HYDROCARBONS DAILY RECORD
04 May 2006
Mayo de 2006
By J. Brock
At 1800 LMT on Thursday, 04 May 2006, prices reflected a further decline in
the price per barrel with Light Sweet Crude at $69.94 and Brent Crude at $70.29.
This reflects the second day of decline.
The decreases come despite Iran's firm stance against any UN Sanctions that may
arise. Iran has been told by the UN Security Council that it has until June to
freeze its uranium enrichment programme. This lessens any immediate nervousness
of retaliations on either side.
The fear factor also seems to have diminished regardless of Bolivia's "nationalisation"
of its natural gas facilities. A meeting between Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina
and Brazil, that took place on Thursday, may take the sting out of President
Morales' actions. Brazil's oil company, Petrobas, has said that it might not go
ahead with a planned natural gas pipeline extension if there is not a successful
outcome on Monday. Petrobas stands to lose $1.5 Billion in the long-term if
Bolivia's sanctions take affect.
The publication on http://www.foreignpolicy.com of an article by Thomas Friedman
entitled "The First Law of Petropolitics" has helped to set the industry at ease
and could also have helped in dropping the prices per barrel we have seen
recently. Mr. Friedman asserts that as the price of hydrocarbons increase,
democracy and freedom decline - they seem to run away from each other. President
Chavez, he says, wouldn't be telling the oil companies to go to hell if the
price per barrel were $20.00. $70.00 makes it a much more attractive option,
with basic freedoms for the people being lost as the price of hydrocarbons
increase. He points out that the most democratic of countries in the mid-east
are the ones with a minimal oil industry.
LOCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The feel-good factor still abounds with the knowledge that any day now a
suitable rig could be found by Dr. Colin Phipps of Desire Petroleum Plc.
This doesn't mean that we will immediately begin to pump oil as it could take
anywhere from 5 to 15 years after viable reserves are found.
New from: http://www.falklands-oil.com
May 2006 - Desire moves to Phase 2 on their PL003 and PL004 licences Following
on from Rockhopper's farm-in to these licences (also known as Tranches C and D),
Desire has now moved to Phase 2 of the licences. During this Phase, which runs
for 7 years, they must drill one well on each licence.
May 2006 - Changes to PON 1
Some minor changes have been made to PON No. 1, Record and Sample Requirements
for Surveys and Wells. These changes require licensees to supply geophysical
data in a new specified format if requested to do so.
- Falklands at AAPG
In April the Falkland Islands Government exhibited at the Annual Convention of
the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. This year's convention, held
in Houston, was a success for the Islands, who participated in the International
Pavilion for the 11th successive year. The Falklands booth was a busy place of
work, with numerous high-calibre visitors from international exploration
companies. The Government also again participated in the International Pavilion
Theatre, presenting a talk on exploration opportunities in the area. A copy of
the presentation can be viewed at AAPG's on-line International Pavilion, at
http://www.internationalpavilion.com/houston_theater.html
