinate on the OPEC+ output cuts deal, two weeks ahead of a crucial meeting of the group. More »

Exxon’s sharehlders say no to appointing an independent chairman

Pressure for Exxon to appoint an independent chairman, separate to the CEO, has been building for years. Exxon beefed up the powers of its lead director earlier this year in response to some shareholders’ concerns. More »

Epiroc introduces DH350 ultra-mobile drilling rig

“The DH350 combines the mobility of carrier drive rigs with the power density of conventional skidded systems to produce one of the most agile and capable drilling rigs in the marketplace today,” said Cole Carpenter, product manager at Epiroc Drilling Solutions. More »

Siemens wins compression contract for Golden Pass LNG export project

The export facility is a joint venture between affiliates of Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil and will be integrated into the existing Golden Pass LNG import terminal. More »

Ghana reconsiders oil’s role in its economy as prices fall

The global slump in crude prices is giving Ghana a chance to rethink its dependence on a sector that was its key driver of economic growth in recent years. More »

Oil prices fall on Russia’s readiness for pre-OPEC+ production levels

Oil declined from the highest settlement in 11 weeks on signs Russia is supporting plans to start easing supply cuts from July, while tensions between the U.S. and China escalated amid the specter of sanctions. More »

Senior Canadian officials unite to support offshore industry

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball, along with provincial Minister of Natural Resources Siobhan Coady, expressed support for a focused initiative to persuade the federal government to provide immediate assistance to East Canada’s offshore industry, which has been hit hard by Covid-19 and the collapse of oil prices. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Canada's oil and gas trade groups step up

World Oil Editor-in-Chief Kurt Abraham reviews Canadian trade associations' proactive efforts to support oil and gas operations, and that strategy's importance in the face of new IEA comments. More »

Russian gas exports to Europe drop as Nord Stream 2 nears completion

The European gas market has been watching for signs when key producers Russia and Norway will start curbing flows as an unprecedented glut keep on growing. More »

MAN Energy Solutions to support major Dutch carbon capture project

Porthos is planning to store approximately 2.5 million tons of CO2 per year under the North Sea. The CO2 will be captured by various companies in the Rotterdam port area – a region that accounts for over 16% of the CO2 emissions in the Netherlands. More »

Oil prices climb on prediction of swift demand rebalance

Oil has surged more than 80% this month as demand returned following the easing of lockdown restrictions in some countries, while output cuts have started to chip away at the oversupply. More »

IEA chief says low oil prices will take demand beyond pre-crisis highs

“In the absence of strong government policies, a sustained economic recovery and low oil prices are likely to take global oil demand back to where it was, and beyond,” Fatih Birol said in an interview. More »

Daily Brief podcast: A look ahead at the coming week in oil and gas, May 25-29

Key trends for the coming week, including how industry groups' response to low oil prices differ dramatically in the U.S. versus other producing nations, China's big plans for its economy, and investment analysts turning their backs on key sectors of the industry. More »

Swift production declines may keep shale operators on oil rebound’s sidelines

The quick turnaround in oil markets is exposing the shale industry’s Achilles’ heel: Lightning-fast production declines. Shale gushers turn to trickles so quickly that explorers must constantly drill new locations to sustain output. More »

Daily Brief podcast: A look ahead at the coming week in oil and gas

Key trends for the coming week, including how industry groups' response to low oil prices differ dramatically in the U.S. versus other producing nations, China's big plans for its economy, and investment analysts turning their backs on key sectors of the industry. More »

Putin sets deadline for plan to support Russian oil industry

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his government until June 15 to come up with a plan to support the country’s oil industry while output is slashed under an agreement among the world’s main producers. More »

Gulf of Mexico operators can expect an active 2020 hurricane season

Federal researchers are now weighing in on the hurricane season ahead, forecasting as many as 19 named storms for the year, at least six of which are likely to become hurricanes. More »

Distressed oil drillers find major analysts dropping stock guidance

The smallest shale oil drillers have endured their fair share of pain in this spring’s energy collapse and, with ailing stock prices, analysts are finding it even tougher to cover the group. More »

