The Age - Widespread energy granted NZ permit

Widespread Energy has been granted a petroleum exploration permit for an area of 3269 square kilometres off the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island between Hokitika and Punakaiki.

Work on the permit in the next 12 months would include reprocessing of 200km of seismic data into a digital form that could be integrated with an existing digital data set, Widespread said on Thursday.

SMH - Premium fuel bowsers closed on cheapest day

THE State Government has accused petrol stations of refusing to sell premium unleaded fuel on Tuesdays - the cheapest day of the week - after a Government survey found that a quarter of Sydney's stations shut their premium unleaded bowsers that day.

The Australian - Labor urged to rethink transport

AUSTRALIA should consider charging car owners for road use based on trip distance, load and road type as part of a wider embrace of user-pays across the transport sector, National Transport Commission chief Nick Dimopoulos has suggested.

The NTC, which put a national transport policy framework to Australia's transport ministers last Friday, also recommended the hike in trucking fees the ministers adopted at that meeting.

But even pricing decisions like that one could be taken out of ministers' hands and transferred to a non-political statutory body akin to the ACCC if federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese adopts advice he commissioned the NTC to produce.

ABC - Oil and gas production in Australia

A slight rise in Australian oil production in 2008-09 will be offset by decreasing production in the coming year and then into the future, according to ABARE forecasts. Technical difficulties in a number of oilfields including Mutineer-Exeter and Corallina in the north will significantly reduce production, as will falls in production from other mature fields.

Oil production is expected to decline to 28.9 gigalitres in 2012-13. As world consumption of oil continues, the value of Australian oil as a proportion of production will rise in the short term, with ABARE forecasting an increase in value to $11.4 billion in 2009-10.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) production will continue to expand substantially in Australia, despite rising capital costs due to material construction needs.

Stuff.co.nz - Exxon sees '08 capital spending up 20 per cent

Exxon Mobil plans to increase its capital spending by about 20 per cent to $US25 billion ($NZ31.75 billion) in 2008 as it works to start up major projects in the face of industry-wide cost increases, the largest US company said.

Stuff.co.nz - Widespread Energy granted offshore West Coast permit

Widespread Energy has been granted a petroleum exploration permit for an area of 3269 square kilometres off the West Coast between Hokitika and Punakaiki.

Stuff.co.nzGovt to plug tax loophole used by oil industry

The Government is closing another tax loophole to protect its revenue base.

Ministers said today that without a change to the Income Tax Act, New Zealand could miss out on significant revenue from the burgeoning petroleum mining industry.