ReleaseWire

With no domestic energy resources, Hong Kong faces the challenge of meeting growing oil and gas demand through imports alone. Having mainland China at its doorstep helps, as the outlook for Hong Kong is linked directly to that of its parent state.

North Vancouver has some of the strictest regulations regarding oil tank removal of any area in the country. When it comes to oil tank removal services at http://www.cerctankremoval.ca, North Vancouver homeowners cannot afford to take chances with an unknown oil tank removal company. Many homeowners who need oil tank removal in North Vancouver cerctankremoval.com turn to CERC Oil Tank Removal Service in order to be sure they are in compliance with all zoning and housing regulations.

DonRay Petroleum, LLC, a privately held oil and gas company located in Oklahoma City, today announced the completion of the DRP Grace #29 Joint Venture well in Noble, County Okla.

Japan's consumption of imported oil and natural gas has increased as a result of nuclear power generation losses in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. However, liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumption appears to have hit an upper limit as gas power is running near maximum capacity, while demand for expensive oil wanes. We expect some nuclear power will return to service in 2014 though it will be a slow and gradual process leaving Japan with significant long-term fuel import costs. As a result Japan is looking to move away from oil-indexed LNG, and is showing the most interest in North America's LNG projects.

The owners of 312 Manhattan Avenue had contacted Dual Fuel Corporation for an oil to gas conversion in January 2013. The heating system of this 59 unit multi-family building had an IC-ME-42 burner that was only capable of burning heating oil. Dual Fuel Corp replaced the burner with a brand new dual fuel capable IC-VLG-40 and performed an oil downgrade from #6 to #2. At the time of their conversion the owners were spending $65,000/year for #6 heating oil and now anticipate spending $38,800/year on natural gas- savings of 41%/year. This gas conversion & new burner project was started in June 2013 and completed in January 2014. To guarantee their conversion savings, the owners of 312 Manhattan Ave. signed with Dual Fuel Energy Corp. a 3 year price lock for the gas to hedge their conversion savings and guarantee a positive ROI on this project.

Oil Shale Investment projects are growing worldwide as more companies and countries with large reserves are increasing their investments and resources in exploration activities.

Upstream interest in Turkmenistan's growing gas reserves remains strong, with foreign players, particularly China, eager to gain access to the country's lucrative gas fields. The energy relationship between Turkmenistan and China continues to strengthen, with continued upgrades to existing long-term supply agreements and investment commitments. Turkmenistan has made ambitious gas production targets, raising its own forecasts of gas production in 2030 to 250bn cubic metres (bcm) from 230bcm previously. Although 2030 is outside our forecast period, the ambitious figures highlight the country's optimism, which is reflected in our forecasts for gas production, which we expect will more than double from 71bcm in 2012 to 186bcm in 2023.

Taiwan is almost entirely dependent on imports to meet energy demand and is likely to stay in this state for the foreseeable future. A growing appetite for imported gas has created a need for fresh liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchase schemes, with Australian and Qatari volumes on the rise and Papua New Guinea set to become a new source of supply. The government has also allotted a monthly budget of approximately NT$17mn per month towards exploration activities, with operators eyeing deepwater exploration off Taiwan's south-western coast and near Itu Aba island, the largest island in the disputed and potentially oil-rich Spratly chain in the South China Sea.

DonRay Petroleum, LLC, a privately held oil and gas company located in Oklahoma City, today announced the completion of the DRP Grace #25 joint venture well in Noble, County, Okla.

Russia is pumping post-Soviet record levels of oil and is likely to continue to see a short-term increase in both oil and gas production, but a high level of investment will be required to maintain this. It also faces pressure to diversify its gas markets, in view of an increasingly challenging core market in Europe and growing competition from other global gas suppliers. Tax breaks given to encourage offshore and tight oil developments could help support Russian oil and gas output in the longer term, though we warn that the consolidation of Rosneft's position in the country's upstream segment limits gains from regulatory changes to privileged firms with political connections in the country. It also threatens to squeeze out Russia's independent refiners owing to Rosneft's control of crude oil supplies to the market.

We have modestly revised up our average hydrocarbon production growth forecasts for Trinidad & Tobago (T&T), from 0.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) over the next decade to 1.2% y-o-y for oil, and from 1.3% y-o-y to 1.4% y-o-y for natural gas. There are still significant risks, including the mounting technical difficulty and expense involved in the discovery and production of T&T's oil and gas, as well as a more competitive market. Indeed, these factors account for our still relatively tempered growth forecasts.

We retain a cautious stance on the Venezuelan oil and gas sector. While a flurry of new loans and deals may improve the financial position of PdVSA over the short term, the threat that badly needed funds will diverted from investment into the oil and gas sector to fund social programmes remains as real as ever. Moreover, although our long-term forecasts call for growth as projects in the Orinoco belt ramp up, we expect Venezuela to continue its underperformance given the scale of challenges - which range from political interference to chronic underinvestment. Similarly, despite abundant gas reserves, we expect Venezuela to remain a net importer of gas over the course of our forecast period.

Euromonitor International's Industrial reports provide a 360 degree view of an industry. The Industrial market report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the Manufacture and Distribution of Gas market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, packaging innovations, economic/lifestyle influences, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change.

Consumers love competition as it helps to keep prices low while improving customer service, and these are just two of the benefits seen with energy deregulation. Citizens now find that deregulation of energy in Ohio will benefit them also thanks to Border Energy and their launch of a campaign to increase consumer awareness of this topic. "With the help of Ohio Choice Energy, Border Energy hopes to let all citizens know that they have options and no longer have to live with high energy prices or poor customer service from their electric or natural gas provider," the media team at Border Energy explains.

