U.S. oil rigs fall for 21st week as supply shows signs of easing

Oil explorers idled rigs in U.S. fields for the 21st straight week, extending an unprecedented retreat in drilling that has curbed domestic output and helped crude prices rally. More »

Saudi Aramco names Nasser as acting president, CEO

Amin H. Nasser has been named as the acting president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, following the appointment of Khalid A. Al-Falih, Nasser's predecessor, as Saudi Arabia's minister of health. More »

Chevron’s Watson sticks to plan for raising output through slump

Chevron Corp.’s plan to lift output 20% in three years is on track, CEO John Watson said, despite an oil-price slump that bled $5 million a day from the company’s U.S. oil and gas wells. More »

Lower Canadian costs offer competitiveness with U.S. LNG, Wood Mac says

The huge gas resource base in North America offers significant potential for LNG exports, but currently it is the U.S., not Canada, that is building an LNG export industry, according to Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis. More »

SOCAR assumes operatorships as Statoil completes Shah Deniz sale

SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, assumed operatorship of the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company (AGSC) and commercial operatorship of the South Caucasus Pipeline Company (SCPC) on May 1, positions which were both previously held by Statoil. More »

Chariot secures extension of Mauritania exploration license

Chariot and its partners—Cairn Energy and the SociétéMauritanienne des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Miner (SMHPM)—have secured a one-year extension on the current exploration phase of license C-19 in Mauritania. More »

Deirdre Michie takes the helm at Oil and Gas UK

Deirdre Michie has assumed the position of chief executive at Oil and Gas UK, the leading representative organization for the UK offshore oil and gas industry. More »

Enterprise to build new crude, condensate pipeline from Midland to Houston

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has executed long-term agreements that support development of a new 416-mile, 24-in. diameter pipeline to transport crude oil and condensate from the company’s Midland, Texas, terminal to its Sealy storage facility west of Houston. More »

Cape wins two-year BP contract

Cape plc has extended its current relationship with BP with the award of a new two-year contract with an estimated value of $153 million (£100 million). More »

Chevron in natural gas discovery offshore Australia

Chevron Australia Pty Ltd. has announced further drilling success in the Greater Gorgon Area, located in the Carnarvon basin, a premier hydrocarbon basin offshore northwest Australia. More »

Global oil producers rewind the clock on profit with price crash

Big Oil’s profit engine has gone into reverse, taking it back to the days when oil was just $28/bbl. More »

Oil producers’ sale of future output puts lid on price gains

Oil producers are taking advantage of the biggest monthly price increase since 2009 to sell more of their future output, threatening to slow the rally. More »

OPEC oil output near 2 1/2-year high as Saudis show no letup

OPEC oil production was little changed in April near the highest level since November 2012 as Saudi Arabia pumped 10 MMbpd. More »

Natural gas jumps to 5-week high on below-forecast supply gain

Natural gas futures jumped to a five-week high in New York after an EIA report showed that U.S. stockpiles expanded by less than forecast last week. More »

PSAC cuts 2015 Canadian drilling forecast in half

In its mid-year update to the 2015 Canadian Drilling Activity Forecast, released Thursday, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) is forecasting a total of only 5,320 wells to be drilled across Canada in 2015. This decrease of 4,780 wells from PSAC’s original drilling forecast, released in October 2014, represents a 47% drop. More »

ION announces availability of reprocessed seismic data offshore Barbados

ION Geophysical has announced the completion of the company’s Barbados Reprocessing project, in coordination with the recent announcement of Barbados’ 2015 Offshore Licensing Campaign. More »

Petrobras appoints Vale head Ferreira as chairman

RIO DE JANEIRO (Bloomberg) -- If guiding the biggest iron-ore miner through the worst price rout in a decade wasn’t enough, Murilo Ferreira is taking on a new job: chairman of Petroleo Brasileiro SA. More »

