Regional News

MANAMA / Reuters A new discovery off the coast of Bahrain is estimated to contain at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil, the kingdom’s biggest ever find, Bahrain’s oil minister said. Bahrain said it had discovered extensive tight oil and deep gas resources off the west coast of the kingdom. Independent appraisals by US-based oil consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton ...

Reuters Italian energy group Edison, part of French utility EDF, is preparing the sale of its oil and gas unit, the latest power producer to abandon fossil fuels to focus on its retail business, four industry sources said. Edison has selected investment banks Rothschild and Perella Weinberg to organise an auction for the exploration and production division, which could be ...

ANKARA / Reuters Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday a joint organisation for cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC countries may be set up once the current deal on oil output curbs expires at the end of this year. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Reuters last month that Saudi Arabia and Russia are working on a historic ...

HANOI / Reuters Tension in the South China Sea will hurt PetroVietnam’s offshore exploration and exploitation activities this year, the state-run oil and gas group said on Tuesday, weeks after the Southeast Asian nation suspended a project under pressure from China. Vietnam and China have been embroiled in maritime disputes in parts of the busy waterway, where China claims 90 ...

HONG KONG / Reuters CEFC China Energy has been hit by legal action from a creditor, even as the cash-strained conglomerate’s biggest financial backer, China Development Bank (CDB), is attempting to dissuade lenders from taking action, sources said. State-backed China Everbright Bank Co has filed multiple lawsuits against CEFC (Shanghai) International Group Co, a CEFC subsidiary, in a Shanghai court ...

LONDON / Reuters The United Nations has blacklisted a North Korean ship for receiving oil in an October transfer that breached UN sanctions, as first revealed by Reuters. Reuters in December reported that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea, which relies on imported fuel to keep its struggling economy functioning, by transferring cargoes at sea. European security sources ...

Bloomberg America’s most prolific oil field is now its worst market for natural gas. A pipeline shortage that’s leaving gas trapped in West Texas’ Permian Basin means prices for the fuel there are the lowest of any major US hub, wresting that distinction from Appalachia’s Marcellus Shale. Prices for Permian gas, produced alongside oil in the play, have tumbled 32 ...

Bloomberg Bahrain, the smallest energy producer in the Persian Gulf, discovered its biggest oil field since it started producing crude in 1932, according to the country’s official news agency. The shale oil and natural gas discovered in a deposit off the island state’s west coast “is understood to dwarf Bahrain’s current reserves,” Bahrain News Agency reported, without giving figures. US ...

Bloomberg Crude fell as a sell-off in equity markets signalled a flight from riskier investments. Futures slid as much as 1.9 percent in New York. US stocks declined as China imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods, the latest move in escalating trade dispute between world’s largest economies. At the same time, supply concerns that prompted hedge funds to increase bullish ...

Reuters The Iraqi cabinet approved a plan to raise the nation’s crude oil output capacity to 6.5 million barrels per day by 2022, according to a government statement. Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said in January capacity was currently close to 5 million bpd. The country is producing more than 4.4 million bpd in line with an agreement between the ...