Brent crude oil for February delivery gained nearly $1 to settle above $62/bbl on the London market Dec. 7. The benchmark continued gaining on Dec. 8. Analysts credited both Brent and US benchmark oil price support to the release of official Chinese data that showed crude imports rose in November to more than 9 million […]

Tosoh Corp., Tokyo, has let a contract to Toyo Engineering Corp. (TEC) to build a naphtha-cracking furnace for an expansion of ethylene production at its Yokkaichi complex in Mie Prefecture, Japan.  Source: News

Bill Barrett Corp., Denver, and Fifth Creek Energy Co. LLC, Denver, have agreed to merge in a deal valued at $649 million creating an oil- and natural gas liquids-weighted firm with a combined 151,100 net acres focused on rural areas in the Denver-Julesburg basin. The deal includes shares plus the assumption of as much as […]

The State of Alaska received a record $121 million in winning bids as 143 companies and investors sought leases in its annual North Slope lease sale on Dec. 6. The US Bureau of Land Management offered 900 tracts covering a record 16,100 sq miles within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska the same day and received 7 […]

US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator E. Scott Pruitt told a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee that EPA is moving forward on refocusing the agency on its core mission: restoring power to states through cooperative federalism and improving policy processes while adhering to the rule of law. Source: News