Careful strategic decisions soon after crude oil was discovered off its coast in the 1960s helped Norway dodge the "resource curse" that often plagues other countries with similar sudden fossil energy wealth, a political advisor to the Labour party in Norway's parliament said on Oct. 25.

A regrettable product of toxic politics is the durability of blatant falsehood. In his second debate with challenger Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama on Oct. 16 revived his administration's canard about foot-dragging by oil and gas operators on federal leases.

Mitt Romney drew a clear line when he announced his campaign's energy policy on Aug. 23. The most important part of it led directly back to producing US states.

This is the third of three parts on the potential of domestic unconventional shale oil and gas production to displace oil imports to the US.

Natural gas and oil from unconventional resource plays, rightly characterized as "revolutionary," will supplement but not necessarily dominate a market for transportation fuel that is likely to remain subject to long-term diversification.

Corridor Resources Inc., Halifax, NS, provided further details of its 2012 program with Petrolia Inc., Rimouski, Que., to assess the potential of the Macasty shale on Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence offshore Quebec.

The world's largest oil and gas producers reported improved financial results in 2011 from a year earlier, according to Oil & Gas Journal's annual survey of the 100 leading companies based outside the US. Stronger oil prices than those in 2010 bolstered the earnings of most of the companies featured in the report.

This is the second of three parts on the potential of domestic unconventional shale oil and gas production to displace oil imports to the US.

The last decade saw total new global O&G resource additions exceed consumption while yet-to-find estimates were revised significantly upwards.

This week's issue of Oil & Gas Journal includes its OGJ150/OGJ100 special report. This massive annual report is a mainstay for many industry analysts, company executives, and financial market-movers who utilize the information to determine how companies fared over the past fiscal year.