House votes to lift U.S. oil export restrictions

The House of Representatives has voted in favor of lifting 40-year-old restrictions on exporting U.S crude oil. More »

U.S. drillers idle rigs for sixth week as oil lingers near $50

U.S. oil explorers idled rigs for a sixth week as they grapple with crude near $50/bbl. More »

API issues updated standards for hydraulic fracturing

New editions of API’s hydraulic fracturing standards provide the latest technical direction for operators working to continuously improve well integrity, groundwater protection, and environmental safety. More »

Gazprom Neft acquires new licenses in Russia’s Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

Gazprom Neft has acquired additional licenses for geological prospecting, exploration and development at the Yuilsky-3, Lyaminskiy-6 and Severo-Ityakhskiy-1 Blocks, all of which are in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. More »

Near-term financial risks for U.S. Independents exaggerated: Wood Mac

The high-growth business models of the U.S. Independents are being tested by low oil prices and tougher access to capital. More »

Genie Energy confirms significant find in Golan Heights

Genie Energy says preliminary evidence from the exploratory wells drilled by its Afek subsidiary in Northern Israel confirms the existence of significant quantities of oil and gas within its exploratory license area. More »

Lundin sells Indonesian business for $22 million

Lundin Petroleum is to sell its oil and gas assets in Indonesia to PT Medco Energi Internasional TBK. More »

Petrofac terminates derrick lay vessel construction contract with ZPMC

Petrofac, the international service provider to the oil and gas industry, has terminated its contract with Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Limited (ZPMC) for JSD 6000 deepwater multi-purpose offshore vessel. More »

Goldman Sachs: This oil rally is not going to last

Oil has been surging this week but Goldman Sachs is calling for gains to be short-lived. More »

Saipem bags contracts from Aramco, Eni worth €600 million

Saipem has been awarded new EandC offshore contracts cumulatively valued at more than $681 million (600 million euro) by Saudi Aramco and Eni. More »

Cairn India said to target 18% Rajasthan oil output boost

Cairn India Ltd., the nation’s biggest onshore oil driller, is targeting an 18% increase in output from its wells in the northern state of Rajasthan in January as it revives older fields in its largest producing block, according to company and government officials. More »

Saipem bags $681 million worth new EandC offshore contracts

Saipem has been awarded new EandC offshore contracts cumulatively valued at more than $681 million (600 million euro) by Saudi Aramco and Eni. More »

85 gas projects dying on the vine as LNG’s promise falls short

Five years ago, energy companies hungry for the next big thing started planning as many as 90 terminals to send natural gas around the globe. More »

Lundin Petroleum sells its Indonesian business for $22 million

Lundin Petroleum has announced the signing of a sale and purchase agreement with PT Medco Energi Internasional TBK, to sell its oil and gas assets in Indonesia. More »

WTI surges above $50/bbl for first time since July

Oil surged above $50/bbl in New York for the first time since July on speculation that demand is picking up. More »

White House criticized over oil export veto threat

IPAA President Barry Russell called on President Barack Obama to reconsider his position, as outlined by a White House policy announcement, and direct the U.S. Department of Commerce to lift the trade restrictions on American crude oil exports. More »

White House oil export veto threat criticized

IPAA President Barry Russell called on President Barack Obama to reconsider his position, as outlined by a White House policy announcement, and direct the U.S. Department of Commerce to lift the trade restrictions on American crude oil exports. More »

Blowtorch beach, Turkey: Where old offshore rigs go to die

When offshore oil rigs reach the end of their useful lives, many head for their final resting place at blowtorch beach. More »

McDermott wins EPCI project for four jackets offshore Qatar

McDermott International has been awarded a brownfield project by Qatar Petroleum for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of four wellhead jackets. More »

IPAA: White House should reconsider opposition to U.S. oil exports

IPAA President Barry Russell called on President Barack Obama to reconsider his position, as outlined by a White House policy announcement, and direct the U.S. Department of Commerce to lift the trade restrictions on American crude oil exports. More »

IPAA: White House should support crude oil exports

IPAA President Barry Russell called on President Barack Obama to reconsider his position, as outlined by a White House policy announcement, and direct the U.S. Department of Commerce to lift the trade restrictions on American crude oil exports. More »

Encana to sell DJ basin assets for $900 million

Encana’s wholly owned subsidiary, Encana Oil and Gas (USA), has reached an agreement to sell its Denver Julesburg (DJ) basin assets in Colorado to a new entity 95% owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and 5% by The Broe Group. More »

Statoil reports oil spill at Statfjord field

Statoil has reported an oil leak at Statfjord field, one of the oldest producing fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. More »

