While mid-December attention has focused on historic parliamentary elections in Iraq, another important vote is shaping up to the south for mid-January.
Weather drove energy prices in the final days of 2005, with the front-month natural gas futures contract dropping just before the Christmas holiday to the lowest point since November on the New York market.
The US Minerals Management Service has issued a final rule that will allow suspensions of operation (SOOs) to oil and gas operators contemplating ultradeep wells (deeper than 25,000 ft TVD) in the Gulf of Mexico.
Deloitte & Touche LLP analysts foresee continued strength in crude oil prices for more than a year and expect natural gas prices to remain high throughout the winter.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici announced that he would try to bring back legislation authorizing federal oil and gas leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain in the new year.
The US Senate kept Congress true to form Dec. 21 when it rejected the latest effort to authorize oil and gas leasing of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain.
A US House Resources Committee task force has proposed establishing a 180-day time limit for legal challenges to final federal agency decisions under the National Environmental Policy Act.
There have been nine deepwater (greater than 1,000 ft) oil and natural gas discoveries announced by operators in the Gulf of Mexico through November in 2005, the US Minerals Management Service reported.
The US Senate blocked a provision to authorize oil and gas leasing of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain that was included in a defense appropriations bill.
The oil industry can expect changing relationships between international companies and national oil companies (NOCs) within 36 months, said John Knight, Statoil ASA senior vice-president, business development and acquisitions.
New figures in the World Bank’s extractive industries portfolio show increased financing for small and local investors, renewable and natural gas industry lending, and transparency initiatives to reduce corruption, according to leaders of the multilateral lending institution’s oil, gas, mining, and chemicals department.
The expansion of India’s economy over the next decade will push the country’s demand for natural gas beyond supply, but whether LNG can fill this supply gap is a function of both domestic and global economics.
Saudi Arabia’s position in the global petrochemical market will grow during the next 5 years due to an ongoing and significant growth wave that will add substantial petrochemical capacity.
Due to the high degree of diversity in which real-time operations and production data are stored and distributed within BP PLC-indeed, within almost any large oil company today-E&P professionals who carry out similar activities in different assets or business units must access data in distinctly different ways.
After the surprises of 2005, it will be a surprise in 2006 if a monster hurricane doesn’t disrupt oil and gas operations in and along the Gulf of Mexico.
Working in ultrahigh pressures and temperatures will require an industry-wide research and development effort in order to deliver reliable completions.
