Indonesia announced over the weekend that it had made revisions to a 2017 law that will give oil and gas investors more flexibility when choosing their contract options for exploration.The revisions, which came into effect on July 16, allow contractors to choose between different sharing contracts including the "cost recovery" and "gross split" systems in an effort to boost investment.Indonesia adopted the "gross split" scheme for oil and gas production deals in 201

Oil prices eased on Thursday after OPEC and allies such as Russia agreed to taper record supply curbs from August, though the drop was cushioned by hopes for a swift U.S. demand pick-up after a big drawdown from the country's crude stocks.Brent crude fell 33 cents, or 0.8%, to $43.46 a barrel by 0646 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 42 cents, or 1.0%, to $40.78 a barrel. Prices rose 2% the previous day, helped by the U.S. crude inventories drop.The Organization of th

Byron Energy has completed the installation of the SM71 G platform in the Gulf of Mexico.The company said Monday that the installation of jacket and decks comprising the platform had been completed."The Triton Hedron derrick barge has de-mobilized off location after successfully installing the jacket over the SM58 G1 well ("G1") drilled in October 2019, then driving piles and finally installing the topside facility. Byron's operators are now living on the platform and are maki

Royal Dutch Shell has launched the sale of its stakes in two oilfields and two pipelines in Norway, according to a sales document seen by Reuters.Shell is selling its 6.45% interest in the Kvitebjorn field and pipeline and its 3.225% interest in the Valemon Unit and Valemon Rich Gas Pipeline, according to the document.The offshore assets are operated by state-controlled Norwegian oil firm Equinor.They access to a resource of 17 million barrels of oil equivalent with an annual daily production of

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with traders waiting to see whether major producers agree to extend their huge output cuts to shore up prices at a virtual meeting expected later this week.Brent crude futures rose 0.91%, or 35 cents, to $38.67 a barrel as of 0427 GMT.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 0.56%, or 20 cents, to $35.64 a barrel.Brent has doubled over the past six weeks, thanks to supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russi

Oil and gas company Wintershall Dea has obtained consent by the Norwegian offshore safety regulator PSA Norway to use the West Mira offshore rig for drilling at the Vega field in the North Sea.Wintershall Dea will be using the West Mira an ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling unit for production drilling activities at the Vetag field. The rig, world's first to be awarded the DNV GL Battery (Power) class notation, is owned by Northern Ocean and managed by Seadrill.The offshore drilling p

A joint venture between Greek utility DEPA and Italy's Edison is seeking to shortlist two contractors to build part of a pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean's rapidly developing gas fields to Europe, DEPA said on Thursday.European governments and Israel last year agreed to proceed with the $6 to $7 billion so-called EastMed project. The pipeline is expected initially to carry 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Israeli and Cypriot waters to the Greek isl

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated on Tuesday another large crude oil inventory build of 13.143 million barrels for the week ending April 10 as demand destruction stemming from the coronavirus wears on.Today’s inventory build was expected to be smaller, 11.676 million barrels.In the previous week, the API estimated a large build in crude oil inventories of 11.938 million barrels, while the EIA’s estimates painted an even scarier picture, reporting a build of 15.2 million barrel

A leak in a pipeline that carries oil from U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore facilities has halted production at two fields, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday.Shell said it temporarily halted production on its 100,000-barrel-per-day deepwater Perdido production hub last Thursday after a subsurface leak was discovered on Exxon's Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System (HOOPS). Production on Exxon's Hoover platform also was halted because of the leak, Exxon said.The HOOPS pipeli

How bad is too bad for oil markets? As prices barrel toward the lowest levels since the start of the century, negative prices have re-entered the realm of possibility.U.S. oil futures just hit an 18-year low as an oil-price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia rages on, and that has a few traders and analysts wondering whether physical crude prices -- in at least some parts of Canada and the shale patch -- could actually drop below zero. It’s a rare but not impossible feat.Case in point: In the

Brent slid to its biggest daily loss in more than 11 years on Friday after Russia balked at OPEC's proposed steep production cuts to stabilize prices hit by the economic fallout from the coronavirus, and OPEC responded by removing limits on its own production.More than 1 million U.S. crude contracts changed hands during the session, as the three-year pact between OPEC and Russia ended in acrimony."Prices plunged because the OPEC confab ended up being an epic fail on the part of all invo

In a move that might make some nervous, the United States — through its “strategic” investment arm, the newly enlarged International Development Finance Corporation — has announced plans to invest USD 1 billion on unspecified European energy projects.The caveat, judging by Tweets from Secretary of State Pompeo and his online Munich Security Conference Speech titled, The West is Winning, is that the projects ought to ward off Russian and Chinese influence.Pompeo said the energy security o

Just as the U.S. shale industry is slowing down, oil production in other non-OPEC countries is on the rise.Output in U.S. shale grew substantially in 2019, although at a slower rate than in years past. More importantly, as investors lose interest and capital markets become unfriendly, shale E&Ps are going to have an increasingly difficult time financing drilling outside of their own cash flow. As companies are forced to cutback in the pursuit of positive cash flow, supply growth will likely

Saudi Arabia's state-run oil company says it has begun the process of listing its shares on the domestic stock exchange for what could be the world's largest initial public offering.Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pushing ahead with economic reforms to reduce the country's dependence on oil revenue.The IPO is started to be aimed at raising money from investors for the reforms.Saudi Aramco officials did not disclose the percentage of shares to be sold or the initial offer price.Bu

More than 11,000 scientists warned Tuesday of "untold suffering" due to global warming, even as another team said Paris carbon-cutting pledges are "too little, too late".The European Union, meanwhile, confirmed that last month was the warmest October ever registered, fast on heels of a record September and the hottest month ever in July.Three-quarters of national commitments under the Paris climate accord to curb greenhouse gases will not even slow the accelerating pace of gl

OPEC output suffers biggest drop in 16 years on Saudi attacksSaudi production tumbled by 1.47 million barrels a day to 8.36 millionEnergyOPEC’s oil production tumbled the most in 16 years last month after an attack on Saudi Arabia’s energy facilities temporarily halved output in the world’s biggest crude exporter.Supplies from the cartel’s 14 members plunged by 1.59 million barrels a day to 28.32 million a day, according to a Bloomberg survey of officials, ship-tracking data and estimate