Shale rout drives working rigs to lowest count since 2009

Shale explorers extended their retreat into a 10th week, dropping the number of oil rigs at work in the U.S. to the lowest since 2009 as some struggle to stay afloat. More »

Oil’s capital city goes green, signing renewables contract for all municipal facilities

Houston will begin a new five-year contact in July with NRG Energy Inc. to power all of its city-owned properties, from fire stations to airports, with renewable energy. The move means the nation’s fourth-largest city will reach its goal of 100% renewable power five years sooner than anticipated. More »

UK dismisses Nigeria’s $1 billion bribery lawsuit against Shell, Eni

The ruling is a victory for the oil companies, which have been clouded by accusations in a years-old dispute over exploration rights to a tract in the Gulf of Guinea called Oil Prospecting License 245 that has spread to courtrooms throughout Europe. More »

Archer Limited secures multi-well PandA contract for modular rig Archer Topaz in the UKCS

Archer announced a formal contract award for provision of a modular drilling unit and associated services by TAQA. More »

Oil prices slip as China projects lower fuel demand

Oil retreated from the highest level in more than two months with doubts emerging over the strength of China’s economic recovery and as tensions rose between Washington and Beijing. More »

House Energy Action Team provides energy solutions

National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito issued a statement regarding the House Energy Action Team (HEAT) letter to Secretary Bernhardt on energy relief. More »

Shell turns to voluntary severances to streamline operations

Royal Dutch Shell will use measures including voluntary severance for staff to bolster its finances as the coronavirus pandemic batters profits, according to people with knowledge of the matter. More »

High premiums, price swings driving decline in shale hedges

After oil’s crash below zero, explorers face hefty premiums for the financial instruments they rely upon to insure against price swings. Meanwhile, they’re also unwilling to lock in future supply with forward prices for crude remaining lackluster. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Strategies for navigating capital markets to outlast the downturn

Arindam Das discusses where energy sector companies must focus to meet capital markets' new expectations, both to survive the downturn and to act advantageously as stabilizing markets present new opportunities. More »

Physical oil prices are surging worldwide, but can it last?

From the Middle East to Siberia, the North Sea down to Latin America, the prices of physical cargoes of crude oil are rallying hard almost everywhere, underpinning a surge in headline futures markets. Now, though, attention is turning toward just how sustainable the recovery will really be. More »

Libyan oil uncertainty grows as crippling civil war drags on

The revival of Libya’s oil industry looks even less certain following recent setbacks suffered by Khalifa Haftar, the commander trying to take over the last swaths of the country outside his control. More »

Oil passes $34/bbl on shrinking American stockpiles

West Texas Intermediate futures rose for a sixth day in New York to near $34 a barrel. American inventories fell for a second week, and there was a record draw from the storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. More »

ADC launches COVID-19 resilience audit to support offshore industry

ADC has combined guidance from the world’s leading advisory, regulatory and legislative bodies, including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Oil and Gas UK, with its 35 years of global operator and drilling contractor experience to produce a COVID-19 Resilience Audit. More »

Lamprell awarded EPIC contract by Sharjah National Oil Corporation

Scheduled for completion in early 2021, Lamprell's scope of work is specific to the Mahani Extended Well Test project and includes hook-up and installation at the well, existing systems upgrade, associated tie-ins and a new 25 km export pipeline. More »

OGUK responds to oil price impact study published by economist and professor Alex Kemp

Responding to the findings of a new study published today by Professor Alex Kemp from the University of Aberdeen, which suggests a third of all available oil and gas in the North Sea could be left untouched if the price of Brent Crude remains at $25 a barrel, More »

U.S. reduces royalty charges for drilling on federal land in Utah

In a move condemned by critics as encouraging production the market doesn’t need, the Trump administration has granted at least 76 petitions to cut royalty payments for oil and natural gas produced on public land in Utah. More »

Total lands $15 billion financing commitment for Mozambique LNG project

The Area 1 LNG project will generate about $38 billion in revenue for Mozambique’s government over its lifetime, supplemented by sales from an even bigger project led by Exxon Mobil in the neighboring Area 4 offshore block. More »

