U.S. Department of Transportation issues new crude-by-rail regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced a package of targeted actions that will address some of the issues identified in recent train accidents involving crude oil and ethanol shipped by rail. More »

U.S. Department of Interior seeks greater revenue from onshore leases

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has announced that the Bureau of Land Management will open a public dialogue on potential changes to federal onshore oil and gas regulations. The changes concern increasing oil and gas royalty rates, rental payments, lease sale minimum bids, civil penalty caps and financial assurances. More »

U.S. Department of Transporation issues new crude-by-rail regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced a package of targeted actions that will address some of the issues identified in recent train accidents involving crude oil and ethanol shipped by rail. More »

GE faces ‘incredibly volatile’ oil market amid industrial shift

FAIRFIELD, Connecticut -- General Electric Co.’s sales of oilfield equipment fell in the first quarter as the slump in global crude markets weighed on the company’s accelerating return to its industrial roots. More »

Statoil chief says more oil deals likely after Shell-BG merger

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The CEO of Norway’s largest oil producer said the industry will probably see more deals after Royal Dutch Shell’s $70 billion to BG, especially if crude prices remain depressed. More »

U.S. oil rigs slide for 19th week as record retreat drags on

Oil explorers idled rigs in U.S. fields for the 19th straight week, prolonging an unprecedented retrenchment in drilling. More »

Nearly 3 MMbbl of arctic oil delivered to Europe, Gazprom Neft says

The Kirill Lavrov tanker has delivered a new batch of ARCO arctic oil to Europe in its sixth shipment of oil, Gazprom Neft announced Friday. More than 2.9 MMbbl of oil have been extracted from Prirazlomnoye oil field since production began. More »

Cameron names Justin Rounce as V.P., Marketing and CTO

Cameron has announced that Justin Rounce has assumed the newly created position of V.P., Marketing and CTO. More »

Petrobras confirms productivity of Sergipe basin’s Farfan reservoirs

Petrobras has completed its formation test on well 3-BRSA-1286-SES, in concession BM-SEAL-11, in the ultra-deep waters of the Sergipe-Alagoas basin. More »

TAM International establishes Norway office

TAM International, an independent oilfield services company providing inflatable and swellable packers to the oil and gas industry, has opened a new office in Norway to support the company’s current business and seek further growth. More »

DNV GL forges ahead in enabling reduced subsea lead times

Steel forgings are important building blocks for subsea components and are often tailored to meet end-users’ specific requirements. This results in long delivery times and repeated follow-ups throughout the supply chain. More »

Petrobras discovers onshore oil in Espírito Santo basin

Petrobras has discovered an onshore oil accumulation in the Espírito Santo basin. More »

Petrobras reports new Amazon basin discovery

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Petrobras has discovered a new oil and gas accumulation in the Amazon basin, Block AM-T-84. More »

Santos nears start of $18.5-billion Gladstone LNG project

Santos Ltd. expects its $18.5-billion LNG project in Australia to start production in about five months, pushing the country closer to becoming the world’s largest supplier of the fuel. More »

BG Norge strikes out near Knarr field

BG Norge AS, operator of production license 373 S, is completing the drilling of exploration well 34/3-5, located approximately five km southeast of Knarr field in the Northern North Sea. The well is dry. More »

TAM International establishes Norway office in response to Regional Growth

TAM International, an independent oilfield services company providing inflatable and swellable packers to the oil and gas industry, has opened a new office in Norway to support the company’s current business and seek further growth. More »

Cameron names Justin Rounce as V.P., Marketing and Chief Technology Officer

Cameron announced that Justin Rounce has assumed the newly created position of V.P., Marketing and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective March 23, 2015. More »

Aker Solutions and Fjords processing form Alliance

Aker Solutions and Fjords Processing have formed an alliance to develop technology and capabilities for advanced, cost-effective wellstream separation and treatment solutions for the subsea and topside oil and gas industry. More »

Petrobras confirms good productivity of Sergipe Basin’s Farfan reservoirs

Petrobras announces it has completed the formation test (evaluation of an oil deposit’s potential) on well 3-BRSA-1286-SES (ANP nomenclature), located in concession BM-SEAL-11, in ultra-deep waters of Sergipe-Alagoas Basin. More »

