Noble Energy: "Continuing to work with Israel to develop Tamar, Leviathan"

Noble Energy reports that it is continuing to work diligently with the government of Israel to address matters necessary to facilitate the development of its world class discoveries at Tamar and Leviathan and ensure a stable investment climate. More »

YPF, Gazprom sign pact to develop gas projects in Argentina

YPF SA Chief Executive Officer Miguel Galuccio and his counterpart at Gazprom PJSC, Alexey Miller, have signed an agreement to develop projects in Argentina. More »

Williams wooed by two suitors with different ambitions

The lure of Williams Cos. as a takeover target has drawn two very interested pipeline suitors, for two very different reasons. More »

CIS installs directional conductors offshore Australia

Conductor Installation Services (CIS), an Acteon company that provides hammer services to install conductors and drive piles, has successfully installed directional conductors to form the basis of two new production wells as part of a major project offshore Australia. More »

Oil discovery in northern part of the North Sea

Statoil Petroleum AS, operator of production licence 104, has concluded the drilling of wildcat well 30/9-27 S. More »

Rosneft and Japan Drilling Co. to explore offshore Vietnam

Rosneft Vietnam B.V., a company of Rosneft Group, and Japan Drilling Co., Ltd. (JDC) signed an agreement on provision and operation of the marine drilling rig HAKURYU-5, for the purposes of drilling exploration wells within the framework of Rosneft’s projects in Vietnam. More »

Forced asset sales seen as banks squeeze Canada oil companies

Starting in earnest after Labor Day, oil and natural gas companies will begin the twice-yearly pilgrimage to their banks to discuss funding. More »

BASF and Gazprom agree to asset swap

BASF and Gazprom have agreed to complete the swap of assets with equivalent value signed in December 2013 and originally intended to be completed by the end of 2014. More »

DNV GL invests in new training facility in the UK

The technical advisor to the global oil and gas industry, is building a new conference centre and large-scale fire and explosion demonstration area at their unique major hazard testing and research centre in Cumbria, UK. More »

Oil industry slashes lobbying spending amid downturn

As Americans preparing for Labor Day weekend trips enjoy low gas prices, they might not fail to appreciate another effect of the plummeting price of oil. More »

Rosneft to sell Vankor oil stake to ONGC for $1.27 billion

OAO Rosneft will sell a stake in one of its largest oil-producing projects to ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas-investment arm of India’s biggest explorer, for $1.27 billion, people familiar with the plan said. More »

Russia bows to cheap oil as Putin aide sees $50/bbl budget

Russia will assume that crude prices will stay near their present level in calculating next year’s budget as the world’s largest energy exporter adjusts to a downturn on the oil market, according to President Vladimir Putin’s top economic aide. More »

Knight Oil Tools names Rickey Tauzin as executive V.P. of Sales

Earl Blackwell, President and CEO of Knight Oil Tools announced that Rickey Tauzin has been named executive V.P. of Sales. More »

H5 settles with Chevron over Ecuadorian lawsuit

Chevron Corporation has reached a settlement agreement with H5, a California-based e-discovery and litigation services firm. More »

Aquatic appoints Martin Charles as new group managing director

Aquatic Engineering and Construction Ltd, an Acteon company, has appointed Martin Charles as group managing director. More »

Hoover Container Solutions unveils new Liquitrac Tracer

Hoover Container Solutions, a subsidiary of Hoover Group Inc., and a global provider of chemical tanks, cargo carrying units and related products and services, has unveiled its new Liquitrac Tracer. More »

Pentair receives UL/FM approval for advanced metallurgies in fire protection equipment

Pentair Engineered Solutions has obtained UL listing and FM Approval on its line of fire pumps with advanced metallurgies. More »

Wood Mackenzie: Where are all the LNG project postponements?

In a new global gas analysis, Wood Mackenzie remarks that despite the outlook for global LNG demand looking increasingly subdued, the number of LNG projects proposed to take a Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2015 and 2016 has not reduced significantly, in contrast to the 45 upstream oil and gas projects which have been postponed FID so far in 2015. More »

Hedge fund manager Hall says global market ‘not awash in oil’

Andy Hall, one of the best-known oil traders who’s bullish on prices, said the decline in the oil market isn’t a repeat of 1998 or 2008. More »

Deep leach cutters give directional drillers the edge

Directional drillers have a new edge for developing the deep, long bores associated with unconventional oil and gas wells. Atlas Copco Secoroc PDC bits feature deep leach cutters created with MegaDiamond’s proprietary, patented deep leaching technology. More »

