The Oil Daily articles from February 2004

The Oil Daily archives from February 2004

Chevron Results Show Industry Highs, Lows.
February 2, 2004... WASHINGTON -- ChevronTexaco capped off fourth-quarter earnings season for US integrated oil companies on Friday by reporting results that displayed the good, the bad and the ugly of the sector in 2003. Most importantly, the California-based...

Anadarko Shares Gain Despite Lower Growth Forecast for 2004.
February 2, 2004... HOUSTON -- Anadarko Petroleum's shares moved higher on Friday as investors gave new Chief Executive Jim Hackett a vote of confidence, even though the company lowered its production guidance for 2004. Hackett, who joined Anadarko in December...

Natural Gas Drilling Continues to Drive Profits at Nabors, Smith.
February 2, 2004... HOUSTON -- With nearly 1,000 land rigs currently operating in the US, executives at Nabors Industries have good reason to smile. The continued strong US rig count pushed Nabors to a fourth- quarter net income of $64.9 million (42cents per...

Crude Oil Ends Losing Streak to Close Week Above $33.
February 2, 2004... NEW YORK -- Market sentiment turned bearish last week with an unexpected spate of selling in the crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) surprising analysts, but the price slide was halted Friday when the Nymex light, sweet...

Spot Crude Differentials Continue Slide as Maintenance Dulls Buying Interest.
February 2, 2004... WASHINGTON -- Physical crude differentials in US spot markets weakened last week as sluggish end-user demand amid a heavy slate of refinery maintenance and ample availabilities of imported cargoes took their toll. Most grades, whether...

Exxon Vows to Defend Sakhalin-3 After Russia Removes Rights.
February 2, 2004... MOSCOW -- Exxon Mobil has reacted sharply to Moscow's decision to retender rights to the Sakhalin-3 acreage in Russia's Pacific shelf, which the US supermajor was originally awarded a decade ago (OD Jan.30,p5). "We would view the...

Natural Gas Withdrawal Ample, but Prices Continue Decline.
February 2, 2004... HOUSTON -- After the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported another anemic withdrawal in the major eastern storage area last week, concerns that working gas will be seriously depleted by the end of the withdrawal season began melting...

Basrah Sales Hold Steady; Still No Decision on Kirkuk Exports.
February 2, 2004... NEW YORK -- Oil exports from Iraq's Basrah Oil Terminal held steady at 1.67 million barrels per day for January, according to Oil Daily calculations based on tanker loadings. A total of 29 cargoes had sailed as of Friday, totaling...

Canadian Gas Storage Report.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Canadian Enerdata reported that the amount of natural gas in Canadian storage facilities fell 36.7 Bcf to 268.2 Bcf for the week ended Jan. 23. Storage caverns are 54.4% full, down from 61.8% full a week ago, but up from 42.9% full a year ago....

Baker Hughes Drilling Report.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... US Rig Count Down Three The number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the US fell by three to 1,084 last week, oil services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday. During the same week last year, there were 873. The number of rigs searching...

Daily Oil & Gas Price Review.(Illustration)
February 2, 2004... Daily Oil & Gas Price Review Prices for Friday, January 30, 2004 Light Sweet Futures -- Prompt Month ($/barrel) 1st 5-Day 2nd 3rd Chg Month Avg. ...

Stock Market Scorecard.(Illustration)
February 2, 2004... Stock Market Scorecard Close 1-Day. % Chg. Jan 30 Chg. % Chg. 10-Day 52-Wk YTD Integrated Majors Amerada Hess 56.39 0.00 0.00 +0.02 ...

Northern Border Posts Profits.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Northern Border Partners LP reported Thursday fourth-quarter net income of $30.5 million (60cents/unit) compared with net income of $24 million (49cents/unit) in the fourth quarter 2002. For the full year 2003, Northern Border Partners...

NiSource Stronger in Q4.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... NiSource, an integrated utility, reported stronger fourth- quarter 2003 earnings Friday on colder weather and lower interest rates, but year-over-year earnings fell on expenses and other weather events. A gain from selling its interests in...

MMS Seeks Industry Interest.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is once again soliciting interest from the oil and gas industry in the Alaska offshore areas of Norton Basin and Chuckchi Sea/Hope Basin. MMS' notice in the Federal Register Friday called for...

Ivanhoe's Citrus Well Pays.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... David Martin, chairman of Ivanhoe Energy, said Friday that initial oil and gas production began at the Citrus No. 1 well, the Bakersfield, California-based company's first horizontal well in the Citrus Prospect area. Stabilized initial...

