The Oil Daily articles from May 2007

The Oil Daily archives from May 2007

Eni buys dominion's Gulf of Mexico assets.(mergers and acquisitions)(Dominion Energy)
May 1, 2007... Eni has continued its recent buying spree with the $4.76 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy's Gulf of Mexico portfolio, a deal which triples the Italian major's US production and takes its confirmed spending on asset deals this year to just...

US efforts failing to revive Iraq's oil sector.
May 1, 2007... Iraq has little to show for the $1.4 billion the US has provided to revitalize the oil and gas sector as it continues to miss production and export targets, according to the special inspector general for Iraq Reconstruction. Special...

Interior's leasing plan includes Virginia, Bristol Bay, new Gulf sites.
May 1, 2007... The US Interior Department on Monday unveiled a proposal that would allow oil and gas drilling in federal waters near Virginia and open new areas to exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's Bristol Bay. In all, the Interior...

Products expiration triggers volatile trade on Nymex.(New York Mercantile Exchange)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The expiration of oil product contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) provided some fireworks and hefty price volatility in the last half hour of trade on Monday, and after the gyrating was done, gasoline was up, heating oil was...

Daily oil & gas price review: prices for Monday, April 30, 2007.(Statistical table)
May 1, 2007... Crude Oil US Domestic Crudes ($/barrel) Cash/Spot Change Spot Price 5-Day Avg. Month-Ago WTS (Midland) -2.09 58.62 59.38 62.02 LLS (St. James) -1.94 69.72 70.28 72.07 ANS...

Dispute over control of fields could derail Iraqi oil law.
May 1, 2007... A war of words between Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani and Kurdish Energy Minister Ashti Hawrami over who has the authority to sign contracts with foreign companies, and over the extent of the proposed new Iraqi national oil company's...

Heating degree days: for the week of Apr. 28, 2007.(Statistical table)
May 1, 2007... Week Dev Cum Dev From From From Week From Year Cum From Norm Year State/City (PADD) Total Norm Ago Total...

Shipbroker forecasts lower tanker rates as fleet expands.
May 1, 2007... London-based shipbroker Simpson, Spence & Young (SSY) cautions that "rapid fleet growth plus some economic uncertainties are likely to weigh on oil tanker freight rates this year and into 2008," offsetting firm oil market fundamentals that...

Lawmakers grill Halliburton on Iran deals.
May 1, 2007... Oil services giant Halliburton told a Senate panel Monday its foreign subsidiary has wrapped up business operations in Iran, but was quick to point out that its competitors--Schlumberger and Weatherford--are filling the vacuum it was leaving...

Chavez mulls Citgo sale as PDV takes control of key projects.(Petroleos de Venezuela)
May 1, 2007... US supermajor Exxon Mobil said Monday it has officially agreed to transfer control of its La Ceiba project in Venezuela to state owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV), in line with the government's May 1 deadline for taking over...

Aramco invites contract bids for giant Ras Tanura project.
May 1, 2007... Despite soaring costs, Saudi Arabia's state-owned Saudi Aramco and US-based Dow Chemical have issued the design work for the Ras Tanura integrated refinery and petrochemicals project and will soon finalize their delayed memorandum of...

House probes BP budget cuts.(British Petroleum Company PLC)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... BP will take center stage Thursday at a House of Representatives panel hearing that is probing last year's shutdown of the giant Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska. Ahead of the hearing, the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations...

Omni evaluates sale option.(Omni Energy Services Corp.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Drilling services company Omni Energy Services said it will explore strategic and financial alternatives and has hired Citi to assist it in the process. James C. Eckert, chairman and CEO of Omin, said, "There are multitudes of ways to...

Hercules sees jackup recovery.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Oil and gas drilling rig company Hercules Offshore posted higher first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's view, and said it expects a recovery in the Gulf of Mexico jackup drilling market in the coming months. Houston-based Hercules...

