Shipping Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Mexican, or Saudi crude to the US West Coast to replace Alaskan North Slope (ANS) crude makes no economic or logistical sense.
Instead of a Manhattan Project for energy, the US needs coherent policy-making. Instead of an urgent mobilization of federal resources, the country needs a system for making judicious decisions about an important national interest.
China’s unsuccessful bid for a US oil company last year bodes ominously for American fiscal health, argues Laurence J. Kotlikoff, a Boston University economics professor.
Crude prices tumbled Aug. 14-17, dropping a total $4.29 to a 2-month low closing of $70.06/bbl on the New York market after a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire in Lebanon went into effect and BP PLC said it would keep online half of Prudhoe Bay, the biggest US oil field, while corroded transit lines are repaired.
National Iranian Gas Co. plans steady expansion of transmission and processing infrastructure in a program that envisions increases in imports and exports of natural gas.
US Federal Trade Commission monitors of gasoline and diesel fuel prices have detected sudden price increases for diesel during the last 2 weeks in the Mississippi River Valley from Arkansas to Minnesota and westward to the Dakotas.
The US Bureau of Land Management’s Utah office, which expected to have significantly greater interest in its Aug. 15 oil and gas lease sale than a year earlier, leased 86% more parcels covering 92% more acres after rejecting several nominations and deferring others.
The Aug. 16 western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 200 was “the best in 9 years,” said US Minerals Management Service officials, despite a federal judge’s warning that pending court action by Louisiana state officials could overturn that sale.
Alaska Atty. Gen. David Marquez said a taskforce is reviewing the state’s legal rights regarding the partial shutdown on Prudhoe Bay oil field and the extent BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. might be held responsible for losses incurred by the state.
Bolivia President Evo Morales’s decision May 1 to take control of the country’s oil and gas fields has prompted Brazil to seek alternate gas suppliers.
Data published about proved reserves in the northern Gulf of Mexico for oil pools have reserves ranging from 1,000 bbl to 143 million bbl, and data published about proved reserves in gas pools there have reserves ranging from 2 MMcf to 718 bcf.
The Kentucky Geological Survey invited oil and gas companies to join and fund an exploration research consortium focused on the pre-Knox deep gas potential of the Rough Creek graben.
Low water-cement ratios, heat-insulating additives, and expanded vermiculite work together to prevent formation of defective cement sheaths in Arctic wellbores.
A revamp of the crude unit in ConocoPhillips’ Ponca City, Okla., refinery has allowed the refiner to process a lower-cost slate and increased overall refinery profitability.
Evolving LNG vessel designs and operating strategies could help industry players tap Russia’s huge Arctic resources by conquering the area’s extremely cold winters and icebound seas.
Mounting regulatory pressures and rising service and supply costs are pushing the pipeline industry toward a more preemptive approach in ensuring pipeline integrity.
