Industry Developments

Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil has said that it has shut down 50 wells at its Gullfaks field in response to safety concerns.

Once again, severe winter weather conditions have been a mixed blessing for the oil markets. Sentiment benefited, as did the price of heating oil, as businesses and consumers struggled... 2011-01-26

Investment in the British North Sea could increase to as much as GBP7.7bn (US$12.3bn) in 2011, according to oil and gas consultants Wood Mackenzie.

Italy's downstream industry body, the Unione Petrolifera (UP), has warned Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that up to 20% of the country's refining capacity is at risk of closure.

Anglo-Dutch major Royal Dutch Shell has announced that it intends to close its Harburg refinery in northern Germany following a fruitless two-year search for a buyer.

Chinese state-owned oil company PetroChina has agreed to take stakes in the two refineries belonging to British chemicals group Ineos.

A British parliamentary select committee has issued a report on offshore drilling, commissioned after the Macondo oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Brazilian national oil company (NOC) Petrobras has said that it is in talks with Eni over buying the Italian company's stake in Portuguese NOC Galp Energia.

Cypriot negotiators have reached a consensus on a recommendation to the country's Council of Ministers for a supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the island, industry minister... 2011-01-04

More signs of Belarus's shift towards Europe and away from Russia, and changes in its security strategy, became evident in a speech by Belarusian President Alekssandr Lukashenko in... 2010-12-24