Israeli authorities have allowed the Chevron Corp.-operated Leviathan natural gas and condensate field to restart production, after ordering a pause about two weeks ago amid Israel’s exchange of attacks with Iran. The Leviathan consortium had invoked a force majeure after the Energy and Infrastructures Ministry, acting on a “security recommendation”, asked that production at the field be temporarily halted, according to NewMed Energy LP, one of the consortium partners. NewMed Energy has now said that order had been lifted. It said it intends to seek state compensation for losses. “According to the Partnership’s [NewMed Energy] initial estimate, based, inter alia, on the forecasted production from the Leviathan reservoir and from the Karish lease, the halting of production for the said period resulted in a loss of income from the sale of natural gas and condensate (gross, before royalties) and income from overriding royalties from the Karish lease in the sum total of approx. $38.8 million”, NewMed Energy, a gas and condensate exploration and production company owned by Israel’s Delek Group, told the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. “The Partnership intends to explore the possibility of receiving compensation from the State in connection with the halting of the gas production, although at this stage there is no certainty as to receipt of such compensation and the amount thereof”, it added. The Israel-Hamas war has also delayed the construction of a third pipeline for the field. A regulatory disclosure by NewMed Energy October 6, 2024, said the suspension of the project could last about six months. The new conduit is expected to grow the maximum delivery to Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd. from about 1.2 billion cubic feet a day (Bcfd) to around 1.4 Bcfd from mid-2025, according to a NewMed Energy filing July 2, 2023, that announced an investment of approximately $568

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by 5.8 million barrels from the week ending June 13 to the week ending June 20, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted in its latest weekly petroleum status report. This report, which was released on June 25 and included data for the week ending June 20, showed that crude oil stocks, not including the SPR, stood at 415.1 million barrels on June 20, 420.9 million barrels on June 13, and 460.7 million barrels on June 21, 2024. Crude oil in the SPR stood at 402.5 million barrels on June 20, 402.3 million barrels on June 13, and 372.2 million barrels on June 21, 2024, the report revealed. Total petroleum stocks – including crude oil, total motor gasoline, fuel ethanol, kerosene type jet fuel, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, propane/propylene, and other oils – stood at 1.633 billion barrels on June 20, the report highlighted. Total petroleum stocks were down 3.9 million barrels week on week and down 35.0 million barrels year on year, the report showed. “At 415.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 11 percent below the five year average for this time of year,” the EIA noted in its latest weekly petroleum status report. “Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 2.1 million barrels from last week and are about three percent below the five year average for this time of year. Both Finished gasoline inventories and blending components inventories decreased last week,” it added. “Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 4.1 million barrels last week and are about 20 percent below the five year average for this time of year. Propane/propylene inventories increased by 5.1 million barrels from last week and are nine percent above the five year average for this

An unexpected move by the United Arab Emirates to cut volumes of a key oil grade sold to project partners including BP Plc and TotalEnergies SE is set to put a dent in some trading books. The hit stems from a mismatch in positions taken in the derivatives market to hedge against their expected supply of Murban crude for July, according to people familiar with the matter. The discrepancy may have led to losses as high as $12 a barrel for some equity shareholders, which is considered steep given profits can be as little as a few cents for each barrel, they added.  It’s unclear why state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. allocated volumes that were lower than contracted levels to international partners, but the reduction was not related to production constraints, the people said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak on the matter. Adnoc declined to comment. The six partners in the UAE’s onshore production – BP, TotalEnergies, China National Petroleum Corp., Inpex Corp., Zhenhua Oil Co., and GS Energy Corp. – did not respond to requests for comment. The size of the cuts was outside the so-called operational-tolerance clause in contracts, which only allows for a small variance in volume, according to the people. The reduction translates to cargoes around 20 percent smaller on average than the standard 500,000-barrel shipment, they added. According to estimates from traders, equity partners that chose to fill their net-short positions after they were informed of lower volumes could have locked in a loss of as much as $12 a barrel, compared with official selling prices. At the time, oil had surged due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. There’s precedent for Adnoc cutting volumes, such as when OPEC+ shaved output quotas to manage prices, but those curbs were smaller and

