Chevron to build $1.4B lubricants plant at Mississippi refinery

Chevron Corporation announced that Chevron Lubricants will commence construction of a lubricants manufacturing facility at the company’s Pascagoula refinery. The $1.4 billion Pascagoula Base Oil Project (PBOP) is projected to generate approximately 1,000 jobs...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Petrochina offers $1 bln for agreed Ineos j/v

PetroChina is offering $1 billion for a 50 percent stake in refineries in France and Scotland, seller UK chemical group Ineos said on Monday, in the first indication of the deal's value. Under an agreement struck earlier this month, Petrochina will acquire a 50 percent stake in Ineos' European refining...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Plains Exploration shares rise on higher reserves

Shares of oil producer Plains Exploration & Production Co. rose Monday after the company said its level of proven reserves rose 16 percent in 2010. The company said its year-end estimated proved reserves rose to the energy equivalent of 416.1 million barrels...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Max Petroleum completes initial testing of UTS-1 well in Kazakhstan

UK based oil and gas explorer Max Petroleum has completed initial testing of the UTS-1 well at the Uytas field in western Kazakhstan. The well will be placed on a 90-day production test after all necessary government approvals are obtained in the next few weeks,...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

US fracking firms may have broken enviro law-probe

Several energy companies mayhave violated environmental rules by injecting diesel into the ground without permits as part of a controversial natural gas drilling technique, according to findings from Congressional probe released on Monday. [Read more] Source:...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Forecast boosts expected Canadian drilling

There's going to be more oil and gas rigs at work in Canada this year. That's according to a revised forecast from the Petroleum Services Association of Canada. It expects 12,750 wells to be drilled through to rig release in 2011. [Read more] Source: 660N...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Egyptian Exposure for Offshore Drillers

We are closely monitoring the situation in Egypt to see if it may affect our offshore drillers. To date, we have not seen anything that will have a material impact on our fair value estimates. Transocean RIG and Diamond Offshore DO , which have rigs in the region,...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Noble Corporation Prices Offering of Senior Notes

Noble Corporation announced today that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Noble Holding International Limited ("NHIL"), has priced an offering of $1.1 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes in three separate tranches, with $300 million of 3.05% senior notes due 2016, $400 million of 4.625%...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Orders rise to normal level

The world's total of newbuilding orders for 2010 was estimated at 1,758 ships (33.8m CGT, 120.7m DWT and 71.1m GT) increasing by 75% on 1,006 ships (14.4m CGT, 52.8m DWT and 29.8m GT) from 2009. [Read More] Source: ASIA...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

N.Sea Troll, Oseberg fields resume output

Norway's biggest gas field, Troll, and the oil and gas Oseberg reservoir are back in operation after being shut for several days, operator Statoil said on Monday. "They are both back in production," company spokesman Ola Anders Skauby told Reuters. [Read more] Source:...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Suez Crisis

The uprising and political unrest in Egypt is already having economic affects around the world. On Monday, analysts will watch to see if the stock market rebounds from Friday’s 166-point drop, as the price of oil continues to rise. [Read More] Source: SHIPT...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Esbern Snare rescued crew from Beluga vessel

The Danish warship Esbern Snare rescued two crew members from the German owned heavy lift carrier Beluga Nomination, which last week was hijacked by Somalia pirates in the Indian Ocean far from Somalia. [Read More] Source: shipga...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

GE Oil & Gas Selected for $120M Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline Upgrade

GE Oil & Gas has been awarded a contract of more than $120 million (€90 million) to overhaul nine gas turbines located at four compression stations along the Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline (TENP), which runs across Germany from the Dutch to the Swiss border. GE...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

14,100TEU – Samsung breaks containership record

The record for the largest containership has been broken again, this time by Samsung Heavy Industries’ 14,100TEU ‘CSCL Star’ for China Shipping Line. [Read More] Source: Baird Maritim...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Hyundai Mipo bags more bitumen carriers

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard has won two additional 6,000 dwt bitumen carriers from Dutch shipowner Vroon. [Read More] Source: Seatrade Asi...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

ExxonMobil Sees Huge Earnings Increase

ExxonMobil continued to deliver strong financial and operating results in its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 2010, as profit hit $9.25 billion, an increase of 53 percent. Full-year 2010 earnings, excluding special items, were $30.5 billion, up 57 percent from 2009,...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

