International news for oil and gas professionals
Extra-heavy oil is forming subtle intrigue out of the commercial and political practicalities that shape its destiny.
A widely reported projection by the International Energy Agency draws public attention to what professionals in the oil and gas industry already know: that the energy-supply outlook for the US has changed dramatically for the better.
Vast shale plays worldwide are going to be explored and developed although it's going to take more than a decade before another country outside the US or Canada can duplicate the current US shale boom, speakers told the Deloitte Oil & Gas Conference on Nov. 13 in Houston.
The US is expected to be a self-sufficient producer of natural gas within 10 years, said most oil and gas executives participating in a recent Deloitte survey.
The US oil and gas industry faces an unchanged federal policy situation but higher visibility following the Nov. 6 elections, experts said during the 2012 IHS Forum in Washington, DC.
Latin American independent producers are following strategies similar to their US counterparts as they try to penetrate previously closed exploration and production arenas, two company executives said during the 2012 IHS Forum in Washington, DC.
The US Bureau of Land Management proposed an oil shale and tar sands research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) plan for land it administers in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.
Federal regulators and US crude oil pipeline owners and operators have made real progress in 2012, US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Chief Cynthia L. Quarterman said on Nov. 8. But government and industry will need to continue working closely to meet three main goals in 2013, she maintained.
With global oil demand continuing to increase, the US will replace Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer about 2020, and North America will become a net oil exporter by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.
NuStar Energy LP has agreed to purchase crude oil pipeline, gathering, storage, and natural gas liquids assets in the Eagle Ford shale from TexStar Midstream Services LP. NuStar will integrate the crude oil and NGL assets with its existing pipeline operations in the region.
Junex Inc., Quebec City, Que., said processed 2D seismic data clearly indicate drillable structural and stratigraphic elements associated with the Macasty shale and deeper conventional reservoir targets on the company's acreage on Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence offshore Quebec.
Four more years for US President Barack Obama means 4 more years of regulatory siege on the oil and gas industry.
