Author: Rigs & Barge World

The National Oil Corporation (NOC), along with the major international oil company ExxonMobil, signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) after a decade of halt. Under the MoU, ExxonMobil will conduct a detailed technical study of four Libyan offshore blocks located near the northwest coast and the Sirte Basin to identify the resources of hydrocarbons there. During the signing ceremony, Masoud Suleman, NOC’s Chairman, affirmed the corporation’s commitment to expanding partnerships with major American energy companies, particularly ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil has maintained a limited yet strategic presence in Libya, focusing primarily on exploration activities. The company first entered the Libyan energy…

Syria’s energy sector is experiencing newfound dynamism, with foreign players taking on an increasingly prominent role. More importantly, it’s not just talk. Some pledges are now translating into concrete action. Turkey moved quickly after the overthrow of the Assad regime to pledge 2bcm (190mn cfd) of natural gas supplies, through development of a pipeline from Turkey’s Kilis region to Aleppo (MEES, 27 June). This was followed in July with an MoU between the Syrian government and Azeri state firm Socar for the supply of natural gas via Turkey (MEES, 18 July). This week, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said that…

The Western Desert Operating Petroleum Company (WEPCO), an Egyptian state‐established energy firm, has raised its daily natural gas output to 8,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) following the integration of the 5st-10 development well at the Badr-1 field onshore the Western Desert. The new well was drilled at a depth of 5,000 meters from the lower Kharita formation, a geological formation commonly found in the Western Desert, and it reached an initial output of 25 million cubic feet per day (mcf/d) of natural gas, equivalent to 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent. It is currently operating at a controlled…

 The US crude stocks, a key statistic that determines the price of crude oil in the world, have been steadily rising since June, despite the nation being in the peak summer driving season, from April to September.Most analysts believe it is due to the increased oil production in the US: the forecasts for 2025-26 suggest that the US can produce 13.4 million barrels per day, especially in the Permian basin that is estimated to be accounting for almost 50% of US production; it goes without saying that an output of this magnitude leads to a surplus of supply that in…

Mitsubishi Power, the energy solutions brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has completed a hydrogen fuel conversion project at the refinery of the Alexandria National Refining and Petrochemical Company (ANRPC). The project marks the first industrial use of hydrogen as boiler fuel in Egypt and the wider MENA region. The project, whose contract was unveiled in 2022, contributes to the utilization of 14,000 tons per year (tpa) of hydrogen-rich gases available in the production units, reducing natural gas consumption by about 24,000 tons as well as the reduction of carbon emissions by about 65,000 tpa. “This project represents an unprecedented achievement…

The northern hemisphere summer is the period when demand for transport fuels picks up, especially in the US when the “driving season” kicks off on the Labor Day weekend. While this seasonal trend is historically when gasoline demand in particular peaks, it is diesel and gasoil that have pushed product prices higher this year. The diesel crude crack spread in Europe rose to nearly $30/B in Europe in July, up 66% year-on-year and its highest level since February 2024 (see chart 1). This has been matched by similar increases in the Asia Pacific region and in North America amid a…

Two sources from the Indian government stated that the country will continue to buy oil from Russia despite U.S President Donald Trump’s warnings to impose more penalties, Reuters reported. The sources confirmed that there is no change in the country’s plans for oil purchases, attributing this to the long-term contracts it has signed. They also noted that India receives the oil at lower prices than those determined by the European Union (EU). They also elaborated that this helps keep oil prices without increases. In July, Trump declared that more penalties, besides a 25% tariff, would be applied on India’s exports…

Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power has kicked off development of a planned 400,000 t/y green hydrogen facility at Yanbu, with commercial operations planned by 2030. At full capacity, the plant is designed to have nearly twice the capacity of Saudi Arabia’s 237,000 b/d Neom green hydrogen plant. The Neom plant is by some distance the largest plant under construction in the world and is due online in 2027. Acwa has awarded a convertible front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas and China’s Sinopec Guanghzou Engineering for the project. In a 26 July announcement, Tecnicas states that the work is…

OPEC+ member countries are predicted to approve more oil production on Sunday, noting that the members are still discussing the final increase for September, Reuters reported. The group has accelerated production increases in recent months, pointing to low global inventories and growing demand. This came at the time in which the U.S. renews pressure on India to halt Russian oil imports, part of Washington’s efforts to urge Moscow toward a peace agreement with Ukraine. Meanwhile, new EU sanctions have led Indian state-run refiners to pause their purchases of Russian oil. The sources said that the increased volume may be estimated…

The eight OPEC+ member countries decided to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in September 2025 from the August 2025 required production level. This adjustment was the result of the steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, according to OPEC+ statement. This amount of production is equivalent to four monthly increases, the statement explained. It noted that this adjustment could be paused or reversed, based on the market status. The statement reported that this action will give a chance to the participating countries to accelerate their compensation. In July 2025, OPEC+ approved a production adjustment…