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International news for oil and gas professionals

The US Senate procedurally rejected Robert Menendez's (D-NJ) bill that would have ended several federal tax deductions for the five largest US oil companies and redirect the money to deficit reduction and alternative energy research and development subsidies.

As the US Senate moved toward its Mar. 29 vote on legislation that would have raised the nation's five largest oil companies' federal taxes, four experts reminded the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that forces driving global oil markets are still beyond Congress's control.

The US Department of the Interior has strengthened oversight of the offshore oil and gas industry's ability to respond to a subsea well blowout, and industry has responded by improving well containment capabilities and creating dedicated well containment organizations, the US Government Accountability Office said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency's deadline for issuing New Source Performance Standards to reduce air pollution from oil and gas drilling and production was extended from a court-ordered Apr. 3 deadline to Apr. 17.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn an administrative order issued to Range Resources Corp. and Range Production Co. on Dec. 7, 2010, that alleged Range polluted two water wells west of Fort Worth.

A flare on the Elgin platform in the UK North Sea extinguished itself Mar. 31, and Total SA outlined plans to stop the gas leak by boarding the platform to control the well while also drilling a relief well and a backup relief well.

The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement approved Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc.'s oil spill response plan (OSRP) for the Beaufort Sea on Mar. 28.

Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. and Nexen Inc. have demonstrated a contingent recoverable resource of 215 million bbl of oil equivalent in the Jurassic Norphlet formation in the northeast fault block of the Appomattox structure in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, where they are conducting further exploration and appraisal activity and evaluating development concepts.

US Interior Sec. Ken Salazar announced plans to develop a federal onshore oil and gas drilling permit system that potentially could reduce the application review period to as few as 60 days.

Two major milestones were met in Alaska's efforts to bring North Slope natural gas to Alaskans and markets beyond, Gov. Sean Parnell announced.

The US Environmental Protection Agency raised the allowable limit of ethanol in gasoline to 15% on Apr. 2 as it approved the first registration applications to supply the additive on those terms.