Iran claims higher reserves.(petroleum reserves)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Iran's recent discovery of new oil fields has increased the country's oil reserves by between 10 billion and 13 billion bbl, Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said Monday. Speaking at an oil industry conference in Iran, Vaziri said the new...

Kuwait makes new oil find.(International)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Kuwait has made an "important" light oil and gas find in the al-Dhabi region in the north of the Gulf Arab state, the Kuwaiti state news agency said Monday, quoting a statement by Oil Minister Sheikh Ali al-Jarrah. The statement did not...

Natuna decision forthcoming.(International)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Indonesia will make a decision on Exxon Mobil's future role in the troubled Natuna D-Alpha gas block by June, while insisting that the US supermajor's current contract has been terminated, according to an energy ministry official. The...

Agencies clear gas pipe plan.(Legislation/Regulation)(Transwestern Pipeline Co.'s pipeline project)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Bureau of Land Management and a cadre of other agencies, including the Navajo Nation, have released a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on a number of pipeline projects proposed by...

High court won't hear case.(Litigation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a Bush administration appeal defending its rule that would allow older factories, refineries and coal-burning power plants to upgrade their facilities without installing the most modern pollution...

Martin buys East Texas assets.(Martin Midstream Partners LP)(Woodlawn Pipeline Co.)(mergers and acquisitions)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Martin Midstream Partners LP said Monday it agreed to buy the outstanding stock of Woodlawn Pipeline Co., a natural gas company that operates in East Texas, along with a pipeline delivering residue gas for about $32.7 million. The Woodlawn...

Chesapeake buys Gastar stake.(Mergers & Acquisitions)
May 1, 2007... Chesapeake Energy on Monday said it agreed to acquire Gastar Exploration Ltd.'s interest in its East Texas oil and gas property for $92 million. The price, set out in a letter of intent, includes the purchase of 10 million newly-issued...

Forecaster warns of storms.(Offshore)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The Gulf of Mexico's energy industry got a grim warning about hurricane activity on Monday at the start of this year's Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. "The Louisiana to Alabama coast has the highest risk of experiencing the...

Stock market scorecard.(Statistical table)
May 1, 2007... Close 1-Day % Chg. Int. Majors 4/30 Chg. % Chg. 10-Day 52-Wk YTD Chevron 77.79 -0.29 -0.37% +1.01% +29.69% +5.79% Petro-Canada 44.33 -0.17 -0.38 +7.86 ...

PDV celebrates seizure of Orinoco projects.(Petroleos de Venezuela)
May 2, 2007... Venezuela officially assumed operational control over four large heavy oil projects in the Orinoco Basin on Tuesday from Western majors as part of President Hugo Chavez's nationalization effort. Thousands of workers gathered on May Day at...

Browne quits BP over private life, lie.(British Petroleum Company PLC)(John Browne)
May 2, 2007... John Browne resigned as chief executive of BP Tuesday, leaving the job three months earlier than planned. His sudden exit followed the lifting of a court injunction against a UK newspaper and an admission by Browne that he had lied in court...

Gasoline pump prices approach key $3 per gallon mark in US.
May 2, 2007... The average US pump price for regular gasoline is now just a shade under $3 per gallon and likely to pass that level this week as the retail market plays catch-up to red-hot New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) gasoline futures. Just last week,...

Nymex crude shrugs off Nigeria attack, drops over $1.(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... Crude futures lost over $1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) Tuesday as the market shrugged off more bad news out of Nigeria, while the front-month June gasoline contract fell ahead of Wednesday's US government petroleum data. ...

Daily oil & gas price review: prices for Tuesday, May 1, 2007.(Statistical table)
May 2, 2007... Crude Oil US Domestic Crudes ($/barrel) Cash/Spot Change Spot Price 5-Day Avg. Month-Ago WTS (Midland) -1.64 56.98 59.09 61.87 LLS (St. James) -1.24 68.48 70.14 72.72 ANS...

Marathon's Q1 profits dip, but downstream earnings impress.(Financial report)
May 2, 2007... Marathon Oil kept up the downstream momentum in the first quarter, joining other oil companies in posting stronger refining and marketing earnings in the period. Over the past week, larger rivals Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron...

