March’s top stories: CH2M won contract from Shell, ConocoPhillips sold Canadian oil sands assets

CH2M received global engineering services contract from Shell

CH2M executed a framework agreement with Shell to deliver engineering, procurement, construction and project management services to oil and gas projects located worldwide.

The new agreement is in line with CH2M’s consistent efforts to make transformational improvements in capital project delivery efficiency in the oil and gas sector.

Under the contract, CH2M will employ the latest safety management system, improve capital project execution and work on technology and project management innovation.
 

ConocoPhillips signed agreement to sell Canadian oil sands assets for $13.3bn

ConocoPhillips signed a definitive agreement with Cenovus to sell its 50% non-operated interest in the Foster Creek Christina Lake (FCCL) oil sands and majority of its western Canada Deep Basin gas assets for a combined consideration of $13.3bn.

ConocoPhillips Canada will continue to retain its 50% operated interest in the Surmont oil sands joint venture and 100% stake at Blueberry-Montney unconventional acreage.

Under the transaction, ConocoPhillips will receive $10.6bn in cash to be payable at closing and 208 million Cenovus shares valued at $2.7bn.
 

Petrofac received $1.3bn project contract in Kuwait

British oilfield services company Petrofac was awarded a contract for Kuwait Oil Company’s (KOC) gathering centre project, GC 32, situated in the Burgan oil field.

Under the contract, which carries a value of approximately $1.3bn, Petrofac will have to provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services.

The facility to be developed will be the first sour gathering centre at the site, which will process crude oil and associated gas recovered from the Arifjan, Marat, Minagish Oolite and Burgan Wara high hydrogen sulphide fields.
 

Weatherford and Schlumberger formed JV to develop unconventional resources

Weatherford and Schlumberger entered an agreement to form OneStim, a joint venture (JV) that will provide completions products and services to develop unconventional resources in the US and Canada.

The JV is expected to offer a diverse multi-stage completions portfolio with one of the largest hydraulic fracturing fleets in the industry.

Schlumberger and Weatherford will have 70:30 ownership in this newly formed JV respectively.
 

TransCanada concluded Canadian Mainline Open Season

TransCanada concluded a long-term, fixed-price open season to transport natural gas on the Canadian Mainline from the Empress receipt point in Alberta, to the Dawn hub located in southern Ontario.

The company claimed that its recent open season has resulted in binding, long-term contracts from Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) gas producers to transport 1.5 picojoules a day (PJ/d) of natural gas at a simplified toll of $0.77 per gigajoule (GJ).
 

Repsol discovered oil in Alaska’s North Slope

Repsol and its partner Armstrong Energye made conventional hydrocarbon discoveries in Alaska.

The Horseshoe-1 and 1A wells were drilled in the 2016-2017 winter campaign and have confirmed oil in the Nanushuk play at the North Slope of Alaska.

The Nanushuk play is estimated to host nearly 1.2 billion barrels of recoverable light oil.
 

Hawkwood Energy acquired Halcon Resources’ East Texas Assets

East Texas-focused oil and gas company Hawkwood Energy closed its previously announced acquisition of producing and non-producing assets from subsidiaries of Halcon Resources for $500m.

The transaction carried an effective date of 1 January this year.

Hawkwood Energy chairman and chief executive officer Patrick Oenbring said: “We are pleased that we have completed this transaction with Halcon expeditiously, and we now plan to conduct an active drilling programme to further develop these assets along with our existing properties.

“We are excited about the opportunity to capitalise on the basin's strong and improving development economics and the technical capabilities of our experienced team for the benefit of our stakeholders.”
 

Shell agreed to divest Canadian oil sand interests at $7.25bn

Shell Canada Energy, Shell Canada Limited and Shell Canada Resources (Shell) signed two agreements to sell all of their in-situ and undeveloped oil sands interests in Canada for C$7.25bn.

Shell will also divest its stake in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP), thereby reducing its ownership to 10% from 60%.

The firm will, however, continue to remain the operator of AOSP’s Scotford upgrader and Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
 

MMEX Resources planned to construct $450m oil refinery in Permian Basin, Texas

Global energy company MMEX Resources made plans to develop a $450m crude oil refinery in the West Texas Permian Basin.

This plan is subject to receipt of government approval and completion of required debt and equity financing.

The proposed Pecos County refinery is expected to have the capacity to process 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
 

ExxonMobil planned to invest $20bn in US to expand manufacturing capacity

ExxonMobil Corporation made plans to invest $20bn over a ten-year period to expand its production capacity along the US Gulf Coast.

The investment will be pumped into 11 proposed and existing sites, which will create thousands of new jobs.

ExxonMobil Corporation chairman and chief executive officer Darren Woods said: “The United States is a leading producer of oil and natural gas, which is incentivising US manufacturing to invest and grow.

“We are using new, abundant domestic energy supplies to provide products to the world at a competitive advantage resulting from lower costs and abundant raw materials. In this way, an upstream technology breakthrough has led to a downstream manufacturing renaissance.”