Russia set a new monthly record for crude oil production in September, at 10 million barrels per day for the first time in a single month.  Naftogaz has not repaid its $500 million eurobond.   Russia will await the approval of the IAEA before enriching Iran's uranium stocks.  Ukraine's state pipeline operator has refused to supply crude to Lukoil's Odessa refinery, imperiling the future of the Russian company's operations there.  A unit of Gazprom has apparently begun the trading and marketing of natural gas in North America.  Uranium miner ARMZ is in talks with Canada's Cameco Corp on potential joint mining ventures in Australia and Africa.  Hungary's MOL has completed an emergency gas storage facility to operate in the event of a disruption in supplies.  Denmark's Dong Energy has apparently signed a contract with Gazprom to ...

Why Is Beijing Investing $200 Billion in One Company? The answer is simple. This rail company hauls 25% of the world’s freight – but it only has 6% of the world’s track. Right now, freight supply is 65% shy of demand. Sales for this company have grown on average 47% over the last five year. And now, with a $200 billion infusion, it’s about to jump even higher. Estimates show the potential gains at 356%. Click here for the full report.

BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) yesterday (Wednesday) announced a “giant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico that may contain more than 3 billion barrels of oil. The find is evidence of the Gulf’s resurrection as a major oil producer, as well as the great lengths – or depths – to which major oil companies must go to find vibrant wells.

The well, known as the …

BP PLC (NYSE ADR: BP) yesterday (Wednesday) announced a “giant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico that may contain more than 3 billion barrels of oil. The find is evidence of the Gulf’s resurrection as a major oil producer, as well as the great lengths – or depths – to which major oil companies must go to find vibrant wells.

The well, known as the Tiber Prospect, is one of the deepest wells ever drilled with a total depth of about 35,055 feet, or 6½ miles. An appraisal will be required to determine the size and potential commercial value of discovery, but preliminary estimates suggest the field is bigger than Kaskida, a 2006 discovery that boasted 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

“Tiber represents BP’s second material discovery in the emerging Lower Tertiary play in the Gulf of Mexico, following our earlier Kaskida discovery,”

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Earlier today, PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR) reported results for the six months ended June 30, 2009. Net income for the period was 50.5 billion yuan ($7.4 billion), down more than 7% from 54.4 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) a year earlier. The downward revision in net income was due to lower volumes and crude prices. The average realized crude price in the first half was $42.46 per barrel, down 54.6% from $93.45 per barrel in the year-earlier period. Total production was 588 million barrels of oil equivalent, down nearly 1% from the earlier year. Crude oil production was 418 million barrels, down 4.8% year over year. Natural gas production was 1,021 billion cubic feet, up 10.6% year over year. The Exploration and Production segment generated profit from operations of 37.6 billion yuan ($5.5 billion), compared to 131.3 billion yuan ($18.6 billion) in the year-earlier period. This drastic ...

Despite the ‘demand destruction’ hype, it is interesting to note that during this severe global recession, worldwide oil usage has dropped by a minuscule 2.7%. So, what will happen when the world comes out of this recession? Who will rise up to the challenge and meet our insatiable thirst for energy? These are critical questions not many are willing to ask.

According to the US Department of Energy, liquid fuel demand in the developed nations peaked in August 2005 at 41.89 million barrels per day. Since then, it has plunged by 3.6 million barrels per day to 38.27 million barrels per day. However, you may want to note that despite these tough economic conditions, consumption has been extremely resilient in the emerging world. For instance, demand in the developing countries peaked in October 2008 at 46.33 million barrels per day and it is down by only 0.36 million barrels per day!

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Sinopec (SNP) recently reported results for the six months ended June 30. Net income for the period increased significantly from the year-earlier level to RMB 33.2 billion ($4.87 billion). The positive results reflect a steady growth in oil and gas volumes and profit from the refining business.   Sinopec’s crude oil production during the period rose nearly 1.2% year over year, while natural gas volumes dropped 1.1% from the year-earlier period. The company’s refining business recorded crude oil processing volumes of 86.9 million tons (a 1.8% year over year increase) and production output of refined oil products of 54.0 million tons (a 3.5% increase from the year-ago quarter).   Marketing and Distribution segment’s sales and retail volume of refined oil products decreased 8.4% and 12.8% year over year, respectively. The company’s Chemicals segment output of ethylene and synthetic resins reached 2.97 million and 4.74 million tons, respectively, as ...

In May, Axial Vector Energy Corp. announced that its PETRO AVEC Joint Venture partner, Petrosonics LLC, recently received a Russian patent protecting the purification process that removes sulfur and nitrogen compounds from diesel oil, FCC cycle oil, FCC slurry oil, light/heavy gas oil and coker gas oil fractions. The patent will remain in effect for 20 years with the possibility of an additional five-year extension.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Russia has 41 oil refineries with a total crude oil processing capacity of 5.4 million bbl/d, and produces significant amounts of heavy fuel oil, middle distillates, and gasoline. Roughly 20.5% of Russia’s total diesel output is exported. However, their refineries need to modernize in order to meet Europe’s growing demand for low sulfur fuels.

Dr. Mazin Samman, lead PETRO AVEC licensing negotiator for Russia, stated, “Russian oil companies are prime licensing

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Axial Vector Energy Corp. (AVEC) focuses on the international engine and global energy markets by providing technology solutions for military, industrial and commercial applications. The company earlier this month announced that Muse Stancil will execute an independent review for AVEC’s Oxidating Desulphurization and Heavy Crude Oil Upgrading technology, which the company acquired through its joint venture (PETRO AVEC) with Petrosonics LLC.

Muse Stancil is a global consulting firm, focused on the energy industry, offering solutions for a variety of issues. Per its agreement with AVEC, Muse Stancil will evaluate the technology to determine the most effective commercialization strategy, as well as coordinate a plan to maximize the commercial development and deployment of the technology.

“Muse Stancil is the number one source of validated information to the refinery industry and we look forward to their global assistance in rapid deployment of PETRO AVEC technology,”

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Axial Vector Energy Corporation announced this morning that its PETRO AVEC Joint Venture partner, Petrosonics LLC, was recently awarded a Russian patent that protects the process by which sulfur and nitrogen bearing compounds are removed from diesel oil, FCC cycle oil, FCC slurry oil, light gas oil, heavy gas oil and coker gas oil fractions, utilizing sonic energy and oxidation. According to the press release, the patent will remain in effect for two decades with the possibility of a five year extension.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Russia has 41 oil refineries with a total crude oil processing capacity of 5.4 million bbl/d. Russian refineries produce approximately 1.2 million bbl/d of Mazut (heavy fuel oil), 1.3 million bbl/d of middle distillates, and 815,000 bbl/d of gasoline, but require modernization to meet Europe’s growing demand for low sulfur fuels.

Dr. Mazin Samman, lead

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I will be presenting my latest research paper, Causes and Consequences of the Oil Shock of 2007-08, at a conference today at the Brookings Institution. Here I review some results from that paper about what caused oil prices to rise so spectacularly in 2007-08 only to decline even more dramatically afterward.

World real GDP increased by 9.4% between 2003 and 2005. That growth in world income was the primary cause behind an increase in world petroleum consumption of 5 million barrels per day between 2003 and 2005, a 6% increase over the two years. The next two years (2006 and 2007) saw even faster economic growth (10.1% cumulative two-year growth), with Chinese oil consumption alone increasing 870,000 barrels per day. Yet between 2005 and 2007, global oil production stagnated.

Thin line. Monthly global crude oil production, including lease condensate, natural gas plant ...