U.S. explorers idle rigs as world looks for shale cuts

Explorers parked more drilling rigs in U.S. oilfields as the rest of the world looks to shale producers to arrest the worst crude downturn in 30 years with more cutbacks. More »

KwikMark releases portable dot peen marker

KwikMark Inc. has released a new portable marker. More »

Fugro deploys support vessel for Petrobras contract in Brazil

Fugro has been awarded an inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) contract by Petrobras in Brazil. More »

Tracerco brings subsea pipeline innovation to Australasia

PERTH, Australia -- Tracerco has brought its technology to the Australasia region, permanently basing their equipment at their Western Australia facility in Perth. More »

Eni's Coral FLNG development plan approved by Mozambique

Eni has announced the approval of the Plan of Development for the Coral discovery, offshore Mozambique. The approval has been granted by the Government of Mozambique’s Council of Ministers. More »

Eni granted approval for development plan offshore Mozambique

Eni has announced the approval of the Plan of Development for the Coral discovery, offshore Mozambique. The approval has been granted by the Government of Mozambique’s Council of Ministers. More »

BP awards Subsea 7 contract for work offshore Egypt

Subsea 7 has won a major contract from BP, and partner DEA, for the development of Giza, Fayoum and Raven subsea fields offshore Alexandria, Egypt. More »

Eni completes first appraisal well of Zohr discovery in Egypt

Eni successfully drilled the Nidoco North 1X well, in the exploration prospect of Nooros East, located in the Abu Madi West license, in the Nile Delta, Egypt. More »

Final Macondo defendant cleared of U.S. pollution charge

A former BP manager charged with violating U.S. pollution law over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was cleared by a New Orleans jury, thwarting federal prosecutors’ last chance to jail someone over the disaster. More »

Eni posts fourth-quarter loss as prices slide further

Eni SpA reported a fourth-quarter loss after the slide in energy prices deepened, even as the company’s oil and gas production rose to the highest in five years. More »

Shale drillers are finally buckling as OPEC pumps on

U.S. oil drillers are finally beginning to buckle. For more than a year, American oil producers found a way to keep pumping despite a worldwide slide in crude prices. More »

Halliburton cuts another 5,000 jobs to cope with downturn

Halliburton Co. said it’s cutting another 5,000 workers, or 8% of its global workforce, to cope with the worst crude market downturn in 30 years. More »

Sempra Energy, Woodside sign agreement for Port Arthur LNG facility

Sempra Energy has announced that its Sempra LNG and Midstream unit has entered into a Project Development Agreement with a subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum Ltd. to further advance the development of the proposed Port Arthur LNG natural gas liquefaction facility in Port Arthur, Texas. More »

Lukoil begins exploration at Vostochno-Taimyrsky ahead of schedule

PJSC Lukoil has begun the first stage of exploration activities at the Vostochno-Taimyrsky license block in the Krasnoyarsk region ahead of time. More »

Statoil wildcat in gas discovery near Oseberg field

Statoil Petroleum, operator of production license 104, has completed the drilling of wildcat well 30/9-28 S. More »

Hydratight launches compact connector at AOG

Hydratight has invented yet another viable alternative to welding, which was officially launched at the Australasian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference (AOG) on Thursday, Feb. 25. More »

Wood Group decommissioning director appointed to Decom North Sea board

Decom North Sea (DNS), the representative body for the offshore decommissioning industry, has appointed Nigel Lees, decommissioning director for Wood Group, as the new vice-chair to its board of directors. More »

Aqualis Offshore wins FPSO topside warranty survey job

Aqualis Offshore has been contracted by Cantex Global Logistics to provide the marine warranty surveyor (MWS) services for FPSO P67 and P70 topside modules transportation from various Brazilian ports to COOEC’s yard in Qingdao, China. More »

Statoil signs subsea framework agreement with Expro

Expro has secured a new framework agreement with Statoil Petroleum in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). More »

Total starts production from Vega Pleyade field, offshore Argentina

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OilMac secures $20 million stock-reduction deal

Oilfield Machinery Ltd. (OilMac) has won an exclusive stock-reduction deal, to hold and supply predominantly unused equipment, with a leading international drilling contractor with a sales value in excess of $20 million. More »

America’s shale gas debuts in global market with first cargo

It’s official. The natural gas flowing out of America’s shale formations is now available to the world. More »

Continental Resources posts first annual loss since IPO

Continental Resources Inc., the shale oil pioneer controlled by billionaire wildcatter Harold Hamm, posted its first annual loss since the company’s public debut in 2007 as crude markets collapsed. More »

Seadrill jumps as profit beats estimates amid deeper cuts

Seadrill Ltd., the oil-rig company controlled by billionaire John Fredriksen, beat profit estimates as it deepened cost cuts to counter a slump in demand for offshore drilling. The stock rose as much as 10% in Oslo. More »

