Pakistan

Pakistan selected several groups of companies last week to build five new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in the country.

Aggregate U.S. pressure pumping supply exceeded demand late last year and in the first three months of 2012 capacity utilization averaged 93.4%, a big turnaround in a market that had been undersupplied for two years, according to a new analysis. The shift is challenging oilfield service operators, which already were noting the squeeze in quarterly conference calls.

BP plc has agreed to sell its oil and natural gas assets in Pakistan to Hong Kong-based United Energy Group for $775 million in cash. The proceeds from the sale, expected to be completed in the first half of 2011, would be used to help cover the estimated $40 billion cleanup costs related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The latest agreement “is further evidence of the rapid progress BP has made toward the divestment target we set out last summer,” which was to sell up to $30 billion of assets, said BP CEO Bob Dudley. “We are continuing to identify further assets that may be strategically more valuable to others than to BP as we complete the program.”

Special charges related to discontinuing exploration in Pakistan and on Block 19 offshore Angola ($76 million), along with the cost of repurchasing higher-cost debt ($7.6 million) resulted in a third quarter net loss of $0.9 million or $0.01/share for Ocean Energy compared to net income of $48 million or $0.27/share in 3Q2001. Without the impact of special items, the company reported net income of $56 million or $0.31/share.

Special charges related to discontinuing exploration in Pakistan and on Block 19 offshore Angola ($76 million), along with the cost of repurchasing higher-cost debt ($7.6 million) resulted in a third quarter net loss of $0.9 million or $0.01/share for Ocean Energy compared to net income of $48 million or $0.27/share in 3Q2001. Without the impact of special items, the company reported net income of $56 million or $0.31/share.