Mining News: Optimism surges among Alaska miners 11/22/2009
As metals prices climb and world demand resumes upward trend, mineral industry prepares for period of robust activity in 2010
Metals markets continue to climb out of the basement as the world demand for metals resumes its upward trend. Fueled by this growing demand, numerous Alaska precious, base and rare metal projects repo...

Oil Patch Insider: Canada takes delivery of two Arctic submarines 10/04/2009
The Canadian government has taken delivery of two remote-controlled submarines that will be used in mapping the Arctic seabed. The program's purpose is to document Canada's territorial claims in the A...

OPEC leaves crude oil targets unchanged 09/13/2009
OPEC on Sept. 10 decided to leave its production quotas unchanged, opting to take a cautious approach in a market awash in crude and a global economy still in the early stages of recovery. The 12-nati...

Oil sands improve showing 08/02/2009
Study shows direct greenhouse gas emissions from production, transport and refining are comparable to U.S. heavy crudes
Alberta is cleaning up its act to the point where direct emissions from the extraction, shipping and refining of oil sands output is roughly parallel to that of other crudes refined in the United Stat...

BP in Alaska: BP's early history 07/12/2009
Company's origins go back 100 years
The first commercial oil discovery in the Middle East in 1908 brought about the birth of British Petroleum a year later, and it quickly grew into one of the world's largest oil companies. In the year...

BP in Alaska: Bidding around the edges 07/12/2009
BP attains strong lease position, waits on neighbors, drills to confirm Prudhoe discovery
In 1964 the first state land at Prudhoe Bay was put up for auction. By that time, other oil companies were beginning to take more interest in BP's lonely quest. Disheartened by the failures in the Br...

BP in Alaska: North to Alaska 07/12/2009
BP's trail to Prudhoe Bay: Opened office in 1959, geologists arrived in 1960
Alaska was first mentioned within BP in a 1952 world survey of oil prospects compiled by the company's exploration department in London. The north of Alaska was included because of oil and gas discove...

Mining News: 'Pay Dirt!' discovered in 'Gold' exhibit 06/28/2009
Companion exhibits at Anchorage Museum explore man's captivation with gold, and the gold rushes that opened the Alaska frontier
A stroll through the "Gold" exhibit at the Anchorage Museum of Art and History can transport visitors through six millennia of man's captivation with the brilliant metal. The journey explores the uniq...

Oil rises above $70 on government report 06/28/2009
Oil prices jumped above $70 a barrel June 25 after the government said that the economy may be faring better than previously thought. In a revised reading on gross domestic product in the first quarte...

Chevron gets approval for expanded Gorgon 05/10/2009
$25 billion LNG project off Australia gets environmental approval for third train, but investment decision is still months away
Chevron Corp. has received approval from Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority to expand its Gorgon LNG project on Barrow Island. The approval came April 29. The huge project - now ex...

With demand sapped, world awash in oil 03/15/2009
Supertankers that once raced around the world to satisfy an unquenchable thirst for oil are now parked offshore, fully loaded, anchors down, their crews killing time. In the United States, vast storag...

Foreign legion in retreat 03/08/2009
Canadian-based companies experience more downs than ups in overseas plays; can't negotiate financing to develop strong prospects
Whether they have been looking for a way to hedge their bets, or using the Maple Leaf as a flag of convenience, Canadian-based companies operating outside of North America have found their foreign adv...

Oil Patch Insider 02/22/2009
AGIA coordinator Myers shares thoughts on gas line; Obama, Harper taking the high-tech route
As previously reported in Petroleum News, on Jan. 21, Gov. Sarah Palin named Mark Myers coordinator for the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. In a recent interview with Petroleum News, Myers answered th...

Eni CEO: Oil price bumps unprecedented 02/01/2009
The head of the Italian oil company Eni SpA said Jan. 25 that the turbulence in oil prices is unprecedented and is "extremely bad news" for the industry. Paolo Scaroni, CEO of Eni, told a panel at th...

Open season for oil gurus 11/23/2008
Economists: Oil prices larger factor than subprime collapse in economic meltdown
Two months after dangling the prospect of US$200 oil, Canadian economist Jeff Rubin found some company on his often-lonely maverick perch. He was joined earlier in November by the International Energy...

40 Years at Prudhoe Bay: BP's long road to Alaska 11/16/2008
British company prevailed over 10 years of international setbacks, obstacles on its way to becoming major U.S. oil producer
As one of the seven major international oil companies, BP's strength had always been in the Middle East. Its vast reserves of oil in Iran, Kuwait and Iraq were greater than those of any other single c...

Gas OPEC: An idea going nowhere fast 11/02/2008
Russia, Iran, Qatar form technical committee to discuss gas policy; long-term LNG sales contracts obstacle to powerful cartel
Russia, Iran and Qatar, holding a combined 60 percent of the world's natural gas, are cooperating on "all levels" to establish a "Gas OPEC" made up of global exporters - an initiative that, in the vie...

Oil drops to less than half of July high 10/19/2008
Oil prices closed at a new 14-month low beneath $70 a barrel Oct. 16, bringing its price to less than half its July record high after the government reported massive increases in U.S. crude and gasoli...

Mideast grapples with oil price slump 10/19/2008
ast, oil-fueled budget surpluses may cushion some of the Mideast's major oil-producing countries now that crude prices have plummeted. But Iran, Iraq and a handful of other nations face daunting chall...

Oil sands raise environmental issues 08/31/2008
Energy, water needed for oil sands development causes concerns in nearby towns, among scientists because of emissions levels
The largest dump truck in the world is parked under a massive mechanical shovel waiting to transport 400 tons of oily sand at an open pit mine in the northern reaches of Alberta. Each Caterpillar 797...

OPEC: supplies will keep up with demand 07/20/2008
Cartel's secretary general says it couldn't make up shortfalls in crude if Iran's supplies cut by U.S. or Israeli military strike
World energy needs will spike by more than 50 percent by 2030 but adequate oil reserves, conservation and new methods of recovery mean supply will keep pace with demand, the Organization of Petroleum...

Oil rebounds as Iran tensions flare 07/13/2008
Oil prices head up after quick slide; tensions in Middle East threaten to push prices higher; gas prices yet to fall with oil
Oil prices regained some ground on July 10 from their recent tumble of nearly $10 a barrel, as traders monitored escalating political tensions in the Middle East but also signs of slowing demand. Crud...

Oil executives: Costly oil here to stay 07/06/2008
At Madrid meeting company heads see no short-term solution to oil prices; Shell chief says time to focus on difficult oil
Top oil executives and a senior EU official June 30 urged the world to pull together in the face of skyrocketing energy prices, while acknowledging that - even if it does - costly crude is here to sta...

Crude hits new record on supply report 07/06/2008
Oil prices shot to a new high near $144 a barrel July 2 and went on to a record close, as the U.S. government reported a bigger-than-expected drop in crude stockpiles and the threat of conflict with I...

Indonesia to pull out of OPEC 06/01/2008
Indonesia is leaving the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries because declining production and investment have made it difficult to meet its own needs, the energy minister said May 28. Purnom...