Energy & Oil

• Sunday, April 1st 2012 - 07:58 UTC

  Oil leaks cast a shadow over the development of Brazil’s offshore huge reserves

  

  Brazilian authorities identified a small oil leak off the shores of Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, the latest in a series of spills that has raised safety concerns over the development of some of the world's largest petroleum reserves.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 17:04 UTC

  PetroChina replaces Exxon-Mobil as world’s largest publicly traded oil producer

  

  Beijing oil company PetroChina has become the world’s largest publicly-traded oil producer, surpassing Exxon Mobil Corp. in production last year, reported several international news agencies.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 07:31 UTC

  YPF announces discovery of huge unconventional shale oil deposits in Mendoza

  

  Argentina's biggest energy company YPF, has found unconventional shale oil and natural gas in Mendoza province, confirming the extension of the massive Vaca Muerta area, officials said on Thursday.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 07:05 UTC

  Brazil’s union files lawsuit against Chevron and Transocean over oil spill

  

  Brazil's largest oil workers union filed a lawsuit against US oil company Chevron and drilling firm Transocean that seeks to cancel their rights to operate in the country as the result of an offshore oil spill last November.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 06:58 UTC

  Nine companies submit 19 bids to explore for oil offshore Uruguay

  

  Nine oil and gas companies have submitted 19 bids to explore for hydrocarbons off the coast of Uruguay, the state energy company Ancap said on Thursday.

• Thursday, March 29th 2012 - 04:13 UTC

  It’s official now: Argentine oil and gas production continues to fall

  

  Argentina oil output during the month of January dropped 4.21% compared to a year ago while natural gas was down 0.11%, according to the latest official data from the Energy Secretary.

• Wednesday, March 28th 2012 - 00:36 UTC

  Argentina again warns Repsol-YPF as provinces terminate production concessions

  

  Amidst raising tensions between the Argentine government and Spain’s Repsol-YPF oil company, Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo warned on Tuesday that the administration led by President Cristina Fernández will take “all necessary measures to guarantee the country's energy self-supply”.

• Tuesday, March 27th 2012 - 11:34 UTC

  Peru ‘one step away’ from ensuring cheap gas supply for the domestic market

  

  President Ollanta Humala announced Peru was “one step away” from reaching a deal with the consortium developing Block 88 of the huge Camisea gas field. The deal would ensure cheap fuel for Peru, for the next 25 to 30 years, reported the official news agency Andina.

• Monday, March 26th 2012 - 09:23 UTC

  Relief for Dublin? Ireland on the verge of becoming significant producer of oil

  

  The euphoria around a small-to-medium oil discovery off the southwest coast of Ireland may be overblown but the country could yet become a significant producer if it can replicate the drilling success in much deeper waters to the west

• Monday, March 26th 2012 - 09:18 UTC

  BP given permission to drill controversial deep-water well west of Shetland

  

  Oil giant BP has been given consent to drill a controversial deep-water well west of Shetland. The North Uist well is about 125km to the north west of the islands, at a depth of nearly 1,300m. The UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it had thoroughly examined BP's environmental impact and emergency response plans.