International news for oil and gas professionals
'Tis the season to be jolly. It's also the time analysts and other soothsayers predict what will happen to the world in general and oil markets in particular in 2012—despite the fact they didn't guess most major events of 2011.
Political support for a project crucial to US energy interests is eminently welcome—but not when it threatens those interests in broader and deeper ways.
Two US scientific academies urged companies involved in offshore oil and gas activities to take a "system safety" approach to anticipate and manage possible dangers at every operating level.
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management conditionally approved Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc.'s revised exploration plan for its leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska on Dec. 16.
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) began a 60-day public comment period on preparing a joint environmental evaluation with the California State Lands Commission (CSLC) of a proposal to develop oil and gas resources from three existing state-issued leases from an existing platform in federal waters 3.7 miles offshore Carpenteria, Calif.
The US Senate approved a bill that would extend the payroll tax cut into 2012 on Dec. 17 in a rare Saturday session, but with a provision that would require US President Barack Obama to act on the Keystone XL pipeline project's cross-border permit application within 60 days of enactment.
Many rural US communities facing economic pressures and high unemployment would welcome oil and gas resource development although it can challenge local governments, Daryl Dukard, commissioner of Dunn County, ND, said Dec. 7.
The US House unanimously approved federal pipeline legislation on Dec. 12 that would reauthorize and strengthen pipeline safety programs through the 2015 fiscal year, improve enforcement of current laws and fill legal gaps where necessary, and address National Transportation Safety Board recommendations from recent incidents.
A majority of Americans polled believe developing natural gas by tapping shale formations offers greater rewards than it does risks, including risks possibly associated with hydraulic fracturing, said a survey conducted by the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions.
The oil and gas industry might want to tip its hat out of respect for work done by the Atlantic Council in the past year—especially its recently concluded Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum.
If the US were to export 6 bcfd of LNG in the future, a world gas model developed by Deloitte MarketPoint LLC estimates a weighted-average price impact of 12¢/MMbtu on US prices during 2016-35, Deloitte LLP announced Dec. 15 at its annual oil and gas conference in Houston.
Canada's National Energy Board, in an effort to allay public concerns in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, released filing requirements for future applications to drill in the Canadian Arctic Offshore.
The US needs an election before the next round of energy legislation. Congress, with its consumption mandates and production subsidies, has done enough damage already.
