Posts Tagged ‘Oil Production’

NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Shell Oil said it continued to ramp up Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production shut for hurricanes Gustav and Ike this past October.

HOUSTON: Current Shell operated production from the Gulf of Mexico is now over 400,000 BOE/d, while Shell's net production, including both operated and non-operated production, from the region is around 310,000 BOE/d.

Nigerian militants threatened on Wednesday to attack deepwater oil vessels belonging to Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, raising fears that this week’s upsurge in fighting in the Niger Delta could put multi-billion dollar investments at risk.

NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Shell Oil said on Wednesday its 220,000 barrel per day joint-venture Motiva oil refinery in Norco, Louisiana, would reach normal rates by the end of the day.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC, operator of the Gulf's biggest platform in terms of production, over the weekend said it wouldn't redeploy all personnel evacuated from offshore facilities "because of the possibility that Hurricane Ike might enter the [Gulf of Mexico] next week and require another evacuation."

Shell Oil said on Thursday it expected to restart the bulk of its offshore oil and gas production over the next several days following shutdowns triggered by Hurricane Gustav, and expected its offshore pipeline system to be ready to handle the output.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips said yesterday that Hurricane Gustav caused no damage to platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Exxon Mobil Corp. workers are returning to production facilities, according to the company.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA, ConocoPhillips and Valero Energy Corp. are among oil and gas producers, and refiners that have started initial inspections of facilities.

Motiva Enterprises LLC, a Houston-based joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Arabia's state oil company, said it shut its Norco, Louisiana, plant, which can process 236,400 barrels a day.

Few companies are watching Gustav more closely than Royal Dutch Shell. About 80 percent of Shell's U.S. oil and natural-gas production comes from the Gulf of Mexico, where it's the top oil producer.

LONDON: Western oil majors need to speed up a strategic shift into more complex oil and gas projects if they wish to return to consistent production growth after another quarter of disappointing output. Industry No 2 Royal Dutch Shell said output dropped 1.6 per cent...

Once dismissed as a group of amateur bandits, Mend has become increasingly sophisticated despite its arsenal of rusty Kalashnikovs. Proof of this came three weeks ago with their audacious night-time raid on the Bonga offshore field, forcing Shell to shut down the 200,000-barrel-a-day operation, and serving notice that deep-water facilities, once seen as safe, were no longer out of bounds.

Mr Brown's comments amounted to "military support to the illegal government of Umaru Yar'Adua", the leader of the group, known as Mend, said in an email.

Renewed concerns about supply disruptions out of Nigeria also emerged as the main militant group there said it would resume attacks in the country's oil-rich river delta region because of Britain's recent pledge to back the government.

British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said yesterday that the U.K. is prepared to help Nigeria quell unrest near its oilfields as part of an effort to boost world oil output and bring down prices.

Last week, an attack by militants close to the Bonny Island Liquefied Natural Gas export terminal killed nine people, including a pregnant woman and four soldiers.

Shell announced today that it has achieved yet another milestone in the Ursa/Princess Waterflood project

But the long-awaited news was soured by the revelation that five big Western oil companies had refused to sign smaller, short-term service contracts to renovate the country’s dilapidated oil infrastructure unless they were guaranteed a slice of the massive oil-pumping deal.

...some Iraqi nationalists as well as anti-war activists will be strengthened in their delusion that the real reason for the 2003 invasion was the US wish to gain control of Iraqi oil.

James Schlesinger, the first U.S. energy secretary, has said for decades that when it comes to energy policy, the U.S. toggles between complacency and panic.

Royal Dutch Shell's Bonga field, the biggest deep offshore field in Africa and holding more than 1 billion barrels of crude reserves, thus became a showpiece of success in the Gulf of Guinea. Other oil majors such as Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and Total also followed with huge offshore oil discoveries that helped make the waters offshore Nigeria a leading global oil exploration hotspot.

However, the aura of invincibility that surrounded the deep-water oilfields in Nigeria is no more. It was shattered on 19 June when the main guerrilla group in the oil region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), launched an overnight raid on the Bonga oilfield's floating, storage, production and offloading vessel, forcing it to shut down.

