Wednesday, 22 July 2026

Shizuoka Gas Co Ltd will take 0.84 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) under a new supply contract, Rigzone reported.

Deliveries run over seven years from 2032 on a delivered-ex-ship basis, drawn from the Malaysian producer's global LNG portfolio, according to company statements cited by Rigzone.

The two firms have a long trading history. Shizuoka Gas has taken more than 200 cargoes of Malaysian LNG since its first Petronas shipment in 1996, spanning 30 years, Rigzone reported.

Petronas closed a larger Japanese sale last month, agreeing to supply JERA up to around two million metric tons per annum for 20 years from 2028, per Rigzone.

The producer moved 563 LNG cargoes in 2025, with sales reaching 36.62 million metric tons, according to its annual report cited by Rigzone. Its Japanese reach widened when it sent its first share from the LNG Canada facility in British Columbia to Japan on July 7, 2025, Rigzone reported.

Ecowas bloc leaders signed off on a $25 billion pipeline that would carry Nigerian natural gas to Morocco, according to Semafor Net Zero. The approval clears the way to set up a dedicated company to run the project.

The line would cross 13 West African countries and move 30 billion cubic meters of gas each year, Semafor reported.

Roughly half of that gas is set to reach European markets by way of Morocco, according to the Moroccan government agency running the project alongside Nigeria's state oil company NNPC.

Nigeria sits on Africa's largest gas reserves and opened talks with Morocco on a pipeline link a decade ago, Semafor reported.

The project advances alongside the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline, a separate line under construction by Algeria to draw gas from Nigeria, according to Semafor.

Five First Nations near the LNG Canada project in British Columbia can invest up to CAD 1 billion (USD 712.17 million) in the facility's second phase under an agreement signed by the Shell plc-led joint venture, Rigzone reported.

The stake will be held through MNT Investments LP. That limited partnership brings together the economic development arms of the Gitga'at First Nation, the Gitxaała Nation, the Haisla Nation, the Kitselas First Nation and Kitsumkalum, according to Rigzone.

Phase 2 would install two additional liquefaction trains. Rigzone reported the expansion is designed to lift total capacity to as much as 30 MMtpa, up from the 14 MMtpa the plant runs today.

A final investment decision on the second phase is expected by yearend, according to Rigzone.

Exports started in June 2025, and the plant has since dispatched more than 100 LNG cargoes, Rigzone reported.

Shell holds 40 percent of the venture. Rigzone reported the remaining stakes sit with Petroliam Nasional Bhd at 25 percent, Mitsubishi Corp at 15 percent, PetroChina Co Ltd at 15 percent and Korea Gas Corp at five percent.

Gitxaała Nation Elected Chief Councilor Linda Innes described the arrangement as more than a commercial deal, saying it lets Indigenous Nations "participate as equity owners and true partners" in development on their traditional territory rather than absorb its impacts, according to Rigzone.

Phoenix Energy has surpassed 50,000 bopd of production in the Williston basin, according to World Oil. Daily oil output reached roughly 50,700 bopd on July 19, World Oil reported.

The company grew from roughly 100 bopd at the beginning of 2024, with approximately 60% year-over-year growth between June 2025 and June 2026, according to World Oil.

Founded in 2019, Phoenix Energy operates primarily in the Williston basin, where it has expanded through a combination of operated drilling, royalty acquisitions and non-operated working interests.

"Reaching 50,000 barrels of oil per day is an important milestone for Phoenix Energy," said chief executive officer Adam Ferrari, who described the level as a foundation for continued development rather than a finish line.

Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz erased 15 million barrels per day from circulation overnight, according to Grist. Before the conflict began, nearly 20 percent of the world's traded oil moved through the waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Grist reports that oil-exporting countries and consumers responded with a series of moves that kept the shock from becoming a global crisis. The International Energy Agency (IEA) coordinated a strategic reserve release of about 400 million barrels in March from more than 30 countries, including the United States.

Producers routed crude around the chokepoint. According to Grist, Iraq and Saudi Arabia sent more than 6 million barrels per day through land pipelines that had been operating below capacity, bypassing the strait entirely.

Consumers shifted their sourcing. South Korea doubled its oil imports from the United States between February and April 2026, Grist reports.

China made the largest single adjustment. Grist reports that China stopped buying oil for its strategic reserve after the war began and halted crude purchases for its domestic refineries, shutting them down for months. To generate electricity it pivoted to coal and solar, and those measures together freed roughly 5 million barrels per day for the world market.

