Ebola virus warning given

 

http://www.tankeroperator.com/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=5860

 

Three global shipping organisations have warned their members on the risks to ships’ crews whose vessels call in countries affected by the Ebola virus.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC), and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) urgently advise that on all such vessels:

 

1)  The Master should ensure that the crew are aware of the risks, how the virus can be spread and how to reduce the risk.

2)  The ISPS requirements on ensuring that unauthorised personnel do not board the vessel should be strictly enforced throughout the duration of the vessel being in port.

3)  The Master should give careful consideration to granting any shore leave whilst in impacted ports.

4)  The shipowner/operator should avoid making crew changes in the ports of an affected country.

5)  After departure, the crew should be aware of the symptoms and report any occurring symptoms immediately to the person in charge of medical care.

 

The advice is supplemented with information from the World Health Organisation on the virus (available here www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en)

 

A spokesperson for the three organisations, said: “Everyone is deeply concerned for those suffering from the Ebola epidemic and supportive of a co-ordinated world response to help them. We particularly applaud all those medical staff who are risking their lives to help. In the meantime we want to make sure that those in the world shipping industry play our part in ensuring the safety of crews visiting the affected countries and minimising the risk of the virus spreading further.”

Drums of War Sound for OPEC

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/08/06/drums-of-war-sound-for-opec/

By Liam Denning

 

Amid war and rumors of war, it seems odd that oil prices have dropped so far in August. That might be because another war could be brewing: within OPEC. Saudi Arabia on Wednesday released September official selling prices for its oil. It offered bigger discounts for Asian and U.S. buyers compared to August’s levels, while raising prices for Europe.

 

As energy economist Phil Verleger pointed out in a recent report, this could indicate a growing battle for market share. Rising U.S. shale oil output has caused American imports of oil from West Africa to plummet from an annualized average of two million barrels a day in late 2007 to about 300,000 barrels a day currently. That forces countries such as Nigeria to push their barrels towards other markets, such as Asia—putting them in direct competition with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members in the Middle East.

 

By cutting Asian and U.S. prices while raising European prices, Riyadh may be sending a signal to Nigeria and others to target Europe but not price as aggressively in Asia. As OPEC’s biggest producer, Saudi Arabia can choose to accommodate competing barrels by cutting its own output—or price its own oil more competitively to defend its market share. That raises the risk of a price war in OPEC.

Ghana to get new US$600M oil refinery

http://www.citifmonline.com/2014/08/05/ghana-to-get-new-us600m-oil-refinery/

The ongoing Takoradi Port Expansion Project has already started attracting investments into the Port’s Oil & Gas enclave as the Ghana Ports & Harbors Authority(GPHA) works to position the Takoradi Port as a major maritime services support hub along the west coast of Africa.

COX OIL, a Texas based oil and gas company has announced plans to build a $600 million state of the art oil refinery plant at the Takoradi Port area. The project would come with the associated infrastructure required the West African sub-regional market.

Chris Wilmot, CEO of Takoradi Oil Refinery Company Limited, the project sponsors, and Brad Cox and Craig Sanders, Chairman and CEO respectively of COX OIL the investors, paid a working visit to the port on Tuesday July 29, 2014 and met with the Director General of the Ghana Ports & Harbors Authority and other stakeholders at the proposed project site.

According to the investors, Takoradi port was chosen as the site of their new refinery for obvious strategic reasons, chief among them is the existing infrastructure at the port and the ongoing expansion program that GPHA has embarked upon to improve the port.

In a statement, CEO of COX Oil, Craig Sanders said “all the necessary ingredients for a win–win situation are here at the Takoradi port. You have an active operating port with ready and easy access to receive your feedstock and ship your products, the rail line and road networks terminates right at the port, the safety of our operations in a special designated zone is assured, the security of tenor of the land on which the refinery would be built is assured by our long term lease with GPHA, you are located in a modern and growing city that could support relatively good quality of life for families and businesses, you have abundant human capital that would provide experienced labor force. We couldn’t have asked for a more suitable location.”

The CEO of Takoradi Oil Refinery Company Limited, Chris Wilmot has assured partners of the project that they would employ the best practices to make the project extremely beneficial to Ghana’s economy.

