Drilling & production

Category 1 Hurricane Isaac has made landfall in Southeast Louisiana: impact on oil prices expected to be subdued.

Shell has requested two extra weeks of drilling time as delays continue to set the company’s Arctic programme back.

Vale has lifted force majeure at the Carborough Downs metallurgical coal operation in the Bowen basin in Queensland.

The fire that raged at a Venezuelan refinery after an initial explosion killed dozens has finally been extinguished. The country’s president Hugo Chavez and the state oil company PDVSA have come under intense criticism, just weeks before the presidential election.

Gail India Ltd. has signed a deal for 12 cargos for LNG to be delivered between 2013 and 2014 in order to bridge India’s supply deficit of natural gas.

August 2012: Culture changes in the work place can lead to tangible changes in productivity and profit if managed correctly.

Gasunie and Vopak have signed a deal with Shell to be the launching customer for their LNG break bulk terminal near Rotterdam.

West Africa is one of the leading areas in the world for deepwater offshore exploration, with Nigeria and Angola the largest producers in the region.

Total E&P Philippines B.V. announces the signature of a Farm out Agreement with Mitra Energy (Philippines SC-56) Limited, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to acquire a 75% interest in the offshore Block SC56, located in the Sulu Sea.

ConocoPhillips has sold its share in NaryanMarNefteGaz to Lukoil as part of its divestment programme.

Bechtel has taken delivery of the first steel prefabricated modules for its Queensland Curtis Island LNG project.

Instinct Energy, an energy company focusing on unconventional gas opportunities in southern Africa, is to start drilling initial CBM wells in the Huab basin in northwest Namibia. The company plans to reveal the results at the Unconventional Gas Aberdeen 2012 conference.

A year on from the initial announcement, Robin Cohen, Deloitte LLP, UK, outlines the UK Electricity Market Reform and its potential impacts on coal-fired power generation.

Barry Baxter reports on the debate over mine nationalisation in South Africa.

Woodside Petroleum has reported half-year profits of US$ 812 million as a result of the Pluto LNG start up, higher commodity prices and greater revenue from the Vincent North West Shelf Oil.