Harken Boosts Capex for 2004.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Harken Energy on Friday announced an $18 million capital expenditure budget for 2004, a $10 million increase from 2003. Harken expects to begin drilling in the first quarter. Approximately $9 million of the 2004 capital expenditure budget...

XTO Reports 2003 Reserves.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... XTO Energy reported proved reserves Friday at year-end 2003 in excess of 4.1 Tcfe. These reserve volumes imply a finding and development cost for the year, including acquisitions, of less than $1.10/Mcfe. The company estimates average...

Shell Canada Trims Sable.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Shell Canada, in its fourth-quarter earnings report on Thursday, reduced the estimate for its share of sales gas at the Sable Offshore Energy Project off Nova Scotia's Atlantic Coast. Shell reduced its reserves by 300 Bcf -- down 38.6% from...

No Start Date for Iraq Pipeline.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Iraq's main oil export pipeline remains under repair with no date set for start-up but an internal network used to import products has resumed operations, officials said on Friday. They said reports that the pipeline from the Kirkuk field...

AES Gets Bahamas LNG Supply.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... In another twist in the race to develop Bahamas-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to serve the burgeoning Florida gas market, AES announced Friday that it had secured supply for 100% of the terminal's capacity from Repsol. ...

Petro-Canada Retires Bid.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Petro-Canada said on Thursday it had given up on hopes of acquiring an interest in a major Venezuelan heavy oil project after nearly two years of talks yielded no deal. Petro-Canada had been negotiating for a 16.7% interest in the 120,000...

PDV Gets Loan for Upgrading.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Venezuelan state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) said Friday it secured a $40.1 million loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to upgrade its Puerto La Cruz refinery. The upgrading project, known as Valcor, will allow...

Brazil Refinery to Expand.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Brazil's largest refinery, Replan, will invest $60 million to expand its processing capacity by 10% to 396,300 b/d of oil by the end of 2006, officials said on Friday. The refinery, which is owned by state oil company Petrobras and is...

Sterling Buys US Gulf Fields.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... The UK's Sterling Energy is acquiring five producing gas fields in the shallow-water Gulf of Mexico from the US' privately owned Osprey Petroleum Partners for an undisclosed sum. The deal will add more than 6 MMcf/d to Sterling's gas...

XTO Buys Texas Assets.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... XTO Energy Friday completed its previously announced purchases of producing properties from multiple parties in East Texas and northern Louisiana, adding 182 Bcfe of gas reserves. The final closing price of $243 million reflects adjustments...

Teppco to Restart NE Pipeline.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Teppco Partners LP said Friday that it restarted its Northeast pipeline segment to Oneonta, N.Y. The line was shut down Jan. 25, after a fire near Davenport, N.Y. Pipeline control personnel detected the release and immediately implemented...

Premcor to Shut Ohio Refinery.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Independent refiner Premcor will shut its entire 170,000 b/d Lima, Ohio, refinery through March for a maintenance overhaul, the company said. "In March, we have a full refinery turnaround scheduled at Lima. The whole refinery will be down...

Critics Slam Bush Fiscal 2005 Budget.
February 3, 2004... WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's fiscal 2005 budget offers no new initiatives for tackling domestic energy production and conservation in significant way, as a looming deficit forced the White House to recommend to Congress small or zero...

Saudis Extend Geopolitical Base with Gas Deals.
February 3, 2004... WASHINGTON -- Does the absence of US companies on a list of winning bidders last week in Saudi Arabia's first upstream licensing round signal a further fissure in the ties that bind the world's largest oil producer and consumer? Probably...

Refinery Fires Spark Big Jump in Crude, Gasoline Futures.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... NEW YORK -- Crude futures rallied almost $2 on mostly technically inspired buying triggered by news of two refinery fires, but analysts say gains are likely to be short-lived amid forecasts of above-normal temperatures along the US East Coast...

Oil Majors' Shares Off to Slow Start in January 2004.
February 3, 2004... WASHINGTON -- After a blistering December in which most posted impressive double-digit percentage gains, shares of leading worldwide oil and gas companies cooled off in January, as concerns about soaring valuations, reserve bookings and weaker...

US-Based Pioneer Eyes Exploration Opportunities in Libya.
February 3, 2004... HOUSTON -- Pioneer Natural Resources, which already has operations in neighboring Tunisia, says it is interested in investing in Libya if Washington moves to lift US sanctions against that country. "We're watching very closely the potential...