Canacol negotiates gas sales as it triples Colombia output

Canacol Energy Ltd., a natural gas explorer in Colombia, is negotiating new supply deals as it steps up drilling and expects to more than triple gas production in the Andean country by year-end. More »

Gazprom shifts goal for signing China gas contract

Gazprom PJSC, the world’s biggest natural gas supplier, is shifting the goalpost for signing a firm contract with China to supply gas from Western Siberia under a deal that would make the Asian nation Russia’s biggest customer for the fuel. More »

Russia’s NOVATEK sells 9.9% stake in Yamal LNG to Chinese investment fund

OAO NOVATEK and China’s Silk Road Fund (SRF) have concluded a framework agreement on the acquisition by SRF—a $40-billion medium- to long-term investment fund—of a 9.9% equity stake in the Yamal LNG project. More »

MEO Australia enters Cuba with Block 9 PSC

MEO Australia has executed the Cuba Block 9 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with the national oil company Cuba Petróleo Union (CUPET) in a ceremony in Havana, Cuba. More »

Premier Oil comes up dry northeast of Valhall field

Premier Oil Norge, operator of production license 539, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 3/7-10 S. More »

Otto Marine bags two charter contracts worth $25.2 million

Otto Marine Ltd.'s subsidiary, Go Offshore Pty Ltd., has entered into two long-term charter contracts worth $25.2 million. More »

Iraqi oil output declining as of 2018 in Morgan Stanley’s view

Iraq’s crude production will start to decline in 2018 because of a slowdown in investment due to lower oil prices and a costly war on Islamist militants, according to Morgan Stanley. More »

Subsea specialist Tekmar defies downturn with continued growth

Subsea cable protection specialist, Tekmar Energy, is bucking the market trend after experiencing steady growth in the oil and gas sector during what has been a challenging time for the industry. More »

MEO Australia enters Cuban oil and gas sector with Cuba Block 9 PSC

MEO Australia has executed the Cuba Block 9 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with the national oil company Cuba Petróleo Union (CUPET) in a ceremony in Havana, Cuba. More »

Premier Oil drills dry well in Myrhauk prospect

Premier Oil has announced that the 3/7-10 S exploration well in the Myrhauk prospect in Norwegian sector of the North Sea has come up dry. More »

INPEX revises development plan for Abadi LNG project offshore Indonesia

INPEX Corp. has submitted a revised plan of development (POD) for Abadi gas field in the Masela Block, Arafura Sea, Indonesia, as a result of a greater volume of natural gas reserves being confirmed, among other factors. More »

Otto Marine bags $25.2 million worth two charter contracts

Otto Marine's subsidiary, Go Offshore has entered into two long term charter contracts worth $25.2 million. More »

Gas exports from Iran, Egypt seen threatening U.S. ambitions

A potential boost in natural gas supply from Iran and Egypt may exacerbate a worldwide glut, reshape the global market and threaten U.S. export ambitions, according to Citigroup Inc. More »

OptaSense to provide pipeline monitoring services for Mexican gas pipeline

OptaSense, a QinetiQ company, has announced that its fibre-optic Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) system has been chosen to provide improved pipeline monitoring, including leak detection, on a gas pipeline in Mexico. More »

Oil export bill said to be set to move as price fears ease

Congress is set to begin consideration of a measure to lift the decades-old ban on U.S. crude exports after a government study concluded the move wouldn’t raise gasoline prices for consumers, people familiar with the plan said. More »

Aggreko to acquire ICS Group, Inc., assets

Aggreko, the leading global provider of modular, mobile power and related solutions has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets associated with, and used in connection with, the equipment rental business of ICS Group, Inc. More »

New Jacana oil field discovery in Colombia

GeoPark Limited has announced a new oil field discovery following the drilling of exploration well Jacana 1, located on the Llanos 34 Block in Colombia. More »

Xodus awarded North Sea decommissioning FEED contract with Nexen

Xodus Group has been awarded a contract with Nexen Petroleum UK Limited to provide FEED services in support of the decommissioning of the Ettrick and Blackbird fields in the central North Sea. More »

CGG completes survey over Abu Dhabi's Hail, Shuweihat fields

CGG, with the support of its Seabed Geosolutions joint venture with Fugro, has completed the acquisition of a 3D seismic survey over the Hail and Shuweihat oil and gas fields in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the world’s most environmentally sensitive areas. More »

