Nigeria’s oil regulator is considering revoking unused oil exploration leases that companies were granted but have not been able to carry out any exploration activities, the head of the agency said on Monday. Latest data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum and Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that over 60% of the prospecting licenses issued to local and foreign oil firms had expired, at a time when the country is seeking new investment to boost production. The Nigerian government issued 53 exploration leases, some dating back to 2003, to oil companies but ...

Pakistan has become a Party to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (Hong Kong Convention). Vice Admiral (Retd.) Iftikhar Ahmad Rao, Maritime Minister and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Maritime Affairs, Pakistan, deposited the instrument of accession with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim at IMO Headquarters in London (30 November). The deposit follows an IMO-run national seminar in Karachi, Pakistan (13-15 November) to support the country’s implementation of the Convention and related Guidelines. The Hong Kong International Convention for ...

The Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals and Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom) have signed a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) with Port of Amsterdam, Zenith Energy Terminals and GasLog, to collaborate on the development of a liquid hydrogen route to market for green hydrogen produced in the Sultanate of Oman. The Agreement underscores the clear ambitions of the partners to make the world’s first commercial scale liquid hydrogen corridor a reality. The Agreement was signed at the Omani Pavilion during COP28 in Dubai, with His Excellency the Minister Eng. Salim ...

Asia’s 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) market firmed on Monday as strong trading momentum persisted. A flurry of trades emerged on the day, as with last Friday. The main sellers were Trafigura and Shell, while PetroChina and Rex Commodities were the main buyers. Singapore’s 380-cst HSFO cash differential rose to a premium of $3.84 a metric ton, with stronger premiums traded for end-December to early-January. Meanwhile, 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) eased slightly, with cash premiums sliding to $14.25 a metric ton.Market backwardation eased across all the ...

With several of the largest shipping lines in the RO-RO business now operating in and out of the Hambantota International port (HIP), it has earned the ‘amongst the best in the world’ benchmark for handling transshipment of vehicles coming on and off vessels in the past few years. “As we achieve these standards and accolades from our customers we need to look at the bigger picture. How can we move to the next step, which is refinery, energy hub and container transshipment. Sri Lanka needs to have a holistic approach ...

A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk) announced more than USD$500 million investment to expand its supply chain infrastructure to support Southeast Asia’s emergence as a global production hub and a consumption powerhouse. Maersk’s planned three-year investment will target its Logistics & Services arm, but at the same time, substantial amount of investment will also be channeled into its Ocean and Terminals infrastructure. The investment is expected to create job opportunities for local talents on top of automation efficiencies and scale the company’s existing network footprint in the region. The investment was announced on ...

The Port Authority of Bilbao has celebrated twenty years of the telematics platform e-puertobilbao, a digital tool at the service of the entire port community for the management of goods and vessels passing through the port. The platform is designed to enable greater efficiency, security and traceability, thus contributing to making the port and the companies working in it more competitive. The event began with a presentation given by Txaber Goiri, Director of the Digital Transformation Department of the Port Authority of Bilbao, who explained how e-puertobilbao “has gone from ...

Seaborne diesel and gasoil exports from Russian ports rose 8.5% in November from a month earlier to about 2.8 million metric tons after an export ban was lifted and production grew, data from traders and LSEG showed. Russia temporarily banned exports of diesel from Sept. 21 to cope with a domestic shortage. The embargo was partially lifted on Oct. 9, with Russia resuming ultra-low-sulphur diesel (ULSD) exports via Transneft pipelines. On Nov. 22 Russia lifted a ban on exports of summer diesel. In the first three weeks of November, diesel ...

Kongsberg Maritime has won a contract to supply design, engineering, and equipment for two MGO/Biofuel and methanol-ready chemical tankers for Swedish tanker operator Sirius Rederi AB. These highly advanced, low emission 15,000dwt tanker vessels will feature a range of Kongsberg Maritime equipment and can operate on battery-powered hybrid propulsion. Options for further vessels are included. This latest contract builds on a current nine-ship programme with fellow Swedish owner Terntank, with a similar design and equipment package. All 11 vessels will be built at the China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Yangzhou) Dingheng. ...

So far, three US LNG projects have attracted debt and equity financing totaling over US$40 billion1 this year, allowing them to take a final investment decision (FID). Despite rising capital costs and interest rates, further US LNG projects are likely to raise finance in 2024. Our base case economic analysis, presented in part one was published back in February showed margins are tight – unlevered internal rates of return (IRRs) are around 5-6% for many greenfield projects. Using analysis from a new report, the reasons why, despite these rising capital ...

Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) announced Sunday the successful operation of the third and final unit of the Al-Zour Refinery, which has increased the country’s maximum refining capacity to 615,000 barrels per day. In a statement released by Kuwait’s official news agency, the KIPIC said that it has achieved one of the most important goals in Kuwait’s oil company strategy, which is to reach the maximum refining capacity of 615,000 barrels per day. Walid Al-Bader, CEO of KIPIC, said that the Al-Zour Refinery project is considered one of the ...

In an initiative set to be transformational for ship design while protecting the oceans from pollution, Thordon Bearings and Wärtsilä have announced the formation of the Blue Ocean Alliance to develop and promote the revolutionary sterntube-less ship concept. The Blue Ocean Alliance brings together unrivalled maritime industry expertise, with seawater-lubricated bearings pioneer Thordon Bearings, systems integrator Wärtsilä, the School of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), naval architect SDARI (Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute CSSC) and classification society, ABS, who championed ...

In a momentous ceremony at the 21st convocation function of the University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, Mr. Ajith PJ, an Indian expat, working in the UAE over two decades now, was honored with an academic doctorate for his pioneering research on “Measuring Energy Efficiency of Offshore Support Vessels in the UAE for developing an Operational Framework and Performance Index.” Spanning over six years, Ajith’s research was focused on addressing a focused business problem in the maritime industry – the lack of a standardized methodology for analyzing energy efficiency ...

Ecuador’s state oil company Petroecuador said Sunday that crude oil output surpassed 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the first time since January 2021. The increase in production comes as new President Daniel Noboa faces a deep economic crisis that’s pushed thousands to migrate. In a statement, Petroecuador said crude oil production reached 401,852 barrels while barrels of oil equivalent (boed) reached 411,873 including natural gas and associated gas. The company said the Sacha oilfield was its most productive with 78,259 barrels. Another key oilfield Auca saw production at 77,512 ...

U.S. crude oil production set a record for the second month running in September, highlighting the challenge to Saudi Arabia and its OPEC⁺ partners as they cut their own production to boost prices. Repeated OPEC⁺ output cuts since the fourth quarter of 2022 have thrown a lifeline to U.S. producers, averting a deeper slump in prices and conceding more market share to them. U.S. crude and condensate production increased by 224,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 13.24 million b/d in September from August, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. ...