
Royal Dutch Shell has stopped Arctic oil and gas exploration off the coast of Alaska after “disappointing” results from a key well in the Chukchi Sea. In a surprise announcement, the company said it would end exploration off Alaska “for the foreseeable future”.

Transocean Ltd., a top offshore drilling company, has been mentioned in testimony in a corruption investigation focused on Brazil's state-run Petrobras, Brazilian court documents showed.

Petrobras announced that the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for commercial and industrial clients has risen 11%, effective midnight Friday. The company said the increase does not affect the price of LPG sold in smaller containers for residential uses such as household cooking, which rose 15% on September first.

Falkland Oil and Gas PLC on Friday announced it has agreed with Rockhopper Exploration PLC and Premier Oil PLC to drill another well on the Isobel/Elaine complex to replace the planned Jayne East well.

Falklands focused Argos Resources Limited confirmed the completion by its wholly owned subsidiary, Argos Exploration Limited of a farm out agreement with Noble Energy Falklands Limited and Edison International S.p.A in respect of its Licence PL001.

Chile's government petroleum company, ENAP, announced that based on the production success of its Arenal block in the extreme south of the country, it has reached a natural gas supply agreement with Methanex, the Canadian methanol plant next to Punta Arenas which is one of the region's leading industries.

Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras produced a record 2.69mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) in August, 3.1% increase over July and almost 1% higher than the previous 2.67mn boe/d record set in December 2014, the company said on Wednesday.

President Evo Morales confirmed the discovery of new natural gas reserves at two adjacent fields in southern Bolivia that are managed by a consortium led by Spanish oil major Repsol. The Margarita and Huacaya fields are located in the Caipipendi block, in which Repsol and Britain's BG Group each has a 37.5% stake and Anglo-Argentine oil company Pan American Energy holds a 25% interest.

The monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said a weaker outlook for China would contribute to slower global oil demand growth next year. U.S. oil production has shown signs of slowing, OPEC said in the report. This could contribute to a reduction in the imbalance of oil market fundamentals, however, it remains to be seen to what extent this can be achieved in the months to come.

Falkland Oil and Gas Limited, the oil and gas exploration company focused on its extensive licence areas to the North, South and East of the Falklands islands, notes Friday's increase in the Company's share price and confirms that it is not aware of any reason that would lead to such a movement.