With global oil demand continuing to increase, the US will replace Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer about 2020, and North America will become a net oil exporter by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

Statoil AS let a $70 million subsea compression contract to Subsea 7 for the Gullfaks C platform in the aging Gullfaks oil field in the Norwegian North Sea.

BP PLC has let contracts to KBR and FMC Technologies in a program it calls Project 20K targeting “next-generation systems and tools to help unlock the next frontier of deepwater oil and gas resources currently beyond the reach of today’s technology.”

Steel manufacturer Nucor Corp. of Charlotte, NC, and Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. agreed to a joint natural gas drilling program for the Piceance basin in Colorado in efforts to ensure Nucor a long-term, reliable gas supply while helping Encana with development costs, the companies said.

Total SA has started work on its South Mahakam gas-condensate project aimed at offsetting production declines on its Mahakam production-sharing contract block offshore Indonesia.

Nexen Inc. confirmed Nov. 6 that Buzzard oil field in the UK North Sea has resumed production after 2 months of maintenance work.

JV PetroMonagas produced 35.5 million bbl of oil from its fields in the eastern part of Venezuela’s Faja belt in the first 9 months of 2012, up 18% from output in the same period last year.

Gazprom managers have approved investments for an important step in the Eastern Gas Program integrating field developments, pipeline, and natural gas production centers in East Siberia and Russia’s Far East (OGJ Online, Sept. 17, 2012).

Statoil is shutting in the seven wells in Glitne oil field offshore Norway and closing the field.

Afren PLC and Amni International Petroleum Development Co. Ltd. have started production from an extension of Okoro oil field offshore southeastern Nigeria at a stabilized rate of 5,000 b/d of 38º gravity oil (OGJ Online, Mar. 7, 2012).

Suncor Energy Inc. has let a contract to Fluor Corp. for front-end project management and engineering services for second-phase development of its MacKay River in situ oil sands project in the northern Athabasca region of Alberta.

Under criticism from Azeri officials about production declines from the ACG oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea, BP PLC has held meetings in London and Baku with representatives of State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to discuss remedies.