Energy & Oil

• Tuesday, May 27th 2014 - 11:01 UTC

  Brazil considering proposals to open operatorship of pre-salt projects

  

  Brazil's government is considering proposals to open operatorship of its pre-salt projects to companies other than state-run Petrobras and this change might be made, Mayer Brown partner Alexandre R. Chequer told the law's firm's annual energy conference in Houston last week.

• Tuesday, May 27th 2014 - 08:42 UTC

  Argentina promises no gas shortage this winter, but industry has already suffered the first cuts

  

  Argentina's Planning minister Julio De Vido guaranteed publicly on Monday that there will be no gas cuts next winter (21 June), while Energy Secretary Daniel Cameron described the “situation as the best in the last four years”.

• Saturday, May 24th 2014 - 00:37 UTC

  The California shale bubble just burst

  

  The great hype surrounding the advent of a shale gas bonanza in California may turn out to be just that: hype. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) – the statistical arm of the Department of Energy – has downgraded its estimate of the total amount of recoverable oil in the Monterey Shale by a whopping 96%. Its previous estimate pegged the recoverable resource in California’s shale formation at 13.7 billion barrels but it now only thinks that there are 600 million barrels available.

• Friday, May 23rd 2014 - 23:50 UTC

  Argentina with 'Vaca Muerta' won the 'geological lottery': 305 meters-thick shale oil and gas

  

  Argentina has won the “geological lottery” with its 305 meters-thick Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field in Patagonia, a spokesman for Chevron said on Thursday, as the U.S. energy giant increases its investments in the country. The company and state-owned oil firm YPF announced plans last month to invest an additional 1.6 billion to develop Vaca Muerta.

• Friday, May 23rd 2014 - 23:38 UTC

  Bye, bye Argentina: Spain's Repsol sells all assets and end operations in the country

  

  Spanish oil company Repsol has ended its operations in Argentina, two years after the government seized its assets. Last month the Argentine congress gave final approval to pay 5bn dollars in compensation for Repsol's stake in Argentine oil firm YPF.

• Friday, May 23rd 2014 - 10:45 UTC

  YPF discovers shale in Chubut province, 1.000 km southeast of Vaca Muerta

  

  At least 15 more shale oil and gas wells will be drilled in Argentina's Patagonia Chubut province over the next three years, a provincial official said on Thursday, a day after its first shale discovery was made public.

• Thursday, May 22nd 2014 - 07:40 UTC

  Falklands’ Premier and Noble have contracted a rig, according to Norwegian energy website

  

  Ocean Rig has reportedly received a contract for its Eirik Raude semi-submersible rig for a drilling campaign in the Falkland Islands. According to Offshore.no, a Norwegian energy news website, the rig will be used by Noble Energy and Premier oil for their respective drilling campaigns in the Falkland Islands waters in 2015

• Thursday, May 22nd 2014 - 00:46 UTC

  Russia's Weakened Hand Could Pay Off For Beijing In Major Gas Deal

  

  A major gas deal between Russia and China was finally sealed this week when Russian President Vladimir Putin was on a two day visit to China on May 20-21 and met with President Xi Jinping. In the lead up to Putin's arrival, the two sides have been working on putting the finishing touches on a 30-year contract for a gas deal a decade in the making, and Russian officials have suggested that the deal will be completed by Putin's arrival.

• Tuesday, May 20th 2014 - 19:35 UTC

  Falklands visited by Punta Arenas experts in ports, logistics and shipping

  

  A group of managers representing Punta Arenas port facilities, logistic companies and shipping companies visited the Falkland Islands last week with an ultimate aim to offer solutions to the current and future commercial needs of the Islands.

• Friday, May 16th 2014 - 09:37 UTC

  YPF wants to create a G10 of Latin American state oil companies CEO's

  

  Argentina's YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio proposed on Thursday in Bolivia a G10 of Latin American state owned oil corporations to strengthen their bargaining power based on their resources and development synergy.