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09 April 2025
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Apr 09, 2025Energy Capital Power
Angola’s national oil company (NOC) Sonangol announced that it expects to achieve 22% of its goal to increase the country’s refining capacity to 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this year.
Announced by Joaquim Kiteculo, CEO of Sonangol Refining in Cape Town on April 9, the NOC aims to achieve this milestone through the conclusion of Phase 1 of the Cabinda oil refinery, which is currently under construction and targets a refining capacity of 60,000 bpd.
“We aim to reduce imports of derivatives by 14% by 2026,” Kiteculo stated.
In addition to the Cabinda refinery, Angola has three other oil refineries in various stages of development. The Luanda refinery is operational and has a production capacity of 65,000 bpd. The Soyo refinery is in the financing stage and will have a production capacity of 100,000 bpd, while the Lobito refinery is under construction and will have a capacity of 200,000 bpd.
Meanwhile, Kiteculo also announced that Sonangol is working with energy major Eni and multinational energy group Honeywell to develop a bio-refinery in the country. Work on the bio-refinery is expected to begin by the end of 2026.
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Boem Looks To Open 80 Million Acres For Oil And Gas Lease SaleThe Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced the publication of a Proposed Notice of Sale (PNOS) for an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of America.
As directed by Secretary of the Interior and outlined in the PNOS,Lease Sale 262 will offer approximately 15,000 unleased blocks located 3 to 231 miles offshore across the Gulf’s Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas.Covering roughly 80 million acres, these blocks are situated in water depths ranging from 9 feet to more than 11,100 feet (3 to 3,400 meters).
This sale is the first of three planned lease sales in the Gulf of America under the 2024–2029 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. BOEM is also in the process of developing a new National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program that will include additional leasing opportunities.
"Offshore oil and gas play a vital role in our nation's energy portfolio, with the Gulf of America supplying 14% of domestically produced oil," saidBOEM’s Principal Deputy Director Matt Giacona. "This proposed lease sale demonstrates BOEM’s commitment to advancing American Energy Dominance and fostering the production of affordable, reliable energy resources for the nation.”
The Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf spans approximately 160 million acres and is estimated to contain around 48 billion barrels of undiscovered, recoverable oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Leases awarded through Lease Sale 262 will be for oil and gas exploration and development only. Certain areas may be excluded from this lease sale, including blocks subject to the Sept. 8, 2020, presidential withdrawal, blocks adjacent to or beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in the northern portion of the Eastern Gap, and blocks within the current boundaries of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
"To support robust industry participation, lower production costs, and unleash the full potential of the Gulf of America’s offshore energy reserves, BOEM is proposing a royalty rate of 16 ⅔ percent for both shallow and deepwater leases—the lowest rate for deepwater since 2007,” saidBOEM’s Acting Regional Director for the GOA Laura Robbins.
The Notice of Availability for the PNOS will be available for public inspection in the Federal Register on June 26, 2025, and will officially be published on June 27, 2025.
The publication of the PNOS will initiate a 60-day comment period for the affected state governors and local governments. Following the comment period, BOEM will issue a Final Notice of Sale in the Federal Register at least 30 days before the scheduled public bid reading, which will be live streamed via Zoom. The lease sale bid reading is proposed for December 10, 2025.
More information, including the PNOS package and a detailed map of the proposed lease sale area, is available here.
Offshore Engineer
oil-gas
25 June 20253 min readBoem Looks To Open 80 Million Acres For Oil And Gas Lease Sale
Offshore Engineer
25 June 2025
oil-gas
Egypt Offers 26,500 Sq Km For Gas ExplorationEgypt is offering 12 gas exploration sites to potential investors as it aims to increase its reserves and ease reliance on imports.
The sites, announced on the Oil Ministry’s bidding portal, have a total area of 26,500 square kilometres. Five of the 12 are offshore blocks in the Mediterranean with a combined area of about 13,000 square kilometres.
The other seven are onshore blocks mostly in the north and northeast of Egypt, with a combined area of 13,500 square kilometres,
All 12 blocks are open for investment by foreign companies as part of the latest concession licensing round, the ministry said.
The gas exploration blocks are offered by the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company.
Egypt has launched a hydrocarbon investment programme to increase its oil and gas deposits and reverse a decline following excessive production.
The Kuwait-based Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a recent report that Egypt’s gas production had steadily declined over the past few years to reach around 57 billion cubic metres in 2023. It was 64 billion in 2022 and a peak of 67 billion in 2021.
The decline is expected to have continued in 2024, the organisation said.
Egypt’s gas shortages are likely to worsen as Israel halts supplies during its conflict with Iran, according to the National Bank of Kuwait. The bank said last week that Egyptians could face lengthy blackouts this summer.
