1. The number of active oil rigs in the United States increased for the 19th consecutive month
Baker Hughes, a US oil service company, released a high-profile report on Friday that as of the week of February 25, the number of us oil and gas drilling rigs, an initial indicator of future output, increased by 5 to 650, the highest level since April 2020.
Last week, the number of oil rigs of U.S. energy companies increased for the eighth consecutive week and the 19th consecutive month, as the crude oil price exceeded $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014.
2. Iraq holds talks with Halliburton and Saudi Aramco on the development of oil and gas in the western desert
Iraq is currently negotiating with Halliburton Co. and Saudi Aramco to develop oil and gas in the western part of the country.
Iraq is the second largest crude oil producer of OPEC, and its goal is to achieve self-sufficiency in natural gas by 2025. Iraq’s oil minister IHSAN Abdul Jabbar said the country was developing a plan to develop its huge gas field.
3. Total has made major oil discoveries off the coast of Namibia
Total energy said last week that it had found light oil containing associated gas in block 2913b of orange basin in the southern waters of Namibia, which proved the potential of orange basin.
Block 2913b is located in the deep offshore waters of Namibia, covering an area of about 8215 square kilometers. Total energy is an operator with 40% working interests, with Qatar energy holding 30%, impact oil and gas holding 20% and namcor holding 10%.
4. Beixi No. 2 approval suspended
German Chancellor Scholtz announced that Germany would temporarily suspend the approval process of beixi-2 natural gas pipeline against the background of the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia is the largest natural gas supplier in Europe. According to Eurostat, more than 40% of EU natural gas imports in 2020 came from Russia. “
Beixi II is a natural gas pipeline bypassing Ukraine and connecting Russia and Germany. The pipeline, with a total length of 1234km, is constructed by Nord Stream 2 AG, a subsidiary of Gazprom. It is estimated that 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas can be transported every year, enough to supply 26 million European households.
5. Niger plans to expand oil and gas exploration and production due to the increase of global crude oil demand
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that global oil and gas demand will increase in 2022, with oil demand alone increasing by 3.3 million barrels per day and returning to the 99.7 million barrels per day level before the covid-19 outbreak. This development will provide opportunities for African producing countries such as Niger to expand their oil and gas industries and help meet demand. In order to strengthen exploration and production to achieve this goal, Niger is making its regulatory and financial environment conducive to oil and gas energy market participants.
During the economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) mining and oil Forum (ecomof) held in Niamey on February 16, the ministries of energy of the Republic of Niger, Algeria and Nigeria jointly signed the Niamey declaration. The agreement paves the way for the development of a multi billion dollar 4128 kilometer (2565 mile) trans Saharan gas pipeline project that will connect three African countries and European markets and trade 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, which will unleash the potential of the country’s oil and gas sector to meet global energy needs.
At the same time, Niger is also carrying out a $4.5 billion 1950 km (1212 mile) pipeline project. Once the project is put into operation, the country’s production capacity is expected to increase fivefold by 2023, making West African countries an energy hub to meet regional and continental energy needs.
Post time: Mar-03-2022