Canada's Suncor Energy Inc is in the early stages of a commercial dispute with France's Total SA over funding for the Fort Hills oil sands project in northern Alberta, the two companies said on Thursday. The 194,000-barrel-per-day mining project is a joint venture between Suncor, Total and Teck Resources Ltd . Earlier this year Suncor upped its Fort Hills capital costs estimate to between C$16.5 billion and C$17 billion, from C$15.1 billion, and on Wednesday the Canadian [Read more]
TransCanada seeks additional commitments on Keystone pipeline system
TransCanada Corp launched an open season on Thursday for additional commitments for the transportation of crude oil on the Keystone pipeline system, according to a company statement. The open season will close on Sept. 28. The Keystone system, including the Keystone and Keystone XL pipelines, moves oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to markets in Cushing, Oklahoma, then onto the U.S. Gulf Coast. While the original Keystone is already operating, the controversial Keystone XL was delayed for years [Read more]
TransCanada seeks additional commitments on Keystone pipeline system
TransCanada Corp launched an open season on Thursday for additional commitments for the transportation of crude oil on the Keystone pipeline system, according to a company statement. The open season will close on Sept. 28. The Keystone system moves oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to markets in Cushing, Oklahoma, then onto the U.S. Gulf Coast. (Reporting by Catherine Ngai) [Read more]
Oil prices hover near eight-week highs on lower U.S. inventories
Oil prices held just below eight-week highs on Thursday, supported by a steeper-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories that boosted expectations of a shift to a more balanced market. Brent crude futures LCOc1 dipped 9 cents at $50.88 a barrel at 0950 GMT, after rising about 1.5 percent in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 slipped 6 cents at $48.69 a barrel. U.S. crude stocks fell sharply last week as refineries increased output and imports declined, [Read more]
Statoil scales down exploration plans for 2017
Norway's Statoil has reduced its exploration ambitions for 2017 and will drill around 30 wells, down from previous plans for as many as 35, its chief financial officer said on Thursday. The company has revised its exploration spending guidance for 2017 to $1.3 billion from $1.5 billion, citing "strict prioritisation and efficient drilling operations" in a statement accompanying its second-quarter earnings. Its exploration spending in the second quarter was down to $224 [Read more]
Qatar’s LNG brownfield trumps Petronas’ greenfield hopes: Russell
The shifting dynamics of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry have been neatly encapsulated by two recent decisions: the scrapping of a major new development and the expansion of an existing large-scale project. Malaysia's state-owned Petronas announced this week it was cancelling its $29 billion Pacific Northwest LNG venture in Canada's western British Columbia province, citing low global prices for the super-chilled fuel. The decision not to proceed came after Qatar said on July 4 it [Read more]
Canada’s Crescent Point posts quarterly profit
Canadian oil and gas producer Crescent Point Energy Corp posted a quarterly profit on Thursday, compared with a year-earlier loss, helped by higher realized oil prices and an increase in production. The company's net income was C$83.6 million ($67.18 million), or 15 Canadian cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of C$226.1 million, or 45 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. Total production rose to 175,615 barrels of oil equivalent per day from [Read more]
Canada’s Cenovus posts profit as Conoco deal boosts production
Oil producer Cenovus Energy Inc on Thursday reported a profit in the second quarter compared to a year-ago loss, helped by its purchase of ConocoPhillips' Canadian oil sands assets. Cenovus, which paid $13.3 billion in March to buy the assets, said the purchase boosted total production by 65 percent to 436,929 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter. The deal closed on May 17. ConocoPhillips sold its 50 percent interest in the Foster Creek Christina Lake oil sands [Read more]
Qatar’s LNG brownfield trumps Petronas’ greenfield hopes: Russell
The shifting dynamics of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry have been neatly encapsulated by two recent decisions: the scrapping of a major new development and the expansion of an existing large-scale project. Malaysia's state-owned Petronas announced this week it was cancelling its $29 billion Pacific Northwest LNG venture in Canada's western British Columbia province, citing low global prices for the super-chilled fuel. The decision not to proceed came after Qatar said [Read more]
Suncor Energy reports second-quarter profit, ups capital budget
Suncor Energy Inc , Canada's second-largest oil and gas producer, reported a second-quarter profit on Wednesday due to stronger crude oil prices and increased production from some upstream assets and refining operations. The company raised its 2017 capital budget to C$5.4 million-C$5.6 million, from C$4.8 million-C$5.2 million, after speeding up work at its Fort Hills oil sands project and to reflect increased costs at the Syncrude plant in northern Alberta following a fire in March. Fort [Read more]