Oceaneering wins significant asset integrity scope in the Middle East

The award includes the provision of general and advanced non-destructive testing (NDT) and fabric maintenance inspection services across the operator’s onshore and offshore facilities in the Middle East. More »

Santos names Weatherford ‘Contractor of the Year’

Brett Darley, Executive Vice President, Offshore, Santos, commented, “Weatherford provided a solution that enabled Santos to execute a safe, efficient tubular running operation with hands-free technology. Safety is extremely important at Santos and Weatherford delivered an outcome with zero incidents and zero near-misses.” More »

China’s central planners could jump-start commodity demand in Friday meeting

The policy-setting National People’s Congress beginning in Beijing on Friday is arguably the pivotal stage of a recovery that has seen China’s raw materials output and energy consumption rebound from a virus-induced crash to pre-pandemic levels. More »

Alaskan and Canadian oil finds new Chinese buyers as their economy restarts

Canadian and Alaskan crude that normally travels to the U.S. West Coast is finding a market in China, where demand is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. More »

Renewable energy transition to accelerate on drop in power demand

The prolonged slowdown will increase economic pressure on older, uneconomic power plants -- especially those that burn coal -- and help speed the transition toward cleaner and cheaper wind and solar. It will also contribute to the biggest annual decline in greenhouse gasses from energy ever recorded. More »

Australia revamps climate fund to encourage Big Oil investment

The government plans to revamp the A$2 billion ($1.3 billion) Climate Solutions Fund, after an independent report published Tuesday found that stronger action was needed for the country to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. More »

Daily Brief Podcast: Simon Watkins on Saudi moves, Shale 3.0, and recovering demand

Analyst and author Simon Watkins discusses the real result of Saudi Arabia's production cuts, how recovering global markets impact large and small shale players differently, and what that means for the future of the industry. More »

Key global markets’ physical oil prices climbing as OPEC+ cuts supply

Demand is recovering in major oil consumers China and India, led by a rebound in gasoline and diesel consumption. Chinese refiners are seeing profits from turning crude into fuels, even as processors across much of the region including Singapore face negative margins. More »

Permian leads U.S. shale decline as output reaches 2018 low

Overall production is seen falling by 197,000 barrels a day next month to 7.822 MMbbl, which would be the lowest since late 2018. The expected decline would have been even more dramatic if not for a downward revision to May’s output estimate in the order of half a million barrels a day. More »

Brent nears $35/bbl on growing demand and tightening supply

Oil held near a two-month high of $35 a barrel as supply curbs tighten the market and demand rebounds in the world’s largest consuming countries. More »

Daily Brief podcast: How higher oil prices can threaten a recovering market

Oil reaches its highest price since March, which could lead to a new production imbalance in U.S. shale, and Oxy is left holding the bag on a major asset sale. More »

North Dakota shale restarting while recovery talk is still premature

Producers are already restarting oil wells in North Dakota as prices come off record lows, but talk of a recovery is premature, said the state’s energy regulator. More »

Aquaterra Energy lands second DeNovo platform contract

Aquaterra Energy has been awarded a FEED contract by DeNovo Energy for a second Sea Swift platform to be located in the Zandolie field, off of the west coast of Trinidad and Tobago. More »

Total walks on deal for Oxy’s oil assets in Ghana and Algeria

The disposal of the projects in Algeria and Ghana was supposed to raise about $5 billion for Occidental, which is on the hook for larger debt repayments beginning next year resulting from its Anadarko acquisition. More »

Oil highest since March as Chinese demand reaches 13 MMbpd

It’s not just China that’s seeing a recovery in consumption. Indian diesel sales are 75% higher during the first half of May, compared with a month earlier. More »

U.S. shale’s quick response to falling oil prices is paying off

A week after WTI crude settled below zero for the first time ever, analysts at JPMorgan projected that the U.S. would cut output by 1.5 MMbpd by June. Two weeks into May, production is already down by at least that much and continues to decline. More »

OPEC+ proves its mettle by swiftly delivering oil production cuts

Despite skepticism over the efficacy of the measures unveiled in mid-April by Saudi Arabia, Russia and their partners, compared to the immense hit to demand, the impact has been substantial. Oil prices have recovered by 60% in the past three weeks, as a pick-up in fuel use is complemented by the supply cuts. More »