German yard bags second major order in a week

P+S Werften in eastern Germany has announced a big order for five ice-strengthened container/supply ships - just a week after bagging another for a unique offshore construction vessel. [Read More] Source: Motors...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Maersk Oil to buy Devon Energy’s 15% interest in Angola Block 16

Maersk Oil, a fully owned subsidiary of A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, has agreed to acquire a 15% interest in Block 16 in Angola from Devon Energy for an initial payment of USD 70 million and future contingent considerations. The agreement is subject to closing conditions including government approval. Maersk...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

The Somali Pirates Are Getting Smarter And More Aggressive

Somali pirates continued to increase their activity in 2010. They successfully hijacked 49 ships in 2010 (compared to 45 in 2009) and were holding 26 ships off the coast of Somalia as of Jan. 24. [Read More] Source: Business Insi...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

AMEC wins £140m contract with BG Group

UK-based engineering and project management company AMEC has won an offshore oil services contract with BG Group. The £140 million deal will see the firm supply provide engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and project management for all of BG...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

German boxship collided with Indian Navy ship

On Jan 30 at about 1700 Indian Navy ship INS Vindhyagiri collided with German boxship Nordlake. INS Vindhyagiri was returning to Mumbai after celebrating "Day at Sea" with families of military personnel, at least 200 people. Fire broke out as a result of the collision, but all civilians were evacuated,...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Operation to rescue ice-nipped Russian ships cost $5 mln

Russia's operation to rescue its ice-nipped vessels in the Sea of Okhotsk cost five million dollars, a spokesperson for the Far Eastern Shipping Company said on Monday. [Read More] Source: Voice of Rus...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

POSH Semco opts for Veripos

Veripos, the provider of precise GNSS positioning solutions to the offshore oil and gas industries, has been awarded an exclusive five-year contract by POSH Semco of Singapore, one of  Asia’s foremost specialist offshore companies. [Read more] Source: Offshore...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

More shipping firms seen failing unless oversupply addressed

Shipping in the Suez Canal, the strategic waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, hasn't been affected by unrest in Egypt, according to a canal authority official. Source:Ship-technology [Read More] Source: Wall Street Jour...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Anadarko Provides Status Update of Caesar/Tonga Project

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation today announced that a mechanical issue involving the production riser system at the Caesar/Tonga project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico will delay first production, which was expected in mid-2011. Although the production riser system underwent an extensive qualification...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Nexus in Talks for FPSO Contract

Australian exploration company Nexus Energy is in talks with a contractor regarding a floating production, storage and offloading vessel contract. Nexus was in discussion with British engineering company Petrofac and is negotiating with lenders and potential partners for the project, according to the...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

S.KOREA'S DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING WINS U.S. DRILL SHIP CONTRACT

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (KSE:042660), South Korea's No. 2 shipbuilder, said Monday that it has won a deal to build a drill ship. [Read More] Source: Trading Market...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Fugro Robertson Awarded Offshore Morocco Seismic Contract

Longreach Oil and Gas Limited, an oil & gas company focused on Morocco, announces that Fugro Robertson, one of the world's leading geoscience and technical services company, has been awarded the contract for seismic reprocessing on the Foum Draa and Side Moussa...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Hyundai Heavy nails record results

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, made its best ever business results last year. 
Hyundai announced at the end of last week that the company saw KRW 22.4052trn ($20.1bn) of sales, KRW 3.4394trn of operating profit and KRW 3.7611trn of net profit during 2010. 
Last...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Egypt's Protests Could Favor Shipping Stocks

Tanker stocks have already performed exceptionally well; compared to the S&P 500, they have averaged yields of 10%-15% higher.  And now with the tensions in Egypt, and the possibility of supply constraints in Suez Canals has shown increased activity in...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

The Netherlands: Dockwise Bags Two HMT Contracts

Dockwise announces that it has signed a contract for USD 25 mln, with an affiliate of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. regarding the transportation of the Jack & St. Malo hull from Korea to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the intention of the parties that this contract – already...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

