Tuesday, 15 September 2026

Brent crude could again test $120 per barrel as Middle East supply disruptions, falling inventories and widespread refinery constraints wear down the buffers that had contained prices, according to analysts at PVM Oil Associates, part of TP ICAP.

Continued Houthi attacks have forced Saudi Arabia to temporarily shut its East-West pipeline, which had allowed crude to move to Yanbu on the Red Sea and bypass the Strait of Hormuz, World Oil reported. Fighting in the region has also threatened shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

PVM analyst John Evans pointed to disruptions at Russian refining capacity, high utilization rates in the U.S. and India, and constrained refining activity around the Persian Gulf. The combination is tightening the market for finished fuels, particularly diesel, as refiners compete for available crude supplies.

Saudi Arabia is looking to route more crude through the Strait of Hormuz after drone attacks disabled a pipeline that bypasses the waterway, according to Semafor Net Zero.

The damaged East-West pipeline carries 4% of global crude supplies, Semafor reported.

Saudi equities recorded their largest intraday drop since April in the wake of the pipeline damage, per the same report.

Shipping costs jumped in parallel. Semafor reported that the cost of hiring a tanker on the benchmark Gulf-China route topped USD 1 million for the first time Monday.

Britain is reportedly weighing support for the kingdom in its fight against the Houthis, according to Semafor.

Azule Energy has hired Saipem and SLB OneSubsea for the West Hub Tails project offshore Angola, a scheme that will tie new subsea infrastructure back to the Agogo floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel and shift output from four existing fields, according to Offshore Magazine.

The Saipem contract is valued at USD 350 million and sits within the wider Agogo Integrated West Hub development, Offshore Magazine reported. Saipem's scope covers engineering, fabrication, transportation and installation of subsea infrastructure, including roughly 62 km of flowlines, risers and umbilicals to be tied into the Agogo FPSO. The program is expected to run two and a half years, per the same report.

SLB OneSubsea will design and supply the controls umbilicals for the project.

The development lies 180 km offshore Angola in water depths reaching 1,750 m, according to Offshore Magazine.

Halliburton has won a multi-year contract from Eni to deliver integrated drilling, well construction and completions services at the Cronos ultra-deepwater gas development offshore Cyprus, according to World Oil.

The work covers exploration and development wells in Block 6 of Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone in the Eastern Mediterranean, World Oil reported.

Halliburton's scope spans drilling fluids, directional drilling, cementing, surface well testing and coiled tubing, along with its LOGIX automation and remote operations technologies.

The companies did not disclose the contract value or a specific duration beyond describing the work as a multi-year development, per World Oil.

TotalEnergies and Mistral have launched a three-year artificial intelligence program worth more than $115 million, targeting oil and gas exploration, reservoir characterization and field development, according to World Oil.

The announced investment exceeds EUR 100 million, equivalent to roughly $115 million at current exchange rates, World Oil reported.

Under the program, the two companies will set up a joint scientific laboratory pairing TotalEnergies subsurface specialists with Mistral AI researchers and engineers. The laboratory will build proprietary tools tailored to TotalEnergies' upstream operations, according to World Oil.

Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said exploration and reservoir engineering are among the areas where AI can create the greatest value for the company's activities.

Strohm has secured a Petrobras award covering thermoplastic composite pipes for gas lift and water injection duty at deepwater wells in Brazil's post-salt cluster, Offshore Engineer reported.

Qualification will target water depths reaching 1,500 metres.

Alongside the pipe supply, Strohm and Strohm Brasil will handle qualification testing, project engineering, field services, and support for offshore trials and installation.

The pipes combine carbon or glass fibre with polymers including polyethylene or polyamide.

Senegal and Eni have signed a memorandum of understanding under which Eni will evaluate the oil and gas potential of five offshore blocks, according to Offshore Engineer.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of Gastech 2026 by Senegal's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and Eni, and covers blocks SN01M, SN02M, SN03M, SN07M and SN40M, Offshore Engineer reported.

Eni will fund and carry out the technical studies, including analysis of available 2D and 3D seismic data and well data, alongside an assessment of the blocks' oil and gas potential, per the same report.

The memorandum does not constitute a petroleum contract, and it does not grant Eni exploration or exploitation rights over the blocks or any automatic right to a future petroleum contract, according to Offshore Engineer.

Senegal's national oil company PETROSEN is recognised as a technical partner under the memorandum, which also provides for technical exchanges, specialised workshops and knowledge-transfer initiatives.

