Crude oil prices dropped slightly on both the New York and London markets on May 31. Analysts and other market observers attributed a lull in market news to the June 2 meeting in Vienna of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Source: News

Hydraulic fracturing remains stymied in two of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. New Brunswick has extended indefinitely a moratorium on the completion technique imposed in 2014. And an independent panel appointed that year to assess hydraulic fracturing in Newfoundland and Labrador has refused to endorse the method.  Source: News

Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd., Perth, has acquired 100% of Timor Sea permit WA-523-P, which borders the western edge of the Joint Petroleum Development Area between Australia and Timor Leste and contains the small abandoned Buffalo oil field. Source: News

Ninety percent of Colorado’s surface acreage would be off-limits to future oil and gas development or hydraulic fracturing under a November ballot initiative that would establish a minimum 2,500 ft mandatory setback from any “occupied structure” or “area of special concern,” the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation said in a May 27 report. Source: […]

Timothy J. Cutt has been named chief executive officer and Class 1 member of the board of directors of Cobalt International Energy Inc., Houston, effective July 2. Until last March, he was president, petroleum, of BHP Billiton. Source: News

Crude oil prices settled below $50/bbl on May 27 after having briefly crossed that threshold on May 26 before ending the day down slightly. For the week, crude prices on the New York market gained. Source: News

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded 10 licenses consisting of 40 blocks on the Norwegian continental shelf. Three of the licenses are in the Barents Sea southeast, outside Finnmark county. In all, 13 firms are offered participating interest. Source: News

Volatile oil and natural gas prices have accelerated planning by energy executives to change their business models, KPMG Global Energy Institute said May 24 with the release of annual survey results of US senior energy executives. Source: News

Just 12 billion boe of estimated recoverable resources were discovered from conventional wells outside of North America in 2015, representing the lowest level since 1952, according to IHS analysis. Source: News

Simply because a problem has become somewhat less urgent doesn’t mean it’s no longer a problem. Volumes and shipments of crude oil and products by rail in the US may have fallen from their peaks in the last year or so, but it still matters how well states and communities can respond when there are […]