BP targets organic oil growth from existing discoveries

Market: Condensate, Crude oil
04/11/25

BP says it can grow oil output over the long term from its existing discoveries, chief executive Murray Auchincloss said today.

"We now have the potential to grow long-term organic oil volumes for a long duration," Auchincloss said on BP's third-quarter results call. "I'm not sure I've been able to say that over the past 25 years — that we've been in a resource position like that. It's a nice problem to have."

BP will remain tightly focused on capital discipline, budgeting $13bn–$15bn/yr in spending, he said. This means the company faces choices between boosting short-term output and investing in longer-term production.

"Of course, we can pivot more capital into [US onshore subsidiary] BPX Energy and drive up near-term production, or we can pivot more to things like the Paleogene and Brazil to drive longer-term resources production," Auchinloss said.

BPX Energy, BP's US shale unit, drove a 2.7pc year-on-year rise in output from the Oil Production & Operations segment to 1.52mn b/d of oil equivalent in January–September. Auchincloss said BPX's operations improved productivity by 30pc in completions and 15pc in drilling over the past year, with top-quartile performance in drilling speed and net present value per dollar spent.

BP decided in late September to proceed with its 80,000 b/d Tiber-Guadalupe project in the US Gulf of Mexico, part of a plan to unlock around 10bn bl of oil discovered in its Paleogene assets in the region.

In Brazil, BP has a team working on a potential early production scheme for its Bumerangue discovery, where the company last week confirmed the presence of a liquids-rich 1,000m hydrocarbon column, including 100m of oil and 900m of gas-condensate.

Earlier today, BP reported a profit for July–September that beat analysts' expectations.

By Jon Mainwaring

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14/11/25

Croatia's Omisalj crude receipts drop in October

Barcelona, 14 November (Argus) — Crude receipts at the Croatian terminal of Omisalj fell in October, as a refinery served by the port caught fire and a disagreement continued between Omisalj's terminal operator and Hungary. Overall Mediterranean crude imports dropped sharply in the month. Omisalj receipts declined to 75,000 b/d last month, from 145,000 b/d in September, according to Argus tracking. Deliveries averaged 125,000 b/d in January-October, up from 110,000 b/d across 2024. The terminal serves Croatian firm Ina's 90,000 b/d Rijeka refinery and is the start of the 400,000 b/d Adria pipeline that can supply three landlocked refineries — Mol's 161,000 b/d Szazhalombatta in Hungary and 115,000 b/d Bratislava in Slovakia, and NIS' 96,000 b/d Pancevo in Serbia. Receipts fell as the US sanctioned NIS, and Szazhalombatta had a fire . There were sharp words over transit conditions between Mol and Janaf, in a long-running dispute. October deliveries to Omisalj comprised 45,000 b/d of Azeri BTC Blend, plus 30,000 b/d of Caspian CPC Blend. Argus assessed average crude quality at Omisalj in January-October at 37°API and 0.7pc sulphur, lighter than the 2024 average of 35.8°API and 0.7pc sulphur. Seaborne crude receipts at Mediterranean terminals — including Croatia, Spain, Greece, France's Fos-Lavera and Italy excluding Trieste — fell to 3.39mn b/d from 3.63mn b/d on the month. This was the lowest since June, when there were major works at two Greek refineries and Spain sharply cut crude purchases as a consequence of the end-April Iberian power outage. October arrivals were down on a combination of a string of planned and unplanned works and an ownership dispute in Italy, unplanned maintenance in France, Szazhalombatta's fire and the US' NIS sanctions. For refineries functioning correctly, middle distillate and gasoline cracks are buoyant . Greek's Helleniq Energy expects them to stay strong to year-end . For the second month in a row the biggest crude supplier to the Mediterranean region was the US, with 495,000 b/d down from 565,000 b/d in September. Libya supplied 440,000 b/d and Iraq 445,000 b/d. This was the most Iraqi crude in the Mediterranean since November 2023, supported by strong Greek demand for Basrah Medium, plus returning Kirkuk supply . By Adam Porter Mediterranean Europe crude imports mn bl Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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More oil, gas firms have emissions action plans: OGDC

