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International news for oil and gas professionals

The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil will average about $95/bbl over this year's second half, and the US refiner acquisition cost of crude will average $100/bbl over the period, the US Energy Information Administration projects in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook.

Oil and gas trade groups welcomed legislation proposed June 6 by Republicans in the US House of Representatives that would enhance producers' access to federal land and increase scrutiny of regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency.

China has the potential to become the world's largest shale gas producer by 2030, delegates at the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said in survey results according to a June 6 poll conducted by GL Noble Denton.

Free cash flow for North American refiners is expected to stay reasonable throughout the remainder of 2012 despite weakening global demand and other market difficulties, Fitch Ratings said, citing the availability of crude oil from US shale plays.

A partnership led by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said it made a discovery offshore Mozambique that establishes a second major natural gas complex in Offshore Area 1 in the Rovuma basin.

Sea Dragon Energy Inc., Calgary, said the Al Baraka-16 well has discovered oil in a separate fault block southwest of the main Al Baraka field in the Kom Ombo basin in southern Egypt.

Repsol of Spain has changed its management structure while adopting a strategy for 2012-16, emphasizing growth in exploration and production.

MarkWest Utica EMG LLC, a joint venture of MarkWest Energy Partners LP, Denver, and Energy & Minerals Group, Houston, have signed agreements with Gulfport Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, to provide gathering, processing, fractionation, and marketing in the liquids-rich Utica shale in eastern Ohio.

Market fundamentals have eased since the start of 2012, and economic concerns have risen again with risks skewed to the downside, the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly Oil Market Report.

Can states effectively protect public and private drinking water supplies from contamination as more US oil and gas is produced from previously inaccessible tight shale formations?

Comet Ridge Ltd., Brisbane, said its US subsidiaries plan to spud an exploratory well in the Grays Harbor area of coastal Washington state in late June.

Manitok Energy Inc., Calgary, has gauged its second new pool oil discovery at Stolberg in the Alberta foothills, where it is preparing to spud the seventh well in its current program.