In "Oil, gas supply trends point to tight spots, higher prices," Rafael Sandrea observed, "Global crude oil production has…remained flat at 71 million b/d since 2004" and went on to comment that three-digit oil prices may be "lurking on the horizon" (OGJ, Nov. 23, 2009, p. 37).
By the time it ended, the Copenhagen climate summit had become farcical enough to obscure an instructive disclosure that emerged in the confab's early days.
The front-month contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes traded as high as $80/bbl before closing at $79.36/bbl Dec. 31 in what many described as a 78% price jump during 2009 and its biggest surge since 1999 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Lower oil and natural gas prices and depressed refining margins resulted in a sharp reduction in the third-quarter 2009 earnings of oil and gas producers and refiners.
Robert F. McDonnell, who will become Virginia's governor this month, has asked US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar "to do everything in your power" to ensure that a planned 2011 sale of federal oil and gas leases off the state's coast stays on schedule.
Before the season to be jolly completely slips away, let's look back at some of 2009's amusing moments in government and issue this column's annual "Watchy" awards.
A significant increase in US biofuels production could make the nation less dependent on imported oil, the US Energy Information Administration said in an early release of its 2010 Annual Energy Outlook reference case.
A US House Republican energy leader said he plans to introduce a resolution expressing disapproval of the Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas emission (GHG) endangerment finding.
The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association recommended three alternatives on Dec. 23 as it submitted comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency opposing EPA's proposed greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act.
Thirteen US House members asked Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to consider economic and energy security consequences of adopting a US Fish and Wildlife Service recommendation proposal to place critical habitat for polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The State of Alaska filed strong objections to the US Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal to designate 200,541 sq miles in the state and adjacent ocean as critical habitat for polar bears.
The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York has urged Gov. David Paterson to remain committed to his draft State Energy Plan, which supports the expansion of natural gas exploration in the Marcellus shale.
Mexico's demand for natural gas will continue to outstrip production, with imports to cover the country's requirements set to rise by 133% during 2009-24, according to government figures.
Alaska's giant Umiat oil field, discovered in the late 1940s by the US Navy in search of new sources of oil after World War II, remains undeveloped to this day.
Expansion and modifications at Marsulex Montreal Inc.'s sulfur-handling plant in Montreal have increased the plant's overall reliability through improved amine quality, improved the plant's operating costs as a result of a longer interval between cleaning, and yielded better hydrocarbon recovery.
By selling recovered line pipe into the structural market instead of rehabilitating it for its own use, the pipeline industry is underusing a potentially valuable asset.
