Tag Archive for: Petroleum

U.S. oil prices rise as Gulf platforms shut ahead of hurricane

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Reuters / Henning Gloystein / September 3

 

* Storm Gordon to make U.S. landfall as hurricane

* Brent dips as India takes steps to continue Iran imports

* Global oil markets have tightened since 2017 – Barclays

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) – U.S. oil prices edged up on Tuesday, rising back past $70 per barrel, after two Gulf of Mexico oil platforms were evacuated in preparation for a hurricane.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $70.04 per barrel at 0034 GMT, up 24 cents, or 0.3 percent from their last settlement.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Monday it had evacuated and shut production at two oil platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico ahead of the approach of Gordon, which is expected to come ashore as a hurricane.

International Brent crude futures, by contrast, lost ground, trading at $78.10 per barrel, down 5 cents from their last close.

This came as India allowed state refiners to import Iranian oil if Tehran arranges and insures tankers.

Many international shippers have stopped loading Iranian oil as U.S. financial sanctions against Tehran prevents them from insuring its cargoes.

Mirroring a step by China, where buyers are shifting nearly all their Iranian oil imports to vessels owned by National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC), this means that Asia’s two biggest oil importers are making plans to continue Iran purchases despite pressure by Washington to cut orders.

CHANGING MARKET

Britain’s Barclays bank said on Tuesday that oil markets had changed since 2017 when worries about rising supply were more evident.

“U.S. producers are resisting temptation and exercising capital discipline, OPEC and Russia have convinced market participants they are managing the supply of over half of global production, the U.S. is using sanctions more actively, and several key OPEC producers are at risk of being failed states,” Barclays said.

Crude oil “prices could reach $80 and higher in the short term”, the bank said, although it added that despite these developments global supply may exceed demand next year.

For 2020, Barclays said it expects Brent to average $75 per barrel, up from its previous forecast of just $55 a barrel.

French bank BNP Paribas struck a similar tone, warning of “supply issues” for the rest of the year and into 2019.

“Crude oil export losses from Iran due to U.S. sanctions, production decline in Venezuela and episodic outages in Libya are unlikely to be offset entirely by corresponding rises in OPEC+ production due to market share sensitivities,” the bank said.

“We do not expect oil demand to be materially impacted in the next 6-9 months by economic uncertainty linked to U.S./China trade tensions and recent concerns over emerging markets,” he added.

BNP Paribas expects Brent to average $79 per barrel in 2019.

 

Reuters / Henning Gloystein / September 3

 

Is Mexico Set To Boost Oil Output?

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Oil Price / By The Dialogue / August 16

 

On July 27, Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his government will earmark more than $9 billion for state-run energy companies next year and start working on a new oil refinery in southern Mexico. The moves seek to reduce reliance on fuel imports from the United States while boosting the country’s oil production, which has significantly fallen off in recent years. López Obrador did not say how he would fund his proposals, an omission that worries analysts concerned about Pemex’s already heavy debt burden. He also announced Octavio Romero Oropeza as the incoming head of Pemex. Will the promised investment help accelerate Pemex’s oil and gas production? What else is needed to boost output? How well prepared is Romero Oropeza to lead Pemex, and what should his priorities be? Four Mexican energy experts weighed in with their opinions on these developments.

