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Comment: Have oil futures traders driven up the market?
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in mid-July reclassified a futures trader as “large noncommercial” (speculator-investor) from its former designation as “large commercial.
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US House passes bill to stop oil commodities speculation
By a vote of 273 to 124, the US House of Representatives approved a bill Sept. 18 designed to stop excessive oil commodities speculation.
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Watching Government: OCS lease bans lapse
Perhaps it was because of the proposed multibillion-dollar Wall Street bailout that the expiration of US Outer Continental Shelf leasing moratoriums on Sept. 30 went largely unnoticed (see p. 39).
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Petrobras, IOCs share subsalt, presalt exploration views
All eyes were on Brazil’s “presalt” play at the Rio Oil & Gas Expo and Conference Sept. 15-19 in Barra de Tijuca, an eastern suburb of Rio de Janeiro.
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NPC: 2007 ‘Hard Truths’ findings, advisements still apply
Recommendations and findings in a groundbreaking 2007 report still apply more than a year after they were issued, members of the National Petroleum Council said at their 2008 annual meeting on Sept. 17.
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Senators plan bill with MMS employee ethics reforms
Two US Senate Democrats plan to introduce legislation detailing appropriate conduct for government employees dealing with oil and gas producers in response to misconduct in the US Minerals Management Service’s royalty-in-kind operation (OGJ Online, Sept. 12, 2008).
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SPE: Industry cites unconventional resources potential
The estimated vast unconventional resources hold much promise for substantially adding to the world’s energy needs, but developing these resources entails overcoming many restraints, attendees were told Sept. 22 during the opening session of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Conference & Exhibition in Denver.
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Bodman: Russia using energy as foreign policy ‘tool’
US Sec. of Energy Samuel Bodman, concerned about Russia’s use of energy as a tool of foreign policy, said he would take up the issue with officials at a meeting next week in Vienna.
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ROV operators to earn $9 billion over next 5 years
Oil and gas industry expenditure on work-class remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) operations is likely to total $1.6 billion in 2008, and the market is set to reach $2.4 billion by 2012, reports energy analysts Douglas-Westwood in a new market study, The World ROV Report 2008-12.
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FERC approves Oregon Columbia River LNG project
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Sept. 18 approved the first new LNG terminal and related send-out pipeline in the Pacific Northwest after a 31⁄2-year review.
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Watching The World: Now Russians enter Somalia
The oil industry may think it can breathe a sigh of relief now that authorities in Somalia have called for help in getting rid of pirates infesting its waters. But think before you breathe.
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UGI: Unconventional gas wealth seen in world’s basins
Sedimentary basins in the US appear to contain a volume of technically recoverable unconventional gas that is 10 times the ultimately recoverable volume of conventional gas.
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Democrats remove OCS leasing bans from continuing resolution
Faced with the prospect of a presidential veto of a continuing resolution, congressional Democrats deleted language dealing with US Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing restrictions on Sept. 23.
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Japanese firms boost Vietnamese oil industry
Japanese firms are stepping up their involvement in Vietnam’s oil industry, entering both upstream exploration and production and downstream refining and marketing.