Oil & Gas News Archives

The Alberta Department of Energy was so proud of the presentation I produced for them, they handed a copy to Vice President Cheney. It was no surprise to him to hear Canadians boast about the over 177 billions of barrels in reserve sitting in the sand in Northern Alberta.

Of course, every other Dick, Tom and Harry was joining the “me too” line-up to get anyone’s attention in Washington. As Middle East oil-producers murmur about wanting to reduce oil exports to the US, anyone with a line on oil (hoping it might turn into a pipeline) is drooling in the lobbies of American Government.

BUT --- take a drive down the highway between Edmonton and Calgary, the two big cities in Alberta, and you’ll see an even more interesting line-up of oil rigs and the stacks of pipe sitting inactive in the yards. While Canadians do the lobby thing south the border, various players in the oil industry around the world are doing whatever they can to sell the pipes, rigs, trailers, vehicles and every configuration of pumps and transformers imaginable. Just check the auction lists at Kruse Global.

Clarence Shields and Rob Reeves, two Canadian entrepreneurs in the Leduc-Nisku area of Alberta, Canada, decided to call Kruse Energy Auctions of Oklahoma City, the leading auction company in the world, which has conducted over 90% of the energy auctions over the past 25 years. Within weeks, a relationship was born under the banner of Kruse Global Energy Auction. It wasn’t long before they held their first auction in 2007. Companies from all over the continent, along with buyers and sellers from around the world, came calling --- by land, by web, by cel phone --- to the tune of millions of dollars.

Kruse Energy was delighted with the results, so much so that they scheduled another auction in May of 2008. Already the sound of liquidation begins to shake the website at KruseGlobal.com. They come from the Middle East, Russia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Texas, where they’re trying sell off oil production companies worth as little as 10 million dollars.

Last year, hundreds came to feast in the understated ballroom of the Nisku Inn in Nisku, Alberta, Canada. There was no buffet; just a few beverages in a Rubbermaid container next to a few cheese and fruit plates, next to a list of millions of dollars worth of inactive equipment collecting dust.

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Venezuela is rerouting oil to China that had previously been sent to a U.S. refinery co-owned by its state oil company and Exxon Mobil Corp., Venezuela´s oil minister said Friday.

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A letter that clarifies tough new anti-emissions legislation in the United States has the Alberta government expressing relief over the sale of fuel produced from Alberta´s massive oilsands reserves.

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“During the raids, material proof confirming the industrial espionage was found and confiscated”

Russia announced Thursday the arrest of two Russian-Americans on charges of industrial espionage. Many analysts believe the move to be part of a Kremlin effort to regain control of the Russian oil producer TNK-BP, which is owned in part by the British oil company BP. One of the arrested men works for TNK-BP.

The Washington Post reports that the announcement by Russia's Federal Security Service, successor to the Soviet Union's KGB, comes just a day after Russian investigators raided the offices of TNK-BP, a Russian oil giant owned by three Russian oligarchs and BP. Read more

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EDMONTON_Alberta has designated a rolling forested area with hiking trails and lookout points as the first piece of oil sands land to be reclaimed. The Alberta government issued a reclamation certificate to Syncrude Canada Ltd. for the 104-hectare parcel of land known as Gateway Hill approximately 35 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

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NEWS_VIDEO Canadian Industry Minister, Jim Prentice says in spite of gyrating commodity markets, Alberta's energy sector will not be brought down by economic trouble in the U.S.

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“The important thing, from our perspective, is the court did not question the merits of our underlying claim”

A British judge ruled against Exxon Mobil Corp. on Tuesday, tossing out an order to freeze $12 billion in assets belonging to Venezuela's state oil company in a case that stemmed from the nationalization of a project last year.

Judge Paul Walker noted that such freezing orders are rare and occur in cases where there is 'usually compelling evidence of serious international fraud.'

'In the present case there is no suggestion whatever of fraud on the part of (Petroleos de Venezuela SA) or any entity or person associated with it,' Walker said in a summary of conclusions released by the court. Read more

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NAM and ACCF Unveil New Study Highlighting the National and 50-State Economic Impacts of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Change Bill. SAIC Study Assesses Economic Implications on Future Energy Costs, Economic Growth, Employment, Production, Household Income and Low Income Earners.

The conclusions of the reports indicate that the legislation, if passed into law, would have a profound economic impact on U.S. businesses, consumers and governments nationally and in all 50 states.

A sampling of the national findings includes:

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses of $151 billion to $210 billion in 2020 and $631 billion to $669 billion per year in 2030

Employment losses of 1.2 million to 1.8 million jobs in 2020 and 3 million to 4 million jobs in 2030

Household income losses of $739 to $2,927 per year in 2020 and $4,022 to $6,752 per year in 2030

Electricity price increases of 28% to 33% by 2020 and 101% to 129% by 2030

Gasoline price increases (per gallon) of 20% to 69% by 2020 and 77% to 145% by 2030

If this doesn't concern us it really should.

Follow-up reading This is a collection of articles written by industry CEOs on this topic. http://www.worldenergysource.com/hottopics/globalwarming/

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SPECIAL REPORT _ A Calgary company says there are trillions of cubic feet of gas to be found in Canada's North.

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NEWS VIDEO _ An Alaska state official says TransCanada pipelines is a long way from getting the right to build the Alaska gas pipeline.

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ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson Wednesday announced plans to invest more than $125 billion over the next five years in major projects to help meet growing world energy demand.

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Oil prices fluctuated Thursday as some investors sold to lock in profits from a rally that added 6.4 per cent to the price of a barrel of crude in less than two days while others bought as the dollar ped to new lows against the euro.

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Oil prices steadied Thursday after hitting a new high near US$106 a barrel as investors reacted to a surprise in U.S. crude supplies and the dollar struck new lows against the euro.

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NEWS VIDEO _ Oil Nears $104 - Lower Trust Tax - Tristone Capital Natural Gas Outlook - Iteration Raises Offer - Aecon Group Wins Contract - Trilogy Energy Q4 Loss - Niko Signs Offshore Deals - New Russian President...

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“We're going to see...about the economic performance”

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is set to hold current production levels unchanged at a meeting this week as it continues to gauge the state of the global economy, the head of Libya's oil industry said Sunday.

'It seems as though things are going to be as is,' said Shokri Ghanem, head of Libyan oil policy and Chief Executive of Libya's National Oil Co.

Ghanem also said OPEC will discuss the ongoing dispute between Venezuela and oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp., saying it was possible there could be an official pronouncement from the cartel on the issue. Read more

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