Aptomar opens field monitoring center in Trondheim

Aptomar officially opened its “Aptomarin” marine control center in Trondheim, Norway, on Wednesday. The 24/7 field monitoring operation is available to offshore oil companies operating in the main oil and gas hubs around the world. More »

ION to cut 25% of workforce in cost cutting initiative

ION Geophysical has announced an aggressive cost reduction initiative as part of an overall plan to align its operating expenses with business conditions and recent declines in the commodity price environment for crude oil and natural gas. More »

Shell-BG merger receives EU antitrust clearance

THE HAGUE -- Royal Dutch Shell’s combination with BG Group has received unconditional merger clearance from the European Commission, Shell said Wednesday. More »

Schlumberger acquires synthetic diamond specialist Novatek

Schlumberger announced Wednesday that it has acquired Novatek Inc. and Novatek IP, LLC, U.S.-based companies that specialize in synthetic diamond technology primarily for the oil and gas industry. More »

GeoPark in new oil field discovery in Colombia

GeoPark Ltd. has discovered a new oil field following the drilling of exploration well Jacana 1, located on the Llanos 34 Block in Colombia. GeoPark operates and has a 45% working interest in the block. More »

PGS names third Ramform vessel to be cold stacked

PGS has decided to cold-stack the Ramform Viking after she completes a multi-client project offshore East Newfoundland in late October, the company said Wednesday. More »

CGG completes Hail-Shuweihat survey for ADNOC

CGG, with the support of its Seabed Geosolutions joint venture with Fugro, has completed the acquisition of a 3D seismic survey over the Hail and Shuweihat oil and gas fields in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the world’s most environmentally sensitive areas. More »

OPEC said to be split on need for long-term oil-price forecasts

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are at odds with Iran and other OPEC members over whether the organization should include oil-price forecasts in its long-term strategy report, according to three of the group’s delegates. More »

ConocoPhillips to cut 1,800 jobs as oil downturn seen prolonged

ConocoPhillips, the fourth-largest U.S. oil company, plans to reduce its workforce by 10% in the latest sign that the energy industry is preparing for a longer downturn. More »

AIMS Global Consulting establishes America's headquarters in Houston

AIMS Global Consulting Ltd. has opened its Americas headquarters in Houston. More »

Vorpal Energy Solutions, Enventure Global Technology collaborate on refrac market

Vorpal Energy Solutions and Enventure Global Technology have launched Drill2Frac technology and ESeal Refrac (RF) Liner respectively, in a strategic collaboration to leverage their respective technology offerings for helping the industry harness the burgeoning refrac market. More »

Denbury Resources appoints new COO

Denbury Resources has announced the hiring of Chris Kendall as COO. More »

Sandvik Materials Technology bags two key orders for control lines in Middle East

Sandvik Materials Technology, a division within the Sandvik Group, has been awarded two important contracts for control lines for the oil and gas industry in the Middle East. More »

ION Geophysical bags 2D seismic contract for Somalia Puntland offshore margin

Puntland Petroleum Minerals Agency (PPMA) has awarded ION Geophysical Corporation a contract to acquire 8,000 km of seismic data covering the entire Somalia Puntland offshore margin. More »

WPX Energy sells Powder River basin assets for $80 million

WPX Energy has completed the divestiture of its remaining mature coalbed methane properties in Wyoming’s Powder River basin and scheduled a related sale of its membership interest in Fort Union Gas Gathering LLC to close in November. More »

AIMS Global Consulting launches ZynQ 360

AIMS Global Consulting LLC today launched ZynQ 360, a web-based software solution that utilizes High Definition, 360 degree spherical photo and video technologies. More »

Iran sees shale recovery as OPEC longs for $80 crude

Most OPEC members would like to see crude prices at $70 to $80/bbl and the producer group doesn’t need to coordinate with other oil suppliers to determine output levels, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in an interview. More »

Nigerian oil company to deploy drones to fight oil theft

Nigeria’s state oil company is set to deploy drones to check the movements of ships in the country’s waters in a bid to free Africa’s largest crude producer from theft of the commodity within eight months. More »

Schramm appoints Roach to lead Houston office expansion

Schramm has appointed Sean Roach, its current V.P. of Drilling Systems and Services, to lead the company's new, expanded office in Houston, which will include a state-of-the-art training simulator, as well as a T500XD land drilling rig—the manufacturer's flagship shale pad drilling rig. More »

