Regular Features
- OGJ Newsletter
- Letters
  - CO₂ challenge urged
    A strong legal challenge needs to be made to the EPA finding that CO₂ is harmful.
- Journally Speaking
  - Shaping the pipeline future
    The current US energy policy debate includes at least two areas of great interest to pipeliners: biofuels and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
- Equipment/Software/Literature
- Services/Suppliers
- Advertisers Index
- Editor's Perspective
  - Chief executives boost UN program on corruption
    An important United Nations fight against corruption received a boost this month from the chief executives of 24 international companies.
- Market Journal
  - A May rally in energy prices
    Energy prices rallied in early May with natural gas climbing above $4/MMbtu and crude at one point topping $58/bbl–a new high for the year–as traders shrugged off bearish inventory reports and focused instead on indications of a possible economic turnaround.
General Interest
- Editorial: Lessons from biofuels
  As markets balk, the US government recommits itself to the care and feeding of renewable fuels.
- Uruguay attracts interest in its first licensing round
  Uruguay, with no current oil and gas production, has completed the qualification step of its first offshore bid round, offering 11 continental shelf blocks that drew interest from six operators.
- Venezuela’s Chavez nationalizes oil services firms
  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, attempting to bolster his socialist spending programs, has nationalized nearly 40 domestic and international oil services companies operating in his country, with another 20 still under threat.
- Watching The World: Oil diplomacy at work in Asia
  The Sultanate of Brunei has long had a certain cache among members of the international oil and gas industry.
- Baghdad approves Kurdish exports; contracts thought ‘illegal’
  The Iraqi government, despite recently approving the export of oil from Kurdistan, still considers contracts signed between the Kurdistan Regional Government and international oil companies illegal.
- OTC: Shtokman Phase 1 development tenders due out
  Shtokman Development AG plans to send out soon tenders for developing the giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea, off Russia’s north coast, said Philippe Rondy, Total SA’s Shtokman planning manager.
- OTC: Nigeria changes gas-flaring deadline
  Nigeria is considering its new zero gas flaring target as 2011, which is 3 years later than its previous deadline of Dec. 31, 2008.
- OTC: Palau lays foundation for first licensing round
  The tiny island nation of Palau is laying the foundations to offer its first licensing round with the assistance of the World Bank.
- Obama keeps new oil, gas taxes in final 2010 budget
  US President Barack H. Obama released his final fiscal 2010 federal budget on May 7.
- EPA proposes renewable fuels regulations for 2010
  The US Environmental Protection Agency issued proposed new renewable fuels regulations for 2010 and beyond on May 5 as part of a broader Obama administration initiative.
- Watching Government: Seasoned hand on Alaska gas line
  Deputy US Transportation Secretary Thomas J. Barrett will join the office coordinating federal agencies’ responses to expedite construction of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the Lower 48 as its deputy coordinator on May 26.
- Aramco to stick with investment program, production levels
  Saudi Arabia’s state oil company is feeling the impact of lower prices, but does not plan to change its spending plans or production levels, its chief executive officer said on May 6.
- FACTS: 2009-10 LNG demand flat; supplies to glut markets
  The 2009 LNG outlook is grim, according to a recently published review of global LNG by FACTS Global Energy, Singapore.
Exploration & Development
- Bakken, Barnett, Manitoba fuel EOG’s liquids binge
  EOG Resources Inc., Houston, is emphasizing North American liquids and natural gas plays as it develops and explores unconventional and conventional plays in US and Canadian basins.
- Indonesia awards blocks, plans new bidding round
  To boost its declining production, Indonesia has awarded exploration rights for 11 new oil and gas blocks and is already mapping out its next bid round.
Drilling & Production
- DRILLING MARKET FOCUS: US rig count slumps more rapidly than industry expected
  The US rig count fell much more rapidly than most in the oil and gas drilling industry had forecast, and industry executives say they are uncertain when drilling activity might recover.
- Biocides control Barnett shale fracturing fluid contamination
  A team, composed of the operator and service company staff, tested various biocides to determine the best chemical for controlling bacteria in fluids used for fracturing Barnett shales in the Fort Worth basin of Texas.
Processing
- Special Report: LIQUIDS ENTRAINMENT–1: Changing operating conditions lead to compressor damage
  This is the first of three articles that describe BP’s experience with reciprocating compressor damage from liquids intrusion at two facilities, in Oklahoma and Alaska.
Transportation
- Study sets parameters for using direct assessment on networks
  Dry gas internal corrosion direct assessment (DG-ICDA) can be an effective means of evaluating networks of pipe for internal corrosion.