More Oil & Gas News

Oil prices rebounded Mar. 5 following the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, under whom the country’s production and export of crude sharply declined. Chavez was being treated for cancer.

The oil and gas industry faces a growing diversity of reserves worldwide ranging from shale plays to Arctic drilling, BP PLC Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in an opening keynote address Mar. 6 to attendees at IHS CERAWeek in Houston.

German utility RWE AG announced plans to sell its oil and gas exploration and production business, RWE Dea AG, based on a decision by the firm’s executive board regarding an overall corporate strategic repositioning.

Three of US President Barack Obama’s recent Cabinet nominees—Sally Jewell to be Interior secretary, Ernest J. Moniz to be Energy secretary, and Gina McCarthy to be Environmental Protection Agency administrator—potentially could have significant impacts on the country’s significantly improved oil and gas outlook, American Petroleum Institute Pres. Jack N. Gerard said.

Although the North American oil and gas industry currently is “flourishing” while on “the right track” for the type of rapid and safe resource development that is emulated and envied by the rest of the world, industry players should not become complacent and “sit still.”

While US oil and gas production has climbed to its highest level in 2 decades, all of the growth since 2007 has occurred outside federally controlled areas where production actually declined, a recent report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found.

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (Japex) agreed to join the proposed British Columbia Pacific Northwest LNG venture and to buy a stake in the North Montney shale gas project from Malaysia’s Petronas.

Temasek Holdings, a Singapore’s government investment fund, bought another 5% stake in Repsol SA for $1.35 billion as Repsol continues efforts to maintain its investment-grade credit rating. Temasek is lifting its Repsol stake to 6.3% interest, Repsol said.

Oil prices rolled back again Mar. 4, with both West Texas Intermediate and North Sea Brent dropping below their “psychological thresholds” in intraday trading before climbing slightly above those levels prior to market closings.

IHS CERAWeek speakers generally agree the energy industry is entering a transformation period that likely will reshape traditional oil and natural gas supply-demand scenarios worldwide.

Oil prices continued falling Mar. 1 with crude down 3% for the week in the New York market, erasing all previous gains in 2013.

Western Gas Partners LP, an Anadarko Petroleum Corp.-owned master limited partnership, agreed to acquire a 33.75% interest in the Liberty and Rome gas gathering systems from Anadarko and a 33.75% interest in the Larry’s Creek, Seely, and Warrensville gas gathering systems from an affiliate of Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) confirmed a hydrocarbon release was detected in one of the Cormorant Alpha platform legs in the northern UK North Sea, adding there was no hydrocarbon release into the sea or air.

US President Barack Obama nominated Gina McCarthy, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s assistant administrator for air and radiation, to succeed Lisa A. Jackson as EPA’s administrator. He also nominated Ernest J. Moniz, who directs the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Energy Initiative, to succeed Steven Chu as US Energy Secretary.