Jan 2006

With no new world-scale oilfields discovered in the last five years, companies are looking elsewhere to meet their pressing reserves-replacement targets, reports Martin Clark

Saudi Arabia has become the latest member the region's expanding roster of private power producers. In mid-November, the kingdom signed its first privately financed independent power and water project (IWPP)

With the Kremlin unflinchingly pursuing its aim of reasserting state control over Russia's energy sector, 2005 will prove to have been a decisive year in the history of the Russian oil and gas business. Isabel Gorst assesses events shaping the sector

Russia's energy sector needs large investments over the next 20-30 years, which experts say cannot be financed from domestic sources alone. NJ Watson reports

The shorter-than-expected list of resources classified as strategic – and, therefore, off-limits to foreigners – has surprised, and encouraged, many observers. But other legislative changes highlight Russia's ambivalence towards foreign investment, writes NJ Watson

AFTER Hurricane Katrina halted drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) in September and forced refineries that count on crude from the region to curtail production, the government came to the rescue. For only the second time in history, it tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), writes Anne Feltus

The independent storage business is doing well, on the strength of a structural increase in demand for its services. In the main trading and supply locations, surplus capacity has been mopped up by demand growth and expansion projects are being implemented, Martin Quinlan writes

Three new independent storage terminals are under construction in Singapore, all for start-up this year. The country's oil-storage business is booming and the large operators say the new capacity will be fully utilised, Martin Quinlan writes

Independent storage operators in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) area have seen a surge in demand for tank space. The signs are that the upturn is structural – so investments in new capacity are going ahead, Martin Quinlan writes

IT'S A GREAT time to be in the US petroleum storage business. With imports of crude oil and gasoline reaching record levels and domestic refineries churning out products at an almost unprecedented pace, utilisation rates have continued to climb at the tank farms that serve the energy industry, Anne Feltus reports

The need for energy independence and fuel diversity, environmental concerns and growing public support are behind a resurgence of nuclear power in the US, writes Ellen Lask

Some refiners are planning to boost capacity and the government is introducing policies to encourage capacity additions. But the US' refineries are – and are likely to remain for several years – unable to keep up with the country's rapacious demand for gasoline. Anne Feltus reports

Robust crack spreads have proved a boon to independent US refiners, but they will remain conservative about expanding capacity. Together with a tougher regulatory environment, a continuation of tight products markets can be expected, says James Gavin

Proposals for windfall taxes gained support during a period of higher gasoline prices and populist sentiment against oil companies, but the majors are fighting their corner, reports James Gavin

The IEA has put the Middle East at the centre of its global oil production growth forecasts. But is it investing too much hope in an area rife with political risk and dubious investment regimes? Writes James Gavin

The wave of so-called coloured revolutions that have swept the former Soviet Union in the past two years were all sparked by election fraud. So, naturally, there was concern that Kazakhstan, where a presidential election took place on 4 December, might be next for regime change. Isabel Gorst reports from Almaty

Oil-sands developers are seeing a shift in focus from the economics of production to the urgent need to establish markets, and build pipelines and plants to convert output into synthetic crude, writes WJ Simpson

According to locals, oil in the Middle East has been more of a curse than a blessing. Is Qatar learning from the region's mistakes? Ayesha Daya reports from Doha

Qatar has ambitions to be the largest LNG shipowner in the world, ensuring its participation along the value chain, writes Ayesha Daya

UK gas consumers had a shock in November when spot prices suddenly increased five-fold. They remained high into last month. With nine years of net exports having come to an end in 2004 and North Sea gas production forecast to decline fairly rapidly, some say price spikes will be a continuing feature of the UK market. Others say large-scale imports, through infrastructure due to be completed this year and next, could help to restore price stability, Martin Quinlan writes

Iraq: The spoils of war

Nigeria: NLNG eyes further expansion

In contrast to west Africa, exploration activity in east Africa has been limited. But the prospect of a deep-water well this year off the coast of Kenya reflects a gradual increase in interest in this quiet corner of Africa, writes Martin Clark

Former Petróleos de Venezuela (PdV) chairman and chief executive, Luis Giusti, on Venezuela's falling oil production, the threat to the apertura process, and Chávista politics. Interview by Ayesha Daya

IT WAS hailed as a signpost to a renewables-powered future by the Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group and enthusiastically welcomed by environmentalists. But the 2003 White Paper that aimed to define a long-term strategic vision for energy policy, combining the environment, security of supply, competitiveness and social goals, now appears hopelessly outdated. Chris Webb writes

DNO has begun exploring for oil in Iraq – the first company to do so since the US-led invasion. The Norwegian firm's investment is not just high-risk because of the security situation, but also because of the unsound legal regime. And because it has been agreed with a regional authority, it may further hinder attempts to rebuild the country, writes Ayesha Daya

Gazprom is planning to open up new export routes to northern and southern Europe that will eventually ring the continent with pipelines. Foreign majors are being lured into high cost, technically demanding pipeline projects with the promise of access to Russian gasfields and security of gas supply, writes Isabel Gorst

Ceaseless pipeline attacks have prevented a smooth flow of crude exports from Iraq. Although alternative pipelines do exist, making them operational often depends on politics, writes Ayesha Daya

A bitter row between the World Bank and the government of Chad over the management of oil revenues could carry wider implications for investment in major oil and gas projects in Africa, writes Martin Clark

Latin American governments have announced a number of pipeline mega-projects in recent months, but the region's politics continue to be the biggest obstacle to project development, reports Robert Olson

Energy security – its relevance highlighted by the recent dispute between Russia and Ukraine – is at the top of Moscow's agenda as Russia assumes the G8 presidency. The Energy Charter is the answer, argues Andrei Konoplyanik, deputy secretary general of the Energy Charter Secretariat

Energy firms have largely ignored the Indian subcontinent for the past 15 years, but Cairn's spectacular exploration success in Rajasthan has encouraged the majors to return to India, writes NJ Watson

Technological advances have made the development of previously off-limits Arctic oil and gas reserves a real prospect, but political consensus behind exploration and production activity in environmentally sensitive regions remains elusive. James Gavin reports

Southeast Europe is the new investment frontier for international power companies, although progress towards opening the electricity markets in the region is likely to be halting. By NJ Watson

The world's 10th-largest economy is heavily dependent on imports for its crude requirements. But South Korea's state-owned oil company is gearing up for some ambitious exploration and production plays to boost the country's supply security, writes James Gavin

South Korea continues to show strong demand for LNG, but the competition for supplies is intensifying, writes James Gavin

With processing capacity of 2.5m b/d, South Korea is one of the Asia-Pacific region's major refining centres. The country's refiners are increasingly targeting products sales at China, reports James Gavin

Not content to be outdone by China's big state-owned oil groups, a new breed of Japanese exploration and production firm is on the acquisition trail overseas, writes Martin Clark