George Baker, publisher of Mexico Energy Intelligence in Houston: The 116-page energy sector document that the Morena transition team issued on July 10 sports both good and bad ideas. First, among the good ideas, is advocating independent unions in the oil sector (the first time since 1935 that a political party has done this). Second is suspending until further review the so-called farm-outs of Pemex—the idea that civil servants (Pemex employees) and market-disciplined managers of oil companies can have a joint venture based on sharing risk and reward only makes sense on paper. Third is promoting the concept of intelligent cities, including low energy consumption, renewable energy and intelligent grids. A fourth good idea is expanding the grid of natural gas pipelines and the use of renewable energy sources and cogeneration. Among the bad ideas: first is reactivating the refinery project in Tula and analyzing the construction of another refinery in the Gulf of Mexico. Pemex refinery upgrades have gone badly for the past 20 years, notably in Cadereyta, Villahermosa and Tula. A new refinery could take three years just for design and another three for contracting and financing. López Obrador would likely leave office before the first shovelful of earth was turned for the new refinery. Second is the upgrade of the role of Pemex in the energy space. The Morena team proposes to eliminate the so-called ‘asymmetrical regulations’ that restrict Pemex to compete effectively—to aspire to ‘make Pemex great again’ as a state agency is to ignore global success stories of state oil companies with mixed-equity structures, market financing and professional management. Finally, a third bad idea is to overstate (and obfuscate) the potential for change via public policy: there is nothing that is actionable in statements such as ‘the necessary investments in Pemex should be made,’ or ‘efforts to increase exploration and production of natural gas should be made to favor the petrochemical industry,’ or ‘deepen and coordinate all efforts to eliminate the black market in petroleum products.’ Notably, one word that does not appear in the text is ‘corruption,’ an unexpected omission by a candidate that vowed to end corruption by example. Finally, former Pemex director general Adrián Lajous recently calculated the average tenure of a director general as two years and four months. Pemex, legally configured as an agency of the federal government, always has a dozen cooks in its kitchen of corporate governance. If a director general had the authority to order early retirement for 35,000 Pemex unionized workers, there would be opportunities for leadership.

David Shields, independent energy consultant based in Mexico City: In a previous comment for the Energy Advisor on June 15, I mentioned that President-elect López Obrador’s energy team has excellent, progressive plans in renewable energy. Sadly, the same does not apply to conventional energy. The naming of Octavio Romero and Manuel Bartlett to head state-run Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has been severely criticized because of their hardline political, ideological, non-technical, non-business nature. They may be okay for rooting out corruption, but they add to fears that recent energy reforms may be rolled back, even if they and López Obrador himself deny legal amendments will be made. Congress will ultimately decide on this, and the outlook there is bad. Reforms can be reversed in practice, anyway, just through day-to-day opposition. López Obrador says he will push oil output up sharply to 2.5 million barrels per day, but reserves and reservoirs are largely depleted, there are no new discoveries, and there is not enough money for a vast exploration effort. Foreign operators will need several years to develop their projects. His best bet for ramping up output quickly would be fracking, but he promises to prohibit that, thinking that environmental risks will be greater than the benefits. His refining plans are unrealistic, too. López Obrador´s native Tabasco State offers the wrong site and the wrong logistics for a large-scale refinery to be built in just three years. Such a project normally requires two years to study, plan and tender, then another five or six years to build. Even then, it can hardly be profitable if Mexico produces and processes only very heavy crude. Intentions to rescue Pemex and reduce reliance on energy imports are good, but the prospects are not.

 

Oil Price / By The Dialogue / August 16

 

La importancia de la Línea Base Ambiental

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De conformidad con los artículos 27 párrafo séptimo de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos; 15 de la Ley de Hidrocarburos y 38 fracción II de la Ley de Órganos Reguladores en Materia Energética, para llevar a cabo las actividades de extracción de hidrocarburos, los particulares o empresas productivas del Estado deben celebrar un contrato con la Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH).

En dicho contrato, se establece la obligación de elaborar, en un plazo de 180 días después de la Fecha Efectiva (la fecha de firma del Contrato), los estudios para definir la Línea Base Ambiental (LBA), previo al inicio de las actividades petroleras, la cual debe ser presentada ante la Agencia de Seguridad, Energía y Ambiente (ASEA).

La LBA se refiere a “las condiciones ambientales en las que se encuentran los hábitats, ecosistemas, elementos y recursos naturales, así como las relaciones de interacción y los servicios ambientales, existentes en el área contractual, al momento en que se elabora el estudio para su determinación”. Permite identificar daños ambientales (los que ocurren sobre algún elemento natural a consecuencia de un impacto ambiental adverso) y daños preexistentes (los pasivos ambientales presentes en el área contractual).

A través de la LBA se determinan las responsabilidades del contratista, el cual sólo podrá excusarse de los daños ambientales y daños preexistentes que hayan sido reportados en la LBA; las autoridades competentes, por su parte, vigilarán que el contratista o asignatario que estuviera a cargo del Área Contractual con anterioridad a la Fecha Efectiva asuma la responsabilidad y los gastos relacionados con la restauración y compensación de los Daños Ambientales y la caracterización y remediación de los Daños Preexistentes.