AWE looking for new CEO as Bruce Clement prepares to step down

Bruce Clement, managing director and CEO of AWE Ltd., will step down during 2016 after five and a half years in the role. The company has commenced a search for a new CEO. More »

Democratic senators bring bill to bar drilling off U.S. West Coast

A group of five Democratic senators has introduced legislation to permanently prohibit drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf of California, Oregon and Washington State. More »

Statoil awards Johan Sverdrup jacket contracts to Kvaerner, Dragados

Statoil, on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup license partners, has awarded contracts for two Johan Sverdrup jackets to Kvaerner Verdal and Dragados Offshore S.A. More »

Eurasia Drilling gets buyout offer from management, holders

Eurasia Drilling Co., the Russian oil driller whose planned acquisition by Schlumberger Ltd. collapsed last month, said it received a buyout offer from management and shareholders. More »

Nigeria Oil contracts review adds to industry uncertainty

Plans by Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, to review offshore production contracts signed with international oil companies two decades ago, have added to uncertainty in an industry already lacking regulatory clarity, said analysts including Philippe de Pontet of Eurasia Group. More »

Oil holds near $48 as OPEC demand outlook counters supply gain

Oil traded near $48/bbl as investors weighed OPEC’s forecast for increased global demand against rising U.S. crude stockpiles and production. More »

AWE starts search for new CEO on Bruce Clement’s step down

Bruce Clement, Managing Director and CEO of AWE, will step down during 2016 after five and a half years in the role. More »

West Coast Senators introduce bill to bar Pacific Coast from offshore oil drilling

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced legislation today to permanently prohibit offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf of California, Oregon and Washington State. More »

West Coast Senators introduce bill to protect the Pacific Coast from offshore oil drilling

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced legislation today to permanently prohibit offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf of California, Oregon and Washington State. More »

Statoil awards contracts for two Johan Sverdrup jackets to Kvaerner and Dragados

On behalf of the Johan Sverdrup license, Statoil has awarded contracts for two Johan Sverdrup jackets to Kvaerner Verdal and Dragados Offshore S.A. More »

Houston federal jury clears National Oilwell Varco in employment lawsuit

A Houston federal jury this week returned a verdict in favor of National Oilwell Varco, finding no wrongdoing in an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by eight African Americans who sought $120 million in damages. More »

Logan International announces representation in Ecuador

Logan International in conjunction with Logan Oil Tools Sucursal Colombia, has announced that Energy Supply S.A. located in Quito, Ecuador has been contracted as an Independent Sales Representative for the Ecuador market as of Oct. 1. More »

Deep Down receives order for $13 million

Deep Down, an oilfield services company specializing in complex deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil production distribution system support services, has received the largest order in the company's history valued at $13 million directly from a super-major operator. More »

U.S. Silica delivers record-breaking unit train

U.S. Silica Holdings has announced the delivery of a record-breaking 150-car unit train carrying over 16,500 tons of U.S. Silica White frac sand from Ottawa, IL to a transload facility serving the Permian basin. More »

Brazil oil auction sees weak demand for first blocks offered

Brazil’s first auction of oil and natural gas exploration rights in two years got off to a weak start with three of the first four basins offered receiving no bids. More »

Israeli company reports major oil find in Golan Heights

More »

Transparency is key for Mexico’s deepwater block auction: GlobalData

As Mexico’s first offshore bidding round for already discovered fields saw bids significantly higher than the minimum set up by the government, adding further transparency to the process would be positive for the round as it approaches its deepwater phase, according to an analyst with research and consulting firm GlobalData. More »

Claxton, OIS improve decommissioning technology to deliver subsea well abandonment campaign

Claxton, an Acteon company, has improved the technological advantage of its Suspended Well Abandonment Tool (SWAT) by developing an extension module. More »

Re-injection well brought into operation at Prirazlomnoye field

A re-injection well has been brought into operation on the Prirazlomnaya ice-resistant offshore platform, following drilling operations by Russia’s Gazprom Burenie, Gazprom Neft announced Tuesday. More »

Pemex evacuates 85 offshore workers after gas leak

Pemex has evacuated 85 workers from a platform in the Bay of Campeche, offshore Mexico, following a gas leak. More »

Wood Group wins automation project for Kazakhstan’s Tengiz field

Wood Group has been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by Bechtel to provide an automation solution consisting of detailed engineering, control hardware and remote instrument enclosures (RIEs) for Tengizchevroil’s (TCO’s) Crude Storage Capacity Project at Tengiz field in Kazakhstan. More »

U.S. emerging as most attractive LNG supplier to Asian markets

Recent reports by the International Energy Agency note that Canada will fail to have any LNG export projects up and running before 2020, paving the way for U.S. suppliers to dominate. More »

