Friday, August 29, 2008

NBC, Pickens Spar Over Foreign Oil Ad

NBC, Pickens Spar Over Foreign Oil Ad
By Steve McClellan
Aug 28
Adweek


Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens doesn't take no for an answer. At least he didn't when NBC -- and sibling cable networks CNBC and MSNBC -- apparently rejected his latest ad stating the case for the U.S. to decrease its dependence on foreign oil.

In the war of words that ensued, Pickens won his fight to get the spot on all three nets.

The ad was rejected Tuesday, according to sources in the Pickens camp, for making unsubstantiated claims and for being "controversial." NBC issued a statement late Wednesday declaring that it never made a final decision on whether to broadcast the commercial.

Clearly, Pickens believed the ad had been barred. On Wednesday, his lawyers sent a letter to NBC and he appeared on Fox News' Neil Cavuto program to express his dismay. A copy of the "lawyer letter" was made public by Pickens at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Two hours later, a source close to Pickens said NBC accepted the ad for all three networks.

The latest ad is a 15-second spot that says Iran is re-engineering domestic cars to run on natural gas so it can sell more oil abroad at hefty rates, while "we're not doing a thing" in the U.S. to cut consumption.

A source said NBC initially rejected the ad on two grounds: controversial subject matter and failure to support the statement that nothing is being done to cut domestic consumption. "The ad is not acceptable for air on the NBC network because the spots address controversial issues and it is our policy not to air ads addressing such issues on our network," NBC wrote in rejecting the ad, said a source who read the letter to Adweek.

In addition, the network said the ad was not acceptable for air on the networks "because you have not established to our satisfaction that there is a reasonable basis for the claim that 'we are not doing a thing here."'

Pickens and his team were puzzled because all the previous ads they placed, including 60-second spots that the networks did air, were at least equally controversial. For example, in one previous spot, Pickens says when it comes to domestic oil reserves, America should "drill, drill, drill."

The letter sent to NBC on Pickens' behalf by the Washington law firm Patton Boggs and dated August 27 charged the network with "selectively applying the First Amendment and denying your viewers access to information that is important to their education and understanding of the issue of energy independence."

In a statement issued Wednesday evening after approving the ad, NBC said: "We have been airing seven of the eight advertisements that were submitted for broadcast by T. Boone Pickens. As we were in the process of clearing the eighth, Mr. Pickens released his statement prematurely."

The statement did not address why the network sent Pickens a notice on Tuesday that appeared to reject the ad.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Crude Oil Production - August Update

Crude Oil Production - August Update

rnkCountrybl---------blΔΔΔ
------x------------prevhighlow
------xMarAprMay---AprMayAug
---Country---x200820082008x200820052007
------------------------------
1Saudi Arabiax920091009400x300-200800
2Russiax933492969315x19415-75
3USx513951625166x4-414253
4Iranx400040004004x4-96104
5Chinax376937513811x6020065
6Mexicox284727672798x31-643-45
7UAEx271027102710x030851
8Kuwaitx260026002609x9109109
9Canadax259525462590x44230-208
10Iraqx230323032453x150550550
11Venezuelax244024402440x0-100-4
12Norwayx220921112247x136-548112
13Nigeriax233021302060x-70-630-320
14Angolax200320092015x6845285
15Algeriax186518951895x012071
16Brazilx175017971815x1812657
17Libyax174017181700x-18700
18UKx145314991486x-13-257258
19Kazakhstanx139813681357x-11-1730
20Azerbaijanx913939976x3757694
21Indonesiax975964965x1-10713
22Qatarx920934938x410373
23Omanx755748721x-27-4619
24Indiax705702701x-1198
25Egyptx609609609x0-47-70
26Malaysiax623607597x-104310
27Columbiax562567579x124851
28Argentinax675672548x-125-174-133
29Sudanx520520520x017034
30Australiax436476501x25122
31Ecuadorx508510499x-11-27-9
32Syriax390389388x-1-488
33Eq. Guineax385386388x2-20
34Yemenx313297306x9-99-11
35Denmarkx285290291x0-94-32
36Vietnamx274288260x-28-133-44
37Gabonx228250250x0-215
xotherx252525492574x25-1589
xblankxxxxxxxx
xworldx742867390174481x5802152220
xbarrelsxxxxxxxx
xpercentagexxxxxxxx


May 2008 is current the record for Crude and Condensate production.
May 2005 is the previous high.
August 2007 is the month with the lowest production in the interim.
The final three columns show the changes in production between the previous month(April), those two months, and the most recent month (May).

Friday, August 1, 2008

Tupi Update

Petrobras to Start Oil Output at Tupi Field in 2009
By Anthony DiPaola and Juan Pablo Spinetto
Aug. 1 (Bloomberg


Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-controlled oil company, plans to start crude production at the offshore Tupi field in the first quarter of next year.

The initial output will be between 20,000 and 30,000 barrels a day, Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli said today in London. The company and partners will ramp up production at the pilot project to 100,000 barrels a day in 2010.

Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras will boost investment in projects from its previous plan to spend $112 billion by 2012, Gabrielli said. It will order 28 new drilling rigs between 2013 and 2017.

``For sure the new plan has to be bigger than that,'' Gabrielli said in a television interview. ``We have to increase our debt, because the amount of money we need for capital expenditure will be very big.''

Petrobras plans to start crude extraction from an offshore field in the so-called pre-salt Campos Basin in September, Gabrielli said. At first 10,000 barrels a day will be pumped from the Jubarte field.

He said the company may be able to give oil and gas reserves estimates for the Campos Basin at the end of 2009. The producer will announce investment and borrowing plans in September or October. Brazil's National Petroleum Agency said on its Web site today Petrobras and Royal Dutch Shell Plc found traces of oil in an offshore well in Campos Basin.

Petrobras owns 65 percent of Tupi and operates the concession. Reading, U.K.-based BG Group Plc owns 25 percent and Lisbon-based Galp Energia SGPS SA owns 10 percent.
This press release says the exact same thing as the one they put out three months ago. So I guess they are on track.

Link to more information on Brazil's future prospects