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International news for oil and gas professionals

Strong oil prices buoyed upstream results for oil producers in fourth-quarter 2011 and for the entire year.

US President Barack Obama said his administration is looking at whether it would be possible to ease both international and US supply bottlenecks as an immediate response to rising gasoline prices.

US President Barack Obama said for the first time that policies in George W. Bush's administration, as well as during his own, led to more domestic crude oil production.

It basically came down to this: US Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.), the Energy and Natural Resources Committee's ranking minority member, believed that oil and gas production on federally controlled acreage dropped, as production grew on privately held land, because the Obama administration has created such a hostile environment that there's less interest in federal leases.

Development of the Utica shale will bring more than 65,000 jobs, contribute $4.86 billion to Ohio's economy, and result in $3.3 billion of labor income, or an average of $50,225/job, by 2014, a study commissioned by the Ohio Shale Coalition concluded.

The American Petroleum Institute urged the federal government to designate a lead agency to ensure that 10 departments and agencies that are considering regulations connected with unconventional oil and gas production don't create conflicting or duplicative rules.

The US natural gas industry must continue to focus on ensuring that shale gas is produced in an environmentally safe manner in concert with continuing to disclose information about operations to help minimize public opposition to development, panelists told conference attendees Mar. 5 at IHS CERA Week in Houston.

Colombia and Mexico offer revealing contrasts on management and performance of national oil companies.

Oil companies and drilling contractors alike are responsible for convincing the public that industry can drill safety and without causing environmental damage, said panelists during a Mar. 6 plenary session of the IADC/SPE drilling conference in San Diego.

The Center for Offshore Safety, an industry organization formed to enhance Gulf of Mexico deepwater safety and environmental performance, announced Mar. 7 that its executive director is Charlie Williams, who is retiring from Shell Energy Resources.

The Carrizo Wilcox aquifer in South Texas appears to contain enough water to support oil and gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing in the Eagle Ford shale, along with other anticipated uses, said Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter.

Producers active in the oil sands of Canada will collaborate to improve environmental performance under a new group to be led by a former official of the federal government.

TransCanada Corp. informed the US Department of State (DOS) that what had been the Cushing-to-US Gulf Coast portion of Keystone XL will be constructed as a stand-alone Gulf Coast Project, not part of a renewed Presidential Permit process for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Encana Natural Gas Inc. has opened Louisiana's first liquefied natural gas fueling station at Frierson along Interstate 49 about 15 miles south of Shreveport.