TPT January 2008

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Oil & Gas News
81 January 2008 ›
Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. ONGC Chairman and Managing
Director RS Sharma told reporters, “We are in the last stage
of sensitivity studies and a decision on the project will be
taken by end-November.”
■ Global energy giant BP on October 26 agreed to pay $373
million to settle criminal and civil charges that it overcharged
US propane consumers and ignored warnings before an oil
spill in Alaska and an explosion at a BP refinery in Texas City,
Texas, in 2005 that killed 15 contract employees and injured
more than 170. The charges against London-based BP, which
is Europe’s second-largest energy company, and its US-
based subsidiaries were pursued in at least three separate
cases over several years. Robert A Malone, chairman and
president of BP America, said in a written statement: “These
agreements are an admission that, in these instances,
our operations failed to meet our own standards and the
requirements of the law. For that, we apologize.”
■ Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or
Petrobras, plans to boost its output in Argentina by 30 per
cent through the recovery of mature oil fields, according to
a company magazine received by Dow Jones Newswires on
October 30. Petrobras wants to increase its yield from 14
Argentine blocks to 136,000 barrels per day from the current
104,000bpd, the internal source said. No timeframe for the
planned output increase was provided. Bernd Radowitz
of Dow Jones wrote that, in its 2008-2012 business plan,
Petrobras had earmarked $2.8 billion for investment in
Argentina, making that neighbour the company’s second-
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largest destination for out-of-country investments after the
US, where it plans to spend $4.9 billion over the five-year
period.
■ Companies that lease tracts in the Gulf of Mexico in an oil
and natural gas sale planned for March will pay higher
federal royalties (18.75 per cent, up from 16.7 per cent),
the US Minerals Management Service said on October 30.
The leases will also stipulate rental rates of $6.25 an acre
for tracts in water depths up to 200m, and $9.50 an acre
for tracts in deeper waters, the service said. Some of the
blocks being leased were made available under a 2006 law
that allows drilling in the eastern Gulf. Under its provisions,
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas will share in
revenue from all leases resulting from the first sale to offer
these blocks since 1988.
■ The US oilfield services company Schlumberger Ltd said that
its third-quarter 2007 profit rose 35 per cent as strong demand
in Latin America, Russia, and Asia offset weakness in the
Gulf of Mexico and other domestic markets. Schlumberger
(Houston, Texas) on October 19 reported a profit of $1.35
billion, compared with a year-earlier profit of $999.8 million.
The company said global demand for oil remained strong
even as production by non-OPEC countries continued to
disappoint. Chairman and chief executive Andrew Gould said
in a statement, “Production decline rates in mature areas
and continuing project delays will inhibit non-OPEC supply
increases, while personnel and equipment shortages will
restrict the industry’s ability to respond.”