Yukos Cuts Ties With More Core Shareholders.
February 3, 2004... MOSCOW -- Beleaguered Russian oil giant Yukos is fighting for its survival as it moves to cut ties with its core shareholders and make amends with the state. The company is also planning to pay more taxes and fewer dividends. Yukos on...

FX Energy's Exploration Program in Poland Pays Off.
February 3, 2004... WASHINGTON -- FX Energy shares jumped up 49.3% last week after the Salt Lake City, Utah-based company proved its exploration program in Poland was finally paying off, successfully landing it at the top of energy consultant John S. Herold's...

Dominican Republic Energy Sector Cries Out for Reform.
February 3, 2004... MIAMI -- Thorough reform of the Dominican Republic energy sector is the only way to halt a mounting financial and energy crisis there, investors say. Among the steps necessary, they say, is an end to low-cost diesel fuel, allowing power tariffs...

Heating Degree Days Table.(Illustration)
February 3, 2004... Heating Degree Days Week Dev Cum Dev For week of From From From January 31, 2004 Week From Year...

Daily Oil & Gas Price Review*.(Illustration)
February 3, 2004... Daily Oil & Gas Price Review* Prices for Monday, February 2, 2004 Light Sweet Futures -- Prompt Month ($/barrel) 1st 5-Day 2nd 3rd Chg Month Avg. ...

Stock Market Scorecard.(Illustration)
February 3, 2004... Stock Market Scorecard Close 1-Day. % Chg. Feb 02 Chg. % Chg. 10-Day 52-Wk YTD Integrated Majors Amerada Hess 57.25 +0.86 ...

El Paso Warns on Reserves.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... El Paso Corp. said it expects to reduce its proven reserve estimates for year-end 2003 as soon as it completes an internal review. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the Houston-based pipeline company and...

Reserves Up at Oxy, Down at Unocal.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... US-based producers Occidental and Unocal announced Monday that they successfully replaced production last year with new reserves. Los Angeles-base Oxy said reserve replacement rate from all sources was 184% at an average finding,...

Entergy Q4 Earnings Slip.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Entergy on Monday posted lower fourth-quarter losses on $51.8 million in severance charges and mild weather, while year-end earnings surged more than 50%. Entergy Commodity Services, which includes merchant trading group Entergy-Koch, saw...

California Seeks EPA Waiver.(Environmental Protection Agency )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider its request for a waiver from a federal regulation for making clean burning gasoline. The rule -- the oxygen mandate -- requires...

ANS Output Bounces Back.(Alaskan North Slope)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Alaskan North Slope (ANS) production appears to have averaged just over 1 million b/d in January based on Department of Revenue's Tax Division data through Jan. 28. South Alaska's Cook Inlet added about 26,000 b/d. Although production was...

Canada Revises NGL Output.(natural gas liquids )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... The heavier fractions of Canada's natural gas liquids (NGL) were not as severely affected in September and October as initial government data had indicated (OD Jan.14,p4). Revised data from Statistics Canada received late last week show...

Marathon Hikes Capex Budget.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Marathon Oil on Friday said it set a capital spending and exploration budget of $2.26 billion for 2004, up about 3.7% from last year. The company said its exploration and exploitation budget of $302 million includes plans to drill 11...

Pemex '04 Oil Output at 3.45M b/d.(Petroleos Mexicanos)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex said Monday it sees crude oil production rising to an average 3.45 million b/d in 2004. "This year crude production will be 80,000 b/d higher than last year," Pemex head Raul Munoz told a news conference....

Bolivia Ups Tax on Oil Firms.
February 3, 2004... Bolivia's President Hugo Mesa announced Sunday a four-year austerity plan for the economy that includes new taxes on hydrocarbons operators in an effort to close the current fiscal gap in South America's poorest nation. The government...

Brazil Power Plant Inaugurated.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Spain's largest power group, Endesa, inaugurated a new 310 MW gas-fired combined cycle power station in the northeast Brazilian state of Ceara last week at a ceremony attended by the Brazilian energy minister Dilma Rousseff and Ceara's state...

Chesapeake Closes Asset Buys.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp. has complete the acquisition of Mid-Continent, Permian Basin, South Texas and onshore Gulf Coast natural gas assets from privately owned Concho Resources for $420 million. Oklahoma City-based...