NYK Profit Jumps More Than Tenfold

NYK Line’s net profit jumped more than tenfold in the Japanese shipping company’s October-December fiscal third quarter as improved container shipping results offset higher fuel costs and soft bulk markets. [Read More] Source: Journal of Comme...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

DOE OKs Spex entry into Gindara

Australian firm Nido Petroleum Ltd. yesterday said the Department of Energy has approved the farm-in agreement under which Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. will acquire Nido’s 45 percent stake in the Gindara prospect at Service Contract 54 (SC 54) B. [Read more] Source:...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Lloyd's Register & Bestway's ambitious design venture offers improved 'green' bulk carrier

‘Emerald’ design offers a lighter and environmentally friendly ship as project exceeds fuel-saving targets. Lloyd’s Register and Shanghai-based Bestway Marine Engineering Design have completed their joint-industry project to develop a trend-setting environmental bulk carrier, with results far exceeding...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

No direct threat to Suez shipping - insurance market

No direct threat to ships passing through the strategic Suez Canal waterway exists at the moment, despite unrest in Egypt, a senior official with London's marine insurance market said on Monday. [Read More] Source: Reut...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Feature: Ship fuel – time for ship owners and refiners to decide

The revised MARPOL Annex VI regime governing ship atmospheric pollution has been with us for two years now. Over that time the maritime and oil refining industries have had a chance to weigh up its robust requirements. Although compliance with the regime’s ultimate...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Statoil: Responsible operation at Gullfaks

Statoil held a follow-up meeting with the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) today in which we reviewed the status after the C06 incident at Gullfaks.  “We addressed two topics in the meeting, specifically those relating to well integrity and pressure...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Ship owners unfazed by market tumble, keep placing newbuilding orders

With the dry bulk market at a two-year low at just 1,107 points, after losing an additional 2.64% at the beginning of the new week, one would expect that ship owners would have scaled back on their new building investment programmes. But, as one can clearly see by checking the latest ship brokers’ reports,...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Keel laid for Antarctic research vessel

The keel was recently laid for the Antarctic research and supply vessel ordered by the South African department of environmental affairs at STX Finland’s Rauma shipyard. [Read More] Source: motors...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Balltec installs 16 SMCs for Total Pazflor FPSO

Balltec has just completed the supply and installation of 16 Permanent Subsea Mooring Connectors (SMC) for the Total Pazflor FPSO. The facility is moored in approximately 3500 feet of water in Angola block 17. The connectors supplied by Balltec can be disconnected...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Northrop-Gamesa wind-power venture chooses Chesapeake

A team of engineers from Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and Spanish energy firm Gamesa has started work on a project to design and develop a prototype offshore wind turbine in Chesapeake's Greenbrier area. [Read More] Source: dailypress....

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Marathon Oil Corporation Declares Fourth Quarter 2010 Dividend

Marathon Oil Corporation announced today that the Company's board of directors has declared a dividend of 25 cents per share on Marathon Oil Corporation common stock. The dividend is payable March 10, 2011, to stockholders of record on Feb. 16, 2011. [Read more] Source: Offshore Energy To...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Global Petroleum to acquire prospective oil and gas interests in Namibia

Global Petroleum has entered into an agreement to acquire Jupiter Petroleum Limited, a UK registered company, which holds prospective oil and gas exploration interests in offshore Namibia. Global will issue 25 million shares at settlement and will reimburse reasonable historical expenditure on the Namibian...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

BP oil spill wipes £2bn off UK dividend payments

The BP oil spill wiped £2 billion off the value of dividend payouts last year, according to figures from Capita Registrars. Dividend payouts fell to £56.6 billion after the cancellation of £5.4 billion in dividends from BP. [Read more] Source: Reut...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Australia: AWEs 4Q 2010 Production Slips 3%

Oil and gas production reached 1.53 million BOE for the quarter, a 3% decline on the previous period. Production was impacted by some operational issues at Tui, BassGas and Casino, which were all successfully resolved by the end of the period. [Read more] Source:...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More

Falklands : DIRECTOR OF MINERAL RESOURCES REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2010

At a meeting of the Mineral Resources Committee the Director of Mineral Resources gave her report. 1). Progress with Offshore Drilling Programme:  Since the last report was prepared for the meeting held on 14 December, The Ocean Guardian has completed drilling...

Posted on 1/31/2011 / 0 comments / Read More