Industry

The contract includes Weatherford’s full suite of drilling technologies along with its Centro well construction optimisation platform. (Image source; Adobe Stock)

Weatherford has been awarded a new five-year contract with Bahrain’s Bapco Upstream, a subsidiary of Bapco Energies, to deliver directional drilling and logging while drilling services

The contract, which follows on from the drilling services contract that Weatherford was awarded in 2015, includes Weatherford’s full suite of drilling technologies along with its Centro well construction optimisation platform for high-quality reservoir-characterisation data. This end-to-end solution seamlessly integrates all well data for advanced multi-domain viewing and real time analytics of operations, facilitating collaboration, enhanced transparency, and advanced agility to maximise efficiencies for Bapco Energies while maintaining a cost-effective operation.

Girish Saligram, Weatherford President and CEO, commented, “I am pleased Bapco Energies selected Weatherford as it continues to advance its drilling programme. Weatherford has performed drilling services in Bahrain since 2016, and this award reaffirms our partnership and further showcases the value of our comprehensive drilling portfolio and cutting-edge digital capabilities.”

The signing of the agreement. (Image source: QatarEnergy)

QatarEnergy has signed an LNG supply agreement with CPC Corporation, Taiwan (CPC) for the delivery of four million tons per annum (MPA) of LNG from the North Field East (NFE) project for 27 years

QatarEnergy will also transfer to CPC a 5% share in the equivalent of one NFE train with a capacity of eight MTPA, making CPC a partner in the NFE project.

His Excellency Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said, “We look forward to further enhancing our relationship with CPC, which extends for over three decades, and to further demonstrate our unwavering commitment to our customers and partners around the world.”

Shun-Chin Lee, chairman of CPC Corporation, Taiwan, said, “QatarEnergy, the world’s leading LNG player, has been playing an important role in ensuring Taiwan’s domestic gas market over the past decades. CPC’s acquired equity in the NFE project and this new LNG SPA will further strengthen the cooperative relationship between our two companies.”

The NFE project is part of the North Field LNG expansion programme which will raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity from the current 77 MTPA to 142 MTPA in 2030.

See also https://oilreviewmiddleeast.com/exploration-production/qatarenergy-announces-new-lng-expansion-project

https://oilreviewmiddleeast.com/exploration-production/qatarenergy-signs-lng-supply-agreement-with-eni

https://oilreviewmiddleeast.com/exploration-production/qatarenergy-signs-lng-supply-agreements-with-totalenergies

. The winch is designed to support a wide range of oceanographic equipment and marine instrumentation. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Okeanus Science & Technology has launched a new all-hydraulic Stackable Winch

The ruggedised compact 3 HP winch, which is supported by a 28’ x 12’ x 18’ drum and 0.450’ cable, is capable of a variable line speed of 100 ft/min and a line pull maximum of 700 lbs. Constructed primarily of Aluminum 6061-T6 and with its multi-coat marine grade coating, the winch can withstand harsh offshore operating conditions with full adherence to ABS standards. The “stackable” design feature allows for the optimisation of space on smaller vessels. The winch is designed to support a wide range of oceanographic equipment and marine instrumentation, including towed side-scan and magnetometer systems, water samplers, CTDs, and various other oceanographic winch operations.

“We are thrilled to launch the first model in our new line of compact, lightweight Stackable Winches,” said Okeanus chief operating officer Don Brockett. “This new product line has been designed to offer offshore operators an intuitive, easy-to-maintain, and affordable option for survey vessels with limited available deck space, with the option to deploy up to three winches at the same time in a stacked formation.”

OPEC+ production cuts have been extended to shore up the oil price. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

OPEC+ countries have extended their production cuts announced in April 2023 until the end of December 2025, in a bid to ensure the stability of the oil markets

Eight OPEC+ countries – Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman – will also extend their additional voluntary cuts of 2.2mn bpd announced in November 2023, to the end of September 2024, following which the cuts will be phased out on a monthly basis until the end of September 2025. This monthly increase can be paused or reversed according to market conditions, according to an OPEC statement.

OPEC+ also decided that quotas for 2025 will remain unchanged except for the UAE, which will get an additional 300,000 bpd allocation to 3.519mn bpd, on condition that it will only gradually raise its output over the first nine months of the year.

Bearish for oil markets

“While it was always the strategy of the eight OPEC+ members to gradually return the 2.2m bpd of extra voluntary cuts to markets (given elevated spare capacity), we view the detailed timeline for unwinding them over the subsequent 12 months (Q4 2024 to Q3 2025), as incrementally bearish for oil prices,” commented Ehsan Khoman and Soojin Kim from MUFG, in a statement.

“Looking ahead, notwithstanding what we read as an incrementally bearish outcome, we continue to hold conviction that effective OPEC+ market management will ensure Brent crude remains in a USD80-100/b range through to 2025.”

Much will depend on how much of growth in demand for oil is satisfied by increasing supply from non-OPEC+ oil producers such as the United States, Canada, Brazil, Guyana and newcomers such as Niger, comments S&P.

“Two years ago, at this time OPEC+ output was 2.2mn bpd higher than it is now. Total non-OPEC+ crude oil output is 3.1mn higher now, with more than half that growth coming from the United States alone. Put another way, OPEC+ has had to make room for the rising output of others or face downward pressure on prices,” said Bhushan Bahree, executive director, S&P Global Commodity Insights.

“An increase in quota does not automatically translate into more supply. The United Arab Emirates, for instance, is participating in additional voluntary cuts at this time. But the adjustment does change the share of the OPEC+ pie, giving the UAE a larger slice,” added Paul Tossetti, executive director, S&P Global Commodity Insights.

See also https://oilreviewmiddleeast.com/industry/opec-extends-production-cuts-to-shore-up-oil-market

https://oilreviewmiddleeast.com/industry/opec-production-cuts-can-continue-past-q1-2024-if-needed-saudi-energy-minister