The diplomatic track moved in parallel with the supply response. The United States and Iran signed a ceasefire agreement on June 17, after which commercial shipping resumed through the Strait of Hormuz and benchmark oil prices fell back to about USD 70 per barrel, according to Grist.

That calm did not hold. Grist reports the ceasefire broke down in July, the United States announced a new blockade of Iranian oil, and Iran set new transit requirements for the Strait of Hormuz. Prices rose back to about USD 85 per barrel.

ADNOC has taken a $6.2 billion final investment decision to develop the Umm Shaif Gas Cap project offshore Abu Dhabi, with partners TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

The development is expected to produce more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and associated gas liquids from 2030, according to OEDigital, a volume it puts at almost 10% of the United Arab Emirates' current daily gas consumption.

The investment covers three engineering, procurement and construction contract packages worth a combined $5.1 billion for large-scale offshore infrastructure, according to OEDigital.

A separate $365 million drilling and integrated drilling services program is part of the project, under which ADNOC Drilling will drill 14 wells over 18 months using three existing rigs, OEDigital reported.

The development supports ADNOC's ambition to build 47 million tonnes per annum of marketable LNG capacity by 2035, according to OEDigital.

The previously awarded Bab Gas Cap concession is expected to unlock an additional 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and associated gas liquids, according to OEDigital.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, said the Umm Shaif Gas Cap FID reinforces ADNOC's position as a reliable gas supplier.

Work has started on the Sunrise Expansion Program in British Columbia, Natural Resources Canada said, after federal approval of the Enbridge project came in April 2026.

The CAD 4-billion expansion of Enbridge's Westcoast natural gas pipeline will add up to 300 million cubic feet per day of transportation capacity across the province's gas transmission system, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Natural Resources Canada projects the program will add more than CAD 3 billion to Canada's GDP as natural gas exports to Asian markets rise. It also expects the work to create 2,500 jobs, including roles for local Indigenous communities, and to generate CAD 700 million in tax revenue.

Pipe for the project will use 100 percent Canadian melted and poured steel from InterPro Pipe + Steel in Saskatchewan, according to Natural Resources Canada.

The added capacity is meant to feed gas to LNG export terminals as they start up, among them Woodfibre LNG, which Natural Resources Canada described as the world's first net-zero facility.

Last year, 38 Indigenous communities in British Columbia took a 12.5 percent ownership stake in the Westcoast system, backed by the first federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has asked for an urgent visit by the prime minister to Scottish operators and to supply-chain firms based in the Northeast of England, according to Rigzone.

The appeal lands days into a new leadership. Andy Burnham took over as UK prime minister on July 20 after winning the Labour Party leadership on July 16, unseating Keir Starmer, Rigzone reported.

OEUK ties its case to a policy shift. Its analysis argues that reforming the North Sea tax and regulatory regime, and moving early on the government's proposed Oil and Gas Price Mechanism, could enable an extra GBP 50 billion (USD 61.1 billion) in oil and gas investment, per Rigzone.

The group put a decade-long figure on the same reform, projecting a GBP 26 billion rise in capital spending and more than GBP 13 billion in additional tax receipts.

OEUK chief executive David Whitehouse said backing for projects like Jackdaw and Rosebank cannot stand in for the policy reset the country needs, according to Rigzone.

Norway's combined oil and gas production exceeded an official forecast by 3% in June, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said.

Total oil, condensate, natural gas liquids and gas output reached 4.11 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, an increase of 11% year-on-year, according to the NOD.

Natural gas production rose to 332.8 million cubic metres per day from 293.5 mcm a year earlier, the regulator said. That output exceeded a forecast of 316.5 mcm by 5.1%.

Crude oil output climbed to 1.83 million barrels per day from 1.68 million bpd in the same month last year, according to the NOD's preliminary data. The figure came in above a forecast of 1.80 million bpd.

Norway is Europe's largest supplier of natural gas and a major oil producer, according to the NOD. Output varies month to month with maintenance needs and other stoppages across close to 100 offshore fields.

The North America rig count rose to 786 in the latest tally, split between 588 rigs in the United States and 198 in Canada, according to Baker Hughes data reported by Rigzone. The count was published on July 17.

The US total gained seven rigs week on week, while Canada added 19 over the same period, per Rigzone. Combined, the two countries brought 26 rigs online across the week.

Within the US figure, oil rigs accounted for 452, gas rigs 126, and miscellaneous rigs 10, according to Rigzone. Canada's 198 rigs comprised 136 oil, 59 gas, and three miscellaneous, the report said.

