The US Department of Energy has completed guidelines for possible emergency use of its 2 million bbl Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. DOE urged prospective bidders to pre-register on its web site to receive e-mail notices about possible future sales.
The Indonesian government has been asked to mediate a dispute between Pertamina, the state-owned oil firm, and the province of Riau over sharing the Coastal Plain Pekanbaru oil field. The provincial government wanted a 70% stake in the 60,000 b/d field. PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia operates the field.
The US Minerals Management Service has completed its review of high bids in the Western Gulf of Mexico lease sale No. 177 held Aug. 23 in New Orleans. Of the 226 tracts receiving bids, MMS rejected seven high bids totaling $4,632,762 as insufficient. It awarded 219 leases involving $149,027,269 in high bids.
The US Minerals Management Service has issued a rule adopting the International Organization for Standardization's minimum acceptable requirements for subsea safety valve equipment for offshore production. In November, the American Petroleum Institute adopted the subsea safety valve standard as part of its specifications.