Author: Rigs & Barge World

The Hormuz crisis is generating revenue windfalls for those producers outside of the Gulf able to capitalize in full on the price increases. Libya is one such producer. With the North African producer exporting close to post-revolution highs, oil export revenues increased to their highest level in a decade last month. NOC figures released on 2 June show that oil revenues reached $3.76bn in May, a 33% month-on-month increase from April’s $2.83bn, which was already nearly triple the $1bn reported in January and February; the last months before the Middle East conflict erupted (MEES, 8 May). (CONTINUED – 788 WORDS)…

Egypt and Cyprus are moving closer to finalising the technical and commercial agreements to connect Cyprus’s Aphrodite offshore natural gas field to Egypt’s infrastructure. The project aims to transport the field’s production to Egypt for processing and re-export, maximizing Egypt’s role as a regional hub for energy trade and exchange, noted a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR). Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, met with Scott Childers, Director of Strategic Assets and Emerging Markets at Chevron, the operator of the Cypriot field, along with an accompanying delegation, to follow up on preparatory procedures for…

Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, met senior executives from leading international mining companies to explore new investment opportunities in gold exploration. The talks come as Egypt advances legislative and regulatory reforms designed to streamline procedures and attract greater investment into the mining sector, according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR). The meeting was attended by Khaled Mortagy, Chairman of Capital Limited Egypt; Timothy Strong, Executive Director of the Australian company Marvel Gold, and Timothy Livesey, Mining Executive at the UK’s Ritz Mining. During the meeting,  Badawi told investors the mining sector…

British Petroleum (bp) is in talks with Ithaca Energy, a North Sea oil and gas operator and producer, regarding the sale of its UK North Sea assets in a deal worth nearly $2.69 billion, according to Reuters.While negotiations failed to reach a final agreement in recent weeks, the company continues to explore other options for the assets and could pursue a transaction with other interested parties. This deal is part of bp’s ongoing plan to review and optimize its asset portfolio. Last month, a Bloomberg report said bp was considering the sale of some or all of its UK North…

Mahmoud Esmat, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, witnessed the signing of two agreements to establish separate Battery Energy Storage Systems(BESS) with a combined capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hour (MWh) in the Zafarana and Benban areas. The ceremony also included the signing of an agreement to build a factory for producing storage batteries with an annual capacity of 3,000 MWh, according to a statement by the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy. The signing was attended by Sheikh Hussein Al Nowais, Chairman of UAE-based AlNowais Investments and its subsidiary AMEA Power, and Ni Jin, Chairman of China Energy Engineering Corp CEEC).…

Can Egypt translate renewed offshore Mediterranean drilling into tangible gas output gains over the next 18 months? Cairo certainly hopes so, and is banking on upcoming appraisal drilling by Chevron and Eni at their Nargis and Nour projects yielding early output gains. Minister of Petroleum Karim Badawi visited the Stena Forth drillship this week as it kicked off the Nargis-2 appraisal well. In a written statement on 24 May, the minister said the government is encouraging IOCs to accelerate the development of undeveloped gas discoveries in order to boost domestic gas output and reduce Egypt’s LNG import bill. (CONTINUED -…

The Egyptian Cabinet approved four draft petroleum agreements that cover drilling of at least six wells, and have a minimum investment value of $52.97 million, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly announced during the cabinet’s 94th weekly meeting. The first agreement, between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS)  and Cheiron, Egypt’s largest independent Exploration and Production company, is for natural gas and crude oil exploration in the East Alexandria Marine Block. The cabinet also endorsed a North Tanta Onshore Block agreement for natural gas and crude oil exploration between EGAS and IPR South Disouq Limited, a subsidiary of the Texas-based IPR…

Algeria’s SONATRACH Group and Niger’s state-owned petroleum company SONIDEP signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to expand cooperation in seismic services, drilling operations, and petroleum product distribution in Niger. The agreements were signed during a ceremony attended by Algeria’s Minister of State and Minister of Hydrocarbons, Mohamed Arkab, Niger’s Minister of Petroleum, Hamadou Tini, SONATRACH Chairman and CEO Noureddine Daoudi, and SONIDEP General Director Colonel Ali Seibou Hassane. Under the first MoU, SONATRACH’s subsidiary, the National Company of Geophysics (ENAGEO), will cooperate with SONIDEP on seismic data processing activities across Niger. The second agreement, signed between the National Drilling Company…

The 41-day shutdown of Energean’s flagship 4.3tcf Karish project offshore Israel weighed heavily on the company’s first-quarter results, but the London-listed producer says an imminent increase in liquids production and continued progress on expansion projects should support a stronger performance in the second half of the year. The company’s Israel gas production fell by 39% from the previous quarter to just 377mn cfd (0.96bcm), after the Israeli government ordered the shutdown on 28 February as a precaution during the early stages of the conflict with Iran (MEES, 6 March). Operations resumed on 9 April and output has since recovered, Energean…

Russia’s oil and gas tax revenue rose by 32.4% year-on-year (YoY) in May to 678.9 billion roubles ($9.3 billion), supported by higher global oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, according to data released by the Russian Finance Ministry and cited by Reuters. Revenue declined by 20.7% from April, when the federal budget benefited from additional profit-based tax payments that are collected periodically. In the first five months of 2026, oil and gas revenue totaled nearly 3 trillion roubles, marking a decline of around 30% compared to the corresponding period in 2025. Oil and gas income accounts for…