Turkey will remain heavily dependent upon oil and gas imports for the foreseeable future. However, its role as a critical energy transit hub between Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Caspian and Russia provides it with a unique form of leverage and makes it a key player in the global energy market. The decision to proceed with the TAP and TANAP natural gas pipelines cements Turkey's position as a critical transit country, and also secures 6bcm of new supplies for Turkey's domestic market. There is also upside potential to the country's domestic energy production in the form of Black Sea reserves and unconventional development, although it remains too early for either to be factored into our forecasts. Mounting investment into exploration activities underscores the government's growing commitment to increasing its own domestic resource base.

The Philippines' oil and gas market is small but growing, marked by an expected short-term increase in both liquids and gas production, although it will still be insufficient to meet growing domestic demand. Longer-term growth will be dependent on results from ongoing and short-term exploration.

Despite planned investment in order to stabilise output from Azerbaijan's ACG complex, the long term outlook for liquids is bearish notwithstanding near term gains from the US$6nn Chirag Oil Project (COP). The greatest source of upside risk to our oil outlook comes from our bullish view on Azeri gas, with a number of major untapped gas fields holding liquids potential as well. Despite a number of large fields having already been identified for exploration and appraisal, a shortage of rigs and the technical challenges of the Caspian's operating environment have slowed development. In the absence of firm timelines, we have yet to include these projects in our forecast but note the risks for gas are weighted heavily to upside as progress on strategically significant export infrastructure into Europe continues to advance.

We currently expect hydrocarbons production to continue its upward trajectory in Bolivia over the medium term; however, we are pricing in a slowdown in growth toward the end of the decade. Namely, while the country's oil and gas sector has largely weathered broader concerns related to the business environment, the threat of resource nationalism remains a risk, as does a fairly weak reserve position, encouraging a more tempered long-term outlook. Of the two hydrocarbons, we believe gas has a brighter future, with the redevelopment of producing fields and increased investment into new exploration to bolster output. With regards to liquids, condensate volumes from gas production presents upside potential and we note significant short-term growth from the bringing online of natural gas liquids separators. We believe though, that maturing crude fields suggest potential for a slowdown in growth over the longer term.

MarketLine's Company Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Partnerships & Alliances and Investments reports offer a comprehensive breakdown of the organic and inorganic growth activity undertaken by an organization to sustain its competitive advantage.

Journyx today announces a customized time, expense and equipment tracking solution for the oil and gas industry. Journyx is dedicated to helping oil and gas companies drive their profits up. Accurate labor and equipment usage data gives companies the power to control lift costs and gain visibility into real-time service costs.

US Land Grid, Inc. (http://www.uslandgrid.com) has announced the release of their oil and gas wells for Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, North Dakota and California.

BMI View: We see the recently passed Mexican energy sector reform as the start of a fundamental paradigm shift for the country's hydrocarbons sector. While it does not challenge the national narrative that hydrocarbons belong to the state, working within these constraints the landmark bill takes steps to incentivise private sector involvement through the creation of a flexible contract system. As such, although we stress that it will take a number of years before results are felt in the country's production and reserves data, over the long term, we believe this will bolster investment and could reverse a nearly decade long decline in oil production.

BMI View: The November 2013 interim nuclear deal reached in Geneva has rightly been hailed as a significant development in the negotiations between Iran and the West, and marks a further improvement in the Islamic Republic's international position since the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in June 2013. However, it is crucial to note that the agreement does not lift sanctions on Iran's oil exports and does not allow for additional Iranian oil sales. Any significant easing of the oil export ban would only come as part of a broader, final settlement, which would be at a minimum 6-12 months away. Therefore, for the moment, the Iranian hydrocarbon sector remains largely impaired due to the ongoing sanctions. We do not expect a large increase in oil production and exports for the moment. In terms of gas, we believe that Iran will not be able to increase production sufficiently to satisfy mounting domestic gas demand. This will translate into increasing gas shortages. Meanwhile, Iran is claiming a succession of major oil and gas discoveries that, if proven, demonstrate considerable upside potential to its existing resource base. In a bid to secure much-needed investment, Iran is offering improved terms to contracts long seen as uncompetitive by operators, but few national oil companies are likely to bite in view of sanctions and a backlash from the US/UN.

Robust unconventional and offshore production is set to buoy US crude oil growth, such that in the coming year we see the country as set to overtake Saudi Arabia to become the largest liquids producer in the world. The robust production story has also fed through to the US' downstream sector. Indeed, while we do not foresee the US ending its crude oil imports in the coming years, with rising liquids production and a ban on crude exports, this will encourage greater refined product output - especially diesel and liquefied petroleum gases.

We expect Oman's recent impressive gains in oil production to begin to moderate, with output peaking in 2016 before gradually trending lower as the recent impressive gains from enhanced recovery operations begin to dissipate. There are many upside risks to this view, with opportunities from the approval of additional upstream projects to new discoveries, with offshore a particular area of opportunity. However there is downside risk such as disappointing output from redevelopment projects approval failure. These risks extend to gas as well. While we assume a more sustained rebound in output, albeit with much of the gains reliant upon BP's costly and complex Block 61, setbacks here would result in downward revision to our forecast. That said, Oman's continued push to secure additional foreign participation makes the market one of opportunity despite expectations for growth to moderate.