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International news for oil and gas professionals

It's not unrealistic to expect abundant oil and gas resources to help make North America energy independent within a decade, witnesses told a US House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on Sept. 13.

As oil currently powers 92% of the world's transportation and with growth in transportation demand rising in developing countries, the International Energy Agency released two reports to show how the right policies and technologies could improve the fuel efficiency of road vehicles.

Energy potentially could play a significant role if Eurasian countries successfully form alliances to exploit their crude oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources, experts from Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies suggested.

Benefits of the ethanol mandate in the federal Renewable Fuels Standard are exaggerated, and have begun to make transportation fuels and food substantially more expensive, the Energy Policy Research Institute (EPRINC) said.

Shell Offshore Co. limited its Chukchi Sea activity after its spill containment dome was damaged during a final test on Sept. 14, Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported.

Oil and gas companies would have to report payments to host-country governments project by project under a measure approved Sept. 18 by a committee of the European Parliament.

Oil prices likely have peaked for the year barring a supply disruption, and Wood Mackenzie expects global oil demand growth will help keep prices above $100/bbl until 2013, WoodMac analysts told the Asia-Pacific Petroleum Conference in Singapore.

Plano Petroleum LLC, private Plano, Tex., operator, has reported consistent results in locating and completing Pennsylvanian Marmaton horizontal oil and gas wells in the Anadarko basin in western Oklahoma as the result of a proprietary mapping technique, precise geosteering, and a dependable completion design.