A Barrel Full

Heritage Oil has announced that it is to sell all of its Ugandan assets to ENI.
Heritage Oil Plc , an independent upstream exploration and production company, announces that a wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a binding letter of intent , with Eni S.p.A  for the sale of its entire interests in Blocks 1 and […]

It was a simple tale of unwanted assets, and a willing buyer. Yet the Shell-Essar deal has turned into something more.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc is in talks to acquire a 10 percent stake in India’s Essar Oil Ltd. Shell will buy the stake, valued at about $364 million, as part payment for selling three of […]

Another day and more refinery news. Socar is going shopping.
Azerbaijan’s state oil firm Socar plans to take a “substantial” stake in an Italian oil refinery next year 
Italy seems to be the shopping destination of choice for a number of companies recently. Socar is one of those companies that wants to vertically integrate, hence their interest […]

Whilst not at exactly breakneck speed, consolidation continues in the refining sector. This time a cut price deal in the US market.
Holly Corporation announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with a subsidiary of Sinclair Oil Corporation (“Sinclair”) to purchase Sinclair’s Tulsa refinery.  
The price is very cheap.
Under the terms of the […]

ConocoPhillips has announced that it is to cut investment for 2010, below the already lower level of 2009.
Capital expenditures in 2010 are expected to be approximately $11 billion, down from $12.5 billion in 2009. At this level of funding, the company will support exploration, production and reserve replacement, while preserving its project portfolio for future […]

Australia is fast become as much a world power in LNG as it is in swimming. It has big reserves and is located far from major consumers, so LNG is the only option. Now a joint Chevron, Shell, Exxon project has been given the green light, despite being in an environmentally sensitive area.
Chevron Australia Pty […]

Another GTL project is to be built in Central Asia.
Sasol has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Uzbekneftegaz (the National Oil and Gas Company of Uzbekistan) and PETRONAS from Malaysia for the development and implementation of a Gas to Liquids (GTL) project in Uzbekistan today.
The project will use Sasol technology.
Gas to liquids is very capital […]

The a?ternative pipeline, that doesn’t have gas, or customers, will take a step forward today.
Officials from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria will gather in the Turkish capital Ankara to back the Nabucco project, which has been in planning since at least 2004. 
The project is designed to be an alternative to Russia’s increasingly tight stranglehold […]

Every crisis redraws the map in some way or other. Whilst those worst hit simply try to stay alive, the opportunities for those in better shape are unlimited.
China and India have spent the last few years trying to buy their way up the league of big oil players, and their national champions are wasting no […]

I have long been a believer in the long term prospects of natural gas and think that the best investments in the current environment are those that address natural gas infrastructure. It seems that other people agree with me.
TransCanada Corporation  today announced that TransCanada and ExxonMobil have reached an agreement to work together on an […]