Rosneft has reached agreements to form separate JV alliances with three Global Competitor companies: ExxonMobil, ENI, and Statoil.

What Rosneft brings to these deals is simple, acreage. ExxonMobil gains access to large new wildcat exploration acreage in the Kara Sea and the Black Sea. ENI picks up interests in the Black Sea and the Barents Sea. Statoil enters blocks in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and will jointly study two onshore blocks involving an undeveloped West Siberian field and shale oil acreage.

[More]

This entry was posted on May 14, 2012 at 8:38 AM and has received 70 views. Print this entry.

Argentina has passed legislation expropriating a 51% share in YPF from Repsol and declaring the oil and gas industry to be of "national public interest". The terms of compensation for Repsol's shares remain undetermined.

This latest move highlights the impact high oil prices have in terms of limiting access by international oil companies to oil and gas resources.

[More]

This entry was posted on May 11, 2012 at 10:13 AM and has received 47 views. Print this entry.

In past issues of On Point we have warned that North American Arctic gas supply prospects were at risk due to the rise in unconventional gas production. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the Mackenzie Gas project partners have announced that they are suspending the project. The decision was due to a continued decline in market conditions and unacceptable commercial terms. ConocoPhillips plans to take a US$525 million write down on an after tax basis.

[More]

This entry was posted on April 11, 2012 at 3:14 PM and has received 103 views. Print this entry.

Under the combined impact of unusually warm weather and ballooning supply, natural gas prices have taken a beating this winter in North America. Recent announcements by Chesapeake Energy and ConocoPhillips that they will cut gas drilling operations is an important first step towards shoring up the beleaguered price of natural gas. We even saw a short term bump in price immediately following.

But will this be enough to ease the pain? Our research suggests not.

[More]

This entry was posted on February 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM and has received 264 views. Print this entry.

This issue of Cost Watch reflects current estimates of inflation pressures in the oil and gas industry through the end of 2011. Results from September through December 2011 are subject to revision but key conclusions are not likely to change.

[More]

This entry was posted on January 25, 2012 at 1:42 PM and has received 230 views. Print this entry.

After opening a data room with the intent to sell its 8.5% working interest in the Offshore Area 1 (Rovuma Block) in Mozambique, the Board of Directors has decided to offer the entire company.

The license in Mozambique is the site of multiple gas discoveries including Windjammer, Ironclad, Barquentine, Lagosta, Tubarao, and Camarão. Estimated recoverable gas reserves for the block range from 15 to 30 Tcf.

[More]

This entry was posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:28 AM and has received 250 views. Print this entry.

A US$2.5 billion joint venture alliance between Devon Energy and Sinopec has been announced. Sinopec will acquire a 33.33% interest in Devon's acreage across five new venture plays. The alliance includes an estimated 1.2 million acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Niobrara, Oklahoma Mississippian play, Ohio Utica shale, and the Michigan Basin. The Niobrara, Mississippian and Utica shale acreage is liquids weighted. The Michigan and Tuscaloosa acreage includes both oil and gas. The distribution of total acreage contributed to the alliance by play is shown below.

[More]

This entry was posted on January 5, 2012 at 11:43 AM and has received 306 views. Print this entry.

A joint venture between Chesapeake, EnerVest Ltd., and Total has been announced in the liquids-weighted Utica Shale play in Ohio. The joint venture combines 542,000 net acres contributed by Chesapeake with 77,000 net acres contributed by EnerVest Ltd.

Total will acquire a 25% interest in the combined JV acreage through a US$700 million upfront cash payment. Total has also agreed to carry 60% of future capital costs by Chesapeake and EnerVest over a period expected to last not more than 7 years. Reflecting aggressive drilling plans, Total announced that its share of net output will reach 100 Mb/d by 2020.

[More]

This entry was posted on January 3, 2012 at 12:07 PM and has received 217 views. Print this entry.

On 14 December 2011 twenty companies bid for new Western Gulf of Mexico acreage in Sale 218. Winning bids on 191 blocks totaled US$337.7 million. The results of the sale were noteworthy in a number of respects.

Only a handful of companies drove the sale results. ConocoPhillips' high bids represented 46.7% of the total. Other drivers of the competition were ExxonMobil, Maersk, BP and Anadarko.

[More]

This entry was posted on December 19, 2011 at 2:10 PM and has received 167 views. Print this entry.

Nexen Petroleum announced on 30 November 2011 that it has farmed out a 20% interest in three deepwater exploration prospects to CNOOC with possibly three others to follow with working interests ranging from 10% to 25%. Two of the prospects, Kakuna and Angel Fire, are located west and northwest of the Knotty Head discovery on Green Canyon Blocks 504 and 327, respectively. The third prospect is Cypress. Earlier this year Statoil farmed into a 27.5% interest in Kakuna.

The transaction reflects continuing pressures on independent producers to seek out partners in North America as well as a spreading NOC strategic effort to broaden their access to future growth asset opportunities.

[More]

This entry was posted on December 1, 2011 at 9:11 AM and has received 166 views. Print this entry.