Bowleven appoints non-executive Chairman

Bowleven, the Africa-focused oil and gas exploration group traded on AIM, has appointed William (“Billy”) MacDonald Allan as non-executive Director and Chairman effective from Oct. 7. More »

Greene’s Energy Group names McIntosh as key account manager

Greene’s Energy Group (GEG), a diversified oil service company and leading provider of integrated testing, rentals and specialty services, has named Matt McIntosh as a key account manager to be based in Houston. More »

Strategic Petroleum Reserve is critical to national security: Murkowski

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R – Alaska) underscored the importance of maintaining the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday. More »

Oil set for longest rally since April as U.S. stockpiles decline

Oil headed for its longest rally in almost six months as U.S. industry data showed crude stockpiles fell in the world’s biggest consumer. More »

Suncor courts shareholders as Canadian Oil Sands seen nixing bid

Suncor Energy Inc. expects Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. to reject its C$4.3 billion ($3.3 billion) hostile takeover, so it’s striving to convince shareholders of the merits of the deal, CEO Steve Williams said. More »

Oil drillers hunker down for more pain one year into bear market

A year after oil sank into a bear market; the industry is still hunkering down for a long period of low prices, with Europe’s biggest producer seeing only the first glimpses of a recovery. More »

Big Oil deferring spending lowers costs for India's top explorer

The worst commodity slump in a generation has a silver lining for India’s state-run energy explorer. More »

Freeport-McMoRan may spin off oil and gas business

Freeport-McMoRan is undertaking a review of strategic alternatives for its oil and gas business, the company announced Tuesday. More »

California’s Monterey shale holds 21 MMbbl of recoverable oil: USGS

The Monterey formation in the deepest parts of California’s San Joaquin basin contains estimated mean volumes of 21 MMbbl of oil, 27 Bcf of gas and 1 MMbbl of NGL, according to the first USGS assessment of unconventional, technically recoverable resources in the Monterey formation. More »

Brazil tries to shake oil industry gloom with new bidding round

Brazil will auction crude-exploration blocks on Wednesday for the first time since a colossal corruption scandal crippled the nation’s oil industry and forced state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA to scale back investments. More »

Pulse wins NOV contract for acoustic mooring line monitoring system in Norway

Pulse Structural Monitoring, an Acteon company, has been awarded a contract with National Oilwell Varco (NOV) Arendal in Norway to provide an acoustic mooring line subsea monitoring system to measure mooring line inclination and tension. More »

Shell sees signs of oil recovery though ‘rebalance’ to take time

More than a year after oil began to tumble, Europe’s largest oil company said the first signs of a recovery are only now starting to show. More »

Penn Virginia Corp. sells non-core South Texas assets for $13 million

Penn Virginia Corp. has sold certain non-core South Texas assets to an undisclosed buyer for gross cash proceeds of $13 million. More »

Willbros Group to sell professional services segment

Willbros Group has executed a purchase agreement for the sale of its professional services segment to TRC Companies for $130 million. More »

Freeport-McMoRan reviewing options for oil and gas business

Freeport-McMoRan is undertaking a review of strategic alternatives for its oil and gas business, the company announced Tuesday. More »

PESA names Ryan Bowley as new V.P.

More »

Ikon Science announces geopressure RokDoc plug-ins for Petrel

Ikon Science has added two new RokDoc plug-ins for Petrel to its portfolio of existing tools on the Ocean platform. This latest addition contributes the first plug-ins covering geopressure data calculation, analysis and viewing to the EandP subsurface community. More »

Fugro awarded contract extension by Pemex

Fugro, in conjunction with long-time associates, Diavaz, has been awarded an extension of the ongoing offshore geophysical and geotechnical campaign by Pemex. More »

Buyers market for LNG turns tables on producers amid supply glut

Encouraged by the plunge in commodity prices, the world’s biggest buyers of LNG are demanding more say in negotiations with their suppliers. More »

Shell CEO ‘pulling out all the stops’ to safeguard dividends

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is “pulling out all the stops” to safeguard its dividend in a world where oil prices remain “lower for longer,” CEO Ben Van Beurden said. More »

Wood Group appoints Robin Watson as CEO

Wood Group has announced the appointment of Robin Watson as CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2016. More »

Oceaneering executive, Marvin J. Migura to step down to senior V.P. at the end of 2015

Oceaneering International has announced that Marvin J. Migura has decided to relinquish his position as executive V.P. effective Dec. 31. More »

Iraqi Kurds boost oil sales in push for financial independence

Iraq’s Kurdish region ramped up crude exports by 27% in September as the semi-autonomous enclave seeks greater financial independence amid a budget dispute with the federal government in Baghdad. More »

