Regular Features
- Letters
  - Letters
    We have read your review article "Product sulfur specs will determine future refining configurations" (OGJ, Oct. 18, 2004, p. 48). Haldor Topsøe AS is a supplier of ultralow-sulfur diesel (ULSD) catalyst and technology, and we have some comments that we believe will be of interest to the readers of OGJ.
- OGJ Newsletter
  - OGJ Newsletter
    A US District Court for the District of Alaska effectively opened the northwestern part of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to exploration by denying an injunction requested by groups seeking to increase wildlife protections.
- Journally Speaking
  - Portrait of a franchise
    Press reports surfaced early in 2005 that China National Offshore Oil Corp. was considering an offer to acquire Unocal Corp.
- Area Drilling
  - Area Drilling
    Repsol YPF, Madrid, made gas discoveries on two blocks in the Neuquen basin.
- Equip/Software/Lit
  - Equipment/Software/Literature
    New lifting service helps pump's run time Recently launched Axia lifting service is designed to help improve overall performance of a well's lifting system.
- Services/Suppliers
  - Services/Suppliers
    Dubai, UAE, and Aberdeen, UK, has announced the addition of well services specialist Tim Eley, and well support expert Ahmed Al Mashgari to its consultancy.
- Editor's Perspective
  - Sudanese peace pact important but not enough
    Sudanese peace pact important but not enough Sudan took a step toward the 20th Century Jan. 9 with the signing of an agreement halting 22 years of civil war.
- Market Journal
  - Energy market faces possible surprises
    Analysts J. Marshall Adkins and James M. Rollyson, in the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc., recently listed 10 surprises that could upset energy markets this year.
General Interest
- Editorial - The UN inquiries
  Serious days lie ahead for the United Nations. The Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) investigating the UN's Oil-for-Food Program soon will issue its first interim report.
- The Oil Market–1: Past, present, and near term
  The high price of oil has become a dominant subject of interest not only for the international oil business but also for the global economy and the economies of most countries.
- Japan, Russia start talks on oil pipeline details
  Japan's Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, on a visit to Moscow that began Jan. 13, was expected to confer with Russian officials about their recently announced decision to construct an $11.5 billion oil pipeline from East Siberia to the Pacific coast.
- Japan urges Malacca Strait shipping safety
  Japanese Defense Minister Yoshinoro Ono, on a swing through Southeast Asia, has urged Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore to do more to protect oil shipping through the Malacca Strait from piracy and terrorism.
- Watching the World - Japan, China dispute field
  As everyone knows, Japan and China are racing neck and neck to secure ever greater supplies of oil and natural gas to keep their economies from sputtering.
- Myanmar, India, Bangladesh sign gas line agreement
  India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh have agreed in principle to lay an onshore pipeline to carry gas to India from large discoveries off Myanmar.
- API seeks energy policy; IEA notes spending caution
  Red Cavaney, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, called for major changes in US energy policy in a Jan. 18 address to a forum of the US Energy Association of public and private energy-related organizations, corporations, and government agencies.
- Tax break ending for Prudhoe Bay satellites
  Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski has said that, effective Feb. 1, satellite fields surrounding Prudhoe Bay oil field no longer will be allowed to take advantage of a state tax break called the Economic Limit Factor (ELF).
- US upstream jobs rose in 2004, data show
  Employment in the US upstream oil and gas industry gained along with total nonfarm employment for the first time in many years in 2004, preliminary data show.
- Watching Government - Sandia report, a month later
  Now that the US energy community has had nearly a month to consider a Sandia National Laboratories report on identifying and managing risks of importing liquefied natural gas, how have LNG proponents and regulators reacted (OGJ, Jan. 3, 2005, p. 30)?
- Company News: Independent E&P firms bolster size through acquisitions
  Several US independent exploration and production companies have reported acquisitions or proposed acquisitions that would bolster their oil and natural gas operations.
Exploration & Development
- Gas-power project proposed to serve NW Peru, Ecuador
  A Houston independent has advanced to the brink of an onshore/offshore project to supply natural gas to northwestern Peru and southwestern Ecuador.
- BPZ lists provisions for commercializing stranded gas off NW Peru
  The main objective of BPZ Energy Inc.'s initial project in northwestern Peru is to develop natural gas reserves that until now had been overlooked and treated as "stranded" gas, because it had no commercial market.
- BlackRock presses heavy oil work at Seal, Alta.
  A Calgary independent has sharply boosted heavy oil production and plans more heavy oil development this year on properties at Seal, Alta., 190 miles northwest of Edmonton.
Special Report
- PDM performance depends on internal geometries
  PDM performance can be predicted with analyses based on fluid mechanics and kinematic relationships.
- Improved field test measures polyacrylamide fluid
  Scientists have developed a safer, faster, more cost-efficient method for analyzing polyacrylamides in drilling fluids, suitable for field use.
- Specialized steel enables deep, high-pressure completions in Tahiti field
  Grant Prideco LLM designed connectors that use a new steel alloy for high-pressure completions in the Gulf of Mexico.
Processing
- Equation predicts adsorption of oxygenated petchems on activated carbon
  This article presents the results of a correlation that accurately estimates the adsorption capacity of activated carbon for removing oxygenated petrochemicals in water.
Transportation
- Where we are: Relationships, contracts evolve along supply chain
  International LNG trade continues to experience significant growth and diversification.
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