Unveil

ConocoPhillips on Wednesday was first in line among U.S.-based producers to unveil 4Q2006 earnings, underwhelming investors on the news that its profit slid 13% from a year ago. However, the Houston-based producer won’t be the last to report tempered profits during a three-month period of warmer-than-normal temperatures, soaring service costs and falling energy prices.

Florida’s two senators plan to unveil legislation Wednesday that they say will offer something for both opponents and proponents of offshore drilling — it will give the state of Florida continued protection of its coastline from energy production, will permanently set aside an area for military training in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and will open up additional acres of the natural gas-prone Lease Sale 181 to producers. A key House energy lawmaker criticized the bill as being too limited in its scope.

As exploration and production companies unveil their earnings for the third quarter, one thing is clear: high oil and natural gas prices have fueled record earnings once again. However, oil and gas output numbers are mixed, with Burlington Resources Inc., XTO Energy Inc. and Shell Canada Ltd. reporting higher overall production, while Occidental Petroleum Corp. was slightly down.

Building on its announcement late last year, Petrosearch Corp. said it has organized another five subsidiaries to conduct oil and natural gas exploration activities in various parts of the United States. This brings the total number of exploration subsidiaries to nine.

Building on its announcement earlier in the month, Petrosearch Corp. said it has organized another five subsidiaries to conduct oil and natural gas exploration activities in various parts of the United States. This brings the total number of exploration subsidiaries to nine.

The Energy Information Administration soon will unveil improvements to its weekly U.S. natural gas storage survey, agency officials announced last week. One of the changes being considered is increasing the number of storage firms that are surveyed each week.

A standard market design (SMD) for U.S. power markets, which FERC is set to unveil for comments next week, will hopefully go a long way in offering clear “rules of the road” to energy market participants nervous about whether they will be able to recoup money they put into the development of new generation assets, FERC Chairman Pat Wood told federal lawmakers on Wednesday.

Following the sizeable Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 180 held by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) last week, many exploration and production companies were quick to report their deals. Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. and partners reported that they were the high bidders on 42 blocks, Pioneer Natural Resources Co. was the apparent high bidder on 21 blocks and Devon Energy Corp. reported that it was the high bidder on nine blocks.

In the next two weeks, the British Columbia government is expected to unveil a plan that could lift the moratorium on exploration and development offshore. Up to 22 million acres, located in an environmentally sensitive area near Queen Charlotte Islands, have been closed to producers for years, but with a currently depressed economy, the stakes are growing. The offshore region is estimated to hold up to 25.9 Tcf and 9.8 Bbbl — about three times the reserves in the Hibernia field now being drilled off Newfoundland. More important, however, the reserves would eventually translate into about C$21 billion in provincial royalties.