Last week, the US rolled toward a long Fourth of July weekend with unusually tight gasoline inventories and futures prices for natural gas near a 3-month low in expectation of another large build in US underground natural gas storage.
'Nuking' hydrogen
A couple of months ago, this editor had the opportunity while attending a conference in Boulder, Colo., to test-drive a hydrogen-powered vehicle that combines a gasoline engine with an electric motor to create what manufacturer Toyota Corp. calls an environmentally advanced, fuel-efficient hybrid.
It's entirely appropriate, one supposes, that the US government launches a summit to address a commodity crisis just as the first signs appear that the crisis is resolving itself.
Over time, there have been a number of definitions for the Middle East, that massive territory bridging the landmasses of Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, today the region's overall limits have become more or less standard. In this report, the Middle East is defined as an ensemble of 15 countries (and a neutral zone) extending from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east to the Mediterranean on its western flank.
US's Iran sanction policy faces congressional scrutiny
US lawmakers wanting the White House to turn up the political heat on Iran this year may seek to tighten existing sanction laws designed to discourage foreign investment in Tehran's oil and gas sector.
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's quest to dramatically expand foreign investment in his country through a $25 billion natural gas development plan will not move forward in its present form.
The US Army Corps of Engineers plans to open for competitive bidding new contracts to repair and maintain existing Iraqi oil infrastructure that could be worth as much as $500 million or as little as $500,000.
The global petrochemical industry will begin a fundamental demand recovery by Dec. 31, and the US likely will become a net petrochemical importer by 2009, a consultant forecast.
It would take Iraq at least 3 years to reach an oil production level of 3.5 million b/d, "and many more years to exceed it," said Issam al-Chalabi, former Iraqi oil minister, at a recent energy conference in Turkey.
Partners in the Padre Island Joint Venture have restructured the project by prospect depths in an effort to reinvigorate drilling opportunities in three depth ranges.
With US land drilling activity up 32% from year-ago levels through May, both the demand for rigs and the resulting day rates are expected to continue to increase through the rest of 2003 and into 2004, analysts at Jefferies & Co. Inc.'s Houston office reported."
Phillips 66 Co. (now ConocoPhillips) completed the shortest turnaround of its gas-plant receiver at its Borger, Tex., refinery and NGL center using a combination of surfactants, enzymes, an oxidizer, and a high flash-point solvent.
The costs of three important chemicals used in crude-oil refining changed very little during the period 2000-02 while the costs of two others varied significantly.
Despite slow demand growth, Japan, as the world's LNG importer, will remain formidable overall and play a significant role in the development of Asian contract terms.
