President Donald J. Trump issued an updated presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline on Mar. 29. The move was seen as an attempt to jump-start the project’s construction after a federal judge in Montana blocked it in November and ordered further environmental reviews.

As oil pipelines come online in the Permian basin, will the bottleneck depressing wellhead prices just move to Gulf Coast export terminals? No, according to a Mar. 29 research note from Cowen Equity Research.

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to allow gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend to be sold year-round would be a mistake if it was implemented, an American Petroleum Institute official testified on Mar. 29. 

Officials of state-owned Gazprom and the government of Kyrgyzstan have signed what they describe as a “roadmap” for the Russian company’s acquisition of the assets of Kyrgyzneftegaz.

The US drilling rig count is down 10 units to 1,006 rigs working for the week ended Mar. 29, according to Baker Hughes data. The count is up 13 units from the 993 rigs working this time a year ago.

Light, sweet crude oil prices fell slightly on the New York market Mar. 28 and Brent crude oil for May nudged down by only a penny on the London market while investors watched for more definite indicators regarding future oil supply and demand worldwide.

Neptune Energy and partners plan to start production from high-pressure, high-temperature Seagull oil field in the Central UK North Sea by the end of 2021.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. will receive major heavy equipment ahead of schedule that is to be installed as part of its previously announced program to expand and modernize its 166,700-b/d Vishakhapatnam (Visakh) refinery in Andhra Pradesh on India’s southeastern coast.

Acting US Interior Sec. David Bernhardt answered environmental and other groups’ assertions that he would cater to oil and gas interests which were clients when he was in the private sector with a pledge to remain committed to the highest ethics possible if the full US Senate confirms his nomination as secretary.