News
ExxonMobil takes Tanzania bite
Norwegian producer Statoil is set to transfer a 35% stake in Block 2, in Tanzania's frontier offshore play, to US supermajor ExxonMobil. complete note
Oil rises as dollar falls
Oil rose above $83 today, lifted to its highest close since October 2008 as the euro's rise against the dollar offset US government data showing crude inventory rose more than expected and gasoline stocks had a surprise build. complete note
Macedon on the move
BHP Billiton has invited bids for the main offshore installation contract for the Macedon shallow-water gas project off Western Australia. complete note
Kosmos sale edges closer
Kosmos Energy is said to be closing in on a compromise with authorities in Ghana over selling its stakes in the giant Jubilee field to ExxonMobil. complete note
Fu denies CNOOC on Nigeria hunt
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) chairman Fu Chengyu today denied the Chinese giant was bidding for 16 licences for Nigerian oil reserves held by western oil companies. complete note
Senate nod for Jonathan's picks
Nigeria's Senate confirmed 38 nominees to be members of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan's Cabinet today, including Goldman Sachs executive Olusegun Aganga and former junior Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia. complete note
Gunmen kidnap Total oil worker in Nigeria
Gunmen kidnapped an employee of the French oil player Total in Nigeria's Niger Delta today, police said. complete note
Tullow sees light in Tanzania wildcat
UK listed Tullow Oil said its Likonde-1 probe drilled onshore Tanzania has encountered thick sands with hydrocarbon shows. complete note
Total tots up Moho Nord riches
Total's head of African operations today revealed that the Moho Nord field, in Congo-Brazzaville's offshore play, holds an estimated 300 million barrels of oil, adding that a development decision could be taken by the middle of next year. complete note
Ecopetrol announces its proved reserves as of December 31, 2009
1P gross reserves of 1,88 mn BOE (SEC technical standard and price), and replacement ratio of 359%. The Gross reserves 35.5% increase compared to 2008, 98% of total reserves audited by three independent firms Reserves-to-production ratio of 9.9 years, outstanding given the 17% increase in production. complete note
Ecopetrol announces approval of preliminary financing commitment
Ecopetrol S.A. today announced that the U.S Export-Import Bank (U.S. Eximbank) issued a Preliminary Commitment letter for the financing of American goods and services to be used in exploration and development activities, as well as improvement and expansion of existing facilities, up to a value of $1 billion. complete note
Rancho Hermoso-5 well extends the Rancho Hermoso field
Ecopetrol has announced that drilling at the Rancho Hermoso-5 well has confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons in the Guadalupe and Los Cuervos formations in the Rancho Hermoso block, located on the basin of the Eastern Plains in the province of Casanare, Colombia. complete note
Ecopetrol S.A. announces US$6.93 billion investment plan for 2010
Ecopetrol S.A. announced today that its investment plan for 2010 will total US$6.93 billion, an increase of 11% compared to the US$6.224 billion approved for 2009.Ninety three percent of the investment will be concentrated in Colombia and the remaining 7% earmarked for exploration and production projects in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Brazil, and Peru. complete note
Petrobras is among the 10 companies in the world that appreciated the most in the first half of the year
Petrobras is the world's eighth biggest global company in market value, according to a survey carried out by Ernst & Young. The study was based on the companies' stock value in the end of the first half of the year and shows the recovery of Petrobras' stock after the most critical moment of the global financial crisis, in 2008. Petrobras is among top ten outfits that appreciated the most in the world in the first half of the year. complete note
PDVSA will develop the Junin Block 10 with its own efforts
Caracas.- Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) reports that the process of selecting partners for the Junin Block 10 of the Orinoco Oil Belt has concluded, due to not reaching a satisfactory agreement for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with the oil companies Statoil of Norway and Total of France. complete note
YPF Launches National Program for Oil and Gas Exploration
YPF today unveiled "A Future Project - 2010/2014 Exploratory Development Program 'which began in early 2010 and aims at understanding the potential of oil and gas reserves of the country and check the oil posibildades of hallazago in the Argentine Sea . complete note
EPA sets up gas complaint hotline
The US Environmental Protection Agency has set up a hotline to address public concerns that water supplies may be endangered by a drilling practice used to extract natural gas from rock formations, the agency said today. complete note
Tullow shopping Uganda stake
Development of Uganda's fledgling oil sector looked set to kick into a higher gear today as UK-based Tullow Oil said it would bring either Totalor China National Offshore Oil Company as a partner into the country, and raised extra funds for African investment. complete note
New line ups Haynesville takeaway
A consortium of midstream players have announced the opening of a pipeline that will add 2.1 billion cubic feet per day of takeaway capacity from the Haynesville shale play. complete note
US Gulf output beats estimates
US Gulf of Mexico oil output may be approaching the projected 2011 level of 1.6 million barrels per day a year earlier than expected, a US Minerals Management Service official said today. complete note
Noble profit beats the Street
Swiss driller Noble, the world's third-largest offshore rig contractor by market value, reported today a better-than-expected 6% rise in quarterly profit and said new rigs would underpin earnings this year. complete note
Texas waterway reopens early
A waterway in Port Arthur, Texas, used to supply oil refineries in the region was partially reopened to ship traffic today, after a tanker collision and oil spill on Saturday had caused its closure, the US Coast Guard said. complete note
Shtokman gas may not come to US
Russian monopoly Gazprom may have to divert planned shipments of liquefied natural gas from its Shtokman project away from the country to get higher prices elsewhere. complete note
Murphy sees higher fourth quarter profits
Murphy Oil said its quarterly profit more than doubled after a federal royalty benefit and 13% increase in production, but the oil and gas company said is first-quarter profit would fall short of analysts' estimates. complete note
BHP moves from oil to gas
BHP Billiton Trinidad & Tobago, which has seen its oil production rapidly decline, will move into gas production in the first quarter of 2011, its operations manager said. complete note
Russia and Belarus end oil row
Russia and Belarus signed a new oil supply deal today, resolving a month-long row that had threatened to disrupt Russian oil flows to European Union members Germany and Poland. complete note
Callon gets $44.7m back from MMS
Callon Petroleum has received $44.7 million from the US Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) as reimbursement for the overpayment of royalties. complete note
TNK-BP floats notes
TNK-BP Finance on Wednesday launched its $1 billion two-part note sale in the rule 144a private placement market, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service. complete note
Venezuela ready to receive bids
A Venezuela oil ministry official confirmed it is ready to receive bids tomorrow on the long-anticipated Carabobo drilling round, where seven promising extra-heavy crude blocks are on auction. complete note
Petrobras signs up Guara floate
Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has signed a letter of intent with engineering company Schahin and Japan's Modec for the chartering of one floating production, storage and offloading vessel. complete note
Earthquake may have exposed reserves
The earthquake that killed more than 150,000 people in Haiti this month may have left clues to petroleum reservoirs that could aid economic recovery in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, a geologist said. complete note
