Libya's NOC signs memorandum of understanding with oil major Exxon Mobil after decade of activity halt
In its statement, NOC said the MoU focuses on conducting detailed geological and geophysical studies to identify the hydrocarbon resources in four offshore blocks located off the northwest coast and the country's Sirte Basin.
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Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Telegraph
BP defies Ed Miliband to reopen North Sea oil field
BP is to reopen a key North Sea field and pump new oil and gas for at least a decade, despite Ed Miliband's attempts to cut back the offshore industry. The energy giant is reviving the Murlach field, which was declared uneconomic and taken out of use in 2004, has now become viable partly due to new technologies. BP won agreement to reopen Murlach, 120 miles east of Aberdeen, under the previous government and has since been installing equipment, with production potentially restarting next month. The milestone comes despite efforts by the Energy Secretary to bring an end to new fossil fuel production in the North Sea. Mr Miliband and his predecessors have almost doubled the taxation rate on oil and gas profits and banned the issuing of licences for new exploration and production. BP said the Murlach field contained 20 million barrels of recoverable oil and 600 million cubic metres of gas – enough to keep it in production for 11 years. 'Murlach is expected to produce around 20,000 barrels of oil and 17 million cubic feet of gas per day,' it said. It means BP can partially reverse the decline in North Sea output, which has seen oil production fall from 96,000 barrels per day in 2020 to 70,000 last year. Gas production has fallen from 221m square feet a day to 197m. North Sea 'on death's door' The move has infuriated environmental campaigners, who say BP and other energy companies should leave oil and gas in the ground. Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK's policy director, said: 'The North Sea is on death's door. Reserves are drying up and what's left and untapped is barely enough to keep it on life support. The only sensible thing to do is to pivot [from] the North Sea to something we have an abundance of, and something that will never run out – wind.' BP's success at Murlach follows a similar story at Shell, which restarted production from its Penguins oil field north of Shetland earlier this year – despite Greenpeace protesters boarding its new production vessel. The field went into production in 2003 but had to be shut down in 2021 when the Brent Charlie production platform was decommissioned. Production restarted this year with Shell expecting 45,000 barrels a day once in full flow. Mike Tholen, of trade body Offshore Energies UK, said: 'Redevelopment of decommissioned fields is now a feature of the North Sea as new and innovative technologies make such opportunities possible. 'Looking ahead, the independent Climate Change Committee says the UK will need 13 billion to 15 billion barrels by 2050 come what may. We could produce half of this at home. But at the moment only four billion barrels are on track to be realised, which means imports will have to rise and the UK economy will miss out as jobs and capital move overseas.' Recent research from the North Sea Transition Authority, the Government's oil and gas regulator, found that there were over three billion barrels of oil and gas in fields already in production – with another six billion in known potential developments. Another 3.5 billion barrels of potential resources have been tentatively identified as exploration targets. Abandoned oil and gas fields could offer some of the richest opportunities. Robin Allan, chairman of BRINDEX, which represents the UK's smaller independent oil and gas producers, said: 'There are significant oil and gas reserves and resources left in the UK North Sea but output is declining largely because of government policy, not geology. 'We need a policy which incentivises oil and gas exploration and production. The windfall tax should be removed immediately and the ban on exploration removed.' A spokesman for Mr Miliband said: 'We are committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to not issue new licences to explore new fields because they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure, and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis. 'We are delivering a fair and orderly transition in the North Sea, with the biggest ever investment in offshore wind and two first of a kind carbon capture and storage clusters.'
