January 2 A federal appeals court orders the Department of the Interior to reimburse Marathon Oil and ExxonMobil $78 million each for breaking leases for drilling rights off the North Carolina coast. The companies argued that new environmental laws effectively breached their drilling contracts. (DJ, WP)

January 5 The State of Texas sues ExxonMobil, alleging that the company had produced oil from state-owned land in Texas without paying royalties. The claim involves the Hawkins field in East Texas. (WSJ)

January 6 California power utility Southern California Edison announces that it will cut 1,450 jobs and reduce equipment maintenance in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. The company has been hit by rising prices for purchases of electricity, which is has not been able to pass on to its customers. (DJ)

January 10 The White House announces that President Clinton will not designate the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as a national monument prior to his departure from office. Environmentalist groups had been pressing for national monument status for the ANWR to prevent oil drilling. (DJ)

January 11 Crude oil prices rise sharply on indications that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will cut output quotas at its next meeting scheduled for January 17th in Vienna. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) contract for February crude closes at $29.48 per barrel, up $1.84, or about 7%. (DJ)

January 12 California narrowly avoids rolling blackouts as its power crisis again reaches a "Stage 3" alert. The state Department of Water Resources steps in to purchase power from suppliers in the Pacific Northwest, who had become unwilling to sell to the California Independent System Operator (ISO) due to its unstable financial condition. (WSJ)

January 13 Amerada Hess withdraws its offer to purchase Lasmo PLC, a British independent oil exploration and production company. Italy's ENI had offered a higher bid of $4 billion, and Amerada Hess said it would not match the higher offer. (DJ)

January 15 Schneider Electric of France announces that it will take over another French utility, Legrand SA, in a deal valued at $6.85 billion. The move reflects a trend toward consolidation and cost-cutting as utilities in Europe prepare for competition. (WSJ)

January 16 Southern California Edison defaults on $600 million in payments owed to bondholders and electricity suppliers. (DJ)

January 17 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agrees, at a meeting of ministers in Vienna, to reduce members' production quotas by 1.5 million barrels per day. The move comes in response to OPEC members' concerns about declining prices. Analysts expect the actual production cuts to total somewhat less than 1.5 million barrels per day, as some OPEC members had quotas above their actual production capacity. (NYT, WP)

January 17 California utilities impose rolling blackouts on large portions of the State as demand for electricity exceeds available supplies. The blackouts, which generally last one hour, are imposed to prevent an uncontrolled collapse of the electricity distribution system. (DJ, LAT, WSJ)

January 17 The Minerals Management Service (MMS), an agency of the Department of the Interior, sharply raises its estimates of oil and gas reserves in the United States deepwater outer continental shelf, due to recent drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico. The agency raises its estimates for recoverable natural gas by about 65% and for recoverable oil by about 35%. (DJ)

January 18 The Department of Energy issues a rule which will tighten efficiency standards for air conditioners and heat pumps by 30%. The rule is designed to help hold down future growth in electricity demand during peak usage periods. (NYT)

January 20 George W. Bush is sworn into office as the President of the United States. Later in the day, the Senate votes to confirm Spencer Abraham as the new Secretary of Energy. (WP)

January 21 A small tanker carrying diesel fuel runs aground in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and begins to leak, threatening an environmental disaster. This is later averted as winds push much of the oil slick out to sea. (NYT)

January 22 President Bush names Curtis Hebert as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Two seats on the five-seat body remain vacant. (DJ)

January 29 Natural gas prices fall 13% in a single day, on unseasonably warm temperatures in key urban markets. February Henry Hub natural gas closes at $6.293 per million British thermal units (Btu), down 96.3 cents. It had reached a high of $10.10 per million Btu on December 27, 2000. (DJ)

January 29 President Bush names Vice President Richard Cheney to chair a White House task force which will oversee the new administration's efforts in devising a national energy policy. (DJ)

January 31 Taiwan's legislature passes, by a 134 to 70 majority, a resolution calling for the resumption of work to complete the nation's fourth nuclear power plant. Construction on the $5.4-billion plant was halted in October 2000 after a new government under President Chen Shui-bian took office earlier in the year, promising to end the expansion of nuclear power. Earlier in the month, Taiwan's highest court ruled that the government's action in terminating construction had been legally improper. (DJ)

January 31 The California Senate passes a bill to authorize the state government to spend up to $10 billion for the purchase of electricity, to be financed by the issuance of state bonds. The plan envisioned by the bill would have the state government enter into long-term power purchase agreements with suppliers, and resell the electricity at cost to private California utilities. Two of the largest California utilities, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) have been unable to secure adequate supplies of electricity from other firms due to cash flow and credit problems. State intervention is intended to overcome these financial hurdles. Governor Gray Davis is expected to sign the bill into law later in the week. (DJ)

January 31 Halliburton announces that it has agreed to sell its Dresser Equipment Group unit to two investment firms for $1.1 billion. Halliburton expects to realize a $300-million net gain from the transaction. (DJ)

February 2 California Governor Gray Davis signs into law a bill which authorizes the state government to sell up to $10 billion in bonds to finance purchases of electricity, in a bid to alleviate the state's electricity supply shortage. The state will enter into long-term contracts with suppliers, which are expected to bring a reduction in the rates paid over the last several months on the spot market. (LAT)

February 5 El Paso Energy announces plans to invest $1.5 billion over the next five years on the construction of terminals to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the United States and Mexico. The company is considering three possible projects in the United States and one in the Bahamas which would supply Florida through an undersea pipeline, as well as two projects in Mexico. Enron also recently announced plans for a facility to import LNG into Florida through a terminal in the Bahamas. (WSJ)

February 8 Citing an energy crisis of "catastrophic proportions," a federal judge orders three major electricity suppliers to continue to supply electricity to California despite their concerns over the financial health of the state's two main investor-owned utilities. (DJ)

February 12 Indonesia signs a $9-billion deal with Singapore to supply natural gas to the island nation over the next 20 years. The deal is to lead to the construction of a pipeline from gas deposits on the Indonesian island of Sumatra to Singapore, with supplies beginning in 2003. Indonesia already sells gas to Singapore from its offshore Natuna field, which flows through a separate pipeline. (DJ)

February 12 Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) agrees to acquire Connectiv, the parent company of Delmarva Power and Light and Atlantic Energy, for $2.2 billion. The combined company would serve more than 1.8 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. (DJ, WP)

February 12 A federal judge denies a request by Southern California Edison (SCE) to remove a rate freeze which has kept the company from recouping the costs imposed on it by soaring wholesale power prices from its customers. (DJ)

February 13 Italy's ENI is chosen as the operator of Kazakhstan's giant offshore Kashagan oilfield, beating out ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and TotalFinaElf. The decision comes one week after TotalFinaElf's purchase of BP's stake in the field for $400 million. (DJ, WSJ)

February 13 Taiwan's government orders the resumption of construction on the country's fourth nuclear power plant. Whether or not to build the plant has been a source of political discord over the last year, with President Chen Shui-Bian having been elected on a platform promising to cancel the project, but facing opposition from a majority in parliament. (DJ)

February 14 Natural gas prices fall sharply on news that amounts in storage declined less than expected. Henry Hub natural gas closes on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) at $5.518, down 50.1 cents. (DJ)

February 14 Kuwait's Prime Minister appoints Adel al-Subeih as Minister of Petroleum.. (DJ)

February 16 United States and British aircraft strike Iraqi air defense targets near Baghdad. (DJ)

February 16 Ecuador's government signs an agreement with a multinational consortium including Occidental Petroleum and Kerr McGee to build a $1.1-billion oil pipeline linking the country's Amazon jungle to an export terminal on its Pacific coast. (DJ)

February 19 President George W. Bush visits Mexican President Vicente Fox in Mexico, his first foreign trip as president. Discussions with Fox are reported to include the oil and gas industry and electric power grid links between Mexico and the United States. Foreign investment in the energy sector is a controversial issue in Mexico, where the energy sector historically has been state-owned. (DJ)

February 20 The United States Supreme Court declines to consider an appeal by five major oil companies against Unocal's patent on production of cleaner "reformulated" gasoline sold in California, allowing a lower court ruling in favor of Unocal to stand. The ruling may eventually have effects beyond the California market, as tighter environmental standards for fuels take effect across much of the country. (DJ, WSJ)

February 20 A federal jury returns a $500-million judgement against ExxonMobil for allegedly inflating wholesale fuel prices charged to independent retailers over a 12-year period from 1983 to 1994. (DJ, LAT, WSJ)

February 21 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gives final approval for the construction of the Gulfstream Natural Gas System, a proposed $1.7-billion pipeline designed to deliver natural gas to growing markets in Florida. (DJ)

February 22 For the first time in six weeks, California lifts all alerts on its electric power grid, due to the availability of more imported electricity and the return to service of power plants which had been closed for maintenance. With these developments, power reserves in the state reach 7%. (DJ)

