EIA forecasts $80 oil price this year 01/17/2010
Henry Hub natural gas spot price projected to average $5.36 per thousand cubic feet in '10; storage levels expected to remain high
The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration said Jan. 12 in its Short-Term Energy Outlook that it expects the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil to average $80 per barrel...

Talisman puts eggs in shale basket 01/17/2010
Talisman Energy is keeping mum about its Alaska interests as it gears up for the possible sale this year of 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of gas-weighted properties which could fetch up to...

Canada's upstream on upswing; '09 drilling licenses down 47% 01/17/2010
With Canadian government land sales slumping to a 17-year low and average natural gas prices at their lowest point in the past decade, it was no surprise that cash-squeezed producers slashed their dri...

Industry revival on Canada's horizon 01/03/2010
Firming of commodity prices points to resumption of oil sands growth; natural gas expected to remain weak; consolidation predicted
One of the strongest oil patch forecasts for 2010 has come from a leading Canadian law firm, which is counting on an industry revival as commodity prices strengthen, opening up the investment taps in...

Gas could be answer in warming fight 01/03/2010
Utilities looking at natural gas because it emits half as much carbon as coal when burned to generate same amount of electricity
An unlikely source of energy has emerged to meet international demands that the United States do more to fight global warming: It's cleaner than coal, cheaper than oil and a 90-year supply is under ou...

Our Arctic Neighbors: Russian investment climate needs a boost 12/27/2009
Russia needs to make itself more attractive to investment from foreign energy companies, the country's minister of natural resources, Yuri Trutnev, said in an interview with the newspaper Vremya Novos...

Alberta heeds wake-up call 12/27/2009
Province's premier agrees royalty changes are needed to counter the potential loss of C$4 billion from shale gas 'game changer'
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has promised more changes to his government's unpopular royalty framework, which has been tinkered with over the past two years amid a rapid erosion of upstream investment....

EIA expects $76 per barrel this winter 12/20/2009
Henry Hub natural gas spot price projected at $3.95 per thousand cubic feet this year, $4.62 in 2010; US natural gas consumption down
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Dec. 8 in its Short-Term Energy Outlook that it expects the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil to average $76 from October through March, with a...

Speakers highlight oil's importance 12/13/2009
Goldsmith, Langland, Samuels urge more attention for oil industry if Alaska is to have vibrant economy, avoid state budget crisis as production declines in next few years
An economist, a banker and a politician sounded a familiar alarm Dec. 8 at a special luncheon of the Resource Development Council for Alaska: The state's vital oil production is running out, the indus...

State: oil at $67 in FY 2010 12/13/2009
State expect prices to rise through 2019, production to rise slightly in 2013 before falling again; Galvin says industry spending expected to be $4.5B in FY 2010, $5B in FY 2011
When the State of Alaska released its revenue forecast in December 2008, guessing the price of oil in the coming year seemed as reliable as guessing the weather in the coming year. In the previous six...

Seeking answers 12/13/2009
15 lawmakers ask Parnell if state oil tax policy helps or hurts Alaska investment
A group of leading state legislators on Dec. 4 asked Gov. Sean Parnell for a raft of information they want to use to evaluate whether the 2007 oil tax reform is helping or hurting industry investment...

Alberta's chance to 'get it right' 12/06/2009
Government to release interim findings of competitiveness review; industry leaders say results key to business, government future
Aware, after more than two years of meddling with its oil and natural gas royalties, that it has lost the confidence of industry and investors, the Alberta government has one last chance to "get it ri...

Wood Mac: EandP spend to recover in 2011, flat in 2010; Conoco's Alaska budget uncertain 12/06/2009
Wood Mackenzie predicts investment in the world's upstream oil and gas sector will grow modestly in 2011, reaching around $350 billion by 2012, down from a five-year peak of $370 billion in 2008 when...

New Cook Inlet operator 12/06/2009
Local firm looks to take over abandoned Pacific Energy assets in $2.25M deal
Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. has won court permission to reclaim some of its abandoned Cook Inlet oil and gas assets for purposes of a sale to a new operator. The key action came on Nov. 25, when a U...

BP: More challenges than a few years ago 11/29/2009
Minge tells RDC BP's 50-year Alaska strategy a dream, not a promise; cost structure threatens light oil; costs up 4 times oil price
BP has talked in recent years about the company's 50-year future in Alaska. But that strategy is "a dream: It's not a promise," BP Exploration (Alaska) President John Minge told the Resource Developm...

Conoco won't explore this year in Alaska 11/29/2009
Company focusing on preparing for Chukchi drilling in 2012; development drilling at Kuparuk, Alpine down; focus on maintenance
ConocoPhillips Alaska is changing its exploration focus and looking to the Chukchi Sea, Helene Harding, the company's vice president of North Slope operations and development, said Nov. 18. Harding t...

One more thing for oil sands 11/29/2009
Study says geopolitical events will determine sands development rate, markets served, upgrading, what environmental costs imposed
As if the Alberta oil sands don't have enough on their plate, figuring out economic and environmental challenges, a new study has tossed geopolitical ingredients into the mix. A joint report by the Lo...

Canadian oil and gas giants tread warily 11/22/2009
New-look Suncor and EnCana roll out disciplined 2010 spending plans, leaving flexibility to boost budgets if commodity prices rise
While trading places as Canada's dominant oil and natural company, Suncor Energy and EnCana are both delivering a similar refrain for 2010 - steady as it goes. Suncor is the new king of the hill after...

Oil Patch Insider: A Boone worth Pickin'? Shell denies asking for decision delay; Enstar still upbeat on bullet line 11/22/2009
Canadian investors are being given a chance to find out just how shrewd T. Boone Pickens is in reading future trends in the energy industry. The one-time corporate raider and promoter of an energy pla...

Cosmo change OK 11/22/2009
DOG approves well workover and new schedule for appraisal well drilling
On Nov. 10 the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas approved Pioneer Natural Resources' proposed changes to the fourth plan of exploration for the joint state-federal Cosmopolitan unit, offshore the souther...

The Explorers 2009: 11/15/2009
Renaissance hopes to benefit from wells drilled by the U.S. Navy more than 60 years ago. The Texas-based independent, which operates in Alaska both as Renaissance Alaska and Renaissance Cook Inlet, is...

The Explorers 2009: Pioneer Natural Resources 11/15/2009
Pioneer Natural Resources earned its name in 2008 when it brought the Oooguruk unit into production, becoming the first independent producer on the North Slope. The Texas-based company arrived in Alas...

The Explorers 2009: Cook Inlet basin 11/15/2009
Cook Inlet, a major sea inlet between the Kenai Peninsula and the mainland of Southcentral Alaska, lies over part of a deep sedimentary basin that has formed between the Kenai Mountains and the mounta...

The Explorers 2009: Cosmopolitan back on track 11/15/2009
Pioneer plans more appraisal work at offshore Cook Inlet prospect this year
Work on the Cosmopolitan oil prospect in Southcentral Alaska's Cook Inlet basin has ramped back up, operator Pioneer Natural Resources told Petroleum News Oct. 20. In January, Pioneer put plans to dri...

OPEC: Pricey crude could erode 2010 demand 11/15/2009
OPEC says demand for crude oil will slip in the industrialized nations next year if oil prices climb and are sustained above their current level. The warning Nov. 11 came as the Organization of the P...