Regional News

Bloomberg The price to access unexplored shale assets on the New Mexico side of the Permian Basin soared to $95,001 an acre in a federal government auction, a record high for North America’s biggest oil field. The state’s previous record was $40,001 an acre set in December, according to a statement by the US Department of the Interior. Overall, the ...

Bloomberg Mexico’s next president said he will continue with tenders for drilling service contracts starting when he takes office. “We are preparing the rescue plan for the oil industry that will consist of producing more crude oil soon, and we will need these companies that have experience, most of them national companies,” President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said. “We are ...

Bloomberg The vibrations of the shale boom are now shaking the futures market. A visible decline in open interest of West Texas Intermediate crude futures contracts for delivery five or more years in the future is due to the growth of tight oil fields and the shift in producers’ need to hedge oil so far out in the future, according ...

Bloomberg Africa is entering the oil-hunt spotlight as drillers, flush with cash after crude’s recovery, are turning their attention back to the continent’s potentially vast resources. The world’s biggest companies from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are setting up camp across Africa. Armed with stronger balance sheets and higher crude prices the industry is ...

Bloomberg The world’s biggest offshore oil driller may reactivate two to three mothballed rigs a year as the industry embarks on a full-fledged recovery for deepwater exploration. In announcing a $2.7 billion deal for a rival operator, Transocean Ltd. cited a forecast by energy consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. that day-rates in waters more than two miles deep will more than ...

Bloomberg Europe’s strategic energy reserves shouldn’t be all about oil. As natural gas gains ground in the global energy transition, the cleanest fossil fuel should be allowed to replace some compulsory crude and oil product storage, according to Thierry Bros, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES). That would help the region use some of ...

Bloomberg PVR Ltd., India’s largest movie exhibitor, is seeking growth opportunities overseas after sealing a deal to acquire a local cinema chain. The company’s “big focus” is to look at Saudi Arabia, while it’s also planning projects in Dubai, Chief Financial Officer Nitin Sood said in a telephone interview. PVR also expects to open a nine-screen multiplex in Sri Lanka’s ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s Solidarity labour union plans to escalate a strike at energy and chemicals company Sasol Ltd. from September 6 over the exclusion of white staff from an employee-shareholding plan, deputy General-Secretary Deon Reyneke said. Members of the union began protests including a so-called go-slow at the company on September 3, Reyneke said. The full strike later this week ...

Bloomberg The latest threat to the dominance of Britain’s six biggest energy suppliers is coming from small technology companies that automatically switch consumers to the cheapest deal. Their emergence couldn’t come at a worse time for the industry, which is already beset by lawmakers capping rates and suffering from perennial mistrust by consumers. On top of that, utilities are getting ...

Bloomberg Oil in London traded near a two-month high as Iranian crude and condensate exports fell to their lowest level in more than two years, showcasing concerns over a potential supply shortfall once US sanctions on the Middle East nation’s shipments start in November. Brent futures gained as much as 0.7 percent. Iran shipped just under 2.1 million barrels a ...