Archives: From the field

Russia’s Lukoil has completed a 2D-seismic survey at its block 10 concession in southern Iraq.

Saudi Aramco, the largest oil exporter in the world, could receive a $10-billion loan to be used to fund acquisitions and other investments, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News has reported.

Ollanta Humala, Peru’s president, inaugurated four new members of his cabinet on Tuesday, on the back of strong calls from opposition parties amid general discontent.

Pemex, Mexico’s state-run oil company, has put a selection of deepwater exploration projects on hold and will make personnel cutbacks in response to the plunge in oil prices.

Oil and natural gas companies may cut more than $86.4 billion in capital expenditure from their 2015 budgets as a result of the falling oil prices, according to research by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

A consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s national oil company Taqa has witnessed positive results from the Atrush-3 well in the eastern part of the Atrush structure in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the website Oil and Gas Technology reported on February 17.

China is considering the option of merging some of its state-owned oil companies in order to compete with the largest oil companies and operate more efficiently while oil prices remain low.

Kenya is delaying the signing of a 1-million-tonnes-per-year LNG agreement with Qatar, owing to a gas discovery in onshore block 9 pegged at 51 bcm (1.8 tcf). The agreement would have seen the LNG fire a planned 700-MW power plant in Mombasa.

Mexico’s Pemex confirmed Monday that it will cut its budget by 11.5 percent to $32.2 billion. The national oil company backed cuts of $4.16 billion that were laid out by lawmakers last week, with the country’s government forced to scratch around $8.4 billion in total from its 2015 budget to offset low oil prices.

Despite oil prices rising to $62 per barrel on Monday, concerns still loom in Libya over the ongoing violence involving Islamic State (IS) militants.