More Oil & Gas News

A larger-than-expected withdrawal of natural gas from US underground storage boosted the front-month gas contract 3.2% Mar. 7 in the New York futures market while crude bounced back “a healthy 1.1%” from the previous day’s loss.

Sally Jewell, US President Barack Obama’s nominee for Interior secretary, told a US Senate committee she would try to bring differing sides together to find common ground that satisfies both resource development and conservation needs.

A bigger-than-expected jump in US crude inventory overcame worries about the fate of Venezuela following President Hugo Chavez’s death, triggering reduction of oil prices Mar. 6.

Neftegaz America Shelf LP (Neftegaz), an independent subsidiary of OAO Rosneft, acquired 30% interest in 20 deepwater exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico from ExxonMobil Corp.

ExxonMobil Corp. intends to spend $190 billion during the next 5 years on exploration and development to meet anticipated growing world energy demand, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson told investment analysts in a Mar. 6 presentation at the New York Stock Exchange.

The outlook remained uncertain both inside and outside Venezuela following President Hugo Chavez’s death from cancer on Mar. 5. Venezuelan government offices worldwide closed Mar. 6-8 as the South American oil-producing country began a national mourning period.

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.