India May Sell Stake in Indian Oil, ONGC.

India’s federal government is considering whether to sell 10% of its stake in Indian Oil Corp. and 5% of its stake in Oil & Natural Gas Corp. by March.

OIL and gas explorer Oilex said it has significantly upgraded its gas reserves in India thanks to advances in extraction tecnology, sending its shares soaring more than 150 per cent yesterday.

India is not standing by while the US and China scramble for Ghana’s new found natural resource, oil. When Kosmos Energy first put up its stake in Ghana’s major oil field, the Jubilee Oil field for sale, India was one of the countries that declared its intention to buy.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Cambay field, China, Coal India Ltd., federal government, Ghana, Ghana’s oil industry, Gujarat, India, Indian Oil Corp., Kosmos Energym, Murli Deora, Oil & Natural Gas Corp., oil and gas explorer, Oilex, ONGC, S. Sundareshan, Times of India, US

Bahrain to buy Gas from Iran.

SHANA news agency quoted Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi as saying that the deal to export gas to Bahrain will soon be finalized after negotiations between gas specialists of the two countries are held.

Xstrata Zinc, a division of Xstrata Plc has ended discussions with Canada`s Noranda Income Fund about a possible acquisition of the fund.

Oil and gas major Tullow Oil has entered into an agreement to acquire a 50% operating interest in six licences held by oil and gas minnow Africa Oil.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Abdul-Hussain Bin Ali Mirza, Africa Oil, Bahrain, BP, Canada, Gas, Gulf of Mexico, Iranian Oil Minister, Masoud Mir-Kazemi, Oil and Gas Affairs Minister, SHANA news agency, Tullow Oil, Xstrata Plc, Xstrata Zinc

US authorities seize BP’s blowout preventer.

Admiral Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard commander in overall charge of the operation, declared that the preventer “will be taken into custody” and become part of the “evidence material that’s been required by the joint investigative team”.

The beleaguered US economy has some help on the way with cheaper natural gas to help support and power a hoped-for recovery. Dispersed across the US (and Canada), “unconventional” gas basins are being developed quickly in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd today announces, pursuant to NZSX Listing Rule 7.6.2, the intention to buy-back up to 8.5 million of its fully paid ordinary shares.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Admiral Thad Allen, Arkansas, beleaguered US economy, BP, BP chief executive Tony Hayward, Colorado, Companies Act 1993, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, drilling, Gulf states, Louisiana, Marcellus Gas Shale, natural gas, New Zealand Oil & Gas Ltd., NZOG Board, NZOG's Constitution, NZSX Listing Rule 7.6.2, NZSX Listing Rules, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, President Obama, Texas, Wyoming

BP oil spill hits $8 Billion.

British oil giant BP said Friday that the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster has cost about eight billion dollars so far.

The Obama Administration is likely to stay focused on toughening regulatory oversight of the U.S. offshore oil industry and may push back lifting a ban on deepwater drilling after the latest accident in the Gulf of Mexico, analysts said on Thursday.

American Oil & Gas options saw heavy call activity today. A total of 130 call and 50 put contracts were traded raising a three month record high call volume alert. Today’s traded Put/Call ratio is 0.38.

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Chevron Corp drills Canada’s deepest-ever offshore well.

Chevron Corp has finished drilling Canada’s deepest-ever offshore well, a project that became the target of heightened scrutiny after the BP Plc spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.

China’s stocks rose for the first time in three days, led by automakers and commodity producers, after vehicle sales surged and U.S. manufacturing grew faster than estimated. SAIC Motor Corp., the nation’s biggest carmaker, jumped the most in more than a year.

Jude    Maritime News, News     automakers, BP spill, Canada, car manufacturing in china, Chevron Corp, China Shenhua Energy Co., commodity producers, deepest-ever offshore well, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Jiangxi Copper Co., Lona 0-55 exploration well, Newfoundland, North Atlantic, offshore drilling equipment, Offshore Oil Engineering Co., oil prices, Orphan Basin, Ping An Insurance Co., SAIC Motor Corp., Shanghai Securities, Shenzhen Development Bank Co., U.S. manufacturing, vehicle, West China Securities Co.