U.S. Steel has cleared the final air permit required to advance construction of a $475 million quench-and-tempering facility in Alabama, according to World Oil. The plant is designed to expand tubular capacity for major U.S. oil and gas basins.

World Oil reported that initial construction began in July, with full production expected in 2029.

The quench-and-tempering project sits alongside a separate $75 million Premium Thread Line investment at the same Alabama site. Together, the two projects represent approximately $550 million of investment at the facility, per World Oil.

Thailand's Cabinet approved the transfer of interests in offshore Blocks G1/65 and G3/65 from PTTEP Energy Development Co., a subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production, to Valeura Energy, according to World Oil.

Under the farm-in agreement, Valeura will fund a 163-km² 3D seismic survey covering the Nong Yao Northeast focus area, World Oil reported.

Valeura estimated its total costs under the agreement at approximately USD 25.6 million as of August 31, 2026, per World Oil. That figure includes a previously paid USD 1.85 million deposit and USD 2.8 million for the carried 3D seismic program.

The US Treasury Department amended Venezuela's sanctions license on Sept. 14 to block unauthorized changes to the governance of Citgo Petroleum Corp. and its two US corporate parents, PDV Holding Inc. and Citgo Holding Inc., according to Oil & Gas Journal.

The amendment freezes the current corporate boards until Amber Energy's acquisition of PDV Holdings is finalized.

Under the transaction, Amber is obligated to disperse USD 5.89 billion in a structured payout to 15 international creditors, including ConocoPhillips, whose assets were seized by the previous Venezuelan government, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

A US federal court has approved the deal, but Amber still needs a US Treasury license to take title to the shares. The transaction must also survive an appeal before the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, where the Venezuelan government is arguing that the price is too low.

Even if the acquisition closes, Venezuela and state-owned PDVSA would remain on the hook for about USD 15 billion in remaining payouts to companies for seized assets, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

Chinese refineries processed roughly 640,000 barrels per day more crude in August than the country imported or pumped at home, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital, citing official data. Throughput reached 13.91 million bpd, the highest since March.

Crude imports came in at 8.93 million bpd and domestic production at 4.34 million bpd, leaving refiners with 13.27 million bpd of available supply, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

The August draw extends a pattern seen earlier in the year. Inventories were tapped by about 500,000 bpd in May and 940,000 bpd in June, before a small surplus of 210,000 bpd in July as imports edged up and refinery runs stayed weak, according to the same report.

Storage data point to a faster pace of destocking heading into September. Onshore crude sitting in tank farms stood at 1.23 billion barrels as of September 9, per figures compiled by EA Crude Oil Inventories and cited by Offshore Engineer OEDigital. Stored volumes have fallen by 24.05 million barrels since the end of August.

Product exports are picking up alongside the higher runs. Kpler data cited in the report showed shipments of light and middle distillates at 975,000 bpd in August, with September flows likely to move above 1 million bpd.

On the import side, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported that China has absorbed the bulk of the disruption to Middle East supplies by cutting seaborne oil imports by as much as 4 million bpd from pre-war levels.

MET Group and Shell have signed a new long-term agreement covering the supply of US LNG, according to Offshore Engineer, expanding MET's access to American gas for its customers across Europe.

Under the contract, Shell will deliver LNG from its US portfolio to MET International, MET Group's trading and wholesale arm, over a multi-year period. Volumes and duration were not disclosed by the companies.

MET said the additional US supply would help diversify its gas sourcing and let it offer customers pricing options including contracts linked to the US Henry Hub benchmark.

The new agreement builds on an existing commercial relationship between the two companies. In July 2024, MET and Shell signed a 10-year free-on-board LNG purchase agreement that gave MET long-term access to US LNG. They followed that in February 2026 with a Memorandum of Understanding to explore additional LNG supply and trading opportunities, and the latest sale and purchase agreement emerged from that cooperation.

MODEC and Eld Energy have cleared the Technology Feasibility and Concept Verification stage of the American Bureau of Shipping's New Technology Qualification process for a solid oxide fuel cell power system aimed at floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs), according to Offshore Engineer.

The unit under qualification is the Eld Power Module 40kW, built by Eld Energy to run on gas produced on FPSOs and on alternative low-emission fuels, Offshore Engineer reported.

Offshore Engineer said results from the offshore pilot are expected to support scaling the technology to a 120kW module capable of integration with carbon capture systems.