Exxon, BP start production from Kizomba satellite fields, offshore Angola

BP has confirmed the start of oil production from the Kizomba Satellites phase 2 development in Block 15, offshore Angola. Operated by Exxon Mobil, the deepwater project is expected to produce around 70,000 bopd at peak. More »

Subsea Services Alliance to build 15,000-psi intervention riser

Subsea Services Alliance has announced the first joint technology project between OneSubsea and Helix to engineer and manufacture a 15,000-psi intervention riser system. More »

Exxon profit beats estimates as output, refining margins expand

Exxon Mobil Corp. posted its biggest earnings surprise in at least a decade as output from oil wells surpassed expectations and refining margins soared amid lower crude prices. More »

Exxon starts production from Kizomba satellite fields, offshore Angola

BP has confirmed the start of oil production from the Kizomba Satellites phase 2 development in Block 15, offshore Angola. Operated by Exxon Mobil, the deepwater project is expected to produce around 70,000 bopd at peak. More »

Exxon beats estimates as output, refining margins expand

Exxon Mobil Corp. posted its biggest earnings surprise in at least a decade as output from oil wells surpassed expectations and refining margins soared amid lower crude prices. More »

LoneStar Energy Fabrication completes $5.1-billion Big Foot project

LoneStar Energy Fabrication (LSEF) recently completed work on the $5.1-billion Big Foot drilling platform that is now ready to begin drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. More »

Petrobras concludes third well in Moita Bonita area, Sergipe basin

Petrobras has finished drilling well 3-BRSA-1296-SES, in concession BM-SEAL-10, Block SEAL-M-499, in the ultra-deep waters of the Sergipe basin. More »

Newfield Exploration combines two operating units, closes offices

Newfield Exploration has announced plans to combine its Onshore Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain business units into one operating region, located in The Woodlands, Texas. More »

Barbados, BHP Billiton sign offshore exploration licences

The Government of Barbados and BHP Billiton have signed exploration licences for two offshore blocks, Carlisle Bay and Bimshire. More »

ConocoPhillips reports loss as oil crash trumps spending cuts

ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. energy producer, reported a loss as the pace of spending cuts failed to keep up with falling prices after the worst oil crash since 2009. More »

Oil crash spurs tycoon to write $3 billion off Cairn India

Billionaire Anil Agarwal-controlled Sesa Sterlite Ltd., which runs India’s largest onshore oilfield, took a $3-billion writedown after crude’s crash eroded the goodwill value of Cairn India Ltd. More »

Statoil adjusted profit beats estimates amid trading gains

Statoil ASA adjusted profit beat estimates in the first quarter on trading and refining as it wrote down the value of mainly U.S. shale assets by $6.1 billion amid plunging crude prices. More »

Barbados and BHP Billiton signs exploration licences

The Government of Barbados and BHP Billiton signed exploration licences for two offshore blocks, Carlisle Bay and Bimshire. These blocks are approximately 40 km southeast of the island nation, total about 5,000 sq km and are located in waters ranging from approximately 1,200 to 2,000 m in depth. More »

Kongsberg Maritime's engineering services and technology chosen for new West African FPSO

Kongsberg Maritime has been selected to supply a complete Electrical, Instrument and Telecom solution, including E-house, for the new Yinson Production (West Africa) Pte Ltd FPSO, ‘Yinson Genesis'. The FPSO is expected to be operational by 2017. More »

Newfield Exploration reorganizes regional operating units

Newfield Exploration announced plans to combine its Onshore Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain business units into one operating region, located in The Woodlands, Texas. The reorganization of these regional operating units will better align Newfield's workforce with near-term drilling and asset management plans and create future cost efficiencies. As part of this restructuring, Newfield plans to close its offices in Denver, Colorado, and North Houston (Greenspoint area). Newfield will continue to manage its growing operations in the Mid-Continent from its regional office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. More »

Conclusion of the third well in the Moita Bonita area, Sergipe's basin

Petrobras announces the conclusion of the well drilling 3-BRSA-1296-SES in Sergipe basin´s ultra-deep waters, in concession BM-SEAL-10, Block SEAL-M-499. More »

