Regular Features
- OGJ Newsletter
- Journally Speaking
  - ‘No regret’ warming solutions
    Global warming is a reality, but many proposed solutions would be “much more costly to society than the danger it seeks to avert,” according to a June report by National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), a conservative Washington, DC, think-tank.
- Equipment/Software/Literature
- Services/Suppliers
- Advertisers Index
- Editor's Perspective
  - Oil sands attack lifts doubt about activists’ motives
    A stepped-up attack on the Canadian oil sands strengthens doubt about the motives of environmental activists.
- Market Journal
  - ‘Goldilocks range’ of prices
    Top producers—especially key members of the Organization of Petroleum Countries—seek a “Goldilocks range” of crude prices, “neither too hot nor too cold for both producers and consumers,” said Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Barclays Capital, London, in a recent report.
General Interest
- Editorial: Where feds shouldn’t stray
  For the push to impose federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing, three possible motivations exist: The practice exposes subsurface sources of drinking water to risk and therefore should be regulated.
- APPEA: Pluto, Wheatstone fields to be developed separately
  Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Chevron Australia Pty. Ltd. are likely to develop their respective Pluto and Wheatstone gas field-LNG projects as separate entities and compete for third-party gas, company officials indicated at the recent Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference in Darwin.
- CBO says HR 2454 would add $846 billion in taxes
  A US House bill that would introduce a domestic carbon emissions cap-and-trade program would cost $846 billion in new taxes, the Congressional Budget Office said on June 5.
- Watching Government: Calls for calm amid hyperbole
  US Rep. Martin T. Heinrich (D-NM) tried to cool things off when he was finally recognized at the House Natural Resources Committee’s Energy and Mineral Resources subcommittee hearing on June 4.
- API, NPRA ask EPA to consider delay of RFS-2 implementation
  Two leading US oil industry trade associations asked the US Environmental Protection Agency on June 9 to consider delaying for a year the implementation of the new renewable fuel standards.
- CSIS: Independents affected most by global recession
  Independent oil and gas producers that rely heavily on cashflow face bigger financing challenges than major or national oil companies as the global recession depresses oil and gas demand and prices drop, experts said on June 3.
- Venezuela seizes gas compression plants, faces union unrest
  Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez said state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) is continuing to nationalize oil field service companies in the country, with Houston-based Exterran confirming its facilities as the latest seizure.
- Trinidad eyes gas pipeline extension to Barbados
  Even as it proceeds with plans to spend upwards of $155 million to construct a natural gas pipeline to its sister island of Tobago, Trinidad says it is still considering an extension of the line onward to Barbados.
- Watching The World: Hara-kiri Venezuela style
  The oil and gas industry will not be surprised to learn that resurgent nationalism is killing Venezuela.
- Alaskan officials respond to Begich comment on gas line
  Alaskan officials defended the state’s plan to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta after US Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alas.) said the Obama administration is frustrated that the project isn’t farther along.
- Study finds US production would dip under hydraulic fracturing bill
  US oil and gas production would drop 20.5% over 5 years if federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing becomes law, the American Petroleum Institute said on June 9 as it released a new study.
- House Republicans offer ‘all of the above’ energy bill
  US House Republicans introduced an energy bill on June 10 that they said takes a more realistic approach than proposed carbon cap-and-trade legislation.
- Analyst takes bullish view of natural gas, LNG
  Research analysts with Calgary-based Tristone Capital Inc. are optimistic on the outlook for natural gas beginning in the second half of 2009 and foresee a possible US gas supply shortage in 2010.
- Companies ramp up Bakken participation
  Several companies increased ownership in North Dakota Bakken well and production interests under an existing joint venture with Slawson Exploration Co., private Denver operator.
- Special Report: European refiners challenged during declining gasoline, diesel markets
  The past year has been a challenging one for the European refining industry, particularly because of the drastic fluctuations of world oil prices.
Exploration & Development
- EnCana banking heavily on unconventional gas, oil
  Unconventional gas and oil plays represent the future for EnCana Corp. and the North American oil and gas industry, EnCana said May 27.
- Shale gas acreage, European database draw interest
  Companies are seeking permits for shale gas prospects in southeast France in Languedoc Roussillon, the Cevennes mountains region, and the Savoie area near the Swiss border.
Drilling & Production
- Gulf of Mexico structure removal costs examined
  A study examined structure removal costs in the Gulf of Mexico for operations performed by TETRA Technologies Inc.
Processing
- Special Report: New environmental challenges to test European refiners’ flexibility, resources
  European refiners have enjoyed a short period of extremely good profitability caused by a tightening of refining capacity in the Atlantic Basin.
Transportation
- Study outlines method for managing unexpected liquids
  Preventing hydrate formation when wet gas is introduced to a trunkline designed for dry service requires a combination of careful modeling and diligent operation.