Iran oil could hurt U.S. production if domestic sanctions remain

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, drew attention to the potential impact that ending sanctions against Iran could have on U.S. production if the outdated prohibition on exporting domestic crude oil is not also lifted. More »

Schlumberger profit falls, announces 11,000 additional job cuts

Schlumberger Ltd. reported its lowest first-quarter profit in four years and announced further 11,000 job cuts after customers slashed spending in response to tumbling crude prices. More »

Oil rises to four-month high on speculation production slowing

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to the highest level in almost four months on speculation that slowing production will ease a supply glut. More »

Huisman’s first hybrid boom crane nears completion

Huisman has started final factory acceptance testing of its first 900-mt Rope Luffing Knuckle Boom Crane, now called the ‘Hybrid Boom Crane’, at the quayside of the Huisman China Production facility in Zhangzhou. More »

Shale wells turn to cash gushers as costs fall

The profitability of some U.S. shale wells at current prices will almost double as cost cutting and technology turns them into cash gushers despite oil’s crash. More »

ONGC breaks with Big Oil to invest $176 billion to increase reserves

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp., grappling with aging fields, is prepared to sacrifice profits by retaining a plan to pump 11 trillion rupees ($176 billion) into a search for reserves despite the slump in crude. More »

ONGC breaks with Big Oil to invest

More »

Petrofac develops maintenance program for Nexen's Golden Eagle field

Petrofac has completed a project for Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd.’s Golden Eagle Development Area, delivered through its Plant Asset Management consulting business. More »

Valemon officially opened, Statoil says

NORTH SEA -- Norway’s petroleum and energy minister, Tord Lien, has officially opened the Valemon gas and condensate field in the North Sea, Statoil announced Thursday. Expected recoverable reserves from the field are 192 MMboe. More »

EPA highlights decline in methane emissions from natural gas production

A new EPA report shows continued decline in methane emissions from natural gas production, as operators capture and deliver more natural gas to consumers, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said. More »

TGS, Dolphin to conduct survey in Western Barents Sea

TGS has signed a joint venture agreement with Dolphin Geophysical to acquire 4,500 km2 of 3D multi-client seismic data over the western part of the Hammerfest basin in the Barents Sea. More »

Saudi Arabia adds half a Bakken to global oil market in a month

Saudi Arabia led a surge in OPEC crude oil production in March. More »

Iona Energy announces Huntington back onstream

Iona Energy has announced that the four production wells at Huntington field in the UK North Sea are now fully back onstream. More »

Technip bags FEED contract for China’s first two tension leg platforms

Technip and its consortium partner China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) have been awarded a FEED contract by CNOOC Ltd. or two tension leg platforms (TLPs) for the Liuhua 11-1 and 16-2 joint development project located in the South China Sea. More »

GEA delivers first retrofit plant for the treatment of drain water

With two centrifuge skids for the treatment of so-called drain water, GEA's Business Unit Mechanical Separation has recently delivered the first retrofit plant. More »

Hydro Group, EnerMech join forces to develop new product innovation

Hydro Group, subsea cable and connector specialist, has teamed up with EnerMech, a mechanical engineering group, to launch an innovative new product offering to the market. More »

Upstream MandA activity takes $2 billion slump in March 2015, GlobalData says

Merger and Acquisition (MandA) values in the upstream oil and gas sector decreased significantly to $829.8 million in March 2015, compared with $2.9 billion in the previous month, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData. More »

U.S. oil output keeps climbing even as producers drill fewer wells

HOUSTON (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. keeps pumping oil at a near-record pace, in spite of the collapse in prices over the past year and cutbacks in drilling. More »

Oil rises to 2015 high as data signals end of U.S. supply surge

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- Oil surged to the highest level of the year, as a break in the U.S. shale boom signaled a potential easing of the biggest supply glut since 1930. More »

U.S. becoming net energy exporter for first time since 1950s

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government said for the first time that the nation will become a net energy exporter within 15 years as the shale boom bolsters crude oil production. More »

Anadarko may sign Mozambique gas-supply deals in coming months

MAPUTO, Mozambique (Bloomberg) -- Anadarko Petroleum Corp. may soon close sales accords, enabling it to this year authorize a Mozambican project that has the potential to make the nation a top-three liquefied natural gas exporter, a company official said. More »

