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Editorial: Innovation and surprise
A tenet of energy thinking in Europe and the US holds that innovation will rescue developed economies from their dependence on fossil energy and should be encouraged to do so.
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Special Report: EOR/Heavy Oil Survey: POINT OF VIEW: SPE IOR conference chair laments lack of R&D funds
US funding for basic enhanced and improved oil recovery research and development is as scarce as it's ever been, says Dwight Rychel, general chair of the biennial Society of Petroleum Engineers Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, to be held Apr. 24-28 in Tulsa.
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Experts see shale gas affecting overseas supplies
Potential natural gas production from shale formations has dramatically improved North America's supply outlook, three panelists agreed during a Washington energy conference.
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Watching Government: EPA retreats on NSR
Refiners have more pressing regulatory issues with the US Environmental Protection Agency. But they still paid attention to its Mar. 30 proposal to revoke its January 2009 rule that aimed to simplify its New Source Review permitting program.
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Conference: Government mulls energy commodity regulations
While purely financial players have become increasingly prominent in energy commodity markets and new regulations appear likely, stronger evidence is needed that they created crude oil price spikes in 2008, several panelists said Apr. 6 at an energy conference in Washington, DC.
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US senator asks Gates for thoughts on OCS plan
US Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) asked US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates for his reaction to US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's plan to expand federal oil and gas leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
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USGS asked to study Arctic oil, natural gas exploration impacts
The US Geological Survey will review information about the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, including studies by other scientific organizations, to help guide federal oil and gas policies on the Arctic Ocean's Outer Continental Shelf, US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced on Apr. 13.
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AAPG: Unconventional thinking parlays advances
The oil and gas exploration business has advanced because its people exercised unconventional thought, and more strides are possible, a Chevron Corp. official told the American Association of Petroleum Geologists annual conventional Apr. 12 in New Orleans.
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API hits GHG rules set with new CAFE standards
The American Petroleum Institute expressed concerns about greenhouse gas regulations being included in a new rule the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation issued for fuel economy standards.
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Cedigaz: Rise in global UGS capacity to be robust to 2020
Paris-based gas association Cedigaz, in its 2010 survey of global underground gas storage (UGS) capacity, noted that the number of UGS facilities has jumped to 642 from 610, with a working capacity of 333 billion cu m (bcm) in January from 319 bcm in 2006, when the previous survey was published.
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BLM suspends some lease sales to review GHG emissions
The Bureau of Land Management office in Billings, Mont., said Apr. 8 that it delayed some oil and gas lease sales pending BLM's completion of environmental reviews on possible greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas activities.
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Shell taking closer look at Indonesia's prospects
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which has been absent from Indonesia for many years, is now considering new investments in the country's upstream and downstream sectors, according to Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser.
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Watching The World: Thumbs up for Shell, PetroChina
With good reason, Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board recently gave Royal Dutch Shell PLC and PetroChina the thumbs up for their $3.45 billion joint bid for Arrow Energy Ltd.
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GAO: MMS Alaska unit's NEPA review practices flawed
The lack of a comprehensive guidebook, combined with high staff turnover in recent years, potentially handicaps the US Minerals Management Service's Alaska regional office's efforts to adequately develop federal environmental assessments, the US Government Accountability Office said.