From the Editor: Status Me
Nov 28, 2006
These days, asking for a status report has become the short “status me”. Running short on time? Simply turn a noun into a verb – your turn of phrase may catch on (it sometimes works the other way round, as well).

The Alchemist
Nov 28, 2006
Kjell Pedersen has had a long and successful career in the international petroleum industry, chiefly in ExxonMobil, where he worked as Managing Director of ExxonMobil Norway when he was brought in to lead Petoro after the company was launched in 2001. He is now in charge of maximising the value of the Norwegian state’s oil and gas assets on the NCS – turning the natural resources on the shelf into revenues for the state.

LNG – The New Oil?
Nov 28, 2006
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is gaining greater attention from the world’s major energy suppliers as a gas monetisation option. The technology converts natural gas, primarily methane, to a liquid by cooling to a temperature of around -161 degrees Celsius. The volume occupied by the gas reduces by 600 times as it converts to liquid form dramatically increasing energy density per cubic metre of hydrocarbon.

Staring Down “the Resource Curse” – The Extraction Industries Transparency Initiative
Nov 28, 2006
What do you do the job requires getting a crew in close along a section of foreign coastline where kidnappings are feared and locals are furious with government? The crew balks and asks – according to Jean Francoise Lasalle, Total VP of E&P public affairs – “Why do we do business in areas where all the money disappears?”

Out of the Cold
Nov 28, 2006
Developing a suitable transfer option to a remote oil and gas field in the Arctic Circle posed a major challenge – but not an impossible one, thanks to careful planning, proper training and a safer transfer device.