By Alejandro Lazo
Washington Post Staff Writer

Energy companies have recorded whopping profits as the price of oil has surged over the past year. But while shares of those firms have traditionally tracked oil prices, they haven’t kept pace this time around.

The cost of one barrel of oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange, for example, has doubled in a little over a year, rising from $50 in January 2007 to $101.84 last week. Yet the S&P Energy Index, which tracks the stocks of major energy companies, has risen only about 26 percent over the same period.

The reason, analysts said, is that oil prices have been driven to record highs by more than just demand for the product.
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The president of Opec has predicted that the price of oil could stay as high as $110 a barrel for the rest of the year, spurred by investors seeking to hedge themselves against the weakening US dollar.

Chakib Khelil, the president of the global oil cartel, who is also the Algerian Energy Minister, said: “There are big pressures on Opec and some consuming nations would like to present Opec as being behind current high prices.

“But the truth is that the current prices are linked to US economic problems as well as to the value of the dollar.”

His comments came after Dick Cheney, the Vice-President of the United States, met Saudi leaders in Riyadh to discuss soaring oil prices. Mr Cheney has urged Saudi Arabia to boost production in an attempt to ease the price of oil. Read more

Subsea engineering company MCS, in partnership with Fugro launched a new range of on-board riser management tools that provide the offshore drilling industry with enhanced safety and substantial costs savings at the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) conference in Rio de Janeiro, and simultaneously at Oceanology International on 12th March 2008. Optima is a software platform that assists operators and drilling contractors to plan and monitor operations with drilling or completion/workover risers.

Combining MCS’ advanced riser analysis techniques and Fugro’s offshore monitoring experience, Optima provides an integrated approach to help overcome the challenges of drilling in deepwater, high currents, and other environments posing significant risks to operations.

Patrick Scully, General Manager of MCS’ software division, says: “This launch represents a significant development in the evolution of real-time support tools for the offshore drilling industry. Together with Fugro, we have created a comprehensive package which addresses Read more

The Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission are proposing some rule changes for the energy industry. Those potential changes have some concerned.

Supporters of the regulation changes say they want to do more to protect Colorado’s infrastructure and natural resources.

But, at a meeting Thursday at Two Rivers Convention Center, members of the energy industry said they think the rules are flawed. They fear plans to make the drilling permit process more complicated could lead to lost tax revenue and cause delays in production.

“It’s been speculated that the new permitting process could take up to 9 months. So, what that will do is delay drilling and completing wells in the state of Colorado for up to that nine month period. Which will in turn force the energy industry to basically just shut down.” Larry Kent of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association explained. Read more

An oil and gas industry advocate recently warned Grand Junction officials that increasing regulatory oversight of Colorado’s oil and gas industry could spark “a massive exodus” of companies out of the state.

However, industry insiders say that assertion probably does not hold true for most energy companies operating in Colorado, even as the state has reshaped its chief oil and gas regulatory body, worked to rewrite its regulations and considered increasing the state’s tax on minerals.

“We are not going to pull up stakes and leave. That’s not what we’re saying,” said Doug Hock, spokesman for EnCana in Colorado.

“We’re not going to pull out of Colorado,” said Jay Still, executive vice president with Pioneer Natural Resource operates primarily in southern Colorado.
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Oil refiners Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell both announced at the start of the weekend an increase in the price of their gasoline, diesel and kerosene products by P0.50 per liter.

Prior to the oil firms’ price hike, gasoline prices were averaging at about P 44.96 per liter, while diesel was averaging at P 37.94 per liter.

Other oil companies have yet to make similar announcements as of press time, but are expected to follow suit.

Bobby Kanapi, Shell spokes­person, said in a text message that the price hike, the third imple­mented by oil companies for the month, was brought about by a “significant increase in world oil prices.”
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The Asian prospects weighed down by oil, food prices, weak US. Runaway oil prices, rocketing food costs and a feeble US economy will hurt Asia-Pacific economic growth prospects this year and create social problems especially among the poor, analysts said.

Oil touched unchartered territory at $111.00 a barrel last week, and analysts said they expect prices to boil further.

The recent oil price rise, a slowing US economy, global financial market turmoil and escalating inflation make for a powerful combination that could hobble export-oriented Asia’s economic growth in 2008, economists said.

Compared with the oil shocks in the 1970s and 1980s, the current price rise comes against the backdrop of a sharp slowdown in the United States, noted Cyn-Young Park, an economist with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila. Read more