So far, the federal government has reacted by sending more troops to the Niger Delta. Shell has also resumed operations at the said station but under the watchful eyes of two naval frigates as guards.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, has restarted oil production on the Bonga Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel under the protection of two Nigerian navy frigates.

The world outside Opec is struggling to produce more oil...

The House Financial Services Committee Thursday will consider legislation to increase revenue transparency in the petroleum and mining industries.

Royal Dutch Shell resumed production yesterday at its giant deepwater Bonga oilfield off the coast of Nigeria, which was shut down last week after an attack by speed-boat riding militants, reports Matthew Green in Lagos .

Until recently, lawmakers had focused on the traditional suspects: oil companies and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. But increasingly, they are casting a suspicious eye on the role of investors, including speculators, in driving up prices.

LAGOS (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said it had restarted production at its Bonga offshore oilfield in Nigeria on Tuesday after an attack by militants last week.

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed in New York after Royal Dutch Shell Plc said that it resumed production at its Nigerian Bonga field that was attacked last week.

The military was powerless to prevent MEND launching a spate of attacks on pipelines that forced Shell to close 164,000 b/d of oil production in April alone.

Exacerbating the situation is Nigeria, where armed rebels opened a new front in their campaign against foreign oil companies last week by attacking a Royal Dutch Shell platform 120 miles of the coast. Deepwater platforms have generally been viewed as safe from attack, given their distance from the coast.

ABUJA, June 23 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell wants to get its Nigerian offshore oilfield Bonga back to production as soon as possible, a senior executive said on Monday, but gave no indication of how long that might take.

...does Saudi Arabia really want to bring oil prices down?

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to within $3 of a record on speculation Saudi Arabia's output increase may not raise global supply because of production halts in Nigeria and the North Sea.

...in a swift reaction to the president's directive to the armed forces the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which claimed responsibility for the attack, has declared an all out war and warned all foreigners in the region to leave immediately or face the consequences.

The sabotage took place hours after militants shut down 200,000 b/d of oil production from Royal Dutch Shell's Bonga oilfield.

June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp.'s Nigerian onshore oil output remained halted following an attack on a pipeline operated by the company, H. Odein Ajumogobia, the country's minister of state for petroleum, said today

A devastating attack on the huge Bonga offshore oil platform yesterday forced the country's leading oil producing company, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), to suspend all production and export activities at the field.

Gunmen in powerboats sped across more than 100km of open sea to attack a giant oil production vessel off Nigeria yesterday, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to shut down one of Africa's biggest oilfields

The attack is a big blow to Shell, which said it had suspended all production at its Bonga field while it investigates the attacks.

After the attack, the gunmen came across a separate oil supply vessel and kidnapped its U.S. captain in an apparent opportunistic attack, navy spokesman Henry Babalola said.

LAGOS, Nigeria — The most powerful militant group in Nigeria said it launched a rare attack early Thursday against an offshore oil rig but failed to cripple the installation far from shore.

Royal Dutch Shell says it has shut down production at a Nigerian oil field that produces about 200,000 barrels per day after a militant attack.

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Nigeria venture has as much as 400,000 barrels of crude a day shut in as result of attacks by militants on its facilities, an official said.

The move was seen as a sign that the Saudis are becoming increasingly nervous about both the political and economic effect of high oil prices. In recent weeks, soaring fuel costs have incited demonstrations and protests from Italy to Indonesia.

Total, along with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world's two biggest publicly traded oil companies, are facing increasing barriers to oil and gas reserves as resource- holding nations favor national champions.

THE CALGARY HERALD: Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's biggest oil producer, may be forced to cut output from a North Sea platform if rig managers strike this weekend.

The Norwegian Organization of Managers and Executives said it will pull 86 workers from StatoilHydro ASA's Snorre A platform and Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Draugen A rig on June 7 if a new agreement isn't reached on wages and working hours. The strike imperils output of 220,000 barrels of oil a day, or about 9 percent of Norway's total oil production.

Mr de Margerie said that though the group was confident about its future as an oil producer, "we must have the courage to say that there will be no more oil by the end of the century". Total intended to develop activities in three key areas of renewable energy: solar and nuclear power and clean coal.

Okah may be in prison, but the organization he leads, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) continues to wreak havoc on international oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, sabotaging facilities and kidnapping personnel. And that limits Nigeria's output, and keeps global oil prices climbing.