Oil and gas industry announcements: 24 February 2015

Bankers Petroleum

Bankers Petroleum Ltd. has announced that its subsidiary, Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd., has reached a full and final settlement with BP Oil International Limited (BPOI) in connection with the September 2013 lawsuit initiated by BPOI against BPAL at the High Court of Justice in London. The settlement is for a payment by BPAL to BPOI of US$16.5 million inclusive of all costs and interest. The lawsuit was brought in connection with the termination by BPAL in November 2012 of a long term oil supply contract between BPAL and BPOI and initially sought damages of up to US$54.2 million for, among other things, the alleged wrongful termination of such agreement. BPOI’s claim had recently been revalued at US$37.4 million to reflect movements in oil price since September 2013. As part of the settlement, neither party admitted to wrongful or illegal conduct, and both parties’ claims and counterclaims will be dismissed.

DECC

Nine EU ministers, including UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey, have signed a letter calling for reform to the UE Emissions Trading System through the Market Stability Reserve (MSR), stressing the need for all sides to come together to seek an ambitious and pragmatic outcome that has majority support across the EU institutions. They also reaffirmed their support for the MSR to start in 2017 and for at least the backloaded allowances to be immediately transferred into the reserve.

Davey said, “today the UK joins eight other Member States to make clear the need for strong and urgent reform of EU emissions trading that shows the rest of the world Europe is firmly committed to reducing emissions cost effectively. Ambitious, and early action is good for Europe, providing the certainty needed to create investment, jobs and growth as we move to a low carbon economy. Delay will only cause investor uncertainty, raise costs for businesses and ultimately leave consumers to pay the price.”

ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil Corporation has announced that it replaced 104% of its 2014 production by adding proved oil and gas reserves totalling 1.5 million boe, including a 162% replacement ratio for crude oil and other liquids. Rex W. Tillerson, Chairman and CEO said, “ExxonMobil’s diverse global portfolio of attractive opportunities puts us in a unique position to execute our strategy to identify, evaluate and develop new energy supplies. Our ability to achieve an industry leading record of long term reserves replacement is made possible by the size and diversity of ExxonMobil’s resource base along with its project execution and technical capabilities.”

At year end 2014, ExxonMobil’s proved reserves totalled 25.3 billion boe, which was made up of 54% liquids, up from 53% in 2013, and 46% natural gas. Liquids additions during 2014 totalled more than 1.2 billion bbls, or 162% of production, and natural gas additions totalled approximately 300 million boe for a 42% replacement ratio. Excluding the impact of asset sales, reserves additions during 2014 replaced 111% of production.

HIMA

PDVSA has informed HIMA that it has been registered as a qualified supplier of goods and services in support of PDVSA’s investment plan until 2019. The qualification covers all HIMA systems, including the HIMAX, HIMatrix, and Planar4 product lines. The qualification process was conducted by ICARE Procurement Services, a professional services firm based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Edited from press releases by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/24022015/oil-gas-industry-announcements/