News and Analysis

Analysis

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  Shale fuelling a looming energy credit crunch

  The financial woes of the US’ largest unconventional gas players could not only destabilise the energy sector, they pose a threat to the wider economy, argues Dr Ruud Weijermars*
  
  
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  BHP shifts to liquids to bolster flagging US shale income

  Faced with uncertain income from its newly acquired US shale gas assets, due to low gas prices, BHP Billiton is hurriedly refocusing efforts on shale liquids plays, which it hopes will prove more profitable, writes Damon Evans
  
  
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  Don’t believe the hype?

  Excitement over Australia’s shale-gas prospects has allowed juniors operating in the emerging sector to make big gains last year. But whether the perceived opportunities deliver anything more than inflated stock prices remains to be seen, writes Damon Evans
  
  
• China readies second shale licensing round

  
  
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  USGS 'debunks' fracking quake link

  
  
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  YPF faces fresh Argentina assault

  Renationalisation rumours cloud news of fresh Vaca Muerta find
  
  
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  Global fracking standards eyed to win over sceptical public

  
  
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  Swift action on CBM needed to avoid NSW gas supply crisis

  
  
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  Alberta election to redefine Canada’s oil ambitions

  
  
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  Green Dragon rides China CBM wave

  Independent cracks Chinese coal-bed methane challenge
  
  
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  Shell takes a stake in China shale

  
  
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  Queensland election rout may change game for CBM sector

  
  
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  BP stakes claim in ‘red-hot’ Utica

  
  
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  Canol Shales emerge in Canada’s North

  Juniors target new unconventional play in Mackenzie Valley
  
  
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  US takes a fresh look at Keystone XL

  Energy security is emerging as one of the key issues ahead of the November presidential election in the US. And as the country thinks about oil, it seems that there is a second chance for the Keystone XL pipeline, writes Shaun Polczer
  
  
• Ukraine targets shale-gas production within decade

  
  
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  USGS report flags up Alaska’s shale potential

  Industry hopes rise as survey indicates state's unconventional reserves likely to be substantial
  
  
• China nears shale breakthrough

  
  
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  Chevron joins Vaca Muerta stampede

  US supermajor joins hunt for Argentine shale bounty
  
  
• India’s CBM producers in pricing spat with government

  
  
• India sector stuck in the slow lane

  
  
• Ukraine shale acreage on the block

  
  
• Madagascar Oil getting back on track

  
  
• Canada dodges EU oil-sands bullet

  Failure to agree FQD ban on Alberta crude a rare victory for producers
  
  
• Chevron lobbies Bulgaria to overturn frack ban

  
  
• Poland readying shale-gas tax overhaul

  
  
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  Santos foots repair bill after CBM spills

  
  
• China spending spree 'may slow down'

  
  
• Eagle Ford pushes EOG results higher

  
  
• Origin boosts APLNG reserves base

  
  
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  ExxonMobil voices caution on European shale

  
  
• US shale oil 'to transform crude markets'

  
  
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  North American players seek Asian lifeline

  Encana strikes unconventional gas deal with Japan’s Mitsubishi as market fundamentals spook shale-gas bulls
  
  
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  Mind the oil-sands price gap

  The glut of crude oil at the US’ Cushing hub and a strong Canadian dollar are putting an increasing strain on Alberta’s oil-sands producers
  
  
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  Canada’s LNG waters heating up

  Shell and PetroChina blaze shale-gas export path to Asia
  
  
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  Oil-sands monitoring beefed up

  The Alberta and federal governments are introducing a new environmental-monitoring progamme for the oil sands, but is it enough?
  
  
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  Keystone debate far from over

  TransCanada and US Republicans vow to fight on in the battle for the Keystone XL pipeline
  
  
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  Bearish gas market mauls shale bulls

  As North America’s gas-storage tanks near capacity and prices stay low, the continent’s shale-gas sector is being forced to reassess. Is the boom over, or is the market forcing a much-needed correction?
  
  
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  Obama hitches ride on shale bandwagon

  The US president placed unconventionals firmly at the centre of his ‘made in America’ energy policy – but will he back up his words with action?
  
  
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  Boom-and-bust threatens unconventional plays

  It may be the American way, but the Bakken oil-drillers’ boom-and-bust mentality is no way to run an industry
  
  
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  Bakken oil tanks full to the brim

  North Dakota's oil patch is booming. But surging oil and gas output has strained off-take capacity to breaking point
  
  
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  US delivers Keystone XL death blow

  The US’ rejection of the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline could prove a turning point in political and trade relations with Canada
  
  
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  Northern Gateway hearings heat up

  Plans to diversify Canada’s oil-export options with a pipeline to the BC coast face scrutiny from aboriginal groups and environmental protestors. Fortunately for the developers, they seem to be listening
  
  
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  Cooper shale gas’s competitive advantage

  Despite concerns about gas demand, international players are taking closer look at Australia’s Cooper-basin shale play
  
  
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  US shale drillers laughing to the bank

  Two huge deals, amounting to over $5 billion, show the US shale-gas revolution is not over yet
  
  
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  2012: the year of the oil sands

  With lingering fallout over Canada’s Kyoto rejection and rising confrontation with the oil sands’ legions of opponents, 2012 will be the country’s year of living dangerously