May 2004

A poor climate for investment in Argentina has led to an energy crisis just as Latin America?s largest gas producer and consumer heads into the region?s winter, writes Robert Olson

A golden triangle in the Gulf of Guinea, covering the deep-water areas of Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé e Príncipe, could be the oil industry's next boom province. Border disputes and other problems have acted as a brake on exploration since operations in 1,000-metre water depths became possible, but large discoveries made nearby have been an incentive towards resolving them. Martin Quinlan writes

An independent report makes some devastating revelations about the way the reserves-accounting crisis at Shell was handled. An independent review of reserves has added further downgrades. But with management changes made and remedial actions in place, Shell can begin to rebuild lost credibility. Tom Nicholls writes

Europe is, and is set to remain, the primary source of Gazprom's gas-export revenues. But the state-controlled Russian gas monopoly is broadening its horizons and plans to play a central role in regional natural gas flows. Isabel Gorst writes

LNG ambitions are pushing Iran to capitalise on its prodigious endowment of non-associated gas reserves. However the fragmented nature of the country's oil and gas industry and a difficult political climate are slowing development progress, James Gavin writes

With Russian and Chinese companies winning out in the kingdom's first gas licensing round, James Gavin questions whether the Saudis are rewarding political and commercial allies

Despite increased exploration, North American gas output is in decline, and US prices are high and volatile. The majors are focusing their attentions elsewhere and the industry is calling on the government to remove obstacles blocking exploration in environmentally sensitive regions, writes WJ Simpson

It has been a long time coming, but gas-to-liquids (GTL) ventures are starting to gain critical mass, with most of the development activity focused on the Middle East. James Gavin reports

Africa, already a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, will become increasingly important to consumers in the US and Europe by 2010. Where LNG is in production—Algeria, Libya and Nigeria—suppliers are implementing, or considering, large-scale upgrades to supply growing markets, Martin Clark reports

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme will launch on 1 January 2005. A PricewaterhouseCoopers report claims a worrying number of European utilities are poorly prepared for the new order, for which they may pay a hefty price. Tom Nicholls reports

In any jurisdiction, even in benign conditions, eliminating risk from a commercial bargain is difficult. Given its parlous security situation, will inward investors feel comfortable about contracting in Iraq? Steven A Wardlaw, partner, and Matthew Williams, associate, Baker Botts, London, write

The holders of large natural gas reserves now have three significant, high-volume methods of monetising those reserves, although all three are not necessarily appropriate in every case, writes Derek Bamber

Finland has taken great steps forward in its renewable energy industry, but also has a thriving nuclear sector

French SME customers will be able to choose their electricity supplier this summer. Is there the choice though?

Periodical reports may often arrive unwieldy and uninspiring, but occasionally there can be an exception, and even with an all-star cast