Technology developed by the oil and gas industry to locate and extract oil and natural gas from below the earth’s surface is now being adapted for humanitarian purposes.
The US oil and gas industry has reason to feel relief and worry about President-elect Barack Obama’s decision not to pursue a “windfall profit” tax on oil.
On some rankings it’s best to score near the bottom. So it is with assessments by Transparency International (TI), the anticorruption group, of the tendency of industries to pay bribes.
The US Federal Energy Regulatory The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission identified additional adverse environmental impacts as it issued a final environmental impact statement (EIS) on Dec. 5 for a proposed LNG project outside Baltimore.
The US Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook said it all on Dec. 9: “The current global economic slowdown is now projected to be more severe and longer than in last month’s Outlook, leading to further reductions of global energy demand and additional declines in crude oil and other energy prices.”
Acknowledging that he will have no direct influence after Jan. 20, US Minerals Management Service Director Randall B. Luthi said he hopes the Obama administration and Congress seriously consider expanded opportunities on the US Outer Continental Shelf.
While Iraq’s oil industry will continue to face problems with security in 2009, the country’s crumbling production and pipeline systems are more likely to disrupt crude exports, according to a report by London-based Exclusive Analysis (EA).
Oil-gas explorer White Nile Ltd. recently raised the white flag in Sudan, saying it plans a change of mission and will now invest in African agriculture.
Brazil’s Petroleo Brasilerio SA (Petrobras) continues to review its 2009-13 strategic plan, with no deliberation taking place yet at the board level, according to an official report.
The Galsi and Interconnector-Greece-Italy (IGI) pipeline partners do not expect the credit crisis to negatively impact their plans, as they have very strong balance sheets, according to a senior company official.
The global economic slowdown cannot distract policymakers worldwide from progressing on climate change mitigation efforts through international accords and related national energy policies, said Richard J. Jones, deputy executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
Falling energy consumption and the credit crisis have slashed liquidity in the capital markets, yet Booz & Co.’s energy consultants advise oil companies to remember that strategic growth remains possible.
Iraq has ambitious targets, aiming for 500,000 b/d annual oil output expansion and a long-term goal of 6 million b/d, according to a recent report by analyst BMI.
Energen Corp., Birmingham, Ala., plans further exploratory tests in 2009 of Conasauga and Chattanooga gas shales in Alabama without partner Chesapeake Energy Corp., Oklahoma City.
The smart, self-organizing, wireless transmitters installed recently in Wytch Farm field provide for continuous monitoring of wellhead pressures, thereby eliminating the need for operations personnel to read manually wellhead pressure gauges.
A new method can help avoid condensation and control hydrates in the early stages of a natural gas transmission pipeline’s life, thereby helping avoid future black powder formation.