February 23 The State of California and Southern California Edison (SCE) agree that the company will sell the state government its transmission lines for $2.76 billion. The utility will be allowed to issue bonds which will recover a "substantial" portion of its uncollected power costs. (DJ)

February 23 Petroecuador declares force majeure on the shipment of 1.8 million barrels of oil, due to continuing protests in its inland oil-producing region. Local residents in the area began takeovers of the oilfields earlier in the week in order to press the Ecuadorean government for funding for local infrastructure and services. (DJ)

February 23 Secretary of State Colin Powell begins a trip to the Middle East for consultations with regional leaders which will include stops in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, Jordan, Kuwait, and Syria. It is his first foreign travel since taking office. (DJ)

February 26 Enron signs a $1.3-billion energy management contract with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. Enron will provide and manage the supply of electricity and natural gas at Eli Lilly facilities, as well as maintain energy assets and related infrastructure. (DJ)

February 27 Shares of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company produces the majority of China's offshore oil. (DJ, NYT)

February 27 The United States Supreme Court rejects a challenge to the regulatory authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act. In a unanimous opinion, the Court rules that the EPA must consider only public health and safety in its decisions on acceptable levels of pollutant emissions, and is not required to conduct an analysis of financial costs and benefits. (NYT, WP)

February 28 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces that it intends to proceed with implementation of tighter restrictions on sulfur content in diesel fuel, which were proposed by the Clinton administration. The rule, which will require a reduction of 97% in sulfur content by 2006, has been opposed by many in the refining industry. (DJ)

February 28 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announces that it found no evidence of collusion among oil companies in relation to the summer 2000 surge in retail gasoline prices in the Midwest. The FTC will release its full report on its investigation in March 2000. (DJ)

February 28 Calpine Corporation signs two contracts valued at up to $8.3 billion to sell electricity to the California Department of Water Resources, which was empowered to purchase power on the wholesale market due to the financial difficulties of the state's two largest investor-owned utilities. Deliveries of power under the contracts will begin July 1, 2001. (DJ)

March 2 California's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, secures a $1 billion loan to pay its creditors and avoid bankruptcy. (LAT)

March 4 Tests in recent days confirm the world's largest oil find in three decades in the Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea. Kashagan is a single reservoir at least 25 miles across, and two-and-a-half times the size of the nearby Tengiz field. (WSJ)

March 5 Governor Gray Davis of California announces that the state has reached forty separate deals worth $40 billion to buy power over the next ten years. This would provide an additional capacity of 8,886 megawatts. (WSJ)

March 5 The United States Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal of the Environmental Protection Agency's new regulations that would reduce air pollution in the eastern half of the United States, paving the way for their implementation. (WP)

March 6 United States Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham formally establishes the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, a two million barrel government-owned reserve to be used in emergency circumstances. (DOE)

March 7 Royal Dutch/Shell Group announces an unsolicited $1.8 billion takeover bid for Denver-based natural gas producer Barrett Resources Corporation. (NYT)

March 7 Likud party leader Ariel Sharon is sworn in as Prime Minister of Israel. (Reuters)

March 8 United States Secretary of Energy Abraham attends the Hemispheric Energy Conference in Mexico, an annual meeting of Energy Ministers from 34 nations. He also meets with senior Mexican government officials in order to promote President Bush's "hemispheric energy policy." (LAT)

March 8 Denver-based natural gas producer Barrett Resources Corporation rejects Royal Dutch/Shell Group's $1.8-billion takeover bid and invites other offers. (WSJ)

March 12 Russian President Vladimir Putin formally agrees to resume conventional arms sales to Iran and to complete a delayed nuclear power plant. These agreements also set out general principles for the Russia-Iran military relationship and principles for resolving competing claims over oil and gas deposits in the Caspian Sea. (NYT & LAT)

March 12 Turkey signs a natural gas purchase deal with Azerbaijan that will deliver 233 billion cubic feet over 15 years. This adds momentum to United States and Turkish-backed pipeline plans from Baku to Ceyhan, Turkey. (WSJ)

March 13 United States President Bush, in a policy reversal, declares that his administration will not seek to regulate power plants' emissions of carbon dioxide, citing an Energy Department study that regulating these emissions could result in higher electricity prices. (NYT)

March 13 ExxonMobil temporarily shuts down on-shore natural gas operations in the Indonesian region of Aceh due to escalating violence and risk to employees and contractors. (WSJ)

March 15 United States Secretary of Energy Abraham testifies before Congress that power blackouts in California this summer are "inevitable." However, he does not argue for any federal government action to avert this outcome. (LAT)

March 15 The world's largest oil rig, located 80 miles offshore Brazil and operated by the Brazilian state oil company Petrobras, suffers three explosions. This one platform accounted for more than 5% of Petrobras' total production. On March 20 Petrobras' Platform-36 sinks with 400,000 gallons of fuel and crude oil aboard.(WSJ)

March 17 OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) decides to cut output by 4% or 1 million barrels per day, effective April 1. The cut is aimed at preventing a price collapse in a time of weakening demand. (NYT)

March 19 About 800,000 customers in California experience rolling blackouts in the wake of unseasonably warm weather that raised demand. (WP)

March 20 California experiences the second straight day of blackouts, with about 550,000 customers losing power in rolling blackouts. (NYT)

March 21 BP and ENI of Italy agree to build a $2.5 billion gas liquefaction plant in Egypt with Egyptian Petroleum Corp. The facility will be built at Damietta on the Mediterranean with initial exports targeted to Southern Europe. (WSJ)

March 22 Mexican state oil company Pemex unveils a restructuring plan involving $3 billion in cuts for the company and possibly large job reductions. (LAT)

March 26 Kazakhstan's Prime Minister opens an oil pipeline from the giant Tengiz field to the Russian port of Novorossiisk on Monday, giving the Central Asian producer its first direct link to international markets. The 900-mile pipeline will carry 600,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of the year, and eventually 1.5 million barrels per day. (NYT)

March 27 A heavily guarded train carrying nuclear waste from France to storage in Germany sparks large protests across its route in Germany. (Reuters)

March 27 California regulators (State Public Utilities Commission) approve a 40%-46% rise in electricity prices. The panel defends this action by stating that it is the only way to avoid blackouts. (LAT, NYT, WP)

March 27 The Bush administration declares that it has no interest in implementing or ratifying the international climate treaty negotiated in Kyoto in 1997. (NYT)

March 28 Oil workers in Venezuela, the world's third largest oil exporter, begin a strike but the state-run oil company PdVSA says vital operations continue under a contingency plan. (Reuters)

March 28 Crude oil prices drop after the United States Department of Energy reports a sharp increase in United States crude oil inventories. Inventories grew by 11.2 million barrels in the past week to a total of 301.5 million barrels. However, prices would go on to rise in the following week. (WSJ)

March 28 The two-day Arab Summit in Amman, Jordan ends with leaders agreeing to support the Palestinian cause and approving $240 million in aid for the Palestinians. However, no agreement was reached on a common policy toward Iraq. (Reuters)

March 29 President Bush announces that he is prepared to look elsewhere than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas resources if opposition to drilling there is successful. (NYT)

March 30 The oil workers' strike in Venezuela ends after weak support among workers and clashes with the Venezuelan National Guard. (Reuters)

March 30 The Western Hemisphere climate conference, a gathering of environment ministers in Montreal, ends with the United States declining to go along with a Latin American plan for industrialized countries to reduce their emissions. (NYT)

April 1 Qatar's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Ltd (RasGas II) signs an agreement with a consortium comprising Chiyoda Corp, Mitsui & Co. and Snamprogetti SpA to set up a third natural gas train at the RasGas plant. This sets in motion the largest-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) export deal, with India to purchase 7.5 million tons per year for 25 years through PetroNet LNG. (WMO)

April 2 The tentative $8-billion merger between FPL Group Inc. and Entergy Corp. collapses. This merger would have created the largest electric utility in the United States, with 6.3 million customers and 48,000 megawatts of generating capacity. (WSJ)

April 2 The Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy announces that it is splitting state-owned Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) into six privatized companies. According to the sell-off plan, foreigners will have the right to manage two of the five new companies, meaning that 30% of the country's total generating capacity will be under the control of overseas investors. The Korea Power Exchange (KPX) has also been established to act as an intermediary for the trade of electricity between KEPCO and its subsidiaries. As a result, wholesale electricity prices will now be set by the market. (WMO)

April 5 Governor Gray Davis of California, after previously opposing raising electricity rates, announces his support for a rate increase. The California Public Utilities Commission had already approved the biggest rate increase in State history the previous week, but Governor Davis' rate increase proposal would, in effect, be an alternative plan to that of the Public Utilities Commission. (WSJ)

April 6 California's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, formally files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The utility is attempting to get relief from $9 billion in debt. (NYT)

April 9 The Mozambican and South African governments sign an agreement finalizing a deal on a 900-km (559.2-mile), $1.35 billion gas pipeline from Mozambique's gas fields to the Gauteng industrial area in South Africa. (WMO)

