Sipchem Q2 net profit rises
DUBAI: Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) posted a 27.9 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit, which it attributed to higher sales and improvements made to its plants during the first three months of the year. The firm made a net profit of SR174 million ($46.4 million) for the three months to June 30, compared with SR136.1 million in the corresponding period of 2012.

Nakilat posts Q2 profit drop
DOHA: Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat), one of the world’s largest shippers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), posted a drop in second-quarter net profit. It made a net profit of SR182.4 million ($50 million) in the three months to June 30, according to Reuters calculations.

SEC Q2 net tops $400m
RIYADH: Saudi Electricity (SEC) posted a net profit of SR1.50 billion ($401 million) in the second quarter of the year, as against SR1.36 billion in the same period a year earlier, marking a 10 per cent rise. The company attributed the increase to the non-recurring, SR729 million settlement from Saudi Aramco.

Noble profit rises with rig rates
NEW YORK: Offshore drilling contractor Noble reported a higher-than-expected second-quarter profit as the rates paid for its rigs improved and the amount of downtime decreased.

Market improvements led to a 7 per cent rise in the average daily rig rates from last year, and chief executive David Williams said the reduction in unpaid downtime also led to lower repair and maintenance costs and increased bonus revenue. Second-quarter net profit rose to $177 million, or 69 cents per share, from $160 million, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue grew 13 per cent to $1.02 billion.

Shell shuts Auger platform
LONDON: Royal Dutch/Shell is shutting down production at its Auger platform in the Gulf of Mexico while it hooks up its new Cardamom oilfield to the two-decade old platform’s infrastructure.

A Shell spokeswoman said the company began work on the shut-in which will cut off 55,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of production.

A statement said the Auger platform “should restart in the fourth quarter of 2013.”

Chevron warns of flaring
NEW YORK: Chevron Corp warned of planned flaring at its 265,500-barrel-per-day (bpd)refinery in El Segundo, California, according to a filing with state pollution regulators.

The filing was with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

A refinery uses its safety flare when hydrocarbons cannot be processed normally due to a malfunction or planned work.

OGX’s field under scrutiny
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s oil regulator ANP said that it would analyze the economic viability of the Tubarão Azul offshore oil field, where concession holder OGX Petroleo e Gas is considering shutting down.

ANP said that if it decides the field is viable, it will require OGX to submit a timeline for development. If OGX does not want to make further investments, the field could be re-auctioned, the regulator said. Earlier this month, OGX said it was considering ending production from Tubarão Azul, its only producing offshore field, in 2014. Output from the field has not met company or market expectations. 

ANP director Magda Chambriard said the agency would analyze the field’s three wells and, if it finds the field economically viable, it would require OGX “to resubmit a timeline for developing the field.”

Shell restarts Scotford unit
TORONTO: Royal Dutch Shell is restarting a unit at its Scotford facility near Edmonton, Alberta, the company said in a message on a community information line.

The restart may result in intermittent flaring over the next 24 hours and there was no material impact on production, Shell said.

The company runs a 255,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil sands upgrader facility and a 100,000 bpd refinery at Scotford.

Transco gets startup okay
NEW YORK: The owner of the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co LLC received approval from federal energy regulators to startup a segment of a natural gas pipeline expansion project this weekend.

Williams Cos had requested approval to start the new segment so it can reroute supply to customers while performing some work on another segment. 

Argentina cuts restrictions
BUENOS AIRES: Argentina will allow oil companies to export tax free up to 20 per cent of the crude and natural gas they produce in the country, the government said in a bid to attract investment in Argentina’s vast Vaca Muerta shale oil field.

Export revenue of companies that invest at least $1 billion over five years will also be exempt from the foreign exchange controls that have been imposed by the government, according to an announcement in the government’s official daily gazette. Those controls along with other government regulation of Latin America’s third-biggest economy have scared foreign investors, particularly after President Cristina Fernandez ordered the seizure of the country’s main oil company YPF from Spain’s Repsol in 2012.

Fluor wins Feed for Sasol
NEW YORK: Fluor secured the front-end engineering and design (Feed) work for a chemicals plant in Louisiana being built by South Africa’s Sasol aimed at putting cheap US natural gas liquids to use. Fluor, the largest publicly traded US engineering company, saidy it would book about $120 million for the contract, which can be a prelude to winning work for the entire project. It did not provide an estimate for the total cost of the project.

The Lake Charles ethane cracker, in what Louisiana’s governor called the largest single manufacturing investment in state history, will produce ethylene to feed a nearby derivative chemicals facility that is also part of the design study.

Pemex leak has no impact
MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s state oil monopoly, Pemex said that a pipeline fuel oil leak at the country’s largest refinery has not harmed local communities or affected production.

Technicians at the Salina Cruz refinery in southern Oaxaca state continued to work on the pipeline repairs, according to a statement issued by Pemex, while a company official told Reuters the lead has not affected operations at the facility.