“Texas is the world capital of the oil, gas and the energy sector and we want to replicate the efficiencies and best corporate practices of Texas right here in Ghana for the benefit of the Ghanaian economy and people of Ghana. This project seeks to enhance energy security for Ghana and the sub region.”

Project plan

The refinery will be built on approximately 100 acres of reclaimed land at the harbor in an area designated specifically as a Maritime Industrial Enclave.

As part of the ongoing Takoradi Port Expansion Project, the GPHA will reclaim more than 1,200 hectares of land and deepen the harbor basin to minus 20 meters to enable post PANAMAX ships to call at the port.

Other ports infrastructure and access roads to and from the port would also be improved to ease traffic congestion. The sea ports of Takoradi and Tema in Ghana are seen as growth poles and drivers of economic activities and national development.

According to the project sponsors and investors, the construction of the refinery is slated to kick off in the first quarter of 2015.

COX OIL projects that the Takoradi Oil Refinery Company Limited will start operations within 2 years after project commencement date.

Takoradi Oil Refinery Company Limited would have a production capacity of about 65000 barrels of oil per day.

By: Anim Kwaku Boadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Tullow Exiting Liberia and Sierra Leone

 

http://www.petroleumafrica.com/tullow-exiting-liberia-and-sierra-leone/

 

In its 2014 half-yearly results Tullow Oil revealed that it would be exiting two West African countries. Tullow said that after evaluating potential options in Liberia and Sierra Leone it “made the decision not to renew its license interests and will exit its position.”

 

The company’s interest in Block LB-15 offshore Liberia expired in June and its interest offshore Sierra Leone on Block SL-07B-11 will expire in August. The expiration of the two licenses, leaves Tullow without assets in the two countries.

 

Tullow gained its interest in Liberia through a farm-in agreement with Anadarko Petroleum, acquiring a 25% stake in three Liberian blocks; LB-15, LB-16, and LB-17. One well was drilled that proved to be non-commercial and after a review Tullow relinquished its interest in LB-16 and LB-17, leaving it with LB-15 which has now also been relinquished.

 

In Sierra Leone, again through a deal with Anadarko, Tullow picked up a 10% interest in SL-07B-11, the interest was subsequently increased to 20%. In September 2009, Tullow and its partners made a discovery at the Venus B-1, which was followed up with two further discoveries; the Mercury-1 and the Jupiter-1.

Battle in Benghazi—Libya Situation Grows Critical

 

http://www.petroleumafrica.com/battle-in-benghazi-libya-situation-grows-critical/

 

The situation in Libya has grown even more critical as militant fighters overran a Libyan special forces base in the eastern city of Benghazi.  A special forces officer told Reuters that the main camp had to be abandoned after coming under sustained attack from a coalition of Islamist fighters and former rebel militias in the city.

 

The battle at the special forces camp involved rockets and warplanes and left at least 30 people dead.

“We have withdrawn from the army base after heavy shelling,” Saiqa Special Forces officer Fadel Al-Hassi told Reuters.

 

Fighting in both Benghazi and Tripoli are reaching levels not seen since the civil war to oust Muammar Qaddafi.

 

Libya has been struggling for some form of normality since the end of the civil war but this recent violence has exceeded anything seen in the past couple of years, leading to a number of countries pulling their people out. The UN began pulling out people earlier this month and the US, whose embassy is near the site of the airport where some of the worst fighting has been taking place, evacuated its embassy staff in Tripoli on July 26. Diplomats from the embassy were driven over the border into Tunisia under heavy guard.

 

Turkey ordered its people home and in late-June requested its state-run oil firm TPAO pull its employees out of Libya. The UK and other European governments were also pulling their people out. Canada is temporarily pulling out its diplomats due to fears about their safety.

Gas prices continue to slide as U.S. oil refinery production nears peak high

The average price for regular gasoline at U.S. pumps continues to drop as refineries process the most petroleum since 1989. New Jersey pump prices have also dropped sharply. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News)

 

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2014/07/gas_prices_continue_to_slide_as_us_refinery_production_nears_peak_high.html

 

By Bloomberg News The Star-Ledger    

 

U.S. refineries are flexing their muscles and helping lower gasoline prices in the middle of the peak driving season.

