April’s top news stories

Saudi Aramco signed deal to build $44bn refinery complex in India

Saudi Aramco entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a consortium of Indian oil companies to jointly develop and build a $44bn integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex.

The consortium includes Indian Oil (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL).

The proposed refinery will produce various petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel, which will comply with Bharat Stage (BS-VI) fuel efficiency norms.

---

ConocoPhillips to receive $2.04bn in compensation from Venezuela’s PDVSA

An arbitration tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ruled in favour of a claim that Venezuela’s state-owned oil firm Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) owes US exploration and production company ConocoPhillips a sum of $2.04bn over charges of nationalisation.

The tribunal ruling followed a petition filed by ConocoPhillips claiming compensation after its stakes in the Hamaca and Petrozuata heavy crude oil projects in Venezuela were expropriated in 2007.

The Government of Venezuela confiscated assets belonging to major oil and gas companies under former president Hugo Chávez.

---

Alberta’s new legislation to prevent violation of export regulations

The Government of Alberta introduced the Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act, which seeks to curtail the export of natural gas, crude oil and refined fuels across its borders.

Under the legislation, companies exporting energy products from Alberta could be required to obtain a licence.

The government also intends to give more power to the Minister of Energy to impose penalties up to $1m per day on firms violating export regulations.

---

Northern Territory to allow fracking activities

Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) Government lifted a temporary ban on fracking following a final report by an independent committee headed by Justice Rachel Pepper.

Oil and gas companies will now be able to conduct fracking activities in around 51% of the territory. The remaining 49% has been prohibited as the government seeks to protect areas that are of environmental and cultural significance.

The NT Government will implement 135 recommendations made in the report to mitigate risks associated with fracking. This will be supervised by an independent officer.

---

BP outlined strategy to limit greenhouse gas emissions

British Petroleum (BP) published a new report outlining its strategy to meet increasing energy demands while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Titled ‘Advancing the Energy Transition’, the report’s new framework aims to maintain operational emissions at or below 2015 levels until 2025.

BP’s group chief executive Bob Dudley said: “The world is growing like never before, creating opportunities for billions of people. And all this growth requires energy. But as the world demands more energy it also demands that it be produced and delivered in new ways with fewer emissions.”

---

Vermilion Energy to acquire Canada’s Spartan Energy for $1.11bn

Vermilion Energy signed an agreement to acquire Canadian oil and gas firm Spartan Energy for C$1.40bn ($1.11bn).

Expected to enhance Vermilion’s footprint in Saskatchewan, Canada, the deal will see Vermilion offer C$1.23bn ($976.7m) in shares and assume around C$175m ($138.96m) in debt.

The transaction also comprises the construction of infrastructure and collation of 2D and 3D seismic data.

---

Harbour Energy sought to acquire Santos with $13.5bn takeover bid

Harbour Energy offered to acquire Australian oil and gas producer Santos for A$13.5bn ($10.3bn), calculating at around A$6.50 a share.

This indicative offer includes a premium of 28%, a cash offer price of $4.70 per share and a special dividend of $0.28 per share.

The proposal also allows each individual shareholder to hold a fixed offer price for the first 10,000 shares according to the exchange rate at the time of binding documentation.

---

Concho Resources to acquire RSP Permian for $9.5bn

US shale gas exploration company Concho Resources signed an agreement to acquire RSP Permian for around $9.5bn.

Concho has offered 0.320 common stock shares for each share of RSP common stock. The transaction is said will add complementary acreage to allow Concho to expand its position in the Permian Basin to around 640,000 net acres.

Following the merger, the companies will operate 27 rigs in the basin.

---

Gazprom Neft began production at second well in Sarqala field

Through its subsidiary Gazprom Neft Middle East, exploration and production company Gazprom Neft commissioned a second well at its Sarqala field in the Garmian block of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

Called Sarqala-2, the new well is currently producing 11,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

With the commissioning, Gazprom Neft’s aggregate daily production at the field has exceeded 21,000bpd.

---

Lukoil began operations at gas processing complex in Uzbekistan

Russian multinational energy firm Lukoil commenced operations at a gas processing complex, which has a capacity of eight billion cubic meters of gas per year, at its Kandym fields cluster in Uzbekistan.

Construction of the Kandym gas processing complex began two years ago and involved around ten thousand people.

Lukoil intends to use the new facility to convert gas from the Kandym fields cluster to marketable gas, stable gas condensate, and marketable sulfur.