No elaborar la LBA, no hacerlo en los tiempos establecidos o realizarla de manera deficiente, además de ser un incumplimiento legal, puede implicar que el contratista asuma la responsabilidad respecto a daños ambientales, que pudieron haberse ocasionado de manera previa, lo que puede significar el pago de elevadas sumas económicas para remediarlos y/o compensarlos. Al respecto, se debe considerar que el seguro de responsabilidad ambiental sólo ampara los daños ocasionados a partir de su contratación.

En NRGI BROKER sabemos que la elaboración de la Línea Base Ambiental es fundamental por su impacto en el ámbito de la responsabilidad ambiental y como soporte para un adecuado programa de aseguramiento; por eso, nos encargamos de ofrecer a nuestros clientes las mejores opciones en seguros y proporcionamos asesoría legal y ambiental a lo largo de la toda la cadena de valor del Sector Hidrocarburos. Acércate a nosotros.

 

 

Rangeland Energy Begins Operations at its South Texas Energy Products System (STEPS) Terminal Facility in Corpus Christi, Texas

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Oil and Gas 360 / june 5

 

SUGAR LAND, Texas

Rangeland Energy III, LLC (“Rangeland”) today announced that operations commenced at its STEPS terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Monday, June 4. Rangeland also announced that in June the company will begin loading diesel onto railcars for a leading refined products customer. The diesel will be delivered to third-party inland terminals in Mexico via the Kansas City Southern Railway(NYSE: KSU).

“Rangeland is looking forward to facilitating the transportation of diesel to destinations in Mexico for a major industry player,” said Rangeland President and CEO Christopher W. Keene. “This is the first customer to contract with us for services at the STEPS facility. As we continue to build out the STEPS project, we are working with other key marketers, refiners and producers to provide services into and out of STEPS.”

About STEPS

STEPS is an integrated hydrocarbon logistics system that receives and stores refined products, liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) and other hydrocarbons at a new terminal hub located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and transports them to terminals primarily located in Mexico. During the initial phase of the project, refined products and LPGs will be received in the Corpus Christi terminal then shipped to third-party inland terminals located in Mexico. In subsequent phases, marine facilities in Corpus Christi and Mexico will be added to the system, along with the infrastructure to accommodate additional commodities including crude oil, condensate and fuel oil. The STEPS project expands upon and leverages Rangeland’s successful track record of developing similar infrastructure in the Bakken Shale and Permian Basin.

The terminal site in Corpus Christi is strategically situated along the Kansas City Southern Railroad mainline within five miles of the Port of Corpus Christi and the Valero, CITGO and Flint Hills refineries. Inbound products initially will be delivered by truck or rail, followed later by pipeline and barge. Refined products and LPGs will move out of the STEPS Corpus Terminal primarily by rail, but the terminal could eventually connect to pipelines and vessels.

About Rangeland Energy

Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Rangeland Energy was formed in 2009 to focus on developing, acquiring, owning and operating midstream infrastructure for crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and other petroleum products. The company is focused on emerging hydrocarbon production areas across North America, with a current emphasis on the Gulf Coast and Canada. The Rangeland team represents more than 200 years of combined midstream experience and is backed by an equity commitment from EnCap Flatrock Midstream. Visit www.rangelandenergy.com for more information.

 

Oil and Gas 360 / june 5

 

Mexican Oil Giant Pemex Seeks Partners to Drill in 7 Southern Areas

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FROM: Sputnik News / 27 April 2017

 

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Mexico’s state oil giant Pemex is looking for partners in joint ventures that will drill at seven onshore areas in the country’s south, the national hydrocarbons authority said Thursday.

Contracts for drilling in the states of Veracruz, Chiapas and Tabasco will be signed for a period of 35 to 40 years with a possibility of a ten-year extension, according to the National Hydrocarbons Commission.

Mexico has been overhauling its energy sector since late 2013. The reform ended almost 80 years of Pemex’s monopoly by allowing foreign investments and contracts with private businesses.

