The following information contains a listing of the major energy events that occurred in 2002. Simply click on a specific month to review the energy chronology for that month. Sources include: Associated Press (AP), Dow Jones (DJ), Knight Ridder (KR), The Los Angeles Times (LAT), The New York Times (NYT), Oil Daily (OD), Reuters, USA Today (USAT), The Washington Post (WP), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and World Markets Reseach Center (WMRC). For information on energy events that took place in 2001, please click here.

February 1 An explosion and fire occur at an oil-gathering center near Kuwait's northern Rawdatain oil field, killing four workers and injuring seventeen. As a result, about 600,000 barrels per day of crude oil production go offline. However, Kuwait's Oil Minister, Adel al-Subaih, declares that the use of oil from stockpiles and increased production from other fields will mean that exports will be unaffected in the next two weeks. Some production in the area gradually returns throughout the month as repairs proceed. The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation declares force majeure on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exports because of damage to the LPG booster station. Oil Minister al-Subaih resigns later in the month, taking responsibility for the incident, though reportedly also in protest of cost cutting and political interference in Kuwait's oil industry. (WSJ, DJ)

February 4 PetroChina, China's largest oil and natural gas producer, announces that it has reached an agreement with a consortium led by Royal Dutch/Shell, and including Gazprom and Hong Kong & China Gas, to build a 2,600-mile natural gas pipeline from the natural gas-producing Tarim basin in western China to Shanghai on the coast, with deliveries to start in 2004. The cost of the pipeline is expected to be about $18 billion. Chinese authorities also give Shell the right to discuss investment opportunities in the natural gas pipeline project with ExxonMobil. (Reuters, OD)

February 6 Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah states that Saudi Arabia is facing a "suffocating" economic downturn and that government spending must be cut. The Saudi American Bank (SAMBA) forecasts a 2% decline in gross domestic product (GDP) in Saudi Arabia in 2002, due in large part to low world oil prices. (Reuters)

February 6 Nigeria cuts the typical size of its crude oil loadings by 5% in order to better comply with its promised OPEC quota cuts. Nigeria has a new OPEC quota of 1.787 million barrels per day, effective from January 1, but output was 2.094 million barrels per day through January 20, according to Nigeria's Department of Petroleum Resources. (Reuters)

February 7 Turkish government officials state that Turkey aims to import about 80,000 barrels per day of Iraqi Kirkuk crude oil in 2002, an increase over the 50,000 barrels per day imported in 2001. The oil, which is taken into Turkey by truck, is transported by Turkey's foreign trade undersecretariat, for refining by Tupras. The trade is outside of the United Nations oil-for-food program. (Reuters)

February 8 Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol announces two substantial discoveries of crude oil, each estimated at over 100 million barrels, in the Piedemonte and Upper Magdalena Valley of Colombia. The new fields are expected to begin full-scale production in 2005. (OD)

February 8 The U.S. Minerals Management Service announces that it has awarded the first four contracts to deliver royalty-in-kind crude oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The contracts were awarded to ChevronTexaco, Williams, Equiva, and ExxonMobil for some 60,000 barrels per day of royalty oil from federal properties in the Gulf of Mexico. (OD)

February 9 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez replaces General Guaicaipuro Lameda with central bank Vice President Gaston Parra as the head of the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), South America's largest oil company. General Lameda's replacement comes amidst public expression of discontent by several military officers with President Chavez's leftist government. On February 20, the Ministry of Energy and Mines announces the replacement of five of the seven members of the board of directors of PdVSA with new board members more closely aligned with President Chavez. This move sparks daily protests by PdVSA employees. (Reuters, DJ, OD)

February 11 Oil prices rise to a one-month high as rumors of a very large purchase of Brent crude by Royal Dutch/Shell trading subsidiary Equiva for the U.S. Department of Energy's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) stoke fears that there could be a supply shortage for Brent crude oil in March. Brent crude oil for March delivery settles $1.63 per barrel higher, at $21.35 per barrel. However, oil prices ease somewhat the next day, with Brent falling 32 cents per barrel. As Equiva has the option to deliver the 18.6 million barrels of sweet crude oil to the SPR between April 1, 2002 and May 1, 2003, it is not clear that the company will meet its commitment by taking most of the Brent-for-March-delivery market, though a Shell executive states that the company sees "potential demand for all the Brents in March." (Reuters, OD)

February 12 A spokesman for Marathon Oil announces that the U.S. State Department has given Marathon, as well as Conoco and Amerada Hess, permission to begin renegotiating dormant oil field contracts with Libya. The approval was issued January 22, 2002. In September 2001, Libya's Foreign Minister announced that U.S. companies would be given one year to resume oil operations in the country before Libya decides whether their licenses should be revoked and given to other firms. Current U.S. sanctions forbid U.S. companies from operating in Libya. (LAT, Reuters)

February 13 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez decides to let the Venezuelan bolivar float against the U.S. dollar. The bolivar loses 19% of its value on its first day of trading under the new system. The decision comes as part of a package of fiscal and monetary reforms that are aimed at closing a projected government budget deficit. Low world oil prices have reduced projected government revenues for 2002. Oil revenues account for about half of government revenues and about one third of Venezuela's gross domestic product (GDP). (DJ)

February 13 Iraq says that it will not allow United Nations (U.N.) arms inspectors to return to Iraq. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan states, "There is no need for the spies of the [U.N.] inspection teams to return to Iraq since Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction." The United States has hinted that actions may be taken against the Iraqi government if U.N. arms inspectors are not allowed to return. (Reuters)

February 13 The government of Argentina announces a 20% tax on energy exports. Argentina exports over 300,000 barrels per day of oil, as well as some natural gas, worth about $2.4 billion and $637 million, respectively, in 2001. The companies most affected include Repsol-YPF, ChevronTexaco, Perez Companc, and U.S. Pan American Energy. (WSJ, OD)

February 13 El Paso Energy announces that it will build a $450 million, 380-mile, 500,000-barrel-per-day oil pipeline from the western Gulf of Mexico to Port Arthur and Texas City, Texas. The pipeline is expected to begin functioning in the third quarter of 2004. (OD)

February 13 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) agrees to launch a probe into whether Enron and other energy traders deliberately inflated electricity prices during the California power crisis. FERC has come under pressure from Democratic legislators from the West Coast to undertake such a probe. (OD)

February 14 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces that it is increasing security at U.S. nuclear facilities, including 104 reactors. The new measures are the result of a review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of nuclear plant security that was undertaken in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. (DJ)

February 14 U.S. President George Bush announces a plan that addresses the issue of "greenhouse gas" emissions, linked by many scientists to global warming. The plan proposes spending on research and new technology, plus tax incentives to promote voluntary (as opposed to mandatory) reductions. The plan links reductions in carbon emissions to U.S. economic output, focusing on emissions intensity per unit of GDP rather than on fixed targets. (WP)

February 15 U.S. President George Bush authorizes the construction a large, centralized site for the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, after the Department of Energy recommends its construction. In his letter notifying the U.S. Congress of his decision, Bush states, "Proceeding with the repository program [at Yucca Mountain] is necessary to protect public safety, health, and the nation's security." Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn has indicated that he will oppose the project, so Yucca Mountain will require congressional approval to go forward. The site's selection is also being challenged in court. (WP)

February 18 ExxonMobil signs an agreement with the government of Papua New Guinea for the construction of a $3.5 billion sub-sea natural gas pipeline from that country to Queensland, Australia. The other partners in the project include: ChevronTexaco, Oil Search, Orogen Minerals, and Japan PNG Developments, as well as Mineral Resources Development Company, which represents the interests of local landholders. The 1,988-mile pipeline would transport natural gas from the Hides and Kutubu gas fields in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea, to a coastal processing facility and then via a section of sub-sea pipeline to northern Australia. The pipeline would supply Australia with around 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over a thirty-year period. (WMRC)

February 19 Oman's oil minister states that the non-OPEC oil exporter will continue to abide by its 40,000-barrel-per-day production cut agreement with OPEC until September 2002. (AP)

February 20 Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh asserts that Iran will proceed with oil and natural gas projects in the Caspian Sea, despite a lack of demarcation of sectors among the five littoral states. Zanganeh adds, "[We] will prevent the activities of others in the parts we consider to be ours." (OD)

February 20 Colombian President Andres Pastrana breaks off peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas and orders the Colombian army to re-enter FARC's demilitarized area. President Pastrana takes the action after FARC guerrillas hijack an aircraft carrying 34 people and kidnap Senator Jorge Gechem, president of a Senate peace talks committee. The following day, the Colombian air force bombs FARC targets in the former demilitarized zone, marking an intensification in the conflict in Colombia. (Reuters)

February 21 Moody's Investors Service puts the long-term debt of AES Corporation on review for a possible downgrade as the energy company's shares drop 11%. AES, once the 17th-largest publicly-traded energy company in the world in terms of market value, with 181 electricity generating facilities and 19 million customers, has lost over 90% of its stock value in the past 52 weeks, including 36% on February 15. On February 6, AES announced plans to sell up to $1 billion in assets in order to raise cash. Credit analysts are concerned that AES has insufficient cash flow to pay its debt of $22.3 billion. (WP, DJ)

February 21 The California Public Utilities Commission reaches an accord with the California Department of Water Resources that allows California to sell up to $11.1 billion in bonds to repay the State's considerable debt from purchasing power during the State's power crisis. The electricity rate agreement assures a revenue flow to the state agency, but requires the agency to attempt to renegotiate long-term contracts that were locked in when rates were higher than they now are. On February 24, State officials announce their intention to ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to void over $40 billion in long-term contracts signed when, according to these officials, the market was being manipulated by sellers. (LAT, WSJ)

February 22 Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed by government troops, possibly presaging an end to a 30-year conflict that has displaced 4 million people in the country. With most of Angola's 900,000-barrel-per-day oil production located offshore, the fighting had little effect on the petroleum industry, but proceeds from the oil have been diverted to fight the civil war rather than being used for economic development. (DJ)