14/11/25

News

14/11/25

More oil, gas firms have emissions action plans: OGDC

London, 14 November (Argus) — Oil and gas firms that are signatories to the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter (OGDC) have increasingly set out plans to address their operational emissions, methane emissions and flaring, a report from the OGDC said today. Of the companies signed up to the charter in 2024, 36 reported having "interim action plans" for scope 1 and 2 emissions reductions for 2030, 31 reported that they had methane action plans and 33 reported having flaring action plans — up from 31, 20 and 22, respectively, in 2023. Of the signatories, 36 have third-party verification systems in place, the report found. The charter was signed at Cop 28 in 2023 and now has 55 signatories, representing around 40pc of global oil production and around 35pc of global oil and gas output. Of the signatory companies, around two-thirds are state-owned. OGDC signatories produced nearly 59mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) in 2024. The OGDC estimated that total operated scope 1 and 2 emissions for all charter signatories stood at around 1bn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2024. The estimate was based on submissions for operated scope 1 and 2 emissions from 41 signatories, which totalled just above 800mn t/CO2e in 2024. Scope 1 and 2 emissions usually make up a minority of oil and gas producers' total emissions. But scope 3, or end-use, emissions represent the vast majority of oil and gas producer emissions, with estimates in the range of 80-95pc of the total. A report from a group of more than 130 scientists on 13 November found that emissions from fossil fuels are projected to reach a record high of 38.1bn t/CO2 this year. Global emissions from "human activities" stood at 53.2bn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2024, without factoring in emissions from land use, land use change and forestry, the EU's Edgar programme found in September. Charter signatories invested around $32bn in "low-carbon solutions" which include renewables, carbon capture, hydrogen and "low-carbon fuels" in 2024, according to the report. Signatories agree to aim for net zero operations by 2050, "near-zero upstream methane emissions" by 2030, zero routine flaring by 2030 and to "set and share" a 2030 goal for scope 1 and 2 emissions. TotalEnergies, a signatory to the charter, today committed $100mn to a fund which supports technologies to cut emissions "across the oil and gas value chain". The fund — Climate Investment — is partnered with the charter and will help signatories "on their decarbonisation path", within the charter's scope, TotalEnergies said. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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US, allies fall out over Venezuela: Update

13/11/25

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13/11/25

US, allies fall out over Venezuela: Update

Adds update on US operations, Venezuelan opposition comment. Washington, 13 November (Argus) — US president Donald Trump's administration is pushing back on allies' criticism of its strong-arm approach toward Venezuela — the latest point of disagreement within the G7 group of major economies. The US has built up a large naval presence near Venezuela since early September — including the Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier strike group as of 11 November — and has carried out almost 20 lethal attacks on small boats it accuses of ferrying drugs. US defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday labeled efforts to remove "narco-terrorists from our hemisphere" as Operation Southern Spear, to be led by the Southern Command which oversees military forces in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The US administration's legal pretext for the build up and Trump's statements that he is considering attacks on Venezuela's soil have come under skeptical review from US lawmakers from both parties. G7 foreign ministers ahead and during their meeting in Canada on 10-11 November expressed similar sentiments. The US strikes against boats disregard international law, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. There is no legal basis for the US attacks, EU foreign affairs commissioner Kaja Kallas told NBC News on Wednesday. "I don't think that the EU gets to determine what international law is," US secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters late on Wednesday. "I do find it interesting that all of these countries want us to send and supply, for example, nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe, but when the US positions aircraft carriers in our hemisphere where we live, somehow that's a problem." The EU has backed Ukraine's request last month to equip Ukrainian forces with Tomahawk missiles to enable Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russia. But Trump appears to have denied the request. The US armada assembled near Venezuela, including the Gerald R Ford group, carries an estimated 170 Tomahawks, defense experts Mark Cancian and Chris Park with think tank the Center for Security and International Studies wrote on 10 November. The Tomahawk inventory is comparable with the number of missiles the US military previously used in campaigns of limited duration, such as in Libya in 2011, the experts said. US naval maneuvers and boat strikes so far have had no impact on Venezuela's oil exports and energy shipments across the Caribbean. Chevron — allowed to resume business in Venezuela just before the naval build up began — appears to have imported 155,000 b/d to the US from Venezuela in October, based on data from Kpler ship tracking. Venezuela's crude output was at an estimated 1.1mn b/d in October. Independent refiners in China absorb the bulk of Venezuelan crude exports not loaded by Chevron. Venezuelan imports to China were at an estimated 500,000 b/d in October, with many more cargoes available than there are buyers, despite Merey discounts widening to $12/bl against Ice Brent. What next? The US has not carried out a unilateral military intervention in the western hemisphere since 1989, when it toppled Panamanian president Manuel Noriega's government and transported him to the US where he was convicted in court of involvement in drug trafficking. Trump, Rubio and other US officials have made public statements suggesting that removing Maduro from power is among possible options for the US naval force. Maduro faces a US prosecutors' indictment over alleged drug trafficking and the US has offered a $50mn bounty for his capture. Venezuela this week passed a law obligating the general population to defend Maduro's regime, with the president calling for "maximum preparation". Additional military forces have not been highly visible in the capital of Caracas in recent days. Interior minister Diosdado Cabello threatened members of Venezuela's political opposition, saying "don't say we didn't warn you" if the US "does anything to any of us." Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said from hiding late on Wednesday that Venezuela is "in the final hours" of what will be a "peaceful transition." But the US military resources assembled in the Caribbean suggest that a full blown invasion is not likely. Trump's deployment of the US military has been more limited so far this year — bombing Yemen's Houthis and Iran, and quickly declaring victory. "Attacks on the cartels have the advantage that the US can walk away at any time ... claiming that it damaged cartel operations and thereby reduced the flow of drugs into the US," Cancian and Park wrote. The Trump administration has told US lawmakers that its military operations are a "non-international armed conflict" with an unspecified group of "designated terrorist organizations". A legal opinion written by Trump's Justice Department in late July — and shared with the US Congress in early November — did not explicitly mention Venezuela and merely asserted the right to target trans-national criminal organizations anywhere, by all means. By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Mexico climate pledge clashes with refinery push