 

FROM: Sputnik News / 27 April 2017

 

Mexico fully expects to reach a consensus on NAFTA trade deal

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FROM: CNBC / Sam Meredith / 22 April 2018

Mexico believes it is on the brink of agreeing to the modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Alongside the U.S. and Canada, Mexico is in the midst of eight-month-old talks to try to update the NAFTA deal — which is thought to underpin about $1.2 trillion in yearly trilateral trade.

“In the baseline scenario of the central bank, we have that there will be a version of NAFTA,” Mexican Central Bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon told CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche on Saturday.

“We know that there have been ups and downs in the negotiation … (But) we do hope that the advantages for the three countries will prevail in some version of the agreement,” he added.

Rules of origin

In an apparent bid to try to quickly wrap up the reworking of the 24-year-old accord, leading Mexican officials have sought to convey an upbeat tone in recent days.

Late last week, Mexico’s Economy Minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, said lawmakers had made “a lot of progress” after the second day of meetings with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canada’s Chrystia Freeland. And on Sunday, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said his country was feeling optimistic about the prospect of being able to successfully conclude the talks in the coming weeks.

Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (C) speaks before the start of a trilateral meeting with Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo (L) and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during the third round of NAFTA talks involving the United States, Mexico and Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 27, 2017.

Ministers from the U.S., Canada and Mexico are trying to press ahead with the negotiations in order to try to avoid clashing with a presidential election in Mexico on July 1. Nonetheless, reaching this milestone would mean overcoming major differences on several U.S. demands.

Canada and Mexico have battled with the U.S. over their apparent reluctance to adhere to tougher NAFTA regulations on the content of vehicles made in North American nations. Often referred to as the rules of origin, it is widely considered to be a key sticking point to the talks.

President Donald Trump’s negotiators had initially called for tariffs on the content of vehicles made in NAFTA nations to increase to 85 percent from 62.5 percent. However, Washington’s stance over this issue has reportedly softened in an effort to reach a consensus with their North American neighbors sooner rather than later.

Market has ‘priced in’ NAFTA outcome

The U.S. was thought to be looking to secure a deal in principle with the NAFTA agreement sometime over the next three weeks. Meanwhile, Mexico’s Guajardo said he saw an 80 percent chance of reaching a deal by the first week of May.

Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to walk away from the negotiating table in the absence of major changes, has criticized the pact for creating jobs in Mexico at the expense of U.S. workers.

When asked to what extent it had been a challenge to manage Mexico’s currency at a time when tweets from the U.S. president could prompt volatile swings in the exchange rate, Mexico’s Diaz de Leon replied: “Obviously some of these news and posture and messages have an effect on the exchange rate, but I also think the exchange rate has been learning how to extract the signal from those pieces of information.”

“So far, the market has priced in the NAFTA event according to what is likely to happen,” he added.

FROM: CNBC / Sam Meredith / 22 April 2018

 

 

Mexico’s Sureste Basin Returns To Super Basin Spotlight

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From: Hartenergy / 6 April

HOUSTON—The flurry of bidding activity from oil and gas companies willing to shell out millions of dollars for drilling rights in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) during Mexico’s latest bidding round showed there must still be something special about the Sureste (Southeast) Basin.

“I’ve never seen a structure like it in my career,” Mark Shann, subsurface director for Sierra Oil and Gas, said of Sureste during the AAPG’s recent Global Super Basins Leadership conference.

The multiplay basin, which includes prolific sub-basins such as Sonda de Campeche and Chiapas-Tabasco, spans about 65,000 sq km and is believed to hold 50 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the GoM’s shallow water and beyond. Its oil-prone prowess gained prominence in 1976 with Mexico’s game-changing Cantarell oil field discovery. Since then the basin has served as the main hydrocarbon-bearing province for Mexico, which is working to reverse declining production with global players eagerly chomping at the bit in search of oil.

RELATED: Southeast Basin Lures Oil Companies To Mexico’s Shallow Water

The historic Zama discovery made in 2017 by a Talos Energy-led consortium that includes Sierra and Premier Oil and another discovery—Amoca—by Italy’s Eni in 2017 have kept the basin in the spotlight, indicating it still has more to give. The Zama well, the first well drilled by the private sector since Mexico opened its doors to foreign investors, hit 170 m to 200 m (558 ft to 656 ft) of net oil pay in Upper Miocene sandstones. Initial gross original oil in place estimates ranged from 1.4 billion barrels (Bbbl) to 2 Bbbl.