 

The average price for regular gasoline at U.S. pumps dropped 9.04 cents in the two weeks ended July 25 to $3.5795 a gallon, according to Lundberg Survey. It’s based on information obtained at about 2,500 filling stations by the Camarillo, Calif.-based company. Prices are 9.51 cents lower than a year ago and are at the lowest level since March 21, the survey showed.

 

New Jersey pump prices also continue to drop, with the average gallon of gas today selling for $3.43, according to GasBuddy. That's four cents less than it was last week and 12 cents below the average price last month.

 

Retail prices also declined as refineries processed the most petroleum in government records dating back to 1989 in the week ended July 11. Plants in the Midwest exceeded their nameplate capacity during that week.

 

“It’s really a mid-summer gift,” Trilby Lundberg, the president of Lundberg Survey, said in a telephone interview Sunday. “Refiners have been on a kick to run more crude, run at high rates and to cut price.”

 

The highest price for gasoline in the lower 48 states among the markets surveyed was in San Francisco, at $4.03 a gallon, Lundberg said. The lowest price was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where customers paid an average of $3.23. Regular gasoline averaged $3.83 on Long Island, New York, and $3.96 in Los Angeles.

 

Refineries processed 16.81 million barrels a day in the week ended July 18, just off the highs reached the prior week, Energy Information Administration data show.

 

Gasoline Futures

 

Plants are taking advantage of the U.S. shale boom, which has raised oil production 65 percent in the past five years. The increased output has pushed the settlement price of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures below European Brent every day since Aug. 17, 2010.

 

Gasoline futures on the Nymex slipped 4.32 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $2.8653 a gallon in the two weeks ended July 25 as supplies grew on strong refinery production.

 

Gasoline stockpiles increased 3.38 million barrels to 217.9 million, EIA data show. Demand over the four weeks ended July 18 was 8.988 million barrels a day, 0.6 percent below a year earlier.

 

WTI crude rose $1.26, or 1.2 percent, to $102.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the two weeks to July 25 as supplies at the delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell to the lowest level since 2008.

 

Crude inventories in the U.S. fell for the fourth straight week, dropping 3.97 million barrels to 371.1 million in the seven days ended July 18, according to the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.

 

Star-Ledger staff writer Alexi Friedman contributed to this report.

Tullow Starts Gas Flaring to Sustain Jubilee Output in Ghana

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/tullow-oil-starts-gas-flaring-to-sustain-jubilee-output-in-ghana.html

 

By Eduard Gismatullin

 

Tullow Oil Plc (TLW), the U.K. explorer focusing on Africa and Scandinavia, started burning gas off Ghana to sustain production at its largest project.

 

“We are still injecting majority of the gas,” Chief Operating Officer Paul McDade said in a phone interview. Flaring “is assisting us, while we are waiting for the gas plant” to “sustain target production,” he said.

 

The company has permission to flare 500 million cubic feet of gas a month, which is pumped together with crude oil, at the Jubilee field, it said today in a statement. The gas must be expended to avoid damaging the reservoir, which is expected to start producing about 100,000 barrels of oil a day this year. Tullow expects to start processing the gas once a treatment plant comes on stream in the fourth quarter.

 

“The focus of these six months has really been on West Africa, keeping the Jubilee production up while the gas plant is getting ready,” Chief Executive Officer Aidan Heavey said in a phone interview.

 

Tullow, based in London, today reported a $95 million loss in the first half, compared with a $313 million profit a year earlier, after writing off $402 million in exploration costs. Part of this charge is related to a project delay in Uganda, Chief Financial Officer Ian Springett said today in a phone interview.

 

The shares fell 1.1 percent to 755.50 pence by the close in London.

Mozambique Exit

In East Africa, Tullow has exited exploration off Mozambique after failing to make a discovery. The company is reassessing its drilling plans to conserve cash, McDade said.

 

“The cost environment in the industry is making exploration in ultra-deepwater and drilling complex deepwater wells rather expensive,” Exploration Director Angus McCoss said. “So we are moving to more cost effective plays on the shelf and onshore.”

 

Statoil ASA, Tullow’s partner in Mozambique, has also exited exploration licenses for the blocks in area 2 and 5, where it had a 50 percent stake, spokesman Knut Rostad said by phone.

 

To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at egismatullin@bloomberg.net

 

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net John Viljoen