Regulations breached in Mærsk Giant lifeboat incident, PSA Norway finds

The investigation by Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) into the unintentional launch of a lifeboat on Mærsk Giant has been completed, with several breaches of the regulations identified. More »

Mexico’s first bidding round struggling to remain attractive, GlobalData says

While the latest revisions to the terms for shallow water areas in Mexico’s first licensing round have increased the attractiveness of the Production Sharing Agreement terms by improving the contractor’s upside potential, the benefits remain significantly limited at higher prices compared to other fiscal regimes in the Americas, says an analyst with GlobalData. More »

Arcticgas brings Yaro-Yakhinskoye field onstream

OAO Novatek has announced that Arcticgas—a joint venture between Novatek and Gazprom Neft—has launched Yaro-Yakhinskoye field, which is the third field launched into commercial production by this joint venture. More »

Gazprom Neft continues evaluating Siberian fields

Gazprom Neft has begun the drilling of three exploratory wells at its Chonsky project in Eastern Siberia—one each at its Ignyalinsky, Vakunaysky and Tympuchikansky fields. More »

KrisEnergy's Rossukon-3 well hits oil, gas offshore Thailand

KrisEnergy has announced that the Rossukon-3 exploration well in G6/48 in the Gulf of Thailand has encountered oil and gas bearing sandstones. More »

Supermajors Q1 earnings to be the weakest in recent memory: Douglas-Westwood

Despite major cost reduction measures, first-quarter earnings for supermajors are expected to be the weakest in recent memory, according to Douglas-Westwood's DW Monday. More »

Amec Foster Wheeler bags BP operations, maintenance contract

Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract by BP to provide operations, maintenance and project support for the Forties Pipeline System and the Central Area Transmission System terminal in Teesside, northeast England. More »

LGO spuds first well of 2015 Goudron program

LGO has started drilling the first well in its 2015 seven-well development program at Goudron field in Trinidad. More »

Southern England oil discovery estimates wildly optimistic, GlobalData says

The recent announcement by UK Oil and Gas Investments that there could be up to 100 Bbbl of oil onshore beneath the South of England, following its discovery at a well near Gatwick airport, is wildly optimistic, says an analyst with GlobalData. More »

Oil CEO wages immune to price slump as shareholders vote on pay

Oil’s plunge has forced the world’s biggest energy producers to lay off workers and stall projects. Their CEOs have so far proved immune. More »

IEA sees OPEC supply jumping most in four years on Saudi surge

OPEC production climbed by the most in almost four years as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Libya boosted output amid a stronger outlook for global oil demand, according to the International Energy Agency. More »

Amec Foster Wheeler bags $73-million contract from BP in North Sea

Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract by BP to provide operations, maintenance and project support for the Forties Pipeline System, which includes the Unity offshore platform and onshore pumping stations in Aberdeenshire and Perthshire; and the Central Area Transmission System terminal in Teesside, north-east England. More »

Swiber secures $133 million EPIC contract in India

Swiber Holdings has secured a $133 million contract, the third major award in India in the last three months, for engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPIC) services in India. More »

Supermajor's first quarter 2015 earnings to be the weakest in recent memory: Douglas-Westwood

Despite major cost reduction measures, first quarter 2015 earnings for supermajors are expected to be the weakest in recent memory, reports Douglas-Westwood in its 'DW Monday' report. More »

Federal energy forecast shows need for 'all-of-the-above': API

The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Outlook shows that America’s oil and natural gas production will continue to grow as U.S. consumers demand more energy in the decades ahead, said API. More »

KrisEnergy's third Thailand well hits oil and gas

KrisEnergy has announced that the Rossukon-3 exploration well in G6/48 in the Gulf of Thailand has encountered oil and gas bearing sandstones. More »

VAALCO brings Gabon's Etame 12-H well online

VAALCO Energy has announced first production from Etame 12-H, a development well drilled from the Etame platform offshore Gabon. More »

Oil reaches one-week high on speculation output growth slowing

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to a one-week high, amid speculation U.S. production growth is slowing. More »

Gazprom plans $4 billion extra spending in 2015 to target China

MOSCOW (Bloomberg) -- Russia’s natural gas exporter is planning $4 billion of additional investments this year to prepare for the start of supplies to China as the European Union snubs a proposed pipeline across the Black Sea. More »

