Jan 2002

Coal’s importance as an energy source in the US has been highlighted by recent power shortages. Although natural gas will continue to erode coal’s share of electricity generation, consumption is set to rise over the next few years as overall US energy demand expands. But the long-term prospects for this cheap and abundant fuel depend, to a large extent, on how environmental policy is shaped, writes Ellen Lask

With indications that it may be sitting on 500m barrels of recoverable oil reserves, Mongolia’s prospects as an exploration frontier have brightened. And its strategic location as a potential transit country for oil and gas export pipelines and an electricity transmission line from Russia to China could make this remote land a key energy corridor across northeast Asia, writes Paul Hueper

Henri Philippe Reichstul resigned as head of state-controlled Petrobras last month, having tansformed it into one of the world’s leading oil companies. But his tenure was marred by a string of environmental disasters, including the tragic sinking of the P-36 platform. Peter Kami talks to Reichstul and other senior Petrobras executives and industry figures

Conditions generally became less favourable for the worldwide independent storage business in 2001 – and there are forecasts of tough times this year, if the fall in demand for jet kerosene extends to other products. Lower utilisation rates will step up the pressure for industry restructuring, Martin Quinlan writes

The past 12 months have seen conflicting trends for terminal operators serving the European hinterland. Oil products price movements have not favoured speculative storage, but – for some products – there has been logistically driven growth in demand for storage capacity. Forecasts of cooling economies were scaling back demand for tank space in the latter months of last year, Martin Quinlan writes

The trends that dominated the independent petroleum products terminaling industry during the closing years of the 1990s – consolidation, regulation and growth – have continued into the opening years of the 21st century, writes Anne Feltus

Logistically driven operations are the key to the success of the independent storage business in Singapore. Large volumes of crude flow in, large volumes of refined products flow out, and – a fairly recent trend – substantial volumes of refined products flow in and out, in a balancing trade between Singapore and the new refineries of Asia’s high-growth countries. If it were not for terrorism and the resulting downturn of the last quarter, 2001 would have been a record year for Singapore’s oil movements, Martin Quinlan writes.

Venezuela’s vast, untapped gas resources and under-exploited markets offer significant investment opportunities for privately owned companies. Even so, progress with some projects, such as Venezuela LNG, remains slow. The oil sector is less accessible and, if the government pushes ahead with the new hydrocarbons law, will be all but closed to foreign capital, writes Tom Nicholls

PdV's ambitious investment plans for 2001-2006 are under review, as Opec-imposed cuts in national oil production widen the gap between output and capacity.

Venezuela's new hydrocarbons law, approved by presidential decree in November and due to come into force at the start of this month, may, by now, be on hold. A nationwide strike on 10 December, in response to a package of economic reforms proposed by President Hugo Chávez – particularly concerning land reform, but also elements of the oil law – brought businesses to a grinding halt. Fedecamaras, the country’s largest business confederation, called the strike to protest at the proposed widening of the state’s role in various industries.

Sideswiped by an enfeebled economy and a steep dive from last winter’s fleeting price spike, the North American natural gas sector is struggling to find any sign of certainty in 2002, writes WJ Simpson

North America’s natural gas industry is facing a middle-aged crunch, as the mainstay supply basins of the last 50 years show their age and the new, but geologically complex, deep plays present too much risk for smaller operators, writes WJ Simpson

Despite its first substantial offshore oil discovery in 33 years, Trinidad and Tobago remains predominantly a gas province. The country has thriving gas-based downstream and export sectors and, with the latest estimates of possible reserves exceeding 90 trillion cubic feet, the capacity to expand, writes David Renwick

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) business could maintain its rapid growth rate for several years, a report* claims.

Up to now, shut-in gas deposits have represented only unrecovered costs on the books of the companies and countries that discovered them. But with new natural gas refinery technology, they offer opportunities for huge additions to clean energy supply and bookable assets, writes Mark Agee, president and chief operating officer, Syntroleum

A strong new impulse towards a rapid 100% opening of gas and electricity markets is expected to come from EU heads of state and government when they meet in Barcelona, in March, writes Helen Avati

The Dolphin gas project promises, when the first gas is supplied from Qatar to Abu Dhabi in around three to four years’ time, to act as a template for increased regional co-operation in the Middle East. It will boost the use of domestically produced gas to supply local demand and will stimulate industrial growth, writes David Townsend.