Table of ContentsRegular FeaturesOGJ NewsletterJournally SpeakingMeasuring ‘cheap’ oilOil prices have been on a downward spiral for several weeks, punched by dwindling demand.
Equip/Software/LitServices/SuppliersEditor's PerspectiveOil industry helps ease the new load on US taxpayersCongress has allowed the oil and gas business to ease the extra load taxpayers will assume from the vote-winning part of the economic rescue package signed into law Oct. 3.
Market JournalCrude prices lowest in a yearThe November contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes hit new lows for the year, trading as low as $77.09/bbl Oct. 10 before closing at $77.70/bbl, down $8.89 for the day on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
General InterestEditorial: The crisis and capitalismAn extra hazard lurks in the turmoil that has engulfed the global financial system.
Special Report: US oil shale resources look promising yet still uncertainThe quest for commercial viability of oil shale ultimately could prove the most practical option among unconventional hydrocarbon resources to add large quantities of proved US reserves, say researchers working toward this goal.
Special Report: Environmental, leasing policies evolvingOil companies researching oil shale development are watching the unfolding of US leasing and environmental regulatory policies that could influence the economics of producing unconventional petroleum resources, said the National Oil Shale Association.
Kazakh transport plans unfazed by Russia-Georgia strifeAlthough Kazakhstan has said it plans to arrange delivery of its oil to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline via Azerbaijan and on to Georgia’s Black Sea port of Batumi, traders expressed fears, after the Georgia-Russia conflict, about the efficiency of the trans-Caucasus routes and about possible future pressures from Russia.
BP to flow Kazakh oil through BTC pipelineBP PLC plans to begin shipping oil from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oil field via the 1,770-km Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline beginning later this month.
Brazil to offer fewer blocks for December auctionBrazil’s National Petroleum Agency (ANP), apparently bowing to pressure from the government, has reduced the number of exploration and production concession blocks to be auctioned at the 10th round, scheduled for Dec. 18.
Brazil launches new platform, loading terminalPetroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has inaugurated the P-51, the company’s first domestically built semisubmersible platform?a milestone event according to government and company officials.
Watching The World: Oiling the road To UlaanbaatarThe Japanese government, aiming to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and natural gas, has cast its eyes far and wide for new sources of energy.
US House panel’s minority report disputes findingsThe US House Natural Resources Committee’s minority staff released its own report on Oct. 9 challenging one which the majority staff issued 6 months ago that has been the basis of many 2008 Democratic candidates’ energy stands.
Watching Government: A politically audacious ideaThe full-page, A-section advertisement in the Oct. 9 Washington Post stood out from others; it was not for a major commercial bank saying how much it appreciated its depositors.
Egyptian court to rule in November on gas to IsraelEgypt’s State Council Administrative Court said it will issue a ruling Nov. 18 regarding a case lodged by a former ambassador and several lawyers against the export of Egyptian natural gas to Israel.
Modec FSO hits 1 billion bbl offloading markModec Inc.’s floating storage and offloading unit Ta’Kuntah has reached a milestone in the industry?offloading a total of 1 billion bbl of oil to 1,745 export tankers.
Company News: E.On secures stake in Yuzhno Russkoye gas projectRussia’s state-owned OAO Gazprom has signed an asset swap agreement granting German utility E.On AG a stake in the Yuzhno-Russkoye natural gas project.
PERSONNEL MOVES AND PROMOTIONS: ConocoPhillips makes management changesConocoPhillips made several senior management changes.
Exploration & DevelopmentAtlas Energy’s Marcellus program delivers 60 MMcfd in PennsylvaniaAtlas Energy Resources LLC, Philadelphia, is the largest producer of gas from Devonian Marcellus shale in the Appalachian basin and has drilled more than 80 wells, almost all of them vertical, the company said in a webcast Oct. 8.
MMS plans central gulf sale for March 2009The US Minerals Management Service has scheduled Lease Sale 208 for the Central Planning Area (CPA) in the Gulf of Mexico for Mar. 18, 2009.
Eni signs exploration deal with Papua New GuineaItaly’s Eni SPA has signed an agreement with Papua New Guinea for a long-term partnership to pursue sustainable development of the country’s untouched hydrocarbon resources.
Oil service executive sees fast exploration growthExploration services are likely to grow much faster than the overall oil field services market worldwide for years, Schlumberger Ltd. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gould said.
Drilling & ProductionSuccessful fast-track project brought Su Tu Den field on streamFollowing the Su Tu Den discovery in Block 15-1 off Vietnam, a fast-track field development program culminated in first oil production only 2 years and 82 days after declaration of the field’s commerciality.
ProcessingUS may become net gasoline exporter by 2010, study saysShifts in energy demand and biofuels capacity will disrupt the global refining industry, potentially turning the US into a net exporter of gasoline by 2010.
TransportationFRACTURE PROPAGATION?1: Fracture-arrest prediction requires correction factorsThe Batelle two-curve method of fracture-arrest prediction for X70 and X80 high toughness steels requires correction factors based on the steel’s grade and toughness level.
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