Regular Features
- OGJ Newsletter
- Letters
  - Human impact statements
    Nick Snow's Watching Government column entitled "Delivering 'human impact statements'" hit a key issue that has been missing in policymaking in general and certainly in energy policy ever since We the People created government to make policy for us (OGJ, Sept. 28, 2009, p. 28).
- Journally Speaking
  - Offshore care on line
    Technology continues to drive innovations in telemedicine—and consequently lower costs—for oil companies and drilling contractors responsible for providing medical care to offshore crews.
- Equipment/Software/Literature
  The CARBONTRACKER gas metering system is a new development in reservoir characterization for tight gas, underbalanced drilling operations.
- Services/Suppliers
  Boulogne-Billancourt, France, has agreed to acquire Dubai-based DPAL FZCO from the Soconord Group.
- Advertisers Index
- The Editor's Perspective
  - Tradeoff on climate bill might fracture oil and gas industry
    Compromise forming around climate-change legislation in the US Senate promises despair for the oil and gas industry.
- Market Journal
  - EIA adopts new methodology
    The US Energy Information Administration has adopted a new methodology to show high and low ranges in forecasts of oil and natural gas prices, as revealed in the October issue of its Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO).
General Interest
- Editorial: Mitigating climate change
  The International Energy Agency has performed a service with its detailed comparison of a business-as-usual energy projection with one that assumes a global effort to mitigate climate change.
- Offshore rig, platform inspections protect personnel, environment
  US Minerals Management Service inspectors conduct field inspections of offshore drilling rigs and production platforms 7 days a week in the Gulf of Mexico, off California, and off Alaska.
- Recommendations offered for withdrawn Utah leases
  The US Bureau of Land Management should lead development of a comprehensive interagency strategy to address energy leasing, development, and related air quality concerns for other Western states, an interdisciplinary team which reviewed 77 withdrawn Utah leases said in a special report.
- IOGCC tackles two key issues
  The Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission agreed with the US Department of Energy's Fossil Fuels Office on Oct. 2 to collaborate on natural gas supply and delivery and climate-change mitigation issues.
- API: US drilling up, but still below year ago
  US oil and gas drilling activity rebounded somewhat from the previous 3-month period during 2009's third quarter but remained substantially lower than the comparable 2008 period, the American Petroleum Institute reported.
- Half of Shell's production will be gas by 2012, CEO says
  Oil and natural gas are indispensable in a growing world energy market, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC plans to make gas roughly half of its total production by 2012, its chief executive officer said on Oct. 8.
- Pemex confirms review of work in Chicontepec region
  Responding to earlier media reports, Mexico's state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) confirmed it is reviewing performance in the Chicontepec oil region, but is not suspending work there.
- Turkmenistan cleans house
  Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow recently met with officials to discuss his country's oil and gas industry.
- Southern Sudan OKs plan for 50,000-b/d refinery
  Even as it faces fresh conflict with its northern rival, the government of Southern Sudan approved plans to build a $2 billion refinery, according to a senior official of the semi-autonomous state.
- Iraqi minister sees 'big leap' coming in oil production
  Following agreement on two new oil service contracts, Iraq's oil minister said he expects his country to increase its oil production to 10-12 million b/d over the next 6 years from the current 2.5 million b/d.
- Union claims IOC lobbyists pressuring Brazil legislators
  Brazil's largest union of oil workers, the Federacao Unica dos Petroleiros (FUP), claimed international oil companies are pressuring legislators to amend a bill that would extend special benefits to the country's state-run Petroleo Brazileiro SA (Petrobras).
Exploration & Development
- Papua New Guinea explorers eye deepwater play in Coral Sea
  Papua New Guinea has a well established oil and gas production region in the Highlands area of the country.
Drilling & Production
- New plays emerge, although environmental issues arise
  New shale plays continue to emerge in North America and elsewhere, but issues related to the environment and land will affect commercial shale development.
Processing
- Tests gauge LED sensors for fuel-dye measurements
  Certain classes of diesel fuel are dyed red under regulations of the US Environmental Protection Agency and Internal Revenue Service.
Transportation
- Europe studies variables of common CCS approach
  A common European approach toward carbon capture and sequestration and toward developing an integrated carbon dioxide transportation network will help address CO₂ emissions.