ConocoPhillips To Sell Interests in Ursa and Europa Fields
ConocoPhillips agreed to sell its interests in the Ursa and Europa fields in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as its interests in the Ursa Oil Pipeline Company LLC to Shell for $735 million.
“The acquisition expands our ownership in an established long-producing asset that generates robust free cash flow, while also providing more options for growth," said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell's integrated gas and director at the time of the announcement.
Shell will acquire ConocoPhillips' 15.96% interest in the Ursa field and 1% interest in the Europa field, with full-year 2024 production from these interests totaling approximately 8,000 BOE/D.
As the operator of the Ursa platform, pipeline, and associated fields, Shell's interest will increase to 61.35%. The transaction also includes an overriding royalty interest in the Ursa field.
Expected to be completed by end of the second quarter of 2025, the deal is subject to regulatory clearance, preferential rights election, and closing conditions.
Tokyo Gas To Sell US Shale Gas Stake to Shizuoka Gas
Tokyo Gas will sell its 25% stake in an Eagle Ford Shale gas project in south Texas to Shizuoka Gas for $130 million. This deal is Shizouka's first acquisition in a US-based business and entry into the upstream natural gas sector.
The volume of shale gas production attributable to Shizuoka Gas is projected at 400,000 mtpa in liquefied natural gas equivalent. The gas produced from the project, which is operated by Lewis Energy Group, will be sold in the US, Shizuoka Gas said.
The move will leave Tokyo Gas to focus on its US unit, TG Natural Resources, which has assets in east Texas and north Louisiana, Tokyo Gas said in a statement.
DNO To Acquire Sval Energi for $1.6 Billion
Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO ASA reached agreement to acquire Sval Energi Group from HitecVision for an enterprise value of $1.6 billion.
“This is a rare opportunity to acquire a portfolio of high-quality oil and gas assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf,” Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, executive chairman for DNO, said in a press release. He added, that “given low unit production costs and limited near-term investment requirements, the Sval Energi portfolio is highly cash generative and will help underpin development of the numerous discoveries we have made in Norway recently.”
The Sval Energi assets are complementary to DNO’s North Sea portfolio, boosting its global net production by two thirds to around 140,000 BOE/D and its proven and probable reserves by to 423 million BOE. It will also quadruple its North Sea production to around 80,000 BOE/D.
The transaction is expected to be completed mid-year 2025, subject to customary regulatory approvals from the Norwegian Ministry of Energy, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, and competition authorities.
Libya Launches First Oil Exploration Tender in 17 Years
Following an 18-year hiatus, Libya opened a new licensing round for onshore and offshore acreage. This bidding round comes after years of political insecurity and national turmoil for the country.
The bidding round will offer onshore and offshore blocks in key basins, including one block in the Murzuq Basin, three in the Sirte Basin, and seven in the area offshore the Cyrenaica platform. According to the Libya National Oil Company, the offshore area holds seven discoveries and 32 wells.
In August 2024, Libya—Africa's second-largest oil producer—lost more than half of its oil production, about 700,000 B/D, and exports were halted at several ports as the result of a standoff between rival political factions. The shutdowns lasted for over a month, but production resumed in early October 2024.
The country’s oil production recently climbed to 1.4 million B/D, with aims to boost output to 1.6 million B/D by 2025.
Egypt Bidding Round Attracts $700 Million in Investments
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources closed bidding for 13 exploration and production areas, with offers totaling more than $700 million in expected investments.
The bidding process focused on two areas. The first involved four blocks in the Mediterranean, offered as part of the global bid round launched by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company. The second included nine blocks onshore, comprising four located within mature fields operated by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and five exploration areas under both EGPC and South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company.
Exploration activity in the area is expected to surge with future commercial discoveries potentially doubling total investments. In the Mediterranean alone, the addition of new blocks will increase exploration areas by 23%.
Equinor and Partners Discover Gas in the Norwegian Sea
Equinor and its partners, Okea and Pandion Energy, have discovered proven gas and condensate in the Mistral Sør exploration well in the Halten area of the southern part of the Norwegian Sea.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the discovery contains between 19 and 44 million BOE recoverable.
The licensees’ believe this to be a commercial discovery, and look to consider tying production back to existing infrastructure in the area.
The discovery was made in the Åsgard and Kristin area in the Norwegian Sea. Mistral Sør is located near Linnorm, which Equinor called "the largest gas discovery on the Norwegian Continental Shelf that has yet to be developed."
Shell Starts Phase Four of Malaysia’s GKGJE Project
Shell began production at Phase 4 of their Gumusut-Kakap-Geronggong-Jagus East (GKGJE) deepwater offshore project.
Oil from Phase 4 is transported to the existing Gumusut-Kakap semisubmersible floating production system (GK-Semi FPS) off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia. Gumusut-Kakap, Shell’s first deepwater project in Malaysia, lies at a depth of approximately 4,000 ft and began production in 2014.
As the operator, Shell manages the project, which includes a subsea tieback crossing the Malaysia-Brunei border comprising three producer wells and one water-injection well.
Final investment decision for Phase 4 was made in October 2022, with the project expected to produce an average of approximately 21,000 B/D, representing the total gross production.
The GKGJE project is a collaborative venture with partners including ConocoPhillips Sabah, Petronas Carigali, PT Pertamina Malaysia Eksplorasi Produksi, PTTEP Sabah Oil, Shell Sabah Selatan, SSPC, and several Brunei-based companies.
Israel Awards Exploration Licences to BP, Socar, and NewMed
Israel awarded licenses to BP, Socar, and NewMed Energy to explore for natural gas in Cluster I near the Leviathan field offshore Israel.
As part of the licenses for Cluster I, Socar will act as operator of the exploration consortium while BP will be involved in Israel's natural gas sector for the first time. NewMed is already the largest stakeholder in Leviathan, the gas-rich giant offshore field operated by Chevron.
Cluster I is a 650-sq-mile area located in the Mediterranean at the northern part of Israel's economic waters. The consortium is expected to conduct seismic and geological surveys in the first phase of exploration, with drilling in a second phase based on survey results.
Each company will hold a third of the rights in each license.
OQEP Signs Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement for Onshore Block 54
Oman’s NOC OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) and Genel Energy have signed a Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement for Oman’s Block 54.
“We look forward to working together to unlock and expand this contingent resource. We see this entry as an important first step towards achieving our strategic goal of diversification, establishing a significant and profitable footprint in Oman,” Paul Weir, chief executive of Genel, said.
Block 54 is undergoing exploration and evaluation through geological studies, seismic surveys, and exploratory drilling.
OQEP will serve as the operator of the block, holding a 60% interest. Genel will hold the remaining 40%.
