TOP NEWS PICK : APRIL 27, 2011

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‘No such thing’ as global market rate for natural gas'

“There’s no such thing as a global natural gas price,” said Prof. Brenda Shaffer, an expert on energy policy and management at the University of Haifa. “It’s not like oil – that’s an integrated global price.” | Jerusalem Post

Cruise operator sues over Macondo

Cruise operator Carnival has filed a lawsuit against supermajor BP and other companies seeking damages resulting from the Macondo spill, the biggest in US history. | Upstream Online

Obama urges oil producers to increase output

President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged world oil producers to lift crude output, as he sought to deflect public anger over high gasoline prices that has hurt his popularity among voters. | Reuters

BP profits dip on Gulf of Mexico clean up costs

Profits at oil giant BP have fallen as the costs of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blast continue to affect the firm. | BBC

France set to miss green energy goal

France will miss its 2020 renewable energy target by over a third unless it cuts red tape and raises support to a sector that lags its European neighbors, a renewable energy sector group said on Tuesday. | Reuters

Public Lacks Skills To Analyze Oil Contracts.

Government will find it challenging in meeting the demands of civil society about transparency and accountability in the oil sector due to the lack of necessary skills by the public to understand and analyze oil contracts. | PeaceFM Online

Thai carbon footprint protocol due soon

Publicly-owned Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation (TGGMO), which overseas the trading of carbon credits, is preparing guidelines for organisational carbon footprints to be ready in September. | IFANDP

TNK-BP investor Viktor Vekselberg 'still upset' with BP

One of the Russian investors in the TNK-BP joint venture has told the BBC he is still upset with BP.| Youroilandgasnews

Libyan army build-up outside Brega

The Libyan army has reinforced its positions around the strategic eastern oil town of Brega and dug in its long-range missile batteries to conceal them from attacks by Nato warplanes, a rebel army officer said on Tuesday. | Upstream Online

Crude oil holds near $112

NEW YORK, April 26 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices held close to $112 per barrel in New York Tuesday after Ford Motor Co. said it made a $2.6 billion profit in the first quarter. | UPI.com

Oil price Viagra is losing its effect on Big Oil

NEW YORK/MADRID — Rising crude prices are like Viagra for Big Oil. First-quarter earnings, due next week for U.S. majors, are set to display the glow. But even the stocks that should be most sensitive to prices — like Chevron and Hess — no longer seem to be tracking higher. | Reuters

White House points to oil prices to renew effort to pull tax credits
A senior White House economic adviser Tuesday provided more detail on a renewed effort by President Barack Obama to rescind about $43 billion in tax subsidies to the oil and gas industry over a decade. | Platts

E.ON Ranks as Europe’s Top Greenhouse-Gas Emitter, According to Survey

E.ON AG (EOAN), Germany’s largest utility, is the biggest source of greenhouse gases among companies based in Europe, according to a survey by the Environmental Investment Organization, a British research and lobbying group. | Bloomberg