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API’s response to five-year plan for offshore access
The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service recently proposed a new Five-Year Plan for Offshore Access. The plan, which covers 2010 through 2015, overlaps the current plan running from 2007 to 2012. It involves offshore access and leasing for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
Doug Morris, Group Director for Upstream and Industry Operations for (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Monday, April 20th, 2009
Iraq looks to France for oil and gas investment
In its quest to restore the war-torn nation’s energy infrastructure, Iraq is looking in an unusual direction for oil and gas investment – France. Vice President Adil Abd Al-Mahdi of Iraq visited France to meet with French petroleum supermajor Total for discussions on a multi-billion dollar deal.
Al-Mahdi said senior Iraqi officials are hoping (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Friday, April 17th, 2009
Cutbacks today may lead to higher oil tomorrow
Even though some of the cash-rich supermajors are maintaining oil and gas investment, a large portion of the petroleum sector is cutting back on capital spending. The continued low price of oil is curtailing investment in large infrastructure projects that are likely to become very important when oil demand rebounds.
OPEC has implemented multiple production (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Oil and gas supermajors keep energy sector riding high
Overall the energy industry is struggling with the continued low price of crude, but the oil and gas supermajors remain a positive force in the investment sector. The valuation of publicly traded petroleum firms is down, making those stocks attractive to investors looking to buy into energy. More importantly, despite the price of oil, (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
Gasoline plentiful as U.S. refiners produce less
Falling demand for petroleum, higher gasoline imports from Europe and a regulatory requirement to produce more ethanol in 2009 are factors causing the U.S. refining industry’s spring maintenance downtime to be more marked than usual, says the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
On a national basis, however, extra maintenance outages are not expected to have much (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
New technology in oil shale extraction
Oil companies have a new tool for extracting oil-shale reserves that significantly lowers production costs. An advanced heater cable limits the need for expensive mining techniques, which excavate and heat formations to extract the oil.
The new technology is based around a ceramic-composite material that withstands both high temperatures and constant exposure to moisture. The (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Monday, April 13th, 2009
Japan to make Venezuelan oil and gas investment
In a visit to Tokyo, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced plans for an oil and gas investment deal with Japan comprising of twelve petroleum projects. The total value of the deal is estimated to be above $33 billion. Chavez’s statement came on the heels of a meeting with Japan’s Gas and Metals Corporation (JOGMEC), (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Friday, April 10th, 2009
MidConExpo ‘09 Coming Soon
The Mid-Continent Prospect Expo (MidConExpo) is scheduled for May 6-7 at the Cox Business Services Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Companies such as ConocoPhillips, Chesapeake Energy, and Chaparral will be participating in this event, which provides a venue for mid-continent producers to buy and sell prospects and properties.
Bret Boteler, president of EnerMax, will (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Gazprom in the news
The international recession is taking its toll on Russia’s Gazprom. Although prime minister Vladimir Putin has provided state aid to the petroleum giant, the company recently announced that low natural gas demand is likely to force cuts in its multibillion-dollar 2009 oil and gas investment program. Domestic natural gas demand is down due to (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Thursday, April 9th, 2009
The Oil & Gas Investment Symposium New York coming soon
The Independent Petroleum Association of America’s Oil & Gas Investment Symposium New York is scheduled for April 20-22 and will be held at the Sheraton NY Hotel and Towers. This event is for publicly traded independent oil and gas exploration and production firms along with petroleum service and supply companies.
The Oil & Gas Investment (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
China petro giant to increase production and investment
Cnooc, China’s largest offshore oil and gas company, is planning to increase both production and oil and gas investment in 2009. The company announced a net profit of $6.5 billion in 2008, making it the sole firm from China’s “big three” petroleum companies to end 2008 in the black.
The current lower price of oil (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Gasoline Price to Steady This Summer
The price of gas won’t likely run up to $3 a gallon or more this summer, says a new U.S. Energy Information report. It will, however, hold above $2 per gallon.
Here’s how the EIA arrived at the forecast. It’s a conclusion based on what’s happened in the recent past.
Last year, because of higher (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Monday, April 6th, 2009
Russia stays outside OPEC
The lack of additional production cuts received most of the ink both real and virtual from the recent OPEC meeting in Vienna. Another area of speculation was whether Russia will formally join OPEC. The answer was no. OPEC has been openly courting Russia as a member nation and in the return Russia has been (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
A sign of things to come?
The international oil and gas industry is preparing for a bout of consolidation given the current environment. As the introduction to a Financial Times article put it, “The merger and acquisition market in the oil and gas industry has been like a ballroom at the start of the evening. Everyone knows there will be (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Saudi and Nigerian reactions to latest OPEC meeting
To the surprise of many, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) did not announce a new production cut when it convened recently in Vienna. Instead, OPEC’s stated goal is to increase compliance with reference to current production quotas among member nations.
Saudi Arabia, by most estimates, is contributing most heavily to the production cut (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Monday, March 30th, 2009
OPEC production cuts studied by market forecasters
With OPEC holding 43 percent of the world’s production capacity of crude oil and other petroleum liquids, market forecasters are closely monitoring whether it is “walking the talk” on production cuts stemming from lower world demand and weaker oil prices.
When OPEC met last on March 15, it resolved to encourage members to adhere to (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Thursday, March 26th, 2009
Focus on OPEC natural gas liquids reveals more tightening
The forecast for natural gas liquids production by OPEC was significantly lowered in this month’s Short-term Energy Outlook by the U.S Energy Information Administration.
According to “This Week in Petroleum,” OPEC natural gas liquids (NGLs) production for 2009 is now expected to be 38 percent lower (250,000 fewer barrels) than was expected last month. OPEC (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Monday, March 23rd, 2009
Domestic shale – building local markets and attracting European investment
Domestic shale plays are in an interesting position. Because the price of natural gas is very low right now and unconventional gas plays in shale require a higher level of expertise and more equipment than conventional plays, investment is suffering. At the same time there is a significant upswing in European interest in U.S. (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Friday, March 20th, 2009
No additional production cuts from OPEC
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) met recently in Vienna and, surprisingly, opted not to further reduce daily production. The cartel has made drastic cuts in production quotas since the second of half of 2008, and most analysts expected the Vienna meeting of OPEC to result in a new cut of roughly 1.5 (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Thursday, March 19th, 2009
Interior Secretary Salazar to meet with API board
United States Secretary of the Interior is expected to meet with the board of the American Petroleum Institute (API) to talk about the oil and gas industry’s role in the energy future of the United States. Discussions on promoting energy policies that encourage domestic oil and gas investment are also planned.
“My message to (read full article »)
Published in Industry News | on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009