Policy outlook for UK North Sea and Shale Sectors Poles Apart, says GlobalData Analyst

Will Scargill, GlobalData’s Senior Analyst covering Upstream Fiscal and Regulatory Regimes, says: “With the UK’s General Election just over a week away, the policy outlooks for the country’s offshore and onshore oil and gas industries are poles apart. Over the past two years, significant incentives have been offered to both onshore and offshore operations. Regulatory barriers have been removed and a new allowance was introduced in 2014 to stimulate onshore unconventional development, while the government has recently introduced changes to mitigate the impact of lower oil prices on North Sea operations. However, while further incentives for the North Sea are likely whatever the outcome of the election, policies towards the unconventional sector will depend on the makeup of the next government. More »

LoneStar Energy fabrication completes work on $5.1 billion Big Foot project

Recently, LoneStar Energy Fabrication (LSEF) completed work on the $5.1 billion Big Foot drilling platform that is now ready to begin drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. More »

U.S. oil export ban is de facto sanctions regime against ourselves, Senate hears

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., have urged their Senate colleagues to support an amendment to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Act that would end the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports and allow American producers to compete with Iran on the global market. More »

Merger underway for leading remote communications firms

Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire MTN Communications (MTN), a leading provider of communications and content for remote locations around the world. More »

Khalid A. Al-Falih named Saudi Aramco chairman

RIYADHA (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia’s King Salman named Khalid A. Al-Falih as chairman of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s biggest crude exporter, replacing Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi in that role, according to state television. More »

Oil jumps as decline in Cushing stockpiles signals glut to ease

U.S. benchmark oil prices surged to a four-month high after stockpiles at the nation’s biggest storage hub fell for the first time since November. More »

BP faces environmental scrutiny over drilling plans offshore Australia

Five years after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill poured millions of barrels of crude into the sea, BP is being challenged over its hunt for oil in the pristine waters off southern Australia. More »

Oil production weighs heavy on Venezuela, DW says

Few countries have been hit harder by falling crude oil prices in recent months than Venezuela; an OPEC member and the holder of the world’s largest volume of oil reserves. More »

Expro reduces costs, optimizes production in North American market

Following the sharp fall in oil prices it has become increasingly important for operators to optimize costs and maximize production. Oilfield services company Expro is partnering with customers to deliver cost-effective, innovative solutions to meet these challenges. More »

Maersk Drilling appoints new COO

Angela Durkin from Baker Hughes will join Maersk Drilling as the company’s new COO. Durkin will assume her new role on May 1 and report directly to CEO Claus V. Hemmingsen. More »

Hess beats estimates as higher oil production trumps lower price

Hess Corp., which sold refineries and gasoline stations to focus on oil production, beat analysts’ earnings estimates as higher output made up for lower prices. More »

QER highlights need to modernize America’s energy policies, Murkowski says

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has offered to work with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to update the nation’s energy infrastructure and modernize federal energy policies as part of broad energy legislation she is putting together with the members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. More »

Golder Associates names new president, CEO

Golder Associates has appointed Dr. Hisham Mahmoud as its president and CEO. More »

Ophir Energy acquires four deepwater PSCs offshore Indonesia

Ophir Energy has completed the acquisition of four deepwater Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in Indonesia from Niko Resources . More »

Gazprom Neft, Novatek JV brings third field onstream

Arktikgaz, a joint venture (JV) between Gazprom Neft and Novatek, has brought a third field, the Yaro-Yahinskoye, into production. More »

Eni starts production from Cinguvu field, offshore Angola

Eni has started production, two weeks ahead of schedule, at Cinguvu oil field, from the West Hub Development Project in Block 15/06 in the Angolan Deep Offshore. The start-up follows the achievement of West Hub’s first oil last November through Sangos field. More »

