Jul 2011

Despite obstacles and delays, Australia’s LNG industry is entering a golden age and by 2020 could usurp Qatar as the world’s biggest supplier, writes Damon Evans

Significant savings can be made through more effective risk management in the LNG supply chain, say Erik Skramstad and Jon Wredmark*

Politics and geology are aligning to speed development of Israel’s new natural gas wealth

Senate voted 176 to 151 to approve a law banning practice

Ban to apply only in areas that provide drinking water to New York City and Syracuse

Recognising and complying with existing EU environmental law will be crucial for shale-gas development in Europe, says William Wilson*

Heavy rains and wildfires have hit North American drilling, with many wells and rigs idle. But activity is set to rebound

First Chesapeake and now America’s Natural Gas Alliance have labelled a series of New York Times (NYT) articles on shale gas “inaccurate and misleading”

Oil prices fall in response to a slow down in Chinese manufacturing

New requirements for renewable content in fuel have been implemented by the Canadian government

Government says value of natural resources and land has tripled in less than 20 years

Deal reduces stake in the Cordova Embayment project to 30%.

Vedanta Resources is inching closer to its proposed take-over of Cairn India, after the Indian government cleared the long-delayed deal

A new oil pipeline from South Sudan to Kenya would solidify its the country’s independence from the north, said a government minister in Juba today

Cuadrilla Resources is in the media spotlight because of concerns that fracking operations in the UK caused earthquakes. CEO Mark Miller says this isn’t the case

Husky Energy has raised eyebrows with a C$376 million ($391 million) splurge on leases in Canada’s northern Arctic, prompting speculation it may have made a big oil discovery in the Northwest Territories (NWT)

UK Tar Sands Network: The UK should help Europe stop Canadian bitumen from crossing the Atlantic

The future of shale gas E&P in Europe is in the industry’s own hands: it must accept and involve the public as a legitimate partner

Alberta proposes oil-sands monitoring agency to ease pollution fears

The Israeli government hopes technology will green the country – and weaken its oil-rich neighbours

US sanctions on Venezuela, for supplying fuel to Iran, will have little practical impact as the country forges closer ties with rapidly developing Asian markets

Syrian opposition efforts to cut a big funding lifeline to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime may be about to yield fruit

Limited new LNG-production capacity and rising gas demand will see prices pushed higher. Shell aims to capitalise on the growing market for natural gas

Cost increases and labour shortages could reduce capacity expansions

Possible 400,000 barrels a day (b/d) expansion of TransMountain pipeline

Role inherited for six-month period from Hungary

Plan to conduct feasibility study into facility on British Columbia coast

Brent trading at around $114.40 a barrel in London; WTI firms to around $97.20/b

EU plans to prevent oil-sands crude entering member states are discriminatory, and unscientific says the home of Canada’s vast heavy-oil reserves

Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices climbed this week. A flurry of buying interest was sparked by Japan’s decision to conduct stress tests for all nuclear reactors, further delaying restarts and increasing demand for alternative fuels

The country has sufficient estimated resources to halt imports altogether

Fracking companies must accept their environmental responsibilities if the world is to reap the benefits of shale-gas development

Australia's planned carbon tax threatens hundreds of billions of dollars of oil and gas investments, according to Peter Collier, Western Australia’s (WA) minister for energy, training and workforce development

As an emerging energy superpower, Canada’s disparate provinces must agree a united approach to energy policy

Parts of the George Washington National Forest of northern and West Virginia targeted

Firm takes 100% stake in Viking Energy, a privately held firm based in Brisbane

The UK independent could be the first company to re-enter Afghanistan's upstream

With Kurdistan pumping 250,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil and exporting three-quarters of that volume, Iraq’s north is emerging as the Middle East’s fastest-growing hydrocarbons player

The advance of Shell’s long-standing southern gas joint venture heralds progress of sorts for Iraq, but key constitutional issues must first be finalised, reports James Gavin

The IEA should resist the pleas of Western politicians, stand back, and let the oil market correct itself

Qadhafi cannot hang on much longer. But what comes after for Libya and the country’s oil sector? Derek Brower reports

Russ Girling says the company has satisfied all the requirements of a US State Department review

With abundant natural gas supplies depressing prices, Chesapeake says the time is right to invest in transport fuelled by natural gas. It’s putting its money where its mouth is

Huge coal-bed methane resources could relieve Indonesia’s gas-supply shortfall and reinvigorate an upstream sector in decline

Firm forced to file after it missed a debt payment on Wednesday

North Sea Brent trading around $118.75/b; WTI up by $1.50/b at $98.70/b

BHP Billiton has agreed to buy US shale-gas producer Petrohawk Energy for $12.1 billion, with the Anglo-Australian mining group taking a second big step into the unconventional energy sector

Oil output could reportedly reach 180,000 barrels a day (b/d) in the short term

Prices rose despite Saudi Arabia increasing output and the IEA releasing strategic oil reserves

Global production rose in June by 1.2 million barrels a day

Horizontal drilling techniques could unlock oil and gas resources beneath Alaska’s environmentally sensitive areas, but would require a change to federal law to allow the practice

Oil and gas companies are in a prime position to capitalise as the world’s energy system continues its transition to sustainable low-carbon sources, while meeting surging demand