Iran joins OPEC member Libya calling on group to cut oil output

TEHRAN (Bloomberg) -- Iran became the second OPEC member this month to call on the group to reduce oil production ahead of its June meeting amid a global oversupply that’s cut crude prices by almost half. More »

Oil-rich nations selling assets at record pace

LONDON (Bloomberg) -- In the heady days of the commodity boom, oil-rich nations accumulated billions of dollars in reserves they invested in U.S. debt and other securities. They also occasionally bought trophy assets, such as Manhattan skyscrapers, luxury homes in London or Paris Saint-Germain Football Club. More »

Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions names Andrew Slaughter as new executive director

HOUSTON -- Deloitte has appointed Andrew Slaughter as its new executive director for The Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions. More »

IFR forms Mexican subsidiary to develop potential oil and gas assets

HOUSTON -- International Frontier Resources Corporation has formed a Mexican subsidiary, Petro Frontera S.A.P.I de CV (Frontera). More »

Eco-Engineering Solutions selects Paradigm Sysdrill for well planning and drilling engineering

HOUSTON -- Paradigm has announced that Eco-Engineering Solutions, an independent, Houston-based provider of consulting and outsourcing services for drilling engineering and well operations, has adopted Sysdrill, the Paradigm well planning and drilling engineering software solution, for the delivery of drilling support services to its customers. More »

Sakhalin-1 sets new extended reach drilling record, Rosneft says

Rosneft, as part of the Sakhalin-1 consortium, has finished drilling the world’s longest well—production well O-14—at Chayvo field, offshore Sakhalin Island. More »

Bibby Offshore christens new IRM vessel in Norway

Bibby Offshore officially christened the IRM (inspection, repair and maintenance) light construction vessel Olympic Bibby at the Kleven Shipyard, Norway, on April 9. More »

Wood Group secures 5-year EnQuest contract

Wood Group PSN has been awarded a five-year contract by EnQuest to provide engineering, design, construction, procurement and commissioning services to the Thistle, Heather and Northern Producer offshore assets in the North Sea. More »

Lundin reports first oil from Malaysia’s Bertam field

Lundin Petroleum’s wholly owned subsidiary Lundin Malaysia achieved first oil from Malaysia's Bertam field on April 5, the company announced Tuesday. More »

Sakhalin-1 sets fastest extended reach drilling record

Rosneft, as part of Sakhalin-1 consortium, has successfully completed drilling of the world’s longest well at the Chayvo field. More »

Technip wins subsea contract on Triton FPSO

Technip has been awarded a brownfield subsea contract for the Triton FPSO vessel, operated by Dana Petroleum, located in the central North Sea. More »

NEB launches online Pipeline Incident Map for Canada

The National Energy Board (NEB) has launched an online interactive Pipeline Incident Map that offers Canadians the opportunity to view all pipeline incidents in Canada since 2008. More »

Bibby Offshore christens its new IRM vessel in Norway

Bibby Offshore officially christened the IRM (Inspection Repair and Maintenance) light construction vessel, the 'Olympic Bibby', at the Kleven Shipyard, Norway, on Thursday. More »

Yemen LNG halts production as fighting worsens security at plant

Yemen halted output and exports from the country’s sole LNG plant as fighting in the area worsens. More »

Industry has led safety improvements for blowout preventers: API

American Petroleum Institute Upstream Group Director, Erik Milito, said that, proposed federal regulations released on Monday for well control and blowout preventers (BOPs) follow upon wide-ranging work by industry to improve offshore safety. More »

IADC welcomes BSEE proposed rule on BOP, well control requirements

IADC President and CEO Stephen Colville said, “IADC welcomes regulation that is both sensible and transparent and we are very interested in the opportunity to work with BSEE on regulation that enables operations while protecting our people and the environment." More »

UKOG acquires 100% interest in Weald basin PEDL126 onshore license

UKOG has completed the acquisition from Magellan Petroleum of a 40% interest in the Weald basin onshore licence PEDL126, containing the Markwells Wood-1 Great Oolite oil discovery. UKOG's interest in PEDL126 is now 100%. More »

Shale oil boom seen ending in May following price collapse: EIA

The shale oil boom that pushed U.S. crude production to the highest level in four decades is grinding to a halt. More »

Shale oil boom seen ending in May following price collapse

The shale oil boom that pushed U.S. crude production to the highest level in four decades is grinding to a halt. More »