EIA report confirms need for bipartisan action on U.S. crude exports, API says

Consumers could save on fuel costs if policymakers act now to lift trade restrictions on U.S. crude oil, said API, citing a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). More »

Eni selects Landmark’s DecisionSpace

Landmark, a Halliburton business line, announced Tuesday that Eni has entered into a multi-year contract for Landmark’s entire suite of EandP applications. More »

Egypt to keep Eni's find for itself, stiffening gas race in the Middle East

Egypt plans to keep all the natural gas produced at a giant field Eni SpA found off its Mediterranean coast to itself, heightening competition among gas producers in the Middle East and Africa. More »

Sasol seeks contractors for Mozambique oil project, gas pipeline

Sasol Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of liquid fuels from coal, is looking for contractors to help it become the first commercial oil producer in Mozambique and to extend a gas pipeline that will increase exports to neighboring South Africa. More »

ION awarded TPDC contract for seismic survey

ION Geophysical and the Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) announced Tuesday that TPDC has awarded ION a contract to acquire 4,058 km of 2D seismic, gravity and magnetic data over offshore Blocks 4/1B and 4/1C in the Rovuma Delta region. More »

ConocoPhillips reports first oil at Surmont 2 oil sands facility

ConocoPhillips has delivered first oil at its Surmont 2 in-situ oil sands facility in Canada, the company said Tuesday. More »

FEI, University of Wyoming partner for digital rock research

The University of Wyoming (UW) has announced that FEI, the scientific and technical instrument manufacturer, will provide state-of-the-art imaging equipment, software and support for cutting-edge digital rock research that will have far-reaching impacts for Wyoming’s oil and gas industry and its economy. More »

Cenovus buys crude-by-rail trans-loading facility in Alberta

Cenovus Energy has closed its purchase of Canexus Corporation's North American Terminal Operations (NATO), a crude-by-rail trans-loading facility in central Alberta. More »

Americas will take brunt of any oil output cuts as Iran returns

The Americas will take the brunt of any cuts in oil production as Iran increases output once international sanctions are lifted, according to a report by A.T. Kearney Inc.’s oil and gas consulting practice in Dubai. More »

Faroe raises stakes in Blane, Enoch fields with Roc Oil deal

Faroe Petroleum has announced the conditional acquisition of Roc Oil (GB Holdings) Limited, which holds a 12.5006% interest in the Blane Unit in the UK North Sea and a 12.00% interest in the Enoch Unit in the UK North Sea, from Roc Oil (Europe) Limited, a subsidiary of Roc Oil Company Limited. More »

Sembcorp wins contract to build three topsides for Maersk’s Culzean development

Sembcorp Marine subsidiary SMOE Pte Ltd has secured an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth over $1 billion (including long lead items) from Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited. More »

Subsea 7 wins $150-million contract for Maersk’s Culzean

Subsea 7 has won a subsea, umbilical, riser and flowline (SURF) contract from Maersk Oil, with a value in excess of $150 million, for the Culzean development. More »

Faroe ups stake in Blane, Enoch with Roc Oil deal

Faroe Petroleum has announced the conditional acquisition of Roc Oil (GB Holdings) Limited, which holds a 12.5006% interest in the Blane Unit in the UK North Sea and a 12.00% interest in the Enoch Unit in the UK North Sea, from Roc Oil (Europe) Limited, a subsidiary of Roc Oil Company Limited. More »

WandT Offshore sells Permian basin’s Yellow Rose field

WandT Offshore has entered into a definitive agreement with Ajax Resources, LLC for the sale of all of WandT's interest in its Yellow Rose field in the Permian basin. More »

Cenovus completes transaction to purchase rail terminal in Alberta

Cenovus Energy has closed its previously announced purchase of Canexus Corporation's North American Terminal Operations (NATO), a crude-by-rail trans-loading facility in central Alberta. More »

Polarcus wins broadband 3D project offshore Brazil

Polarcus has signed a contract with an undisclosed client for a non-exclusive broadband 3D marine seismic project offshore Brazil. More »

World’s top oil trader Vitol sees price at $40-$60 to 2016

Oil prices will remain at $40/bbl to $60/bbl into 2016 as rising crude supplies overwhelm demand, according to the world’s largest independent oil trader. More »

Administration truncates review of potentially most costly regulation ever: API

“API is concerned that the Obama administration is rushing potentially the most expensive regulation in history through a shortened review process,” said Howard Feldman, API Senior Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, after the rule went to the White House for final review on Friday. More »

