Energy commodity prices had a rocky ride in the first 3 days of June, starting with a surprise June 1 rally that seemed to defy market fundamentals as the July contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes shot up by $2.63 to $54.60/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The mathematical model of M.K. Hubbert successfully predicted the peak of oil production in the US even though the logistic growth curve on which it is based cannot account for the physical, political, and economic factors that govern actual production.
As the US Senate takes up comprehensive energy legislation, it has an opportunity to fix an increasingly wasteful tax incentive that has directly increased the prices and profits enjoyed by energy producers in times of tight supply.
The US Environmental Protection Agency June 2 denied requests by California, New York, and Connecticut for waivers from the 2 wt % oxygen content requirement for reformulated gasoline.
Energy consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. rated the biggest exploration successes in absolute terms during the last 10 years as Kazakhstan, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Angola, and Nigeria.
Companies were putting major gas projects on hold in Bolivia June 6 as the country’s president, under pressure to nationalize the oil and gas industry, offered again to resign.
The Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority in Abuja approved the award of five more blocks in the Joint Development Zone in the Gulf of Guinea.
The first section of Russia’s proposed Taishet-Nakhodka pipeline will be laid in 2008, and two oil companies-Surgutneftegaz and OAO Yukos-will provide the crude oil to fill it, according to Russian Minister of Industry and Energy Viktor Khristenko.
Hurricane Ivan shut down much production in the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico and damaged pipelines and platforms in its path and along the Mississippi River delta apron.
For its Snøhvit development in the Barents Sea, Statoil ASA decided to use “dry” premium connections to eliminate all chemical discharges to the ocean from the casing and tubing installation.
US refineries and petrochemical plants reported fewer injuries and illnesses in 2004 than in past years, according to a recent report from the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association.
Declining indigenous gas production is the biggest issue facing the European natural gas industry because it is leading to an increased reliance by consumers on supplies from geographically remote producers.
