Aug 2003

The two most important oil and gas producing sectors of the North Sea are looking increasingly different as investment prospects. In UK waters, there is an acceleration of asset sales by the major companies – and a rapid advance of the specialist producers, with strategies to benefit from smaller-scale operations. In Norwegian waters – where costs and risks are higher – large firms still predominate, Martin Quinlan writes

Times are tough for contractors to the oil and gas industry – competition is intense and margins are threadbare, especially on fixed-price Epic contracts. Operators are having a field day, but contractors are hunting for ways to boost their bottom lines. Low profits are also in danger of inhibiting investment in the innovation that Shell’s chairman, Philip Watts, says is essential for the future. Nigel Ash reports

New pressures are transforming NOCs’ modus operandi, with Colombia’s Ecopetrol the latest to be pushed into a more competitive world. But have the international majors really won the day? James Gavin reports

Venezuelan oil production is recovering, but at a cost, claims a new report. Short-term gains could result in long-term pain, as inadequate maintenance, insufficient investment and reservoir damage erode output capacity. Tom Nicholls reports

Since its creation, in 1974, the IEA has sought to protect the security of energy supply to its member countries. Claude Mandil, the organisation’s recently appointed executive director, spoke to Helen Avati recently about security of oil supply, strategic oil stocks, energy investment and the organisation’s relationships with Opec and the EU

The US energy-trading industry has suffered two years of upheaval and trauma. The high-profile collapse of Enron and the aftermath of the California electricity crisis forced several companies to take desperate financial measures – for some it was too little, too late. Anne Feltus reports

Partners in Canada’s Mackenzie Gas Project are moving swiftly into the regulatory phase. But a parallel venture in Alaska, which would be North America’s largest energy undertaking, is stuck in a political tug-of-war, reports WJ Simpson

By ditching the PSA system, the Russian government and parliament are working against the national interest because it will result in a loss of tax revenues to the state. Only the opponents of the system stand to gain by its removal, writes Andrei Konoplianik, deputy general secretary of the Energy Charter Secretariat

A new deep-water terminal at Murmansk would transform prospects for Russian crude exports. But until then – 2007 at the earliest – Primorsk, on the Gulf of Finland, is likely to become increasingly congested as an export terminal and the Baltic Sea will see rising tanker traffic, reports Isabel Gorst

Until pipeline imports become a reality, LNG offers the only near-term solution to India’s pressing gas shortage. But for the gas market to flourish, significant government intervention is needed. Amanda Burton reports

At last, the government is taking steps to revitalise the electricity industry. Until now, market-oriented reforms have been resisted by local politicians, worried that enforcing unpopular modernisation policies would cost them votes. Amanda Burton reports

After an exceptionally good 2002 for insurance brokers, carriers and underwriters, in terms of profitability, insurance buyers in the energy sector are fighting back. Some firms are reducing some types of cover, while others are dropping some lines altogether. They appear to be winning concessions, Derek Bamber reports

The management of nuclear power plant decommissioning provisions is stirring up a storm in the EU. With each member state defining its own policy, there is concern among environmental campaigners that the funds, to be set aside for the dismantling and decontamination of nuclear plants, are being channelled for uses other than their intended purpose, writes James Gavin

A new European Electricity Directive (EED) will replace its 1996 predecessor shortly, reinforcing the intentions of the earlier directive. Liz Bossley and Sam Murray, of Ceag, report