Jul 2010

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will impact more than just the economy, BP and the US oil patch

President Barack Obama does not yet know what caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill ("we need to know the facts before we allow deep-water drilling to continue," he said last month). But the force of his anti-BP rhetoric suggests he has already made up his mind

THE QATARI government has replaced Faisal al-Suwaidi with Khalid bin Khalifa al-Thani as head of Qatargas

THE UK's emergency budget left corporation tax for North Sea companies unchanged, at 30%, last month

PRESIDENT Barack Obama addressed the US from the Oval Office last month, intending to reframe the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in terms of a push for legislation on climate change. He failed

THE CREATION of the world's first artificial cell by a team of scientists led by Craig Venter could aid efforts to make biofuels derived from algae a commercial proposition. But developers are playing down the chances of any rapid breakthroughs

Crude oil futures spent the first weeks of June in recovery mode, regaining most of the value they sustained during the steady bearish run in May

The spill is not the only problem facing the oil industry

Expect a wave of M&A in the US Gulf of Mexico next year, as independents find that new costs and liabilities make deep-water exploration in the region too risky, writes Simon Crompton

Thanks to stronger oil prices and Chinese investment, the oil sands are gathering steam again. Alberta says it is better prepared for the rush this time, writes Derek Brower

A ban on drilling offshore the US and the likely stiffer regulation on oil and gas companies to come should mean a greater reliance on Canadian energy

Policy decisions hand Petrobras significant control of Brazil's offshore oil resources, pushing private-sector explorers to look to shallower waters

Venezuela's PdV found itself briefly in the spotlight when a contracted drilling rig sank in the Gulf of Paria

There are signs of a recovery in the chemicals business, but the start-up of a large volume of new capacity will pin down operating rates for some years, Martin Quinlan writes

The chemicals business appears to be at the start of an up-cycle, but few are forecasting a boom, Martin Quinlan writes

Local gas prices are creeping into European LNG contracts, frustrating exporters and delaying investment decisions, writes Simon Crompton

A DISPUTE between Trinidad's Atlantic LNG (ALNG) and Spain's Enagas (now Gas Natural) demonstrated the danger of letting price disputes reach the arbitration stage

Finance is still flowing in to the renewable energy sector, particularly wind power and driven by China, but the overall investment picture remains fragile, writes Ian Lewis

JUNE'S £3.2bn rights issue from UK-based energy firm National Grid reflects the big investments needed to modernise power grids. The distribution network must be adapted to carry power supplied from intermittent renewable sources, such as wind and solar plants, often generated in remote locations

GLOBAL climate-change talks have, so far, failed to produce a consensus, although momentum for change continues to come from national and regional initiatives. But at a time of austerity, depleted state coffers mean fresh funding is harder to come by, writes Ian Lewis

Like many of its peers, ConocoPhillips is reinventing itself along more unconventional lines, writes NJ Watson

Acquisitions are boosting KazMunaiGaz Exploration Production's onshore output, but the company won't stop there: offshore and overseas assets are next, says CEO Kenzhebek Ibrashev. Miles Lang reports

The firm said geoscience and engineering studies are under way "to advance development planning" for the Southeast Jubilee area

THE RESUMPTION of exports from Shell's Forcados oil terminal reflects an improved security situation in the Niger Delta following last year's militant amnesty. But doubts over the region's long-term stability threaten to jeopardise badly needed investment

THE SEMI-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) says it will boost its oil production to 1m barrels a day (b/d) by 2014 and is close to resuming oil exports following an eight-month gap

The find in May was the first sizeable oil discovery near the islands, off the southern coast of Argentina

The Switzerland-based oil and metals trading company, an employee and a tanker-captain, together with Amsterdam Port Services (APS) and the city of Amsterdam, are charged with offences relating to the export of toxic waste from the Netherlands

NEW REGULATIONS governing the US' over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trade come into force this month, but are unlikely to have the desired effect on speculation in oil and gas markets

GLOBAL oil demand will peak within six years, says an influential energy analyst. Forecasts of relentless consumption growth in China are wrong, claims Peter Tertzakian, head of Arc Financial, an energy-focused private-equity firm and an authority on global energy markets. And oil's dominance of the transportation market will be eroded by the growth of alternative energy sources

THE COMPANY with most to lose from the shale-gas revolution has dismissed the whole enterprise as a "fad" and a "fever", claiming it would make little difference to producers of conventional gas

Local shale-gas reserves could heat Poland for 200 years, but a lack of infrastructure and other obstacles, not least politics, remain

CNPC's deal with gas producer EnCana gives it a foothold in Canada's growing shale-gas business and heralds the arrival of China's state-owned oil companies in North America's unconventional-gas sector.

