May 2002

The flow of gas into Europe could increase by more than twice the present production of Norway or the Netherlands, over the next four years. Although Europe’s demand has been expanding strongly, the arrival of so much additional gas threatens to de-stabilise the market – and it could undermine investments now going ahead in remote high-cost fields, Martin Quinlan writes

Turkey’s gas ambitions appear boundless. But if consumption forecasts are not fulfilled, the state’s gas company could find itself the weakest seller in the Mediterranean market, Martin Quinlan writes

Algeria is about to launch a new major integrated gas project, as well as its third upstream licensing round. At the same time, work is progressing on plans to create power and gas export links with Spain and Italy. Chakib Khelil, the energy minister, discusses some of these plans with David Townsend

Over one-third of the world’s proved and probable natural gas reserves lack any immediate prospect of development for markets. At today’s rate of world consumption, of around 90 trillion cubic feet a year, they are equivalent to about 22 year’s supplies. Fred Thackeray and George Leckie examine some of the problems of, and potential solutions to accessing the undeveloped reserves

The areas available for oil and gas exploitation in Brazil are vast and, in most cases, barely explored. The regulator is confident that major discoveries are still to be made and expects the fourth annual licensing round to be a success. But while private oil firms remain optimistic over the longer-term prospects, the confidence of the sector in general would benefit from a big commercial discovery, writes Tom Nicholls

Exploration in the US Rocky Mountains has been going on for decades. But never before has the region seemed so promising for the companies with the expertise to exploit its vast resource of natural gas – potentially the greatest in the US. The only problem is access, writes Derek Brower

A 40-year offshore boundary dispute between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland has been settled, spawning government and industry hopes of new oil and gas discoveries in a region where exploration has been waning, writes WJ Simpson

With output outstripping discoveries, Russia must increase exploration. Most prospective, under-explored regions present major commercial and technical challenges and it may be some time before developments take off. But Lukoil claims it has opened a new oil province in the north Caspian Sea. And in addition to Yamal and Irkutsk, the Sakha republic could augment the country’s immense gas reserves, writes Isabel Gorst

Booming electricity demand across the Middle East is driving power-sector expansion, but without foreign finance, progress is slow. The smaller emirates are leading the way with independent power projects, while Riyadh suffers power shortages and debates the merits of private-sector investment, writes James Gavin

Independent power projects (IPPs) in east and southeast Asia have lost their allure. What started as a good idea for boosting electricity production and attracting private, mainly foreign, investors into cash-strapped, inefficient power utilities has mostly gone sour, writes Derek Bamber

With a fast-growing economy and rapidly increasing population, India must increase energy production to match expected future consumption. The government has begun an energy sector reform programme and new legislation on oil products market deregulation was introduced last month. David Townsend reports

BG has been establishing a presence in the Indian gas chain for over 10 years. It is now broadening its operations to encompass upstream as well as downstream, through its recent acquisition of Enron’s assets in the country and other projects. David Townsend spoke to BG’s local manager

Statoil is facing a legal challenge to its proposed Snøhvit LNG project in the far north of Norway. Securing permission to launch the project is viewed as playing a major part in both Statoil and the Norwegian government’s future gas strategy, reports David Townsend

Construction risk mitigation measures are crucial if financing is to be forthcoming for power generation projects. But achieving the balance between complexity and competition in the EPC arrangements is fundamental

Australia's energy markets have evolved from a series of separate state ventures towards more integrated regional markets. But where is the country's energy sector heading to next?

The prospect that a California-style restructuring disaster could happen elsewhere is a prickly issue. Wherever electric deregulation has begun, policy makers should be asking themselves some tough questions

European Commission proposals in the first days of 2002 called for acceleration in European deregulation with the aim of creating a single European market, but just how competitive is the European market?

Policies aimed at curbing atmospheric emissions of pollution and greenhouse gases have been unveiled in the US. Are these measures effective?