OPEC Goes Back into Crunch Talks. OPEC prepared for a further day of talks on oil-production curbs after a summit on Thursday ended with no deal, as Russia resisted the big output cut that Saudi Arabia was demanding.
After a six-hour meeting in Vienna, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said he wasn’t confident of an agreement when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets its allies on Friday. A proposal for a combined OPEC and non-OPEC cut of 1 million barrels a day was left dangling in uncertainty.
Chevron Boosts Spending on Shale Projects. Chevron Corp. raised its spending budget for the first time since 2014 even as crude prices plummet, doubling down on U.S. shale.
South Korean firm plans Australia’s fifth proposed LNG import terminal. South Korean developer EPIK, based in Seoul, has proposed the establishment of a floating LNG import terminal at the Port of Newcastle north of Sydney on Australia’s east coast.
YPF, Petronas plan Vaca Muerta development. The state-owned companies of Argentina and Malaysia are forming a joint venture to invest $2.3 billion over 4 years in Vaca Muerta shale development in the Latin American country. According to press reports of an announcement by the office of Argentine President Mauricio Macri, the work will be on the Amarga Chica block in the province of Nequen, where YPF and Petronas have worked together on exploration and pilot production.
Russian operator lets contract for hydrocracking complex. PAO Novatek subsidiary OOO Novatek-Ust-Luga has let a contract to Haldor Topsoe AS to supply proprietary technology for hydrogen production as part of a hydrocracking complex upgrade to be completed at its 120,500-b/d gas condensate fractionation and transshipment refinery at the all-season port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea in Russia.