February 25 Venezuela declares force majeure on some crude oil loadings in order to comply with the OPEC quota cuts begun on January 1. Venezuela had agreed to reduce its quota by 170,000 barrels per day. (Reuters)

March 1 Electricity rationing ends in Brazil after having been in effect since June 2001. Most companies and households were forced to cut electricity usage by 20% after a drought seriously reduced hydropower capacity. Brazil is more than 90% reliant on hydropower for its electricity consumption. (WSJ)

April 1 Iraq calls for an oil embargo by Arab oil exporters to punish the United States and other countries for their support of Israel. This, along with intensification of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, contributes to oil prices reaching new six-month highs. (Reuters)

April 1 India liberalizes its oil and natural gas sector by putting in place a series of market reforms, including: the end of government-fixed prices for gasoline and diesel; the end of subsidized cooking gas and kerosene prices; market competition for state-run downstream companies; and assigning the Oil Ministry the role of energy watchdog. (Reuters)

April 2 Royal Dutch/Shell agrees to buy Enterprise Oil for $5 billion in cash. This will increase Royal Dutch/Shell's production in the North Sea by 30% and overall production by 6%, according to the company. The acquisition will also add 1.5 billion barrels of oil to Royal Dutch/Shell's reserves. The company is also assuming $1.15 billion in Enterprise's debt. (NYT)

April 3 Venezuela sends out its first commercial shipment of 550,000 barrels of synthetic crude to a U.S. Gulf Coast refinery. Venezuela's Sincor heavy crude upgrade plant, which was inaugurated last month, refines ultra-heavy crude oil into 32 degree API syncrude. (Reuters)

April 4 The Angolan army signs a ceasefire accord with rebels of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita). The agreement includes amnesty for former Unita soldiers and their demobilization and reintegration into society. The civil war, which began in 1975, has killed thousands of Angolans and taken much of the government's revenues from Angola's substantial oil production and exports. (NYT)

April 5 Thousands of workers at Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA stay home, close gates of facilities, and engage in protests. This is the largest disruption of PdVSA's operations in 2002, though it is not a full-blown strike by all PdVSA workers. Oil production and refining slows, and two of Venezuela's five main oil export terminals are unable to operate. The government of President Hugo Chavez threatens to militarize PdVSA's operations. (AP)

April 5 Nigeria's Supreme Court rules that the federal government, not state or regional authorities, has control over offshore oil and natural gas. Six southern states had threatened to take control of natural resources in their territories, which could have meant rules changes for operators in the areas and a concentration in hydrocarbon revenues in those states. (Reuters)

April 5 Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, joins Iraq in calling for an oil embargo against countries supporting Israel. However, other Iranian government officials indicate that Iran will not go ahead with any embargo without support from all Muslim major oil exporters. On April 7, the Libyan government also calls for an embargo, but with the provision that such an embargo would have to include all Muslim oil exporters. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reject these proposals. (WP, Reuters)

April 6 A BP pipeline near Little Lake, Louisiana ruptures, spilling 90,000 gallons of oil into marshland and coastal waters. Clean-up crews are sent to the area and some of the oil is recovered the following day. (WSJ)

April 7 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announces that he has fired seven executives of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) and sent 12 others into early retirement. This action comes in response to the executives leading protests and work stoppages that have intensified since April 5. These protests began after President Chavez installed new PdVSA board members on February 20, 2002. (LAT)

April 8 Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn vetoes the use of the Yucca Mountain facility as a repository for high-level nuclear waste. Under a 1982 federal law on nuclear waste policy, a governor can file a "notice of disapproval" to reject a president's selection of a site in his state. This gives the U.S. Congress 90 legislative days to debate and vote on the issue. Simple majorities in both chambers can override the veto. (LAT)

April 8 Iraq announces that it will halt its "oil-for-food" exports for 30 days as a "gesture of support" for the Palestinians' struggle with Israel. Iraq also requests that other OPEC countries do not raise production to make up for lost Iraqi exports. Iraqi "oil-for-food" exports had averaged about 1.7 million barrels per day to date in 2002. Major Arab OPEC exporters Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar have expressed unwillingness to join in any embargo. (WSJ)

April 9 A general strike begins in Venezuela, shutting down many stores and factories and nearly halting oil production, refining, and export terminals. Strike organizers decide to extend the strike through April 10. (WP)

April 9 California Attorney General Bill Lockyer files suit against four power companies, charging them with profiteering during the power crisis of 2000-2001. The attorney general claims that companies could face penalties of as much as $1 billion. (WSJ)

April 12 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is ousted by the country's military after three consecutive days of general strikes during which oil production, refining, and exports-the mainstays of the Venezuelan economy-were seriously affected. After at least a dozen protesters are killed, high-ranking military officers, including the army commander general, request President Chavez to step down. (WSJ)

April 12 Pedro Carmona is named interim President of Venezuela by the military high command. He dissolves the National Assembly and Supreme Court. PdVSA operations that had been halted start up again, but rioting begins again the following day. (Reuters)

April 14 Interim President Pedro Carmona announces that he has resigned following large, and sometimes violent, pro-Chavez protests and a lack of support among many military officers. Carmona also loses support of Venezuela's largest labor group. Several hours later, Hugo Chavez returns to power in Caracas and claims that he never resigned the presidency. Chavez announces that PdVSA's Board of Directors had submitted its resignation on April 11. (AP)

April 15 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez attempts some rapprochement with the employees of PdVSA as oil exports return to normal. PdVSA executives support continued normalization of the company's operations. Minister of Energy and Mines Alvaro Silva asserts that Venezuela will continue to abide by its OPEC quotas, but the government also asserts that it will be a reliable oil supplier to the United States and will not participate in any oil embargo. (Reuters)

April 18 El Paso Energy agrees to build, install, own, and operate a production hub platform for the Falcon natural gas field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The field is owned by Pioneer Natural Resources and Mariner Energy. The platform will have an initial capacity of 300 million cubic feet per day, and as a hub eventually will service an additional nine blocks in the area. A 20-mile natural gas pipeline will link the development to an offshore natural gas gathering system. (OD)

April 19 A Venezuelan government spokesman announces that OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez will quit this position in order to become the new president of PdVSA. It is not clear who will succeed Mr. Rodriguez as OPEC Secretary General at this time. (DJ)

April 22 National Grid Group, which runs Britain's power transmission network, announces that it plans to merge with Lattice Group in a stock deal worth $9.7 billion. Lattice is a natural gas pipeline operator that was spun off from British Gas. National Grid will also assume $10 billion of Lattice's debt under the plan. This creates one firm with significant power over Britain's natural gas and electricity networks. The new company will be the UK's largest utility. (DJ)

April 22 California State officials announce that California has renegotiated $15 billion in power contracts with five of 12 companies with which the State has contracts. As a result of the restructuring, the State will lower costs by about $3.5 billion over the decade. These long-term contracts were signed during the height of the power crisis of 2000-2001, locking in what many State officials now consider higher-than-market rates for electricity. The companies that have renegotiated extricate themselves from possible legal action on the part of California in the future. (LAT)

April 22 The government of Venezuela and executives of PdVSA agree on a new board of directors for the state oil company. Recent protests and strikes by PdVSA managers and employees that led up to President Chavez's temporary ouster on April 12 began in response to a board of directors appointed by President Chavez on February 20. (Reuters)

April 22 Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin announces that Russia will not extend the 150,000-barrel-per-day crude oil export cut it has promised OPEC beyond the end of June 2002. Data from several sources, including Russia itself, appear to cast doubt on whether Russian exports were ever reduced since the cuts were supposed to become effective January 1, 2002. (Reuters)

April 22 Russia's largest oil producer, OAO Lukoil, unveils a restructuring plan that aims to double the company's output by 2010. In addition to investments in new fields, the company also plans to increase output by outsourcing its drilling and well-management to oil services companies. The company plans to increase production 20% this year alone, to 1.4 million barrels per day. (WSJ)

April 24 A summit of the leaders of the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea ends without an agreement on how to divide the Caspian's resources between the five countries. (Reuters)

April 25 The U.S. Senate passes an energy bill that differs substantially from the version passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in August 2001. The Senate version, for instance, has no provision for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Another provision of the bill would require that companies gradually increase the percentage of electricity that they generate from renewable sources. The bill now goes to conference. (NYT, Reuters)

April 25 President George W. Bush and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah meet in Crawford, Texas. The main topic of discussion is how to arrive at a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Also today, Saudi officials deny fresh reports that they will reduce oil exports to express displeasure with U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Oil prices rise substantially on the rumor, but fall after denials by U.S. and Saudi officials. (WP)

April 29 An investigating panel of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee issues a report on gasoline price and the degree of market concentration of refiners and retailers. The report states that, "In a number of instances, refiners have sought to increase prices by reducing supply." The American Petroleum Institute and several oil refiners and retailers have contested the report's conclusions. (DJ)

May 1 The Canadian province of Ontario opens its electricity market to competition, including suppliers from the United States. Under the new rules, suppliers other than the current monopoly supplier, Ontario Power Generation, are able to sell electricity under long-term contracts or on the spot market. Initially, large industrial consumers, local utilities, and new electricity retailers will be able to choose amongst suppliers. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has licensed Ontario Power Generation to sell electricity in the United States. (NYT)

May 1 Oman approves plans to add a third production train at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at Qalhat. The new train will add 3.3 million metric tons per year to the plant's current 6.6-million-metric-tons-per-year capacity in two existing trains. In January, Oman signed a financial agreement to borrow $1.3 billion from a consortium of 12 international banks in order to be able to finance the expansion. (WMRC)

May 2 Hawaii becomes the first state to enact legislation that would regulate retail gasoline prices. Prices are to be capped starting in July 2004. The state's Public Utilities Commission would set a maximum price based on an average of prices in U.S. West Coast markets and would allow a maximum profit of 16 cents per gallon for retailers. (AP)

