A 1963 episode of the popular television series, “The Twilight Zone,” told of a rich executive who, with no new business challenges to conquer, made a deal with the Devil to return as a young man to his childhood home in the late 19th Century and build his fortune again with the hindsight of modern knowledge.
US fuel prices are plummeting while members of Congress—aside from Republicans staying behind to speak on energy in an empty House chamber—are away on vacation.
A celebrated New York Times columnist has observed glaciers melting in Greenland and issued this judgment on proposals for expanded oil and gas leasing of the Outer Continental Shelf: “Madness.”
Unless demand for oil collapses within 5-10 years, the world will experience a serious “supply crunch” with prices shooting above $200/bbl for crude, according to an Aug. 8 report by Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a leading institute for debate and analysis of international issues.
A carbon cap and trade system and other initiatives to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will hurt the petroleum industry overall but also will create opportunities for some oil companies to cash in, said officials at Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. (EPRINC), Washington, DC.
BP PLC is dealing with the aftermath of the conflict in the Caucasus region after the Russian government sent troops and bombarded locations in Georgia on Aug. 8.
If anyone ever had any doubts about Russian intentions regarding the Caucasus as an energy bridge for the West, those doubts should have been laid to rest by now.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has denied a request submitted by Texas Gov. Rick Perry for a 50% waiver from the federal renewable fuel standard (RFS) mandate for corn-based ethanol.
Six more US House Democrats introduced their own bill Aug. 1 to open more of the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and gas leasing and repeal a moratorium on oil shale lease regulation preparation while accelerating alternative energy research and development.
A federal district court on July 18 overturned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of a proposed expansion of Dominion Resources’ Cove Point LNG installation on the Chesapeake Bay in Cove Point, Md., just south of Baltimore.
The US Energy and Interior secretaries jointly notified Congress on Aug. 8 that the way has been cleared for Colorado to begin receiving leasing revenue from Naval Oil Shale Reserves No. 1 and 2 on the Roan Plateau.
Nearly lost in the energy issue shuffle as Congress took its August recess was a bill its sponsors say could slow the domestic oil and gas production decline.
US President George W. Bush urged the Democratic congressional majority on Aug. 12 to schedule a vote on opening more of the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and gas leasing when federal lawmakers return from their August recess.
Underlying world oil market fundamentals point to a better supply-demand balance with lower prices in the near term, the US Energy Information Administration said in its latest short-term energy outlook.
The US Federal Trade Commission moved a step closer to addressing petroleum market manipulation on Aug. 13 as it sought public comments for a proposed rule.
The target for first hydrocarbons production from the $1.3 billion Menzel Ledjmet East (MLE) development in eastern Algeria’s Berkine basin is the second quarter of 2011, said First Calgary Petroleums Ltd., Calgary.
Equitable Resources Inc., Pittsburgh, said it has had encouraging results from early drilling for gas in Lower Mississippian Berea sandstone mostly in Kentucky and plans to have spud 25-30 Berea wells in 2008.
The placing on production of low-quality pay zones at giant Pinedale gas-condensate field in northwest Wyoming could increase the original gas in place estimate, said Ultra Petroleum Corp., Houston.
Shell Rocky Mountain Production LLC is optimizing drilling, well design, and completions in the Pinedale field in western Wyoming’s Green River basin to increase production and reduce surface disturbance.
Supply of Canadian oil sands products will increase by 2 million b/d between 2007 and 2015; half of this growth will be in Canadian heavy crude blends.
