Energy Intelligence

Opec Is Cutting But Targets Are Still Fuzzy
Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (Monday, January 5, 2009)
With the oil price below $40 per barrel and their backs against the wall, Opec producers are looking serious about curbing output to prevent oil stocks from building further amid falling demand. A number of Opec members last week announced additional exports cuts to make good on their promise to drastically rein in output. The real effects on the oil market will take time to show up, but for the moment confusion remains over the individual output targets countries are actually complying with.

Oil Markets Braced For A Choppy 2009
Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (Monday, January 5, 2009)
Oil prices took the world by surprise in 2008, both through the speed with which they rose and the speed with which they fell. A flood of investment capital, a weak US dollar, and the economic strength of China and other non-OECD countries conspired to drive benchmark Nymex crude futures to one record after another, with the market reaching a peak of above $147 per barrel in early July. But the fall in oil prices was, if anything, even more dramatic than the rise.

Brazil Will Use Wealth Fund to Boost Economy
Oil Daily (Friday, January 2, 2009)
Brazil's Congress has approved legislation to create a sovereign wealth fund that could eventually use revenues from the country's vast subsalt oil reserves to fund investments abroad.

Middle East: Hard Choices
Energy Compass (Friday, January 2, 2009)
If the Bush era was one of no accommodation, the possibilities for the Middle East under a new US administration led by Barack Obama at first seemed endless. But Israel's aerial bombardment of Gaza, launched on Dec. 27, has demonstrated, yet again, the spoiler effect of a failed peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. The attacks will harden anti-Israel and anti-US rhetoric and militancy in the region, and make life difficult for Western-friendly governments like Egypt.

Russia: Social Challenge
Energy Compass (Friday, January 2, 2009)
The coming year will present a period of serious challenge for the St. Petersburg team led by Vladimir Putin, which rose to power in Russia nine years ago and consolidated its rule at a time of rising oil prices. As strains mount and tensions emerge, the Kremlin is expected to focus its attention on maintaining social control.

Russian-Ukraine Gas Talks End in Failure
International Oil Daily (Friday, January 2, 2009)
Russia looked set to stop supplying Ukraine with gas on Thursday after talks aimed at resolving a dispute over unpaid gas bills and transit terms ended in failure late Wednesday. The failure could lead to a repeat of the gas shortages that hit some European countries at the start of 2006.

Industry Tempers Support for New SEC Rules
Oil Daily (Wednesday, December 31, 2008)
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week unanimously approved revisions to the standards that oil and gas companies use to book reserves. However, industry advocacy groups are now voicing concerns about some of the changes they had previously lauded.

HORIZON: GDF Suez's Jean-Luc Colonna Tours The Global LNG Horizon
World Gas Intelligence (Wednesday, December 31, 2008)
Jean-Luc Colonna, senior vice president of LNG at GDF Suez, recently discussed with WGI his views on the likely short- and longer-term trajectory for LNG markets and his company's strategy for getting ahead in an uncertain environment. He sees long-term prices in Europe probably remaining linked to oil. He would like a bigger LNG role for GDF Suez in Asia. And he is mapping out a potential upstream LNG project in Cameroon.