Jul 2002

The accelerating diversification and expansion of the worldwide liquefied natural gas business is creating opportunities for entirely new supply and marketing strategies. Fred Thackeray examines the path-breaking commercial strategies of the leading companies

it seems a bit late to be cheering the end of the cold war more than a decade after the Soviet Union fell apart and Russia opened its doors to West. But that is how the partnership forged between the US and Russia after September’s terrorist attacks in the US is being celebrated, writes Isabel Gorst.

The government has promised to clean up the country’s economy and help the oil and gas sector realise its full potential, ending years of inefficiency and corruption. David Townsend looks at some of the recent developments in Nigeria

The energy potential of some of the region’s smaller countries shows great promise. But a lack of infrastructure, scant exploration activity by the majors, struggling economies and isolation from consuming markets have resulted in insufficient investment in energy projects, writes David Townsend

Although there is limited potential for offsetting PNG’s declining oil output, the country has large untapped gas resources. A multinational consortium continues to search for potential gas customers in Queensland, Australia, to supply through a proposed 3,200-km pipeline. Despite the recent loss of a key supply contract, the project’s economics are still hard to beat, reports Paul Hueper from Port Moresby

Last year was a bad one for the worldwide chemicals business, but there are signs that 2002 is bringing a limited upturn in demand. With the industry’s manufacturing capacity generally under-utilised, however, it is likely to be next year before margins start to grow, Martin Quinlan writes

This year’s survey is Petroleum Economist’s 25th consecutive annual analysis of the worldwide chemicals business – a quarter-century during which chemicals profitability has cycled from deep negative troughs to heady peaks. A continuing theme is over-capacity, caused initially by Opec’s oil price shocks of the 1970s and the resulting lowering of chemicals demand and, subsequently, by over-investment during business up-cycles.

The UK’s decision to increase North Sea taxes has infuriated upstream operators. Although the North Sea’s fiscal regime remains among the most generous in the world, operators say the change will wipe value off the upstream portfolios of many of the players and force further asset rationalisations, writes Derek Brower

In October 2001, the European Commission report, Electricity liberalisation indicators in Europe, pointed out that wholesale electricity trading markets “provide means of hedging the risks associated with market competition and variations in system balancing regimes. The structure and operation of wholesale markets can, therefore, provide a good indication of both the state of liberalisation and the potential for development.” Liz Bossley and Greta Jacobs examine the development of electricity exchanges across Europe

Alaska’s northern coastal plain is experiencing the energy-industry equivalent of urban sprawl, as oil firms extend their search for hydrocarbons farther from Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk, the giant fields that drew them to the region more than 45 years ago. Anne Feltus reports

The battle to build a pipeline to move Arctic gas to market rages on. At issue are two alternative routes that have been proposed for the multi-billion-dollar development, the largest privately funded construction project in US history. Both sides are bringing out their big guns in an effort to capture the prize, writes Anne Feltus

Long viewed as an important future oil and gas player in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has taken some time to realise its potential. However, in the last few months, various new projects across the energy sector have been announced. David Townsend looks at recent developments