May 3 The Environmental Protection Agency approves rules that will allow coal-mining companies to dump waste and dirt from mountaintop mining into rivers and streams. The mining industry greets the decision with approval, while several environmental groups are critical of the decision. (NYT)

May 3 A two-day G8 (the world's seven largest economies plus Russia) energy summit in Detroit concludes. The energy ministers focus their discussions on ensuring adequate, safe, supplies as demand increases, as well as on new technologies that have efficiency and environmental benefits. U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham states that, "We [energy ministers] agreed on the importance of providing adequate protection for our energy facilities as well as the importance of having multiple links between suppliers and consumers to reduce our vulnerability to disruption of energy supplies." (AP, Reuters)

May 3 Iraq and the United Nations (U.N.) end three days of talks on disarmament programs and weapons inspectors without any plan for the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. U.N. weapons inspectors were expelled from Iraq in 1998. (Reuters)

May 3 A U.S. Appeals Court upholds the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) diesel fuel sulfur content regulation in ruling on a lawsuit filed by the National Petrochemical and Refiner's Association that challenged the regulations. The rule requires that refiners reduce the sulfur content in diesel from the current 500 parts-per-million requirement to 15 parts per million in 2007. (OD)

May 6 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) releases documents showing that Enron used a number of deceptive trading strategies to manipulate California's power market during the 2000-2001 state energy crisis. On May 8, the FERC orders all power sellers operating in California to preserve their records from 2000 and 2001, particularly in regard to trading strategies employed. On May 21, the FERC orders firms to report any "round-trip" electricity trading in sworn statements. Several firms alleged to have participated in these schemes lose over 50% of their market values in May. Such trades are thought to have inflated companies' revenue statements. This is all part of a FERC probe into the causes of electricity price volatility in California in 2000-2001. (DJ, LAT)

May 7 A $125 million study commissioned by ExxonMobil, BP, and Phillips, that examined two proposed routes for a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to the lower 48 states, finds that neither route is economically feasible. The pipeline would transport 4.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. Company spokespeople indicate that the project will be delayed until market conditions support the project. (OD)

May 8 Iraq starts pumping crude oil to its export terminals, following the country's announcement on May 5 that it would end its oil export embargo after one month, i.e., May 8. Iraq also submits price proposals for May crude oil loadings to the United Nations for approval. (Reuters)

May 8 The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announces that it has selected Occidental Petroleum to take over Enron's 24.5% stake in the $3.5 billion Dolphin natural gas project. Enron had sold back its stake to UAE state investment company UOG before Enron's bankruptcy in December 2001. (Reuters)

May 9 The U.S. House of Representatives votes to approve the use of the Yucca Mountain facility as a repository for high-level nuclear waste, the first step in overriding the Nevada governor's veto of the site's selection by the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Senate must also approve the site's use for the governor's veto to be overridden and for the project to proceed. (KR)

May 10 Scientists at the University of Munich's Nanoscience Center in Germany succeed in harnessing the power of light to produce mechanical energy for the first time in history. In the experiment, the scientists shine a selected frequency of light on a single molecule of the plastic azobenzene, causing the molecule to crimp and pull down a board to which it is attached. (WP)

May 10 Thailand announces that it will go ahead with the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the Thai-Malaysian Joint Development Area (JDA) natural gas project in the Gulf of Thailand to the southern Thai province of Songkhla, and then on to Kedah state in northern Malaysia. The pipeline's approval had been delayed over environmental concerns, and the pipeline route will be adjusted slightly because of these concerns. Malaysia had previously stated that it might re-route its share of the natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand if the Thai government failed to make a decision on the pipeline. (Reuters)

May 13 Russia and Kazakhstan sign an accord defining ownership rights in the northern part of the hydrocarbon-rich Caspian Sea. A summit last month of the five littoral nations of the Caspian Sea failed to arrive at a comprehensive agreement between all five countries. (AP)

May 14 Near-month WTI crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) settles above $29 per barrel for the first time since the temporary price spike on September 14, 2001 when the NYMEX first opened after being closed in the wake of the events of September 11. Tensions in the Middle East, the effect of OPEC production cuts and the lingering effects of Iraq's one-month embargo, as well as low U.S. crude oil stock levels, are seen as factors influencing oil prices. (Reuters)

May 14 The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council approves an overhaul of the "oil-for-food" program for Iraq that makes use of an extensive list of "dual-use" goods (goods that could have a military as well as civilian use). Iraq will be able to use its oil revenues, which go into a U.N. escrow account out of which suppliers exporting products to Baghdad are paid, in order to purchase items not on the list. The resolution renews the U.N. program until November 25, 2002. On May 16, official Iraqi news agency INA announces that it will comply with the new six-month tranche of the "oil-for-food" program voted by the U.N. Security Council on May 14, despite condemning the Security Council resolution in the same statement. Iraq officially accepts the U.N. proposal on May 29. (Reuters)

May 15 Private Iranian energy company Petro Iran finalizes a $585-million buy-back deal to renovate the offshore Foroozan-Esfyandar oilfields. Petro Iran is expected to acquire a foreign partner in order to give the company the financial resources necessary to fund the project. Commenting on the deal, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh states, "With the investments already made and those about to be secured...Iran's crude oil production capacity and its quota in OPEC will not decrease." (Reuters)

May 15 Russian customs data released today show that Russia's crude oil exports rose to 3.49 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2002, an all-time high, despite Russia's agreement with OPEC to reduce crude oil exports by 150,000 barrels per day during the same period. (Reuters)

May 16 The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announces that the mean estimate of technically recoverable resources in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve is 9.3 billion barrels. The USGS pegs natural gas reserves in the National Petroleum Reserve at between 39.1 and 83.2 trillion cubic feet. The Reserve's eastern border is about 100 miles west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The USGS also declares that at current prices, more oil could be pumped from ANWR than from the National Petroleum Reserve. The Reserve is still undeveloped, and the recovery of natural gas would necessitate the construction of a pipeline. (Reuters, OD)

May 17 Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov announces that Russia will not extend its 150,000-barrel-per-day crude oil export cut, agreed to with OPEC, into the third quarter of 2002 and furthermore, that Russia will gradually phase out the export cut in the remainder of the second quarter of 2002. Russia is the world's second-largest oil exporter. (WMRC)

May 17 The Norwegian parliament approves a $5.24 billion investment in the Snoehvit liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on the Barents Sea. The project is expected to produce 5.7 billion cubic meters of LNG per year after it comes on line in 2006. (WMRC)

May 17 The comments of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on coalbed methane production in Wyoming's Powder River Basin give the BLM's environmental plan the EPA's lowest rating. This will make it difficult for increased production from the Powder River Basin to take place without the EPA's concerns being addressed. The DEIS assesses the impact of development of over 60,000 coalbed methane wells in Wyoming and Montana. (OD)

May 20 Representatives of East Timor and Australia sign an accord giving East Timor 90% of the revenues from the Bayu-Undan natural gas and condensate field and 20% of the revenues from the Greater Sunrise field. The division of the remaining 80% of the Greater Sunrise's revenues is still under discussion. The Greater Sunrise field, about twice the size of the Bayu-Undan field, contains an estimated 9.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (OD)

May 23 The U.S. Department of Energy changes a rule concerning increased efficiency of air conditioners and heat pumps, such that manufacturers will be required to make them 20% more energy efficient by 2004 instead of 30%, as had been proposed by the Department under the previous administration. (Reuters)

May 23 Chinese officials claim to have discovered the country's largest natural gas field. The field, in the Ih Ju Meng area of the region of Inner Mongolia, is estimated to contain 21 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (OD)

May 24 U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agree to a major new energy partnership that will entail more investment from the United States in Russia's oil and natural gas sector. The leaders also agree to joint efforts to improve ports, pipelines, and refineries in order to expedite export flow. This could mean more Russian hydrocarbon exports to North America. (NYT)

May 25 Alvaro Uribe Velez is elected president of Colombia. He has promised to try to end Colombia's conflict with two guerrilla groups, and to provide greater security for energy infrastructure so as to attract more foreign investment. He also has indicated his support for a bill that would replace Colombia's fixed 20% royalty payment on all upstream ventures with a sliding scale of royalty payments. (OD)

May 28 Canadian oil company Sheer Energy signs a contract that makes the company the first Western company to commit finances to Iran since U.S. President George Bush's assertion that Iran forms part of an "axis of evil." (Reuters)

May 28 A law firm representing the government of Libya announces that Libya will pay $2.7 billion to the families of those who lost their lives in the Pan Am flight 103 bombing if U.S. and United Nations sanctions are first lifted. Some Libyan government officials deny that any deal has been proposed, but the lawyers employed by the Libyan government continue to affirm that a deal is possible. On May 29, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell comments, "Just reading press accounts of what has been said about the offer, it certainly is a step in the right direction, but I don't think it resolves ... all the outstanding issues that have to be dealt with, with respect to Libya and Pan Am 103." (Reuters)

May 28 India announces that it has a 60-day reserve of all petroleum products ready should current tensions with Pakistan erupt into war. Pakistan responds on May 30 by stating that it has a 45-day reserve of all petroleum products ready to use if war occurs. Pakistan and India dispute areas of Kashmir, and several militant groups operate in the area. (Reuters)

May 28 The U.S. government decides to buy back leases for oil and natural gas drilling on the Florida coast and in the Everglades for $235 million because of environmental concerns. Skip Horvath, president of the Natural Gas Supply Association states, "The natural gas fields taken off the table today represent enough natural gas to supply a million U.S. families for over 30 years." However, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has asserted that there are only 40 million barrels of oil equivalent in the area to be protected, about two days' worth of U.S. consumption. (OD)

May 30 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejects the State of California's demand to expand an existing lawsuit seeking refunds from companies for alleged over-charges from October 2000 to June 2001, to instead start in May 2000. This would have had the potential to increase refunds by $2.8 billion. (LAT)

May 30 Elections are held in Algeria, but turnout is very low. The ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) appears to have won the election. (Reuters)

