Oil

The U.S. natural gas rig count went unchanged at 137 during the week ended Friday (March 25), while a week of strong growth in Texas accompanied continued activity gains in the oil patch, according to updated figures from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR). U.S. oil-directed rigs increased by seven overall for the period, helping to lift…

Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. has clinched its first agreement to sell up to 200,00 b/d of net-zero emissions oil over five years to South Korea’s SK Trading International, an indication the direct air capture (DAC) project in West Texas may proceed. Oxy, as it is better known, has begun preliminary work on its massive DAC…

TotalEnergies SE plans to halt all purchases of Russian oil and petroleum products by the end of this year at the latest, but it would continue supplying Europe with Russian natural gas through its minority stakes in five Russian companies. “TotalEnergies is a European energy company that must contribute to the supply security of the…

Slower-than-usual rig count growth, fewer uncompleted wells and a shrinking coal generation fleet are contributing to an atypical natural gas market recovery, according to analysts with ConocoPhillips. At the LDC Gas Forum Southeast in Savannah, GA, on Monday, ConocoPhillips’ Matt Henderson, a senior market analyst, said the industry had entered “a bit of a new…

Lower 48 oil and natural gas permitting activity has picked up since the beginning of the year, climbing by 9% through February from a year ago, according to Evercore ISI. There were 188 more permits issued in February month/month (m/m). However, permitting was still down by half from February 2019, on the cusp of the…

“I believe it is important for public and private sectors to not focus solely on increasing the participation of women in terms of labor, but rather there be a true revolution within the interior of institutions and companies to really reduce the gender gap,” María Luisa Licón, legal counsel at Marathon Petroleum Corp. and founding…

Despite calls for increased output amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and threats to global supplies, U.S. crude exploration and production (E&P) companies have not moved an inch. Production was flat last week, extending a long-running trend, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday. Production for the week ended March 11 held firm at 11.6 million…

Calgary-based Strathcona Resources Ltd. has grown to heavyweight status among private exploration companies after completing two acquisitions that boosted its combined oil and natural gas production to about 110,000 boe/d. Before the latest dealmaking, Strathcona’s production was averaging 75,000-80,000 boe/d.   The company, 100% owned by the private equity Waterous Energy Fund and Strathcona employees, broke…

Global oil demand this year was tracking to a strong recovery, fueled by demand in goods and services, but the Russian incursion into Ukraine has upended all forecasts and there is no clarity in the near term, according to energy experts.  In OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) issued Tuesday, the Saudi-led cartel noted that…