Author: Rigs & Barge World

 Geopolitical factors are heavily influencing the price of oil once again since the US troops captured President Maduro and his wife in a daring raid last week. Although Venezuela can sell its oil through the United States, its shadow fleet that used to transfer oil to international destinations is facing major hurdles as never before by the US Navy. It, however, may not lead to a disruption of the supply of the commodity in the markets, as the United States is playing a key role in the process.In Iran, meanwhile, unprecedented protests have broken out across the country, yearning for the…

Rashid Petroleum Company (Rashpetco) unveiled a five-year strategic plan (2025–2030), which encompasses Rashpetco and its subsidiaries: Burullus Gas Company and West Mina Gas Company. The plan aims to double its current natural gas production by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2029/30, according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR). The meeting was attended by Ehab Ragaee, First Undersecretary of MoPMR for Production Affairs, and Samir Raslan, Undersecretary for Agreements and Exploration. Sayed Selim, Chairman of Rashpetco, alongside Khalid Gad, General Manager and Managing Director, outlined an ambitious vision to maximize the utilization of existing assets…

BP operates in Kuwait through an enhanced technical services agreement (ETSA) to help the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) manage development of the giant 1.5mn b/d Burgan oil field. The British major was awarded a ten-year ETSA for the work in 2016, which was due to expire in the middle of this year (MEES, 15 July 2016). The firm now says that this ETSA was “recently extended until mid-2029.” The extension to 2029 is in line with Shell, which last year announced extensions for its three ETSAs in Kuwait that were also due to expire this year (MEES, 2 May 2025).…

Iraq’s cabinet has endorsed the takeover of petroleum operations at the West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the largest globally, following terms set out in the service contract with Russia’s Lukoil, as reported by Reuters. The government announced Wednesday that it will secure funding for operations through the Majnoon oilfield account, which is replenished by revenues from crude oil exports marketed by state oil seller SOMO. State-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC) will assume responsibility for payroll, operating costs, and subcontractor fees using the Majnoon-linked account, according to an Iraqi oil manager at the field. Output at West Qurna 2 is…

UK Energy giant bp reaffirmed its commitment to boosting investments in Egypt, accelerating drilling programs, and turning discoveries into actual production on an accelerated pace. This came during a meeting of Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, with Nader Zaki, Regional President of bp for the Middle East and North Africa and Wail Shaheen bp’s Regional Vice President in Egypt, to review the status of bp’s projects and the company’s investment plans for the next phase. Zaki reaffirmed BP’s commitment to its historic partnership with Egypt’s petroleum sector, noting that the ministry’s efforts to improve the investment climate…

US oil major Chevron is in discussions with the Trump administration to broaden a key authorization that would allow the company to increase crude oil exports from Venezuela, including shipments to its own refineries and potentially to third-party buyers, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The talks coincide with negotiations between Washington and Caracas to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil to the United States. US officials stated that revenues from these shipments would be managed by a US-supervised trustee, with funds earmarked for purchasing American goods for Venezuela. This mechanism is intended to…

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has reached a final investment decision (FID) for the SARB Deep Gas development, a strategic offshore project within the Ghasha Concession aimed at expanding the UAE’s natural gas production capacity. FID is the point at which a company formally approves a project to move ahead with full development, committing capital after completing technical, commercial, and regulatory evaluations. The project is expected to supply approximately 200 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day (mmscf/d) by 2030, which is sufficient to meet the daily energy requirements of over 300,000 homes. Located 120 kilometers offshore…

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to review the latest developments in the natural gas interconnection projects between the two nations to bolster regional energy security, according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR). In February, Egypt and Cyprus signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to transport gas from the Cypriot Cronos field, which holds 3.1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven gas reserves, to be processed at Egypt’s Zohr field facilities, then liquefied at the Damietta LNG plant for export to European markets. Italy’s Eni, which operates Zohr,…

Libya’s NOC says output of crude and condensate averaged 1.374mn b/d for 2025, celebrating a rebound after a turbulent decade and a half for the country’s lifeline oil and gas sector (MEES, 20 December 2024). While MEES estimates for monthly figures in late-2025 show a slight drop from January’s 1.4mn b/d (MEES, 3 January 2025), the highest since May 2013, the average annual output for 2025 remains the highest in 15 years. But the failure to match January’s level since then shows how difficult it will be to push ahead to new heights for 2026. (CONTINUED – 746 WORDS) Read…

Despite discovering gas fourteen years ago Cyprus has yet to produce a single molecule, and plans to gasify the island through the import of LNG could yet be binned. New Energy Minister Michael Damianos finds an in-tray brimming with pending energy projects, including the development of the 3.5tcf Aphrodite and 3.1tcf Cronos fields as well as the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) project, which like the planned LNG import terminal is under EU investigation (MEES, 12 September 2025). The new minister began his tenure in early December (MEES, 19 December 2025), and soon after paid a visit to Israel on 22…