May 31 Japan releases statistics that show that crude oil imports for April 2002 were down 9.4% year-on-year with April 2001, at 4.69 million barrels per day. Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.4% in 2001, and it is projected to fall by 1.1% in 2002. Japan is the world's second-largest oil importer and consumer. (Reuters)

June 2 Occidental Petroleum acquires the 24.5% stake in Dolphin Energy previously held by Enron for $310 million. The Dolphin project will transfer natural gas from Qatar to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with deliveries expected to begin in 2005. (DJ)

June 3 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sends the "U.S. Climate Action Report" to the United Nations. The report asserts that human activities, in particular the burning of fossil fuels, are the principal cause of global warming. (NYT)

June 3 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management conducts an oil and natural gas lease sale for Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. Companies submit high bids of $63.76 million for 60 tracts. The lease sale, covering an area of 3 million acres, offers tracts that had not received bids during the last sale in 1999. (Reuters)

June 4 The European Court of Justice rules that France's current golden share in oil major TotalFinaElf is illegal, as France's shareholding goes "…beyond what is necessary in order to obtain the objective indicated," i.e., ensuring "supplies of petroleum in times of crisis." A golden share is usually defined as a situation in which a government owns less than 50% of the shares of the corporation but retains a veto right on decisions in respect to the management of the enterprise. (DJ)

June 6 Papua New Guinea signs an agreement on a major natural gas pipeline from the producing area in its southern highlands to the Australian State of Queensland on the other side of the Torres Strait. It is estimated that there are six trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas in the southern highlands area of Papua New Guinea. (OD)

June 7 Russia and Kazakhstan sign an agreement that permits annual shipments of no less than 127 million barrels of Kazakh oil through Russia per year over the next 15 years. This agreement covers Kazakhstan crude shipments through two pipelines connected to Russian state pipeline monopoly Transneft's system. The agreement also sets up a joint venture between Gazprom of Russia and KazMunaiGaz of Kazakhstan that will transport 124 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year through Russian pipelines in the first few years of the agreement. (Reuters, DJ)

June 7 U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton rejects California Governor Gray Davis' request that the State of California be able to buy back offshore drilling rights. Secretary Norton writes in her response to the governor that, "[A] major difference between Florida and California is that Florida opposes coastal drilling and California does not." Currently, 36 undeveloped oil and/or natural gas drilling tracts remain in place off the coast of California. (LAT)

June 10 The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service issues a report showing crude oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico growing by an additional 500,000 barrels per day, to 970,000 barrels per day, by 2006. Natural gas production is forecast to rise to 16.39 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day in 2006 in the high scenario from about 13.9 Bcf per day in 2001, but the low scenario shows a decline to 10.97 billion Bcf per day. (Reuters)

June 17 Violent protests occur in Peru's second-largest city, Arequipa, because of the privatization of two state-owned electricity companies. Hundreds of troops are sent in to quell the riot, and constitutional guarantees are suspended for 30 days. The two companies, Egasa and Egesur, are being sold to a Belgian company for $167 million. (NYT)

June 18 A report released by the General Accounting Office (GAO) states that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) "…is not adequately performing the oversight that is needed to ensure that the prices produced by these [electricity] markets are just and reasonable, and therefore, it is not fulfilling its regulatory mandate." FERC Chairman Patrick H. Wood III responds that, "The commission [FERC] had not previously focused its efforts clearly enough to succeed…that has now changed." (LAT)

June 18 American Electric Power (AEP) announces that it will sell its United Kingdom Seeboard unit to London Electricity Group for $975 million in cash. London Electricity will also assume $1.05 billion of Seeboard's debt. Seeboard sells electricity and natural gas to 1.9 million customers in the United Kingdom. (DJ)

June 20 OPEC releases a report showing that its ten members subject to production quotas (i.e. excluding Iraq) produced 23.1 million barrels per day in May, 1.4 million barrels per day above the ten members' combined quota of 21.7 million barrels per day. This is an increase over April's production of 220,000 barrels per day. (Reuters)

June 20 Norway's Oil and Energy Ministry states that, "The Norwegian government has decided not to extend the restriction on oil production into the second half of 2002." Norway had agreed with OPEC to reduce its crude oil production by 150,000 barrels per day for the first two quarters of 2002. (Reuters)

June 21 Russia's largest natural gas company, Gazprom, and Ukraine's state oil and natural gas monopoly, Naftogaz, sign an agreement to transport natural gas across Ukraine, resolving a decade-long dispute on natural gas exports. Russia now has the right to transit 3.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas through Ukraine every year from 2003 until 2013, ending Kiev's denial of foreign access to its pipeline system. On June 10, the leaders of Germany, Russia and Ukraine signed a statement on cooperation in the use of the Ukrainian gas pipeline network, as well as the creation of a consortium to manage the system. (Reuters, WMRC)

June 24 ExxonMobil signs an agreement with state oil and natural gas company Qatar Petroleum for the development of two liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains to be used for export to the United Kingdom. ExxonMobil states that the two trains will be "the largest ever built" by the industry. (OD)

June 24 Centrica of the United Kingdom signs the second of two ten-year natural gas contracts, this time with Gasunie of the Netherlands, that will provide 10% of total natural gas demand in the United Kingdom. On June 9, Centrica had signed a ten-year deal with Norway's Statoil. The combined deals involve about 459 billion cubic feet per year. (WMRC)

June 25 Russia formally announces that it will raise its crude oil exports by 150,000 barrels per day in the third quarter of 2002 and thereby, end its agreement with OPEC to limit crude oil exports by 150,000 barrels per day for the first and second quarter of 2002. Many analysts believe that Russia has already been exporting near capacity for some months. (Reuters)

June 26 OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna decide to leave their combined output quota, excluding Iraq, unchanged at 21.7 million barrels per day for the third quarter of 2002. It is estimated that OPEC-10 countries (i.e. excluding Iraq) are producing between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day above the quota agreement. OPEC members also agree to appoint Venezuelan Oil Minister Alvaro Silva as the cartel's new secretary general, replacing Ali Rodriguez, who will now head Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA. At the meeting, Algeria requests a larger share of OPEC's total quota, but the issue will not be taken up until the OPEC Board of Governors meeting in August. (NYT, DJ)

June 26 BP announces that the cost of developing the Shah Deniz oil and natural gas field in Azerbaijan will be an estimated $3.2 billion. BP expects the field to eventually account for 7% of the company's total hydrocarbon production. (WMRC)

June 27 Mexico announces that it will continue its agreement with OPEC to limit crude oil exports to 1.66 million barrels per day into the third quarter of 2002. A statement from the Energy Ministry said that the decision was "based on national interests and conditioned upon the future conduct of the world oil market." Mexico is among the five largest oil exporters to the United States. (Reuters)

June 28 Angola fines U.S. major ChevronTexaco $2 million for environmental damage. This is the first time an African country has levied a fine against a foreign oil company operating in its waters. Angola held ChevronTexaco liable for failing to replace obsolete pipes, which caused several oil spills. (OD)

June 29 An official at Oman's Oil and Gas Ministry announces that the non-OPEC country will continue its 40,000-barrel-per-day production cut into the third quarter of 2002. Oman had agreed with OPEC to cut production 40,000 barrels in the first and second quarters of 2002. (Reuters)

June 29 Egypt's Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Ahmad Younes confirms media reports that Egypt will construct a nuclear power plant, the country's first, on the northwest coast of the country near Alexandria. (WMRC)

July 1 The California State Legislature passes a bill that limits vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide, the first such bill to pass a state legislature. The specific regulations, to be developed by 2005, would take effect on 2009 model-year vehicles. The limits, enacted because of carbon dioxide's putative effect on global climate change, are likely to have significant repercussions beyond California because the State represents some 10% of the U.S. automobile market. Governor Gray Davis signs the bill into law on July 22. (LAT)

July 2 The World Bank suspends consideration of $370 million in loans and guarantees for AES's $550 million Bujagali Dam hydroelectric power project on the Nile River in Uganda. The decision, taken because of allegations that AES's main construction contractor bribed a Ugandan government official, effectively halts progress on the dam, the largest single private investment in East Africa's history. (WSJ)

July 3 The supertanker Astro Lupus arrives offshore of the Port of Houston, carrying the first direct shipment of Russian crude oil to the United States. The oil, about 2 million barrels of Urals Blend, was exported by Yukos, Russia's second-largest producer and destined for two ExxonMobil refineries in Texas. Yukos hopes to make six such shipments this year. (NYT, WMRC, OD)

July 3 It is revealed publicly that several large energy companies were fined a total of $122 million by the California Independent Systems Operator, the state agency that control's California's power grid for failing to deliver electricity during emergencies in the midst of California's power crisis. The largest fines were assessed against Dynegy ($44.8 million), the Williams Companies ($25.5 million), and Reliant Energy ($25.1 million). On July 26, Williams reaches a global settlement with the State of California and other power partners, including refunds for Williams' activities during the California power crisis. (NYT, OD)

July 4 Eight large energy companies conclude a framework joint-venture agreement for the development of a natural gas field in western China and a 2,500-mile "West-to-East" pipeline to transport the natural gas to eastern China. The pipeline will be designed to carry about $2 billion worth of natural gas per year. PetroChina, with a 50% stake in the project, put the pipeline and initial field development cost at $8.5 billion. Royal Dutch/Shell, ExxonMobil, and Gazprom each have a 15% stake in the venture. (NYT)

July 5 Energy merchant Reliant Resources, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, admits that the company overstated its profits for 1999, 2000, and 2001 by a cumulative $7.8 billion, of which $6.4 billion came from phantom energy trades. Phantom trading entails selling and then immediately buying back power, thereby increasing revenues, but without actual power changing hands. (OD)

