OMV AG reported it will acquire 35% participating interest in Madagascar onshore Blocks 3109 and 3111 from Tullow Oil PLC, which will retain 65% and continue as operator. The transaction is subject to approval from Madagascar’s government.

State-owned Ecopetrol SA said work related to an ongoing expansion and modernization project at its refining subsidiary’s Refineria de Cartagena SA’s (Reficar) 80,000-b/d refinery in Cartagena, Colombia, led to lower output during this year’s first quarter.

The US oil and gas industry recorded its highest volume of first quarter mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in more than a decade, PwC US Energy Practice said in an Apr. 30 report on transactions with value greater than $50 million. The movement was a result of rising upstream activities and increased interest from foreign entities.

Denver independent Whiting Petroleum Corp. reported that James T. Brown, president and chief operating officer since 2011, will retire. James J. Volker, chairman and chief executive officer, will assume the additional position of president.

Following an Apr. 29 meeting in Moscow, OAO Gazprom said it is preparing to sign a gas supply contract with China National Petroleum Corp. in May.

Oil futures climbed on both New York and London markets Apr. 29 upon continuing uncertainty regarding futures steps that the West might take against Russia because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

OAO Gazprom and OMV AG have agreed on construction terms for the Austrian section of the 32 billion cu m/year South Stream natural gas pipeline, ending in Baumgarten. The companies plan to secure all permits by yearend 2015, with first gas deliveries in 2017 and full commissioning January 2018.