Guyana warns of Venezuelan military escalation
Guyana is warning that Venezuela has expanded its military presence in oil-rich maritime territory off Essequibo province.
The Essequibo region that covers the western two-thirds of Guyana is the subject of a longstanding territorial despite. Under a license issued by Guyana, ExxonMobil is currently developing an oil block that partially overlaps the disputed waters.
Georgetown is investigating reports that Venezuela's navy has seized another fishing vessel after two others were taken in early January to the port of Guiria, Guyana's foreign minister Hugh Todd warned in a speech before the National Assembly yesterday.
Venezuela took custody of the fishing boat Miss Annie and the seven-member crew after they were discovered illegally fishing in Mariusa, Tucupita municipality in the river area of Delta Amacuro state, the country's armed forces said on 25 January, noting that the vessel was carrying 500 liters of diesel in addition to fish.
Guyana maintains the fishing vessels that were seized earlier were in its territory – a claim refuted by Caracas. Trinidad and Tobago has said it mediating the dispute.
Canada, the Organization of American States (OAS), regional trade group Caricom and Guyana's opposition have joined the US in rejecting Maduro's intention to seize the Essequibo province.
"Following the announcement by President Maduro, there was increased activity in Guyana's maritime space by Venezuelan navy vessels and other Venezuelan state assets," Todd said, without specifying what assets he was referring to.
Venezuela should "desist from actions that violate international law and threaten the peace and stability of the region," he said.
Guyana has deployed more troops along the disputed border, the government said on 14 January. This followed a government agreement with the US to beef up its military capacity and joint coast guard exercises.
The 120-year-old dispute flared last month after The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) agreed to arbitrate Guyana's request for validation of its border with Venezuela, after which Maduro vowed to "reconquer" the Essequibo province.
Caracas maintains that the ICJ has no jurisdiction over the matter.
Venezuela's actions "will seriously undermine the peace and security not only of Guyana and Venezuela, but the entire Caribbean region," Caricom said.
Caricom's statement "not only contributes to an ominously hostile climate, but also supports the interests of US transactional corporations that seek to take control of an un-demarcated territory based on an undesirable conflict in the region," Venezuela's foreign ministry said.
The dispute involves a part of the deepwater Stabroek block where ExxonMobil has made several discoveries since 2015, estimating recoverable resources of 9bn bl oil equivalent (boe), and from which it is producing 120,000 b/d of light crude.
The US major forecasts 750,000 b/d of oil production from the block in 2026.
In 2013, Venezuela's navy briefly seized a research vessel working in the Roraima block under contract from US independent Anadarko. And in December 2018, ExxonMobil suspended seismic surveys on a part of its acreage license after a research vessel it contracted was approached by a Venezuelan navy ship.
Related news posts
Vertex Energy files for bankruptcy, seeks sale
Vertex Energy files for bankruptcy, seeks sale
Houston, 25 September (Argus) — Specialty refiner Vertex Energy has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a US court following a failed foray into renewable fuels production at its 88,000 b/d Mobile, Alabama, refinery. Vertex has entered into a restructuring support agreement with its lenders and secured $80mn of new funding to finance its day-to-day business operations, the company said late Tuesday. The refiner is also considering a "more value-maximizing sale transaction" and expects to confirm its chapter 11 bankruptcy plan by the end of the year, according to the 24 September press release. Vertex announced in May this year that it would "pause" renewable diesel production at its Alabama refinery and return the unit to producing fossil fuel products. The company later said it would use a third quarter turnaround to return the Alabama plant's converted hydrocracking unit to processing fossil fuel feedstocks and be back online in the fourth quarter. Vertex also operates a re-refinery near New Orleans, Louisiana, that produces low-sulfur vacuum gas oil (VGO) and multiple used motor oil (UMO) processing plants and collection facilities along the Gulf coast. Refiners have faced mixed fortunes in recent years with their investments in renewable fuels after a glut of new supply flooded markets and depressed renewable credit prices. US independent refiner Delek announced in August that it is temporarily idling three biodiesel plants in Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi as it explores alternative uses for the sites. Chevron said earlier this year it was indefinitely closing two biodiesel plants in Wisconsin and Iowa due to market conditions. By Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update 2
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update 2
Adds daily spot market crude pricing information. New York, 24 September (Argus) — Tropical storm Helene, which is expected to develop into a hurricane on Wednesday before coming ashore in Florida Thursday, has shut in about 16pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 284,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 208mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 11pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from four offshore production platforms. Helene was last about 175 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The current forecast has the center of Helene entering the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning and moving north-northeast toward a possible landfall near the Florida panhandle region late Thursday. By then it will have strengthened into a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, according to forecasts. While the storm will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies started suspended some operations on Sunday. Chevron began evacuating workers and shutting in its Blind Faith and Petronius platforms. "While we are also transporting nonessential personnel from our four other Chevron-operated Gulf of Mexico platforms, production there remains at normal levels," the company said. Shell said Monday it had shut in output from its Stones facility and curtailed production from the Appomattox platform, both off the coast of Louisiana. The company was also relocating non-essential workers from its assets in the Mars corridor, and suspending some drilling operations. