Uncertainties

ConocoPhillips on Wednesday put on hold plans to explore Alaska’s Chukchi Sea in 2014, “given the uncertainties of evolving federal regulatory requirements and operational permitting standards.”

Riding high on record profits and continuing efficiencies, the contract drilling sector nevertheless faces uncertainties during the first half of next year that require patience and flexibility, said the CEO of Tulsa-based Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP).

Riding high on record profits and continuing efficiencies, the contract drilling sector nevertheless faces uncertainties during the first half of next year that require patience and flexibility, said the CEO of Tulsa-based Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP).

Citing commercial, environmental and technological uncertainties, the environmental group Western Resource Advocates (WRA) released a report casting doubts on oil shale, and emphasizing its distinct differences with shale gas and shale oil.

The six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) poses uncertainties that could impact offshore operators and the communities in the region for years, energy analysts said Monday.

One of the uncertainties plaguing state energy planners, the retirement of aging electric generation plants, is the subject of a new study by the California Energy Commission (CEC) that is slated to be completed this summer in time for inclusion in the state’s 2004 updated integrated energy resource plan due to the state legislature this fall. A workshop was held in Sacramento Wednesday to set some of the parameters for the study of what is estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 MW that could retire by 2009.

Citing what they called “regulatory uncertainties” in the regional transmission organization (RTO) arena, Duke Energy, CP&L and South Carolina Electric & Gas last week announced that they were withdrawing their applications before state utility regulators in South Carolina and North Carolina to transfer functional control of their electric transmission assets to the GridSouth RTO. But the utilities also said that they remain committed to the GridSouth RTO and plan to file new applications before state regulators in the near future that will include a revised GridSouth structure.

Recent uncertainties and declines in the economies of emergingmarket countries have taken their toll in recent weeks on the stockprices of companies with significant foreign investment exposure.In the natural gas industry that includes Enron Corp. which chosethis time period to pledge over $3 billion to additional foreigninvestments.