Anadarko profits hammered by Algeria's windfall profits tax.(Anadarko Petroleum Corp.)
May 2, 2007... Anadarko Petroleum said on Tuesday it took a charge of $189 million against first-quarter earnings--more than three times as much as it had previously expected--as a result of Algeria's imposition of a windfall profits tax last year. ...

Demand growth to spur role changes for IOCs and NOCs.
May 2, 2007... The international petroleum industry is evolving into a new phase that will reflect major changes in geographical focus, new roles and relationships for the international oil companies (IOCs), national oil companies (NOCs) and service companies...

MMS upbeat on production potential of Gulf of mexcio.(Minerals Management Service)
May 2, 2007... The Gulf of Mexico is continuing to recover from the storms of 2004-05, while the deepwater frontier regions are continuing to draw more and more exploration activity. That was the message delivered Tuesday at the Offshore Technology...

Interior plan would open controversial Alaska offshore areas.(Interior Department)
May 2, 2007... The Interior Department's five-year leasing plan for 2007-2012 calls for a lease sale in Bristol Bay, also known as the North Aleutian Basin, where in January President Bush removed a presidential ban on drilling that had been in place since...

Automakers step up fuel cell push amid climate, supply worries.
May 2, 2007... Mounting concerns about climate change, future oil supply and global geopolitics are translating into intense pressure on automakers to accelerate development of fuel-cell vehicles, in the hope of weaning the world off gasoline as a...

Militants attack Chevron vessel.(Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... Armed Nigerian militants killed a Nigerian navy official and kidnapped six foreign oil workers in a raid on a Chevron-operated floating storage and offloading vessel near the Funiwa oil field in the Niger Delta on Tuesday. The Nigerian...

Synenco mulls strategic options.(Corporate News)(Synenco Energy)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... Synenco Energy, which is developing a Canadian oil sands project, said on Tuesday it has launched a strategic review after determining a planned C$6.3 billion (US$5.7 billion) upgrading refinery may be too expensive. Synenco, which has...

Jackson pushes 'fair access'.(Rev. Jesse Jackson to push petroleum companies to create more jobs for women and minorities)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... US activist Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday said his organization will target top energy companies like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips in a push to create more jobs for women and minorities in the industry. Jackson said members of his Rainbow...

Alaskan output down in April.(Exploration & Production)
May 2, 2007... Alaskan oil production fell again in April, to 773,000 b/d, and is now 68,500 b/d below a year earlier, according to data from the state Department of Revenue's tax division. But output was only 7,000 b/d lower than in March as most of a...

Interior OKs oil shale project.(Interior Department clears lease to Oil Shale Exploration Co.)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... The Interior Department on Monday approved a sixth and final oil-shale research project in the US West. Assistant Interior Secretary Stephen Allred signed the environmental assessment for the project, clearing the way for the issuance of a...

Brazil, Bolivia discuss refineries.(Latin America)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... Brazil's oil firm Petrobras said it is making progress in negotiations to sell its Bolivian refineries to the Andean country, dismissing fears of any unilateral action by Bolivian President Evo Morales on May 1. "We were also worried about...

Alaska to review infrastructure.(Legislation/Regulation)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... The state of Alaska is launching a comprehensive review of its oil and natural gas infrastructure. The assessment, announced by Gov. Sarah Palin's office Tuesday, will attempt to identify oil and gas facilities and systems that pose the...

Congress key to royalty dispute.(Legislation/Regulation)(oil and natural gas leases during late 1990s)
May 2, 2007... Resolution of the issue of missing royalties from dozens of deepwater oil and natural gas leases issued in the late 1990s without limits on royalty relief incentives is unlikely to occur until Congress determines what role it wants to play in...

EPA rules on refinery emissions.(Legislation/Regulation)(Environmental Protection Agency)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new rules governing refinery emissions. The proposal calls for the reduction of emissions from new, modified or reconstructed processing units at refineries, and would amend existing standards on...

