N.C. Govt Vetoes Offshore Drilling Bill

- N.C. Govt Vetoes Offshore Drilling Bill

Friday, July 01, 2011
The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
by Bruce Henderson

Gov. Bev Perdue vetoed legislation on offshore drilling and environmental rule-making, delighting advocacy groups that had fought both.

Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, was a primary sponsor of the Energy Jobs Act. It directed the governor to form an offshore-energy compact with South Carolina and Virginia and prescribed how to use oil and gas revenues the state might get.

The Obama administration has banned offshore drilling on the Eastern seaboard until at least 2018, although the president has hinted he might soften that position.

Perdue, in vetoing the energy bill, called it an unconstitutional infringement on the governor's powers.

"We applaud the governor's decision to keep North Carolina's coast open to beach balls but not tar balls," said Derb Carter of the Southern Environmental Law Center. The bill, he added, tied state energy policy to fossil fuels and away from renewable fuels.

Along with her veto, Perdue issued two executive orders on energy.

One creates a task force on offshore wind, which Rucho's bill had largely ignored. The shallow waters of the mid-Atlantic coast, including North Carolina, hold some of the nation's highest wind-energy potential, federal agencies have reported.

The task force is charged with assessing the costs and risks of growing a wind industry and is to report by next March.

A second executive order reauthorizes a science panel to examine land-based energy sources, including natural gas locked in underground shale formations. That panel is to report at the end of 2012. Rucho's bill had also called for study of the gas issue.

Drilling techniques called hydraulic fracturing, which breaks open shale to release gas, and horizontal drilling have boosted estimates of U.S. gas reserves by 40 percent. Those techniques are now illegal in North Carolina, but exploration companies have bought up leases in Lee and Chatham counties.

Perdue also vetoed a regulatory-reform measure that prohibits, in most cases, new state environmental rules that are stronger than federal standards. The bill gives administrative law judges, not state agencies, the final say when violators appeal state fines.

The governor cited the state attorney general saying such a change would violate the state constitution.

Copyright (c) 2011, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

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Breitling Spuds Well in Tx.

- Breitling Spuds Well in Tx.

Friday, July 01, 2011
Breitling O&G Corp.

Breitling has spud the Breitling-Turner #2 in Hardeman County, Texas. The Prospect was delineated using geological and geophysical techniques and data gained from the drilling of the Breitling-Turner #1. Three lines of 2-D seismic were purchased over the Turner area, reprocessed, interpreted and integrated with existing well control.

The wells are located within a 640-acre closure mapped at the Holmes Sand and the Mississippian Chappel dolomite formations above an estimated total vertical depth of 7,600 feet. The Holmes is a high-quality sand reservoir encased in hydrocarbon-rich Barnett shale, similar to the Bakken shale in North Dakota.

"This is a planned offset to the successful Turner #1 which Breitling drilled 3 months ago," said Joe Simo, Chief Geologist for Breitling Oil and Gas.

Management anticipates the well will reach total depth in about 33 days. Well completion and testing could begin as early as the second week of August 2011.

Breitling Oil and Gas CEO Chris Faulkner stated, "We have drilled some extremely successful wells in Hardeman County this year and look forward to completing the Breitling-Turner #2." Faulkner added, "We feel confident in our sub-surface mapping and have learned a lot about the area from the drilling of the Breitling-Turner #1."

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Global Petroleum Updates Jupiter Acquisition

- Global Petroleum Updates Jupiter Acquisition

Friday, July 01, 2011
Global Petroleum Ltd.

Global Petroleum advised that the Notice of Meeting whereby Global will seek shareholder approval for the acquisition of Jupiter Petroleum Limited ("Jupiter") has been finalized and submitted for regulatory review.

Under the sale and purchase agreement, Global will acquire Jupiter which holds prospective oil and gas exploration interests in offshore Namibia and in offshore Juan de Nova, a French dependency in the Mozambique Channel.

The sale and purchase agreement is conditional on the satisfaction of a number of conditions precedent, including due diligence investigations, obtaining necessary consents from governmental authorities, a report from an independent expert that the transaction is fair and reasonable to Global shareholders, and shareholder approval at a General Meeting.

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Marathon Completes Spin-Off, Launches New Co.

- Marathon Completes Spin-Off, Launches New Co.

Friday, July 01, 2011
Marathon Oil Corp.

Marathon Oil has completed the spin-off of Marathon Petroleum Corporation, making Marathon Oil an independent upstream company.

Marathon Oil has a strong and geographically diverse portfolio of assets leveraged to crude oil production. The Company will continue to be based in Houston.

"This is an exciting day and a major milestone in the nearly 125-year history of Marathon Oil Corporation," said Clarence P. Cazalot Jr., Marathon Oil's chairman, president and CEO. "As an independent upstream company, we have the capacity to perform at a higher level by focusing on strategic priorities while providing greater transparency for investors. Operationally, we're poised to capitalize on a broad base of opportunities by exhibiting the speed, agility and flexibility of an independent and retaining our proven ability to accomplish large and technologically challenging projects. What isn't going to change is our focus on long-held core values of health and safety, environmental stewardship, honesty and integrity, corporate citizenship and a high performance team culture. Together, these attributes create the foundation for a strong, competitive Company with a goal of continuing to deliver long-term value growth for our shareholders."

With this change and effective July 1, Cazalot becomes chairman of the board of Marathon Oil Corporation in addition to his responsibilities as president and CEO. Additionally, David E. Roberts Jr. takes on the newly established role of executive vice president and chief operating officer. Janet F. Clark will continue in her role as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

* Shares of Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO) are down 38% on news that Marathon Petroleum was spun off from the company.

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