Daily Brief podcast: A look ahead at the coming week in oil and gas

Key trends for the coming week, including a couple of wild cards that could threaten the recovering global oil price and production balance. More »

Canadian offshore industry in crisis mode

Over the last eight weeks, the Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association (Noia) has had ongoing discussions with the federal and provincial governments about providing immediate help to Canada’s offshore industry, which has been hit extremely hard by COVID-19 and the collapse of oil prices. More »

Russia faces challenges cutting oil output while keeping the industry alive

To save the market from collapse caused by the coronavirus, Moscow and its OPEC allies agreed to cut crude output deeper than ever before. Their deal pulled prices back from the brink, but the speed and duration of the shutdown increases the risk of losing some oil wells forever. More »

U.S.-bound Saudi oil could hurt prices and disrupt stabilizing markets

The more than 50 million barrels of Saudi crude on the water threaten to disrupt a positive supply development: U.S. crude stockpiles declined for the first time since January. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Bringing offshore connectivity and HSE advances to onshore operations

Thanks to new developments in satellite connectivity, advances that were once only technically and financially feasible for offshore installations are now available for land operations as well. More »

Oil climbs as IEA reports improving global market outlook

Oil rose as Saudi Aramco slashed its sales to key buyers and the IEA said that the market is showing signs of improving. More »

Saudis reducing oil exports to comply with OPEC+ output cuts

The Saudis are voluntarily reducing supply to the lowest level in 18 years as they lead a global effort to drain a glut that has dragged down prices by more than half this year. More »

China paying a premium for select crudes illustrates demand’s return

Crude processing at China’s independent refineries is now higher than pre-virus levels, while fuel demand is also starting to rebound in India. More »

Neptune Energy conducts world’s first for dual drilling subsea

Neptune Energy has conducted the world’s first dual drilling operation from an integrated subsea template structure at the Fenja field in the Norwegian North Sea. More »

Russia, Saudi Arabia see recovering demand after production cuts

Saudi Arabia and Russia see signs that oil demand is recovering as countries around the world start to relax lockdowns imposed to fight the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. More »

Pipeline performance report shows safety improving while mileage, barrels delivered increases

“Pipelines are the safest and most environmentally friendly way of transporting the energy Americans rely on every day,” said API Pipeline Manager David Murk. More »

OPEC cuts Q2 demand estimates again while members make deeper cuts

OPEC presented a bleaker assessment of global oil markets for the second quarter as the coronavirus crisis continues to drain demand, days after some of the cartel’s biggest producers pledged to make even deeper production cutbacks. More »

Equinor, SSE select operations base for world’s largest offshore wind farm

Equinor and SSE Renewables, the two companies behind the world’s biggest offshore wind farm Dogger Bank, have today announced plans to build a new Operations and Maintenance (OandM) Base at the Port of Tyne. More »

Chinese gas distributor says prices could turn negative on storage limits

One of China’s biggest natural gas distributors flagged the possibility of sub-zero market prices at its shareholder meeting, a scenario that would echo oil’s record plunge last month that stunned global markets. More »

U.S. energy chief forecasts a robust future for oil demand

President Donald Trump’s top energy official said the oil industry is on its way back after suffering crippling losses from an unprecedented price collapse. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Production cuts showing early results

In today's show, we look at the emerging evidence that production cuts are working amid signs of demand recovery, and how these are impacting oil prices. More »

Texas issues 50% fewer drilling permits in April 2020 versus one year ago

The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 456 original drilling permits in April 2020 compared to 909 in April 2019. More »

Oil storage crisis fading on global production cuts and recovering demand

After the brutal price crash, producers have cut output on a historic scale, including unprecedented reductions by the OPEC+ alliance. Now demand is starting to creep higher as governments ease lockdowns, letting drivers back on the roads. More »

Supermajors all have ambitious, and widely varying, net-zero goals

There are now four major oil companies pledging to cut emissions to “net zero,” after Total followed Repsol, BP, and Shell in laying out its plans. And, yet, each one of them defines that vital goal in a different way. More »

