Latest News

Credit: ChameleonsEye via Shutterstock

Chevron will look to avoid a coming strike at its Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects by tabling a direct pay offer to its workers. 

A Chevron spokesperson told Montel News, an information service for energy professionals, that the company would look to circumvent unions by tabling a pay offer directly to workers in the coming days. 

The spokesperson stated: “We’re providing a proposed enterprise agreement for relevant employees at each of our Gorgon and Wheatstone onshore gas facilities to consider and vote on. The proposed agreements would take effect as soon as operational if supported.” 

The company had been facing the threat of impending strike action after being accused by unions of running its LNG operations “like feudal fiefdoms”.  

Chevron operates the 15.6 million-tonnes-per-year (mtpa) Gorgon facility and the 8.9mtpa Wheatstone project, which would be affected by strikes alongside the Wheatstone offshore platform. 

Pakistan has suspended the completion of its multi-billion dollar gas project with Iran, citing pressure due to US sanctions on Iran, Pakistan’s local newspaper Dawn reported.  

The US sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme disrupted the completion of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline, a now bilateral project formerly known as the India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline.  

In written testimony to the National Assembly, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Masood Malik, said: “Pakistan has issued a Force Majeure and Excusing Event notice to Iran under the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement.” 

The project will be resumed once sanctions on Iran are removed and there is no threat to state-owned entities. “Given that, no date and deadline can be given for the completion of the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project,” Malik added.  

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, previously visited Islamabad, Pakistan, where the two countries signed a bilateral trade deal worth more than $5bn over five years. 

State-owned oil and gas major Saudi Aramco is set to cancel three offshore contracts it had previously awarded to offshore engineering contractor McDermott, cumulatively worth $1.8bn. 

According to reports, withdrawal from the deals stems from McDermott’s inability to provide performance bank guarantees required by Aramco. 

The three contracts were originally for the engineering, procurement, and construction of an expansion to Aramco’s Zuluf oil field in the Saudi Arabian area of the Gulf. 

Several people familiar with the matter told Upstream that all key bidders involved in the process for contract release had been informed of the decision to withdraw by Aramco. A source said that “the formal cancellation of Zuluf contracts is a setback for international contracting giants, including McDermott, which have been eyeing the multiple development projects” for some time. 

The contract terminations could cause delays at the Zuluf expansion project, which has been in the works for several years. 

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday plans to approve hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licences. 

The first licence will be issued this autumn, with at least 100 licences set for approval in the next round. The government has not said where exactly the licensed blocks will lie. 

Sunak said in an interview with BBC News on Monday morning that the new oil and gas licenses are “key” to a “proportionate and pragmatic” transition to net zero and to the country’s energy security, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent global energy crisis as concerns.

According to a government statement, domestic gas production has around one-quarter of the carbon footprint of imported liquified natural gas, and as a result will “reduce emissions”. The claims come despite warnings from the International Energy Agency that the oil and gas industry must immediately “significantly” reduce its emissions footprint.

Iran will “pursue its rights” to the Arash/Durra gas field if other nations refuse to cooperate, ministers have said. 

Iran’s Oil Minister, Javad Owji, told Shana, the country’s fossil fuel news organisation: “If there is no willingness [on behalf of other sides] to reach an understanding and cooperate, Iran […] will put the exploitation and exploration of the aforementioned resources on the agenda. 

“Regarding the exploitation of shared oil and gas fields, we have always sought to hold negotiations and reach an understanding with neighbours, and Iran also seeks the integrated and joint exploitation of the Arash field.” 

The field, known as Arash by Iran and Durra by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, is situated offshore in a neutral zone of the Gulf between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Last year, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed a deal for the joint development of the gas field without Iran, a move that Iran’s government called “illegal”.