Some would call it the rebirth of a super basin.

Shann said the basin—along with neighboring Tampico-Misantla—has all the qualities of a super basin.

“If you’re going to go into a super basin, you need at least one fantastic source rock and it has to be a mature source rock,” Shann said. He added that multiple reservoirs are also needed. “Having multiple reservoirs takes away the dependency of one reservoir working out or not, and you need seals to hold back hydrocarbons in their reservoirs.”

Having a diversity of traps is fantastic, he added, noting other attributes also define a super basin. These include having a regulatory framework in which to make the entire business work and super data, something Shann said Sureste Basin has plenty.

“Four years ago when we started our company we couldn’t get all seismic data from the country. Today you can access all the seismic,” Shann said. “You can access any well that is older than two years, and there are 39,000 wells in the country. The ability mine data and therefore to compete on an equal level playing field is hugely important,” especially for a small company competing against supermajors.

Sierra has picked up 11,000 sq km of wide azimuth data from Schlumberger and source rock is visible, he said. “The super data has really helped to underpin a story of success in one of the world’s greatest super basins.”

Today Sierra is focused mainly on Sureste, which Shann said extends beyond shallow and into deepwater.

The company said on its website that Sureste’s original oil and gas in place is about 220 Bboe, and the fact that it has numerous mature fields—including Ku Maloob Zaap and Sihil—and little reinvestment signals “significant opportunity for growth.”

Its reservoirs are associated with structural, salt tectonics, stratigraphic and combined traps, and the main structural styles include normal faulting with rotated blocks (Late Miocene-Holocene), salt cored anticlines and salt rollers and diapirs (Jurassic-Late Cretaceous), according to Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission.

In terms of source rock potential, Shann said “we’re definitely in a super basin.” He spoke about how the Zama discovery shed more light on source rock thickness. Taking into account a conservative 50% migration loss among other factors, the company was able to determine the source rock must be about 200 m thick.

Shann said the company and its partners’ plan to test the Jurassic next year.

“Sureste is one of those amazing salt-related basins,” he added, speaking highly of the carbonate potential of the basin in Mexican waters and on the U.S. side. “I think we can still find some big carbonate fields in the Campeche Slope.”

Located about 37 miles offshore, Zama is between Eni’s Amoca appraisal well in the Lower Pliocene and Pan American’s Hokchi 2 in the Middle Miocene.

“Between the three of us, we’re exploiting different parts of this basin, which helps the industry’s understanding of the whole basin,” Talos CEO Tim Duncan told Hart Energy’s Oil and Gas Investor last summer.

RELATED: Talos Energy CEO Talks About Historic Zama Well

Talos, which will merge with Stone Energy, said in its March 15 fourth-quarter earnings release that the company is in the appraisal planning stages for the Zama-1 discovery. Zama-1 is located in Block 7 of the Sureste Basin at a water depth of about 165 m.

Other exploration opportunities exist, according to Talos.

Talos holds a 35% participating interest with Sierra holding 40% and Premier, 25%.

From: Hartenergy / 6 April

 

¿Cuánto costó el derrame del Deepwater Horizon?

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El 20 de abril de 2010, la empresa británica British Petroleum (BP) realizaba operaciones de exploración de aguas profundas en el pozo petrolero “Macondo”, ubicado a 75 kilómetros de la costa de Luisiana, cuando se produjo un escape de gas, que provocó una explosión y posteriormente un incendio que duró 36 horas y terminó con el hundimiento de la plataforma semi-sumergible Deepwater Horizon.

Las consecuencias fueron graves: millones de barriles de petróleo derramados en el mar, lo que provocó una superficie contaminada de entre 86,500 y 180,000 kilómetros cuadrados que pudo contenerse casi tres meses después de la tragedia; afectación a especies animales, algunas de ellas en peligro de extinción; el fallecimiento de 11 personas y otras más que resultaron heridas.

