Norway-based Integrated StatoilHydro ASA (STO) intends to start production at the Peregrino heavy-oilfield in Brazil in early 2011. The company will start drilling wells in the first half of 2010 for this purpose.  The field is situated 85 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state near Cabo Frio and has an estimated 460 million barrels of recoverable oil. The company expects peak production to reach 100,000 barrels per day in 2012.  Until 1997, foreign companies were barred from the oil blocks of Brazil. Now the scenario has changed and many international integrateds are increasing production at their Brazilian blocks. This includes Chevron (CVX), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and ExxonMobil (XOM).  Given the maturity of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) region, where StatoilHydro has significant upstream focus, the company is looking for development of various international assets. The production from the ...

CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) expects to sign a deal with Norway’s StatoilHydro ASA (STO) soon to buy stakes in some deepwater exploration blocks in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM). StatoilHydro is putting five prospects on the market, out of its more than 400 leases in the U.S. GoM. The company had acquired these assets, with 100% working interest, in 2007 and 2008 lease sale. This deal could mark the introduction of China's foray into the U.S. GoM. The GoM remains one of the most abundant areas of the world for oil discoveries, with billions of barrels of crude believed to be trapped beneath the seabed. Chinese companies are pursuing assets acquisitions abroad to cope with the country’s increasing demand for oil and gas. But they are facing difficulties in tying up deals partly because the oil-rich countries want greater control over their resources. We ...

Following ExxonMobil’s (XOM) agreement last week to buy Kosmos Energy’s stake in oil blocks of the Jubilee oil field -- offshore of the West African country of Ghana -- for approximately $4 billion, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC (CEO), now makes a rival bid. CNOOC is in advanced talks with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, or GNPC. Earlier, many oil majors had shown interest in this deal, including Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and BP plc (BP). While the Chinese government is keen to secure access to more of the world's oil, the Ghanaian government wants to be a larger participant in Jubilee. The Jubilee region is emerging as a major new oil region, and Ghana is expected to be an oil exporter by the end of next year. The Jubilee field, discovered in 2007 off the coast of Ghana, could potentially ...