Nowhere has BP Amoco plc's proposed acquisition of ARCO caused more concern than in Alaska, where the two companies long have dominated oil production and reserves.
Despite their withdrawal from Peru's Camisea gas fields megaproject last year, units of Royal Dutch/Shell and Mobil Corp. remain committed to exploring acreage adjoining the Camisea block.
Perupetro SA, Peru's petroleum regulatory agency, is inviting major and independent oil companies to sign 2-year technical evaluation agreements (TEAs) for six areas: on the coast, in the jungle, and in the southern Andes.
Canada's Maritime Provinces are experiencing a new exploration round as start-up approaches for the gas pipeline from fields near Sable Island in the Atlantic.
Companies developing the Corridor Block on South Sumatra have notched another geologic success with a major southwest extension of Suban gas-condensate field.
Deregulation of Italy's natural gas and electricity sectors is setting the stage for a major expansion of that country's gas industry and a transformation of its energy sector as "BTU convergence" continues to spread around the world.
The oil ministers of Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela agreed to maintain their accord on oil production cutbacks until the end of March 2000, following a meeting in Caracas on Aug. 28.
With the takeover battle between TotalFina SA and Elf Aquitaine SA increasingly looking like a long haul, TotalFina Pres. Thierry Desmarest has been airing his views in the French press.
In an effort to ensure competition in Alaska's North Slope area, BP Amoco plc will have to part with certain assets before merging with ARCO, according to Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles. In fact, the state would prefer to have a say in which North Slope acreage would be sold and to whom, says the governor.
After almost a decade of capitalism, there are parts of the Russian economy that have not fallen in line, to such an extent that barter is considered critical to the survival of the country's oil and gas sector.
A California Superior Court ruled in favor of Exxon Corp. in a 13-year-old civil suit against the firm, saying it does not owe California $750 million for allegedly pricing oil pumped from public lands at less than market value. The jury decided that the state had received sufficient payments during 1981-89 for oil taken from Wilmington field off Long Beach.
Deregulation of Italy's natural gas and electricity sectors is setting the stage for a major expansion of that country's gas industry and a transformation of its energy sector as "BTU convergence" continues to spread around the world.
Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s Edmonton Research centre carried out hydrotreating pilot plant tests with coker naphtha over a typical alumina-based NiMo catalyst to investigate process variables for removal of olefins, diolefins, aromatics, sulfur, and nitrogen.
China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) has decided to export 500,000 metric tons of diesel during the second half of this year, worsening the regional glut of the product.
The pace of subsea pipelay and repair technology has accelerated in recent months, keyed by the introduction of a new deepwater vessel whose first job will be in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. oil and gas producers should support an effort in Congress this month to pass legislation on deregulation of the retail electricity business. Now a state-by-state process, electricity restructuring needs a federal push.
Ivanhoe Energy Inc., Calgary, and its partners have advanced plans for a pilot development program on Duan Nan block in China's Dagang oil producing region (see map). Duan Nan is part of the Kongnan project, which includes five other blocks.
ARCO Alaska Inc. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. have approved a revised development plan that will increase estimated production rates and reserves for Alpine oil field on Alaska's North Slope.
The recent collapse in oil prices and the impending disappearance of one of the two main Alaskan North Slope operators into the bowels of another has had a surprisingly modest effect on plans to halt the decline in North Slope oil production.
While most of Alaska's exploratory interest focuses on the North Slope, the state's original commercial producing area-the Cook Inlet basin-still holds some exploratory and development interest.
In a new search for gas in Alaska, Unocal Corp. has turned its attention to coalbed methane (CBM), in the Matanuska Valley about 40 miles north of Anchorage.
A joint venture of CanArgo Energy Corp., Calgary, and Ninotsminda Oil Co., 65% owned by CanArgo, produced 205,700 bbl of oil from Ninotsminda field in the 6 months ended June 30, 1999.
Arguably, the oil and gas industry has never been in such a state of flux. And, as so often tends to happen during times of significant change, really important stuff-which at one time might have taken precedence over other not-so-important stuff-is reassessed and placed into its proper position in the hierarchy of industry issues.
Patrick Crow's July 5, 1999, Watching Government column claimed that the "POGO controversyellipsewas miring the U.S. Minerals Management Service's effort to promulgate a controversial oil royalty reform regulation" (OGJ, July 5, 1999, p. 34). Mr. Crow knows, however, that MMS's rule, designed to eliminate the phony "posted price" system, has in fact been mired for years. Big Oil's advocates have grasped at every straw along the way to avoid
Continuing upheaval in Venezuela, and in state petroleum giant Pdvsa, is generating concern among foreign companies pursuing investments in that country's oil and gas sector. Pdvsa has its third president this year: Hector Ciavaldini, formerly Pdvsa vice-president of planning and a close ally of President Chávez, succeeds Roberto Mandini, who presided over one of the world's largest oil companies for only 7 months. Mandini on Feb. 2 had replaced Luis Giusti, whom Chávez had