Unit Acquires PetroCorp.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Tulsa-based Unit Corp. said Monday that it closed its acquisition of PetroCorp, a Tulsa-based company that explores and develops oil and natural gas properties primarily in Texas and Oklahoma. On Dec. 31, PetroCorp had total reserves of...

Lake Charles to Expand Again.(Southern Union Co. LNG terminal)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Eyeing the immense scope of newly proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals for the Gulf Coast, Southern Union Co., operator of the Lake Charles terminal in Louisiana, announced a second phase expansion of the facility that will bring peak...

Petal Gas to Hold Open Season.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Petal Gas Storage, a subsidiary of GulfTerra Energy Partners, said Monday it would hold a binding open season for up to 300,000 MMBtu of firm natural gas storage capacity for a one-year term beginning Apr. 1. The open season will begin at 9...

Oil Speculators Trim Net Longs.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) crude oil and gasoline futures speculators trimmed net long positions in the week ended Jan. 27, according to a report by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released on Friday. The...

InterOil Refinery Progressing.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Canada-based InterOil Corp. has revised the estimated completion date for its refinery under construction in Papua New Guinea. Since November, the project progress has advanced from 84% to approximately 91% complete, the company said...

Exxon Plans Refinery Overhaul.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Exxon Mobil plans to shut the smallest gasoline production unit at its 525,000 b/d Baytown, Texas, refinery as early as Feb. 4, according to a notification filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. An Exxon Mobil...

Fire Shuts Conoco Unit.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... A 20,000 b/d hydrotreater at a ConocoPhillips refinery in Wood River, Illinois, will be shut for an undetermined amount of time following a fire at the unit on Sunday, the leading US fuel producer said on Monday. A ConocoPhillips official...

BP Shuts Refinery Unit After Fire.(British Petroleum Company PLC)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... BP said on Monday a fire at its Whiting, Indiana, refinery caused the company to shut a 100,000 b/d crude distillation unit for an undetermined amount of time. The fire struck early Sunday morning and was extinguished by an internal...

Domenici: Drop MTBE Liability Protection.(methyl tertiary butyl ether, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici)
February 4, 2004... WASHINGTON -- In a decision that has far-reaching ramifications for the oil industry, a key Senate chairman on Tuesday announced he was withdrawing his support for a controversial provision in the energy bill shielding companies from certain...

Noble Plucks Fruits of International Expansion.
February 4, 2004... HOUSTON -- Noble Energy, plucking the fruits of its international expansion in recent years, expects to deliver double-digit production growth in 2004. The Houston-based company also plans to ease capital spending this year after...

Tesoro Closes Sweet 2003 on Sour Note.
February 4, 2004... WASHINGTON -- Tesoro became the latest US independent refiner to post weak fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, victimized by the deterioration of refining margins and unexpected maintenance work at two of its core West Coast plants. San...

Crude and Product Futures End Lower on Profit-Taking.
February 4, 2004... NEW YORK -- Crude futures closed lower Tuesday as traders took profits from Monday's near-$2 rally and awaits today's release of crucial weekly US inventory data. Amid an extremely choppy session, light, sweet March crude oil futures on...

Petrobras, State of Rio Square Off Over Pipeline, Refinery.
February 4, 2004... WASHINGTON -- In yet a new rift between Brazil's main oil producing state and government-owned energy giant Petrobras, the state of Rio de Janeiro passed a law Tuesday effectively doubling the taxation of pipeline operations in the area. ...

Natural Gas Exports Could Integrate Caribbean Markets.
February 4, 2004... NEW YORK -- Caribbean energy markets have always been fragmented by the number of islands and by the range of their size and income levels. But Trinidad & Tobago's thriving natural gas industry has opened the possibility of gas exports to other...

Daily Oil & Gas Price Review.(Illustration)
February 4, 2004... Daily Oil & Gas Price Review Prices for Tuesday, February 3, 2004 Light Sweet Futures -- Prompt Month ($/barrel) 1st 5-Day 2nd 3rd Chg Month Avg. ...

Stock Market Scorecard.(Illustration)
February 4, 2004... Stock Market Scorecard Close 1-Day. % Chg. Feb 03 Chg. % Chg. 10-Day 52-Wk YTD Integrated Majors Shell T & T 40.78 +0.46 ...

Unocal's US Output Slides.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Unocal's North American production continued to decline during the fourth quarter as the company focused on pursuing more lucrative opportunities in Asia. Worldwide production fell 7% to 420,000 boe/d as asset sales and natural field...

