The Lukoil Varanday tariff war with Rosneft over Arctic oil transport from the Varandy loading terminal is headed to Russia’s supreme court. The conflict began in 2018 when state-owned Rosneft complained to the Federal Anti-monopoly Service about tariffs that Lukoil levels on shipments from the Varandey terminal on the Pechora Sea coast. According to Rosneft, the tariff level in Varandey is inflated and should be reduced by more than 50 percent. Lukoil disputed the claim, but it lost the case in lower courts. The case will now be taken to the Supreme Court, Russia’s business daily Kommersant r ..read more

Cortec advances biodegradable packaging options as global auto manufacturer runs pilot tests on shipping performance. The Czech subsidiary of one of the world’s three largest car manufacturers, began looking for a biodegradable packaging substitute to reduce the amount of conventional plastic packaging they use. As global companies are becoming more environmentally responsible and supporting a circular economy, the car manufacturer decided to test Cortec’s Eco-Corr Film® as part of their new “green” logistics project aimed at decreasing plastic consumption. “Green” packaging alternative Eco-Co ..read more

Industry solutions at TOGC 2020 will be on display at an alongside exhibition. The closed-door Transportation Oil and Gas Congress 2020 (TOGC 2020) will be held on 16–17 November 2020 in Milan, Italy. Midstream industry experts will gather at TOGC 2020 to keep updated with the cutting-edge solutions in the pipeline industry. Ground-breaking products and services will be presented at the TOGC focus exhibition area. The key reason for oil & gas companies to attend the Congress is the opportunity to find professional contacts with reliable contractors. At the TOGC 2020, exhibiting companies d ..read more

A Turkish drilling ship has discovered a big natural gas reserve in the Black Sea. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that the drilling ship Fatih, which has been operating in the area since July, had found 320bn cu m (11,300 cu ft) of gas. He said the Turkish Black Sea discovery was the country’s biggest natural gas find to date. The size of the discovery dwarfs all the natural gas Turkey has ever produced – 16.6 billion cubic meters – by twenty-fold. If Turkey can extract the gas commercially, it will be able to reduce its reliance on imported energy. President Erdogan said all te ..read more

PTTEP Thailand awards Halliburton a contract to design and implement a series of digital transformation projects as part of PTTEP’s advanced production excellence (APEX) initiative. APEX will improve operational efficiency and production in four offshore fields: Arthit, Greater Bongkot South, Greater Bongkot North and the Myanmar Zawtika Field. The contract was awarded on August 18. Landmark, a Halliburton business line, will deploy its DecisionSpace Production Suite in the cloud to improve production operations from the subsurface to processing facilities. The DecisionSpace Enterprise Platfor ..read more

Battery storage systems are emerging as one of the key solutions to effectively integrate high shares of solar and wind renewables in power systems worldwide. A recent analysis from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) illustrates how electricity storage technologies can be used for a variety of applications in the power sector, from e-mobility and behind-the-meter applications to utility-scale use cases. Utility-scale batteries, for example, can enable a greater feed-in of renewables into the grid by storing excess generation and by firming renewable energy output. Furthermore, p ..read more

Petrobras downstream divestitures appear to be on course as Chief Executive Roberto Castello Branco reports in a 2nd quarter analysts’ call that the Brazilian state oil company expects to close in “one to two months” on the sale of its RLAM refinery in northeastern Brazil. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment fund Mubadala Investment Co is in exclusive negotiations with Petrobras over the RLAM refinery deal, after presenting the highest bid for the asset during a competitive bidding process in June. Mubadala Capital’s Brazil team currently manages third-party capital on behalf of Mubadala and inst ..read more

Weatherford INT digital collaboration expands as Weatherford International it is strengthening its ties with upstream data visualization provider INT to provide next-level, real-time well visualization in both 2D and 3D, the company has announced. Weatherford will embed INT’s IVAAP framework into the Weatherford Centro digital well delivery software, advancing its data visualization capabilities. “Weatherford’s selection of the IVAAP framework for their Centro software is extremely exciting for INT,” said Dr. Olivier Lhemann, President of INT, Inc. “Centro is leading the industry-wide digital ..read more

Germany Targets African Energy as an investment opportunity, particularly in clean energy and digitalization technology companies. In a webinar hosted by the African Energy Chamber (www.EnergyChamber.org) and Germany Africa Business Forum (GABF), speakers pointed out that Africa has recently shifted to the forefront of Germany’s foreign policy and development agenda, creating a $1.1 billion Development Investment Fund to help German businesses enter African markets. The Germany Africa Business Forum (GABF) announced a multi-million dollar funding commitment in July 2019 to invest in German ene ..read more

While watching BBC coverage of the establishment of Israeli UAE diplomatic relations last night, I was struck by a comment that for the most part is likely to have gone unnoticed. The BBC presenter mentioned, almost as an afterthought, that the new relationship would lead to financial investments and joint projects in technology development. The BBC mentioned only space exploration as an area, which the UAE is particularly eager to engage and, in which Israel is already active. But there is something yet to be mentioned that, together with the defense industry, drives world capital flows, tech ..read more