July 5 The German Economics Ministry approves the takeover of Ruhrgas, Germany's largest natural gas distributor, by E. On, the world's largest non-oil energy company, also based in Germany. The approval contains a list of additional conditions that must be satisfied in order to go through with the takeover. This conditional approval overrides a previous ruling by the German cartel office, which had disallowed the takeover. The cartel office had feared that a takeover of Ruhrgas by E. On would undermine attempts to liberalize the German energy market, as the takeover will give E. On control of 60% of Germany's natural gas imports. (WMRC, NYT)

July 9 An undersea power cable with a capacity of 500 megawatts in each direction begins operation between Italy and Greece. The cable is 75% owned by Enel and 25% owned by the Greek Public Power Corporation. (WMRC)

July 10 Pricing agency Platts begins to include two additional North Sea crudes, Oseberg and Forties, in its valuation of Brent. This is an attempt to increase volumes, and hence liquidity in order to avoid market squeezes that can occur when large amounts of crude are bought by a single trading company in the context of a small overall volume. BP supports the move, but Shell opposes it. Brent serves as a benchmark price for global crude oil trade of about $150 billion per year. (Reuters)

July 17 Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri approves the formation of a new "Implementing Body" to monitor activities of oil companies operating in Indonesia. This body, whose effective date is still unclear, will replace in this role state oil company Pertamina, which had its monopoly revoked last year. Production sharing contracts will be between the new body and foreign companies, instead of between Pertamina and the foreign company. (Reuters)

July 17 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decides to raise the electricity price cap in California from $91.87 per megawatthour to $250 per megawatthour, effective October 1, 2002. The FERC proposes a computer system that will analyze bids above $91.87 per megawatthour to determine whether price gouging is occurring. Also today, the FERC announces that the current board of the California Independent System Operator (ISO), appointed by Governor Gray Davis, is not truly independent, and that a new board appointed in consultation with a number of entities involved in the energy industry must be put in place by January 2003. (LAT)

July 17 The U.S. House of Representatives votes to cut off federal funds necessary to permit new oil drilling off the coast of California. The funds would have gone toward helping oil companies act on outstanding drilling leases in federal waters. (LAT)

July 17 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez appoints Rafael Ramirez as the country's new oil minister, replacing Alvaro Silva, who was chosen in June to be OPEC's new Secretary General. Ramirez is currently head of Venezuela's state natural gas regulator, Enagas. (OD, Reuters)

July 19 Japan's Parliament passes a bill that mandates the liquidation of the heavily indebted Japan National Oil Company (JNOC), beginning in March 2004. (Reuters)

July 19 British Energy Minister Brian Wilson awards 25 new offshore oil and natural gas licenses to companies under new terms that require companies to develop fields quickly or relinquish their claims. The British government is attempting to slow production declines in the British North Sea by encouraging the use of new technologies and the involvement of small companies for whom the development of smaller fields is economic. (WMRC)

July 19 British Gas, Edison International, and Shell are given final permission by the Egyptian government to develop the Rosetta and West Delta Deep Marine offshore gas concessions for domestic consumption and export. The exported natural gas will be liquefied at a new plant under construction at Idku, near Alexandria. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be exported to France, where it is expected to eventually supply 10% of consumption. (WMRC)

July 22 Brazilian state oil company Petrobras announces that it has a preliminary accord to take over 58.6% of Perez Companc, Argentina's second-largest oil company, for $754.6 million in cash and $370.5 million in bonds. The deal would expand Petrobras' total production capacity by about 12%. (DJ, NYT)

July 23 President George Bush signs a bill into law that makes the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada the United States' central depository for nuclear waste. Use of the Yucca Mountain site required federal legislative approval because Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn had objected to the site. The U.S. House of Representatives voted for use of the site on May 9, and the U.S. Senate voted for use of the site on July 9. (AP, WP)

July 24 A report from the Saudi American Bank projects that Saudi Arabia's budget deficit will be about $5.1 billion for 2002, a reduction of the kingdom's earlier official forecast of a $12 billion deficit. The report attributes the lower projection to higher-than-expected oil prices. (Reuters)

July 25 Israel cancels a natural gas pipeline tender after Paz Oil and Africa Israel Investments run out of time to build a viable consortium. Israel intends to build a significant natural gas production/importation capacity, but this will be impossible without a natural gas pipeline network. The failure to attract a major international partner after Tractebel of Belgium pulled out in April 2002 and BG pulled out of any deal earlier this month is seen as the reason for the cancellation. (WMRC)

July 26 Russia releases plans to build five more nuclear reactors in Iran as part of a ten-year plan for enhancing political, economic, and scientific ties with Iran. Russia is currently constructing a 1,000-megawatt light water reactor for Iran at Bushehr. (WP)

July 26 The U.S. Department of Energy announces that it intends to increase the rate at which the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is filled by increasing the "royalty-in-kind" exchange program by 40,000 barrels per day. Under the "royalty-in-kind" program, oil companies deposit oil that is produced on federal leases in the SPR as a form of payment for those leases. (OD)

July 29 Dynegy agrees to sell its Northern Natural Gas pipeline unit to Berkshire Hathaway's MidAmerican Energy Holdings for $928 million. In addition, MidAmerican will assume $950 million in outstanding debt. Dynegy is raising its cash reserves in order to carry out a restructuring plan. (DJ)

July 29 President George Bush announces that he has submitted legislation to Congress as part of his "Clear Skies" initiative that he claims will reduce power plant emissions 70% by 2018 using market incentives. (NYT)

July 29 Russia announces that it has granted state-owned medium-sized oil firms Rosneft and Zarubejneft the right to develop jointly with Kazakhstan a large oil structure known as Kurmangazy in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. Some analysts believe that Kurmangazy may be as large as Kazakhstan's Kashagan field, which is the largest oil discovery of the past thirty years. (Reuters)

July 29 Norway and the European Commission (EC) resolve their dispute over non-competitive natural gas sales. Norway had previously ended its monopoly gas sales committee (GFU), but the EC had threatened to invalidate long-term contracts negotiated when the GFU was still in place. In return for the closure of EC action against Norway, Norway agrees to sell an additional 530 billion cubic feet of natural gas to new customers in the European Union. (WMRC)

July 30 Estonia closes the energy chapter of its accession negotiations with the European Union. Estonia receives special status for its shale oil industry, which provides about 65% of the country's primary energy supply. (WMRC)

July 31 ChevronTexaco announces the resumption of crude oil exports from Nigeria after protests and a fire caused the company to declare force majeure on its exports for a ten-day period. Between 300,000 and 400,000 barrels per day were temporarily halted. ChevronTexaco has not fully resolved the issues between the company and protestors who disrupt operations. Before the fire, about 110,000 barrels per day were interrupted at times by protestors. Nigeria's army moved in to prevent protestors from damaging equipment, but declined to remove the protestors from the facilities. (DJ)

July 31 In the most far-reaching regulatory proposal to potentially affect U.S. energy markets since 1996's FERC order that gave new competitors access to utility power lines, the FERC releases a 600-page "Standard Market Design" that outlines "best practices" of wholesale markets regionally and internationally. If the plan were implemented, it would make the new rules uniform throughout the United States, eliminating incompatibility problems. (DJ)

July 31 China begins using a new $450 million, 780-mile petroleum products pipeline, the longest product pipeline in China. The pipeline can move 5 million metric tons of petroleum products per year (about 108,000 barrels per day) from Gansu province to the southwestern cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. (Reuters)

August 1 BP Chief Executive John Browne announces that the company will be investing $15 billion through 2010 in the development and production of deepwater oil and natural gas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. (Reuters)

August 1 U.S. President Bush extends U.S. sanctions against Iraq for another year, having notified the U.S. Congress that the government of Saddam Hussein continued to act in ways "hostile to U.S. interests." (Reuters)

August 2 The U.S. Office of Management and Budget approves U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations that authorize new penalties for manufacturers of diesel engines that exceed various pollutant levels, to take effect October 1, 2002. The new rules are part of long-term plan, begun in the previous administration, to require diesel trucks and buses to reduce emissions by 90% by 2007. (NYT)

August 4 Russia announces that cooperation with Iran in the area of nuclear energy will be limited to the construction of one nuclear reactor, already under way, at Bushehr. This would appear to cancel plans released July 26 to build up to five additional reactors in Iran and expand scientific ties. (WSJ)

August 5 Algeria formally requests an increase in its current 693,000-barrel-per-day OPEC crude oil production quota. The request will be examined later this month at a meeting of OPEC's Board of Governors, before being submitted to the full OPEC ministerial conference in September. (Reuters)

August 5 Nigerian Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy Rilwanu Lukman announces that Nigeria's crude oil production capacity is now 2.6 million barrels per day and that its reserves are now 32 billion barrels, up from 26 billion barrels in 1999. Nigeria's current OPEC crude oil production quota is 1.79 million barrels per day. (Reuters)

August 7 Mexican Energy Minister Ernesto Martens announces that Mexico will continue to limit its crude oil exports to 1.66 million barrels per day, in coordination with OPEC, although Mexico is not a member of the cartel. Mexico is the only major non-OPEC exporter cooperating with the cartel, after Norway and Russia ended their cooperation earlier in the year. (Reuters)

August 7 Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abderrahmane Chalgam indicates that Libya may be ready to pay compensation for the 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people and to address U.N. demands that it accept responsibility for the attack. The statement comes during the visit of a high-ranking British official to Libya for the first time since relations between the two countries were restored. (Reuters)

August 9 Brazilian state oil company Petrobras announces that it has discovered a very large oil field off the coast of the state of Espirito Santo. Petrobras said in a statement to the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange that the find has an estimated 600 million barrels of oil reserves. (Reuters)

August 15 Dynegy settles a lawsuit with Enron over their failed $9 billion merger with a payment of $25 million plus $62.9 million already held in escrow by Enron, ending a potential $10 billion lawsuit that was a major uncertainty for current and potential investors in Dynegy. This settlement also clears the way for Dynegy's July sale of the $928 million Northern Natural Gas Pipeline to MidAmerican Energy to go through. Had it not gone through because of claims from an Enron lawsuit, Dynegy would have faced a possible separate lawsuit from MidAmerican Energy. (Reuters)

