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Investment fervor continues for US, Canadian shale gas plays
National oil companies, international oil companies, and others are investing in US and Canadian shale gas plays in an accelerating trend that analysts expect will continue to drive North American merger and acquisition activities throughout 2011.
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Hess plans to double its Bakken production by yearend
Hess Corp. produced 20,000 boe/d from North Dakota's Bakken oil play as of yearend 2010, and it expects to double production there by yearend 2011, executives said during an earnings conference call.
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MWCC completes, tests interim deepwater containment system
Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) announced it completed and tested an initial well containment response system available for a well control incident in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
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IOCs departing Libya ahead of stepped-up violence
International oil companies (IOCs), led by Italy's Eni SPA, are either evacuating or making plans to evacuate Libya as increased violence in the North African country heralded the possible end to the 41-year rule of the country's leader, Muammar Qaddafi.
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Watching The World: Cybercrooks target IOCs
The oil and gas industry experienced a shock last week on learning from a US cyber security firm that hackers based in China had compromised the computer networks of at least five international oil companies (IOCs).
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Aramco launches products trading unit
Saudi Aramco, as part of a previously announced program of diversification, said it has established a wholly owned products trading subsidiary, Saudi Aramco Product Trading Co.
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Deutsche Bank: Pipelines explain WTI discount to Brent
Increased pipeline capacity to bring crude oil to Cushing, Okla., has resulted in more oil flowing into PADD 2 than the refinery system there can handle, and therefore the landlocked crude is trading at a persistently wide discount to comparable global crudes, according to a research note released this month by Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
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Congressman to reintroduce bill to federally regulate fracing
US Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY) said he will reintroduce legislation to federally regulate hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
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Salazar orders fresh look at first round of oil shale leases
The US Bureau of Land Management will take a fresh look at commercial oil shale rules and plans that the Bush administration issued in 2008 to determine if they need to be updated to reflect the latest research and technologies, to account for expected water demands in the arid US West, and to ensure they provide a fair return to the taxpayer, said US Interior Sec. Ken Salazar.
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BOEMRE budget request grows amid cutbacks elsewhere in DOI
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement would receive 50% more in fiscal 2012 than its enacted 2010 budget, which continued into 2011, under the Obama administration's proposed federal budget.
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Watching Government: Government's R&D focus
Disregard the Obama administration's elimination of oil and gas research and development from its proposed fiscal 2012 budget for the US Department of Energy.
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Judge finds DOI in contempt for imposing second deepwater ban
A federal district court judge in New Orleans found the US Department of the Interior in contempt of his order to lift a moratorium on deepwater drilling, which DOI imposed following the Macondo well accident and oil spill last spring.
