Author: Rigs & Barge World

The Ordinary General Assembly of Maridive & Oil Services has approved the setting up of a AED 1 million company in the UAE. The wholly owned new company will provide a wide range of marine-related activities, including maintenance, installations, construction, and marine salvage operations, both underwater and above water. It will also provide industrial services for onshore and offshore facilities, such as cleaning, maintenance, construction, transportation, supply, and provisioning of equipment and spare parts. Founded in 1978, Maridive is an Egyptian offshore and marine services company specialising in providing engineering, diving, and logistical support for the oil and gas industry…

Fuel smuggling operations involving state and foreign actors have escalated into a “major national crisis” in Libya, costing the state more than $20bn in lost revenue between 2022 and 2024, according to a new report by investigative and policy organization The Sentry. Published on 13 November, the report claims that while fuel smuggling is not new in Libya (MEES, 6 October 2023), the worsening crisis reached “unprecedented levels” during the tenure of former NOC chief Farhat Bengdara, who led the state firm from July 2022 (MEES, 15 July 2022) until his controversial departure early this year (MEES, 31 January). Officially…

 The price stagnation of crude oil continues amid evolving tariff issues between the United States, the world’s largest economy, and the rest of the world.As of Monday at 15:00 GMT, WTI and Brent, the two main benchmarks, were recorded at $60.30 and $64.28 respectively.Although the US and China, the world’s two top economies, took steps not to escalate the ‘tariff war’ from where it was a few weeks ago, the tension has taken its toll on both countries. For the US, recent polls indicated affordability issues for ordinary citizens, exacerbated by the tariff disputes. Inflation remains a major concern that…

TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with Czech energy group Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH) to acquire a 50% stake in its flexible power generation platform, as reported in TotalEnergies’ press release. The partnership, valued at €10.6 billion, will create a joint venture (JV) to expand flexible power assets, including natural gas-fired plants, biomass facilities, and battery storage across Western Europe. The new 50/50 JV will operate the existing assets and drive future growth across the UK, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and France. The platform is valued at €10.6 billion, which equates to 7.6 times its expected 2026 Earnings Before Interest,…

Oil producers in Iraq’s Kurdistan region have successfully loaded the first export cargo from Turkey’s Ceyhan terminal, marking a critical step in the resumption of regional crude exports. Gulf Keystone Petroleum announced that it expects to receive payment for its portion of the cargo within 30 days. The company is already planning a second lifting toward the end of November. The export resumption follows a two-and-a-half-year shutdown and is proceeding under an interim agreement struck between Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan operators. This agreement allocates a share of the crude deliveries to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) as…

Dana Gas has signed an MoU with the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) to explore the potential redevelopment and expansion of several gas fields in Syria. In a 12 November announcement, the UAE-listed firm says it is the first gas developer to sign such an agreement with the Syrian authorities since the toppling of the Assad regime last December (MEES, 13 December 2024). Although Dana has no previous experience in Syria, it is a prominent player in the regional gas sector as the joint-operator of Iraq’s largest non-associated gas field; the Kurdistan Region’s Khor Mor field, where capacity was last month…

Khalda Petroleum Company has made a new natural gas discovery in the Western Desert, after drilling and electrical logging confirmed gas presence with an estimated production rate of around 36 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d), according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. The ministry said on Monday that testing and initial flow assessments are currently underway, with plans to bring the exploratory well, Gomana-1, into production on November 19. This discovery aligns with the ministry’s efforts to maximize production rates and encourage investment partners to expand exploration drilling activities. Khalda Petroleum company is a joint venture between…

Saudi Arabia revised up its forecast budget deficit for 2025 to a five-year high $65.3bn last month, but even that is looking potentially optimistic after a blow-out $23.6bn deficit last quarter. Recently released statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that Q3’s deficit was the largest quarterly deficit since 4Q 2020 due to a combination of higher spending and falling non-oil revenues. The Q3 results mean that Saudi Arabia racked up a $48.5bn deficit over the first nine months of the year, which would already equate to the largest full-year figure since 2020’s massive $78.4bn. Saudi Arabia typically records its…

Saudi Aramco is set to sign two major liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreements in the US next week with Woodside Energy and Commonwealth LNG, according to sources cited by Reuters. These deals, expected to be finalized during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington, significantly advance Aramco’s ambition to become a dominant player in the global LNG market. These transactions move Aramco closer to its target capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, adding to the 4.5 mtpa already in progress, which includes a 20-year purchase agreement with NextDecade for 1.2 mtpa from the Rio…

The US Treasury Department has granted limited authorizations to facilitate the potential sale of Lukoil’s foreign assets while explicitly permitting continued transactions with the company’s Burgas refinery in Bulgaria. The new licenses, issued by the US Treasury Department, allow potential buyers to engage in talks with the Russian oil major until December 13 about acquiring its overseas holdings. This decision provides a crucial window for interested bidders, which previously included European major Shell, Carlyle, and Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas, to pursue a deal, as reported by Reuters. However, any final sale will only be approved if the transaction completely cuts Lukoil out…