Oxy, BP swap more assets.(British Petroleum Company PLC)(Occidental Petroleum Corp.)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... Occidental Petroleum has done its second asset swap with BP in as many weeks, announcing Tuesday a Permian Basin-Gulf of Mexico property exchange. Oxy will receive BP's interests in the Seminole San Andres Unit, Sheep Mountain property and...

Rockies Express-East plan filed.(Pipelines)(Rockies Express Pipeline)(Brief article)
May 2, 2007... Rockies Express Pipeline on Monday filed for approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate the 638 mile eastern segment of its huge natural gas pipeline project. The company requested a certificate...

Stock market scorecard.(Statistical table)
May 2, 2007... Integrated Close 1-Day % Chg. Majors 5/1 Chg. % Chg. 10-Day 52-Wk YTD Petro-Canada 44.79 +0.46 +1.04% +7.51% -8.05% +9.14% BG 72.65 +0.72 +1.00 -1.37 ...

Senate panel passes divisive energy bill.
May 3, 2007... A Senate panel Wednesday voted 20-3 to approve a bill to increase biofuels use and cut gasoline consumption after some heated debate on coal derived fuels that tested the bipartisan spirit of members. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources...

Wary of alternatives, Saudis mull oil capacity.
May 3, 2007... Saudi Arabia does not foresee expanding its crude oil production capacity beyond a planned target of 12.5 million barrels per day, as alternative energy sources will help shoulder a larger proportion of future global demand, Saudi Arabian Oil...

Hayward takes on Browne's mixed legacy as BP's new boss.(Tony Hayward take on BP as the chief executive officer)
May 3, 2007... New BP boss Tony Hayward confronted a full in-tray on his first day in the top job May 2. The undignified and sudden exit of long-time chief executive John Browne, who resigned Tuesday after he admitted lying to a UK court, shot Hayward into...

Crude futures fall on US inventory data, Iraq meetings.
May 3, 2007... Crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) ended lower Wednesday as the market digested the latest weekly data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and looked ahead to Friday's Iraq conference in Egypt (OD...

Daily oil & gas price review: prices for Wednesday, May 2, 2007.(Statistical table)
May 3, 2007... Crude Oil US Domestic Crudes ($/barrel) Cash/Spot Change Spot Price 5-Day Avg. Month-Ago WTS (Midland) -1.02 55.96 58.37 60.57 LLS (St. James) -0.32 68.16 69.71 70.22 ANS...

EIA weekly statistics: for week ended April 27, 2007.(Statistical table)
May 3, 2007... US Crude Oil: Stocks (1) (millions of bbl) Current Previous Week Week Chg. PADD 1 14.6 14.4 1.4% PADD 2 74.0 73.7 0.4% Cushing, OK 27.1 26.8...

Nova Scotia pleased with effort to draw more exploration.
May 3, 2007... Nova Scotian officials are pleased with the positive reaction to their recent regulatory revisions intended to entice exploration and production companies to drill more in the province's largely unexplored offshore area, said Diana Dalton,...

Aramco's 2006 review shows stable crude reserves, rising gas.(Statistical data)
May 3, 2007... Saudi Aramco has released its official data for 2006 showing largely stable crude oil reserves, an increase in associated and non-associated gas reserves and a 2% decline in crude production for the year. Crude oil production was down to...

Merger of Dockwise and Sealift creates major heavy-lift player.(Dockwise Shipping)
May 3, 2007... There's a new player in the offshore heavy lift market thanks to the merger this week of Dockwise and Sealift. With the Offshore Technology Conference 2007 in Houston as a backdrop, the two companies announced the merger which will give the...

Devon prepares to drill first operated Lower Tertiary prospect.
May 3, 2007... Devon Energy, which already has stakes in four Lower Tertiary discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, is gearing up to drill its first operated exploration well in the hot deepwater play. Senior Vice President for Exploration and Production...

