Exploration

Penn Virginia Corp. is to sell all of its Arkoma Basin properties, together with certain other Mid-Continent properties, to an undisclosed buyer for US$ 30.5 million in cash.

A quick round up of recent downstream news from the Americas.

Hess Corp. in partnership with Petroceltic International PLC, has signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq for its Dinarta and Shakrok exploration blocks.

Baker Hughes announced it has completed its first unconventional hydrocarbon shale hydraulic fracturing and stimulation project in Argentina for Repsol YPF in the Neuquén basin.

BP has been awarded two deepwater exploration and production blocks by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

BP has made a second quarter profit of US$ 5.3 billion, compared with a loss of US$ 17 billion a year ago.

API argues that the industry’s vast earnings should be viewed in the context of its power to create jobs and stimulate economic growth in the US.

Nancy Yamaguchi, Contributing Editor, provides an overview of the Latin American energy markets. The full version of this article can be found in the August 2011 issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering

The Baker Institute has released a report entitled ‘Shale Gas and U.S. National Security’, which outlines the positive geopolitical consequences that shale gas could bring for the US.

The American Petroleum Institute has announced that petroleum demand was up in June and the first half of 2011.

The company follows the current trend of reducing exposure to refining with the aim of concentrating on upstream projects.

The latest EIC Monitor tracking new active and future projects across the global energy industry shows a mixed bag of results this quarter with power leading the way while other sectors are slightly down.

Offshore energy confirms speakers.

The UK government released its White Paper on Electricity Market Reform this week, setting forward its proposals to secure and decarbonise the UK’s electricity market. Jonathan Rowland, editor of World Coal, highlights some of the questions it raises.

Offshore Energy’s Committee of Recommendations has convened international developments in the offshore industry and how these developments could be addressed within the conference programme.