Oil & gas companies news, with analysis of the oil and gas industry - FT.com

1. BG Group: production numbers
   Until recently, the group expected to produce 1m barrels of oil equivalent a day by 2015; now it is more likely to be around 800,000
2. Warburg makes $1.8bn on Targa cash-out
   The results stand in contrast to the losses suffered by other US private equity groups in blockbuster energy deals – such as the $45bn takeover of TXU
3. Tough oil pricing ahead, says Eni chief
   Paolo Scaroni, chief executive, says sluggish demand and new supply coming on to the market means the price of crude was ‘more likely to go down’
4. Conservative MPs face fracking challenge
   Shale gas companies say it is local councils who give planning consent for shale drilling. But it will be MPs who feel the backdraft from any protest
5. Ukrainian starts legal fight in London
   Billionaire Pinchuk is suing two other magnates for alleged breach of contract and trust in case with privatised state iron-ore company at its heart
6. Week in review, May 18
   Tony Hayward returns from the depths; Tata Steel writedown; Google turns up the challenge;
7. Transocean rejects Icahn’s dividend move
   Activist investor argued that the board had destroyed $11bn of shareholder value, largely through 2007 merger with drilling contractor GlobalSantaFe
8. Lamprell on track to break even
   Specialist engineering group ended April with an order book of $1.2bn and a bid pipeline of $4bn as it pursued a return to profit next year
9. Profit warnings hit Australian resources
   WorleyParsons joins others to flag up problems, saying net profit will be lower than a year ago because of cancelled projects and client cost cutting
10. US fracking rules given mixed reception
    The first new federal rules on fracking in a year have been closely watched as a pointer to the administration's attitude on the industry
11. SFO explores powers for oil price inquiry
    European Commission probe focuses political scrutiny on oil industry, amid concern over rising energy prices for economically stressed households
12. Vedanta powered by oil and gas
    Low commodity prices pushed down earnings from its mining units in every category bar aluminium, leaving it reliant on $2.4bn in oil and gas ebita
13. Hayward resurfaces from the depths
    His appointment as interim chairman of Glencore Xstrata marks a remarkable change of fortune after being hit by the BP Macondo well disaster
14. US states look to cut greenhouse gases
    Proponents of the RGGI, a market-based emissions reduction scheme, are touting programme as a way to cut emissions and boost economic growth
15. Hess strikes 11th-hour boardroom deal
    The agreement resolves one of the fiercest battles for corporate control in the US energy industry, which has seen a rising tide of investor activism
16. Watchdog raises fears over wealth funds
    Revenue Watch releases study assessing 58 resource-rich countries on governance of oil, gas and mining, which rates only 11 as ‘satisfactory’ overall
17. Oil companies face political backlash
    Majors may well face the same kind of scrutiny, and public opprobrium, that banks were subjected to in the wake of the Libor scandal
18. Brazil oil licences raise record R$2.8bn
    Auction will help reinvigorate Brazil’s oil industry, and mark return of Exxon to the country in partnership with Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista
19. Challenging domination of oil’s strong few
    Oil price reporting agencies reject comparisons with Libor, where sponsors mechanically accepted daily estimates from banks
20. Petrobras: betting the tranch
    Years of rock-bottom interest rates and the resulting yield-starved investors have given the Brazilian oil group access to cheap debt. And a lot of it