Weatherford to deploy DynaEnergetics’ well perforating system

DynaEnergetics, a business of Dynamic Materials Corporation, has entered into a Principal Partner Agreement with Weatherford International. More »

N.L. licensing area could hold 12 Bbbl of oil in place, Premier says

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador -- The area covering the 11 parcels currently on offer in the Flemish Pass has an in-place oil and gas resource potential of 12 Bbbl of oil and 113 Tcf of gas, according to the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. More »

Study shows N.L. licensing area could hold 12 Bbbl, Premier says

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador -- The area covering the 11 parcels currently on offer in the Flemish Pass has an in-place oil and gas resource potential of 12 Bbbl of oil and 113 Tcf of gas, according to the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. More »

BP’s record oil spill settlement rises to more than $20 billion

The value of BP Plc’s settlement with the U.S. government and five Gulf states over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will rise to $20.8 billion, an increase of $2 billion from an agreement reached in July, said the U.S. Department of Justice. More »

EIC appoints Chris Haynes as new president

The Energy Industries Council (EIC), the leading trade association for UK companies that supply goods and services to the energy industries worldwide, has announced the appointment of its new president Chris Haynes OBE FREng. More »

Asset Guardian Solutions completes multiple projects for North Sea operator

Asset Guardian Solutions, which specializes in protecting companies’ process critical software assets, has completed a series of three projects for a major North Sea oil and gas operator that manages and operates numerous developments in the North Sea, Norway, Algeria and Russia. More »

UAE won't let falling oil prices disrupt energy investments

The United Arab Emirates, the fourth-biggest OPEC producer, is sticking with investment projects to boost energy output even after the plunge in oil prices in the past year. More »

Suncor in $3.3-billion bid for Canadian Oil Sands

Suncor Energy has made an unsolicited offer to Canadian Oil Sands (COS) shareholders to acquire all of the outstanding shares of COS for a total consideration of approximately C$4.3 billion ($3.3 billion), Calgary-based Suncor said Monday. More »

Statoil to suspend contract for Songa Trym semisubmersible

Statoil will suspend its contract for the Songa Trym semisubmersible after it finishes its current well, Tarvos, in the North Sea, rig owner Songa Offshore announced Monday. More »

R. Scott Rowe assumes top spot at Cameron

Cameron announced Monday that R. Scott Rowe has assumed the role of president and CEO in accordance with the company’s succession plan. More »

Shell starts production from Bonga Phase 3 project offshore Nigeria

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has started production from the Bonga Phase 3 project. More »

Tracking the trends in the OEMs: DW Monday

Oil prices have stabilized in the $45-50 range over the last month, however, performances of major oilfield stocks have continued to suffer. More »

Oil patch braces for exploration chill after Canada’s election

As Canada’s oil patch grapples with a price shock, pipeline delays and rising tax rates, the federal election could add another barrier to recovery by reining in a key incentive for development of new wells. More »

Tracking the trends in the OEMs: Douglas-Westwood

Oil prices have stabilized in the $45-50 range over the last month, however, performances of major oilfield stocks have continued to suffer, according to Douglas-Westwood's DW Monday. More »

Oil extends gains above $45 as rig fall signals U.S. output cuts

Oil extended gains above $45/bbl after data showed a reduction in the number of rigs drilling for crude in the U.S., signaling output cuts in the world’s biggest consumer. More »

Saudi Aramco cuts crude to Asia, U.S. amid weak demand

Saudi Arabia cut pricing for November oil sales to Asia and the U.S. as the world’s largest crude exporter seeks to keep its barrels competitive with rival suppliers amid sluggish demand. More »

Statoil suspends Songa Trym contract

Songa Offshore has announced that Statoil will suspend the Songa Trym contract after the current well, Tarvos, in the North Sea. More »

Centrica to drill pilot hole in North Sea

Centrica has received consent from the Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway to drill a shallow borehole (pilot hole) down to a depth of 423 m below the seabed to investigate the possible presence of shallow gas in block 8/10 located in the North Sea. More »

Rolls-Royce to slash 400 jobs from its marine business

Rolls-Royce has announced plans to reduce 400 employees worldwide by the end of next year from its marine business, following the continuing impact of the sharp fall in oil prices. More »

Lundin Petroleum spuds exploration well on Neiden prospect

Lundin Norway, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lundin Petroleum has commenced drilling of exploration well 7220/6-2 in PL609 located on the Neiden prospect in the Barents Sea South. More »

Exxon, Chevron outlooks cut to negative by SandP in oil slump

Exxon Mobil and Chevron were among several U.S. oil and natural gas producers that had their outlooks or ratings cut by Standard and Poor’s as the industry suffers from weak crude prices, hurting their cash flow and liquidity. More »