Nigeria Oil Auction Fails to Raise Interest

May 14, 2007By Andy RowellBlog Post

Nigeria’s outgoing government has failed to raise interest from major oil companies in its latest oil license auction, with industry executives fearful of contracts being revoked after the government’s new government swears in. Last Friday’s auction, where only 18 of 45 blocks offered were auctioned off, was the third of its kind since 2005.

BP Warned Over North Sea Safety Breaches

May 8, 2007By Andy RowellBlog Post 1 Comment

BP is facing fresh questions about its safety record after being given a series of deadlines by the British Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to address problems on North Sea installations that are potentially putting workers at risk. Following a review of safety after the Texas City fire that killed 15 people and injured 150 … Read More

Bush Expands Oil Drilling In Alaska And To Virginia

April 30, 2007By Andy RowellBlog Post 1 Comment

The U.S. Interior Department will release today its new five-year plan to expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, as well Alaska and Virginia. The proposed drilling area includes major fishing areas and is set to be controversial. The new leasing plan “would significantly increase the nation’s domestic energy supplies while protecting … Read More

Call for UK Firms to Quit the Niger Delta

April 3, 2007By Andy RowellBlog Post

A leading union leader from Britain’s offshore industry has called on all British oil companies to pull out of the volatile Niger Delta region until safety can be guaranteed. The call by Graham Tran, a regional officer of Amicus, one of the North Sea’s major unions, came as the search went on for a missing … Read More

China Finds an “Elephant”

March 29, 2007By Andy RowellBlog Post

After a decade-long search for oil from central Asian deserts to the floors of the Pacific, PetroChina has found an offshore field in Bohai Bay that could become China’s biggest new domestic petroleum source for years, with reserves of 2.2 billion barrels. The scale of the find, if confirmed, would be welcome news to the … Read More

Senate Bill Expands Drilling Closer to Shore

March 14, 2007By Andy RowellBlog Post

Oil-drilling advocates are pushing for a new bill that would allow energy exploration 45 miles from Florida’s coast, much closer that the current 125-mile limit. Senator Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Senator Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., will propose more offshore drilling in a bill that would allow U.S. companies to drill in waters close to Cuba as … Read More

Republicans Open Up Gulf of Mexico

December 11, 2006By Andy RowellBlog Post

The Republican Congress may be on its last legs but it is still kicking. A plan to open more than 8 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling was included in a tax package that the House approved late last week. It means Big Oil’s proponents are one step away … Read More