On Dec. 13, the US Senate passed a revised energy bill that included a large expansion of the federal motor fuel ethanol mandate (OGJ Online, Dec. 18, 2007).
While battling recently against misguided energy legislation, a veteran oil and gas industry representative observed, “They’re trying to put us out of business.
The January crude contract for US light, sweet crudes climbed to $94.85/bbl Dec. 12 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before closing at $94.39/bbl, up $4.37 in the biggest 1-day gain since Jan. 30 and the highest closing since Nov. 27, after the US Federal Reserve said it would make $24 billion available to European central banks to spur economic growth.
Worldwide oil and gas reserves grew marginally from a year ago, and oil production declined slightly during 2007, according to Oil & Gas Journal’s annual survey.
Oil and gas companies might want to redefine themselves as high-technology companies given growing public awareness of climate change and energy security, said energy consultant Joseph Stanislaw in a report entitled “Climate Change and Energy Security: The Future is Now.”
Oil and gas executives and consumers often disagree about how US energy challenges should be resolved, said results of a survey commissioned by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.
Deutsche Bank AG Chief Energy Economist Adam Sieminski expects that light, sweet crude prices will average $80/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange in 2008.
National oil companies are seeking broader service capabilities and more technology, and this trend could prompt more consolidation among service companies, a speaker told the Deloitte & Touche USA LLP oil and gas conference Dec. 12.
The winner of the 2008 presidential election will need to take bold steps to address energy and climate change problems despite the absence of substantive discussions from the current campaigns, said US Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) on Dec. 18.
Chile has awarded oil and gas exploration and production rights to foreign companies that will invest at least $267 million each in the southern Magellan region.
Pemex used internal resources to design a cost-effective system based on open communication protocols and software to manage its crude oil inventory and track changes and fluctuations with real-time data across a large and disparate pipeline system.