BP kicks off seven-year drilling program west of Shetland

BP, on behalf of the Schiehallion co-venturers Shell and OMV, has announced the start of drilling on Loyal field by the new-build, semisubmersible Deepsea Aberdeen, marking the start of a seven year drilling campaign west of Shetland. More »

Gazprom 2014 net income plunges 86% on foreign-exchange loss

OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural-gas exporter, said profit fell 86% on soaring foreign exchange losses, while the ruble collapse helped it generate record free cash flow. More »

Eni profit falls 46% on lower oil price, beats estimates

Eni SpA first-quarter profit beat analyst estimates as improved performance at its refining and gas businesses and a lower tax rate helped Italy’s largest oil company offset lower crude prices. More »

Honeywell introduces new fiberglass hard hat

Honeywell has introduced Fibre-Metal Roughneck P1 Hard Hat, a full-brim, fiberglass hard hat designed to provide heavy duty head protection even in extreme temperatures. More »

OptaSense,Weatherford Partner to deliver integrated well surveillance solutions

OptaSense and Weatherford International have partnered in a strategic alliance to deliver integrated optical sensing solutions designed to optimize well planning, construction and production across the asset lifecycle. More »

High value oil and gas contracts awarded despite decline in overall quantity, finds EIC Monitor

The latest EIC Monitor report once again shows a significant decline in the levels of contracting activity across global upstream, midstream and downstream sectors in first quarter of 2015. More »

QER highlights need to modernize America’s energy policies, says Sen. Murkowski

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Tuesday offered to work with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to update the nation’s energy infrastructure and modernize federal energy policies as part of broad energy legislation she is putting together with the members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. More »

Golder Associates appoints new President and CEO

Golder Associates has appointed Dr. Hisham Mahmoud as its President and CEO. More »

Ophir Energy acquires four deepwater PSCs from Niko Resources

Ophir Energy has completed the acquisition of four deepwater Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in Indonesia from Niko Resources . More »

Golder Associates appoint new President and CEO

Golder Associates has appointed Dr. Hisham Mahmoud as its President and CEO. Dr. Mahmoud has been appointed to this role after an extensive global search over recent months. He will be based in Atlanta, Georgia. More »

Ophir Energy completes acquisition of four deepwater PSCs

Ophir Energy has completed the acquisition of four deepwater Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) in Indonesia from Niko Resources (Niko). This follows the announcement of the agreement to acquire interests in a series of Niko’s deepwater PSCs on Oct 27, 2014. More »

Anadarko names Darrell E. Hollek executive V.P. for U.S. onshore EandP

HOUSTON -- Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has announced that its board of directors has named Darrell E. Hollek as Executive V.P., U.S. Onshore Exploration and Production, effective immediately. More »

Flow testing starts at Antelope field in Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea -- InterOil Corporation has begun flow testing at the Elk-Antelope gas field in Papua New Guinea as part of the field appraisal. More »

Oil, gas stocks outperform other assets in state pension funds, study finds

Returns on state pension funds from investments in oil and natural gas companies continue to provide strong earnings for public pension retirees, including America’s teachers, firefighters and police officers, according to a Sonecon study released Tuesday by API. More »

EY: Oil’s new swing producer balances storage capacity amid low prices

As U.S. producers slashed spending, idled rigs, withheld completions, and neared the ceiling on domestic storage capacity, OPEC generally maintained its high production in the first quarter. More »

Lamprell to build another high-spec jackup for NDC

National Drilling Company (NDC) of Abu Dhabi has exercised one of its existing options and awarded a contract to Lamprell for the construction and delivery of a high-specification jackup drilling rig. More »

Wood Group Mustang announces executive promotions

Wood Group Mustang has announced executive promotions and executive leadership team responsibilities. More »

Statoil spuds Bister exploration well in Norwegian Sea

Statoil has started drilling the Bister exploration well (well 6407/8-7) in the Norwegian Sea, Faroe Petroleum, a partner in the well, has announced. More »