Among US basins, the Permian added three rigs week on week, while the Granite Wash and Barnett basins each added one, per Rigzone.

Year on year, the North America total stands 70 rigs higher, with the US up 44 and Canada up 26 against year-ago levels, according to Baker Hughes' count reported by Rigzone.

Residents of Kitombe in southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo reported respiratory problems, dizziness, diarrhea and crop failures after a gas release from a Perenco crude oil storage facility in April 2025, according to Mongabay.

Mongabay reported that on May 8 Kitombe residents erected tree-trunk barricades on roads leading to Perenco facilities, blocking vehicles and machinery and temporarily paralyzing activities at the company's southern oil field operations.

A parliamentary commission report found water, air and soil pollution onsite, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrogen sulfide, according to Mongabay. The commission linked sulfur dioxide to respiratory diseases and soil acidification, nitrogen oxides to degraded air quality affecting residents, and hydrogen sulfide to olfactory anesthesia.

The same report flagged missing evidence at the site after the incident, and said the Congolese Control Office could not access critical monitoring data from the time, Mongabay reported.

Perenco REP, Perenco's subsidiary in the DRC, extracts around 4,500 barrels of crude oil per day in Muanda territory, where it has operated since the early 2000s, according to Mongabay.

Perenco stated that since 2021, 220 flares have been permanently extinguished and the sites remediated in the Kinkasi and Kitombe regions, according to Mongabay.

Asian LNG prices for September delivery rose above $19 per MMBtu after Qatar's LNG facilities went offline indefinitely, more than double what the market expected at the beginning of the year, according to IEEFA.

IEEFA linked the earlier disruption to March 2026, when Iranian drone strikes disabled Qatar's Ras Laffan export facility and LNG prices spiked. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz bottled up cargoes from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which together ship nearly one-fifth of the world's LNG, IEEFA said.

Demand has weakened at the same time. China has cut year-to-date LNG imports to their lowest level since 2019, according to Kpler data cited by IEEFA. China has also scaled back new LNG infrastructure, as have Pakistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Supply is set to expand. IEEFA said major new LNG projects are ramping up this year in the U.S., Mexico, Australia, and Nigeria, with additional output expected from Qatar, Gabon, Indonesia, and Canada in coming years.

A planned health study for residents of the Itatinga neighborhood in São Sebastião was replaced in 2025 with funds to be transferred to the city, leaving one of the community's core demands unanswered, according to Mongabay.

Official documents show the historic presence of benzene and other contaminants in the neighborhood, Mongabay reported. From the 1970s to the 1980s, part of Itatinga was used for the disposal of oily sludge associated with oil exploration, and homes were later built on the land.

In 2011, Petrobras, the São Sebastião municipality and the São Paulo State Prosecution Service signed a Conduct Adjustment Commitment to address the effects of the contamination, according to Mongabay. The Cross-Sectional Health Study set aside under that commitment was the measure dropped in 2025.

CETESB noted the presence of benzene and hydrocarbons in the ground in technical reports, highlighting their carcinogenic risks, Mongabay reported. Brazil's National Cancer Institute lists benzene as a highly toxic and carcinogenic substance with no safe exposure levels.

Afreximbank approved a USD 200 million financing facility to support Shoreline Power Company and Arkad SpA's participation in the Hassi Bir Rekaiz Phase 2a field development project in Algeria, according to World Oil.

The financing backs Arkad's 44% share of the USD 980 million engineering, procurement and construction contract awarded by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz, a joint venture of Sonatrach, PTTEP and CEPSA, World Oil reported.

The facility splits into a USD 110 million contract finance tranche supporting performance guarantees and working capital for the project, and a USD 90 million revolving facility to fund future pipeline and energy infrastructure projects undertaken by Shoreline and its affiliates, according to World Oil.

The Phase 2a work includes a new central processing facility expected to lift output at the Hassi Bir Rekaiz field from about 13,000 bopd to between 50,000 and 60,000 bopd, World Oil reported.

Afreximbank said the project is expected to generate approximately 6,000 jobs.

The transaction marks the first time Afreximbank has financed a Sub-Saharan African contractor executing a major infrastructure project in North Africa, according to World Oil.

Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade Finance and Export Development at Afreximbank, said the deal exemplifies the bank's EPC Initiative and its Intra-African Trade Champions framework.

The offshore production platform for the Neptun Deep gas project in the Black Sea is now in place, OMV Petrom said, a development the company says would position Romania as the European Union's largest natural gas producer, according to Rigzone.

