A subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), Mumbai, has entered a joint venture with Pioneer Natural Resources Co., Dallas, and a partner in a $1.35-billion deal that will support the drilling of 356 horizontal wells/year in the Eagle Ford shale play of South Texas through 2013.

Aggressive asset purchases and mergers will push net overseas oil and gas production by China’s three large national oil companies (NOCs) to a record 1 million boe/d this year, says a study by Wood Mackenzie.

Vermilion Energy Trust, Calgary, said drilling programs in Cretaceous Cardium light oil and gas-condensate resource plays in north-central Alberta will provide “organic production growth for the foreseeable future.”

The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) conference in Brisbane this month was dominated by reaction to the Australian government’s recent proposal to impose a 40% resource super profits tax (RSPT) on the mining and onshore petroleum industries.

Hess Corp., New York, and Toreador Resources Corp., Paris, will jointly tackle Toreador’s shale oil permits in France’s Paris basin.

Scottish & Southern Energy PLC, a gas and electricity utility based in Perth, Scotland, has agreed to buy natural gas and pipeline interests in the central and southern UK North Sea from Hess Corp.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) said it has started transporting natural gas through the recently completed $9.4 billion Sichuan-Shanghai pipeline.

Saudi Arabia, continuing its long-standing efforts to protect the country’s oil facilities, announced the arrest of more than 100 suspected militants linked to the terrorist al-Qaeda organization.

Shareholders and unitholders of Quest Resource Corp., Quest Energy Partners LP, and Quest Midstream Partners LP approved a recombination as PostRock Energy Corp., Oklahoma City.

GE Energy Financial Services formed partnerships with two independents to acquire North Dakota and West Texas oil and gas reserves.

Continuing US offshore oil and gas leasing moratoriums from 2009 through 2030 would decrease US oil production by 9.9 billion bbl—or an average 15%/year—and natural gas production by 46 tcf—or 9%/year—a study commissioned by the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners concluded.