August 19 An OPEC report has OPEC 10 (i.e. excluding Iraq) producing at 1.8 million barrels per day above the quota of 21.7 million barrels per day for the month of July. This production rate is 338,000 barrels per day greater than the revised June figure reported by OPEC. (Reuters)

August 19 Mexican President Vicente Fox puts forth a bill to the Mexican Congress that would modify certain parts of the Mexican constitution in order to allow private companies to sell electricity directly to corporations and other large consumers. This is part of an effort to increase generation capacity through private investment, though passage of the bill by the congress is not assured. (WMRC)

August 20 The NYMEX near-month crude oil futures price closes above $30 per barrel for the first time since February 2001. Concern over possible conflict in Iraq, OPEC quotas, and declining crude oil and product stocks are among the factors leading to a nine-straight-session rise in NYMEX prices. (Reuters)

August 21 Williams of the United States agrees to sell its 33% stake in Lithuania's Mazeikiai Nafta oil company to Yukos of Russia for $85 million. This will give Yukos, which already has a 26.85% share, control of the company. Mazeikiai Nafta owns Lithuania's (and the Baltic republics of Former Soviet Union's) only refinery and accounts for about 10% of the country's GDP. (WMRC)

August 23 The state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announces that it has reached a preliminary agreement to buy a stake in Australian natural gas fields for $320 million. The 5% stake in the Northwest Shelf gas fields comes on the heels of an agreement by CNOOC on August 8 to buy between $11 billion and $13 billion worth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the field over the next 25 years. (NYT)

August 25 Mexican state oil company Pemex announces that will invest $4.3 billion over the next eight years in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap project in Campeche Sound. Pemex commented that "With these works it is estimated that in the year 2011 the development of the Ku-Maloob-Zaap project will reach its maximum in production of Maya crude of some 800,000 barrels per day, compared with 263,000 barrels per day currently being extracted." (Reuters)

August 28 Norway and the United Kingdom unveil a joint plan to strengthen cooperation on their North Sea oil and natural gas fields. The plan aims to boost output, cut operational costs and promote cross-border cooperation in an effort to save energy companies $2 billion by 2010. (Reuters)

August 29 U.S. Vice President Cheney states that a new round of U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq is likely to be insufficient to guarantee that Iraq has ended its biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons programs. That same day, Iraqi Vice President Ramadan declares that future inspections by the United Nations are a "waste of time," as the U.S. administration has already decided upon "changing the regime by force." (WP)

August 30 The Federal Trade Commission approves the merger of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum after the two companies agree to sell certain assets to maintain competition in gasoline refining and marketing and other business sectors. The $15.12 billion merger will create the world's sixth-largest publicly-held oil and natural gas company, to be based in Houston. (DJ)

September 2 The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) denies reports that Iran had decided to suspend all new oil development deals with foreign companies for one year. Iran has not signed any new oil agreements with foreign companies for about 14 months. The buy-back deals that Iran uses with foreign companies are not favored by some in the Iranian government. (WMRC)

September 4 Researchers at the University of California-Riverside release findings of a study confirming that two Japanese automobile manufacturers have developed gasoline engines that meet super ultra-low emissions standards, standards heretofore only achieved by gasoline-electric hybrids. The engines require specially formulated gasoline in order to achieve these results. This may pave the way for more stringent California emissions standards to take effect in the future. (LAT)

September 7 Venezuela resumes shipments of oil to Cuba under a unique preferential sales agreement, some five months after they were suspended during the brief April coup and a failure by Cuba to keep up with its payments. Opponents of President Chavez accuse him of squandering Venezuela's resources by selling oil at less than market rates and/or conditions to Cuba. (Reuters)

September 11 The International Energy Agency's (IEA) monthly oil market report notes that global oil stock levels have fallen to "uncomfortably low" levels that could lead to higher prices and more price volatility in the coming months. According to the IEA, OECD crude oil inventories fell by 790,000 barrels per day in August compared with July. (DJ)

September 11 The European Union (EU) releases a plan for coordination of member countries' crude oil reserves, including raising the minimum level of national oil stocks to 120 days of consumption from 90 days and putting one third of reserves into a stockpile which could be drawn on in times of crisis. The European Commission would have the power to release oil from the stockpile onto the market if prices rose to a level that, if sustained for a year, would raise the EU's external oil bill by an amount equal to 0.5% of its gross domestic product. Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio predicts that the new system will be in place in 2007. (Reuters)

September 12 California Governor Gray Davis signs a bill into law that will require the State's private utilities to increase the share of electricity coming from renewable sources by 1% per year, such that a level of 20% for all utilities in California is reached by 2017. The bill also has a provision for renewable power to receive a partial subsidy. (LAT)

September 12 U.S. President George Bush addresses the United Nations. President Bush declares in regard to Iraq that "The Security Council resolutions will be enforced -- the just demands of peace and security will be met -- or action will be unavoidable…and a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power." (Reuters)

September 13 The World Bank approves lending for a controversial oil pipeline between Chad and Cameroon. The bank is funding $140 million of the $4 billion project to develop the oil fields of Doba in southern Chad and construct a 665-mile pipeline to an offshore oil-loading facility on Cameroon's Atlantic coast. (Reuters)

September 15 Iran awards a $1.6 billion contract to a consortium of Iranian and South Korean companies to develop phases nine and ten of the South Pars natural gas field. The South Korean companies will have a 42% stake, and the contract will be foreign financed, a change from Iran's usual practice of buyback deals. The South Pars natural gas field is estimated to have resources of about 280 trillion cubic feet. (DJ)

September 16 Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri sends a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan indicating that Iraq will accept the return of U.N. weapons inspectors "without conditions." The following day, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz says, "All the reasons for an attack have been eliminated," though White House spokesman Scott McClellan describes the move as "a tactical step" to avoid strong U.N. Security Council action, going on to say, "As such, it is a tactic that will fail." On September 19, Foreign Minister Sabri asserts that Iraq is free of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. (Reuters)
September 17 A report released by the California Public Utilities Commission alleges that five independent power producers-Duke, Dynegy, Mirant, Reliant, and Williams-deliberately withheld output during California's 2000-2001 energy crisis in order to drive up prices, sometimes precipitating blackouts. Independent Energy Producers, a trade group representing the companies, has denied the allegations of the report. (DJ)

September 18 Work begins on the $2.9 billion Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline, which will transport oil from the landlocked Caspian Sea to Turkey's Mediterranean coast. The BP-led pipeline will be 1,110 miles long when completed in 2005. Work begins on the Turkish section on September 26. (Reuters)

September 18 According to United Nations officials and representatives of the oil industry, Iraq has stopped attempting to impose illegal surcharges on oil it sells through the United Nations' "Oil-for-Food" program. Though the surcharges have provided funds to the regime, Iraq may be attempting to cooperate more closely with U.N. resolutions in the face of increased scrutiny by the United States and Britain. (DJ)

September 19 OPEC, meeting in Osaka, Japan, decides that its ten members subject to quotas (i.e. excluding Iraq) will not raise their current 21.7-million-barrel-per-day production ceiling. However, OPEC's communiqué states that OPEC is committed "to taking any further measures, including convening extraordinary meetings when deemed necessary…to maintain prices [OPEC basket price] within the range of $22-$28 [per barrel]." Also at the meeting, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah is appointed as the new OPEC President, replacing Rilwanu Lukman of Nigeria. (DJ)

September 19 The German government approves the $10 billion merger of energy conglomerates E. On and Ruhrgas with tougher conditions than the previous conditional approval granted by the Economics Ministry on July 5. A German court had since ruled that July 5 approval unlawful due to certain procedural flaws. E. On and Ruhrgas indicate that they will accept the new conditions. (DJ)

September 24 Energy trading company Dynegy agrees to pay a $3 million fine to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fraud investigation. The SEC had specifically investigated Dynegy's use of so-called "special purpose entities" in its accounting and "round trip" energy transactions that can improperly inflate a company's revenue. (DJ)

September 24 Tropical Storm Isidore halts most of the U.S. Gulf's 1.4-million-barrel-per-day crude oil production, as well as about one-third of the region's natural gas production, for a short time. The storm also temporarily halts oil imports and shuts down the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). Some Gulf coast refineries reduce their output. On September 30, oil and natural gas workers are forced to again evacuate offshore platforms as Hurricane Lili approaches. (Reuters)

September 24 The United Nations confirms that Iraq's oil exports under the U.N. "Oil-for-Food" program jumped to 1.9 million barrels per day last week, more than doubling the 914,285-barrel-per-day rate for the prior week. This is the highest export rate since the current phase of the program began (5/20/02). The increase is largely due to Iraq's informing oil companies earlier in the month that Iraq will no longer demand an illegal surcharge on its export sales. (DJ)

September 26 Indonesia's state oil firm Pertamina and China's National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) sign a $8.5 billion deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a terminal in China's Fujian province. Under the terms of the deal, CNOOC will be supplied with 2.6 million metric tons of LNG per year from the giant Tangguh field in the remote eastern Indonesian province of Papua, 49.66% owned by BP, Britain's BG Group holds a 10.73% stake in Tangguh, whose other shareholders include a string of Japanese firms such as Mitsubishi, Nippon and Kanematsu. On September 27, CNOOC indicates that it will buy from BP an additional 12.5% stake in the project. (Reuters)

September 27 The U.S. Federal Trade Commission gives conditional approval of Shell's $1.8 billion acquisition of Pennzoil-Quaker State, one of the largest producers of motor oil and other lubricants. (DJ)

September 27 The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announces that U.S. crude oil reserves increased by 1.8% in 2001. Total discoveries of crude oil in existing and new fields totaled 2.565 billion barrels in 2001, and oil reserve additions exceeded domestic crude production by 21%. Separately, dry natural gas proved reserves jumped by 3.4% or 22.758 trillion cubic feet, as additional natural gas reserves exceeded output by 31%. (Reuters)