13/11/25

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13/11/25

Mexico climate pledge clashes with refinery push

Houston, 13 November (Argus) — Mexico's updated climate pledge sets its most ambitious emissions target, but the plan sits in sharp contrast to the government's push to increase crude processing and fuel output at state-owned Pemex's refinery system. Mexico submitted its new nationally determined contribution (NDC) ahead of this month's UN Cop 30 summit in Belem, Brazil, committing for the first time to an absolute cap on greenhouse gas emissions of 364–404mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2035, or 332–363mn t CO2e with international support. The target represents a cut of more than 50pc from a business-as-usual trajectory, according to the environment ministry, and aligns with Mexico's long-term commitment to reach net zero by 2050. But while Mexico promises steep emissions reductions, it is simultaneously doubling down on a fossil-heavy industrial strategy centered on reviving its aging refining system, boosting domestic output of gasoline and diesel and limiting private-sector participation across the downstream chain. Mexico's refineries — most of which regularly run at below 50–60pc of capacity — remain among Mexico's largest stationary emitters, with high rates of flaring, residual fuel oil production and energy inefficiency. The government has also poured billions of dollars into the new 340,000 b/d Olmeca refinery and continues to prioritize increasing crude throughput at the legacy system, even as maintenance shortfalls, outages and unplanned shutdowns remain common. Pemex processed about 950,000 b/d of crude across its seven domestic refineries in September, up by 8pc from a year prior and 57pc higher than the 604,300 b/d processed in September 2018, before former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office. Mexico's refining-heavy strategy took shape under Lopez Obrador, who made fuel self-sufficiency the centerpiece of his administration after years of under-investment and declining output at Pemex's refining system. His government moved away from the 2014 energy reform and proposed constitutional changes that would free Pemex from its obligation to operate as a "productive state company." The shift enabled greater political influence over Pemex's operations and reinforced a nationalistic focus on refining, even as the company posted financial losses and saw its crude output fall to 40-year lows. President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration has continued that trajectory. Backed by a congressional supermajority that allows her party to advance Lopez Obrador's reforms, Sheinbaum has maintained the emphasis on fuel self-sufficiency and continued to expand Pemex's role through increased state support. Mexico's NDC frames climate policy as compatible with economic development, job creation and "just transition" principles. But the plan is still vague on specific mitigation actions for the refining sector. "Mexico's ambition is clear, but delivering on these goals will require deep structural transformation and a clear, sustained investment strategy," said Francisco Barnes Regueiro, executive director of the environmental non-governmental organization the World Resources Institute in Mexico. Meanwhile, the government maintains policies and proposed reforms that favor Pemex and state utility CFE over private-sector companies, limiting private investment in cleaner fuels and renewable electricity. The lack of incentives for low-carbon technologies, combined with an aggressive push to increase domestic production of gasoline and diesel, contradicts the technical requirements implied by the emissions cap, according to market sources. The contradiction becomes more pronounced as Mexico prepares for the Cop 30 negotiations. Mexico, which now joins more than 50 countries that have updated their NDCs, will likely face scrutiny over how its energy agenda fits within its climate ambitions. For now, the gap between Mexico's stated targets and its refining-focused policy framework remains wide. Without clear measures to reduce emissions from Pemex's refining system, expand low-carbon fuels and introduce stronger regulatory incentives, the new NDC risks becoming another aspirational document. Pemex's crude throughput '000b/d Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Cop: Report says 2035 targets 'make no difference'

