Baker Hughes Inc. never stopped counting oil rigs in North Dakota, but in 1998 the company removed the state from its list of those with major drilling activity. The list is widely disseminated by the media.
Baker Hughes at the time cited a lack of drilling in North Dakota. The company does not have figures for [...]

Venezuela’s state oil company wants to increase crude production by nearly 8 percent this year.
Petroleos de Venezuela SA says it hopes to produce more than 3.4 million barrels per day.
State oil company vice president Luis Vierma says the company is investing some $15 million this year — up 50 percent from 2007.
Vierma says that Venezuela [...]

Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn Bhd, the state oil and gas company of Malaysia, withdrew its 80 percent participation from an exploration contract area in offshore Mindoro island.
PNOC Exploration Corp., a unit of state-owned Philippine National Oil Co., confirmed the decision of Petronas.
Petronas decided to transfer its entire interest in service contract 47 to PNOC [...]

European oil groups Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol YPF are under pressure from the United States to end talks with Iran about a multi-billion dollar natural gas deal, the Expansion newspaper reported Saturday.
It said that Russia’s Gazprom, Indian Oil Corporation and Chinese groups could be waiting to move in if British-Dutch group Shell and Spain’s [...]

Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA has decided to sign some oil contracts in euros in the face of a plummeting dollar, local media reported, citing officials.
“There are some contracts in euros, contracts for crude, products and spot markets in euros. This is a subject which we are working on,” said energy minister and Petroleos de [...]

Chile and Ecuador will join in exploring for oil in the Gulf of Guayaquil, visiting Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said Monday.
“We want to share the existing resources with friendly countries,” Correa told a joint press conference with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.
No details on the plan were immediately made public, but Chile’s Mining Ministry said in [...]

Brazil aims to build seven new oil refineries and quintuple its natural gas output over the next two decades, the head of the government’s energy studies agency said on Tuesday.
“It’s the first time Brazil has done an integrated planning study for energy resources,” said Mauricio Tolmasquim, the head of the agency, known by its acronym [...]

Oil giants ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. are set to withdraw from their joint venture projects in Venezuela’s Orinoco basin.
The two companies refused to sign deals Tuesday that would see the Venezuelan government taking majority stakes in their Orinoco projects.
Four other oil majors, U.S.-based Chevron Corp.; Britain’s BP Plc; France’s Total SA; and Norway’s Statoil [...]

Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA has started drilling after taking over operations of US oil major ConocoPhillips’ (NYSE:COP) Corocoro project, according to a PDVSA statement.
Conoco so far has not accepted government terms for continuing in PDVSA-dominated joint venture deals in the South American country.
PDVSA did not specify whether it was referring to Corocoro Este or [...]

Leaders of Guyana and Suriname are eager to tap their underwater oil reserves, but the drilling won’t begin until a world court draws a maritime border to settle their territorial disputes.
The drilling could dramatically change the fortunes of the two nations if predictions about the abundance of oil and natural gas deposits prove true.
Final [...]