GLOBAL OFFSHORE UPDATE

Uganda's oil success depends upon tapping the 6.5 billion barrels of crude which sits within Uganda’s Lake Albert Basin.

OKEA AS and Halliburton have announced that they have signed a well construction services agreement to implement Halliburton

Consortium has awarded FES International two contracts to supply its CALM buoy swivels. The swivel technology is said to allow the buoy to rotate fully while maintaining a leak-free joint between the subsea pipelines and vessel, during transfers of fluids such as oil, LPG, and water.

Two of the world’s fastest-growing economies have barely noticed the first year of unrestricted U.S. crude exports since the 1970s. In the first year since the U.S. lifted a 40-year-ban on most exports, less than 3% have gone to China and India even as their demand for oil grew. India hasn’t taken a drop, according to U.S. Census data.

When OPEC exempted Nigeria from its plan to cut oil output for the first time in eight years, it highlighted how far Africa’s biggest producer has fallen. From January to October, just over three wells a month were drilled in Nigeria, down from a monthly average of almost 22 in 2006, according to petroleum ministry data. While output rebounded to 2.1 MMbpd from the 27-year low in August, that’s just half the government’s goal at the start of the millennium.

Royal Dutch Shell expects to pump out all the fossil fuel reserves listed on its balance sheet, its chief executive said, dismissing concerns that production limits in the wake of the Paris climate accord could hit the energy giant's valuation. In an interview with Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, Ben van Beurden said the issue of "stranded" reserves - deposits in the ground that cannot be used because of carbon emissions limitations - would have no impact on balance sheets.

As the oil market anxiously awaits OPEC’s decision next week, some of the countries hardest hit by the biggest price crash in a generation may have found a lifeline outside of the group. India is the world’s fastest growing crude consumer whose appetite for fossil fuels is forecast to surge in the next two decades. The country is set to decide next month on whether to advance $15 billion to Nigeria for future supplies.

Italy's biggest gas distributor Italgas does not believe the country's referendum on constitutional reform in December will affect new rules to streamline gas distribution, its chief executive said on Monday. "I don't think it will have an affect because under the new rules the regions stand to benefit from increased investments and better technology," Paolo Gallo told Reuters.

OPEC is on course to finalize the details of the Algiers accord to cut oil production at a meeting in Vienna on Tuesday, said a delegate from Nigeria. "There is certainty that everybody is on board,” Ibrahim Waya told reporters on his way into a meeting at the secretariat of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. “Everyone knows that the stakes are high."

Total and SOCAR, the national oil company of Azerbaijan, have signed an agreement establishing the contractual and commercial terms for the first phase of production from Absheron gas and condensate field. The field, which lies in the Caspian Sea, was discovered by Total in 2011.

Kuwait renewed a contract to supply Egypt with crude oil for the next three years, according to a senior Kuwaiti government official, who said the shipments are not intended to make up for the loss of Saudi fuel shipments to the North African country. Egypt will get 2 MMbbl of Kuwaiti crude per month starting Jan. 1, according to the official, who asked not to be identified because the contract wasn’t announced publicly. The contract is for three years and the supplies will be based on international prices, he said.

Singapore-listed commodities trader Noble Group Ltd. (N21.SG) on Thursday said it swung to a net loss in the third quarter as a steep fall in revenue hurt its operating income. Net loss in the three months ended Sept. 30 was $28.1 million, compared with a profit of $24.7 million in the same quarter last year, the company said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange. Revenue fell 38% from a year ago to $11.55 billion.

Sunoco Logistics Partners ( SXL.N ) said on Wednesday it is forming a joint venture with Exxon Mobil ( XOM.N ), giving the midstream company strategic assets near the Dakota Access line while expanding its West Texas footprint for the second time in less than two months. The joint venture, called Permian Express Partners, will consist of assets owned by both companies, according to a statement. Sunoco Logistics will take a stake of 85 percent, while Exxon will control the remaining 15 percent.

Foreign sailors working in Scotland's oil industry are being paid as little as £2 an hour, it has been claimed. The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) says at times more than half of the non-UK vessels in the North Sea employ crew on less than the minimum wage of £6.70 an hour.

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), comprising 10 of the largest energy companies in the world, has announced an investment of $1bn over the next ten years, to develop and accelerate the commercial deployment of innovative low emissions technologies. OGCI Climate Investments (OGCI CI) will aim to deploy successfully-developed new technologies among member companies and beyond. It will also identify ways to cut the energy intensity of both transport and industry. Working in partnership with like-minded initiatives across all stakeholder groups and sectors, the OGCI CI says it believes its emission reduction impact can be multiplied across industries.

Russia, the world’s biggest energy producer, is “on board” with an OPEC agreement to limit crude oil production to help re-balance the market , according to OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo. OPEC producers remain committed to an agreement reached last month in Algiers to trim output, and cooperation from non-OPEC producers will help bring the oil market back into balance, Barkindo told reporters at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. Russia is due to join OPEC for talks later this month in Vienna, where OPEC will convene for its bi-annual meeting.

The forward curve for U.S. crude oil futures has steepened in recent days as worries that proposed OPEC supply cuts won't hold, or even materialize, turned the market's outlook for 2017 deliveries more bearish relative to longer-term contracts. With the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries dragging out negotiating the terms of a production cap, traders are now betting that a supply glut that has depressed crude prices this year will take longer to alleviate than previously anticipated, due to disagreements among OPEC members.

BP has advised that a decision is 'sort of imminent' on phase two of it's Mad Dog project in the Gulf of Mexico. Phase one has been in production off Louisiana for more than a decade, but in 2009 further discoveries were made in the southern section of the same field.

Dong recently announced it was no longer looking at oil and gas as a long-term strategic commitment, now Danish energy giant Dong Energy has confirmed it will exit the oil and gas market to focus on the renewables sector. The organisation has stated that its strategic future lied with the development of a clean energy portfolio based on establishing Dong as the market leader in offshore wind, bioenergy and green distribution.

After the worst week for oil since January, crude prices firmed up on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s historic election. Oil dropped 10 percent last week, in large part due to lowering expectations that OPEC could succeed in working out a production cut at the end of the month and also because the EIA reported a record high build up in oil inventories. Oil dropped below $45 per barrel, hitting nearly two-month lows. Of course, the elephant in the room is the U.S. presidential election. While not directly related to oil prices, the financial markets have been reacting in dramatic fashion to recent movements in the polls. And as Bloomberg reports, they have a clear preference for who they want to win: Hillary Clinton. The former Secretary of State is seen as a known quantity, while Donald Trump as a wildcard. When Trump moved up in the polls global stock markets dipped, and the markets gained as Clinton’s fortunes improved. The dynamic played out again on Monday when the FBI cleared C...