Tools

BP plc has awarded the first contracts for Project 20K, a multi-year initiative to develop next-generation systems and tools to unlock the next frontier of deepwater oil and gas resources that currently are “beyond the reach of today’s technology.”

Operators have the tools today to tap into unconventional natural gas and oil reservoirs at a more efficient and more productive pace but the technologic advances have only scratched the rock’s surface, a Schlumberger Ltd. executive said earlier this month.

IHS Inc., a global provider of technical information, decision-support tools and strategic services, said last week it had agreed to pay $48 million cash for John S. Herold Inc., a Norwalk, CT-based independent research firm founded in 1948 that provides analyses and financial and operational data on more than 400 global oil and gas companies.

IHS Inc., a global provider of technical information, decision-support tools and strategic services, Thursday said it had agreed to pay $48 million cash for John S. Herold Inc., a Norwalk, CT-based independent research firm founded in 1948 that provides analyses and financial and operational data on more than 400 global oil and gas companies.

While more natural gas utilities used hedging tools to shield their customers from high prices last winter, an increased number said they also are investing in physical gas, using storage to meet peak-demand and looking to add more underground storage capacity in the future, according to a report released by the American Gas Association (AGA) Thursday.

If Hurricane Rita significantly disrupts domestic natural gas production off the coast of Texas, the Bush administration and Congress have a number of tools at their disposal to help the energy markets and their customers recover, said energy analyst Christine Tezak. Rita, which has been upgraded to a Category Five hurricane, is poised to severely hobble oil and natural gas production in the Western Gulf of Mexico, coming just three weeks after Hurricane Katrina disrupted activity offshore and onshore Louisiana.

Looking to put together the tools, expertise and framework necessary to develop and deploy the first fleet of advanced nuclear power plants in America in nearly three decades, Baltimore, MD-based Constellation Energy and Bethesda, MD-based AREVA Inc. said last week that they have formed UniStar Nuclear as a joint enterprise to be located in Annapolis, MD.

Urging market participants to move beyond the traditional risk management tools when trading natural gas futures, Tom Saal, of Commercial Brokerage Corp., said Wednesday that it is important to develop new techniques for identifying price trends and market timing. One pretty good way of identifying a “buy” signal recently has been simply observing how short the funds, or noncommercial traders, are.

The significant need for risk management tools in the energy market because of credit concerns and the loss of so many energy merchants and proprietary trading platforms has led to the apparent success of the New York Mercantile Exchange’s ClearPort trading and clearing system. In its first year of operation, the system has cleared three million off-exchange energy futures contracts, Nymex said on Thursday.