April 9 U.S. President George Bush's budget for the Department of Energy is released. It calls for a 50% or $190 million cut in research programs for renewable energy sources. However, it adds $51 million for research on the use of hydrogen gas as an energy source and on advancing power transmission technology. (WP)

April 9 Governor Gray Davis announces that the State of California will buy Southern California Edison's transmission lines for $2.76 billion. This comes only days after California's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, files for bankruptcy, and is an attempt to prevent the state's second largest utility from having to do the same. (LAT)

April 10 E.ON AG of Germany announces plans to take over Powergen PLC of the United Kingdom in a $7.4-billion deal that would create the world's second largest electricity provider. E.ON is a conglomerate that derives half its market capitalization from non-utility businesses. Ownership of Powergen will give E. ON access to the U.S. market. (WSJ)

April 10 The front month gasoline futures price rises 3.4% (3.39 cents per gallon) to its highest level since June 2000, following a fire that shut down El Paso Energy's Coastal Refinery in Aruba. (WSJ)

April 11 Shell Malaysia announces that it will invest $5.8 billion in Malaysia over the next five years to expand oil and gas operations in Malaysia, $2.6 billion of which will go towards exploration. (WMO)

April 12 The administration of U.S. President Bush decides to retain rules from the previous administration regarding energy efficiency requirements for clothes washers and water heaters. The requirement is for the new machines to be 22% more efficient by 2004 and 35% more efficient by 2007. (NYT)

April 12 ExxonMobil Corp. announces that it has made a major oil discovery in Indonesia. Its Mobil Cepu Ltd. unit made the discovery at the Banyu Urip No. 3 well, an onshore tract in the Central and East Java provinces, with estimated recoverable reserves in excess of 250 million barrels of crude oil. (DJ)

April 12 Two studies are released by the U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanographic Data Center and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography that show a direct connection between rising ocean temperatures and emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. (WP)

April 12 Data released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) continued to produce oil above its target level in March. Output was reduced by only 120,000 bbl/d instead of the target cut of 770,000 bbl/d. (DJ)

April 13 The U.S. Department of Energy announces that energy efficiency standards for central air conditioners will only need to be raised 20%, instead of the 30% proposed by the Clinton administration. U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham comments that the 20% standard is more realistic and affordable. (WP, NYT)

April 16 Ninety-two employees of Occidental Petroleum in Colombia are kidnaped in the eastern province of Aruaca. However, about 80 of them are released a few hours later after an army antiterrorism unit moves into the area. The rest are released on April 19. (WMO)

April 16 Conoco's Killingholme refinery in the UK suffers an explosion, shutting down the refinery and killing two workers. The plant processes some 230,000 barrels of crude oil and other feedstocks per day, and its shutdown boosts NYMEX crude oil futures. (Reuters)

April 17 U.S. oil major Chevron announces that oil reserves in the Tengiz field in western Kazakhstan are about 368 million barrels according to its latest estimates. This is more than double previous estimates. The field, with Chevron as operator in a consortium consisting of Chevron, ExxonMobil, Kazakhstan's state oil company Kazakhoil and LukArco, a joint venture between BP and Russia's LUKoil, produced about 1.4 million barrels of crude in 2000. (WMO)

April 17 A letter from U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Gale Norton to Florida Governor Jeb Bush is released, stating that the Bush administration has decided to go ahead with plans to auction six million acres of potentially oil-and-gas-rich seabed in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates that the area contains 396 million barrels of oil and 2.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (USAT)

April 18 The Turkish Parliament passes a natural gas market bill that ends the state monopoly in natural gas and brings Turkish law in this area into compliance with European Union law. (WMO)

April 18 A study is released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicting that, without strong government action, the emission of greenhouse gases will jump by one third in the next twenty years. (DJ)

April 19 U.S. President George Bush states publicly that the U.S. government has no intention of removing economic sanctions on Iran and Libya. President Bush does not mention Iraq. According to the Washington Post, this statement comes after a draft of Vice President Cheney's energy task force report raises the possibility of lifting some of these restrictions. The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act expires in August, at which point the U.S. Congress will have to renew it for sanctions to continue. (WP)

April 22 The Summit of the Americas in Quebec ends, with all countries except Venezuela and Cuba (the only country not to attend) agreeing to establish a Free Trade Area of the Americas by the end of 2005. This would be the world's largest free trade zone, with combined output of more than $11 trillion. The United States, Canada, and Mexico agree to create a joint task force to look at ways to facilitate energy trade in the North American market. (Reuters)

April 23 The Australian Government rejects Royal Dutch/Shell Group's planned takeover of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Australia's largest energy company. Australia invokes a rarely-used national interest veto and asserts that the government is ensuring development of the North West Shelf gas field, Australia's largest single ongoing natural resource development project. (WSJ)

April 23 U.S. major oil companies ExxonMobil and Conoco release earnings figures showing profits for the first quarter of 2001 of $5 billion and $616 million respectively. These figures represent more than a 50% increase over the same period a year ago. Overall, companies in the Standard & Poor's energy sector are expected to post a 54% increase in profits for the first quarter. (WP)

April 23 Russia reaches a credit agreement with the World Bank that involves a commitment to end subsidies for the coal industry in 2002. The World Bank is funding an $800-million modernization program for the Russian coal sector, as part of its support for structural reforms in the country. (WMO)

April 24 Venezuela calls upon foreign companies operating in the country to cut their crude oil output in order for the country to meet its OPEC production quota. Most OPEC countries rely upon cuts in their own state-owned company's production to comply with quotas. (WMO)

April 24 Tosco's Los Angeles-area refinery catches fire, halting production of about 5.5 million gallons of gasoline and other fuels per day. Gasoline prices on the Los Angeles spot market rise 7.5 cents per gallon to $1.425 per gallon. (LAT)

April 25 A Federal Appeals panel dismisses a lower court's finding that strip mining of West Virginia mountaintops violates local environmental law, allowing the mechanized strip mining, that has largely replaced underground mining in Appalachia, to continue. Environmental groups plan to appeal this ruling. (NYT)

April 25 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announces a plan to control California's electricity prices. Effective May 1, the regulators will be able to impose price controls on power generators when electricity reserves fall below 7.5%. (NYT)

April 26 The Directors of the Dabhol Electricity Plant of India, owned by Enron of the U.S., decide to halt electricity sales to the Maharashtra state electricity board. The state has declared its willingness to renegotiate the power purchasing agreement with Enron, but the company appears skeptical. The government would have to pay about $384 million to Enron if the project is terminated. (WMO)

April 27 The Brazilian Government announces that it will invest $8 billion in the country's power sector by the end of 2002 in order to increase generating capacity by 6,000 megawatts. This comes as the possibility of power rationing looms due to a shortage of generating capacity. (WMO)

April 27 Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Ali al-Naimi meets with a number of senior US officials, including Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. Al-Naimi, in a statement before the meetings, says leading oil producers would not allow record-high gasoline prices to spin out of control. (WMO, Reuters)

April 30 U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney previews the administration's energy plan in a speech in Toronto, Canada. Cheney, stating that conservation alone cannot solve America's energy needs, calls for increased domestic production of fossil fuels and increased usage of nuclear power to meet America's energy demand. He also calls for construction of new coal and gas power plants, as well as upgrading and expanding of the country's transmission grid. (WSJ, USAT)

May 1 Mexican President Vicente Fox announces plans to dissolve the board of Mexican state oil company Pemex and to instead create an eight-member advisory committee. This is a reversal from his previous policy to fill the board of Pemex with high-profile private-sector executives. (WMO)

May 3 U.S. President George W. Bush orders federal agencies in California to cut their energy use and to take other appropriate actions to conserve energy. The Federal Government consumes 1.5% of the nation's electricity. (WP)

May 3 ExxonMobil announces that it has made a major oil discovery offshore Angola, 217 miles northwest of Luanda. The discovery is located in Block 15 and is believed to contain 3.5 billion barrels of oil. (WMO)

May 4 California Governor Gray Davis announces a $7 billion agreement by the State to buy electricity over 10 years from Sempra Energy. Governor Davis asserts that this will contribute to bringing reliable power to California at a lower price than the spot market. (LAT)

May 4 A draft report of the Mitchell Commission is distributed to Israeli and Palestinian officials. The report says that Israel should freeze settlement construction, but does not recommend sending an international force to the region, as Palestinians have been demanding. The international commission, led by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, was formed as part of a U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire agreement reached at an October 2000 summit at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik. (USAT)

May 7 The Williams Companies announces that it has acquired Barrett Resources for $2.5 billion in cash and stock. Barrett Resources is a natural gas exploration and production company. Williams builds power plants, transports natural gas, and trades electricity. (NYT, WMO)

May 7 Valero Energy announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire Ultramar Diamond Shamrock for $6 billion. If approved by shareholders and regulators, the new company would be the second-largest petroleum refiner in the United States, with a refining of capacity slightly under 2 million barrels per day. (NYT, WMO)

May 8 The State Planning Board of the People's Republic of China approves a plan to make a very large investment in the country's rural power grids. This includes maintenance and renovation as well as construction of new lines. (WMO)