September 29 Union workers at Mexican state oil company Pemex accept a lower raise than initially requested, but higher than management's first offer, averting a threatened strike that would have seriously affected production had it gone on for any extended period of time. Mexico is among the top three crude oil suppliers to the United States. (DJ)

October 2 Brazilian state oil company Petrobras announces that it exported more oil than it imported for the first time in the company's history in the month of July. Petrobras President Francisco Gros asserts, "This is the beginning of a trend on a growth basis." Production has increased in Brazil's Campos Basin, where Petrobras recently made a very large find. (Reuters)

October 3 Hurricane Lili makes landfall on the U.S. Gulf coast after passing through offshore hydrocarbon production areas and the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). Nearly all offshore production (about 1.5 million barrels per day of oil production), as well as some onshore refineries, the LOOP and the Capline crude oil pipeline are shut down. Refineries and offshore operations begin to come back on line on October 4, with most operations fully online by the second half of the month. There is little permanent damage. (Reuters)

October 6 A French oil tanker chartered by Malaysian state oil company Petronas is attacked off the coast of Yemen, seriously damaging the ship and killing one crew member. The VLCC, with about 400,000 barrels of oil aboard, catches fire. The tanker does not sink, and is towed to port. Later, investigators determine that a terrorist suicide attack by a small boat is the cause of the explosion. The tanker was on its way to load additional oil in Yemen when attacked. (Reuters, DJ)

October 9 American Electric Power (AEP) admits that some of its traders provided inaccurate energy price data to a major publisher of pricing indexes. This follows a disclosure by Dynegy in September that some of its traders also provided inaccurate energy price data to pricing indexes. Regulators are investigating traders for providing incorrect information in order to manipulate energy markets. (WSJ)

October 9 The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases data showing that crude oil stocks in the previous week fell to their lowest levels (270.5 million barrels) since the agency began keeping weekly records over 20 years ago. Crude oil stocks have fallen by over 50 million barrels since February of this year and are now 39 million barrels below the year ago level and only 0.5 million above the EIA's "Lower Operational Inventory." While not implying shortages, operational problems, or price increases, the Lower Operational Inventory means that supply flexibility could be constrained. (Reuters)

October 10 The International Court of Justice at The Hague rules that Cameroon is the rightful owner of the Bakassi Peninsula in the Gulf of Guinea, which Nigeria also has claimed. The Bakassi Peninsula is suspected of containing significant oil reserves, particularly offshore. On October 23, Nigeria issues a statement refusing to withdraw its military or officials from the peninsula. (NYT, Reuters)

October 10 Construction is completed on a new oil terminal at Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti. Annual capacity of the new terminal is two million metric tons of oil (about 40,000 barrels per day). The second phase of the project, envisaging construction of another four reservoirs aimed at raising the terminal's capacity to four million tons (80,000 barrels per day), is expected to be completed by June 2003. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan transport the oil from their fields by rail over the strip of land between the Caspian Sea and Georgia's Black Sea ports. (Reuters)

October 10 The European Commission announces that the European Union (EU) will dramatically increase its spending on fuel cell research by spending $2.09 billion over the next three years. During the previous three years, the EU had only spent about $118 million, far less than Japan or the United States. (WSJ)

October 11 The U.S. Senate votes to give President George Bush the authority to use force, if necessary, to persuade Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to abandon programs for the development of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar measure the previous day. This moves the focus of debate to the U.N. Security Council. (Reuters)

October 11 The International Energy Agency, in its Monthly Oil Market Report, reduces its forecast of world oil demand growth in 2003 by 100,000 barrels per day, to 1.04 million barrels per day. According to the report, "The cut [in the demand forecast] reflects the slowdown of the U.S. and global economic recovery, the impact of high oil prices on oil consumption and the broader economy." (Reuters)

October 14 U.S.-based TXU announces that it will withdraw financial support for its European units and put them up for sale. TXU's largest European business, in Britain, has 5.6 million retail electricity customers. Analysts point to problems with Britain's new deregulated electricity market, in which wholesale electricity prices have fallen 40% in the past 18 months. Many companies are having difficulties covering their generation costs in the new system. (NYT, WSJ)

October 17 The former head of Enron's western energy trading desk pleads guilty to wire fraud in connection with schemes to manipulate California's wholesale electricity market in 2000 and 2001. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson states that the government's investigation into illicit profits made by energy companies during the California power crisis "is active and ongoing." The crisis cost consumers and taxpayers billions of dollars. (WSJ)

October 21 U.S. President George W. Bush signs a law that will impose certain financial penalties on the Sudan if the government there is found not to be negotiating in good faith to end the 19-year civil war in that country. Talks between the government of the Sudan and rebels representing the Christian and Animist south are underway, with a truce to have begun October 17. (Reuters)

October 22 ExxonMobil signs a $3 billion agreement with the government of China to produce refined petroleum and petrochemical products in China under its own brand name. ExxonMobil will build a $3 billion integrated refinery and ethylene complex in southeastern China's Fujian province. ExxonMobil will have a 25% stake in the 160,000-barrel-per-day refinery and the 800,000-metric ton-per-year ethylene plant. Sinopec's unit Fujian Petrochemical Co. Ltd. will hold a 50% stake and Saudi Arabia Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, will control the remaining 25%. The project is expected to start operations in 2006. (Reuters)

October 22 A report released by Salomon Smith Barney shows that U.S. refining margins have risen to their highest level since September 2001, at $5.88 per barrel, which is approximately triple the August 2002 low point. (Reuters)

October 22 Venezuela's Minister of Finance forecasts the Venezuelan economy to contract by 4.8% to 5% for 2002, despite relatively high oil prices. Venezuela's government has been dealing with a number of nationwide strikes, as well as high-ranking military officers calling for the end of the government of Hugo Chavez. (Reuters)

October 23 China approves reforms of the country's electric power market, including the break-up of the monopoly State Power Corporation into five generation and two grid corporations, encouraging some competition in the world's second-largest power market as well as better linking of fragmented transmission networks. (Reuters)

October 24 The Nigerian Senate approves a bill put forward by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and already passed by the Nigerian House of Representatives, which will give state governments a share of revenues from offshore oil and gas. This law reverses a decision by the Nigerian Supreme Court in April 2002 that awarded all offshore oil revenues to the central government. Several state governments protested that decision and warned that instability in the Niger delta region was likely to occur unless that decision were reversed. (Reuters)

October 28 Statoil of Norway signs a $300 million deal with Iran's semi-state Petropars company to become an operator in the Pars offshore Iranian natural gas field (Phases Six, Seven, and Eight), part of a $2.6-billion project. This is part of a concerted Iranian effort to increase foreign investment in its oil sector, and is Statoil's first major investment in Iran. (Reuters)

October 30 White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer denies that the United States has any interest in taking over Iraq's oil fields if there were a military conflict. When asked if the United States would take over Iraq's oil fields if the U.S. attacked Iraq, Fleischer responded: "No. The purpose of any plan the United States has is to make certain that Saddam Hussein complies with all U.N. resolutions…The only interest the United States has in the region is furthering the cause of peace and stability ... not his [Saddam Hussein's] country's ability to generate oil." (Reuters)

November 1 Greece, Bulgaria, and Russia agree to equal stakes in the $699 million Trans-Balkan Pipeline. The 159-mile pipeline will bypass the Bosphorus Strait in order to bring Russian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Mediterranean port of Alexandroupolis. The pipeline will be able to carry about 697,000 barrels per day. (Reuters)

November 3 The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline is shut down temporarily after a major earthquake in Alaska. The pipeline transports about 1 million barrels of oil per day from the North Slope oil fields to the port of Valdez. The pipeline restarts November 6. (Reuters)

November 5 A report from Salomon Smith Barney indicates that average U.S. gross refining margins jumped 64 cents per barrel to $6.31 per barrel of crude oil distilled for the week ended November 2. This is the highest level since September 11, 2001, caused in part by "drawdowns in stocks of gasoline and distillate as refineries struggle to increase utilization rates," according to the report. (Reuters)

November 7 KazTransOil, the operator of Kazakhstan's oil pipeline network, announces plans to upgrade the 429-mile crude oil export pipeline from Atyrau to Samara in Russia from a current capacity of about 16.5 million metric tons per year (about 329,000 barrels per day) to a capacity of 25 million metric tons per year (about 498,000 barrels per day), potentially increasing exports. This is one of only two oil export pipelines in Kazakhstan. (WMRC)

November 8 The United Nations (UN) Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1441, that Iraq must accept or reject within seven days, giving United Nations inspectors the unconditional right to search anywhere in Iraq for banned weapons. Furthermore, Iraq will have to make an "accurate full and complete" declaration of its nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic weapons and related materials used in civilian industries within 30 days. The resolution requires violations to be reported back to the Security Council by inspectors before any actions could be taken against Iraq for violating weapons bans. (Reuters)

November 12 Canada's most populous province, Ontario, ends electricity deregulation that had begun on May 1 of this year. Electricity prices have risen by more than 25% since deregulation began and the provincial government will be issuing refunds to consumers to offset some of the extra cost. (WMRC)

November 13 In a letter to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan, Iraq accepts UN Security Council resolution 1441 of November 8, granting UN inspectors the right to conduct unfettered inspections in Iraq, "despite its bad contents." In the letter, Iraq also denies that it possesses any weapons of mass destruction. (AP)

November 14 The TengizChevroil consortium, a consortium of companies led by operator ChevronTexaco that is developing the estimated 2.7-billion-barrel Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan, announces that the consortium has decided to indefinitely suspend investment in the second phase of the project. Production from the first phase was about 12.5 million metric tons in 2001 (about 249,000 barrels per day). The second phase would require about $3 billion of investment in order to boost the project's output by about 3 million metric tons per year (about 60,000 barrels per day). (WMRC)

