The Falkland Islands government announced on Monday that it is currently in discussion with Premier Oil on a wide range of issues with the objective of progressing the Sea Lion development towards a successful project sanction.
Spanish oil firm Repsol SA has announced the largest onshore oil discovery in the U.S. in three decades, a 1.2 billion barrel find on Alaska’s North Slope. Repsol has been actively exploring in Alaska since 2008 and finally hit a big one. The find came after drilling two wells with its partner, Armstrong Oil & Gas.
Brazil's President Michel Temer launched an infrastructure concessions program on Tuesday that he said should raise 45 billion Reais (US$14.43 billion) in investment in building and operating roads, port terminals, railways and power transmission lines. Temer said the program was key to restoring an attractive business environment as Brazil struggles to emerge from its worst-ever recession.
Russia has taken over from Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest supplier of crude oil, according to the Riyadh based Joint Organizations' Data Initiative. Russia pumped 10.49 million barrels a day in December, with Saudi Arabia just behind at 10.46 and the US third at 8.9 million barrels. Iraq came up in fourth place with 5 million barrels.
Argentina's state-run oil company YPF said it reached a preliminary deal with Royal Dutch Shell Plc to develop oil and gas assets in the Vaca Muerta shale field, involving a US$300 million investment from Shell.
The impact of Brexit on the Falkland Islands and the economy in general were subjects raised with visiting Members of Parliament this week. The delegation of four made a flying visit to the Falkland Islands last weekend accompanied by FI Representative in London Sukey Cameron.
Rising output from Brazil’s sub-salt offshore oil fields is allowing Petrobras to export record volumes of oil and import less light crude for its refineries, a senior executive said. Cláudio Mastella, executive manager for refining and natural gas logistics, said the move is helping to reduce Petrobras’ operational and logistical costs because lighter oil is easier and cheaper to refine into products like gasoline and diesel.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Friday raised its corporate credit rating on Petrobras, one notch, from B+ to BB-. The rating change does not lift Petrobras out of the non-investment grade category, but it lowers the risk from “highly speculative” to “speculative.”
Rockhopper Exploration plc has provided its latest operational and corporate update which includes the North Falkland Basin Sea Lion project and has announced that the technical engineering is approaching conclusion and a settlement on the Eirik Raude rig dispute has been reached.
Argentina has declared 2017 as the ‘Renewable Energy Year’ as the country looks to increase awareness about the advantages of renewable energy and the important of sustainability. A decree issued by the government calls for energy diversification through the use of renewable energy sources in the electricity generation as well as thermal energy sector.