Regional News

Bloomberg Oil exploration in Norway’s Arctic seems to have lost some of its appeal after a disappointing drilling campaign. Only 11 companies applied for exploration licenses in the latest round — the nation’s 24th — which focused heavily on the Barents Sea, the Petroleum and Energy Ministry said in a statement on its website. That’s down from 26 in the ...

JUBA / Reuters South Sudan still owes neighbouring Sudan $1.3 billion from a 2012 deal that ended a dispute over oil payments between the two nations, the deputy finance minister told Reuters before he was sacked last week. The previously undisclosed amount is equivalent to eight years worth of oil revenues for South Sudan at current prices, according to former ...

Bloomberg Oil analysts have raised their forecasts for the crude price next year after major producers agreed to extend output cuts, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday. Production disruptions in Libya and Nigeria and economic depression in Venezuela that has cut crude output will also support oil prices, the analysts said. Benchmark Brent crude futures are now forecast to average ...

Bloomberg Statoil ASA gave the final go-ahead to a flagship Arctic oil project after slashing costs by half. While expected, the move by Norway’s biggest oil company is a boost to a region seen as key to arresting a decline in the country’s production. In a striking illustration of how oil companies have adapted to lower prices, Statoil cut estimated ...

Bloomberg Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s South African unit, Engen, and Vivo Energy Holding BV agreed to a deal worth as much as 3.5 billion rand ($256 million) to combine some of their African fuel-retail assets, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal represents about 20 percent of Engen’s equity value, said the people, who asked not to be identified. ...

Bloomberg Crude production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries dropped again in November to a six-month low. Total production fell 80,000 barrels a day to 32.47 million a day last month, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data. That was the lowest level since May, when output was 32.29 million. Angola led the ...

Bloomberg Europe’s biggest utility is betting on an Italian green power renaissance to lift business. Enel SpA expects Italy’s new national energy strategy to reverse a decline in green power generation by encouraging companies to help meet ambitious new goals, according to Antonio Cammisecra, chief executive officer of the utility’s renewables unit. “There will be a great renaissance of renewable ...

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday oil producers might start discussing in June when to raise output once the market out-look was clearer, even though OPEC was expected to conti- nue output curbs in the second half of 2018. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers led by Russia have agreed ...

NEW DELHI / SINGAPORE / Reuters Two of India’s state-owned oil refiners have issued tenders seeking to charter tankers for at least five years while giving preference to Indian companies, tender documents reviewed by Reuters showed, which would boost domestic shipping firms battered by slumping tanker rates. India’s Ministry of Shipping asked the refiners to issue long-term crude import tenders ...

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia has invited US firms to take part in developing its civilian nuclear power programme, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday, adding the kingdom was not interested in diverting nuclear technology to military use. Reuters has reported that Westinghouse is in talks with other US-based companies to form a consortium for a multi-billion-dollar project to ...