November 14 U.S. President George W. Bush decides that November will be the last month that the U.S. government finances fuel oil shipments to North Korea. The shipments are part of a 1994 arms control agreement with North Korea, and are being halted after revelations of a covert North Korean nuclear weapons program in violation of that agreement. The decision is later backed by Japan, South Korea, and the European Union, the other three entities that comprise the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, which administers the fuel oil shipments. (NYT, WP)

November 15 The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an emergency crude oil stockpile administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, reaches 592 million barrels, the largest amount in the reserve since it was initiated in 1977. (Reuters)

November 18 The tanker Prestige, loaded with 24 million gallons of Russian fuel oil, splits in two and sinks 155 miles off the coast of northwest Spain. The tanker, flying a Bahamian flag and owned by a Liberian company based in Athens, Greece, spills about 2.5 million gallons of the fuel oil from a crack before sinking, polluting beaches in the region and harming marine life. Fuel oil may continue leaking from the sunken ship. (WSJ, WP)

November 18 BG (formerly British Gas) announces that it will build a $322 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Brindisi, Italy, having finally been granted approval by government authorities to go ahead with the construction, due to be completed in 2006. The terminal will initially be able to handle imports of 3 million metric tons per year, imported from Egypt. This will be Italy's second LNG terminal. (WMRC)

November 19 Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo calls on Energy Secretary Vincent Perez to keep Meralco (the Manila Electric Supply Company) functioning. Meralco, which supplies 60% of the Philippines' electricity, is facing bankruptcy as the Philippines Supreme Court ordered the company to pay compensation for overcharging going back to 1994. The court later orders the company to pay over $500 million. The government already owns 10% of the company, but the company refuses a proposed government intervention on November 25 that would offer government support in exchange for greater government control. (WMRC)

November 22 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces that it will change certain rules regarding industrial air pollution. According to the EPA, these changes will encourage plant improvements to clean the air, though critics describe the changes as a loosening of rules requiring plants to invest in pollution control equipment when modernizing. (NYT)

November 25 European Union energy ministers reach an agreement allowing consumers to choose their natural gas and electricity suppliers by 2007. An accord reached on March 16, 2002, allowed large companies to be able to choose their suppliers by 2004. (WSJ)

November 25 The International Energy Agency (IEA) announces that its members are prepared to insert large quantities of oil into the world market on short notice, in case of any supply disruption. IEA Executive Director Robert Piddle states: "From public, or government stocks, we could release as much as 12 million barrels a day in the first month." (WSJ)

November 25 The United Nations Security Council extends the "Oil-for-Food" program that permits Iraq to sell oil for a nine-day period, instead of the usual six-month phase, in order to give Security Council members time to reach agreement on which goods would be placed on the so-called "goods review list" which are goods that require approval before Iraq can use its revenues to purchase them. (DJ)

November 26 Alaska State officials and representatives of six oil companies sign an agreement extending the lease agreement between those companies and the state for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline by 30 years, to 2034. The trans-Alaska pipeline delivers nearly a fifth of domestically produced oil and has shipped over 13.5 billion barrels of crude since it began operations in 1977. (Reuters)

November 26 Murphy Oil of the United States announces the discovery of 400-700 million barrels of oil in the Kikeh field off the coast of Malaysia's Sabah region on the island of Borneo. This is one of the largest discoveries in Southeast Asia in recent years. (WMRC)

November 26 Exxon Mobil and TotalFinaElf sign an agreement with the government of Qatar for the construction of a 146,000-barrel-per-day gas condensate refinery. The two companies will also each hold a 10% stake in the refinery, to be completed in 2006. The remainder will be owned by state-owned Qatargas. (WMRC)

November 27 Officials of four of Russia's largest oil companies, Lukoil, Yukos, Sibneft, and Tyumen, announce a preliminary agreement for a joint project to build a $1.5 billion dollar Arctic oil port near the town of Murmansk. This would enable Russia to expand ocean-going tanker exports. (WSJ)

November 27 Congo (Brazzaville) Oil Minister Jean-Baptiste Tati announces that Congo and Angola have reached an agreement for the development of oil deposits on their maritime border, estimated at about 950 million barrels. The two countries will split royalties 50-50 from a consortium headed by ChevronTexaco to develop the area. (WMRC)

December 1 State-owned Venezuelan oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA), Royal Dutch/Shell, and Mitsubishi sign an agreement for the development of the $2.7 billion Mariscal Sucre liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The project, if completed, would produce 4.7 million metric tons of LNG per year, all for export. (Reuters)

December 2 ChevronTexaco announces that it has submitted an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to build a U.S. Gulf Coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal. The terminal, to begin operations in 2006, would be an offshore facility with an initial design capacity of about 800 million cubic feet per day of gas. (Reuters)

December 2 Business and labor groups in Venezuela, including employees of state-oil company PdVSA, begin a strike in order to obtain an early referendum on the rule of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The strike has little effect on its first day, but as the strike continues through the end of the month, oil production, refinery runs, and crude oil and refined petroleum product exports fall dramatically. Several refineries in the Caribbean dependent on Venezuelan crude are also adversely affected. This has a serious impact on the Venezuelan economy, but no agreement between President Chávez and the opposition forces leading the strike is reached by the end of the month. (Reuters)

December 4 The United Nations (U.N.) Oil-for-Food program is unanimously renewed by the Security Council for another six months, and shortly thereafter accepted by the Iraqi government. The Oil-for-Food program allows Iraq to sell unlimited quantities of oil, with revenues going into a U.N. account that pays vendors for approved goods that Iraq orders. (Reuters)

December 4 The government of Russia sells off 5.9 percent of Lukoil for $775 million, further privatizing the oil company and giving the government additional funding to service the foreign debt. (Reuters)

December 9 The government of India announces that it will sell a large stake in Hindustan Petroleum, India's largest oil refining company, as well as shares in Bharat Petroleum, India's largest fuel retailer. The government is currently the majority stakeholder in both companies, but does not detail how much of its stakes will be sold nor a timetable for the sale. (NYT)

December 10 The Canadian House of Commons (the lower house of Parliament) votes to support government plans to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gases. Although the government is empowered to approve the treaty without parliamentary approval, the vote gives support to the government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who states after the vote that he intends to ratify the treaty. (Reuters)

December 12 A federal regulatory judge at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rules that energy companies overcharged California consumers by $1.8 billion during the 2000-2001 power crisis. This is less than the $8.9 billion that the State of California had sought in refunds. However, the FERC is still considering some allegations of price manipulation by electricity and natural gas suppliers and a final ruling is not expected until March 2003. (WP)

December 12 The government of Iraq cancels a $3.8 billion contract with three Russian companies-Lukoil, Zarubezhnest, and Machinoimport-to develop the very large West Qurna oilfield. Although the reasoning for the decision is not made clear by Iraq, it is thought that it is in response to Russian political decisions regarding United Nations inspections and the Oil-for-Food program. (NYT)

December 12 OPEC oil ministers, meeting in Vienna, decide to raise OPEC-10's (i.e. excluding Iraq) total production quota from 21.7 million barrels per day to 23 million barrels per day. OPEC ministers also urge strict compliance with the new quotas in an effort to cut back production, as OPEC-10 production is widely regarded to be exceeding even the new production quota of 23 million barrels per day. (LAT)

December 12 The government of North Korea announces that it will end a freeze on the use of nuclear power in response to last month's decision by the United States and its allies to end fuel oil shipments to North Korea. (Reuters)

December 13 Statistics are released in Japan indicating that the country's ten electric power utilities increased their oil consumption 164 percent in November 2002, compared with November 2001. The thermal electric plants had to make up for the temporary closure of several nuclear power plants. (Reuters)

December 13 It is reported that Reliance Industries has discovered recoverable reserves equal to more than five trillion cubic feet of natural gas, one of the world's biggest discoveries this year, in the Krishna Godavari basin, offshore Andhra Pradesh, India. Cairn Energy has also found an additional 800 billion cubic feet of natural gas while drilling in an adjacent block of the sea floor. (NYT)

December 16 The near-month crude oil futures price on the NYMEX tops $30 per barrel for the first time since October 2, as the general strike in Venezuela impacts the world oil market. Later in the month, on December 27, the near-month crude oil futures price rises to $32.72 per barrel, the highest price since November 2000. (WSJ, AP)

December 16 Croatia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary sign an agreement for the integration of the Druzhba and Adria oil pipelines, which would enable Russia to increase exports of its crude oil to the Mediterranean and other world markets through the Croatian deep-sea port of Omisalj. The project is expected to cost about $300 million and involve a gradual increase of exports from five million metric tons to 15 million metric tons of crude oil per year (100,000 to 300,000 barrels per day). Completion of the first stage is planned for the end of 2003. (Reuters)

December 17 The U.S. Department of Energy allows several oil companies to postpone delivery of an additional 430,000 barrels of crude oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to keep more oil in the market during the strike in Venezuela. The oil companies will have to deliver the oil at a later date. (Reuters)

December 18 New estimates are released by the United States Geological Survey showing that oil reserves in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States are about 1.9 billion barrels. This figure is about two-thirds of the 2.76 billion barrels estimated previously, in 1995. (AP)

December 19 U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell declares that Iraq is in "material breach" of United Nations resolutions after reviewing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction declaration released December 7 to the United Nations. States Powell: "Our [U.S.] experts have found it to be anything but currently accurate, full or complete. The Iraqi declaration ... totally fails to meet the resolution's requirements." (Reuters)

December 28 A tanker with 22 million gallons of gasoline arrives in Venezuela from Brazil, providing crucial supplies to the country, as the strike by employees of state-oil company PdVSA has meant severe reductions in refinery runs in that country. Crude oil production, that was in excess of 3 million barrels per day before the strike, is less than 500,000 barrels per day for many days in December. (WSJ)

December 29 Acting Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al Sabah says that Kuwait can keep producing and exporting oil in the event of a military conflict in Iraq. States Al Sabah: "I can't go into details of this plan, but I can guarantee that production will continue, exports will continue...and I believe we can also meet the commitments we have made to our clients abroad." (Reuters)

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File last modified: February 12, 2003

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