Jun 2007

Sonatrach has money, technology, reserves and markets, says Algerian energy minister Chakib Khelil. What, he asks, can private-sector oil companies do for Algiers? Interview by Tom Nicholls

Resigned to a global-warming apocalypse? David Jenkins, former head of technology at BP, has some words of comfort. Interview by Tom Nicholls

Plans for two more gas export lines are firming up, with one due to start flowing in 2010 and the other in 2012. One landfall option for the first could take the country head-on with Gazprom, Martin Quinlan writes

A bumper year of mergers and acquisitions activity has been dominated by the actions of state-owned companies and by politics. Derek Brower reports

M&A among smaller firms is still an attractive investment in the richer economies

Europe's big utilities are restructuring under European Commission guidance in the face of possible Gazprom domination

A gas-export deal between Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan tightens Gazprom's grip on Europe's efforts to diversify its energy supply, writes Derek Brower

Saudi Aramco is the world's biggest company, but it is not resting on its laurels: it is continuing its ambitious expansion to retain its surplus-capacity buffer well into the future. Profile by James Gavin

Saudi Aramco is revising its downstream ambitions. It claims it may be involved in a quarter of additions to global refining capacity in the next five years. James Gavin writes

Canadian producers claim some oil-sands projects may be under threat because of tax changes and tougher environmental regulations. WJ Simpson reports from Calgary

Canada's smaller corporations face upstream challenges which can only be overcome by help from the big boys

Encouraged by high prices and a positive demand outlook, and enabled by technologies that reduce risks and costs, the industry continues its expansion into ever-deeper waters, writes Anne Feltus

As more and more production facilities come on stream in the GoM, the oil and gas industry is developing new standards to protect offshore installations from damaging hurricanes, reports Anne Feltus

Shell is seeking solutions that go beyond gadgets and conventional approaches to extract as much oil and gas as possible from existing fields and harder-to-develop resources, writes Anne Feltus