Peak oil, prices, and supplies – Sept 2

September 2, 2009

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Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage


BP hails ‘giant’ oil find

Holly Williams, The Independent
BP was given a shares boost today after the group announced a “giant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.

The find was made at BP’s Tiber well, which was drilled to a depth of more than 35,000 feet – making it one of the deepest wells ever drilled in the oil and gas industry, according to the firm.

It is now looking to verify the size and potential of the oil discovery, made around 250 miles south-east of Houston, Texas.

BP shares raced 4 per cent ahead at one stage, making it one of the day’s biggest risers in a difficult session for the FTSE 100 Index…
(2 Sept 2009)


Giant Indian oil field comes on stream

Penny Macrae, Yahoo news
Britain’s Cairn Energy on Saturday began pumping crude from a vast oilfield in the Indian desert state of Rajasthan that is set to increase the country’s crude output by 20 percent.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a ceremony inaugurating the field that Cairn’s success showed global investors that “India has a good climate for foreign investment.”

“I invite investors from around the world to come and invest in India,” he said from the western Thar Desert, site of the Cairn development.
“The government will give all its support,” he promised.

Cairn’s field, the country’s largest onland field and the biggest find in over two decades, will increase India’s oil output by 20 percent once it hits its initial peak production target of 175,000 barrels a day in 2011…
(29 August 2009)


Canada’s Oil Sands – Part 2

Gail the Actuary, The Oil Drum
This is a follow-up to Part 1, which tells about my recent trip to Canada’s oil sands, on a trip sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute (API).

In Part 2 of this post, I provide some additional thoughts to help the reader come to his / her own conclusions about the future of the oil sands. I talk a little about how Canada’s oil sands production fits in with its other sources of supply, and how this in turn relates to Canada’s exports. I also look a little at some political issues and how these fit in with environmental issues. A closely related post is this recent post.

How much will oil sands production expand in the future?

There is no doubt that there is a huge amount of resource in place – between 1.7 and 2.5 trillion barrels, according to the Oil Sands Discovery Centre’s Oil Sands Story. Of this, 173 billion barrels (about 10%) is considered producible with current technology at 2006 prices ($66 barrel for WTI). Production to date has been relatively low, though–only 1.2 million barrels a day in 2008, according to Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP)…
(1 Sept 2009)


Tags: Consumption & Demand, Deepwater Oil, Fossil Fuels, Industry, Oil, Tar Sands