Hungary imports about 5 million tons of crude oil from Russia annually via its state energy company MOL. It is one of two direct buyers of Russian crude in the EU. President Trump earlier this month called on the EU to step up pressure on Moscow by shunning any and all hydrocarbon imports, including LNG.
The upward pressure on prices was back, however, as European pressure on Russia increases, with reports over the weekend of Russian aircraft entering Estonian airspace and neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea, plus airstrikes on western Ukraine that were close to the border with Poland.
The publication cited LSEG data showing that Very Large Crude Carrier rates jumped to 12.5 million last week, which was the highest since March 2023. The rate increase resulted from increased demand for U.S. crude from Asian buyers that emerged during the summer. Since then, rates have eased somewhat to $12 million but remain elevated enough to sap appetite.
The unit will support an RDP contract with Ecopetrol signed in February 2025 to provide regasification and logistics services to bring 1.7 mcm (60 mcf) per day of gas into the Colombian market.
First oil is expected in Q2 2029 from the project, which will utilise an FPSO with a production capacity of 150,000 bopd.
Kuwait had a similar production capacity in the late 2000s, with capacity hitting the highest on record of 3.3 million bpd in 2010. Kuwait’s oil production capacity began to drop after 2010, but the OPEC heavyweight has launched a program in recent years to raise it.
With a reported value of approximately USD 163.4 million, it represents the largest standalone well-logging contract secured by a Chinese company overseas, according to statements to Upstream by a company official.
Petrofac has extended its long-running partnership with Ithaca Energy, winning a two-year, $50 million contract renewal to provide integrated services across the operator’s UK North Sea portfolio.
BW Offshore has achieved first gas on its BW Opal floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO), marking a major milestone in Santos’ Barossa LNG project offshore Australia.
According to the National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels, production rose to 1.03 million bpd in August from 998,757 bpd in July. The rebound aligns with Angola’s strategy to stabilize production near 1 million bpd, a threshold viewed as critical for maintaining investment momentum in the country’s upstream sector.