Reuters
2 days ago
- Reuters
Oil steadies on reports of US-Russia deal, ends week about 5% lower
HOUSTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Oil held steady on Friday as markets awaited a meeting in coming days between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, but prices marked their steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook. Brent crude futures settled 16 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $66.59 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were unchanged at $63.88. Brent fell 4.4% over the week, while WTI finished 5.1% lower than last Friday's close. U.S. crude fell over 1% earlier in the session after Bloomberg News reported that Washington and Moscow were aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia's occupation of territory seized during its military invasion. U.S. and Russian officials are working towards an agreement on territories for a planned summit meeting between Trump and Putin as early as next week, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential meeting raises expectations of a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine, which could lead to eased sanctions on Russia, and comes as trade tensions have been on the rise between Trump and buyers of Russian oil. This week, Trump threatened to increase tariffs on India if it kept purchasing Russian oil. Trump also said China, the largest buyer of Russian crude, could be hit with tariffs similar to those levied against Indian imports. "Various non-oil considerations are at play, including fears over the impact of tariffs and the headlines flying over the last few days regarding a Trump and Putin meeting in the near term," said Neil Crosby, an energy market analyst at Sparta Commodities. "Headline risk is particularly strong currently with flip-flopping regarding who will turn up to a meeting over Ukraine and under what circumstances." Higher U.S. tariffs on imports from a host of trade partners went into effect on Thursday, raising concern over economic activity and demand for crude oil, ANZ Bank analysts said in a note. OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes to regain market share, adding to supply. The U.S. oil rig count, an indicator of future supply, rose by one to 411 this week. "Bearish sentiment has returned this week as key OPEC+ members announced a second 'quadruple' output unwind for September (thus fully restoring their extra voluntary cuts of 2.2 mmb/d) and President Trump's sweeping import tariffs took effect against most countries," analysts at FGE NexantECA said. Trump on Thursday also said he will nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the final few months of a newly vacant seat at the Federal Reserve, fuelling expectations of a more dovish policy ahead. Lower interest rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and can boost economic growth and demand for oil. The dollar firmed on Friday but headed for a weekly fall. A stronger dollar hurts demand for dollar-denominated crude from foreign buyers. Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to August 5, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Reuters
Oil holds steady on reports of US-Russia deal
HOUSTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Oil largely held steady on Friday as markets awaited a meeting in coming days between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, but prices marked their steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook. Brent crude futures settled 16 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $66.59 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were unchanged at $63.88. Brent fell 4.4% over the week, while WTI finished 5.1% lower than last Friday's close. U.S. crude had fallen over 1% after reports that Washington and Moscow were aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia's occupation of territory seized during its military invasion, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. U.S. and Russian officials are working towards an agreement on territories for a planned summit meeting between Trump and Putin as early as next week, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential meeting raises expectations of a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine, which could lead to eased sanctions on Russia, and comes as trade tensions have been on the rise between Trump and buyers of Russian oil. This week, Trump threatened to increase tariffs on India if it kept purchasing Russian oil. Trump also said China, the largest buyer of Russian crude, could be hit with tariffs similar to those levied against Indian imports. "Various non-oil considerations are at play, including fears over the impact of tariffs and the headlines flying over the last few days regarding a Trump and Putin meeting in the near term," said Neil Crosby, an energy market analyst at Sparta Commodities. "Headline risk is particularly strong currently with flip-flopping regarding who will turn up to a meeting over Ukraine and under what circumstances." Higher U.S. tariffs on imports from a host of trade partners went into effect on Thursday, raising concern over economic activity and demand for crude oil, ANZ Bank analysts said in a note. OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes to regain market share, adding to supply. The U.S. oil rig count, an indicator of future supply, rose by one to 411 this week. "Bearish sentiment has returned this week as key OPEC+ members announced a second 'quadruple' output unwind for September (thus fully restoring their extra voluntary cuts of 2.2 mmb/d) and President Trump's sweeping import tariffs took effect against most countries," analysts at FGE NexantECA said. Trump on Thursday also said he will nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the final few months of a newly vacant seat at the Federal Reserve, fuelling expectations of a more dovish policy ahead. Lower interest rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and can boost economic growth and demand for oil. The dollar firmed on Friday but headed for a weekly fall. A stronger dollar hurts demand for dollar-denominated crude from foreign buyers.
