As US voters went to the polls Nov. 2, the near-month crude contract dropped below $50/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the first time in 4 weeks, with benchmark US light, sweet crudes for December delivery down by 51¢ to $49.62/bbl.
It has been a trait of human beings for at least thousands of years to commemorate important events during their lifetimes by creating lasting monuments made of stone or steel.
Energy futures prices fell with profit-taking Monday from the recent market run-up, and the Norwegian government intervened to force arbitration of a 4-month strike by offshore rig workers.
Hurdles ahead for growth in non-OPEC liquids output
During the last 40 years, the world has experienced almost uninterrupted crude oil demand and production growth.
Iraq can accelerate reconstruction and boost its economic growth if it promptly welcomes foreign direct investment (FDI) to its oil industry and establishes a stable fiscal regime.
Libya is "the central exploration and production buzz for 2005" among international oil companies looking for access to potentially giant oil and gas fields, said energy analyst Catherine Hunter in a report drafted for the World Markets Research Centre, part of the London-based Global Insight group of companies.
Japan and China have emerged with widely differing views of the results of talks held Oct. 25 that aimed at resolving a maritime boundary dispute affecting potential natural gas rights in the East China Sea.
The story in the Oct. 29 Washington Post about oil companies' improved third-quarter earnings might have made industry lobbyists pause because it included a still volatile word—windfall—to describe the bottom-line impact of higher prices and strong demand.
The boards of Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Shell Transport & Trading Co. (ST&T) have proposed to shareholders that the companies be merged under a single parent company, Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
As Egypt has enjoyed the addition of significant gas reserves in the Nile Delta offshore, the long-underrated western desert has come alive with major discoveries of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons on land.
Mboundi field in Congo (Brazza-ville) has quickly become one of West Africa's largest onshore oil discoveries in the last 20 years, and it also contains a large volume of gas.
Technology progression within advanced process control (APC) continues to evolve; however, it is the relationship among core APC developments, enabling technologies, and management practices that is producing a greater impact.
An operations planning and economics improvement project at ConocoPhillips's Lake Charles, La., refinery successfully developed and implemented high-quality kinetic process models used for unit optimization, process monitoring, and development of data needed for the refinery linear programming (LP) model.
The ability to log wells from behind casing is a key addition to available formation evaluation services because it enables operators to assess bypassed zones, analyze time effects on producing intervals, and optimize well costs when well conditions are not suitable for open hole logging.
The probable cause of an accidental explosion during a tubing cleanout in an oil well in China was hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) decomposing into oxygen and heat. The explosion destroyed the wellhead and piping. A hydraulic simulation of the explosion validated this conclusion and showed that it was not caused by a mechanical failure.
Loyola de Palacio, EU's energy and transport commissioner, says the improved network "is a prerequisite to an effective European energy market," while the successful opening of gas and electricity markets "requires a major increase in interconnections between national networks."
