The basic facts on production and "proved" reserves quoted by Arlie M. Skov (OGJ, July 26, 2004, p. 10) cannot be disputed. What is disputable, however, are the conclusions he has reached.
Crude oil prices reached new highs Aug. 9, with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven benchmark crudes hitting $40.04/ bbl, the highest level in 20 years, following reports that crude production in southern Iraq was halted because of sabotage threats.
Paul N. "Red" Adair was an oil industry legend long before his death at 89 on Aug. 7 and one of the few people in this business popular enough to be the subject of a joke.
A new, multicyclic approach to modeling future global production of natural gas reaffiRMS an outlook for growing dependence of Western nations on the Middle East and Russia for their supply as global conventional gas output peaks in the next decade.
Renewable energy gaining market share in Europe
Europe is well on its way toward achieving its pledged target of having nearly 22% of its entire energy supply in renewable energy sources by the end of this decade said Palo Alto, Calif.-based Frost & Sullivan analyst Vijay Shankar Murthy in a recent Technical Insights paper. Accelerated research is the key.
In its 2004 in-depth review of France's energy policies, the International Energy Agency was full of praise for the country's successful achievement so far of the famous "three E's of energy policy"—energy security, economic efficiency, and environmental protection.
Both Gaz de France (GDF) and Total SA—France's historic operators—have set up web sites outlining their temporary natural gas release programs required by France's Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE).
The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil posted prices has averaged $33.41/ bbl for the first half of this year compared with $28.15/bbl for the same time last year.
The US Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service is giving industry and other interested stakeholders until Sept. 21 to offer comments on what industry officials call a "modest" plan to update gas valuation rules.
Officials from oil-producing states saw a slight increase last year in the number of college graduates entering the US oil and gas business, but the pace was not enough to stem what is expected to be a growing tide of retirements within the industry, North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven (R) told the House Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals Resources last month.
Stress vs. emergency
Market trends never last unless governments try to reverse the ones they dislike. While no one expects crude oil prices to plummet anytime soon, adjustments have begun. Governments should let them work.
The establishment of a single European gas and electricity market—and even regional markets—is still a distant goal, contends France's Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) in its fifth annual report covering the period July 1, 2003, through June.
Design guidelines outline solutions for reducing fouling in distillation columns
DISTILLATION—1
When designing mass transfer equipment for fouling service, one must first understand the fouling mechanism, the process in which the fouling occurs, and the process' behavior when the fouling occurs.
Expected operating conditions for two planned oil export pipelines at Petrobras' Capixaba North Terminal (TNC) prompted the company to modify conventional installation and burial procedures and provided it with the opportunity to study the behavior of buried heated pipelines.
