Naftogaz Ukrainy has apparently released a statement admitting that a 'dire economic situation' means that the company is struggling to pay its October gas bill.  The Moscow Times reports however that Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Prodan has assured Russia that it will pay its $470 million bill on time - although there are hints that it will have to borrow the money - possibly from Moscow.  According to Reuters, the new gas deal between Polish and Russian companies will be approved within weeks.  Total and Statoil have both recorded a steep decline in third-quarter profits.  Lukoil will expand its trading business in the Asian zone, especially in naphtha and fuel oil, in the first six months of 2010.  A factbox on the buying and selling of European refineries here.  Gazprom has apparently made a ...

Norway-based Integrated StatoilHydro ASA (STO) intends to start production at the Peregrino heavy-oilfield in Brazil in early 2011. The company will start drilling wells in the first half of 2010 for this purpose.  The field is situated 85 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state near Cabo Frio and has an estimated 460 million barrels of recoverable oil. The company expects peak production to reach 100,000 barrels per day in 2012.  Until 1997, foreign companies were barred from the oil blocks of Brazil. Now the scenario has changed and many international integrateds are increasing production at their Brazilian blocks. This includes Chevron (CVX), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and ExxonMobil (XOM).  Given the maturity of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) region, where StatoilHydro has significant upstream focus, the company is looking for development of various international assets. The production from the ...

Integrated oil and gas major StatoilHydro ASA (STO) recently discovered a new oil and gas location in the Nona prospect, 10 kilometers south east of the Asgard field in the Norwegian Sea.

The well 6407/2-5S was drilled to a depth of 3,289 meters below sea level. Based on preliminary calculations, the size of the find is between 13 and 31 million barrels of oil and 1–2 billion standard cubic meters of gas. Management is optimistic about the discovery and affirms the possibility of other new finds in this area.

Despite maturity of the Norwegian Continental Shelf region, the Norway-based company is well positioned to sustain its production from this area at current levels for the next few years. Internationally, Statoil plans to continue a high level of exploration activity to develop the company's resource base.

Our Outperform rating on StatoilHydro reflects its growing upstream presence in the emerging

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After drilling an appraisal well in the northeastern segment of the Smorbukk deposit (part of the Asgard field in the Norwegian Sea), StatoilHydro (STO) has confirmed the existence of oil, gas and condensate.

The result is encouraging, and development in association with the Asgard B platform will be considered. The company said that production may start in three to four years. The proven resources are estimated to be between 15 and 25 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

The Asgard field development includes 58 production and injection wells divided on 16 subsea templates. Two vessels and one platform are located on the field. Discovered in 1984, the Smorbukk field has been on stream since 1999.

As of year-end 2008, StatoilHydro had approximately 5.58 billion oil-equivalent barrels in proved reserves. It is the operator of 39 producing oil and gas fields, and accounts for 60% of all Norwegian petroleum production. Due to

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Recently, Norway-based energy firm StatoilHydro ASA (STO) gained a permit from the country’s top petroleum resources regulatory agency, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), to drill wellbore 25/2-17 in production license 442. The company plans to drill "wildcat" wells (those drilled in an area where no current oil or gas production exists) on the license using semi-submersible facility Ocean Vanguard. StatoilHydro has a 40% operated interest in production license 442, which was awarded in June 2007. Well 25/2-17 is located about 20 kilometers east of the company’s Frigg field in the central part of the North Sea and is the first well to be drilled on the production license. We believe that the 25/2-17 well, if successful and rendered economically feasible, will further consolidate StatoilHydro’s leading position in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). The company’s current production from NCS is expected to decrease somewhat in the short ...

When I'm abroad, I often get asked who of the leaders of the Russian opposition I think stands out in some way. Usually I name Boris Nemtsov, Garry Kasparov, and Vladimir Ryzhkov. In doing so I always reiterate that I am not a political scientist, not a specialist, not an expert, and god knows not some kind of maven on the subject of Russian political reality... My opinion, it is absolutely subjective, as such I'll explain some of my perspectives before getting into this interview, so the reader knows what they are getting.

Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда.

Personal impressions play a role: I am acquainted with Vladimir

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Leave it to the government. It’s proposing a “tax and cap” regime for energy producers which will require fossil-fuel generating plants to pay extra.  The idea is to encourage clean fuels and discourage dirty ones. That’s fine in theory. But instead of helping our future energy situation, it’s going to make it a lot worse.The price of oil has already doubled in the past six months to over $60 per barrel. But it’s just the beginning of oil’s next gigantic price surge. If you thought that oil was ridiculously expensive last summer, you haven’t seen anything yet.

It doesn’t matter whether you believe in “Peak Oil” because this isn’t about Peak Oil coming to fruition. Peak Oil believes that oil discoveries have peaked leading to oil production’s inevitable decline.

This crisis will be strictly man-made. Governments and oil companies have already planted the seeds of the next great energy crisis. And there’s

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StatoilHydro ASA (STO) is a Norway-based major international integrated oil and gas company. The company emerged in its present shape following the acquisition of Norsk Hydro's (NHY) oil and gas business, which was completed on October 1, 2007.We are maintaining our Hold recommendation on StatoilHydro ADRs following the company's weak first quarter results, reflecting weak oil prices, higher taxes and unfavorable currency movements. We continue to believe that the positives in the Statoil story -- strong finances and a relatively improved asset base following the Norsk Hydro acquisition -- are more than offset by its substantial exposure to the mature and high-cost Norwegian Continental Shelf basin, particularly in the current tentative commodity-price environment.There is no dearth of attractive investment opportunities in the integrated space, and we would prefer to stick with the super-majors -- Exxon (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) -- for ...

Wal-Mart (

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The market for green indexes and green investments continues to expand, day by day, week by week.

 

NASDAQ OMX Group has created the second benchmark index in its Scandinavian OMX GES Sustainability family, the Nordic Sustainability Index.

Norway already has a high profile in sustainability. Two of its largest companies—water services firm Hydro, the largest publicly traded company in Norway; and oil & gas company Statoil—constantly come up as leaders across global sustainability measures and in global sustainability indexes.

In addition to these well-known Nordic companies, the new NASDAQ benchmark index covers the 50 top Nordic-listed companies in terms of sustainability, using international guidelines for environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

The market for green indexes and green investments continues to expand, day by day, week by week. This week, the Canadian exchange-traded fund market will see its first sustainability-focused ETF launch (see story here.)

On the index

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