Author: Rigs & Barge World

Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, met with Sharif Salim Al-Olama, the UAE Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs in the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, to discuss enhancing partnership and exchanging expertise between the two sides in areas of mutual interest. During the meeting, both sides agreed to share and exchange energy efficiency and conservation knowledge, under the framework of the Global Energy Efficiency Alliance (GEEA), launched by the UAE and includes around 40 member countries, with Egypt being among them. The alliance supports funding and technological solutions, as well as promotes partnerships among member countries, technology…

Since Statoil (now Equinor) left Iraq in 2012, the narrative around the country’s upstream sector has been less about its vast reserves and more about tight fiscal terms and the departure of Western IOCs. High profile departures since then include Shell, Occidental and ExxonMobil. But in a highly symbolic development, the latter could now be making a return. On 8 October, Iraq signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with ExxonMobil to explore the potential development of Basra’s Majnoon oilfield, a move that could pave the way for the US giant’s re-entry into Iraq’s upstream. (CONTINUED – 2115 WORDS) Read this…

Egypt is planning to build a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and storage terminal in Port Said to supply fuel for the Suez Canal Authority’s (SCA) locomotives. The project was discussed in a recent meeting between Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, and SCA Chairman, Osama Rabie. The project aligns with the SCA’s strategy to transition to cleaner energy sources. Badawi stated that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR) fully supports the initiative, which aims to enhance the operational efficiency of the canal’s locomotives while promoting sustainable fuel use. Badawi also commended the SCA for…

As Libya’s oil and gas sector shows signs of slow recovery after more than a decade of instability (MEES, 23 May), NOC says that Eni has resumed exploration drilling in an offshore area northwest of the country, ending a five-year hiatus. The Italian energy giant – via its NOC JV Mellitah Oil and Gas Company – has now re-entered the exploratory well C1-16/4 (also known as BESS-3) in contractual Area D (previously Block NC-41), NOC announced on 5 October. The well lies approximately 95km off the Libyan coast and around 15km from the Bahr Essalam gas field (see map). (CONTINUED…

Energean Italy has resumed production at the Rospo Mare field in the Adriatic Sea, which had been shut down since January 2025 following a platform fire. Production at the field, located 20 kilometers (km) offshore from Termoli and Vasto, restarted on October 12 The field is currently producing over 2,000 barrels per day (bbl/d), with operations expected to reach full capacity across all three platforms once final authorizations are received. Energean expects the asset to remain productive beyond 2040. In the statement, the company expressed its gratitude to the relevant authorities for their continued support and collaboration during the restart…

bp, the giant integrated energy company, expects its results for the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 to show higher oil and gas production, compared to Q2. The company also expects its gas and low carbon revenues to be lower by $0.1 billion compared to Q2 due to the drop in natural gas prices in the non-Henry Hub marker, which is the global natural gas price benchmark outside the U.S. Henry Hub. In the oil production and operations segment, earnings are expected to remain largely unchanged from the previous quarter, factoring in the effects of pricing delays on bp’s output in…

Oman’s oil output has been capped in recent years as voluntary Opec+ production cuts have limited the sultanate’s crude production since May 2023. Some of this has been offset by increased condensate output, but the start of new voluntary cuts in January 2024 meant total liquids output fell below 1mn b/d for most of that year. The steady unwinding of Opec+ production cuts since April pushed Oman’s liquids output back above 1mn b/d in July for the first time since February 2024. Opec+ ministers agreed to another incremental increase for November (MEES, 10 October, under which Oman’s crude oil quota…

Dana Gas, the Middle East’s leading natural gas company, and Crescent Petroleum, the region’s oldest private upstream oil and gas firm, announced the official launch of the commercial gas sales from the KM250 gas expansion project at the Khor Mor facility in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The KM250 project, delivered eight months ahead of the revised schedule, adds 250 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) of processing capacity, a 50% increase, raising total output at Khor Mor to 750 mmscf/d. This milestone is predicted to enhance Iraq’s energy security by supplying clean-burning natural gas to meet its…

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has signed an agreement with Italian Eni and UK bp to extend the development lease for the Baltim East field in Baltim, offshore the Nile Delta region. Under the extended agreement, Eni and bp plan to reinvest and expand their operations in the Baltim East field over the next five years to unlock new gas resources. The agreement aligns with the Ministry’s strategy to increase domestic oil and gas production and meet local energy demand through intensified exploration in promising offshore areas, said Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. For his part,…

Qatar’s state giant QatarEnergy sees the East Mediterranean as a key growth area, and this week farmed into its sixth offshore Egypt block. The firm is again partnering with Shell after the pair relinquished two Egyptian Red Sea blocks earlier this year (MEES, 7 March). “QatarEnergy has entered into an agreement with Shell to acquire a 27% participating interest in the North Cleopatra block offshore the Arab Republic of Egypt,” the company announced on 5 October. (CONTINUED – 761 WORDS) Read this article for free Gain access to over 60-years of energy analysis and news Delve into the details backed…