Binh Son Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (BSR), a subsidiary of state-owned Vietnam National Oil & Gas Group (PetroVietnam), has awarded a contract to Amec Foster Wheeler for the upgrade and expansion of its Dung Quat refinery in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam.

An investigation is under way into a fire that occurred early on Aug. 29 at Syncrude Canada Ltd.’s upgrader in the Mildred Lake oil sands production area, about 40 km north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

The White House quietly refused to rule out oil and gas development in Alaska as US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John F. Kerry, and other top officials prepared to participate in a two-day Arctic issues conference Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 in Anchorage with other dignitaries from as many as 20 other countries.

The architect of a UK strategy to boost offshore oil and gas work has called on the government and industry to apply “clever thinking to incentivize investment.”

Eni SPA expects accelerated development of what it describes as a “supergiant gas discovery” at its deepwater Zohr prospect offshore Egypt. The company will immediately appraise its discovery, which it says might hold 30 tcf of lean gas in place in an area covering 100 sq km.

Buru Energy Ltd., Perth, has intersected a gross 23-m column of oil at the top of the Ungani Dolomite formation with its Praslin-1 wildcat drilled in permit EP 391 in the onshore Canning basin of Western Australia.

The crude oil price for October delivery climbed more than $2/bbl on the New York market Aug. 28 to settle above $45/bbl, ending a volatile trading week in which light, sweet crude oil prices gained nearly 12% during a week that started out with multiyear lows before rebounding steeply.

The UK Oil & Gas Authority has greenlighted development of high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) Culzean field in the central North Sea.