TOP NEWS PICK : MAY 17, 2011

CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR FULL STORIES

Crude oil drops under $97 per barrel

NEW YORK, May 16 (UPI) -- Oil prices dropped under $97 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday as high gasoline prices looked poised to derail consumer demand. | UPI.com

INDIA: Shale Gas Auctions on Way

New Delhi: The government plans to auction shale gas blocks before the end of this year and has identified six regions holding the gas as it seeks to exploit unconventional fuel to help reduce the country’s energy shortfall. | The Telegraph

   

Nigeria and ExxonMobil in row over oil licence renewal

Nigeria's state oil company said today ExxonMobil has until Thursday to express its interest in three large oil-drilling licences that the US energy company says it has already been granted. | Upstream Online

Rosneft pulls out of Arctic joint venture with BP

ROSNEFT has pulled out of its strategic alliance with BP and will look for new partners in Arctic oil exploration, Interfax quoted a source close to the state-held company as saying today. | WSJ

 

Heritage in Uganda tax dispute

Heritage Oil is taking a tax dispute with the Ugandan government to an international arbitration court in London. | Upstream Online

Why BP's Russian deal collapsed - and how it might be rescued

I have at last got to the bottom of why Rosneft and the billionaires are unable to reach agreement by tonight's midnight deadline. | BBC

PetroCeltic wins Algeria job

Irish outfit PetroCeltic International has bagged another drilling contract with KCA Deutag in Algeria with its eyes set on a July drill date. | Upstream Online

Crude oil futures fall sharply on global demand concerns

Forex Pros - Crude oil futures fell sharply on Monday, declining for the first time in three days, as ongoing concerns over a slowdown in global oil demand weighed on prices. | NASDAQ

Word from the IEA: Oil demand falling, but world needs more supply

The International Energy Agency's latest monthly oil market report contained what may on the surface appear to be contradictory messages of falling oil demand but a need for additional supply. | Platts

US horizontal rigs drift past 1,000 mark on "shale sail"

There are all sorts of statistical goodies buried in the Baker Hughes weekly rig count. Here is one of them. | Platts

China May Boost Offshore Wind Power to 30GW

China will expand its offshore wind power installed capacity to 5 gigawatts (GW) by 2015 and 30GW by 2020, according to the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) on Monday in Beijing. | CRIENGLISH.COM

Ahmadinejad 'is new Opec head'

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been called many things over the years, but it seems the Iranian president can now term himself the new head of Opec.

 | Upstream Online

Oil Falls on Ebbing Concern the Mississippi to Flood Louisiana Refineries

Crude oil fell and gasoline slipped to a two-month low after the opening of spillways reduced concern that the Mississippi River will flood refineries.         | Bloomberg

Halliburton engineer will not testify

A Halliburton engineer who said he warned BP of the risk of a natural-gas surge before the Macondo well blew up has declined to testify in litigation over the incident, Transocean said today. | Upstream Online

Opcon Bioenergy secures €8.8 million deal to power historic town

Renewable energy group Opcon has entered into an €8.8 million ($12.4 million) contract with Swedish energy company Falbygden Energi to deliver a cogeneration plant that will power the town of Falköping. | Renewable Energy Magazine