Anadarko reports monetizing assets worth $1.3 billion since start of year

Anadarko Petroleum has closed or signed agreements to monetize approximately $1.3 billion of assets since the beginning of the year, the company said Wednesday. More »

First LNG commissioning cargo set to depart Sabine Pass LNG terminal: Cheniere

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. said Wednesday that the first commissioning cargo with LNG produced from the first liquefaction train of its Sabine Pass liquefaction project in Cameron Parish, La., will depart imminently. More »

Iraq seeks `complete agreement' on oil production freeze Iran ridiculed

The success of a proposal for the world’s biggest producers to freeze crude output hinges on unified support, Iraq’s oil minister said, a day after fellow OPEC member Iran called the plan “ridiculous.” More »

Shell’s North America chief to leave in reshuffle

Royal Dutch Shell has announced that after a 34-year career with the company, Unconventional Resources Director and U.S. Country Chair, Marvin Odum, will leave Shell at the end of March. More »

Protea supplies swivel crane for Petrobras FPSO

Protea is continuing to cement its position as a leading supplier of cranes for floating offshore production units with the delivery of a swivel maintenance crane for a new FPSO conversion. More »

Monika Hausenblas elected new chair of IOGP

The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) has a new Chair. She is Monika Hausenblas, Royal Dutch Shell’s executive V.P., Safety and Environment. More »

Charif Souki to start new LNG company after ouster from Cheniere

Charif Souki is doubling down on liquefied natural gas. More »

Chesapeake to cover $500-million debt tab as asset sales swell

Chesapeake Energy Corp. said it intends to pay a half-billion dollar debt that’s coming due in three weeks after exceeding its first-quarter target for asset sales. More »

GE gas engines in milestone demonstration drilling rig on-site power demonstration project in China

GE’s Distributed Power business has announced that China’s leading rig manufacturer, HongHua Group Ltd., has completed commissioning of the first three Waukesha mobileFLEX gas engines that are powering a 5,000-m deep rig for new shale gas projects located near Deyang City, Sichuan Province, China. More »

Esso pulls plug on contract for Transocean semisubmersible

Transocean has received a notice of early termination from Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Ltd. for the ultra-deepwater semisubmersible GSF Development Driller I. More »

Kvalross exploration well disappoints in Barents Sea

Faroe Petroleum said Wednesday that drilling has reached target depth on the Wintershall-operated Kvalross exploration well in the Barents Sea. More »

Harkand signs joint venture in Angola

HARKAND has signed a new joint venture agreement with ESOPEG Lda in Angola, its first strategic partnership in the country and third in the region as the global inspection, repair and maintenance (IRM) company continues to strengthen its capabilities across West Africa. More »

What a Saudi oil-supply freeze would really mean for markets

Saudi Arabia shot down rumors it might cut oil production, but reaffirmed its commitment to an output freeze that could restrict crude flows to market this summer. With the world’s biggest exporter already pumping near-record volumes, that may not matter. More »

Encana posts quarterly loss, cuts spending plan amid oil slump

Encana Corp. reported its fourth straight quarterly loss, cut its annual spending forecast and lowered the dividend amid tumbling oil and natural-gas prices. More »

Saudi Arabia to U.S. oilmen: Cut costs or get out of business

The world’s most powerful oilman brought a harsh message to Houston for executives hoping for a rescue from low prices: high-cost producers—many of them sitting in the room—need to either “lower costs, borrow cash or liquidate." More »

Norway's Lien charts course for country's oil and gas sector

While acknowledging that his country’s EandP activity has been significantly impacted by low oil prices, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien insisted that Norway’s industry will persevere, and he touted the sector’s longer-term attributes. More »

Nine Energy completes first 50 stage Divert-A-Frac system

Nine Energy Service successfully completed its first 50-stage Divert-A-Frac open hole system for a large, global independent operator in the Williston basin. More »

Murkowski releases new analysis of Obama’s $10.25 oil tax

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R - Alaska, has released a new analysis by the Congressional Research Service of the Obama administration’s revised proposed tax on oil, demonstrating that the slight increase in the rate actually costs an additional $8 billion over the next decade—for a total of $319 billion. More »

Iran calls proposed Saudi-Russian oil-output freeze ‘ridiculous’

Iran called a proposal by Saudi Arabia and Russia to freeze oil production “ridiculous” as it seeks to boost its own output after years of sanctions constrained sales. More »

Iran seen producing 3.4 MMbopd in 2017 but falling short of pre-sanction levels

Rystad Energy’s latest research expects Iranian crude oil production to rise to 3.4 MMbpd in 2017, from approximately 2.8 MMbpd in 2015, reflecting the largest growth in oil production for almost a decade. More »

