Mar 2012

Chinese state-run firm Sinopec has produced shale oil from a well in the country’s central Henan basin

Industry hopes rise as survey indicates state's unconventional reserves likely to be substantial

Trading company Gunvor, a large seller of Russian crudes, is to buy the Antwerp refinery from the administrators of Petroplus, which collapsed in January when lenders cut off its credit

North Sea activity is showing mixed signals, with development work ticking up while – despite the record-high oil price – exploration work is lagging

A substantial gas discovery by Statoil seems set to extend East Africa’s developing gas province from neighbouring Mozambique into the Tanzanian offshore

Ukraine’s shale-gas tender could lead to billions of dollars of investment from major oil and gas companies and add as much as 13 billion cubic metres (cm) of gas production per year within the next 10 years, a senior government official has said

The second oil-sands fire in northern Canada in as many months has reduced synthetic crude-oil production and widened price differentials to benchmark US crudes

US supermajor exits country with $1.29bn sale to Perenco

Rapid uptake of LNG-powered vessels presents multi-billion dollar opportunity for gas producers

Shale-gas deposits in the Karoo basin could add tens of billions of dollars a year to South Africa’s economy, create hundreds of thousands of jobs and ensure the country’s energy security, a report from consultancy Econometrix claims

China is primed to kick off its second shale-gas exploration round this month and has mooted the possibility of a third offering later this year

Protests over the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) have derailed, at least temporarily, OMV’s plans to explore for shale gas in southern Austria

Australian-listed Dart Energy is primed to expand its unconventional footprint in China after signing an initial agreement for one shale-gas and four coal-bed methane (CBM) production sharing contracts (PSCs)

Western Australia has opened the door to hydraulic fracturing (fracking), removing one of the last major barriers to further evaluating and commercialising tight- and shale-gas plays in the state

Energy security is emerging as one of the key issues ahead of the November presidential election in the US. And as the country thinks about oil, it seems that there is a second chance for the Keystone XL pipeline

Canadian Natural Resources says it will consult with third parties on ways to increase the reliability of its Horizon oil-sands mine

Chesapeake Energy was a pioneer of the US unconventionals rush, but as gas prices continue to plunge, the firm’s position looks increasingly difficult

ExxonMobil has called on the industry to establish a system of disclosure for the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations in Europe

Iraqi oil production is rising, offering hope to the global market. But until the country resolves its political and logistical problems that optimism may prove misplaced

North America’s shale gas revolution has stymied plans for two multi-billion dollar pipelines to tap Alaska’s North Slope and Canada’s Mackenzie Delta

North America’s shale-gas revolution has stymied plans for two multi-billion dollar pipelines to tap Alaska’s North Slope and Canada’s Mackenzie Delta

US LNG exporters are using cheap shale gas to undercut Australia’s coal-bed methane, threatening billions of dollars in infrastructure investment

Kazakhstan’s prime minister Karim Massimov has told his government that he is ready to use funds from the country’s national reserves and bring in an experienced foreign partner to jump start the search for shale-gas resources

A third unplanned outage in Canada’s oil sands has reduced the country’s output of synthetic crude oil by half

Juniors target new unconventional play in Mackenzie Valley

China’s economy is facing strong tests and any sign of weakness will hit bullish projections for its oil-demand growth

Global oil production slipped by 200,000 barrels to 90.4 million barrels a day (b/d) in February, as rising Opec output failed to offset losses outside the group

A new contender has shaken up the battle to build gas pipelines from central Asia to Europe, but has failed to land the killer blow that would knock out the much-battered Nabucco project

It could well be the sleeper issue of the US election campaign - pump prices and the rising cost of fuel for motorists.

YPF is feeling the chill in Patagonia after three provinces in southern Argentina stripped it of licences, and the rift between the firm and the Argentine government continues to grow

BP’s Utica shale deal, announced this week, confirms Ohio’s status as the latest unconventionals hot-spot in the Lower 48. BP has leased 84,000 acres of the shale in Ohio for undisclosed financial terms

Major energy firms operating in Queensland’s unconventional arena are anxiously waiting to see how the newly elected Liberal National Party’s (LNP) policies will affect the state’s coal-bed methane (CBM) sector

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell has stolen a march on its peers after signing China’s first-ever shale-gas production sharing contract with state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)

Crude prices lost $4 in London after a Reuters report claimed the US and UK were considering a bilateral release of strategic oil stocks. By the time the story had been denied, the market had judged the news worth just $2 a barrel

Are sanctions really the way the way to stop Iran?

New outlooks are transforming the US energy market, with many more shifting boundaries set to come

Progress looks as far away as ever at Venezuela's great oil hope

This year will see what is expected to be the most hotly contested election in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez won the presidency in 1999

Global oil prices remain strong, buoyed by the West’s stand-off with Iran, but braced for a release of strategic stocks by the US, where soaring gasoline prices threaten to derail the economic recovery

Months of negative headlines out of Poland’s shale patch have turned investor sentiment against companies exploring the country’s prospects

Independent cracks Chinese coal-bed methane challenge