Oil and Gas Exploration

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• Norway ruling party to back Arctic islands drilling

  OSLO, Jan 31- Norway's ruling Labour Party is set to support oil exploration off a pristine northern archipelago, bringing to a head controversy over drilling in the Arctic in the run up to elections this year.

• BP reorganises core oil and gas production unit

  LONDON, Jan 30- BP said it was reorganizing its core oil and gas production unit, continuing a move back to the model it had before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and helping free Chief Executive Bob Dudley from direct oversight of drilling operations.

• Crescent Petroleum: Most Stable Period for Oil Prices  

  

  Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, tells CNBC that a general sense of instability post the Arab Spring has already been factored in to the oil price but there has been no direct impact from the Algerian hostage attack.

• Transocean shares rise as Icahn boosts stake

  NEW YORK-- Transocean Ltd. shares rose Monday on news that billionaire investor Carl Icahn boosted his stake in the oil drilling company and said he plans to push for it to declare a dividend of at least $4 a share.

• Libya in the Crosshairs of Terrorists Who Launched Algeria Attacks

  

  A consortium that deals with security issues is warning about possible threats to oil installations in Libya.

• Algeria Attack: Energy Industry Doesn't Understand It

  

  The biggest mistake the energy industry makes is to ignore regional and geopolitical dynamics. It's complicated, and the corporate world doesn't have the patience for it.

• Who's lunch when CEOs schmooze NGOs at Davos?

  *Greenpeace activists stage stunts against Arctic oil drilling. *Oxfam head warns NGOs risk co-option by business.

• Ex-Pa. drilling controller pleads to $5.4M theft

  PITTSBURGH-- The former controller of a natural gas drilling company pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping the company's former chief operating officer steal more than $5.4 million from the western Pennsylvania business _ including $557,000 she kept for herself.

• Fighting Climate Change Could Come at a High Price

  

  President Obama is making climate change a key issue in his second term, but the cost of cutting the nation's carbon footprint is likely to place a heavy burden on average Americans—and the U.S. economy.

• UPDATE 3-Schlumberger Q4 lifted by int'l, deepwater growth

  Jan 18- Schlumberger Ltd reported fourth-quarter earnings just ahead of recently reduced expectations on Friday on strong demand for oil and gas drilling services beyond the shores of North America.

• Energy Bulls Drill for More in Noble

  

  Noble has performed well, and yesterday option traders were targeting the offshore-drilling contractor.

• OPEC: US Oil Supply Growth Doesn't Mean Economic Growth

  

  In its report for January, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said the United States in 2013 may post the highest oil supply increase among non-member states.

• Algerian Forces Launch Operation to Break Siege

  

  Twenty-five foreign hostages escaped and six were killed on Thursday when Algerian forces launched an operation to free them at a remote desert gas plant, Algerian sources said, as one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades unfolded.

• Chevron to Drill in South China Sea Despite Dry Holes

  

  Chevron has signed production-sharing contracts with CNOOC for two exploration blocks in the South China Sea even after drilling three dry holes there last year.

• North Dakota Oil Boom Draws Prostitutes, Boosts Crime

  

  Authorities in Williston, N.D., say that crimes against women have increased in this area, where single men greatly outnumber single women. The New York Times reports.

• BP Forecasts Boom in Alternative Energy  

  

  Christof Ruhl, chief economist at BP, forecast strong growth in alternative energy sources like oil sands and bio fuel.

• Venezuelan Oil and Hugo Chavez: a Tangled Tale

  

  The rapid deterioration of Hugo Chavez's health raises the question of why Venezuela – and by extension Chavez – plays such an integral role in the global energy market.

• REFILE-UPDATE 2-US govt launches review of Shell Arctic drill program

  *Review follows grounding of Shell rig in Alaska. WASHINGTON, Jan 8- The U.S. Interior Department said on Tuesday it will review Royal Dutch Shell's 2012 Arctic oil drilling program to assess the challenges the company faced and to help guide future permitting in the region.

• Shell's Alaska Rig Debacle—Just the Tip of the Iceberg?

  

  Working in extreme Arctic conditions brings its own set of technical hazards, highlighted by the grounding of Royal Dutch Shell’s Kulluk rig on the rocks off Sitkalidak Island, after being battered by a northern Pacific gale. These problems may become more frequent.

• UPDATE 2-Stricken Alaska oil rig refloated and ready to tow

  ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan 7- A recovery team has refloated a Shell oil drilling rig that ran aground last week near an Alaska island and stands ready to start towing it on Monday, weather permitting.