Technology will be a crucial to the energy transition, unlocking new supply sources: both fossil fuel and renewable. Companies that successfully manage R&D will have first-mover advantage

Natural gas is increasingly prominent as a global energy source because of its low-carbon footprint. Unconventional resources will play a critical role in meeting demand, write Herve Wilczynski and Muqsit Ashraf*

Enhanced oil recovery using CO2 injection delivers twin benefits: the cost advantage of increased hydrocarbons recovery; plus the removal of harmful carbon emissions from the atmosphere, writes Raúl Camba*

Water is critical to the energy industry, especially for oil and gas extraction. But water issues carry significant business risk and require strategic planning

Oil was the elephant in the room on independence day. But it’s as crucial to South Sudan’s future as it was to its past

The era of rampant growth in global oil production is over. But companies still face the task of replacing fast-depleting reserves to meet a steady uptick in demand over coming years

The era of high demand for gas will continue, as an abundance of fresh conventional and unconventional supply keeps prices low and its lower carbon emissions make gas an attractive alternative to coal as a power feedstock

Clean renewable energy could meet a significant part of global energy demand, but it is still a long way from doing so

It could yet require a photo finish to determine who wins the race to commercialise FLNG production technology

With the chemicals business in an up-cycle and North American gas prices low, companies are looking to boost US ethylene capacity, based on shale resources

Local firm has won seven new licences to explore for unconventional gas

Deal with Sinopec to jointly research Sichuan province shale potential

CNOOC deal worth $2.1 billion takes control of Opti's Alberta holdings

Despite the litigation and fallout from last year’s Macondo blowout, supermajor BP is planning its return to the US Gulf of Mexico’s (GOM) deep water

Libya’s state-owned shipping firm is asking two Asian companies to take control of its fleet as the regime steps up efforts to secure cash to sustain its war effort

ConocoPhillips is cutting free its volatile downstream assets and returning to its E&P core. Does this mark the beginning of the end for the vertically integrated oil-company model?

Pagan Amum will continue as South Sudan’s chief negotiator in talks with Omar al-Bashir’s government over oil-infrastructure access, despite resigning from a key post in the post-independence government

Province energy ministers proclaim support for Canada to become a “global energy superpower”

Deal worth C$2.1 billion, with principal asset of 35% stake in Long Lake oil-sands project

IGas sees coal-bed methane (CBM) making a “very significant contribution” to the UK’s energy mix, claiming the country has great production potential

Maturing industry means acquistions are “logical progression”, says CEO

Gathering line near Swan Hills, Alberta, leaks 1,300 barrels of crude

Steam-assisted gravity-drainage (SAGD) Plus injects solvents as well as steam

The first shale-gas well in Australia was an ‘historic’ success and the sector has drawn ConocoPhillips’s investment. But the road to commercial development remains uncertain

Brent at around $118.75 a barrel; US WTI up by a dollar, at $99.80/b

An oil deal struck between South Sudan’s state-owned producer, Nilepet, and international commodities broker Glencore is at the centre of an internal struggle for control of the fledgling nation’s exports

Italy’s Eni is teaming up with Sinopec as it seeks to expand its upstream presence in Asia – and leave its North African troubles behind it.

The need to reduce emissions and pollution from transport is fuelling a boom in China's small-scale LNG sector

Shell is set to throw its weight behind Inpex’s proposed multi-billion dollar Abadi floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project in Indonesia

New South Wales may have received a temporary ban on coal-bed methane fracking, but the ban seems unlikely to halt a rapidly growing industry

Serious gas-supply disruption in Europe could become a fear of the past if the US’ shale-gas revolution grows and spreads worldwide

Political support is welcome, but Libya's rebels need the cash their allies have promised

Supermajor’s long-term vision just not long enough for a gas-pipeline project almost 50 years in the making

Just days after agreeing to promote coordinated energy policies, Canada’s bid to become a global energy superpower showed cracks when its largest province called for an end to oil-industry subsidies.

Encana is moving ahead with preliminary development of two new large shale-gas plays in Canada and the US.

Oil and gas companies with prospective North Sea acreage and diverse portfolios remain attractive to lenders

Rapidly developing traded gas markets in Europe and a fundamentally changed sales market, will kill oil indexation in gas contracts. It’s time to accept the new market structure. By Sirko Beidatsch*

Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices are rising and will continue to rise over the next few months, even years

Despite the country’s volatile upstream fiscal regime, the UK oil and gas sector retains significant promise for investors

BG prepares to develop Queensland's shale and tight gas acreage in the Cooper Basin Nappamerri Trough fairway

A fire at a shale-oil well in North Dakota’s Bakken play has been ablaze for four days. Three workers at the drill site were injured, two are in a critical condition

Baker Hughes has finished hydraulic fracturing (fracking) its first shale oil well in Argentina’s Neuquén basin for Repsol YPF.

Crude prices were range-bound this week, with the market bracing itself for the conclusion of the US debt ceiling stand-off

Securing new gas-infrastructure investment – €90 billion by 2020 – is crucial if natural gas is to fulfil its role as destination fuel in a low-carbon Europe

Centrica unveiled a first-half profit of £1.3 billion ($2.1 billion), just weeks after raising energy prices for UK domestic consumers

The largest development on the UKCS is on schedule for first gas in 2014, but Total’s future investment may be influenced by the UK’s new tax regime