May 8 AES Corporation announces that it has suspended plans to invest $2-$2.5 billion in energy projects in Brazil. AES alleges that the Brazilian government's pricing policy jeopardizes the profitability of its operations there. (Reuters)

May 9 Four people are killed in the Aceh region of Indonesia when two bombs explode, damaging a natural gas pipeline and pumping station owned by ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil suspended on-shore operations, including shipments from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Arun, on March 9, 2001, due to the possibility of violence. This has reduced Indonesia's export earnings from LNG. (WMO)

May 9 BP Trinidad and Tobago announces the discovery of a one-trillion-cubic-foot natural gas field off the east coast of Trinidad, enough to power the entire country's electricity needs for about 50 years. More importantly, this represents another source for Trinidad and Tobago's liquefied natural gas exports and increases confidence in the hydrocarbon potential of Trinidad's east coast. (WMO)

May 15 The California Public Utilities Commission approves a plan that calls for a $5.7 billion rate increase, much of it falling on residential customers. The plan is retroactive to March 27, 2001, with rates designed to reward those who conserve and to punish those who do not. (LAT)

May 16 Norwegian Oil Minister Olav Akselsen announces that Norway's oil production has plateaued and that there are no plans to raise or lower production in concert with OPEC. (Reuters)

May 17 President Bush issues the administration's new energy policy. Among the plan's 105 specific recommendations are calls for reduced regulations to encourage more oil, gas, and nuclear production, tax incentives to boost coal output, and other tax incentives to promote conservation and alternative fuels. The plan also calls for increasing energy assistance to low-income households and for making the electricity grid more interconnected, both domestically and with Mexico and Canada. (LAT, WP, WSJ)

May 17 The companies involved in the proposed Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, including the manager, BP, have found the initial cost estimate viable, and will proceed to the next phase of the project, a more detailed $150 million feasibility study. The proposed pipeline would loosen Russian control of Caspian Sea oil and serve as an alternative to the Bosporus as a transport route for oil from the Tengiz field. (NYT)

May 17 BP and Shell say that they will build a $150 million, 100-mile natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. The Okeanos pipeline will have the capacity to move as much as one billion cubic feet of gas per day from offshore production fields in ultradeep waters. (WSJ)

May 18 Brazil orders consumers and citizens to cut electricity consumption by 20% to avoid blackouts. Rationing will begin on June 1, and includes surcharges for those who do not meet the cutback and rewards for those who do. This comes as a drought has reduced Brazil's hydroelectric generating capacity, which accounts for about 90% of the country's total generation capacity. (NYT)

May 18 Saudi Arabia selects the eight foreign companies to take part in its "Gas Initiative," three core venture gas projects that have an anticipated worth of $25 billion. They are: Core Venture 1: ExxonMobil (lead), Shell, BP, and Phillips; Venture 2: ExxonMobil (lead), Occidental and Enron (a joint bid); Venture 3: Shell (lead), TotalFinaElf, and Conoco. The Gas Initiative is the first major reopening of Saudi Arabia's upstream hydrocarbon sector since nationalization in the 1970s. (WMO)

May 21 The price of Brent crude oil futures for delivery in early June peaks at $29.68 per barrel, the highest level in a year. This comes as concern increases over U.S. gasoline supplies, heightening Israeli-Palestinian tensions, a possible Iraqi halt in oil exports, and OPEC statements to the effect that a production quota increase in June is unlikely. (WMO)

May 21 The Enron Corporation's power generating venture in India, the Dabhol Power Company, serves formal notice that it will terminate its power supply contract and pull out. The $2.9 billion Dabhol project represents the single largest foreign investment in India. The gas-fired plant already had a generating capacity of 740 megawatts and another 1,444 megawatts was scheduled to go on line in June.

May 23 Philippine Energy Secretary Jose Camacho announces that the country's power sector would require investments of around 382 billion pesos ($7.59 billion) for the next 10 years or an average of 38 billion pesos a year to ensure adequate power supply. According to many foreign investors, obtaining such a level of investment requires passage of the power reform bill before the Philippine Congress. The reform bill is aimed at privatizing debt-laden National Power Corp (Napocor) and restructuring the industry to bring down power rates. Napocor's debt represents over 12% of the Philippines' national debt. (Reuters)

May 23 Shell announces that it has discovered a huge reserve of oil in Oil Mining Lease 118 offshore Nigeria. This is the same block where Shell is developing the 600-million barrel Bonga field. The discovery would appear to confirm the immense potential of Nigeria's deepwater offshore area. (WMO)

May 29 California Governor Gray Davis meets with President Bush and informs him that he plans to file a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to force the federal government to impose price controls on wholesale electricity in California. President Bush reiterates his opposition to price caps. (Reuters)

May 29 Natural gas futures plunge 6% to a 10-month low on speculation that growing U.S. inventories will help power plants meet summer demand for air-conditioning. The price for June delivery fell 23.5 cents, to $3.738 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). (LAT)

May 30 Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Mohammad Rasheed signs an oil and gas cooperation agreement with his Algerian counterpart, Chekib Khelil. The deal is thought to include an Algerian role in the development of the Touba oil field in southern Iraq and a new natural gas field in the Western Desert of Iraq. (WMO)

May 31 The United States and Britain win Security Council approval of a one-month extension of the United Nations oil-for-food program. A vote on the new "smart sanctions" on Iraq proposed by the United States and Britain is delayed at least one month. Iraq demands the usual six-month extension, and says that it will cut off oil exports in response. (WSJ)

May 31 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma orders his new government to suspend the planned privatization of electricity generating and distribution companies. Privatization of electricity companies was one of the key terms laid down by the International Monetary Fund to secure loans to Ukraine under its currently frozen $2.6 billion aid program. (Reuters)

June 1 Electricity rationing goes into effect in Brazil in response to electricity shortages caused by droughts in the heavily hydroelectric-dependent country. Three-quarters of consumers must cut consumption by 20% for six months or face rolling blackouts and unscheduled power interruptions. (NYT)

June 3 Iraq announces that it will halt crude oil exports in response to a United Nations Security Council resolution that extends the oil-for-food program by only one month, instead of the normal six-month period. The oil-for-food program affects revenues from Iraqi sales of about 2.1 million barrels per day. However, it has been reported Iraq will continue to sell several hundred thousand barrels per day to its neighbors through sales that are outside of the oil-for-food program. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announces that, if need be, it will make up for lost Iraqi production. Oil prices do not change greatly in response to either announcement. (NYT)

June 3 The eight energy companies selected by Saudi Arabia on May 18 to take part in its Gas Initiative formally sign agreements to develop the projects. It is expected that the conversion of Saudi Arabia's power plants from oil to natural gas, which is part of the deal, will free up more crude oil for export. (LAT, WP)

June 4 An Omnibus Power Bill is passed in the Philippines. The effect is that the state-run National Power Corporation will be broken up and sold to private interests. Passage of this bill is seen as key to obtaining the necessary investment to maintain adequate power supply in the Philippines, and about $1 billion in development loans for the Philippines was contingent on its passage. (WSJ)

June 5 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets final health and safety standards for a proposed nuclear waste depository at Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert. This is a key step in allowing construction of the facility, which is essential to efforts to rejuvenate the U.S. nuclear power industry. The following day, the EPA sets ground water standards for this same site. (WP)

June 5 OPEC ministers agree to leave the cartel's oil production quotas unchanged for at least a month, until a scheduled emergency meeting July 3. OPEC had been expected to leave the quotas unchanged until September, but Iraq's suspension of oil exports on June 3 created uncertainty. (LAT)

June 5 Egypt and Jordan sign a 30-year agreement to export Egyptian natural gas to Jordan through a pipeline. The pipeline will have an initial capacity of 35.3 billion cubic feet per year, and the 156-mile pipeline will go from the Egyptian Mediterranean city of El-Arish to the Jordanian Red Sea coastal town of Aqaba. Construction is expected to take 18 months. (DJ)

June 6 A report from the National Academy of Sciences on global warming that had been requested by the Bush Administration is released. The report affirms the view that global warming is a real problem, i.e., that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the earth's atmosphere, and that air and ocean temperatures are rising. (NYT)

June 6 Russian lawmakers in the lower house (Duma) approve a plan to import spent nuclear fuel (about 20,000 metric tons over ten years) from power plants in Europe and Asia. Russia would earn an estimated $20 billion for storing the radioactive material. However, about 90% of the spent fuel Russia could import is from U.S.-designed nuclear reactors, and hence, cannot be transferred to a third country without the permission of the United States. The U.S. State Department states that it would want several assurances regarding reprocessing and transport security that Russia may be unwilling to agree to. (LAT)

June 7 BP announces that it will build a new $600-million platform offshore Trinidad that is expected to double the company's production of natural gas there by 2004. BP currently produces one billion cubic feet per day in Trinidad. (DJ)

June 7 Tony Blair is re-elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, as his Labour Party wins a large majority of seats in the House of Commons. (WSJ)