OMV AG, which holds a 51.2 percent stake in OMV Petrom, said in a Monday statement that first production remains scheduled for 2027, according to Rigzone. The company projects a production share of 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and confirmed the Neptun Alpha platform now sits in water about 120 meters deep.

OMV Petrom and co-owner SNGN ROMGAZ SA, majority-owned by the Romanian state, plan to invest up to EUR 4 billion (USD 4.56 billion) in the project, Rigzone reported. Recoverable gas at Neptun Deep is estimated at around 100 billion cubic meters, according to Rigzone.

The Neptun Alpha structure stands 225 meters high and weighs 16,500 tons, OMV said. Saipem SpA built the jacket and topsides at shipyards in Arbatax, Italy, and Karimun, Indonesia, according to Rigzone.

A 160-kilometer pipeline running to Tuzla was laid earlier, and work on the gas measurement station and the control building continues, OMV said.

Halliburton posted second-quarter adjusted operating income of USD 683 million, a drop of 6.1% year over year that fell short of the USD 688.7 million analysts had projected, according to Rigzone.

The contractor told investors it expects a modest increase in North American work through the rest of the year as US drilling and fracking pick up, Rigzone reported.

Shares slid 3.7% in premarket trading in New York, according to Rigzone. The stock still holds a 24% gain for the year to date.

Outside North America, Halliburton has added fracking contracts, among them a multibillion-dollar deal with Argentina's state-run oil company YPF SA and a multi-year agreement with Saudi Aramco covering unconventional natural gas development, Rigzone reported.

Rigzone attributed the wider push into US drilling and fracking to shale producers responding to higher oil prices, which it linked to the Iran War, as they seek alternatives to Persian Gulf crude. The count of rigs drilling US oil wells has risen in all but two of the past 12 weeks.

Halliburton is the first major oil contractor to report for the quarter, with SLB and Baker Hughes due on Friday and Sunday, according to Rigzone.

Range Resources reported GAAP net income of $195 million, or $0.83 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2026, according to the company's earnings release on GlobeNewswire.

Production averaged 2.30 Bcfe per day during the quarter, approximately 67% natural gas, the company said. The realized price including hedges was $3.53 per mcfe, a $0.64 premium versus NYMEX natural gas.

Pre-hedge natural gas liquids realizations came in at $29.10 per barrel, a premium of $3.49 over the Mont Belvieu equivalent, according to Range.

Range spent $222 million on capital during the quarter, approximately 33% of its annual 2026 budget.

The company returned cash to shareholders through $78 million of share repurchases and $24 million in dividends over the period, according to the release.

As of June 30, 2026, Range carried net debt of approximately $881 million, consisting of $500 million of senior notes and $381 million drawn on the credit facility.

CEO Dennis Degner said Range expects steadily increasing demand for natural gas will require additional supply from Appalachia beyond the company's announced development plans through 2027.

The $195 million result equated to $0.83 per diluted share, according to the company.

Allseas awarded Vallourec a contract to deliver carbon steel seamless line pipes and thermal insulation coating for the Atapu 2 offshore oil project off Brazil, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The field is being developed by the Unitized ATAPU consortium, with Petrobras as operator.

Scope of the award runs to 143 kilometers of rigid risers and flowlines, equivalent to roughly 19,000 tons of bare seamless line pipe, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

Atapu 2 lies in the Santos Basin, some 230 kilometers off Rio de Janeiro, where water depths range from 2,000 to 2,350 meters.

Operators plan to tie 18 wells directly into a floating production, storage and offloading vessel via rigid risers.

Vallourec will produce the seamless pipe at its Jeceaba facility and apply the thermal insulation coating at its Serra plant, drawing on capabilities it gained from Thermotite do Brasil.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has signed an intergovernmental agreement supporting the proposed African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP), according to Rigzone.

The pipeline is designed to carry 30 billion cubic meters (1.06 trillion cubic feet) a year of West African natural gas, according to Rigzone, with up to half of that supplied to Morocco and Europe.

Rigzone reported the AAGP is proposed to run from Nigeria to Morocco through 13 countries on Africa's Atlantic coast, stretching nearly 6,900 kilometers. It would connect to the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline, with interconnections serving Sahel countries.

The signing gives practical effect to an approval granted at the 66th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Summit in Abuja in December 2024, according to Rigzone.

ONHYM said the next implementation phase will include establishing the Project Company, to be headquartered in Casablanca, and the Pipeline Higher Authority, the governance body based in Abuja.

The project would provide the infrastructure to bring about 3 bcf/d of Nigerian gas to market, said NNPC chief executive Bashir Bayo Ojulari.