Table of ContentsRegular FeaturesOGJ NewsletterLettersHydrogen worth pursuingIn your Jan. 19 issue, Thomas Wyman argues that, because “it simply takes more energy to extract hydrogen from water using electrolysis or to extract it from methane using steam reformation than can be obtained from the subsequent use of the extract hydrogen as a fuel…the pursuit of the hydrogen economy brings to mind the age-old search for the perpetual motion machine” (OGJ, Jan. 19, 2009, p. 14).
Journally SpeakingMarine transfer safety evolvesThe logistics of boarding offshore installations tend to be exciting for journalists who only make such trips infrequently.
Equip/Software/LitEquipment/Software/LiteratureThe new InSitu Family of wireline services provides quantitative fluid measurements at reservoir conditions, in real time.
Services/SuppliersEditor's PerspectiveEconomy in peril no reason to stoop to politics of fearThe scariest part of the economic crisis is the US government’s wild resort to the politics of fear.
Market JournalIndustry in survival modeA recent survey of 60 producers and service company executives confirmed the upstream oil and gas industry is in a survival mode, said analysts in the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc.
General InterestEditorial: Addiction and tyrannyOn the hierarchy of political metaphors, oil has fallen another notch. Former President George W. Bush institutionalized disrespect for the substance when, in the 2006 State of the Union address, he diagnosed the US as “addicted to oil.”
Special Report: Natural gas vehicles gain in global marketsNatural gas, one of Earth’s cleanest, most abundant resources, accounts for 22% of total US energy use but only 2.2% of the energy used in the US for transportation, although the technology for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) has been available since World War II.
CERAWeek: BP investing for future despite economyThe oil and gas industry needs to continue investing in technology to achieve greater energy efficiency and to commercialize new energy sources, said Tony Hayward, BP PLC chief executive.
CERAWeek: Oil companies vow to maintain explorationOil companies must resist slashing exploration and development activities during the economic downturn if industry expects to supply energy to meet projected long-term demand, chief executives said Feb. 10 during an energy conference in Houston.
CERAWeek: Wintershall head guarantees Nord StreamWintershall Chairman Reinier Zwitserloot, speaking Feb. 10 in Houston during a Q&A session following a Eurasia Transportation session at Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ annual executive conference, placed the likelihood of completing the trans-Baltic Nord Stream natural gas pipeline at “100.00%.”
CERAWeek: Al-Naimi urges ‘inclusive energy strategy’Calling for an “inclusive energy strategy,” the Saudi Arabia minister of petroleum and mineral resources listed factors of price volatility among “newly emerging challenges” facing the oil and gas industry.
Obama: Energy an essential part of economic recovery planEnergy components are essential parts of a strong economic recovery plan because they would begin to reduce reliance on imported oil, US President Barack H. Obama told Department of Energy employees on Feb. 5.
Watching Government: OCS takes center stageWhen the US House Natural Resources Committee held the first of three scheduled hearings on offshore oil and gas leasing on Feb. 11, it marked the first opportunity for the 111th Congress to discuss the issue.
Salazar scraps predecessor’s 5-year OCS planCalling it “a headlong rush of the worst kind,” US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Feb. 10 that he was delaying a 5-year Outer Continental Shelf leasing plan, which his predecessor launched last summer.
Watching The World: Hu eyes African oilThe oil and gas industry has no doubt why Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Saudi Arabia last week.
Study sees continued deepwater expenditure growthDespite lower expected expenditures during 2009 and 2010 relative to 2008, a study forecasts that the petroleum industry’s deepwater expenditures will trend upward and reach $35 billion by 2013.
Utah congressional delegation blasts Salazar orderRepublicans in Utah’s congressional delegation angrily responded to US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s order to cancel 77 federal oil and gas leases in the state that were sold in December.
Exploration & DevelopmentUganda hits threshold with Giraffe discoverySufficient recoverable oil has been discovered in Uganda’s Albert basin to exceed the commercial threshold for development, said Heritage Oil Corp., Calgary.
Operators report string of Gulf of Mexico discoveriesOperators in the Gulf of Mexico reported a string of discoveries in late January and early February 2009.
Drilling & ProductionSEC updates reserves reporting regulationsThe recently updated US Securities and Exchange Commission reserves reporting requirements for oil and natural gas companies attempt to provide investors with more meaningful and comparable disclosures.
Oil price drop unevenly affects floating production projectsThe recent $100 oil price drop, closure of financing windows, and general aversion to investment risk will affect in the near-term new floater projects.
ProcessingUS ETHANE OUTLOOK—1: Increased US ethane capacity puts processors at greater riskOver the past 2 years, En*Vantage has been warning US gas processors that the rapid expansion of processing capacity will create a surplus of ethane extraction capacity.
TransportationIraqis mending own pipelinesMost of the pipelines damaged during the war in Iraq are domestic crude or domestic product pipelines belonging to and repaired by the Oil Pipeline Co. (OPC) of the Ministry of Oil.
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