Qatar positioned to risk an LNG battle that could mimic oil’s plunge

Hemmed in by weak demand and scarce storage, the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas may soon face a stark choice: curb output or ignite a battle for market share that has the potential -- just as in the oil market -- to turn gas prices negative. More »

Pipeline operator sees Permian wells restarting production

Some drillers in the biggest North American oil field are reopening wells that were shut in response to the pandemic-driven price collapse, according to pipeline giant Energy Transfer LP. More »

China's crude inventory decline may augur a rebalancing oil market

Inventories drawing in China is an early sign that rebalancing may have begun in the global oil market after an epic collapse in demand, according to Morgan Stanley. Stockpiles dwindled even as oil imports in April increased from the previous month, according to Customs data. More »

Oil slips despite Saudi’s pledge to increase production cuts

Oil declined as doubts circulated over Saudi Arabia’s ability to implement additional pledged production cuts. More »

Interior chief predicts interest in Alaska National Wildlife Reserve leases despite oil price crash

Bleak crude prices and fuel demand forecasts won’t blunt oil company bidding for Arctic drilling rights, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Monday. More »

Nova module lifted onto Neptune Energy’s Gjøa platform

Neptune Energy and Wintershall Dea announced the successful lift of the 740-tonne topside module for the Nova development project in the Norwegian North Sea. More »

Continental Resources shutting in 70% of its May production

Harold Hamm's Continental Resources is curtailing about 70% of its crude output in May in one of the most aggressive production cuts announced to date among U.S. producers. More »

Saudis add 1 MMbbl to output cut to help stabilize oil prices

Saudi Arabia announced an extra voluntary oil-production cut of 1 million barrels a day, bringing output to its lowest in 18 years as the kingdom tries to prop up a nascent recovery in energy markets. More »

Supermajors’ first quarter earnings were bad, and will likely get worse

Exxon Mobil reported its first loss in over 30 years, while Shell cut its dividend for the first time since the Second World War. And that was only the result of the initial spread of the coronavirus. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Key industry trends for the coming week

A look at the trends for the coming week, including how production cuts are affecting near-term supply worldwide, where we can anticipate demand growth to start taking place first, and just what it will take from an operational standpoint to restart production. More »

Argentina’s plan to protect drilling by setting oil prices gains momentum

Energy markets are rarely left to their own devices in Argentina, to the frustration of many in the industry, and past governments have used controls to shield the local energy business from global price swings. More »

U.S. drilling rig count lowest since 1975 as shale boom fades

“This is an unprecedented downturn,” EOG Resources Inc. CEO Bill Thomas said during a conference call with analysts. “U.S. oil production is in severe decline and it could take years for domestic production to turn around. We believe that the historic and prolific oil-production growth by U.S. shale may have been forever altered.” More »

Weatherford production optimization platform delivers multimillion-dollar savings

Weatherford International announced its ForeSite Production-Optimization Platform demonstrated $18 million in annual savings for a Fortune 500 producer by delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, uptime and production. More »

Simmons Edeco completes Panuco drilling campaign in Mexico

Simmons Edeco has successfully completed a second series of development drilling of wells for a major oilfield services company in Mexico. More »

Crashing oil demand drives a 17 MMbpd global output cut in Q2

Consulting firm IHS Markit expects oil demand in the second quarter of 2020 to be 22 MMbpd less than a year ago. This collapse, combined with low prices, storage constraints and government ordered cuts, are driving an extraordinary level of liquids production cuts and shut-ins around the world. More »

Operators prepare for technical and fiscal challenges restarting shut-in wells

Although shutting down a well can be a relatively simple process, industry executives and their engineering teams aren’t altogether sure how smoothly an idle well can be restarted. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Near-term MandA opportunities and challenges in oil and gas

Arindam Das, Head of Consulting at Westwood Global Energy Group shares his insights on the near-term outlook for MandA activity in the oil and gas sector. More »

Sen. Warren, API stand against Trump’s proposed aid for oil companies

The Trump administration shouldn’t create a special relief program to bolster oil and gas producers while ignoring companies with “legitimate needs” that have been harmed by the coronavirus, Senator Elizabeth Warren argued Thursday. More »