North America's shale-gas companies have two things China wants, says Derek Brower: expertise and LNG

Despite reservations about deep-water drilling in the wake of the US Gulf disater, Norway is pressing on with licensing in frontier areas

Gas will dominate US energy consumption in coming decades, replacing coal as the main fuel for electricity generation

The Deepwater Horizon disaster will have ramifications for deep-water drilling, not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but worldwide, as countries tighten their regulatory regimes, writes Anne Feltus

The phase-out of fuel subsidies could cut oil demand by 6m b/d by 2020, says the IEA

The Jubail export refinery has attracted the Middle East's biggest-ever project financing, reflecting the robust appetite among international banks for Saudi Arabian energy projects, Miles Lang reports

BP's upstream deal with Apache will provide $7bn towards the company's clean-up operations in the US Gulf

Oil has stopped flowing from BP's blown-out well in the US Gulf, but the company is at odds with the government over what to do next

North America's shale-gas companies have two things China wants: expertise and LNG

Endeavour's dispute over UK North Sea infrastructure access is important for every oil or gas company operating in the region

Tony Hayward's departure from BP says as much about the lynch-mob mentality on display in Congress as it does about his failings as a chief executive

BP hopes to end the crisis that has engulfed the major since the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe by replacing Tony Hayward as CEO

TO PRESERVE BP's position in the US and rescue what is left of its credibility in the country Tony Hayward had to go

More sanctions make life harder for Iran. But its own disastrous economic management might have worse consequences, write Tom Nicholls and Simon Crompton

THE US gulf oil spill has devastated BP's finances. The company posted a second-quarter loss of $16.97bn – one of the biggest in UK corporate history

The plans will charge $20 a tonne on crude exports

A PHASE-OUT of fuel subsidies across the world between now and 2020 could cut global oil demand by as much as 2m barrels a day (b/d) by 2015 and by 5m-6m b/d in a decade's time, preliminary research by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests

NATURAL gas will dominate US energy consumption in coming decades

Power shortages played their part in the deal

SAUDI Arabia is consuming increasing amounts of crude oil in the power sector, burdening the country with an inefficient method of electricity generation

Crude oil futures, still maintaining a range within a couple dollars either side of Opec's long-term target of $75/b, were on the rise as Petroleum Economist went to press, with storms in the Gulf of Mexico the main driver

Global oil supply fell by 255,000 b/d to 83.95m b/d in June, because of both lower Opec and non-Opec output, says the IEA

First-hand experience with oil crises, and attempts to model them since, have shown the OIES' Chris Allsopp that high oil prices hold little danger for the world economy today. He explains to Simon Crompton

Canada's oil-sands operators must source water from the Athabasca River without damaging its ecosystem and clean up 40 years' worth of toxic waste. Can they handle their water problem?

Simon Dyer, a campaigner at environmental group Pembina Institute, described the verdict as "significant" and "positive"

North America's shale-gas companies have two things China wants, says Derek Brower: expertise and LNG

Local shale-gas reserves could heat Poland for 200 years, but a lack of infrastructure and other obstacles, not least politics, remain

French major Total looks to have succeeded in its attempt to buy UTS Energy, 18 months after its first effort

A green-energy revolution is beginning, but the world must invest in low-carbon technologies on a much bigger scale to avoid climate change, says the IEA. Tom Nicholls reports

CARBON capture and storage (CCS) must urgently be included in the UN' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), says Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA

A greater emphasis on Malaysia's upstream and energy security signals Petronas's return to a more traditional NOC model, writes Ian Lewis

MYANMAR's (Burma) planned elections later this year are unlikely to lead to an easing of Western economic sanctions. But its energy sector will continue to expand, driven by Asian investment, writes Ian Lewis

A ground-breaking deal with BP makes way for development of the Raven gasfield – and might mark the end of Egypt's two-year freeze on new gas-export agreements

The Mideast Gulf is one of the world's most gas-rich areas, yet many of the states are suffering from shortages. The situation is worsening, and is being driven by subsidies. Miles Lang reports

The Deepwater Horizon disaster will have ramifications for deep-water drilling, not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but worldwide, as countries tighten their regulatory regimes

AS BP makes progress stemming the flow of oil from its blown-out well in the US Gulf, it is also positioning itself financially to deal with the cost of the catastrophe and shore up investor confidence

Endeavour's dispute over UK North Sea infrastructure access is important for every oil or gas company operating in the region

Eni is banking on production growth in countries such as Iraq, Venezuela and Kazakhstan where it is suffering both political and technical problems. A 2.5% annual output increase to 2013 looks optimistic, writes NJ Watson

Oil has stopped flowing out of control from BP's blown-out Macondo well in the deep water Gulf of Mexico

Cairn Energy has started exploration drilling offshore Greenland, sparking concerns about the environmental impact on the Arctic region's pristine waters

THE ROW over a proposed "super-tax" on mining, oil and gas companies has been settled in spectacular style after the ousting of prime minister Kevin Rudd in a modern-day palace coup

HERITAGE Oil has won an important breakthrough in its battle with the Ugandan government over a disputed tax liability on the sale of its stakes in two oil blocks