Crude futures prices fluctuated sharply within a $5/bbl range in a directionless market in early February, with traders torn between fears of an economic recession and potential threats to oil supplies.
Global oil refining capacity is set to expand by more than 10 million b/d over the next 7 years, with new refinery projects in Asia accounting for roughly 40% of this total.
There are enough conventional and unconventional petroleum resources to satisfy global demand for liquid fuels “for many decades,” but it will require better planning and cooperation between industry and governments to accomplish that task, the president and chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco said.
Two separate scientific studies released on Feb. 7 asked if converting forests to farm land for ethanol crops will do more environmental harm than good.
BP PLC is seeking to improve the financial performance of its refining and marketing assets, said BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward Feb. 5 while discussing companywide 2007 financial results.
Suncor Energy Inc., Calgary, is planning to invest $20.6 billion (Can.) to expand the oil production capacity at its oil sands operation north of Fort McMurray, Alta., by 200,000 b/d, to 550,000 b/d in 2012.
ExxonMobil Corp. has surpassed its own world record for reaching offshore deposits with land-based extended-reach technology, drilling from an onshore well at its Sakhalin-1 project in eastern Russian to a target area 7 miles offshore.
Oil futures have continued to rise due to traders’ concerns over the war of words launched by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez after ExxonMobil Corp. last week won a court injunction freezing as much as $12 billion in assets owned by state firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).
An international team led by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and India’s Directorate General of Hydrocarbons released the results Feb. 7 of what they describe as the world’s most comprehensive gas hydrate field venture to date.
Planned pipeline construction to be completed in 2008 rose by more than one-third from the previous year, driven by large crude oil transportation projects in both the US and Asia-Pacific.
