An unexplored swathe covering 7,000 square kilometers in the North Sea could be hiding oil and gas. In the past, it was believed that the area contained empty chambers formed by extinct volcanoes, known as phantom volcanoes. Millions of years ago, seismic activity under the North Sea came close to creating an ocean between the United Kingdom and Europe. This …

Spanish energy and petrochemical multinational Repsol announced on Tuesday it made a new gas discovery in Indonesia. According to preliminary estimates, the find could contain at least 2 trillion cubic feet of recoverable resources. It is the largest gas discovery made in this Asian insular nation in the past 18 years and constitutes one of the ten largest finds in …

India became the No 1 buyer of Venezuelan crude in the first half of February 2019, as the country has increased imports to 66 percent to 620,000 oil barrels per day, according to India’s New Delhi Television (NDTV). On January 28, the U.S. Department of Treasury imposed sanctions against PDVSA and proceeded to freeze assets worth $7 billion to the …

Reuters reports that Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA is telling customers of its joint ventures to deposit oil sales proceeds in an account recently opened at Russia’s Gazprombank. This move is a way to avoid the financial sanctions imposed by the U.S since 2017. This bank account was allegedly opened in Moscow, according to a letter signed on February 8 …

ExxonMobil announced two new oil discoveries in the coast of Guyana, in the Tilapia-1 and Haimara-1 wells, which raises the total number of findings in the Stabroek block to twelve. The discoveries build on the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of over 5 billion barrels at the Stabroek block. Some parts in this area belong to the coasts of the …

Royal Dutch Shell, through subsidiary Shell Brasil Petroleo Ltda., and partners Petrobras and Galp announced the start of production of the deep water project Lula North in the Santos basin. Production at Lula North is processed by the FPSO P-67 and operated by Petrobras. An FPSO is a Floating Production Storage and Offloading tanker. The P-67 is the seventh FPSO …

Gasoline shortage and long lines to fill the fuel tank. This is an image that no one would expect to see in an oil producing nation. Nevertheless, this has happened in Venezuela, the country with the world’s highest crude reserves. And it could happen again. The prospect of the feared lines to fill the gasoline tank started to timidly remerge …

Energy group Naturgy announced its results for FY 2018 on Wednesday. The company notified it closed the year with recurring EBITDA growth of 3 percent. It also reported a consolidated loss of €2.8 billion, which it attributed to a significant deterioration in the value of its assets by mid-period. In its annual report, the energy firm explained that this impact …

The sanctions imposed by the Trump administration against the government of Nicolas Maduro have further escalated. The first measures date back to early 2018 and were an attempt to limit Venezuela’s capacity to sell its debt and U.S. assets. Now, however, Washington took the matter one step forward with new sanctions that seek to restrict financing and pressure Hugo Chavez’s …

Chevron Corp has agreed to purchase an oil refinery in Texas which it will use to process the shale oil coming from its operations in the West side of the state. Nevertheless, this facility has a problematic past and space. The plant has the capacity to process 112,000 barrels per day The U.S. oil company is expected to disclose the …

The construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Russia has created the scenario for a new commercial and diplomatic clash between the U.S. and one of its European allies. U.S. ambassador in Germany Richard Grenell warned companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 that they could face sanctions if they stick to the project, a senior …

The U.S. government has announced it will not grant more waivers for Iranian oil, after restoring sanctions against this nation. This move evidences the Trump administration’s intent to stifle Tehran’s sources of income. “Iran is now increasingly feeling the economic isolation that our sanctions are imposing … We do want to deny the regime revenues,” Brian Hook, special U.S. representative …