Stringent rules for Offshore Drilling.

Years after revelations of bribery, favoritism and a spinning door between the oil industry and its regulators, the federal agency charged with policing offshore oil drillers is moving to end some of its most extraordinary past practices.

German utility RWE AG aims to become the third largest offshore wind operator in the world by 2014, Martin Skiba, head of RWE’s offshore wind energy operations, said on the sidelines of a conference on renewable energy Tuesday.

The Liberty Energy Corp. reiterates its onshore position as a viable alternative to offshore drilling. New interest in onshore production comes in the wake of the recent BP oil spill as U.S. Congress proposes legislation that would tighten offshore drilling rules.

Jude    Maritime News, News     BP Deepwater Horizon, BP oil spill, bribery, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Centrica PLC, clean-up fund, Dong Energy, drilling, Enforcement, favoritism, German utility RWE AG, Gulf of Mexico, Innogy Nordsee 1, largest offshore, Michael R. Bromwich, offshore oil drillers, oil companies, oil industry, open-sea wind farm, Regulation, regulators, The Liberty Energy Corp., Vattenfall Group, wind operator

Oil Spill prevented off Kavaratti coast at Lakshadweep.

Close on the heels of the collision between the two merchant vessels ‘MSC Chitra’ and ‘MV Khalijia-III’ off the Mumbai harbour on August 7, leading to oil spill in the Arabian Sea, the danger of another oil spill in the Sea off Kavaratti coast at Lakshadweep islands was averted today.

Oil for October delivery rose on Tuesday afternoon after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting showed several officials thought the Fed should consider taking additional steps to provide more support if the economy weakens further.

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, may grant Brazil access to its oil and gas industry in return for the South American country’s participation in two hydropower projects, the Nigerian vice president said.

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Gulf of Mexico Update.

A bipartisan think tank says that deepwater drilling can safely resume under new rules and recently imposed safety regulations.

Liberia has granted Chevron Corp. three deepwater concessions to explore for offshore oil the government said.

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Another spill in the Gulf Of Mexico.

An oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday, but the crew of 13 escaped and there were no signs of an oil spill, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Norway estimated that oil and natural gas investments in the country will rise to a record 148.8 billion kroner ($24 billion) next year, 2.5 billion kroner more than it forecast three months earlier.

Denbury Resources Inc. said it will sell control of Encore Energy Partners LP, part of last year’s second-biggest U.S. oil and gas acquisition, after deciding against an asset deal with the partnership.

Jude    Maritime News, News     BP Plc Macondo well disaster, burst into flames, deepwater drilling moratorium, Denbury Resources Inc., Encore Energy Partners LP, Fort Worth, Gulf of Mexico, Mariner Energy, Mariner platform, New Orleans, Norway, offshore drilling industry, oil and gas platform, oil and natural-gas producer, oil spill, Plano, Statistic Agency, Texas, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. oil and gas acquisition

Oil Rigs in Gulf Drill Deeper.

5

In a remote reach of the Gulf of Mexico, nearly 200 miles from shore, a floating oil platform thrusts its tentacles deep into the ocean like a giant steel octopus.

As BP PLC prepares to put the final plug in its broken Macondo well, which leaked oil into the sea for months, oil-industry officials and pro-drilling political figures say that if Mr Bromwich adds too many requirements, thousands of jobs could be lost in the region.

Canada for the most part is pretty conservative when it come to gambling except in some of the more far flung places such as Alberta.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Alberta, BP disaster, BP PLC, BP well, Bromwich, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Canada, Canadians, conventional crude oil, drill, Enforcement, exploration, floating oil platform, Gulf of Mexico, ill-fated, Macondo well, new drilling, Obama administration, Ocean, octopus, oil, oil and natural gas reserves, Perdido, Regulation, the white house, ultra-deep platforms