June 11 German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and leading energy companies sign an agreement that will shut down 19 nuclear power plants in Germany. The agreement limits nuclear plants to 32 years of operation, meaning that all nuclear plants in Germany could be shut down by 2021. (DJ)

June 11 Saudi Arabia announces that it has seized ownership, effective June 7, of the 1.6-million barrel-per-day IPSA pipeline that had carried Iraqi crude oil to the Saudi Red Sea port of Mu'jiz prior to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The seizure includes pumping stations, storage tanks, and the maritime terminal. Saudi Arabia claims that the asset was confiscated as a result of aggressive Iraqi actions. Iraq insists that it still owns the pipeline. (DJ)

June 14 President Bush meets with European leaders at a European Union (EU) gathering. After the meeting, European Commission President Romano Prodi announces that EU member nations will soon begin a concerted drive to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international pact to combat global warming that Bush has rejected. (LAT)

June 14 The California Supreme Court rejects allegations that nine of the largest oil companies in the United States conspired to fix gasoline prices in California. This ruling may affect the California attorney general's ability to bring charges of antitrust behavior in the State's wholesale power market. (DJ)

June 15 ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum sign a letter of intent for a natural gas to liquids (GTL) project that would be the largest in the world. The plant would have a production capacity of 80,000 to 90,000 barrels per day, and would use about 640 million to 720 million cubic feet of natural gas per day as feedstock. The project is expected to cost between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion to construct. (OD)

June 16 The Iraqi Trade Minister, Mohammed Mehdi Saleh, states that Iraqi crude oil exports will not resume as long as the U.S.-British changes to the memorandum governing the oil-for-food program (i.e. "smart sanctions") are being considered. (AP)

June 18 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) votes unanimously to extend wholesale electricity price controls to ten western states that share their transmission grids with California. The order applies a proxy price based upon California-specific data to the whole area. That proxy price will be based on the operating costs of the least-efficient power plant operating in California during electricity emergencies. (WSJ)

June 18 Statoil, the Norwegian state-owned oil company, takes part in an initial public offering. The Norwegian government sells about 18% of the company, raising about $2.9 billion, while retaining the remaining equity. Statoil is the ninth-largest publicly traded oil company in the world and controls vast oil and natural gas resources in the North Sea. (NYT)

June 19 Hunt Oil Company of the United States agrees to pay $600 million to acquire Chieftain International of Canada. Most of Chieftain's assets are in the Gulf of Mexico, and this purchase boosts Hunt Oil's presence there. (WSJ)

June 19 Administrative workers for Shell in Nigeria go on strike, shutting down administrative offices and flow stations, with a production loss of 100,000 barrels per day, according to Shell. Downstream Shell workers will make a decision whether to strike on June 28. (Reuters)

June 19 Brazil's two-day auction of exploration and production rights ends, with 34 of 53 blocks offered by the National Petroleum Agency sold. About $240 million was raised from the sale, which exceeded expectations. Brazilian state-oil company Petrobras was the largest purchaser, obtaining 13 blocks on its own or as consortium leader. (Reuters)

June 21 A U.S. federal grand jury returns a 46-count indictment charging 13 Saudis and one Lebanese with the 1996 truck-bombing of the Khobar Towers apartments in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans and injured nearly 400 others. The indictment also alleges Iranian government involvement in the bombing. (NYT)

June 22 Electricity prices in the western United States fall to their lowest level in over a year in the wake of federal price controls and declining natural gas prices. The price for a megawatt-hour at the Palo Verde, Arizona transmission hub fell to $92, compared to $160 just before the FERC ruling of June 18. (WSJ)

June 24 Qatar signs a contract with Edison Gas of Italy to supply 3.5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year for 25 years, starting in 2005. Qatar aims to export 30 million metric tons of LNG per year by 2007. (Reuters)

June 27 Crude oil and gasoline futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) collapse to their lowest levels in over a year. Gasoline futures for July delivery fall 6.35 cents, or 8.2%, to 71.44 cents per gallon. Crude oil futures for August delivery fall $1.37, or 5.1%, to $25.61 per barrel. This comes in the wake of reports that inventories are steady or rising for gasoline and crude oil. (DJ)

June 28 The U.S. House of Representatives approves a measure banning new offshore drilling for oil and natural gas in the Great Lakes. (WP)

June 28 Brazilian power regulator Aneel sells licenses to build and operate eight hydroelectric plants, receiving $1.08 billion in concession fees from successful bidders. The new projects are expected to add 2,282 megawatts to the national grid. (DJ)

June 29 The Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases a preliminary estimate showing that carbon dioxide emissions from energy sources in the United States rose by 41 million metric tons carbon equivalent, or 2.7%, in 2000, much higher than the average annual growth rate of 1.5% for the period 1990-2000. (LAT)

June 30 ENI of Italy signs a $550 million contract to develop Iran's Darquain (Darkhovin) field, with expected production of 160,000 barrels per day. This deal may be seen as a test of the U.S. government's resolve to enforce sanctions against foreign companies investing in Iran's energy sector. (LAT)

July 2 U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton states that the Bush Administration will seek to let oil companies drill on about 1.5 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico out of the 6 million originally under consideration. This removes acreage closest to the shores of Alabama and Florida. (NYT)

July 2 The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council, facing an almost certain Russian veto, agrees to postpone indefinitely a vote on the U.S.-led "smart sanctions" package for Iraq, despite support by the four other council members. Instead, it will extend, most likely through the end of the year, the program that allows Iraq to export oil and import food and other commodities under U.N. supervision. (WSJ)

July 3 At a meeting of its oil ministers, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agrees to maintain current production quotas. Ministers indicate that, if Iraqi oil returns to the market, they may cut production in response to maintain their desired level of prices. (WP)

July 5 Australia and East Timor sign an agreement to share royalties from oil and natural gas production in the Timor Sea, which separates the two countries. The deal supercedes the former agreement between Australia and Indonesia that divided royalties 50-50, with a new arrangement of 90% for East Timor and 10% for Australia. This agreement clears the way for $7.25 billion in proposed energy projects for the area and further downstream projects for Australia. (WSJ)

July 9 California State officials and power suppliers fail to reach agreement on disputed charges worth $8.9 billion. Chief Judge of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Curtis L. Wagner Jr. states that California consumers were overcharged by as much as $1 billion (going back to October 2000), but a group of energy companies offered refunds of $716.1 million, adding that these refunds should be offset by amounts they are still owed for previous power deliveries. (WP)

July 10 Amerada Hess agrees to acquire Triton Energy for $2.7 billion in cash. Both companies' boards have approved the transaction. Triton Energy is an international exploration and production company with major oil and natural gas assets in West Africa and Latin America. Triton's total proved reserves are estimated at 293.5 million barrels of oil equivalent. Amerada Hess' total proved reserves are estimated at 1.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent. (DJ)

July 11 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders a consolidation of U.S. power-grid assets in order to foster large, competitive markets in the Northeast and Southeast. This is part of the FERC's goal to promote the development of four regional transmission organizations (RTOs) to oversee the national power grid, including an 11-state RTO in the west, including California. (DJ)

July 11 Iraq resumes oil exports, ending a 5-week halt in protest of a U.S. and British-sponsored United Nations (U.N.) Security Council resolution that would have overhauled U.N. sanctions, after this resolution did not come to a vote (see July 2). The oil-for-food program will be extended for five months. (NYT)

July 12 The Russian government approves a plan to break up the state electricity monopoly RAO Unified Energy Systems (UES) into transmission and power-generating units, and to sell off some operations. Under the plan, UES' coast-to-coast transmission lines will be spun off into a separate company; the state will still own 52% of UES. (WSJ)

July 12 A bomb attack shuts down pumping at Colombia's Cano Limon Pipeline, the country's second-largest crude oil export pipeline, just 19 hours after it had been returned to service after an earlier bombing. The 485-mile pipeline, which can transport 120,000 barrels per day to the port of Covenas, has been bombed over 100 times in 2001. In the previous week, the 110,000-barrel-per-day Colombia Pipeline was also bombed, shutting down production there. For the year-to-date, Colombia's oil exports have fallen 28.7% compared to the previous year. (OD, DJ)

July 16 A 13-member panel appointed by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences recommends, in a draft report, that the federal government require automakers to improve the mileage of new vehicles. President Bush has said that the panel's findings will help him decide whether and how much to increase fuel economy standards. (NYT)

July 16 BP agrees to buy a 51% stake in German energy conglomerate E.On's Veba Oel petroleum station and oil unit in a deal valuing the business at about $5.56 billion. BP has the option to acquire the remaining 49%. The deal would make BP the market leader in retail fuel sales in Germany. (DJ)

July 17 The U.S. National Academy of Sciences releases a study of 39 research and development programs in energy efficiency and fossil fuel technology funded by the Department of Energy since 1978. The study determines that the programs yielded an economic return of $40 billion from a $13 billion investment. (LAT)