University of Wyoming, FEI in $24-million collaboration to support UW’s digital rock research

The University of Wyoming (UW) has announced that FEI, the scientific and technical instrument manufacturer, will provide state-of-the-art imaging equipment, software and support for cutting-edge digital rock research that will have far-reaching impacts for Wyoming’s oil and gas industry and its economy. More »

Oil caps biggest three-day gain since 1990 as OPEC ready to talk

Oil capped the biggest three-day gain in 25 years after OPEC said it’s ready to talk to other global producers to achieve ‘fair prices’ and the U.S. government reduced its crude output estimates. More »

Russia offers China new gas route as deal on west link drags

Gazprom PJSC, the world’s biggest natural gas supplier, is preparing a deal with China to build a pipeline near the Pacific coast as talks about a West Siberian link drag. More »

Israel gas explorer shares sink as Eni’s Egypt find dims outlook

Shares of the natural-gas exploring units of Delek Group Ltd. plunged the most in 14 years in high volume on concern the discovery of the Mediterranean’s largest field off the coast of Egypt will curtail their exports. More »

WPX Energy sells North Dakota gathering system

WPX Energy has agreed to sell a North Dakota gathering system for approximately $185 million toa private equity fund managed by the Ares EIF Group, a subsidiary of Ares Management, L.P. More »

Schlumberger, IBM introduce service to optimize integrated upstream production operations

Schlumberger and IBM announced Monday that they have teamed up to provide integrated services to upstream oil and gas customers that will improve the business impact of production operations projects. More »

Maersk gets UK approval for $4.5-billion Culzean field development

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S won U.K. approval for a $4.5 billion development plan for the Culzean natural gas field as the Danish company tries to ramp up output at its energy division. More »

Alberta royalty review an opportunity to re-establish competitiveness, CAPP says

The Alberta royalty review panel should propose new rules by the end of this year to help restore investor confidence, and should consider how to make the province more attractive and competitive for the oil and natural gas investment that generates jobs and government revenues, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Monday. More »

Scheduling software to offer subsea industry unprecedented cost reductions

International project services consultancy, Cambla, is to release a new version of its state-of-the-art software, the Schedule Animation Tool (S.A.T.), next week at SPE Offshore Europe. More »

Former NOV employee convicted of felony theft

A Houston jury has found former National Oilwell Varco, L.P., employee Royce G. Binnion Jr. guilty of first-degree felony theft for a long-running scheme in which he submitted fake invoices to his employer to steal more than $1 million he either took in cash or used to buy himself an odd assortment of items ranging from a police radar gun to catfish for his pond. More »

Wärtsilä wins two more regasification module contracts for LNG vessels

South Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has placed two contracts with Wärtsilä for seawater/propane based regasification modules. More »

Pipeline anxiety spurs Alaska plea for Obama to open oil spigots

Alaska Governor Bill Walker has a message for President Barack Obama: Fill the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System while you still can. More »

Rosneft second-quarter profit falls 22% after crude prices slump

OAO Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, said profit fell 22% in the second quarter after crude prices slumped by almost half from a year earlier. More »

Keppel acquires Cameron's offshore rigs business

Keppel Offshore and Marine USA has completed acquisition of Cameron's offshore rigs business, which comprises the LETOURNEAU jackup rig designs, rig kit business, and aftermarket services for $100 million. More »

Statoil drills dry well in North Sea

Statoil Petroleum, operator of PL72 B, is in the process of completing the drilling of wildcat well 16/7-11 located near the Sleipner Øst field in the North Sea. The well is dry. More »

Maersk gets approval for $4.5 billion U.K. North Sea gas field

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S won U.K. approval for a $4.5 billion development plan for the Culzean natural gas field as the Danish company tries to ramp up output at its energy division. More »

Oman considers importing LNG as domestic gas use surges

Oman may start importing to meet surging domestic energy demand, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, a shift in trade that would make it the fourth Arab country in the oil-rich Persian Gulf to buy LNG. More »

Eni discovers 30 Tcf gas field in Mediterranean offshore Egypt

Eni has discovered a “super giant” natural gas field offshore Egypt in what the Italian oil company said is the largest find in the Mediterranean Sea. More »

Alberta regulator orders 95 Nexen pipelines shut down after leak

The Alberta Energy Regulator has ordered the immediate suspension of 15 pipeline licenses issued to Nexen, the Canadian unit of China’s Cnooc Ltd., after finding “noncompliant activities” at the company’s Long Lake oil-sands operations. More »