Offshore drilling regulator uses recruiting tour to lure scientists

Report: Blowout preventer failed because of off-center drill pipe updated

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 11:46 am by Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Gulf oil spill

A forensic testing firm that has spent months examining the blowout preventer used at BP’s doomed Macondo well concludes that off-center drill pipe prevented the emergency equipment from blocking surging oil and gas — and stopping the Gulf spill last year. More »

Alternative energy in the heart of OPEC

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 10:58 am by Loren Steffy in General

Last month, I wrote about how Egypt had gone from an oil exporting nation to an importing one in the past two decades. It’s a change that’s facing other oil-producing nations as well. Across the Persian Gulf region, rising domestic consumption is outpa… More »

Occidental settles natural gas royalty claims for $2 million

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 9:55 am by Tom Fowler in Finance/Earnings, Legal issues, Natural gas

A lawsuit filed by a private citizen claims the company took improper deductions from the gas production values it reported to federal officials. More »

Energy Transfer, Regency to buy NGL business for $1.93 billion

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 9:08 am by Bloomberg in General, Natural gas, Pipelines

ETP and Regency will form a joint venture to buy the natural gas liquids pipelines and processing plants from Louis Dreyfus. More »

FuelFix Newslinks |03.23.11|

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 6:38 am by Tom Fowler in General

Another deepwater permit. Gas gooses Gulf chemical biz. Qatar asked for handouts. More »

U.S. to auction massive Wyoming coal reserves

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 6:06 am by Bloomberg in Coal, Politics/Policy

Four lease auction this year could raise more than $20 billion for the U.S., Wyoming More »

Natural gas boom helps Gulf petrochemical industry

Posted on March 23, 2011 at 12:30 am by Brett Clanton in Chemicals, Natural gas

The Gulf Coast’s petrochemical industry is benefiting from the recent boom in U.S. natural gas supplies, which has lowered feedstock costs and improved odds that the region will get new plants and jobs in coming years, an economist for a leading indust… More »

Texas clears Range in N. Texas water contamination case, EPA stands pat

Posted on March 22, 2011 at 3:50 pm by Tom Fowler in Natural gas, Shale

The EPA said Range Resources contaminated a pair of North Texas water wells, but Texas’ drilling regulator says evidence shows the gas didn’t come from the Barnett shale where Range was drilling. More »

Oil settles above $104 per barrel

Posted on March 22, 2011 at 3:17 pm by Associated Press in Crude oil

Energy economists continued to gauge how recent unrest in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria will affect exports from a region that produces 27 percent of the world’s oil. More »

Heard the one about Obama, George Soros and Petrobras?

Posted on March 22, 2011 at 12:08 pm by Tom Fowler in Gulf oil spill, Offshore, Social

A 2009 bank loan to the Brazilian oil giant makes the blood boil for some, but the back-story isn’t quite so clear-cut. More »

U.S. refiners face tough road ahead

Posted on March 22, 2011 at 11:30 am by Brett Clanton in Refining

The domestic industry will struggle for the “forseeable future” amid tougher regulations, a glut of plant capacity and continued market uncertainty, U.K.-based consultant Wood MacKenzie said. More »