The Obama administration announced Monday it plans to tighten regulations for offshore oil rigs, saying the new measures will help prevent oil-well blowouts and minimize environmental damage.”The proposals announced by the Interior Department would substantially overhaul the technical guidelines for drilling on the U.S. continental shelf, adding dozens of new requirements aimed mostly at stopping… Keep reading →
News that China and Iran will try to resurrect their oil and gas relationship mostly took back stage this week to the Royal Dutch Shell-BG Group mega-energy deal of the decade. As a plethora of analysts, commentators and both print and online pundits waxed eloquent over Shell’s proposed $70 billion buyout of the British gas… Keep reading →
President Obama visited Jamaica on Thursday, meeting with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and more than a dozen other leaders from throughout the Caribbean to discuss the region’s energy future. “Topping Thursday’s agenda is a looming energy crunch in the Caribbean, and a chance for the U.S. to seize the initiative there from leftist leaders… Keep reading →
The energy industry – oil & gas sector in particular – is bracing itself for a massive wave of retirements over the short to medium term, which has been dubbed “The Great Shift Change.” As the industry prepares for this turnover, companies are looking to the next generation of candidates with skills ranging from finance, geology,… Keep reading →
Statistics in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Energy Review for March show U.S.domestic energy production meeting about 89 percent of the country’s total energy demand. That’s up from 84 percent in 2013 and 2012 and reflects a key result of the domestic energy revolution: growing U.S. self-sufficiency. Two charts. First, EIA data showing U.S.… Keep reading →
Slow and steady wins the race, according to Chevron, a company that is actually increasing its US upstream capital budget this year. Chevron started slow in the Permian Basin and watched what other companies were doing while it honed its drilling strategy. Now that oil prices are considerably lower than they were at the beginning… Keep reading →
News that the Interior Department has reaffirmed Shell’s right to drill in the Chukchi Sea off the Alaskan coast is an important step toward to Arctic energy development. While the company still must secure individual drilling permits and overall federal approval of its exploration plan, this week’s action advances the larger objective of safe and… Keep reading →
Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have been extended by another day after pushing on past a deadline with Secretary of State John F. Kerry deciding to stay in Switzerland an extra day in search of a breakthrough. “State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that progress had been made and that Kerry would remain “until at… Keep reading →
The energy industry – oil & gas sector in particular – is bracing itself for a massive wave of retirements over the short to medium term, which has been dubbed “The Great Shift Change.” As the industry prepares for this turnover, companies are looking to the next generation of candidates with skills ranging from finance, geology,… Keep reading →
Oil Industry Shakes Off Bane of Gluttony by End of 2015
By Kim J. BradySix-year-low oil prices, excess supply and debt woes among U.S. producers will change the oil and gas industry, but in no certain, or short, order. To paint a clear picture of what the oil and gas industry will look like by the end of 2015 would be an exercise in futility. The only thing we… Keep reading →