Jan 2005

Strong demand for tank space and the rising profile of the Asia-Pacific region have led to projects for two new petroleum terminals in Singapore. The construction of underground storage capacity is also under study. A sharp increase in oil-products trade is driving the growth, Martin Quinlan writes

Business conditions are increasingly polarised to location. Tank space at the big trading ports is seeing high occupancy and throughputs, but logistically driven operations elsewhere can face strong competition, Martin Quinlan writes

When oil and gas prices hit record lows in the late 1990s, owner/operators of low-volume stripper wells were forced to shut in or plug and abandon many of their wells. So, with prices near all-time highs, are those operators scrambling to bring those assets back on line? Not necessarily, reports Anne Feltus

Stock markets in the City of London witnessed an oil bonanza last year, with a number of small oil and gas companies joining the City's Alternative Investment Market. Comparisons are being made with the dot.com boom, but, writes Steve Hawkes, the interest in oil stocks is based on much stronger fundamentals

AT first sight it appears counterintuitive. Ploughing up to 170,000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) ? stockpiled in vast underground salt caverns at four sites in Texas and Louisiana ? at a time of plus $40 a barrel oil prices, seems an expensive gambit for the US authorities, writes James Gavin

The high oil price has proved a boon for the US majors. But increased revenues does not automatically translate into a ratcheting-up of E&P spend, writes James Gavin

High oil prices threaten to take a toll on developing Asian economies, assisted by the region's poor energy efficiency and fondness for costly fuel subsidies. Paradoxically, this could be for the best. Cris Heaton reports

Imperial Oil, 69.6% owned by ExxonMobil and the largest integrated oil company in Canada, ended years of speculation in October by moving its head office to Calgary, after 124 years in Toronto. It was a symbolic move that cemented Calgary's place as Canada's oil capital, writes WJ Simpson

Driven by combinations of their technological know-how, a gambler's nerve and shrinking opportunities on their home turf, Calgary's oil-patch leaders are scouring the world for challenges, writes WJ Simpson

Tripoli has embarked on a wide-ranging series of economic reforms and is throwing open its prized energy sector to private investment. The present licensing round has attracted significant interest from foreign players and, combined with hefty investment in existing fields, should help National Oil Corporation achieve large expansions in oil and gas production capacity. Abdulla El-Badri, chairman of the management committee of NOC, talks to Tom Nicholls, in Tripoli

World oil markets are adjusting to the new reality of lower spare capacity, greater volatility and a higher range of prices. A US dollar crisis, or a slow-down in world demand coinciding with a surge in new supply, could see prices fall substantially. But in all probability - with Chinese expansion continuing relentlessly, Iraq unstable and relations between the US and Iran deteriorating - oil prices will remain strong, argue Roger Diwan and Jamal Qureshi of PFC Energy

High world prices have encouraged an oil boom in Russia, where production is rising faster than predicted in the country's energy strategy 2020, published in August 2003. But signs are that, although output will continue to rise, growth will slow over the coming few years. And although Russia will continue to pump more oil onto world markets, its ability to undercut international prices will be limited, Isabel Gorst reports

The creation of a new, giant state-owned oil and gas entity marks a major shake-up in the structure of the Russian oil sector, which since the mid-1990s has been predominantly in private hands. And the new entity has already set its sights on growth - first stop, Yuganskneftegaz, writes Isabel Gorst

THE WORLD's largest and second-largest independent storage operators, Vopak and Oiltanking, have both reported reduced profits ? largely as a consequence of the devaluation of the US and Singapore dollars against the euro

Russia's decision not to sign a co-operation agreement over the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline has cast doubts over the project's viability. But it may just be that Russia is trying to exert its influence in the region and secure better terms, writes NJ Watson