mineral exploration project – commodity prices – mining stock- trade and market

A six-month halt in U.S. deep-water drilling would cost 23,247 jobs, according to an estimate by Michael Bromwich, head of the agency that regulates offshore oil exploration.

Bromwich’s July 10 memo to Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar shows regulators weighed the economic affect of suspending drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet before Salazar issued a second moratorium on July 12. The memo was submitted to U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans as part of a voluminous administrative record supporting the agency’s actions.

“There is no question that the imposition...

Market Roundup

Crude Oil prices fell yesterday, but a bounce by equity markets pulled crude futures well above lows and allowed traders to shrug off data showing combined U.S. crude and product stocks rose to the highest since weekly records began in 1990.

In Focus

- U.S. commercial crude and product stocks rose last week to the highest level since the U.S. government began tracking weekly data, government data showed Wednesday, a sign fuel supply is outpacing demand amid a slow U.S. economic recovery.

- China’s diesel exports...

As BP readied its latest fallback plan to stop oil gushing from one of its wells in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration and the company warned that the crude could continue flowing until August, compounding threats to coastal wetlands, fisheries and beaches.

White House energy and climate adviser Carol Browner declared Sunday that the oil spill was “probably the biggest environmental disaster we’ve ever faced in this country” and said that “we are prepared for the worst.” On the CBS show “Face the Nation,” she said that the “American...

Two recent reports suggest that the alternative fuel of choice over the next 20 to 30 years won’t be nuclear, coal, oil, wind or solar – but rather,
natural gas.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted the fact that, even before the recent discovery of very large so-called “unconventional” reserves not easily recovered, natural gas had a number of clear advantages compared to other sources of energy.

First, compared to other carbon-based fuels such as oil, natural gas produces half the CO2, has none of the waste disposal problems associated with nuclear,...

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and PetroChina Co.’s A$3.3 billion ($3 billion) bid for Arrow Energy Ltd. may spur more takeovers of Australian producers of coal-bed gas, a growing source of supply for Asian energy importers.

Eastern Star Gas Ltd., a coal-seam gas developer in the Australian state of New South Wales, climbed almost 13 percent to 81 cents in Sydney yesterday after Arrow reported the bid. Bow Energy Ltd. rose 28 percent. Santos Ltd., Australia’s third- largest oil and gas producer, is another potential target, said David Wall, an analyst at Hartleys Ltd. in Perth.

Crude oil rose to an eight-week high as investors purchased oil and fuel futures amid returns that have outpaced other securities.

“The financial flow may soon send prices to $85, even if that’s not justified by physical demand,” said Kyle Cooper, a managing director at energy consultant IAF Advisors in Houston. “You’re seeing a lot of money move into the market.”

Oil has advanced 80 percent over the past year, greater than the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 59 percent increase. Futures traded in a $1.66 range today, drifting between gains and losses, as equities...

BARWA over the planned sale of the BARWA Financial District to the world’s largest liquefied natural gas producer. BARWA denies that it is currently involved in talks to sell its BARWA City project to a government buyer. Because construction is still underway, there has not yet been a finalised lease pricing structure for BARWA City properties.

Crude oil and gasoline prices are inching up again. Optimism about the economy, new tensions in oil-producing Nigeria and reports that China intends to build up its strategic reserves lifted crude prices to around $82 on Monday, about a $10 increase in the last month.

Prices at the pump are rising, too, with the average national price for a gallon of gasoline jumping 5 cents in the last week, to just above $2.75.