Obama admin releases draft offshore well control regulations

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has unveiled proposed regulations for offshore well control. The measures include more stringent design requirements and operational procedures for critical well control equipment used in offshore operations. More »

OPEC seen wrong by Oman to target market share over oil price

OPEC is making a mistake by seeking to preserve its share of global crude sales amid a global production glut instead of trimming output to prop up prices, Oman’s oil minister said. More »

Cash flow breakevens down by $20, but low prices will need deeper cuts: Wood Mackenzie

The rapid and aggressive response by oil and gas companies to low oil prices has stabilized the sector. According to Wood Mackenzie, the price required for companies to be cash flow neutral in 2015 has dropped by over $20/bbl to $72/bbl. More »

Noble Energy adds acreage in the Falklands

Noble Energy has acquired a 75% interest in, and operatorship of, the PL001 License in the North Falkland basin from Argos Resources Limited, the Houston-based company said Monday. More »

Volant launches DeltaTORQ Rings

The Volant Group of Companies has announced the DeltaTORQ Ring (DTR), which was developed to provide additional torsion capacity in casing and tubing connections for the upstream market. More »

Statoil makes another gas discovery in Aasta Hansteen area

Statoil, together with its partners in PL602, has made a gas discovery in the Roald Rygg prospect in the Norwegian Sea. This is the second discovery made by Statoil in the Aasta Hansteen area in Spring 2015. More »

Delmar Systems installs new spooling unit in Karratha, Western Australia

Delmar Systems has installed a new 170 mT state-of-the-art spooling unit at its equipment yard in Karratha, Western Australia, to support mooring-related operations. More »

Polarcus marks halfway point on Capreolus survey

Polarcus has reached the 50% completion milestone in the acquisition of the Capreolus 3D multi-client project, the largest single 3D survey ever acquired offshore Australia, the company announced Monday. More »

Subsea 7 bags $200-million contract offshore Brazil

Subsea 7 has been awarded a contract worth approximately $200 million with a duration of approximately two years. More »

BP standardizes on Schlumberger technology for new global software platform

Schlumberger has announced that the Petrel EandP software platform will support BP’s new digital technology roll out. More »

Ithaca Energy reports 8,000 boed flow test from new Stella field well

Ithaca Energy has completed flow test operations on the fifth and final development well on Stella field, with the well achieving a flow rate of over 8,000 boed, the company announced Monday. More »

TGS cuts 10% of workforce in cost reduction program

TGS has announced a cost reduction program, which will include cutting more than 10% of the company’s global workforce, in response to the deterioration of the market for seismic data seen in the first quarter of 2015. More »

Oil bulls boost wagers by most since ‘10 as output seen peaking

Speculators increased bullish oil bets by the most in more than four years, wagering that the U.S. production boom is slowing. More »

Jee secures subsea integrity management contract with E.ON EandP

Jee Ltd., an independent multi-discipline subsea engineering and training firm, has secured a contract with E.ON Exploration and Production, to deliver subsea integrity management and engineering services for its North Sea assets. More »

Greenpeace climbers leave Shell's Arctic-bound oil rig

The six climbers who safely intercepted, scaled, and set up camp on an Arctic-bound Shell oil drilling rig in the Pacific came down on Apr. 11, after spending almost a week on the 38,000 tonne platform. More »

Subsea 7 bags $200 million worth contract offshore Brazil

Subsea 7 has been awarded a contract worth approximately $200 million with a duration of approximately two years. More »

Statoil hits gas in Roald Rygg prospect in Norwegian Sea

Statoil, together with PL602 partners has made a gas discovery in the Roald Rygg prospect in the Norwegian Sea. More »

Delmar Systems installs new spooling unit in Karratha, WA

Delmar Systems has installed a new 170 mT state-of-the-art spooling unit at its equipment yard in Karratha, Western Australia to support mooring-related operations. More »

Volant launches DeltaTORQ rings for casing and tubing connections

The Volant Group of Companies has launched the DeltaTORQ Ring (DTR) which is developed to provide additional torsion capacity in casing and tubing connections for the upstream market. More »

BP to use Schlumberger technology for new global software platform

Schlumberger has announced that the Petrel EandP software platform will support BP’s new digital technology roll out. More »