Scorpion Offshore Ltd. Signed a Contract for Offshore Freedom Rig - Duration 4 years
Scorpion Arabia Ltd., a subsidiary of Scorpion Offshore Ltd., signed a contract for the Offshore Freedom for operations in the Arabian Gulf beginning second quarter 2009. The Company has entered into an agreement to charter the Offshore Freedom with Odfjell Drilling Services LLC which has signed a drilling contract with Al-Khafji Joint Operations. The contract duration is 4 years.
The Offshore Freedom is currently being constructed at Lamprell in Sharjah and is scheduled for delivery in April 2009.
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Natural Gas, Shell Group Companies Sign Agreement with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies and Total signed an agreement with the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to form a Joint Venture with Saudi Aramco for the exploration of gas in an area of 200,000 km in the southern part of the Rub Al-Khali (the Empty Quarter).
Shell, as leader of the Consortium, will retain a participation of 40% of the new Joint Venture, with Saudi Aramco and Total each 30% participation.
Jeroen van der Veer, President of Royal Dutch and Vice Chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, representing the Consortium, met today with His Excellency Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to finalise the agreement. Mr van der Veer was accompanied by Mr. Alain Lechevalier, Vice President Middle East, Exploration & Production of Total.
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Heritage Oil Company Announces Contract Great Wall Drilling Company to Supply Rig to Drill in Kurdistan of Iraq
Heritage Oil Limited, an independent upstream exploration and production company, announces that it has contracted Great Wall Drilling Company Ltd. to supply a rig to drill the Miran West-1 exploration well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Heritage has entered into an agreement with Great Wall Drilling Company Ltd. to use the GW Rig #10. It is planned that the rig will drill to an anticipated depth of over 3,000 metres and target the three principal reservoirs known from the immediate area to be the most productive.
Drilling of the well is expected to commence before the year-end as the rig is already in-country and site preparation is underway. Read more
Recession pushed oil prices lower on strengthening of globe will follow
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The latest U.S. economic report to suggest the nation has fallen into recession pushed oil prices lower on a strengthening conviction that the rest of the globe will follow.
Governments, businesses and consumers cut back on energy consumption during slow economic times and there is ample evidence to suggest that they already have.
Gasoline costs 30 percent less per gallon than it did just one month ago as thousands of people have lost jobs, stopped commuting, or are instead using mass transit and conserving money.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $1.54 to settle at $65.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices have fallen 55 percent since peaking above $147 a barrel in mid-July.
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Oil Stocks - Crude Oil Rises on Surge in Global Equities, Possible Fed Cut
Crude oil rose for the first time in four days, tracking stock prices, on speculation that efforts to unlock global credit markets are beginning to work and possible central bank interest rate cuts may help revive demand.
Crude advanced as much as 6.3 percent after global equities markets rallied. The MSCI World Index added 3 percent to 918.91 in London today. Prices also rose on speculation that a possible interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve may help an economic recovery in the world’s biggest fuel consumer.
“It’s all moving on the back of the equity feel-good factor. That’s what is driving markets” said Robert Laughlin, a senior broker with MF Global Ltd. in London. “The fundamentals of the oil market have gone for the moment.”
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Crude Oil Inventories Rose for Fifth Straight Week, Gasoline Fell Unexpectedly : Report
Crude oil inventories rose for the fifth straight week, though much less than forecast, while gasoline fell unexpectedly, according to government data released Wednesday.
For the week ended Oct. 24 crude-oil inventories jumped by 500,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 311.9 million barrels, which is 1.2 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.
Analysts had expected a boost of 1.5 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gasoline inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels, or 0.8 percent, to 195 million barrels, which is 2 percent below year-ago levels. Analysts expected stockpiles of the motor fuel to rise by 900,000 barrels.
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Constellation Energy Partners Declares Cash Distribution
Constellation Energy Partners LLC (NYSE Arca:CEP) today announced a cash distribution for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008 of $0.5625 per outstanding common unit and Class A unit, or $2.25 per unit on an annualized basis. The distribution will be payable on Nov. 14, 2008 to unitholders of record at the close of business on Nov. 7, 2008.
The company also announced that it has received notice that a lawsuit was filed in Texas state court seeking to vacate the final award in the recent arbitration proceedings relating to the termination of the Torch Energy Royalty Trust and gas purchase contract that contained the pricing mechanisms for calculating net profits interest (NPI) payments that burden the majority of the company’s properties located in the Robinson’s Bend Field in Alabama’s Black Warrior Basin. The lawsuit was filed by the trustee of the Torch Energy Royalty Trust and the largest holder of trust units, Trust Venture Company, LLC. In the complaint, the trustee and Trust Venture assert that the arbitration panel exceeded its authority and manifestly disregarded the law in issuing its final award. The complaint asserts many of the same arguments that the trustee and Trust Venture asserted during the arbitration proceedings that were rejected by the arbitration panel. The company believes that these claims are without merit and intends to vigorously defend itself in the lawsuit. Read more