Innovation generates Norwegian growth for Churchill Drilling Tools

Churchill Drilling Tools, the specialist oilfield service company, is enjoying significant growth in the Norwegian market. More »

Shell signs offshore oil, gas exploration accord with Bulgaria

Royal Dutch Shell Plc signed a five-year contract for oil and natural gas exploration in the deep waters of the Black Sea off the Bulgarian coast, which will enable the Balkan nation to reduce its reliance on Russian energy imports. More »

Trelleborg launches new subsea vibration suppression system

Trelleborg’s offshore operation has launched a new vortex induced vibration (VIV) suppression system. More »

New approach could unlock over 1 Bbbl of stranded reserves in North Sea

NSRI (National Subsea Research Initiative) has called on the oil and gas industry to come up with a collaborative approach to unlocking the potential of small pools of hydrocarbons in the North Sea. This could pave the way to recovering 1–1.8 Bbbl of oil, which currently cannot be exploited economically. More »

Sercel’s 508XT system passes 1 million VP milestone in Saudi Arabia

CGG has announced the successful large-scale deployment of Sercel’s new-generation land seismic acquisition system on a high-productivity super crew conducting a seismic survey in Saudi Arabia. More »

North Sea costs drop but outlook signals urgent need for tax reform: Oil and Gas UK

Oil and Gas UK’s 2016 Activity Survey, published Tuesday, reveals that while the industry’s drive to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and increase production has had marked success, exploration remains at an all-time low with no sign of improving. More »

IEA rings ‘alarm bells’ on deeper oil industry spending cuts

The oil industry is set to further reduce spending this year as crude prices remain low, according to the head of the International Energy Agency, signaling more pain for oil services and engineering firms. More »

IEA sees oil rising to $80 by 2020 as output growth slows

Oil prices will reach $80/bbl by 2020 as global oil supply growth is “seriously” plunging, the head of the International Energy Agency said, suggesting the light at the end of the tunnel for the energy industry is still far away. More »

OPEC doesn’t know how it can ‘live together’ with shale oil

OPEC and U.S. shale may need a relationship counselor. More »

Oil price crash claims UK North Sea victim First Oil Expro

The slump in oil prices claimed a victim in the North Sea as closely held First Oil Expro Ltd. went into administration. More »

Eni gets greenlight for development of Egypt’s Zohr discovery

Eni has been granted the Zohr development lease, which, following the contractual framework definition, allows for the development of the field. More »

Fugro to provide survey, positioning services for Total’s Kaombo development

Fugro is to provide offshore survey and positioning services at the Kaombo oil development offshore Angola. More »

Woodside awards Wood Group contract for GWF-2 flowline system

Woodside has awarded Wood Group a contract to provide the detailed design of the Greater Western Flank Phase 2 (GWF-2) flowline system. The GWF-2 project is located on the North West Shelf, offshore Western Australia. More »

GE, Statoil ink agreement for future subsea projects

GE Oil and Gas has signed a Master Service Agreement with Statoil for new subsea projects that will enable GE to continue to support the international energy company’s value creation in a low oil price environment. More »

Cairn Energy acquires additional stake in North Sea’s Kraken development

Nautical Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn Energy, has acquired an additional 4.5% interest in the Kraken development in the UK North Sea from First Oil. The acquisition brings Cairn’s total working interest to 29.5%. More »

CGG to conduct airborne gravity, magnetic survey offshore Mexico

CGG is to commence a multi-client airborne gravity and magnetic survey offshore Mexico. Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) has authorized the program, which will include the acquisition of approximately 200,000 line km over six areas across the Mexican Gulf of Mexico. More »

Woodside awards Wood Group new contract for GWF-2 flowline system

Woodside has awarded Wood Group a contract to provide the detailed design of the Greater Western Flank Phase 2 (GWF-2) flowline system. The GWF-2 project is located on the North West Shelf, offshore Western Australia. More »

Halliburton, Baker Hughes deal deadline suspended as EU seeks more data

The European Union suspended the deadline for its review of Halliburton Co.’s acquisition of Baker Hughes Inc. as regulators said the companies failed to supply “important information.” More »

Halliburton, Baker Hughes deal deadline suspended as EU seeks more data

The European Union suspended the deadline for its review of Halliburton Co.’s acquisition of Baker Hughes Inc. as regulators said the companies failed to supply “important information.” More »

Oil glut will persist into 2017 as IEA sees prices capped

The global oil glut will persist into 2017, limiting any chance of a price rebound in the short term as the surplus takes even longer to clear than previously estimated, according to the International Energy Agency. More »

Brent trades near $33 as Russia sees output talks done by March

Brent traded near $33/bbl as Russia said talks on an output freeze will be done by March 1 while Nigeria said some countries should have production capped at higher levels. More »