Transocean Back in the Black.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Transocean, the world's biggest offshore drilling contractor, reported a return to profit in the fourth quarter after a huge a loss in the same period of 2002, but the company said market conditions will likely remain difficult in the near...

Syntroleum Reports 2003 Loss.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Gas-to-liquids (GTL) developer Syntroleum booked another loss in the quarter ending Dec. 31 and for full-year 2003. For the quarter, Tulsa-based Syntroleum lost $10.7 million on revenue of $3.9 million, compared with a loss of $11.1 million on...

Parker Drilling Down in Q4, 2003.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Parker Drilling reported Tuesday forth-quarter revenue of $84.9 million and a net loss of $12.4 million, compared with a net loss of $10.3 million on revenue of $85.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2002. The loss from continuing operations...

Husky Energy Profit Edges Up.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Husky Energy, Canada's No. 5 oil producer and refiner, said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose slightly, beating expectations, due to high oil and gas prices and rising output. Husky, which is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li...

Denbury Replaces Reserves.(Denbury Resources)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Denbury Resources said Tuesday that its total proved oil and natural gas reserves at year-end 2003 were 128.2 million boe, consisting of 91.3 million bbl of crude oil and 221.9 Bcf of natural gas, a 5% increase over its proved reserve...

Stone Gulf Wells Producing.(Stone Energy)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Stone Energy concluded drilling and completion operations on two exploratory discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico. Both wells were drilled from existing facilities and have been placed on production. On the South Timbalier Block 166 deep sand...

Chevron Seeks Agbami Bids.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... ChevronTexaco has closed the bidding for a contract, thought to be worth around $800 million, to build a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for its Agbami deepwater development in Nigeria. The FPSO will be required...

PetroKazakhstan Taps Chretien.(Named former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien as a special adviser for international relations)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Calgary-based PetroKazakhstan named former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien as a special adviser to the company for international relations. Chretien, a former minister of energy, mines and resources, served as prime minister from...

Iraq Pipeline Attacks Persist.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Attacks on Iraq's northern Kirkuk oil pipeline mean crude exports will continue solely from the south for at least another month, the oil chief in the US-led administration said on Tuesday. "There are still some attacks. They are not...

Shell to Sell Barents Sea Stake.(Royal Dutch/Shell )(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Royal Dutch/Shell is set to sell its 15% stake in the Goliath field in the Barents Sea and its 25% interest in two other Norwegian North Sea licenses to Norwegian independent Det Norske Oljeselskap (DNO). The companies said the agreement...

Dynegy Dumps Utility.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Dynegy said Tuesday it had entered into a $2.3 billion agreement regarding the sale of its Illinois utility to St. Louis, Missouri-based Ameren, an integrated energy company with $13.5 billion in assets. Exelon, a Chicago utility, courted...

Gasoline Pump Prices Fall.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... The national retail price for gasoline declined for the first time in five weeks, dropping about 0.5cents over the past week to $1.616 a gallon, the government said on Monday. The average cost for regular unleaded gasoline is up 9cents from...

Boots & Coots to Stay in Iraq.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Boots & Coots International Well Control said Tuesday that it expects to continue its operations under the Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO) program as a subcontractor under Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), the engineering and construction subsidiary of...

Williams Adds Pipeline Capacity.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... A unit of Williams said Monday that it has placed a pipeline expansion into service, increasing capacity on its Transco natural gas system by 54,000 dekatherms per day. Phase II of the Momentum pipeline expansion provides additional firm...

Valero Plans Refinery Overhaul.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Valero Energy plans to shut a fluidic catalytic cracking unit at its 135,000 b/d Houston refinery on Feb. 8 as part of a planned overhaul, according to a notice filed with Texas environmental regulators. Valero expects to restart the...

BP Sets Texas City FCC Restart.(Fluidic catalytic cracking)(British Petroleum Company PLC)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... BP plans to restart a fluidic catalytic cracking (FCC) unit at its 470,000 b/d Texas City, Texas, refinery, on Feb. 10, according to a notification filed with Texas environmental regulators. The FCC, which produces gasoline, was shut on...

Shell Shuts Deer Park Reformer.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2004... Shell Oil joint-venture Deer Park Refining is shutting a catalytic reformer at its 340,000 b/d refinery in Deer Park, Texas, according to a company spokesman. The reformer, one of two at the refinery, is being shut for up to three days for...