Sen. Warren, API opposed to Trump’s proposed aid for oil companies

The Trump administration shouldn’t create a special relief program to bolster oil and gas producers while ignoring companies with “legitimate needs” that have been harmed by the coronavirus, Senator Elizabeth Warren argued Thursday. More »

Hess charters supertankers to store its North Dakota crude

The U.S. oil explorer said it has enlisted three very-large crude carriers that will each store about 2 million barrels of oil produced in May, June and July from the Bakken shale field in North Dakota. More »

Neptune Energy completes OBN seismic survey offshore Egypt

Neptune Energy announced the successful completion of an ocean bottom node (OBN) multiclient survey in the North West El Amal block, offshore Egypt, delivering promising results for further analysis. More »

Enbridge cuts jobs, defers capex spend as falling demand limits oil flows

Enbridge Inc., North America’s largest pipeline operator, is cutting jobs, lowering executive pay and deferring some capital spending as measures to fight the Covid-19 virus reduce oil flows on its system and slow down construction. More »

Crude’s crash sees college grads giving up on oil and gas careers

Hiring freezes and increasingly-dramatic boom and bust cycles are driving graduates who had planned on pursuing energy careers into other, more stable fields. More »

Brent crude jumps as Saudis raise selling price worldwide

“The higher prices by Aramco suggest a recovery of demand and a hint that OPEC+ actually started to cut production in their aim to balance the market,” said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist at ABN Amro. More »

Maersk Drilling further reduces headcount and financial guidance as projects dwindle

The revised guidance reflects expected adjustments to the existing contracts based on current customer dialogues, no additional contracts with financial impact in 2020, and COVID-19 related costs. More »

Argentina considers $45/bbl floor price for domestic crude

The administration of President Alberto Fernandez has circulated a proposal to set $45 as the per-barrel mandate in a bid to keep the domestic drilling business alive and sustain development of the vast Vaca Muerta shale formation during the demand-killing coronavirus pandemic. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Layoffs, regulation changes and production plans in Texas shale

Kurt and Cameron discuss more service company layoffs in Texas, the final outcome on prorationing, and what is likely to happen in shale plays as the crude demand decline levels off. More »

Undercutting rivals helps Saudis grow share in key oil markets

State oil producer Saudi Aramco slashed its official selling prices for April crude sales to some of the lowest levels in decades, undercutting rivals. For cargoes loading for Asia in May, Aramco cut pricing even further, and it’s expected to widen discounts to that region for June. More »

Petrostates forced to consider life without oil revenues as prices stay low

From Nigeria to Venezuela and Iraq, petrostates are facing the same challenge -- maintaining their economies while their prized commodity is worth a much less than it was, and where private companies often still want their cut. More »

Oil doubles over past five days on output cuts and stabilizing demand

Oil’s rally resumed after prices doubled over five days, amid optimism that output cuts are easing a huge supply glut and demand losses have bottomed. More »

Oxy cuts capex, takes $1.4 billion writedown on oil price collapse

Occidental Petroleum took a $1.4 billion writedown related to an investment in a pipeline affiliate, cut capital spending and withdrew its guidance for the year after a historic collapse in oil prices. More »

Oil regulator officially closes the door on production cuts in Texas

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) on Tuesday, May 5, voted against limiting oil production in the state, closing the book on a closely-watched proposal. The plan had been proposed to ensure the economic future of smaller operators, as they face unprecedented volatility in commodity prices. More »

Oceaneering successfully completes integrated rig services campaign offshore South America

Oceaneering International announced that its Remotely Operated Survey group has successfully completed an integrated rig services campaign for a major operator offshore South America, recording a milestone 150,000 hours of ROS operations and no client operations or vessel downtime. More »

Logan Industries builds ROV A-frame for TechnipFMC for use in Gulf of Mexico

The Logan A-frame is a heavy weather, work class ROV launching system, designed to move some of the largest, work class ROVs in the market. More »

Oil at $30 may be enough to revive shale activity, say drillers

A pair of prominent shale producers said all they need is oil around $30 a barrel to consider bringing back curtailed crude output and fracing new wells. More »

