Jan 2001

Having wrapped up two bidding rounds for exploration licences, a third is now in progress. The success of the two previous rounds bodes well for the latest offering. However, there is still some way to go to ensure the necessary regulations are in place before some players will commit. By Joshua Dylan Mellars

Corralling corporate cowboys A rash of major catastrophes in the UK, including two train crashes, a sunken ship and a fire in a public transport station, has prompted legislators to consider a new law regarding involuntary manslaughter. The law would provide a vehicle for the criminal prosecution of corporations found responsible for fatalities, writes Maureen McGinn.

Europe’s energy ministers have the daunting task of securing the EU’s energy supply, meeting commitments to member states made at Kyoto and simultaneously proceeding with the liberalisation of energy markets. A recent green paper shows that the EU is gearing up to meet the challenge. Helen Avati reports

Last year was a relatively good one for the independent storage business – tank utilisation rates at hub locations increased, although not by enough to warrant a large increase in fees. Conditions were sufficiently strong, however, to slow the process of industry restructuring, which was launched by the creation of Vopak. Meanwhile, there are signs that the merging of former-Pakhoed’s and former-Van Ommeren’s operations to create Vopak is not proceeding as smoothly as planned, writes Martin Quinlan

The past 12 months have seen strange times for the independent storage terminals of northwest Europe. At the big “gateway” locations, increased physical trade has made up for the absence of contangoes – but, paradoxically, physical trade has been relatively light at the locations where physical trade drives the business. Uncertain oil markets are the key, Martin Quinlan writes

The key to the good health of Singapore’s independent storage business, despite the recent ups and downs of Asian economies, is that Singapore storage is predominantly a physical market. The construction of new refining capacity in Asia’s high-growth countries has brought more physical business to the Singapore “hub”, so storage operators are happy. But the business outlook for tank capacity elsewhere in Asia is more variable, Martin Quinlan writes

If you have trouble sleeping at night, do not bother to count sheep. Just watch the fluctuations in the independent refined petroleum products terminaling business. In short, there are none. Things change so slowly in this industry that you are likely to nod off waiting for something to happen, writes Anne Feltus.

Consensus in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry is that the coming years will see strong growth, as demand is expected to double to at least 200m tonnes a year (t/y) by 2010, writes Victoria Thomas.

The Tosco-Arcadia legal dispute last year highlighted a fundamental malaise in the oil price formation process. Producers and refiners are increasingly disenchanted with the central role of Dated Brent as a reference point for pricing a large proportion of the world’s crude oil. Liz Bossley examines one possible solution, the so-called BWave weighted-average futures price published daily by the IPE

Alleged monopolisation and squeezing of the Brent market last year has prompted the close examination of the UK’s crude markets. The UK government and regulators are examining their options, but there is little enthusiasm for taking the bull by the horns, writes Liz Bossley

As Brazil continues to liberalise its oil and gas sector, privately owned companies are poised to move further into the country. Many who entered Brazil during the country’s first two bidding rounds are preparing to drill their first exploratory wells. And recent discoveries in traditional, deep-water offshore oil producing basins and newer finds in shallow offshore basins suggest the country’s hydrocarbon potential is only just beginning to be tapped. By Joshua Dylan Mellars

By the summer, the Spanish power market, one of Europe’s most attractive in terms of demand growth, will have undergone a major transformation. Assuming there are no last-minute surprises, the country’s two largest electricity companies, Endesa and Iberdrola, will have merged and will be selling off swathes of assets to new entrants, including foreign companies, writes Tom McBride