Equinor ASA and its partners have agreed on a NOK-21 billion ($2.09 billion) investment to develop Fram South, which will unlock new gas for Europe, the operator said. The consortium forwarded the development plan to Norway’s Energy Ministry on Thursday, the majority state-owned energy major said. The project, a subsea tieback to the existing Troll C platform, holds estimated recoverable volumes of 116 million barrels of oil equivalent. Oil comprises 75 percent and gas 25 percent, according to Equinor. It expects the project to start production 2029. “We have done a thorough job maturing the new resources discovered in the Fram and Troll area in recent years”, Kjetil Hove, Equinor executive vice president for Norwegian exploration and production, said in an online statement. Fram Vest and Fram East started production 2003 and 2006 respectively. Both are tied back to Troll C. “We have a large portfolio of projects that will phase in discoveries to our producing fields. Equinor expects to put more than 50 such projects on stream by 2035”, Hove added. The Fram South development consists of Echino South, discovered 2019; Blasto, discovered 2021; and two smaller discoveries. Fram South is in the northern part of the North Sea, about 20 kilometers (12.43 miles) north of Troll C and around 120 kilometers northwest of Bergen. It has a water depth of approximately 350 meters (1,148.29 feet), while the reservoir depth is 1,800-2,800 meters, according to Equinor. The development will have 4×4 subsea templates. Initially 12 wells will be started up, with plans for a later development. Oil from the Fram field goes through Troll Oil Pipeline II to Mongstad, and gas is exported to Kollsnes via the Troll A platform. “As the first on the NCS [Norwegian continental shelf], Fram Sor will use all-electric Christmas trees that eliminate the

PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk. has agreed to acquire Fortuna International (Barbados) Inc. from Repsol E&P S.a.r.l. The company said in a media release it will shell out $425 million in the process. It expects to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2025. MedcoEnergi said Fortuna International holds an indirect 24 percent interest in the Corridor Production Sharing Contract (PSC). The Corridor PSC has seven producing gas fields and one producing oil field, all located onshore in South Sumatra, Indonesia, MedcoEnergi said. The gas is sold under long-term contracts to high-quality buyers in Indonesia and Singapore, it said. “This acquisition supports our strategy of owning and developing high-quality, cash-generative assets and reaffirms our commitment to national development where natural gas is a vital bridge to a lower-carbon future”, Hilmi Panigoro, President Director, stated. Last month MedcoEnergi signed a gas swap agreement through its subsidiaries, Medco E&P Natuna Ltd. (part of the West Natuna Group Supply Group) and Medco E&P Grissik Ltd. (from the South Sumatra Sellers). The agreement, signed with various key parties including PT Pertamina (Persero) and PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk (PGN), reallocates gas volumes. Specifically, the West Natuna Supply Group will now supply gas to Singapore, replacing volumes previously sent from the South Sumatra Sellers. These redirected South Sumatra volumes will then be supplied to PGN to meet Indonesia’s domestic gas demands, MedcoEnergi said. Additionally, Medco E&P Natuna Ltd., along with Premier Oil Natuna Sea B.V. and Star Energy (Kakap) Ltd., signed a separate Domestic Gas Sales Agreement with PGN. In other developments, MedcoEnergi earlier this month started commercial operations at its 25-megawatt peak East Bali Solar Photovoltaic Plant, PT Medcosolar Bali Timur, located in Karangasem, East Bali. To contact the author, email [email protected] What do you think? We’d love to hear from you,

The Trump administration has eased recent export limits on a critical petroleum product that’s used to make plastics — a shift that represents a modest pullback on curbs used as leverage in trade negotiations with China.  Under the change, Enterprise Products Partners LP and Energy Transfer LP are being allowed to load that gas, known as ethane, onto tankers and transport it to Chinese ports. However, they are still barred from unloading that cargo for use by Chinese entities, said people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.  Enterprise Products “may not complete” ethane exports to Chinese entities “without further BIS authorization,” the US Bureau of Industry and Security said in a letter Thursday to the firm. Energy Transfer was also notified of the change, the people said. The shift follows weeks of lobbying by oil industry advocates who told administration officials the restrictions were inflicting more pain on the US than China. The use of ethane, which China depends almost entirely on America for, as a trade war bargaining chip has disrupted supply chains and redirected flows. While US inventories of ethane — essentially a byproduct of shale production in West Texas — climbed, expensive ships purpose-built to carry the fuel have been forced to idle or sail to new destinations like India after previously only plying dedicated routes between the US and China.  As of late last week, INEOS Group Holdings SA had one tanker full of ethane waiting to ship and Enterprise Products Partners had three to four cargo ships stuck in limbo, according to a person familiar with the matter. Representatives of Enterprise Products, Energy Transfer and the Commerce Department, which oversees BIS, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the shift, first reported by Reuters.  While the revised licensing requirements will ease congestion at US Gulf