Oil & Gas Journal Articles, October 2008

Table of Contents

Regular Features

OGJ Newsletter

Journally Speaking

Cleanup fund gets attention

Environmental cleanup funds rarely generate much attention. But the Oil Field Cleanup Fund (OFCU), under authority of the Texas Railroad Commission, (RRC) has been the subject of debate for more than a year.

Editorial

An unprecedented rebuke

While addressing mortgage debt deemed “toxic” in a desperate effort to rescue the US economy, Congress somehow saw fit to raise toxicity of the political climate for oil and natural gas.

Equip/Software/Lit

Services/Suppliers

Editor's Perspective

US can raise tax revenue by cutting corporate tax rate

Political discourse in the early 1980s treated “tax rates” and “tax revenue” as synonymous phrases.

Market Journal

September crude prices fall

Front-month crude plunged $10.52/bbl Sept. 29 as the House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion plan to resolve the most severe threat to the US economy since the Great Depression.

General Interest

Special Report: Energy to be main focus for incoming president, Congress

US economic problems dominated the 2008 presidential campaign as the two major nominees prepared to meet in their second debate last week.

Point of View: More money for technology needed for the oil industry

Innovative entrepreneur Gennady “Gene” Moshkovich has established several companies that cater to various aspects of the oil industry, especially desulfurization: He currently is CEO of DS2Tech Inc.

Russians: ‘Kazakhs want to use ESPO pipeline’

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil pipeline operator KazTransOil is interested in transporting Kazakh oil through Russia’s East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline.

Political uncertainty reduces Indonesian production

Indonesia’s declining oil production, as well as its recent departure from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is the result of political uncertainty in the country, according to a media report.

Watching The World: Electrifying news for Bodman & Co.

US Energy Sec. Samuel Bodman seems a little behind the times when it comes to alternative fuels and the interests of carmakers.

Egypt struggles to meet demand growth for natural gas

Egypt has awarded a drilling contract to the recently formed Egyptian Offshore Drilling Co. (EODC), a joint venture of Toyota Tsusho 50%, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. 35%, and Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Co. 15%.

US independents report cuts to drilling budgets

Chesapeake Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, along with Petrohawk Energy Corp. and ATP Oil & Gas Corp., both of Houston, are cutting their drilling budgets and focusing on their best prospects due to the deteriorating economy and declining demand.

Watching Government: Peterson’s energy legacy

US Rep. John E. Peterson (R-Pa.) could take pride in watching Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing moratoriums expire Sept. 30.

NGSA: No change in wholesale price pressure this winter

Pressure on domestic wholesale natural gas prices this winter heating season will mirror last year’s because producers have drilled more wells, and technology has helped them improve recovery rates, the Natural Gas Supply Association said in its annual forecast on Oct. 2.

Africa, EU develop energy cooperation actions

Last month the African Union Commission and the European Commission jointly established an Africa-European Union energy partnership that could attract more than €1 billion in EU funds for concrete energy investments in Africa.

Exploration & Development

Reliance, Niko start production at MA oil field off eastern India

Reliance Industries Ltd., Mumbai, and Niko Resources Ltd., Calgary, began a new chapter in India’s hydrocarbon production with the startup of MA oil field in the Krishna-Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal.

Papua New Guinea gas-condensate find tested

Rift Oil PLC reported a flow of 29.2 MMcfd of gas during a test in its Puk Puk-1 wildcat on Papua New Guinea permit PPL 235 in the country’s Western Province.

Eni tests gas from Argo-2 well off Sicily

Eni SPA plans to develop on a fast-track basis its offshore discoveries in the Sicilian Strait following test results of 170,000 cu m/day of natural gas from the Argo 2 well.

Nido Petroleum finds oil off Philippines

Nido Petroleum Ltd., Perth, said its Yakal-1 wildcat in SC54 of the Northwest Palawan basin off the Philippines has encountered a 66-m gross oil column.

Drilling & Production

Drilling Market Focus: Australian operators drill for gas to feed LNG trains

Natural gas is driving drilling in Australia, while oil production continues to decline.

New software moves distributed-temperature sensing data

Shell has developed open standards software to fill the gap of moving distributed-temperature sensing (DTS) data from the wellsite to the engineer’s office desktop.

Processing

Study compares methods that measure hydrogen use in diesel hydrotreaters

A recent study found that the more accurate methods for analyzing hydrogen consumption are the feed-total liquid product (TLP) H-content analysis and chemical analysis methods.

Transportation

Defect Assessment—Conclusion: Modified Ln-Secant equation improves failure prediction

Limitations in the original Ln-Sec equation prompted development of a modified equation better suited thru the original equation for remaining life assessments.

This Issue

Volume 106
Issue 38
October 2008
 

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