Valero restarts FCCU 
NEW YORK: Valero Energy said it restarted a gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) and alkylation unit after they tripped offline at its 80,887-barrel-per-day (bpd) Los Angeles-area refinery in Wilmington, California.

The units tripped due to an issue with a wet gas compressor and are returning to planned rates, company spokesman Bill Day said in an email.

BP takes on more E&P
LONDON: British oil company BP said it would farm in to five deepwater exploration and production concessions operated by state-owned Petrobras in the Potiguar Basin, expanding its Brazilian offshore presence. Subject to regulatory approvals, BP Energy do Brasil will take a 30 per cent interest in blocks POT-M-663, and POT-M-760 (contract BM-POT-16), and a 40 per cent interest in blocks POT-M-665, POT-M-853 and POT-M-855 (contract BM-POT-17).

Imperial to undergo repair
NEW YORK: Imperial Oil Ltd reported equipment repair at its 187,000 barrel-per-day Strathcona refinery in Alberta, according to a message posted on a community information telephone line.

Phillips JV reports upset
NEW YORK: Phillips 66 PSX reported a process upset at its 146,000 barrel-per-day joint venture refinery in Borger, Texas, according to a notice filed with the state pollution regulators.

The emissions were routed to a control device, the filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said. The refinery, which is managed by Phillips, is a 50-50 joint venture between Phillips and Cenovus Energy.

EQT to sell Sunrise unit
NEW YORK: Natural gas company EQT said it will sell its Sunrise Pipeline unit to EQT Midstream Partners for $507.5 million in cash and $32.5 million of common and general partners units.

Sunrise’s assets include a 41.5-mile pipeline, a compressor station and an interconnect with the Texas Eastern pipeline in Greene County, Ohio.

Marathon sees lower earnings
NEW YORK: Marathon Petroleum said it expects lower second-quarter earnings as the cost of some of the crude oil it processes into fuels rose.

Last week, Valero Energy issued a similar profit warning. US refining companies have seen profits wither as their oil costs increased because discounts of inland US crude oil to global crudes shrunk. The companies also both cited rising costs for US ethanol blending credits, known as Rins. Marathon said it expects a profit of $570 million to $600 million, or $1.75 to $1.85 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2013, compared with earnings of $814 million, or $2.38 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2012.

Unipetrol steam cracker offline
PRAGUE: Czech downstream oil processor Unipetrol said it took its steam cracker unit Chempark Zaluzi off line due to technical difficulties with a steam pipe. The shutdown is expected to last thirteen days and the total negative impact on the group’s full-year 2013 EBIT is estimated at roughly 50 million crowns ($2.51 million), it added.

Crude oil flows halted
LONDON: Crude oil flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, linking Iraq to Turkey, were halted overnight as operators continued tests after a leak, several industry sources said.

One source in Iraq said normal pumping has not been resumed yet to ensure that the repaired part of the line can handle the pressure, adding that intermittent pumping of crude was only for testing purposes.

The pipeline carries Iraq’s medium sour Kirkuk crude to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

OMV resumes in Libya
VIENNA: Austrian oil and gas group OMV resumed production in Libya, and output has returned to normal levels, it said in a statement.

OMV had said that most of its production in Libya, which accounted for 10 per cent of its output last year, had been interrupted since June 25 because of unrest in the north African country.

Eni amends deal in Iraq
MILAN: Italian oil and gas group Eni has agreed with officials in Iraq an amendment to its technical service contract for the Zubair oil field, setting a new production target and extending its duration, the company said. The amendment sets a new output target of 850,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and prolongs the duration of Eni’s contract for the field by five years until 2035, the group said.

Oxy, QP to invest $3bn
NEW YORK: Occidental Petroleum and Qatar Petroleum will spend more than $3 billion to upgrade the Idd El Shargi North Dome oil field offshore Qatar.

The Phase 5 development plan for the field includes drilling over 200 water injection wells to improve water-flooding practices in all the oil producing reservoirs, Occidental said.

The oil and gas producer said work has already begun and will continue to sustain oil production levels at about 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), through the next six years.

Saudi Kayan loss narrows
RIYADH: Saudi Kayan Petrochemical posted a second-quarter net loss of SR238 million ($63.5 million), 27 per cent narrower than its loss a year ago but still missing analyst forecasts.

The company, a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), made a loss of SR328 million in the second quarter of 2012 and a loss of SR155 million in the first quarter of this year.

Saudi Kayan has not yet fully started up its main production units. Three analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast results ranging from a loss of SR104 million to a profit of SR137 million.

Renaissance sells unit
DUBAI: Oman’s Renaissance Services has sold its oilfield maintenance services unit Topaz Oil and Gas, based in the UAE, to Interserve for $46 million, a bourse filing said.

The UK-based support services and construction group bought the business to expand its growth in the Middle East, the statement said. Interserve has previously made acquisitions in Oman and Qatar it added.

“Interserve sees the Middle East oil and gas services sector as a key growth market and this acquisition establishes our presence in the UAE,” Adrian Ringrose, Interserve’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.