UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) approved, on December 11, Chevron’s field development plan to progress its Captain Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project in the Central North Sea. The installation comprises of a wellhead protector platform (WPP) and bridge linked platform (BLP) connected to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO).
A Norwegian politician called for marine mammal observer onboard seismic vessels, ahead of the agreement between Russia and Norway regarding mutual rights to seismic acquisition in the Barents Sea. Namely, Green Party’s Arne Liaklev said that acoustic surveys for oil deposits below the seabed should be avoided if there are whales nearby.
Chinese imports of crude oil reached a new record during November, surpassing the record that was achieved set in October. Namely, China’s crude oil arrivals increased by 8.5% in comparison with the same period last year. This is the first time China imports more than 10 million bpd.
The 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting decided to adjust the overall production by 1.2 mb/d, effective as of January 2019 for an initial period of six months. The contributions from OPEC and the ones from non-OPEC participating countries of the ‘DOC’ will amount to 0.8 mb/d and 0.4 mb/d respectively.
Brazilian prosecutors announced earlier this week that major oil traders Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore had paid over $30 million in bribes to Petrobras employees. Petrobras employees offered these companies lower prices for oil, along with storage tanks, in more than 160 separate operations.
Ahead the OPEC meeting to be conducted in Vienna this week, energy consultant Wood Mackenzie examined the current landscape around the oil production supply and demand taking into consideration the role of US, Russia and other leader countries, as well as the potential influence of Qatar’s withdrawal from the group, noting that the move will likely not affect significantly the supply.
British oil major Shell revealed plans to set short-term targets as part of a long-term ambition to reduce the Net Carbon Footprint of its energy products. The plans were announced in a joint statement developed with institutional investors on behalf of Climate Action 100+, an initiative led by investors with more than $32 trillion in assets under management.
According to EIA’s recent report ‘Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves’, there is a continuous rise on shale and tight resources that drove proved reserves of both U.S. crude oil and natural gas to new records in 2017. Reserves of U.S. crude oil increased 19.5% in comparison to 2016, whereas reserves of natural gas increased by 36.1% from the end of 2016.
In line with the rising interest on blockchain technology for trade industry in recent years, oil and gas companies will be able for the first time to finalising crude oil deals on a live blockchain-based platform. Blockchain has been viewed by many as a solution to transactions inefficiencies, as well as a way to improve transparency and reduce the risk of fraud.
According to Wood Mackenzie, the deepwater industry seems in a good condition, after a cost reduction through the downturn. However, this positive situation could change because upcoming cyclical cost inflation could increase break-even costs.