Led by Petro-Canada, oil stocks ride market's April surge.(Statistical data)
May 3, 2007... Oil companies had no trouble turning in strong share price performances in April. The integrated oil companies rode the market's momentum last month, giving the sector one of its strongest monthly showings in years. The IPF Index rose 4.1%...

Husky buys Lima refinery.(Top Briefs)(Husky Energy )(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Husky Energy is buying Valero Energy's Lima, Ohio, refinery for $1.9 billion to secure processing capacity for its expanding Canadian oil sands operations, the companies said on Wednesday. Husky, which is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire...

Transocean earnings jump.(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Transocean, the world's largest offshore driller, said on Wednesday quarterly profit jumped on strong demand and higher rates for its rigs. The Houston-based company said first-quarter profit soared to $553 million ($1.84/share) from $206...

Nybot boosts ICE earnings.(Earnings)(IntercontinentalExchange Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... The IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) said on Wednesday that its first-quarter profit nearly tripled as its results for the first time included newly acquired soft commodities exchange the New York Board of Trade (Nybot). ICE, an electronic...

Weather lifts Enbridge profit.(Earnings)(Financial report)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Enbridge reported a higher first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as cold weather boosted results from its gas distribution unit. The company, whose pipelines carry the lion's share of Canada's crude oil exports to the US, said net income rose...

Heritage spuds Russia well.(International)(Heritage Oil)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Canada-listed Heritage Oil Corporation announced Wednesday that it has commenced drilling well No. 3 in the Zapadno Chumpasskoye field in Khanty-Mansyisk province in West Siberia. This is the first well to be drilled in a multi-well program,...

Belgians avoid refinery strike.(International)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Belgian oil sector unions and employers agreed to a provisional pay deal on Wednesday, probably averting a strike that would have shut down the nation's oil refineries, union and employer negotiators said (OD Apr.24,p5). "I think we can...

Minister bullish on Iraq law.(Hussein al-Shahristani)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani is still hopeful that parliament will soon approve a draft petroleum law endorsed by the cabinet in February, even though the Kurds said they will oppose it on the grounds that annexes to the law that...

Nigeria gas pipe on track.(International)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... A pipeline geared toward utilizing Nigeria's natural gas reserves has been commissioned, but the timeline for reaching full capacity is not yet known, said Fisoye Delano, managing director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, a...

PDV nixes storage contract.(Latin America)
May 3, 2007... Venezuela's state-owned oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) terminated the remaining oil storage contract for a PDV-owned facility held by Brazilian counterpart Petrobras on Tuesday, with the aim to sell the facility eventually, industry...

SEC ends stone probe.(Legislation/Regulation)(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Stone Energy Corp.)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ended its investigation into Stone Energy's handling of its reserves estimates and recommended that no action be taken against the independent oil and natural gas producer. The Lafayette,...

KMT pays tainted fuel fine.(Legislation/Regulation)(Kinder Morgan Transmix)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Kinder Morgan Transmix (KMT) has agreed to pay $600,000 to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for numerous air and hazardous wastes violations, including mixing hazardous waste with gasoline. EPA became aware of the environmental...

Price gouging bill introduced.(Legislation/Regulation)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) reintroduced legislation Wednesday to ban price gouging at the gasoline pump. The proposed regulation is designed to guard against profiteering and market manipulation by oil and gas...

BP pipeline hearing delayed.(Legislation/Regulation)(British Petroleum Company PLC)
May 3, 2007... The House Energy subcommittee on government oversight has postponed a hearing on BP's pipeline maintenance practices on Alaska's North Slope after discovering the company withheld key documents regarding efforts to save money. The...

Exxon Alaska appeal denied.(Litigation)(Exxon Mobil Corp.)(Point Thomson )(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... An Alaska superior court judge on Tuesday denied Exxon Mobil's request for a delay in its appeal to the state's decision to revoke leases from the Point Thomson oil and gas unit. The judge also ordered Exxon and other Point Thomson...

