US imports of crude oil averaged a record 11.3 million bbl during the week ended July 23, marking "the first time that crude imports have exceeded 11 million b/d. Imports jumped by a fairly staggering 1.4 million b/d from the previous week's level," said Paul Horsnell, Barclays Capital Inc., London.
Regarding your editorial "A bizarre investigation," OGJ, July 19, 2004, p. 15, it is most ironic that in the prodigious producing area of Bakersfield, Calif. (more than three times as much daily production as the whole State of Oklahoma or about 40% of the daily production of the entire State of Texas) with the closing of the Shell Bakersfield refinery we will have to import all of our area gasoline.
Quadra Resources Corp., Calgary, signed a farmout with Canadian and Egyptian companies that covers the 7.5 million acre Nuqra Block 1 in the Kom Ombo rift basin in southeastern Egypt.
Recent dramatics in Russia provide a useful reminder that, after a dozen years of economic and political liberalization, the land of the czars is still no Switzerland.
The stubborn refusal of oil prices to drop in recent months has amplified doubts regarding the adequacy of near-term oil supplies and the long-term outlook for crude oil prices.
In the face of rising oil prices, it is "essential" for national governments to develop more-diverse energy resources, said the managing director of a prominent British consulting firm.
ConocoPhillips is thought to be close to signing a major agreement to acquire Russia's 7.59% stake in OAO Lukoil—that country's second largest oil and natural gas company—for $1.7 billion, according to several news reports last week.
The US Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service July 12 released a 5 year royalty management plan that expands federal royalty-in-kind (RIK) programs but does not replace traditional cash royalty collection.
The Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC) July 23 disputed charges by Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) that the US agency's decision to pay out a $6 million risk insurance claim to information technology contractor Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) was politically motivated.
Bolivian President Carlos Mesa faces the daunting task of keeping both voters and investors happy following a referendum meant to ensure a large government role in the country's growing energy sector.
Drilling-waste management practices vary throughout the world and are subject to all applicable legal requirements imposed by the relevant regulatory agencies to protect human health and the environment in a particular jurisdiction.
Modeling of asphaltene precipitation in Bangestan reservoir of Kupal field in southwest Iran estimated the pressure at which asphaltenes precipitate under reservoir conditions.
A polymer treatment isolated a watered-out zone and enabled production from a lower, previously untapped zone in a Gulf of Mexico (GOM) well, operated by Marathon Oil Co.
Aging Russian refineries are slowly being upgraded and revamped with more modern processes and technologies. A significant amount of overcapacity in Russia in the 1990s delayed plans for expansions and improvements.
In second-quarter 2004 North American propane markets and gas processing extraction rates returned to their 5-year averages, indicating that supply is effectively back to normal. Petrochemical consumption ran above normal, however, as it has since the first of the year and, in effect, prevented a normal stock build.
Increased pipeline movement of raw bitumen production from Canada to the US could mitigate North America's vulnerability to crude supply disruptions and require expansion of existing pipelines or construction of new pipelines.
