Jun 2010

Shale gas could help meet rising Saudi power demand; low subsidised prices an obstacle to development

THE NEW centre-right, nationalist-tinged, government plans to step up efforts to end the stand-off between Mol Group and Russia's Surgutneftegaz, which owns a 21.2% stake in the Hungarian energy company

THE US biodiesel business is on life support, waiting for legislative action that could save it

A GRASS-roots Egyptian refining project has accumulated $2.3bn in debt financing from a consortium led by Asian lenders

Oil prices have tumbled in recent weeks, as soaring inventories in the US, persistent weakness in Western demand and the EU's worsening debt crisis sent bulls fleeing

US oil production was relatively unaffected by the Deepwater Horizon accident in the US Gulf of Mexico, says the IEA

Seismic interpretation has long been the biggest non-military consumer of computing power. Repsol's Kaleidoscope project ups the ante

A UK oilfield services company claims to have developed a more reliable and cost-effective way of dealing with failures in downhole safety valves

Oil-sands operators' profits are surging, Chinese investment is filtering through the patch and the US will increasingly rely on Alberta's bitumen, writes Derek Brower

Acquisitions of Mariner Energy and Devon Energy's US Gulf of Mexico upstream assets significantly enhance Apache's production-growth prospects, writes NJ Watson

A revival of oil and gas M&A activity is being driven by Asia's NOCs and the pursuit of unconventional-energy assets, writes Ian Lewis

The success of large, recent financing deals, such as Nord Stream and PNG LNG, show the project-finance market can deliver in uncertain economic times, writes Ian Lewis

Sharia-compliant financing structures are becoming increasingly prominent in oil and gas transactions, explains James Gavin

Russian energy equities and bonds are drawing growing investor interest – but at a price that reflects prevailing market risks, writes NJ Watson

Poland is pressing ahead with its ambitious power-sector privatisation, capitalising on renewed investor interest in emerging European economies, writes NJ Watson

Oil prices are where Saudi Arabia wants them. But rising demand in the kingdom could bring longer-term problems, writes Derek Brower

When everyone from ministers to carpet makers is storing oil, Chinese oil demand becomes even harder to predict. Simon Crompton reports

Four of the UK's remaining eight oil refineries are up for sale as the major companies rush for the exit, Martin Quinlan writes

OIL EXPORTS from Iraqi Kurdistan are in a position to restart, following an interim agreement between semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the oil ministry in Baghdad

PRESIDENT Omar Bashir won a decisive victory in Sudan's April elections, with 68% of the vote. Salva Kiir retained his job as president of Sudan's semi-autonomous south, with 93% of the South Sudan vote

RENEWABLE energy firms struggling to find both private- and public-sector funding will have perked up on news of the new UK coalition government's extensive environmental agenda

THE GOVERNMENT's controversial Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which had been due to become law early this year, is set to be reworked following criticism from the producing companies

A proposed new tax on onshore natural-resources production threatens to increase overall costs for the CBM sector, potentially putting it at a disadvantage compared with offshore conventional gas production

WOODSIDE's decision to opt for a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) solution to develop the Greater Sunrise project, based on reserves in the Timor Sea, has riled East Timor. The government of the fledgling nation wanted an onshore production facility to be built on the island

PLANS for Indonesia's fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant are under threat because of the government's failure to guarantee that the gas can be exported

The German firm says the investment will strengthen its position as an energy supplier in Italy, where it is the fourth-largest power producer and third largest gas supplier

AFTER four rudderless months, Sonatrach has a new managing director – and with it, the prospect of faster progress on centrepiece energy projects that have been subject to a series of delays

A MONTH after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil slick continues to spread

The long-term implications of the Gulf of Mexico's disastrous oil spill for the offshore industry could be as far-reaching as the spill itself, writes Anne Feltus

The Deepwater Horizon disaster has dominated oil-industry headlines since April, but upstream activity in the US Gulf of Mexico otherwise remains brisk, writes Anne Feltus

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), the body blamed for ineffectual oversight of deep-water drilling in the Gulf, is to break up

A well to be spudded this summer in the UK's far-north waters could, if hopes are fulfilled, lead to a surge of exploration in the new Atlantic-margin frontier province

Global oil demand will peak within six years and forecasts of relentless consumption growth in China are wrong

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

It is not just the Gulf off Louisiana that looks dark and cloudy, as oil from BP's blown out Macondo well continues to spread, but the future of US offshore development, writes Anne Feltus

Oil production from Ghana's Greater Jubilee area is on-track to start before the end of the year

Faisal al-Suwaidi's exit from Qatargas is unlikely to prove a significant setback for Qatar's LNG industry

The development of a liquid, transparent LNG spot market is being stalled by a lack of reliable LNG price indices. But the market's evolution is gaining momentum

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

Refinery expansions should bring perfect equilibrium to a kingdom as addicted to oil as many of its clients