Este siniestro es considerado uno de los peores en la industria del petróleo, no sólo por los daños directos provocados, sino también por los perjuicios resultantes, tales como la afectación causada a las actividades pesquera y turística.

Además de BP, la empresa Transocean –propietaria de la plataforma y encargada de su mantenimiento- y Halliburton, fueron consideradas responsables del siniestro[1].

Tan sólo los pagos erogados por BP ascienden, de acuerdo con las cifras de la misma empresa, a USD 61 billones, por concepto de los costos relacionados con el derrame, limpieza, reclamaciones económicas y pagos al gobierno[2].

Adicionalmente, BP tuvo que enfrentar diversos juicios por los cargos de “negligencia grave” que le imputaron por varios demandantes.

Que una compañía del tamaño y solvencia de BP haya enfrentado problemas financieros a partir de un siniestro, demuestra que todos estamos expuestos a sufrirlos, ya que los costos de un siniestro pueden llegar a ser incalculables.

Contratar un seguro con los montos y coberturas adecuadas, es fundamental para responder por los daños y perjuicios que se puedan causar a terceros, pero además con ello el asegurado consigue el doble propósito de proteger su patrimonio.

En NRGI Broker, somos expertos en seguros petroleros. Acércate a nosotros, con gusto te atenderemos.

[1] Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center. U.S. Scientific Team Draws on New Data, Multiple Scientific Methodologies to Reach Updated Estimate of Oil Flows from BP’s Well [boletín de prensa]. 15 June 2010. Disponible en: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/661583/

[2] Gulf of Mexico restoration, disponible en: http://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/gulf-mexico-restoration.html

 

ExxonMobil named 2017 Explorer of the Year by World Oil and Gas Council

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FROM: Your Oil & Gas News / 23 de Enero de 2018

 

ExxonMobil has been named 2017 Explorer of the Year by the World Oil and Gas Council in recognition of excellence and innovation in the global energy industry.

“This award is recognition of ExxonMobil’s successful efforts to strengthen our portfolio by accessing and discovering the highest quality resources,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. “This recognition would not be possible without the dedication of our employees and their daily commitment to safety and operational excellence at every stage of exploration.”

During the year, ExxonMobil announced a number of discoveries, acquisitions and other activities in various countries, including Brazil, Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea and Suriname.

Significant exploration activity took place offshore Guyana, where ExxonMobil announced four discoveries in 2017 at Payara, Liza Deep, Snoek, and Turbot. These four discoveries added to the earlier Liza discovery, made in 2015.

Mike Cousins, executive vice president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company, accepted the award on behalf of ExxonMobil at an award dinner in London in December. He was accompanied by a number of company representatives, including Kerry Moreland, Guyana Basin exploration manager.

“Guyana has become an exciting exploration area where we have consistently demonstrated our technical ability in deepwater exploration and operations,” said Moreland. “We are planning for continued success with our drilling program in 2018.”

Since receipt of the award in December 2017, ExxonMobil has announced a sixth discovery offshore Guyana at the Ranger-1 exploration well.

Other notable ExxonMobil exploration highlights throughout the year include:

 

Brazil

In September and October, the company added 14 blocks comprising more than 1.25 million net acres offshore Brazil through bid rounds and farm-in agreements, bringing its total acreage in the country to more than 1.4 million net acres. These included an agreement to purchase half of Statoil’s interest in an offshore block containing the Carcara field, estimated to contain a recoverable resource of two billion barrels of oil.
In December, ExxonMobil signed a memorandum of understanding with Petrobras to jointly identify and evaluate potential business opportunities.

Cyprus

In April, the company signed an exploration and production sharing contract for offshore Block 10.

Equatorial Guinea

In June, ExxonMobil signed a production sharing contract with the government of Equatorial Guinea for deepwater block EG-11.

Malaysia

In November, ExxonMobil signed production sharing contracts for acreage offshore Sabah, Malaysia.

Mauritania

In December, ExxonMobil signed production sharing contracts for three offshore blocks: C22, C17 and C14.

Papua New Guinea

In June, ExxonMobil announced positive production well tests results from the Muruk-1 sidetrack 3 well. ExxonMobil also drilled the P’nyang South-2 well, which successfully confirmed an extension to the earlier P’nyang discovery.
Across Papua New Guinea, ExxonMobil acquired an additional 5.7 million net acres of prospective acreage, onshore and offshore.

