Jun 2004

Winter congestion in the Turkish straits, the narrow waterway linking the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, wreaked havoc in the tanker market at the turn of the year, sending freight rates soaring. Unfortunately for Russian exporters, waiting up to a month to ship oil out, a solution may be some way off, writes Martin Clark

Colombia's new investment terms are attracting renewed attention from foreign investors, but output will continue to decline in the near term until fresh exploration yields new discoveries, writes Robert Olson

The UK's revised national allocation plan for CO2 emissions caps under the European Emissions Trading Scheme is, in general, more lenient on UK industry than January's draft version was, eliciting sighs of relief from some businesses, including the offshore and refining sectors. However, other countries seem likely to give their industries an easier ride, which could damage UK competitiveness and undermine the scheme's contribution to climate-change mitigation. Tom Nicholls writes

The energy industry's infatuation with the deep-water Gulf of Mexico has been under way for almost a decade. Although there are signs of strain in the relationship at present, industry experts expect passions to re-ignite over the next few years, Anne Feltus reports from Houston's Offshore Technology Conference

Well documented problems in Japan's nuclear industry, including cover-ups and safety scares, could undermine the government's attempts to build greater energy security as well as threaten key environmental targets. Martin Clark reports

A new book, The Fundamentals of Energy Infrastructure Security: Risk Mitigation in the International Environment, examines past and present threats to the energy industry from terrorism, low-intensity conflict and war, and provides a guide to effective risk-mitigation techniques for energy companies operating in difficult security environments. Pooling information from the world's trouble spots could significantly enhance the ability of companies to make accurate threat assessments, optimise security planning and protect facilities more effectively, says Paul Hueper, the book's author

Neither Chevron nor Texaco was regarded as a heavyweight in the global natural gas business. But after the merger of the two companies the complementarity of their skills and assets quickly became apparent. Peter Robertson, vice-chairman, ChevronTexaco Corporation, and John Gass, president and chief executive, ChevronTexaco Global Gas, talk to Derek Bamber

With major new oil and gas projects seeking finance, banks may be moving back into the energy project finance market. But financing structures are looking more varied and complex, reports James Gavin

Nigeria LNG has secured sub-Saharan Africa's biggest-ever project financing - without it being a true project-finance structure. The firm's managing director, Andrew Jamieson, talks to James Gavin

With energy sector restructuring almost complete, Japanese exploration firms are waking up to the real world. The question is can they handle it? Martin Clark reports

Gas has been good to the Netherlands for 40 years, priming growth and underpinning the economy in difficult times - while paying for the most comprehensive social-security system in Europe. Unsurprisingly, the Dutch do not want to dismantle their gasgebouw - the legal and corporate "gas building" they set up to manage their resources. But change seems inevitable, Martin Quinlan writes

While the UK gas industry has been preoccupied with replacing the declining volume of domestic production, the safety characteristics of new supply options has taken a back seat. Liz Bossley talks to Kelvin Beer, of Deloitte Petroleum Services, about the major challenge presented by diverse imported gas quality in the race to secure future supply for the UK market