Word: wellheads
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...bust of the mid-'80s, which was marked by nose-diving crude-oil prices, the immediate problem this time is natural gas. Often extracted from the same formations as oil, gas accounts for 24% of the nation's energy consumption, mainly in heavy industry. Producer prices at the wellhead have been in a free fall for months, plummeting last month to $1 per 1,000 cu. ft., down 23% from a year ago. At that price, producers say they can barely turn a profit, and many who can still afford to operate are shutting their supplies in the ground...
Sometimes discovered in conjunction with crude, natural gas -- a colorless mixture of methane and other hydrocarbons -- was long considered worthless and burned off at the wellhead. In the postwar years, its price was so tightly regulated by the Federal Government that producers were discouraged from searching for the fuel. After prices were deregulated in the 1980s, the low cost of petroleum helped keep gas prices depressed. Wholesale natural gas sells for about $1.50 per 1,000 cu. ft., the equivalent of $9 per bbl. for oil. Observes T. Boone Pickens, a major oil-and-gas producer: "At that price, there...
OPEC members are raking in higher profits by taking over the petroleum industry from the wellhead to the gas tank. -- A devastating petrochemical- plant blast raises questions on safety...
...were first discovered on the outskirts of Paris nearly 30 years ago, oil companies have suspected that further deposits might lie under the city itself. If significant amounts of crude are found beneath any of Paris' landmark districts, drilling could be done at a 45% angle, and thus the wellhead might be situated nearly two miles away. Elf Aquitaine spokesmen claim that the drilling equipment could be hidden behind fake building facades...
...proposal would add a few controls of its own. In hopes of satisfying those who think prices will rise, the plan would impose a floating price cap on some wellhead gas until 1986. Also, pipelines would need Government approval until then to pass along any hikes that outstrip inflation...