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A deep recession, home foreclosures, job losses, swine flu — among the many things Americans had to fret about in 2009, the price of gasoline ranked pretty low. After topping $4 a gallon in 2008, U.S. gasoline prices failed to crack even the $3 mark last year, the first time in four years that hasn't happened. Held in check by lower oil prices and a sputtering economy, the national average price for gasoline — after starting the year at $1.62 — rose to $2.69 a gallon in ...

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week has risen by 23, or 2.1 percent, to 1,101, according to data kept by Houston-based Baker Hughes.

Royal Dutch Shell sees a bigger role for North and South America as it seeks to boost global output of oil and natural gas in coming years, said Marvin Odum, president of the company's U.S. division. Going forward, the region should be a “disproportionately growing part of Shell” as new projects come online in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, the Canadian oil sands and natural gas fields in the U.S. and Canada, Odum said in an interview with the Chronicle this week.  ...

The ongoing decline in natural gas prices chips away at some parts of the industry while providing opportunity to others.

Global oil demand will resume its climb next year and should be back to 2007's highs by 2012, IHS-Cambridge Energy Research Associates reported Tuesday.

Underground utility construction projects most often are classified as either new construction, usually to extend or upgrade services, or replacement/rehabilitation of old or failing buried infrastructure. However, many projects are to relocate utilities because of street, highway improvements or other types of general construction that makes it necessary to move buried utilities to a new location. Although planning for such projects begins months – even years – before ground is broken, ...

Oil prices pushed higher again today, as stock markets dipped with mixed signals on the economy. Benchmark crude for September delivery rose 33 cents to settle at $68.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has rebounded by almost $10 a barrel this month as stronger economic results from the U.S. and China boosted investor optimism along with better than expected second-quarter earnings results from many companies. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen about 11 ...

By OGJ editors HOUSTON, July 13 -- Natural gas liquids and condensate projects slated for start-up 2009-10 in some countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will add 2 million b/d to capacity at peak output. That’s according to the recently released Oil Market Report from the International Energy Agency. Despite the current weak market outlook, said the agency, the long-lead time expansion projects are moving forward. Almost all the projects currently slated to ...

Mention the term confined space on a job site and everyone will have some idea of what you’re talking about. The problem is, they won’t necessarily agree on what it means from province to province and across jurisdictions. “The term dates well back into the last century,” said Neil McManus, president of NorthWest Occupational Health & Safety in Vancouver. “It became synonymous with spaces that became workspaces following the opening of normally sealed equipment and structures, or ...

The U.S. oil and gas industry’s costs of finding resources rose 35 percent last year amid the wild rise and fall in commodity prices, an Ernst & Young study released Thursday showed. The three-year average cost per barrel of oil equivalent, excluding acquisitions of proved reserves, was $27.22. But in 2008 that spiked to $51.96. “This validates that finding oil and gas reserves is very, very expensive,” said Marcela Donadio, oil and gas sector leader for the Americas. She noted that cost ...

Retail gasoline prices rose for the 49th straight day Tuesday even though crude oil fell again. The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline gained a half cent to $2.674, according to auto club AAA, surpassing a stretch in early 2007 when prices moved up 48 straight days. In late April, when this streak began, a gallon cost only $2.05. Even during strong gasoline rallies in 2007 and 2008, prices tended to back off after gains of 20 to 40 cents per gallon, said ...

Despite the global economic downturn, the U.S. Power Industry is managing to see continued growth driven primarily by the development of renewable energy resources and new natural-gas-fired generation. At present, there are 341 new generating units representing more than 45,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity under construction in the country. In addition, 300 units totaling 23,000 MW are scheduled to begin construction in the nation during the last half of 2009. Much of this capital project ...