Management

The no-debt transaction will result in a combined company with 24 offshore drilling units.

The deal follows investor pressure shared across the US shale sector to reduce leverage and capital outflows.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and Equinor have announced the biggest discovery so far this year on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Three wildcat wells drilled in the Blasto prospect near the Fram field confirmed the find and were then permanently plugged and abandoned.

Schlumberger has won a $480-million contract to drill 96 oil wells in southern Iraq for the country’s Basra Oil Company and for ExxonMobil, which operates the giant West Qurna-1 field with partners from Iraq, Japan, Indonesia, and China. West Qurna-1 is one of the world’s largest oil fields.

The world's largest oil company has taken its lumps from 2020 and is ready to look forward to higher oil demand and the coming of a hydrogen market.

The sale of the minority stake is part of its larger 2021 program to raise an average of $4 billion annually by shedding noncore holdings.

Recent decisions by US market regulators reflect growing pressure on the largest US oil producers to back up emissions targets with more detailed strategies through disclosures.

As clean energy technology gains ground, a new energy security concern is taking center stage. Where once national security officials watched oil supplies, they are now tracking the production of minerals such as cobalt, indium, and neodymium used in the manufacturing of batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines.

ExxonMobil submitted a proposal to Colombian authorities to develop a hydraulic fracturing pilot project in the Magdalena Basin. Colombia wants to drastically raise its declining reserves-to-production ratio by tapping into shale.

The Energy Council, a London-based networking platform, has released a survey of its 100,000 members suggesting that the finance and investment community has money and an appetite to continue to fund E&P exploration, particularly in gas.