13/11/25

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13/11/25

Cop: Report says 2035 targets 'make no difference'

Edinburgh, 13 November (Argus) — The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to 2035 — climate plans and targets submitted to the UN — have made little difference on curbing temperature increases, according to a Climate Action Tracker (CAT) report released today led by the NewClimate Institute. The CAT report's '2030 and 2035 targets scenario' estimates the climate targets submitted to mid-November keep global warming at 2.6°C above pre-industrial levels, the same as last year. The Paris Agreement signed 10 years ago seeks to limit the rise in global temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5°C. In the CAT report's 'pledges and targets' scenario — which includes 2030 and 2035 NDCs and longer-term net zero targets — the outcome has slightly worsened to 2.2°C from 2.1°C previously, mostly as a result of the US withdrawal from the Paris accord. "The US' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement has had really devastating effects at weakening the global momentum, and the impact of it is not fully reflected in the numbers," NewClimate Institute policy analyst Ana Missirliu said. The report shows that emissions under current NDCs are projected to reach 53-57 Gt of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2030 and 48-52 Gt CO2e in 2035. This is above the levels consistent with a 1.5°C pathway, which would require emissions to fall to 27 Gt CO2e by 2030 and 21 Gt CO2e by 2035, according to the NewClimate Institute. "Almost none of the 40 governments the CAT analyses have updated their 2030 target, which is critical to keep warming levels below 1.5°C, nor have they set out the kind of action in new 2035 targets needed to change course," the report said. The report also found that some major emitters' targets, including the EU, fail to translate into a step-up in ambitions. The EU has introduced the use of international carbon credits to reach some of its recently agreed target to cut GHG emissions by 90 by 2040, from 1990 levels. "We have a lot of countries, and quite a lot of G20 countries, including Brazil and China, which won't have to put forward more policies to achieve their targets," Missirliu said. China has submitted a 2035 target the country can already achieve, she added. Other countries, such as the UAE, have very ambitious targets but lack the policy or policy signals to show that they can achieve them, she added. Global emissions continue to grow year-on-year, and will grow again next year, NewClimate Institute said. In China, the world's largest emitter, and India, where renewables are expanding significantly, projected emissions have gone up compared with the previous report, as energy demand and fossil fuel use continues to grow. The gap between countries' targets and the 1.5°C pathway is widening. "Even if all current NDCs and long-term targets were fully implemented, global emissions in 2035 would still be more than double the level required for 1.5°C compatibility," the report said. "The longer we wait, the more the gap grows," NewClimate Institute policy expert Kilas Hohne said. "At the heart of this crisis of inaction is the continued expansion of fossil fuel production and consumption," the report said. Countries in 2023 agreed to a call to transition away from fossil fuels but many are still expanding coal, oil and gas. The current growth rate for renewable energy is not yet aligned with the global call to triple renewables by 2030, from 2019 levels, but a growing number of countries are accelerating their transition, including Chile, Colombia, India, Ethiopia, Morocco and Switzerland, according to the NewClimate Institute. By Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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BP targets organic oil growth from existing discoveries

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