Oct 2006

The removal of an essential environmental permit has thrown the future of Sakhalin Energy's LNG project into doubt, much to the anger of investors and off-takers, writes Isabel Gorst

In five years as chairman, Subir Raha turned a failing, domestic-oriented ONGC into a powerful international operator. But ONGC needs to branch out downstream. Interview by Tom Nicholls

The trundling reform of UES will move into high gear next month with the flotation of OGK-5, a generating company created during restructuring of the world's biggest power firm, writes Isabel Gorst

International Investment Agreements, such as the Energy Charter Treaty, are a powerful risk-mitigation tool for investors, but they have their limitations, says Mark Levy, partner at Allen & Overy LLP

INTERNATIONAL oil companies (IOCs) need two "green lights" before they invest in Iraq, Royal Dutch Shell chief executive officer Jeroen van der Veer told last month's Opec summit. One is a fully functioning judicial system that clearly defines investment conditions. The other is sufficient security to enable staff to operate safely, reports James Gavin.

As the oil industry's workforce expands to meet rising energy demand, a successful training programme has become a vital ingredient of success, writes Tom Nicholls

Unless it finds a lot more gas, Egypt's dreams of doubling exports will be stuck in the sand, writes Derek Brower

JUST A dozen miles offshore lies a gasfield that could transform Palestine, pumping more than $1bn in taxes and royalties into one of the world's poorest economies. But first the field's developer, BG, needs to decide which customer will receive the gas. Derek Brower reports.

The US Gulf of Mexico is an established sub-salt oil play, but so far in the South Atlantic, all of the commercial hydrocarbons discoveries have been above the salt-layer. However, with exploration only just beginning offshore Brazil, the prospects look good, writes Robert Cauclanis

Chevron's $2.3bn BBLT development, in Angola's deep waters, came on stream early this year through only the third Compliant Piled Tower structure installed worldwide. The analysis and planning process leading to the selection of this innovative structure started as long ago as late 1998 – over four years before development approval, Martin Quinlan writes

Given forecasts for significant oil-demand growth, interest in Nigeria's deep-water acreage is gathering pace, writes Martin Clark

News of a first deep-water discovery off the coast of China this year has aroused considerable interest in what is still largely an unknown territory. In June, Canada's Husky Energy made a "significant gas discovery" with its Liwan 3-1-1 exploration well in Block 29/26 in the South China Sea – the deepest well to be drilled offshore China, writes Martin Clark.

International interest in projects in the US Gulf of Mexico continues to soar, with foreign companies now regularly dominating lease sales, predominantly for deep-water acreage, where success rates are high, reservoirs are typically large and wells tend to be highly productive, writes Anne Feltus

The cluster of small, mainly UK firms licensed to explore for oil in UK-controlled waters around the Falkland Islands are fast approaching a moment of truth, as they prepare to put in place their first exploration rigs, writes Ian Lewis

Whatever the real reason behind Russia's decision to cut off crude supplies to Lithuania through the Druzhba pipeline, the affair highlights the vulnerability of Central and Eastern Europe's refiners to oil supply disruptions, writes NJ Watson

Forming a comprehensive energy partnership with Beijing – helping the government meet its economic, energy and environmental requirements – is the best strategy for investment in China, says Boston Consulting Group*

The first multilateral agreement between the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea is a welcome sign, but it does not presage an over-arching agreement on the division of the sea, writes NJ Watson