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Arabian Gulf Business Insight
oil-gas
24 June 20252 min readEgypt Offers 26,500 Sq Km For Gas Exploration
Arabian Gulf Business Insight
24 June 2025
oil-gas
Usgs: 29 Billion Barrels Of Oil, 392 Tcf Gas Lurk Under U.S. Public Lands(P&GJ) — A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that federally managed onshore public lands in the United States contain 29.4 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 391.6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas that are technically recoverable.
If developed, those volumes would be enough to supply U.S. oil demand for about four years and natural gas needs for nearly 12 years, according to current consumption rates.
The assessment covers public lands managed by the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and Interior, as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority. It reflects a dramatic increase from the USGS’s last estimate in 1998, which put the figures at 7.86 billion barrels of oil and 201.1 Tcf of gas.
The difference isn’t due to changes underground, but rather to advances in energy extraction technology and a broader inclusion of unconventional resources such as shale oil, tight oil and gas, and coalbed methane—resources typically produced through hydraulic fracturing.
“The USGS assesses the potential for energy resources where science tells us there may be a resource that hasn’t been discovered yet,” said Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS. “In this report, we leveraged our extensive existing data to estimate oil and gas resources on federally managed public lands. We expect these estimates to be useful for state and national land management, energy futures analysis, and economic development planning.”
The agency based the estimates on 579 previously published assessment units across 69 geologic provinces. Resource estimates were then allocated to public lands proportionally based on how much public acreage fell within each assessment unit.
Pipeline Gas Journal
oil-gas
23 June 20252 min readUsgs: 29 Billion Barrels Of Oil, 392 Tcf Gas Lurk Under U.S. Public Lands
Pipeline Gas Journal
23 June 2025
oil-gas
Centuri Secures Major Midwest Gas Utility Contract In $575 Million Deal(P&GJ) — Centuri Holdings has secured more than $575 million in infrastructure contract awards across the United States, with a significant portion tied to natural gas utility work in the Midwest.
The company’s recent wins include a multi-year contract renewal with a long-standing natural gas utility customer for gas distribution, transmission, and storage services. Additional awards cover the construction and rebuild of transmission lines, including a 115-kV line in the East and a 345-kV, 28-mile line in the West.
The new projects build on $350 million in awards previously announced in May 2025.
“Securing this key contract renewal along with meaningful new project awards is a testament to the reputation our teams have built for quality, safety, and skilled craftsmanship,” said Centuri President and CEO Christian Brown. “It not only reaffirms the trust our partners place in us but illustrates the fruitful results of our focus on business development and high-quality service delivery.”
Centuri provides utility infrastructure services for electric and gas operations across North America.
Pipeline Gas Journal
oil-gas
23 June 20251 min readCenturi Secures Major Midwest Gas Utility Contract In $575 Million Deal
Pipeline Gas Journal
23 June 2025
oil-gas
Underground Refinery Busted In Mexico With Half A Million Liters Of Crude(Reuters) — Mexican authorities this week discovered a clandestine mini-refinery in the eastern state of Veracruz, along with half a million barrels of crude oil they suspect were stolen from the country's pipelines.
The government has sought to clamp down on theft of crude oil and refined products as well as illegal imports, known as huachicol, a practice that generates substantial losses for state energy company Pemex and the government.
Authorities have previously linked organized crime and Pemex employees to the illegal trade.
Reuters was unable to contact the owners of the clandestine refinery.
Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said on Wednesday on X that during intelligence actions and overflights, "a clandestine operation was identified."
It produced artisan or alternative diesel, light naphtha or solvents, and treated oils or light fuel oil, he said, all without the proper permits in operations that posed a risk to local ecosystems.
Authorities discovered 500,000 liters of crude oil as well as production infrastructure that fed the country's illicit fuel market.
A Pemex source said that although the discovery was not significant in terms of the volume, it highlighted the impunity with which criminals operate freely in the country, as well as the extensive network of complicity between various sectors.
Separately, authorities also discovered 1.2 million liters of hydrocarbons, fuel trucks and containers in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.
In late May, authorities also recovered more than 3 million liters of hydrocarbon products in the southeast of the country.
Pipeline Gas Journal
oil-gas
20 June 20252 min readUnderground Refinery Busted In Mexico With Half A Million Liters Of Crude
Pipeline Gas Journal
20 June 2025
oil-gas
Vtb To Allocate > $10 B For Ust-Luga Gas Processing Complex ProjectVTB will allocate 800 billion rubles (> $10 B) over several years to finance the project to build a complex for processing ethane-containing gas in Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region, the bank's head Andrei Kostin told journalists.