Wintershall finds oil near Kristin field in Norwegian Sea

Wintershall Norge, the operator of PL589, is about to complete the drilling of wildcat well 6406/2-8 in the Norwegian Sea. The well proved oil. More »

Russia plans to meet with OPEC before group’s June gathering

Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, will meet with OPEC before the group next gathers in June to discuss whether to adjust production limits, amid prices that are almost half their level of 10 months ago. More »

Oil prices are BP’s unlikely ally as trading arm boosts profit

Low oil prices became an unlikely ally for BP Plc and Total SA during the first quarter as they boosted the profitability of their large trading operations. More »

Faroe Petroleum spuds Bister well in Norwegian Sea

Faroe Petroleum has spud the Bister exploration well 6407/8-7, located in the Norwegian Sea. More »

Wintershall discovers oil near Kristin field in Norwegian Sea

Wintershall Norge, operator of PL589, is about to complete drilling of wildcat well 6406/2-8, located the Norwegian Sea. The well has proved oil. More »

Ugandan government scraps taxes on oil, gas, mining exploration

Uganda abolished taxes on its emerging oil, gas and mining exploration industries to encourage growth, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said. More »

BP’s deepwater oil hunt off Australia evokes Gulf disaster fears

Five years after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill poured millions of barrels of crude into the sea, BP is being challenged over its hunt for oil in the pristine waters off southern Australia. More »

Orphaned oil rejected by U.S. refiners sails to Asia

One million barrels of oil. Enough to fill more than 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools. And there it sat in tanks outside San Francisco—for three years—despite crude prices that topped $100/bbl. More »

Saudi prince sees ‘excellent’ oil market as kingdom meets demand

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, will meet any demand for its crude as the kingdom seeks to keep customers happy and maintain a balanced market, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the deputy oil minister, said. More »

UK government tells BP it would oppose any takeover, FT says

The UK government told BP Plc it would oppose the acquisition of the oil producer by a foreign company, the Financial Times reported. More »

Kosmos Energy reports play-opening gas find offshore Mauritania

Kosmos Energy announced Monday that the Tortue-1 exploration well, drilled to test the Tortue West prospect, which forms part of the Greater Tortue Complex, in Block C-8 offshore Mauritania has made a significant, play-opening gas discovery. More »

Japan’s Inpex buys stake in Abu Dhabi oil fields

TOKYO -- Inpex Corporation has acquired a 5% participating interest in the ADCO Onshore Concession in Abu Dhabi, the Tokyo-based company said Monday. More »

PetroChina, Sinopec surge on industry merger speculation

PetroChina Co. and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., the nation’s two largest oil explorers, jumped by their daily trading limit in Shanghai on Monday on speculation the government is considering consolidating the industry. More »

Tullow rises after border ruling lets Ghana project proceed

Tullow Oil Plc gained in London after a tribunal ruling on a maritime border dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast allowed an offshore oil project to proceed. More »

Sterling Energy commences 3D seismic survey at Ambilobe Block off Madagascar

Sterling Energy has commenced its planned 3D seismic survey of 1,250 sq km over a high-graded portion of the Ambilobe Block, offshore Madagascar. More »

Texas proceeds against two shale disposal wells linked to seismic activity

The Texas Railroad Commission has initiated proceedings requiring the operators of two disposal wells in the area of Azle, Texas, to show cause why the injection permits for the wells should not be cancelled due to an alleged connection raised by new seismic research. More »

Texas proceeds against two shale injection wells linked to seismic activity

The Texas Railroad Commission has initiated proceedings requiring the operators of two disposal wells in the area of Azle, Texas, to show cause why the injection permits for the wells should not be cancelled due to an alleged connection raised by new seismic research. More »

Shell's pipeline transports first oil from Delta House platform in deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Shell Pipeline Company's Odyssey Pipeline System has successfully transported the first crude oil produced from the LLOG-operated Delta House platform in the Mississippi Canyon protraction area of the Gulf of Mexico. More »