Challenge lies in choosing which wells to shut in amid the oil downturn

Shutting an oil well in 2020 is relatively easy, and can even be done with a few taps on an iPhone in some cases. Figuring out which to shut, and for how long, is the hard part. More »

Canadian heavy crude surges on output cuts, new storage options

Canadian heavy crude surged to its strongest price versus futures since at least 2008 as producers curtailed output and Enbridge Inc. agreed to open part of its pipeline system for storage. More »

Total pledges to be carbon neutral by 2050

The French company’s commitment to invest more in clean energy, despite a sharp drop in profit as the coronavirus hammers fuel demand, illustrates the enduring pressure on oil giants from investors and society to tackle long-term environmental challenges. More »

Texas drillers cut output on their own as state quota plan fails

On the same day OPEC-style oil quotas in Texas were pronounced dead on arrival, shale drillers disclosed more supply cuts in response to the crude market collapse. More »

Oil rally continues as output cuts appear to reduce inventories

Oil extended its rally into a fifth day on signs that a glut might be easing as leading producers slash their activity. More »

Daily Brief podcast: Shale sales and prorationing's death sentence

OTC announces its Spotlight on New Technology winners for 2020, Russia's ship has come in for Nord Stream 2, Shell finds a cash buyer for its Appalachian shale assets, plans to limit production in Texas are pronounced dead, and oil prices start the week off on a slightly-higher note. More »

Shell sells Appalachia shale gas assets for $541 million

The transaction includes the transfer of ~450,000 net leasehold acres across Pennsylvania, with approximately 350 producing Marcellus and Utica wells in Tioga County and associated facilities. More »

OTC announces 2020 Spotlight on New Technology Awards recipients

The Spotlight on New Technology Award recognizes companies that have created new and advanced technologies that play a role in advancing the offshore oil and gas sector into the forthcoming years. More »

Sitton says proposal to limit oil output in Texas “is now dead”

A Texas regulator who had proposed mandating oil production cuts is now calling those efforts “dead” a day before the state was set to vote on the measure. More »

Sanction-defying pipelay vessel reaches home of stalled Nord Stream 2 line

The pipeline, one of the key export projects for Russia’s Gazprom PJSC, was just weeks away from completion when U.S. sanctions stopped work last year. There’s a small section in Denmark’s waters still to be completed. More »

Oil’s three-day run ends as investors avoid near-term contracts

Oil fell after a three-day rebound as a number of funds shifted away from near-term contracts, fearing a repeat of the meltdown last month that saw prices plunge below zero. More »

Oil demand is beginning a slow, and fragile, recovery worldwide

From the streets of San Antonio to Barcelona and Beijing, traffic data, sales at fuel stations, and pipeline flows all suggest that the slump in oil demand probably bottomed out around the middle of April, and has now started a modest -- and very tentative -- recovery. More »

Shale slowdown may take 2 MMbpd of U.S. crude off the market

It’s too soon to tell how long the reductions will last, but if implemented for a full year, they would overshadow any previous American production slide going back to at least 1984. More »

Daily Brief podcast: China puts Brazil in an enviable position

OPEC output hits a record, Brazil in the catbird seat, the Texas Railroad Commission's proration meeting may be a foregone conclusion, and more More »

OPEC output hit 30-year high during the Saudi-Russia price war

OPEC’s crude production surged by the most in almost 30 years last month as its biggest members fought to dominate a global market devastated by the coronavirus crisis. More »

Oil cuts by OPEC+, U.S. operators lead prices to a weekly gain

Oil is headed for its first weekly gain in a month as global production cuts start to lift physical markets and demand shows tentative signs of recovery. More »

Exxon reports a historic loss while Chevron deepens capex cuts

Exxon Mobil posted its first loss in at least 32 years while Chevron Corp. deepened spending cuts amid the economic and industrial devastation wrought by the Covid-19 contagion. The worst may be yet to come. More »

More oil companies qualify for Federal Reserve loans after rules change

The Federal Reserve revamped its Main Street Lending Program in ways that will allow battered oil companies to qualify for the aid after industry allies lobbied the Trump administration for changes. More »