VTB's first deputy chairman, Dmitry Pyanov, told Interfax that the plan was to disburse the first 300 billion rubles this year and another 500 billion rubles next year.
"There are market conditions. It will not bring losses," Kostin said.
VTB plans to obtain a subordinated deposit of 200 billion rubles from the National Wealth Fund for the project.
The construction operator for the Ust-Luga facility is RusChemAlliance, a company equally owned by PJSC Gazprom and JSC RGD. The complex will become Russia's largest gas processing plant and the world's second largest facility by capacity. Its annual processing capacity will reach approximately 45 billion cubic meters of gas. The total investment project cost, including VAT and operational cash flow during the investment phase, is nearly 5 trillion rubles at nominal prices.
Gas Processing and LNG
oil-gas
20 June 20251 min readVtb To Allocate > $10 B For Ust-Luga Gas Processing Complex Project
Gas Processing and LNG
20 June 2025
oil-gas
3T Secures Contract With Oil India For Advanced Simulator Technology3t Drilling Systems secured a contract from Oil India Ltd to provide advanced simulator technology to aid and enhance its workforce training. 3t will deliver its DrillSIM:5000 Classic and Cyber models as part of a five-year partnership for the systems, and is set for installation in Q3 of 2025.
The DrillSIM:5000 Classic provides hands-on experience in handling well control situations and dealing with equipment malfunction. The DrillSIM:5000 Cyber provides drilling and well control simulation in the simulated environment of a modern rig with joystick controls.
Both simple and complex tasks and scenarios can be recreated to verify skills and competency in real-world situations and will be delivered to the Oil India Limited in partnership with 3t Drilling Systems’ in-country partner, Siam Services India.
Drilling Contractor
oil-gas
19 June 20251 min read3T Secures Contract With Oil India For Advanced Simulator Technology
Drilling Contractor
19 June 2025
oil-gas
Oman Awards $272M Gas Pipeline ProjectOman’s state-owned OQ Gas Networks (OQGN) has awarded the construction of a $272 million gas pipeline project to Egypt’s Petroleum Projects Company Petrojet and Partners.
The 193km pipeline will start from the Fahud field in central Oman and terminate in the northern industrial city of Sohar, OQGN said in a disclosure made in the Muscat Security Market, adding that the project will take 24 months to complete.
Fahud was one of Oman’s biggest oil and gas fields discovered in 1963, operated by state-controlled Petroleum Development Oman.
Sohar Freezone is home to Oman’s largest port and industrial complex, with a capacity of handling about 60 million tons of cargo. It boasts well-developed industrial activities in the petrochemicals, metals and energy sectors.
“The pipeline will meet the increasing gas demand at the Sohar Freezone’s projects,” OQGN said in a statement.
OQGN owns and operates the Gulf state’s 4,000km long gas pipeline grid. The company is among several subsidiaries indirectly owned by the sovereign Oman Investment Authority, possibly candidates for full or partial privatisation through listings on the Muscat stock exchange.
Listed on the Muscat stock exchange in October 2023, OQGN last year secured $1.2 billion in financing through agreements with 16 local and regional banks to support its operations and refinancing initiatives.
OQGN is trading at around OR0.16 ($0.41) and while its share price has fluctuated due to rising geopolitical tensions in the region as a result of the Israel-Iran conflict, it is still up by about 20 percent year to date.
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Arabian Gulf Business Insight
oil-gas
19 June 20252 min readOman Awards $272M Gas Pipeline Project
Arabian Gulf Business Insight
19 June 2025
oil-gas
U.S. Senate Bill Proposes $1 Billion Tax Break For Oil And Gas Producers(Bloomberg) – Senate Republicans included a tax break estimated to be worth more than $1 billion for oil and gas producers in their version of President Donald Trump’s sprawling fiscal package.
The provision would allow energy companies subject to a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax to deduct certain drilling costs when calculating their taxable income. Companies including ConocoPhillips, Ovintiv Inc. and Civitas Resources, Inc. lobbied in favor of it.
The change was included in the legislation released Monday by Republicans on the Senate tax writing committee, which would slash tax credits for wind, solar, electric vehicles and hydrogen.
The tax break for drilling costs is nearly identical to a bill by Republican Senator James Lankford. His home state of Oklahoma is among the top oil and gas producing states.
Lankford’s bill, called the Promoting Domestic Energy Production Act, would cost the U.S. government $1.1 billion over 10 years, according to the non-profit Tax Foundation, which cited an estimate from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation.
A representative for Lankford declined to comment.