July 18 Crude oil futures fall to their lowest levels in 14 months after data from the Energy Information Administration and the American Petroleum Institute show a larger-than-expected build in crude oil stocks. Crude oil for August delivery falls 68 cents per barrel to $24.89 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). (DJ)

July 23 Following days of intense negotiations at the CoP-6 meeting in Bonn, an agreement is reached by 178 countries that would require industrialized countries to cut emissions of gases linked to global warming. The final product is a modified version of the Kyoto Protocol. The United States declines to participate in the agreement. (NYT)

July 23 Endesa, Spain's largest power company, agrees to buy Eletrogen of Italy for $3.2 billion, making Endesa the third-largest electricity generator in Italy. (NYT)

July 24 Mexican Energy Minister Ernesto Martens declares that maintenance work will reduce Mexico's crude oil exports by about 70,000 barrels per day for the next four months, meaning that no further Mexican production cuts will be needed to provide cooperation with expected Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production quota cuts. On July 9, Mexico had declared force majeure on export of Maya, its main export crude oil, until November due to maintenance on its oil and gas pipelines. (Reuters, OD)

July 24 An Iranian warship in the Caspian Sea threatens a BP oil exploration ship off the coast of Azerbaijan. This prompts BP to suspend exploration in the area. The two vessels were in the Araz-Alov-Sharg field 90 miles southeast of Baku. Iran claims the field is in Iranian waters. Caspian Sea region countries have been unable to agree on a division of the Sea. (NYT)

July 25 Faced with declining oil prices, ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agree to cut crude oil production quotas by about 4%, or one million barrels per day. The cut will take effect September 1, and is aimed at maintaining the price of the OPEC basket of crude oils at around $25 per barrel. Crude oil futures for September delivery climbed 47 cents per barrel, to $26.78, on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) after the announcement. (DJ)

July 26 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman proposes significant changes in the regulation of power plant pollution. Five specific programs would be replaced with a single, flexible approach that includes expanded pollution credit trading. (LAT)

July 26 Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid leaves the presidential palace and the country, ending a 2-day standoff and clearing the way for his successor, Megawati Sukarnoputri, the former vice-president, to take over. The National Assembly had voted on July 23 to remove Wahid from office and install Sukarnoputri in the presidency. (AP)

July 30 The flow of natural gas from Iran to Turkey through the Tabriz-Ankara pipeline, completed on July 26, is delayed. Turkey states that its state gas company, Botas, wants to conduct additional tests on the pipeline. The National Iranian Gas Company claims that the delays are a tactic by Turkey to avoid paying compensation to Iran for not being technically prepared on the agreed start-date for exports. Under the 23-year deal signed in 1996, Iran was to have begun exporting 106-billion cubic feet per day, increasing to 353-billion cubic feet per day from 2007 onward. (AP)

July 30 Energy authorities from Colombia and Ecuador sign an agreement in Quito to build a $50 million, 230-kilovolt interconnection to allow the countries to share electric power. The interconnection will link the substation of Jamondino in Pasto, Colombia with the Pomasqui substation in Quito. Ecuador will likely be a net importer from Colombia because of overcapacity in Colombia. (DJ)

August 1 A Phillips Petroleum-led coalition announces that it is postponing its investment commitment for the Bayu-Undan project, which involves construction of a $500 million pipeline to transport natural gas from the offshore field in the Timor Sea to Darwin, Australia for processing into liquefied natural gas (LNG). The Bayu-Undan field contains an estimated 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas. The reason for the postponement reportedly concerns taxation uncertainties after oil and gas reserves in the Timor Gap were redistributed between Australia and East Timor. (OD, DJ)

August 1 The U.S. House of Representatives votes to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It also votes to reject a proposal to substantially boost the gasoline mileage of sport-utility vehicles. (WP)

August 2 U.S. President George Bush signs an executive order calling on the federal government to purchase products that consume no more than 1 watt of electricity in their standby mode. (WMO)

August 2 A three-day strike costing $1 million per day at Venezuela's Sincor Heavy Oil project ends. Sincor is a joint venture of TotalFinaElf, Statoil, and PdVSA that will convert the heavy oil into 31 to 32 degree API Zuata Sweet crude oil. (WMO)

August 2 Crude oil futures prices for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rise $0.94 to $27.71 per barrel, their highest level in six weeks. This comes after a July 31 report by the American Petroleum Institute showing a decline in U.S. petroleum inventories for the first time in more than a month. (WSJ)

August 3 U.S. President George Bush signs into law the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) Extension Act of 2001. This Act provides for a 5-year extension of ILSA with amendments that affect certain of the investment provisions. ILSA sanctions foreign companies that provide new investments of over $40 million for the development of petroleum resources in Iran or Libya, or that violate existing United Nations prohibitions against trade with Libya. The law allows the president to waive sanctions against a foreign company if doing so is deemed to be in the U.S. national interest. U.S. companies are prohibited by U.S. law from engaging in any commercial or financial transactions with Iran or Libya.

August 7 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announces that Venezuela will have a new hydrocarbons law by mid-November. He states that the new law will promote the participation of domestic companies in the oil sector. The bill is expected to include taxation and royalty reforms. (WMO)

August 8 The Energy Information Administration announces that petroleum demand in July averaged 19.7 million barrels per day, up from 19.3 million barrels per day in June, for the second-highest July figure ever recorded. Gasoline demand averaged 9 million barrels per day for July an all-time high. (DJ)

August 8 U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announces that four programs to encourage the development of low-generation-cost fuel cells will receive $270 million in subsidies from the Department of Energy. (WMO)

August 10 The United States and Great Britain reject a proposal by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to permit the Iraqi government to use $1 billion per year to fund infrastructure improvements and to increase oil production capacity. It has been suggested that without infrastructure investment, Iraq's production could fall significantly over the next few years. (WMO)

August 10 The State of California files a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over federal requirements that expensive anti-pollution additives be added to gasoline in the State. The additives raise the cost of gasoline by 3 to 5 cents per gallon, and California maintains that these additives are not necessary to maintain clean air standards. (LAT)

August 13 Iraqi Vice-President Ramadan announces that Syria will soon hire contractors to build a new oil pipeline stretching from the Iraqi border to Syria. The pipeline would replace an old one that was shut down in 1982, but is reported to be operating. (DJ)

August 13 An electricity interconnection between Venezuela and Brazil is inaugurated today by the presidents of the two countries at Santa Elena de Uairen, Venezuela. The transmission line will link this city to Boa Vista in Brazil. The power is generated by the 12,500-megawatt Guri hydroelectric plant in Venezuela. (WMO)

August 13 BP signs an agreement with Algerian state oil and gas company Sonatrach for the development of the 7.1-trillion-cubic-foot in Salah natural gas field. The $2.5 billion project will split development costs 65/35. Production is expected to come on stream in 2004, and will peak at 141 billion cubic feet per year. (WMO)

August 14 Devon Energy buys Mitchell Energy for $3.1 billion in cash and stock. The transaction, which was approved by the boards of trustees of both companies, also involves the assumption by Devon of $400 million of Mitchell's debt. This deal makes Devon the second-largest independent producer of natural gas in the United States. (WSJ, DJ)

August 14 The Environmental Protection Agency announces that it will not issue a reassessment of an air pollution rule affecting coal-fired power plants by August 17, as originally announced in the President's energy policy plan speech in May. Instead, the decision, which is part of a plan to ease the regulatory burden on the energy industry without having an environmental rollback, will be delayed until September in order to be part of a more comprehensive set of policy options. (NYT, WP)

August 14 President Bush names Pat Wood III to be the new chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, effective September 1, to succeed Curtis Hebert, who announced his resignation on August 6. (WSJ)

August 15 Rebels in southern Sudan attack oil field operations for the first time since operations there restarted two years ago. Oil production was interrupted for only 12 hours, according to Sudanese officials. Production from these fields is about 200,000 barrels per day. (WP)

August 20 A Superior Court Judge in San Jose, California signs a settlement agreement between the environmental group Communities for a Better Environment and five large oil companies (Shell, Chevron, Texaco, Equilon Enterprises, and Unocal) that will force the companies to clean up their sites that have been contaminated with the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). Arco, Tosco, and ExxonMobil are still in litigation. (DJ)

August 24 The United States decides to support a modified British proposal to tighten procedures for pricing Iraqi crude oil. According to reports, Iraq is attempting to price its oil at artificially low levels, and favoring buyers willing to pay surcharges to secret accounts, thereby circumventing United Nations (U.N.) control over Iraqi oil revenue. Britain had proposed that the U.N. and Iraq set prices every 10 days, instead of the current 30 days, to make it more difficult for Iraq to exploit fluctuations in the market. The United States and Britain today agreed to 15 days instead of 10. (WP)

August 24 The retail price of gasoline in the United States is found to have risen by 6.25 cents per gallon nationwide over the previous two weeks, according the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations. This is the first reported rise in national average retail gasoline prices since May 18. (DJ)

