Thursday, 6 August 2026

Roughly 800 workers represented by United Steelworkers Local 7-1 have gone four months without pay at BP's Whiting refinery in Indiana, locked out with no clear indication of when they will return, according to Grist.

The lockout order came after 98% of Local 7-1 members voted to reject what BP called its last, best, and final offer, Grist reported.

The plant is the largest inland oil refinery in North America and processes approximately 440,000 barrels of crude oil per day, according to Grist. Its scale gives the dispute a direct line to fuel markets in the surrounding region.

That link was visible in April, when a power interruption at the facility pushed regional gasoline prices up by 40 to 80 cents per gallon, Grist reported.

BP announced quarterly profits of USD 5.7 billion, more than double the previous quarter, according to Grist.

The company defended its bargaining position. "Our proposals are not unique or novel," BP spokesperson Cesar Rodriguez wrote, adding that "Most of what we are seeking has already been tested and implemented elsewhere".

Production from the Orlando Field has ceased permanently, and Atlantic Petroleum said it expects to write down substantially all remaining Orlando-related assets in its forthcoming financial reporting.

Serica said the remedial work needed to restore output is not economically justified because of the proximity to the scheduled closure of the Ninian platform in 2027, according to the GlobeNewswire release. Serica added that no further production from the field is expected.

Atlantic Petroleum still carries an economic interest in the field. That interest runs through royalty and deferred consideration arrangements set up when the company sold its ownership stake in the field in 2017.

The accounting consequence is direct: Atlantic Petroleum expects the carrying value of its Orlando-related assets to fall to a level close to nil. The company described the write-down as a material impairment covering substantially all of what remains on its books from the field.

The royalty and deferred consideration structure Atlantic Petroleum kept after the 2017 disposal depended on continued output at Orlando. With Serica ruling out further production and pointing to the Ninian platform closure date in 2027 as the reason not to fund remedial activity, that residual exposure loses its underlying revenue base.

A new Helmerich & Payne FlexRig has been booked for appraisal and development drilling in the Beetaloo basin of Australia by Formentera Partners, its operating arm Daly Waters Energy and INPEX Pty Ltd., World Oil reported.

Delivery is anticipated in the second quarter of 2027. Once it is working, the unit will be the third Helmerich & Payne rig running in Australia and the second in the Beetaloo, according to World Oil.

The contract is long term, holding drilling capacity through the end of the decade, and carries an option to extend operations through 2032.

Formentera moved into the basin in 2022 and now holds about 1.9 million net acres of unconventional acreage, World Oil reported.

On the sales side, Formentera, Daly Waters Energy and Tamboran Resources have a long-term supply deal with the Northern Territory government covering 40 MMcfd, with first gas targeted for the third quarter of 2026.

Mexico's government will prohibit hydraulic fracturing in the Tampico-Misantla shale basin, a resource-rich formation lying beneath the eastern states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas, according to World Oil.

President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the decision Thursday during her daily press conference, World Oil reported. She cited the basin's location under a densely populated area with a high concentration of indigenous communities and ample fresh water reserves.

The ruling closes off unconventional drilling in one of the country's shale formations while leaving Mexico heavily dependent on cross-border gas supply. Mexico imports more than 6.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day through pipelines from U.S. shale deposits, equal to around 75% of daily demand, according to World Oil.

Domestic unconventional resources remain largely undeveloped. Mexico holds an estimated 141.5 Tcf of unconventional reserves in shale basins, mostly in the northern part of the country, according to figures from the commission cited by World Oil. Tampico-Misantla sits outside that northern concentration, on the eastern flank of the country.