Earlier this year, Lankford told told CNBC that his bill was necessary to prevent independent oil and gas producers from being squeezed by the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, enacted under former President Joe Biden to prevent corporations from using deductions and credits to pay little or no taxes.
“If we can’t get rid of that entirely we at least need to give some relief to those folks who are independent producers,” Lankford said. “We need to be able to get some relief to them so they’re not constantly worried about it.”
Some Democratic lawmakers, along with environmental and watch dog groups including Friends of the Earth and Public Citizen, criticized the Senate bill as a giveaway to fossil fuel companies.
“There is a giant give away to the oil industry tucked right into this bill,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat. “They are going to get a special get out of paying your taxes free.”
Other supporters of the measure, which wasn’t included in the House version of the bill, include the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, founded by oil billionaire and Trump donor Harold Hamm.
It was also backed by the American Exploration & Production Council, which represents independent oil and gas producers including Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corp.
“America and the world need affordable, reliable energy – and this common-sense legislation will enable domestic producers to more quickly invest in production and meet this critical need,” said Anne Bradbury, the group’s chief executive officer.
World Oil
oil-gas
18 June 20253 min readU.S. Senate Bill Proposes $1 Billion Tax Break For Oil And Gas Producers
World Oil
18 June 2025
oil-gas
Mitsubishi In Talks To Acquire $8 Billion U.S. Gas, Pipeline Assets From Aethon(Reuters) — Mitsubishi Corp. is in talks to acquire the U.S. shale production and pipeline assets of Aethon Energy Management for roughly $8 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on June 16.
The deal, should it be struck, would give the Japanese conglomerate a substantial natural gas operation adjacent to the U.S. Gulf coast and the energy export facilities being developed along it.
Talks between Mitsubishi and Aethon are ongoing, said the source, who cautioned that there was no guarantee a transaction would be agreed and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations.
While the assets are owned and operated by U.S. energy-focused investment firm Aethon, fellow money managers RedBird Capital Partners and Canada's Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan also hold sizable stakes.
Aethon and RedBird declined comment. OTPP did not immediately respond to a comment request. Mitsubishi could not be reached outside of normal business hours in Japan.
The upstream assets of Aethon, which primarily focus on the Haynesville shale formation in Louisiana and East Texas, constitute one of the largest privately held U.S. gas producers.
Reuters reported in November that Aethon was exploring options for its operations, which also include more than 1,400 miles (2,250 km) of pipelines across the Haynesville basin and Wyoming, where Aethon also has some production assets.
Bloomberg News earlier on Monday reported the talks between Mitsubishi and Aethon, citing people familiar with the matter.
Pipeline Gas Journal
oil-gas
16 June 20252 min readMitsubishi In Talks To Acquire $8 Billion U.S. Gas, Pipeline Assets From Aethon
Pipeline Gas Journal
16 June 2025
oil-gas
Blm Fast-Tracks Review Of 74-Mile Montana Gas Pipeline Project(P&GJ) — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has launched an environmental review of a proposed 74-mile natural gas pipeline that would run from Helena to Three Forks, Montana.
The project is being reviewed under an accelerated 14-day process in response to the national energy emergency declared by President Donald J. Trump.
If approved, the pipeline would be developed by NorthWestern Energy to expand natural gas capacity in western Montana and strengthen regional energy infrastructure. The proposed 16-inch buried pipeline would be built in phases from spring 2026 through fall 2029.
The route would cross approximately seven miles of BLM-managed public lands and follow an existing utility corridor to limit new ground disturbance and reduce ecological impacts.
BLM officials say the agency plays a key role in managing access to critical minerals and traditional energy resources on federal lands, supporting both national energy security and industrial operations.
Additional details can be found on the BLM National NEPA Register.
Pipeline Gas Journal
oil-gas
12 June 20251 min readBlm Fast-Tracks Review Of 74-Mile Montana Gas Pipeline Project
Pipeline Gas Journal
12 June 2025
oil-gas
Khalda Petroleum To Produce 5,400 Barrels Daily From 2 New WellsThe Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced on Thursday 12/6/2025 that Khalda Petroleum Company is set to bring two new oil wells online later in June with an estimated initial combined production of 5,400 barrels of crude oil per day.
In a statement, the ministry said that this promising overture falls within the framework of the ministry’s continued efforts to accelerate linking newly discovered oil fields with production lines.
This will help stabilize Egypt’s local energy market and reduce dependency on imported oil.
Gulf Oil and Gas
oil-gas
12 June 20251 min readKhalda Petroleum To Produce 5,400 Barrels Daily From 2 New Wells
Gulf Oil and Gas
12 June 2025
oil-gas