DOE rejects more SPR bids.(Oil & Gas Markets)(Department of Energy, Strategic Petroleum Reserve)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... The Department of Energy on Wednesday rejected a second round of offers to buy up to 4 million bbl of oil to fill the nation's strategic stockpile. The department determined the bids were too high and not a reasonable value for taxpayers....

US refining margins rise.(Refining)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
May 3, 2007... US refinery margins rebounded last week by $3.24 to average $25/bbl, according to analysts at AG Edwards. Margins exceeded $27/bbl in both the Midwest and West Coast. US margins averaged above $23/bbl in April, boosted by low refinery runs and...

Total pays refinery fine.(Refining)(Brief article)
May 3, 2007... French major Total has agreed to pay a $2.9 million penalty and to upgrade pollution controls at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to settle alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, according to the US Department of Justice and the Environmental...

Stock market scorecard.(Statistical table)
May 3, 2007... Stock Market Scorecard Integrated Close 1-Day % Chg. Majors 5/2 Chg. % Chg. 10-Day 52-Wk YTD Norsk Hydro 35.84 +1.14 +3.29% +3.85% +17.12% +16.86% Statoil 28.90...

Conoco at risk of eviction from Venezuela.(ConocoPhillips)
May 4, 2007... After stripping operational control of four large heavy oil projects in the Orinoco river basin from major oil companies earlier this week, Venezuela has toughened its stance on compensation for the former operators, even threatening to evict...

Report blasts BP's cost-cutting culture.
May 4, 2007... A sharply critical internal report on the deadly explosion at BP's Texas City refinery has renewed allegations that the supermajor pursued a culture of cost cutting at the expense of safety in its North American operations. The February...

Nigerian militants launch fresh attacks on Niger Delta workers.
May 4, 2007... Nigerian gunmen killed two local security officials and seized 19 foreign oil workers--including eight contractors, who were later released--from an offshore oil platform in two separate attacks in the Niger Delta Thursday. One policeman...

Nymex gasoline Inches higher while crude declines.(New York Mercantile Exchange)(Brief article)
May 4, 2007... Gasoline prices sold off in early morning trading Thursday as the market reacted to news of a provisional pay deal between Belgian oil sector unions and employers. The deal, announced late Wednesday, averted a strike that would have shut the...

Daily oil & gas price review: prices for Thursday, May 3, 2007.(Statistical table)
May 4, 2007... Crude Oil US Domestic Crudes ($/barrel) Cash/Spot Change Spot Price 5-Day Avg. Month-Ago WTS (Midland) -0.27 55.69 57.59 60.63 LLS (St. James) -0.27 67.89 69.18 71.23 ANS...

Shell profits beat expectations despite lower production.(Royal Dutch-Shell PLC revenue report)(Financial report)
May 4, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell surprised on the upside Thursday with a 14% increase in first-quarter profit, driven by higher downstream, gas and corporate earnings. But the company reported a 6% year-on-year drop in oil and gas production and warned that...

Tesoro seeks more refinery deals, eyes Asia-Pacific market.(Tesoro Petroleum Corp.)
May 4, 2007... Independent refiner Tesoro is poised to close the deal with Royal Dutch Shell for the acquisition of a 100,000 barrel per day Los Angeles refinery next week and take over operations on May 11. Given the skyrocketing margins in California--the...

Pioneer, noble, Harvest report lower Q1 earnings on soft gas prices, output issues.(Noble Energy)(Harvest Natural Resources Inc.)(revenue report)(Financial report)
May 4, 2007... Three prominent independent producers all reported lower first-quarter earnings due to a variety of reasons that included a soft natural gas market and higher-than-anticipated operating costs. Dallas-based Pioneer said its first-quarter...

Fatal fire partly shuts Singapore refinery.
May 4, 2007... A fire at Exxon Mobil's 300,000 barrel per day refinery on Jurong Island, Singapore, killed two employees, injured another two and led to the shutdown of a 115,000 b/d crude distillation unit (CDU) on Thursday. The flash fire broke out at...