Discovery & Development
• Exxon (with Hess) has announced another (the 15th) discovery offshore Guyana in the Stabroek block, just days after they started producing first oil from the Liza field (ahead of schedule). The new discovery, Mako-1, uncovered around 164 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir after drilling in 5,315 feet of water. Without this latest discovery, Stabroek already has over 6 billion boe of gross recoverable resource.
• While Exxon and Hess are tearing it up in Guyana, Tullow stocks are taking another beating on data showing only four meters of net oil pay at its Carapa-1 exploration well in the Guyana Kanuku offshore license. Repsol Exploración Guyana, S.A. is the operator of the Kanuku block with a 37.5% stake. Tullow Guyana B.V. also holds a 37.5% stake with Total E&P Guyana B.V. holding the remaining 25%. This is the second major hit for Tullow in Guyana in recent months (the first was low-quality results in the Orinduik block), and stocks are now diving because analysts view the results as indicative of low likelihood of commercial oil.
• Shell says it's made a "significant" natural gas discovery offshore Australia at the Bratwurst-1 exploration well. This could tie back to Shell's Prelude FLNG facility, which is about 160 kilometers from the new discovery. The discovery comes as Shell divests the last of its US Haynesville shale assets.
• Exxon has acquired more than 1.7 million exploration…
Discovery & Development
• Exxon (with Hess) has announced another (the 15th) discovery offshore Guyana in the Stabroek block, just days after they started producing first oil from the Liza field (ahead of schedule). The new discovery, Mako-1, uncovered around 164 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir after drilling in 5,315 feet of water. Without this latest discovery, Stabroek already has over 6 billion boe of gross recoverable resource.
• While Exxon and Hess are tearing it up in Guyana, Tullow stocks are taking another beating on data showing only four meters of net oil pay at its Carapa-1 exploration well in the Guyana Kanuku offshore license. Repsol Exploración Guyana, S.A. is the operator of the Kanuku block with a 37.5% stake. Tullow Guyana B.V. also holds a 37.5% stake with Total E&P Guyana B.V. holding the remaining 25%. This is the second major hit for Tullow in Guyana in recent months (the first was low-quality results in the Orinduik block), and stocks are now diving because analysts view the results as indicative of low likelihood of commercial oil.
• Shell says it's made a "significant" natural gas discovery offshore Australia at the Bratwurst-1 exploration well. This could tie back to Shell's Prelude FLNG facility, which is about 160 kilometers from the new discovery. The discovery comes as Shell divests the last of its US Haynesville shale assets.
• Exxon has acquired more than 1.7 million exploration acres offshore Egypt, including the North Marakia Offshore block in the country's Herodotus Basin, and the North East El Amriya Offshore block in the Nile Delta. ExxonMobil will operate both blocks and retain 100% interest.
• Iberdrola, a multinational utility giant, has completed a 500MW solar farm in the Extremadura region of Spain in what is said to be Europe's largest solar project to cross the finish line to date. The farm, which took a $325-million investment) is set to go online in the first quarter of this year and will generate 832GWh of power annually.
Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions
• Shell, Chevron, and UAE's Mubadala have snagged oil and gas exploration concessions in Egypt's Red Sea in the country's first international tender. Chevron took the first block Shell the second, and a Shell-Mubadala consortium the third. This is a capital-intensive, deepwater play.
Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict
• Syria's government is considering suing the United States in an international court over 'stealing' the country's oil. Assad's officials also warned about "popular opposition and operations against the American occupiers of [Syrian] oil".
• In the background to the assassination of Soleimani, Iranian-backed militia attacked a U.S. embassy earlier this week, following an attack on a military base near Kirkuk in which four U.S. troops were wounded and one contractor killed, sparking an airstrike response from the U.S. on "Iranian proxy" targets in both Iraq and Syria. Attacks were orchestrated by a pro-Iranian group called Kataib Hezbollah, which is seeking the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq at a time when mass protests are focused on removing Iranian influence.
• Operations have resumed at Iraq's southern Nassiriya oilfield following a breach by protesters who infiltrated operational facilities and forced employees to cut electricity, which was then followed by Iraqi authorities' decision to take the field offline briefly in an attempt to appease protesters. The oilfield produces around 80,000-85,000 bpd.
• Pirates have kidnapped 19 sailors from an oil-laden supertanker off the coast of Nigeria, roughly 70 nautical miles south of Nigeria's Bonny Island Offshore Terminal, where the ship was stocked with cargo.
• Nordstream 2--the pipeline that cements Russia's control over Europe and that represents the U.S. dropping the ball--can be finished within several months, despite U.S. sanctions. Russian media have quoted Putin as saying he has a "pipe-laying vessel" that will finish the job after Swiss-Dutch Allseas suspended work over sanctions.
• At the same time, just as Russia began diverting oil from Belarus after the two countries failed to cut a deal on 2020 supply volumes, an agreement was reached at the 11th hour. Russia indirectly delivers some 10% of Europe's oil needs through Belarus. The agreement reached on January 1st sets gas prices for the first two months of this year. This is a game of leverage in which Putin is seeking a union with Belarus and Belarus is trying to get cheaper gas prices from Russia.
• A Greek-registered tanker was attacked earlier this week by armed men just outside the Limbe port of Cameroon. Eight crewmembers were taken hostage and one person was injured during the strike. As of Friday morning, the whereabouts of the abducted crew members remained unknown.
• France's workers union has called for a total blockade of all the country's oil refineries this month due to a dispute over pension reforms amid a month-long transport strike. The CGT union has called for a blockade from January 7th to 10th, which could cut off supplies to filling stations across the country. In early December, the staff at seven of the country's eight refineries joined the general strike.
• At least 90 people were killed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu when a truck bomb exploded at a busy security checkpoint on Saturday. While no one has claimed responsibility, the attack has been blamed on al-Shabaab. A day after the attack, U.S. military officials said three airstrikes conducted against al-Shabaab militants in Somalia had killed four militants. The bombing comes as al-Shabaab takes advantage of internal political strife ahead of a Somali attempt to launch oil and gas exploration.
• Despite opposition from the public and some lawmakers, Jordan has begun to receive natural gas from Israel's Leviathan offshore field. The $10 billion, 15-year agreement calls for the import of Israel gas from Leviathan, which just started producing its first oil, with Jordan is expected to receive 300 million cubic meters of natural gas daily.