August 24 Iranian President Khatemi and Turkmen President Niyazov call for a suspension of oilfield development in disputed sectors of the Caspian Sea. Both countries claim areas being developed by Azerbaijan. The unresolved legal status of claims by the five littoral States (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan) to the Caspian is an impediment to hydrocarbon development in some areas. (WMO)

August 27 Several dozen oil workers, including eight foreigners, are released by militants after being taken hostage during a raid on a drilling rig off the coast of Nigeria on August 23. The militants release the hostages and evacuate the rig after negotiations with company officials. Work was suspended on the rig, which is now being guarded by a security force. (DJ)

August 28 The European Commission approves the $5.3 billion takeover of Italian power company Montedison by Italenergia, a holding company led by the Fiat Group. However, the Commission warns that, if Electricite de France, a minority stakeholder in Italenergia, were to gain control of Italenergia, the case would be open to reexamination. (NYT)

August 28 National Grid PLC of the United Kingdom announces that it is the managing member of a new electricity-transmission alliance that will manage the electric-transmission systems of 10 companies in 11 American states. The new regional transmission organization (RTO) will be called Alliance Transco, and will have a gross book value of $12 billion. The RTO plans to start operating December 15, 2001. (DJ)

September 3 Santa Fe International agrees to buy rival oil and natural gas driller Global Marine for $3 billion in stock. Santa Fe is the smaller company, but is paying a 17% premium for shares in Global Marine. The deal, which has been approved by both boards of directors, creates one of the world's largest drilling companies, GlobalSantaFe Corporation, from two mid-sized companies. (DJ)

September 3 Libya's Foreign Minister announces that U.S. companies will be given one year to resume oil operations in the country before Libya decides whether their licenses should be revoked and given to other firms. Current U.S. sanctions forbid companies from operating in Libya due to previous Libyan involvement in terrorist acts against the United States and other people. (Reuters)

September 4 Devon Energy agrees to buy natural gas-producer Anderson Exploration of Canada for $3.4 billion. Under the merger plan, Devon will commence a tender offer for at least two-thirds of Anderson's outstanding shares while Anderson agrees not to solicit further offers while also paying a $135 million breakup fee. The deal gives Devon access to large undeveloped gas reserves in Canada. The transaction will increase Devon's proven reserves by 35%, to about 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Natural gas production will rise to 2.2 billion cubic feet per day, making Devon the largest independent producer of natural gas in North America. (DJ)

September 5 The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) begins trading of 15-day Brent futures contracts, which had previously been traded only on the International Petroleum Exchange in London. The price of Brent crude oil is an important international benchmark used in pricing formulas for up to two-thirds of the world's crude oil. (DJ)

September 5 Enron Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay announces that the company will divest itself of $4-$5 billion in assets in the next two years. Enron, one of the world's largest energy companies, is restructuring itself and placing more emphasis on its trading operations. (DJ)

September 6 Twelve crude-oil pipelines at China's largest refinery, Maoming, explode. About 20,000 people are evacuated and six workers are injured. The refinery's output is lowered by 73,000 barrels per day. Maoming is a unit of the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec). The oil pipelines begin functioning at a reduced capacity on September 16. (DJ)

September 7 BP decides to withdraw from negotiations with PetroChina for a stake in the construction of PetroChina's planned $4.8-billion, 2,485-mile natural gas pipeline from Xinjiang to Shanghai. ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, and Gazprom are still in negotiations with PetroChina. (DJ)

September 7 The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approves Chevron's bid to buy Texaco. Texaco must sell its Equilon Enterprises and Motiva Enterprises units in order to complete the $39-billion deal. The new company, ChevronTexaco, will have a market value of over $100 billion, assets of $83 billion, net proven reserves of 11.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), and daily production of 2.7 million boe. (DJ)

September 10 Dominion Resources announces that it has agreed to buy Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas for $1.8 billion in cash and stock. Dominion Resources is a natural gas and electricity concern with 2.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas reserves and 4 million electricity customers. Louis Dreyfus is an independent natural gas exploration and production company operating primarily in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, with proven reserves of 1.8 Tcf of natural gas equivalent. (WSJ)

September 11 The largest terrorist attack in world history occurs as 2 hijacked airplanes crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one hijacked plane crashes into the U.S. Department of Defense's Pentagon headquarters, and another hijacked plane crashes into a rural part of Pennsylvania. The World Trade Center is destroyed, and the Pentagon is heavily damaged. Over 5,000 people die and economic damage is estimated to be in the billions. Aviation is halted in the United States and all major trading markets (including energy) are closed for the remainder of the week. The U.S. government blames the attack on Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network.

September 13 Relative calm returns to world oil markets as U.S. retail gasoline prices return to normal levels and Brent crude oil futures fall back to $28.02 per barrel for October delivery after spiking to above $31.00 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Also, energy trading by Houston energy companies resumes and limited commercial aviation starts. (WMO)

September 16 The California State Legislature ends its session without a bailout for Southern California Edison, as Governor Gray Davis had requested. A bill that would have let Southern California Edison issue $2.9 billion in bonds was not allowed to come to a vote in the Senate. Southern California Edison, with 4.3 million customers, acquired a debt of $3.9 billion during the California power crisis in the winter of 2001. (NYT)

September 17 Phillips completes its $7.36-billion stock acquisition of Tosco, after getting approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. This makes Phillips the second-largest oil refiner in the United States, with a capacity to refine 1.7 million barrels per day. (WSJ, LAT)

September 17 Major trading markets in the United States, including the New York Stock Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), reopen for the first time since September 11.

September 19 Enron invokes a clause in its Dabhol power plant contract, claiming that because the Maharashtra State Electricity Board has violated its power purchase agreement, the Maharashtra state government and the government of India are liable for $5 billion. India could avoid facing liabilities that could total $5 billion by choosing to settle the dispute by paying offshore sponsors and foreign lenders, according to Enron's Dabhol unit. (Reuters)

September 19 BP and Methanex of Canada conclude a deal to construct the world's largest methanol plant, in central Trinidad. The $400-million plant would begin production in 2003 and have a capacity to produce 5,000 metric tons (5,500 short tons) per day. (DJ)

September 20 Iraq accuses Kuwait of excessive extraction of the joint al-Ratqa border oilfield. Iraq's foreign minister requests compensation from Kuwait. (Reuters)

September 20 PG&E, California's largest utility, files its bankruptcy plans. PG&E argues that it should reorganize into two utility companies because this would put it in a better position to borrow the money needed to pay off $13.2 billion in debt. Some consumer groups object to the plan, contending that it could lead to higher electricity rates because of reduced State oversight. (NYT)

September 20 Duke Energy agrees to pay $3.5 billion in cash and stock and to assume $4-$5 billion in debt in acquiring Canadian Westcoast Energy. Duke Energy is the largest U.S. utility owner, and the deal will add U.S. and Canadian natural gas pipelines to its portfolio. The companies' combined natural gas assets will include 18,900 miles of transmission pipes, 58,700 miles of gathering pipeline, 16,500 miles of distribution pipes, 241 billion cubic feet of storage, and 84 processing facilities. (LAT)

September 24 Crude oil and petroleum products futures fall to their lowest levels in nearly two years amid fears that a recession will reduce energy demand. At the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), crude oil set for October delivery falls $3.96 to $22.01 per barrel, and crude oil for November delivery falls $3.82 to $22.44 per barrel. Over the past six trading sessions crude oil and gasoline futures have fallen more than 26% and heating oil futures have fallen nearly 29%. (DJ, NYT)

September 25 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard A. Meserve announces that a comprehensive review of nuclear plant security is underway in light of the September 11 terrorist attacks. One concern is that a fully-fueled airliner could penetrate the concrete dome enclosing nuclear reactors. (WP)

September 25 An explosion at the deepest coal mine in the United States, at Brookwood, Alabama, kills thirteen miners in the deadliest domestic mining accident since 1984. The blast occurs at Blue Creek Mine No. 5 when the ceiling in a shaft falls in over a battery charger, sparking naturally occurring methane. It could be weeks or months before production at the mine can resume, as fires continue to rage and the mine is being flooded by water in an effort to extinguish the fires. (NYT)

September 26 Reliant Resources agrees to buy Orion Power Holdings for $2.9 billion in cash in addition to assuming about $1.8 billion of Orion's debt. Reliant has 20,000 megawatts of capacity in the United States and nearly 3,500 in Europe. Reliant expects the acquisition of Orion will enhance its position as a provider of wholesale power, natural gas, and energy services. (DJ)

September 26 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Pat Wood III proposes that electric utilities that refuse to join multi-state regional power grids by December 15 would lose the ability to charge market-based rates and face delays in merger approvals. FERC is pressing for the creation of four super-regional grids to minimize the market power of dominant utilities (See July 11 entry). (WP)

September 27 At its two-day meeting in Vienna the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decides to keep its production quotas unchanged at 23.2 million barrels per day, despite crude oil being at its lowest price levels since 1999. (NYT)

