Author: Rigs & Barge World

The BP rumor mill keeps spinning, with Bloomberg reporting this week that Abu Dhabi state energy giant Adnoc is interested in snapping up segments of the beleaguered UK firm. Reports of potential wholesale acquisitions for the firm have been frequent, but the list of viable suitors is thin and few compelling arguments have been made; suggestions that the firm could be carved up shouldn’t be ignored. It has been suggested that Adnoc’s international subsidiary XRG is especially interested in BP’s gas and LNG assets, as well as its fuel retail business. No surprise there. XRG is aggressively expanding into international…

1: Qatar Records $150mn Deficit In Q1, The First Since 2021 ($bn) 2: Falling Benchmark Oil Prices Has Squeezed Qatari Government Revenues ($bn) 3: The World Is Set To Add Over 200mn t/y Of LNG Capacity* By The End Of The Decade (mn t/y) Source link

In response to Israeli strikes on nuclear targets in Iran, which have heightened political tension in the region, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR) has activated a pre-prepared emergency plan to prioritize natural gas allocations This plan includes halting natural gas supplies to some industries, increasing diesel consumption by power plants to the maximum level and coordinating the operation of some stations to run on diesel, according to a statement by the MoPMR. According to Reuters, some Egyptian Fertilizer companies had to stop production on Friday due to the expected drop in natural gas supplies after major Israeli…

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli held a meeting on Friday afternoon to review the government’s plan to secure the country’s needs of oil and natural gas following the Israeli military operation in Iran. The meeting was attended by Hassan Abdallah, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Mahmoud Esmat, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and  Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. During the meeting, the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mahmoud Esmat, indicated that there is full coordination with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources regarding supplying power plants with the quantities of gas or diesel…

Turkey is emerging as Iraq’s largest foreign supplier of electricity as Baghdad has turned to its northern neighbor to help replace lost energy supplies from Iran this summer. Iraq’s electricity ministry signed a new “electricity exchange contract” with Turkish trader Alfirin Enerji Ticaret on 4 June to double imports to 600MW. On the same day, the cabinet approved plans to contract 650MW of floating power plant capacity from Turkish firm Karpowership. In total, this brings ‘Turkish’ supplies up to 1.25GW, equivalent to the 1.2GW capacity interconnectors from Iran. Iranian electricity flows have been suspended since the US banned Iraq from…

ExxonMobil Corporation and the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner on enhancing Azerbaijan’s oil and gas resources. SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf and ExxonMobil Vice President John Ardill signed the agreement. The agreement outlines plans to deepen collaboration in exploration, production, and energy innovation. “We’re very pleased about this partnership. It is a significant first step in further developing Azerbaijan’s resources, driving energy innovation, and increasing a reliable energy supply,” ExxonMobil said in a statement. “Azerbaijan has a long history in hydrocarbon development and exciting potential in unconventionals,” said ExxonMobil’s…

Khalda Petroleum, a joint venture (JV) between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and Apache Corporation, is bringing two new wells into production in June 2025, with an initial estimated total of 5,400 barrels of crude oil per day (bbl/d). Khalda completed drilling operations for the Fox Deep-02 appraisal well. Results from the well indicate the presence of oil-bearing layers in both the Alam El Bueib and Alamein reservoirs, with the oil-bearing layer reaching a thickness of 110 feet. Initial test results from the Alam El Bueib layer showed a production rate of approximately 2,600 bbl/d of crude oil. Technical…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has issued Decision No. 87 of 2025 amending select provisions of Law No. 198 of 2014, which established the Mineral Resources Law. The move, published in the Official Gazette, aligns with the state’s ongoing efforts to drive a genuine transformation in the mining sector and boost the added value of the country’s mineral wealth. The new law stipulates the transformation of the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) into the Egyptian Mineral Resources and Mining Industries Authority, with an independent economic structure, which enhances its ability to lead the mining sector with greater efficiency. It also…

It’s back to the future for Adnoc, which is switching out Upper Zakum crude for Murban at its Ruwais refining complex. Murban was traditionally the baseload feedstock for Adnoc’s refineries, but it has largely been replaced by the heavier Upper Zakum crude at the 417,000 b/d Ruwais West refinery following the completion of the $3.5bn Crude Flexibility Project (CFP) upgrades in late-2023. For Adnoc, Murban is more than just a crude oil. It is Adnoc’s blue-chip crude export grade, with the discovery of the onshore Bab field in 1960 through the Murban-3 well a landmark moment which helped launch Abu…

  Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, met with shareholders of Abu Tartour for Phosphoric Acid Company (AT-PHOS) to review the progress and latest developments in the phosphoric acid production project at the Abu Tartour phosphate mine in the New Valley Governorate, Western Desert. During the meeting, the minister highlighted the importance of the project, which aims to enhance the added value of mineral ores by using it in local production rather than exporting them as raw material. Badawi noted the project represents a prominent model of integration between the government and private sector in implementing industrial and…