The oil and gas industry kept a close watch over development projects during 2017, particularly those offshore Guyana and Congo (Brazzaville) and in Egypt's West Nile Delta. Forecasts from various sources also were monitored to assist in determining in which direction oil demand and prices were headed, where and how much drilling was occurring, and how the job market was being affected.
A strong indicator of these trends is that four of the top 10 news stories, based on the number of potential impressions*, posted to Oil & Gas Journal's Twitter feed for calendar year 2017 were about development projects or the start up of field production.
Five of the top 10 stories were about overall industry outlooks, drilling forecasts, and job market viability. And one of the top 10 stories was about the latest bid round offshore Mexico.
The list
The top 10 news story tweets posted during the 2017 calendar year receiving the most potential impressions via Twitter, in reverse order, are as follows:
10. Jan. 25:BP Energy Outlook: Global energy demand to grow 30% to 2035. (According to the 2017 edition of BP's Energy Outlook, global energy demand is forecast to increase about 30% to 2035, an average growth of 1.3%/year, driven by increasing prosperity in developing countries, partially offset by rapid gains in energy efficiency.)
9. June 30:Mexico awards 10 of 15 shallow-water blocks in latest bid round. (Mexico's Round 2.1, held June 19, included shallow-water blocks in the Tampico-Misantla, Veracruz, and Southeast basin areas along the country's Gulf Coast. Twenty companies and 16 joint ventures from 15 countries took part in the bidding.)
8. Apr. 6:Top tension risers installed on Total's Moho Nord field off Congo. (The first of 17 production top tension risers were installed on Total E&P's Moho Nord field offshore Congo (Brazzaville). The installation was done on the tension-leg platform in about 800 m of water.)
7. Mar. 30:ExxonMobil makes third oil discovery offshore Guyana. (Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Ltd. encountered 82 ft of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs while drilling the Snoek well on the Stabroek block offshore Guyana.)
6. Mar. 6:IEA forecasts possible oil undersupply, price spike after 2020. (Global oil supply could struggle to keep pace with demand after 2020, risking a sharp increase in prices, unless new projects are approved soon, according to the latest 5-year oil market forecast from the International Energy Agency.)
5. June 30:MEI: Offshore drilling has reached, neared bottom. (London-based energy data and analytics firm McKinsey Energy Insights released its latest Offshore Drilling Market Outlook to 2030, saying activity appears to have reached or neared the bottom. Most of the drilling rig overhang from before 2015 has been removed, it said.)
4. Aug. 1:Study: US oil, gas industry supported 10.3 million jobs in 2015. (The US oil and gas industry's total employment impact to the national economy in 2015, combining operational and capital investment impacts, amounted to 10.3 million full-time and part-time jobs and accounted for 5.6% of total US employment, according to a study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute and conducted by PwC LLP.)
3. July 25:ExxonMobil finds more oil with Payara-2 well off Guyana. (ExxonMobil Corp.'s Payara-2 well offshore Guyana, drilled to 5,812 m in 2,135 m of water, encountered 18 m of "high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone," the operator said. The result increases the total Payara discovery to 500 million boe and the estimated gross recoverable resource for the 26,800-sq-km Stabroek block to 2.25-2.75 billion boe.)
2. May 11:BP begins gas production from West Nile Delta. (BP PLC began gas production from Taurus and Libra fields, the first two of five fields in the West Nile Delta development of Egypt. The fields are currently producing more than 700 MMscfd of sales gas and 1,000 b/d of condensate.)
1. Dec. 1:Baker Hughes: US rig count climbs 6 units to 929. (The US rig count climbed for the fourth straight week with a 6-unit gain to 929 rigs working during the week ended Dec. 1, data from Baker Hughes indicate.)
*Potential impression: The number of times a user is served a tweet in their timeline or through search results.
