More Oil & Gas News

Oil prices continued rising with the front-month crude contract up 0.9% in the New York futures market May 16 despite a report from the US Department of Labor showing a rise in claims for unemployment benefits, stimulating worries about economic recovery.

The US Department of the Interior released a revised proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands that it said would maintain important safety standards, improve integration with existing state and tribal rules, and increase flexibility for oil and gas producers.

US Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) introduced legislation to ensure states that normally receive half of federal onshore oil and gas royalties under the Mineral Leasing Act actually receive the money.

The US Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs, Wyo., field office began a 30-day public scoping period on May 6 before it prepares an environmental assessment of Devon Energy Production Co. LP’s proposal to develop up to 20 new oil and gas wells within the Horseshoe basin unit.

Front-month crude managed a minimal gain May 15 after four sessions of price declines in the New York market. Natural gas continued its increase, up 1%.

The lives of more than 1 billion people worldwide could be transformed if their governments managed their countries’ oil, gas, and mineral resources in a more open and accountable manner, a new Revenue Watch Institute analysis concluded.

Oil prices continued retreating May 14, with front-month crude down 1% in the New York market after the International Energy Agency cut its global demand estimates for the next 4 years.

Rosneft and Petrovietnam have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation in upstream and downstream oil and gas operations in Russia, Vietnam, and third countries.

Officials of the European Commission and European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority made unannounced inspections at offices of BP, Shell, Statoil, and Platts in a step the EC described as “a preliminary step to investigate suspected anticompetitive practices.”

Energy prices continued declining May 13 with crude down 1% in the New York futures market as the US dollar climbed against the yen and euro for the third consecutive session and the US Department of Commerce announced a surprise gain in April retail sales.

US Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) introduced a bill on May 9 that aims to expedite construction of US natural gas pipelines by streamlining the permitting process and expediting approvals.

Energy prices declined May 10 with the benchmark front-month crude contract continuing its retreat in the New York futures market. For the week as a whole, crude traded flat while natural gas fell 3% on a bearish injection report.

Statoil AS and Total SA have agreed to swap 10% interests in two petroleum licenses in the Barents Sea offshore Norway.

San Leon Energy PLC agreed to buy Talisman Energy Inc.’s share of a shale gas joint venture in Poland. Talisman is the second international major oil company to withdraw from Poland, following a decision last year by ExxonMobil Corp. to exit Poland after early results failed to produce commercial wells.