October 2 The California Public Utilities Commission approves a plan that saves Southern California Edison from bankruptcy by allowing the utility to pay off $3.3 billion in debt and eventually to resume normal operations. The plan would keep the current high rates in place for several years. The utility and its shareholders would pay off slightly less than half of the cost of retiring the debt, and the utility's customers would pay off the remainder under the plan. The plan is temporarily blocked for two weeks on October 30, pending a civil suit. (LAT, NYT)

October 4 The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases its Winter Fuels Outlook 2001/2002, which predicts lower gasoline, heating fuel, and electricity costs for this winter as compared with the previous one. The main reasons are adequate inventories and declining energy demand because of the slow economy. (NYT)

October 4 Japan's National Police Agency tightens security around 34 nuclear plants, government buildings, and U.S. facilities in Japan in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. (AP)

October 7 Crude oil resumes flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline after workers welded shut a bullet hole that caused 260,000 gallons of oil to spill out. The pipeline, which carries about 17% of the United States' oil production, had been shut down on October 4 after being pierced with a bullet in an apparent act of criminal mischief. (DJ)

October 7 Air raids by the United States and its coalition partner, Great Britain, begin against Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan, after the Taliban refuse to hand over alleged terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden and his associates. The raids are intended to "…disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime," according to U.S. President George Bush. (Reuters)

October 8 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders four companies-Dynegy, Mirant, Williams, and Reliant Energy-to give refunds because the prices they charged for electricity in July exceeded federal limits. The amounts were not specified, but the order comes after FERC set price ceilings in June for ten western states that the companies did not abide by (see June 18 entry). (LAT)

October 8 Burlington Resources agrees to purchase Canadian Hunter Exploration for $2.08 billion. Canadian Hunter Exploration has estimated proven reserves, 90% of which are in Canada, of 1.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas and 6.2 million barrels of oil and natural gas liquids. Canadian Hunter Exploration also has two million acres that are undeveloped. This deal expands Burlington Resources' reserve base by 12%, to 11.5 Tcf of natural gas equivalent. (WSJ)

October 8 Enron agrees to sell its Portland General Electric Utility to Northwest Natural Gas for $1.88 billion in cash and stock. Northwest Natural Gas also is expected to assume $1.1 billion in debt. Northwest Natural Gas will now have assets of $5 billion, more than 1.25 million customers, 2,000 megawatts of generation capacity, 26,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines, and 12,000 miles of natural gas distribution lines. (DJ)

October 9 Royal Dutch/Shell announces that it will acquire Texaco's interests in two U.S. refining ventures, Motiva Enterprises and Equilon Enterprises, for $2.1 billion in cash, $1.4 billion in debt, and $300 million in pension liabilities. Texaco agreed to sell the companies as part of an agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in order to complete its merger with Chevron. Motiva will be wholly owned by Shell, and Equilon will be majority owned by Shell and minority owned by Saudi Refining. Motiva and Equilon own over 20,000 gasoline stations and eight refineries in the U.S. (DJ)

October 9 The U.S. House of Representatives pass a measure urging the Bush administration to pump more oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The resolution, which is not legally binding, urges that the emergency stockpile be expanded to its full capacity of 1 billion barrels. (AP)

October 11 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approves a plan to reopen the Cove Point, Maryland liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal by April, 2002. The facility had been closed in the 1980s, as it was then uneconomic, but it may now serve as an alternative to Boston's Everett terminal (see October 16) and El Paso Energy will most likely make use of the facility (see October 18). The Cove Point terminal has connections to a number of important east coast pipelines. (WMO)

October 15 The first tanker loading of the new $2.5-billion Kazakh-Russia Pipeline takes place. This is a trial run that informally inaugurates the pipeline. Initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to be 28.2 million metric tons per year (around 560,000 barrels per day). The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), led by ChevronTexaco, runs the pipeline. (Reuters)

October 16 The U.S. Coast Guard lifts a ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers entering Boston Harbor to makes deliveries to Distrigas' Everett LNG terminal that had been imposed on September 26 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11. LNG regasified at the Everett terminal normally provides 15%-20% of the natural gas that heats homes and businesses in New England, with the percentage rising to 35% on the coldest days. On October 26, the Mayor of Boston asks a federal court to prevent tankers from entering because he claims there are inadequate disaster response plans. (Reuters)

October 17 Norway's Labor Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg announces that he will resign effective October 19, so that a new coalition government, headed by Kjell Magne Bondevik and consisting of the Conservative Party and the Christian People's Party, can take power. The incoming government has promised to cut taxes, rationalize state ownership, and boost privatization. (Reuters)

October 17 Venezuela's state-owned natural gas entity, Enagas, announces that it will increase its share of the $2.2-billion Cristobal LNG project from 30% to 60%, sharply reducing the shares of its partners ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, and Mitsubishi. It is feared that this may jeopardize the future of the project. (Oil Daily)

October 18 Crude Oil for November delivery falls to its lowest level since August 1999 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Light, sweet crude falls 50 cents per barrel to settle at $21.31 per barrel. Brent crude for December delivery closed at $20.36 at London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), down 37 cents per barrel. Poor economic prospects in the next few months, and OPEC's inability to respond so far are seen as factors contributing to the sliding prices of crude oil. (Oil Daily)

October 18 El Paso announces that it will buy 1.8 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Norway's Snohvit LNG project, led by Statoil, in what will be Norway's first LNG project. Deliveries will begin in 2006 to Williams' Companies' Cove Point, Maryland terminal, though El Paso may make use of other terminals as well. (Oil Daily)

October 22 OPEC announces that its 10 members with output restrictions implemented only 539,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of a promised one million bbl/d cut in September. (Reuters)

October 22 The natural gas transportation unit of Brazilian state energy company Petrobras invites private firms to submit requests for the expansion of the BrazBol imports route, a key move toward free access to the pipeline between Brazil and Bolivia. Moreover, Petrobras will not be able to acquire more than a 40% share of new capacities under the rules recently imposed by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP). The Brazilian part of the pipeline is operated by TBG. (Reuters)

October 25 Some 34,000 Brazilian oil workers go on strike against Petrobras, dramatically reducing oil production and refining. Crude oil production falls by 60%-70% and natural gas production by 34%. Eight of eleven refineries cease or reduce operations. Workers claim that Petrobras' $2 billion in profits in the first half of 2001 should be used to raise salaries. Workers end the strike October 29 after accepting a smaller wage hike proposal than they had demanded. (Reuters, Oil Daily)

October 28 Mexican President Vicente Fox states that Mexico, despite pressure from OPEC to help reverse lower oil prices, would not cut or freeze Pemex's crude output for now. This will make it more difficult for OPEC's production quota cuts to have a lasting effect on world oil prices. (Reuters)

October 29 ExxonMobil announces that a consortium it leads will spend $4 billion over 5 years to develop large offshore oil and natural gas fields in Russia's far eastern Sakhalin region. The fields are estimated to contain 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. ExxonMobil will be the operator and own a 30% interest in the fields. Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development of Japan will own 30%, ONGC Videsh of India 20%, Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf of Russia 11.5%, and RN-Astra of Russia 8.5%. The total investment could grow to $12 billion over the 30-40 year project life. This is the single largest foreign investment in Russia, as Russia continues to undertake market reforms. (WSJ, NYT)

October 29 Experts from OPEC member countries and from non-OPEC from non-OPEC countries Russia, Egypt, Norway, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and Angola, meet in Vienna to discuss the outlook for oil markets, but no recommendations for production cuts are made. Few details of the meeting are released. (DJ)

October 30 U.S. retail gasoline prices fall to $1.27 per gallon, a drop of 26 cents per gallon since mid-September, and the lowest level since early-January 2000. This is despite the fact that gasoline demand is up 1.7% for the past four weeks, to 8.6 million barrels per day compared to the same period a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (DJ)

October 30 The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) releases a statement banning aircraft flying under 18,000 feet within a radius of 10 nautical miles of 86 sensitive nuclear sites. This follows a general terrorist threat warning issued by the FBI, in response to which Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge urges U.S. energy companies to be on high alert. (WMO)

October 31 The U.S. Department of Commerce releases data that shows that the U.S. economy declined by 0.4% for the quarter ending in September. This is the first contraction since the first quarter of 1993. (Reuters)

October 31 OPEC President (and Algerian Oil Minister) Chakib Khelil states that OPEC oil producers are prepared to cut supply to get weak oil prices back up to the group's $25-per-barrel target price. OPEC member Kuwait states that it will support any move that OPEC makes. (Reuters)

November 2 The United States recalls its ambassador to Venezuela for consultations, following comments made recently by Venezuelan President Chavez about the United States war on terrorism. (AP)

November 2 Crude oil production begins at BP's Northstar field located off Alaska's north shore. Production of 65,000 barrels per day is expected by next quarter. Northstar is the first field to be successfully developed in federal waters off Alaska's North Slope, coming online 18 years after it was initially discovered. The Northstar production module is the largest ever built in Alaska, with 22 wells planned. Recoverable crude oil reserves are estimated at 175 million barrels. (OD)

November 6 Crude oil for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) f