Suriname

In July, ExxonMobil signed a production sharing contract for Block 59 offshore Suriname in the Guyana-Suriname Basin.

United States – Gulf of Mexico

In March and August, ExxonMobil was awarded 25 blocks in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico lease sales.
About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international energy company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading inventory of resources, is one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products, and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world.

 

FROM: Your Oil & Gas News / 23 de Enero de 2018

 

Oil Bets Are Biggest in 9 Years Amid OPEC, Trump Volatility

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Money managers, producers and consumers made the biggest bets on West Texas Intermediate crude prices in nine years, amid signals more volatility is coming.

Global markets were roiled after Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president and as OPEC continued negotiations on a deal to cap output. The U.S. dollar climbed to the highest since January. A measure of oil volatility surged last week to a seven-month high, a sign that traders were anticipating bigger price swings.

Wagers on higher and lower prices held by speculators and hedgers reached 1.47 million contracts in the week ended Nov. 15, the most since 2007, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Trading volume of calls giving investors the right to purchase WTI futures rose to a record that day. The CBOE Crude Oil Volatility Index reached the highest since April. Brent oil shorts, bets that prices will fall, rose to the highest in more than two years.

“There’s tension in the market, with both producers and consumers worried about what OPEC does or won’t do on Nov. 30,” said Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York. “They want to be protected from surprising price moves.” 

OPEC Meeting

Investors are weighing the chances that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will complete a deal to cap output at its Nov. 30 meeting in Vienna. While Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told Al Arabiya television he’s optimistic a deal will be reached, only seven of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg last week expect the group to set output targets for its members.

OPEC agreed in September to cut their collective output to 32.5 million to 33 million barrels a day and has been trying to persuade other suppliers, notably Russia, to join the cuts. OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said he’s confident the group can reduce record oil inventories and bring forward the rebalancing of the market.

“The Saudis are working hard to reach a deal,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “You don’t fight the Fed in the bond market and when it comes to oil you don’t fight the Saudis.”

The September agreement marked the end of OPEC’s two-year long experiment with pumping at will. Saudi Arabia led the group in the effort to grab market share and curb the development of more expensive reserves such as U.S. shale.

U.S. Production

While U.S. production has dropped from last year’s 44-year high, the decline is slowing. The Energy Information Administration this month raised its output forecast for 2017. Rigs targeting oil in the U.S. rose the most in 16 months last week, according to Baker Hughes Inc.

Producers and merchants increased short positions, or protection against lower WTI prices, to the highest level since March 2011. They added 66,613 bearish contracts over the past two weeks as prices retreated from last month’s peak at above $50 a barrel.

“The Saudis want higher prices but won’t sacrifice just to see a major competitor, U.S. shale, benefit,” said Sarah Emerson, managing director of ESAI Energy Inc., a consulting company in Wakefield, Massachusetts. “The Trump election changes things. In one day the U.S. shale business got better. The government will be more responsive to the industry.”

Money managers’ net-long position in WTI advanced for the first time since mid-October, climbing by 3,906 futures and options to 163,321. Shorts climbed 14 percent while longs rose 8.1 percent. WTI gained 1.8 percent to $45.81 a barrel in the report week. It rose 2.7 percent to $46.93 as of 8:48 a.m. on Monday.

Brent Bets

In the Brent market, money managers increased short positions by 11 percent to 157,016 during the week, the highest level since September 2014, according to data from ICE Futures Europe. The net-long position in the global benchmark slipped by 4.6 percent during the week to the lowest since January.

In fuel markets, net-bullish bets on gasoline decreased 35 percent to 25,796 contracts, as futures slipped 2.5 percent in the report week. Money managers were net-short 393 contracts of ultra low sulfur diesel, from net-long 7,791 the previous week. Futures advanced 0.2 percent.

“I suspect that when the OPEC meeting is over there will have been a lot more smoke than fire,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. “If they don’t come up with a convincing agreement, they’ll be forced to revisit the issue before long.”

 

Copyright: Bloomberg