Marathon Oil Corporation announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Centrica plc, the parent company of British Gas, under which Centrica will purchase Marathon’s non-operated interests in the Heimdal infrastructure, related producing fields and associated undeveloped acreage offshore Norway. The transaction, which has a total value of $416 million and an [...]

ConocoPhillips says its global production fell as expected in the second quarter because of planned maintenance, but it benefited from higher oil and natural gas prices.
In an overview of market conditions for the April-June period, ConocoPhillips also said its worldwide refining margins in the second quarter probably improved from the first quarter. But the company [...]

Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, and ConocoPhillips approved continued funding for development of a refinery in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea.
The project will create a 400,000 barrel-per-day refinery to process Arabian heavy crude. Startup is set for 2013. Both companies will be responsible for marketing one-half of the refinery’s production.
Initial evaluation [...]

Canada’s oil and gas giant EnCana has announced that it is splitting in two separate entities: a natural gas company and “a fully integrated oil company.”
EnCana said on Sunday that one company, tentatively called IntegratedOilCo (IOCo), will focus on the development of EnCana’s Canadian oilsands assets and natural gas and oil production base in Alberta [...]

Several major oil companies agreed to a multimillion dollar deal to settle lawsuits surrounding their use of the gasoline additive MTBE, a potential carcinogen that has been found in drinking water.
Companies including BP PLC’s BP America Inc., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s Shell Oil Co., Marathon Oil Corp. and Valero Energy Corp. agreed [...]

French oil company Total SA, the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas company, said its first-quarter profit rose 18 percent thanks to higher commodity prices.
Excluding an after-tax inventory effect, adjusted net income increased 9 percent to 3.25 billion euros ($4.87 billion). The company’s exploration and production business accounted for 85 percent of overall operating profit.
The results [...]

The world of oil and gas pipelines has long seen its share of hopes and letdowns, and prospects to get Alaska’s massive gas reserves to market are on their way up. ConocoPhillips and BP announced last week they would bid on the pipeline, and perhaps Exxon Mobil would join it, The New York Times reports.
Alaska [...]

Once again, local oil and natural gas producers are left wondering as details of a decision on drilling regulations remain cloudy.
New Mexico’s three-member Oil Conservation Commission discussed the merits of more stringent drilling regulations in Santa Fe from Saturday through Friday. They worked their way through the 17-page rule that applies to the proposal, but [...]

San Juan County residents who are curious about how oil and natural gas are produced can attend a class at San Juan College’s School of Energy.
The class, “The Oil and Gas Industry: An Introduction Story,” will explain the process in easily understood language.
“I start with geology and end up with capping the well,” said course [...]

Venezuela moved closer to nationalizing its oil-rich Orinoco River basin, after four foreign oil companies signed deals giving Venezuela the lion’s share of the profits and two US companies pulled out altogether.
“ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are ending their participation in the exploration ventures,” Oil and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Tuesday at the signing ceremony with [...]