The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s premier oil transportation choke point, and it seems worthwhile from time to time to recite the details that make it so strategic.
After testing price barriers during intraday trading for five consecutive sessions, the near-month benchmark US crude contract closed above $73/bbl in New York on July 13, and analysts said it could be headed higher this summer.
Producers’ current investment decisions may be clouded by such questions as the extent to which nonconventional fuels may be produced and used in the future and the effects those fuels may have on oil demand, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in the group’s 2007 World Oil Outlook.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expects demand for its members’ crude oil to change little next year as limits on global refining capacity continue to support oil prices.
The American Petroleum Institute reports the US petroleum industry spent about $12.4 billion on the environment and on environment-related research and development during 2005.
Brazilian federal police arrested three top executives of state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) on July 10, along with the directors of three shipyards-Angraporto Offshore, Maua Jurong, and IESA-and others for alleged involvement in fixing repair contract bids for at least three offshore oil platforms.
Polyolefins manufacturer Basell Service Co. BV plans to buy Lyondell Chemical Co. of Houston for about $12 billion, plus the assumption of Lyondell’s $7 billion debt.
Coiled tubing is one of the fastest growing oilfield technologies. CT services expanded 140% over 2001-06, second only to directional drilling, according to Colorado-based Spears & Assoc. Inc.
Alkanolamines are used widely in gas treating plants. Because acid-gas removal from natural gas requires regeneration of alkanolamines, the energy requirement for the stripping section (condenser and reboiler) will be much greater when the inlet sour gas contains a high concentration of acid gases.