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform as a precaution. BP had started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. Offshore spot prices rise slightly The Na Kika platform is connected by pipeline to the Shell-operated Delta pipeline system, which carries Heavy Louisiana Sweet (HLS) crude to shore. During trading on Tuesday, October HLS rose by 20¢/bl relative to the light sweet crude benchmark in Cushing, Oklahoma, to an 80¢/bl discount. The October US pipeline trade month ends Wednesday. The Thunder Horse platform production is marketed as part of a sour crude stream by the same name that is priced at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Pipeline's (LOOP) facility in Clovelly, Louisiana, where it has dedicated underground cavern storage, as does Mars. On Tuesday, Thunder Horse traded at a 50¢/bl discount to the Cushing benchmark, after wide discussion circled a 40¢/bl discount in the prior session. Medium sour secondary benchmark Mars tightened its gap to the Cushing basis by 30¢/bl to a volume-weighted average discount of roughly $1.55/bl. Crude production from the 140,000 b/d capacity Argos platform feeds into the Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline System (CHOPS), which carries Southern Green Canyon (SGC) crude to the Texas Gulf coast. Argos platform serves the Mad Dog 2 field development that came online last year. Atlantis production also feeds into SGC. No SGC transactions were reported on Tuesday. It was offered as low as $1/bl under the Cushing benchmark, lower than trade at a 50¢/bl discount in the prior session. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine made landfall as a category 1 storm. Up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update
Helene shuts in about 16pc of US Gulf oil: Update
Adds BSEE production shut in data, updated storm info. New York, 24 September (Argus) — Tropical storm Helene, which is expected to develop into a hurricane on Wednesday before coming ashore in Florida Thursday, has shut in about 16pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 284,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 208mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 11pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from four offshore production platforms. Helene was last about 175 miles east-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The current forecast has the center of Helene entering the eastern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday morning and moving north-northeast toward a possible landfall near the Florida panhandle region late Thursday. By then it will have strengthened into a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, according to forecasts. While the storm will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies started suspended some operations on Sunday. BP said Monday it had started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. Chevron began evacuating workers and shutting in its Blind Faith and Petronius platforms. "While we are also transporting nonessential personnel from our four other Chevron-operated Gulf of Mexico platforms, production there remains at normal levels," the company said. Shell said Monday it had shut in output from its Stones facility and curtailed production from the Appomattox platform, both off the coast of Louisiana. The company was also relocating non-essential workers from its assets in the Mars corridor, and suspending some drilling operations. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform as a precaution. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine came ashore near Morgan City, Louisiana, as a category 1 storm. Up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Opec sees oil demand growing to 2050
Opec sees oil demand growing to 2050
Dubai, 24 September (Argus) — Opec has again revised up its long-term global oil demand growth forecasts, doubling down on its position that oil and gas are here to stay for the foreseeable future. "There is no peak oil on the horizon," Opec secretary general Haitham al-Ghais said in the organisation's latest World Oil Outlook (WOO) released today. "The fantasy of phasing out oil and gas bears no relation to fact." This echoes remarks made earlier this year by state-controlled Saudi Aramco's chief executive Amin Nasser, flies in the face of some countries' moves towards carbon neutrality and keeps Opec at odds with the IEA, which recently said oil demand will peak at 105.6mn b/d in 2029, and gradually decline from the 2030s. "Over the past year, there has been further recognition that the world can only phase in new energy sources at scale, when they are genuinely ready, economically competitive, acceptable to consumers and with the right infrastructure in place," al Ghais said. Opec sees global demand for oil continuing to grow for at least the next two and a half decades, reaching 120mn b/d by 2050, from 102.2mn b/d in 2023, "with the potential for it to be higher." This is the first edition of the WOO to include forecasts through to 2050. By 2045, Opec sees oil demand at 118.9mn b/d, higher by almost 3mn b/d compared with last year's report and by more than 9mn b/d from the 2022 WOO. The latest report has revised up oil demand projections for 2030, 2035 and 2040 by 1.3mn b/d, 2mn b/d and 2.4mn b/d, respectively. The growth in oil demand to 2050 will predominantly come from outside the OECD, according to the Opec forecasts. OECD oil demand will grow only marginally to 45.9mn b/d by 2030 from 45.7mn b/d in 2023, but then begin to shrink steadily after and reach 35.6mn b/d by 2050, marking a 10.1mn b/d contraction over the 27 year forecast period. In contrast, non-OECD growth looks set to grow strongly over the forecast period, reaching 84.6mn b/d by 2050, from 56.6mn b/d in 2023, with around 75pc of that growth in the first 17 years to 2040. India will account for 8mn b/d of growth, or close to 30pc of the non-OECD total, with China contributing just 2.5mn b/d. The latter is affected by more modest medium-term economic growth, a transition towards services and a continued push towards electric vehicles. Keep on spending Opec again underlined the need to keep investing in order to reliably meet this expected oil demand growth. It said $17.5 trillion are required between this year and 2050, or around $640 bn/yr on average, of which $14.2 trillion, or 81pc, will need to be directed towards the upstream. Investment permitting, Opec sees global liquids supply rising to 113.5mn b/d by 2030, 119mn b/d by 2045 and 120.2mn b/d by 2050, from 102mn b/d in 2023. Around 70pc of this 18.2mn b/d increase is forecast to come from countries that today make up the Opec+ alliance, which should help lift its share of global supply to 52pc by 2050, from 49pc in 2023. Supply from outside the Opec+ group is forecast to rise dramatically to 59mn b/d by 2030, from 51.7mn b/d in 2023, but then begin to fall gradually from the early 2030s to 57.3mn b/d by 2050, primarily due to declining US production. Opec sees US output peaking at around 23mn b/d in 2030, before plateauing and declining slowly to 19.4mn b/d by 2050. By Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more