Analysts favour ExxonMobil split

Brazil aims to bring the potentially massive Carioca field on stream in 2010, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said today, adding that the country wants to join Opec.

The Argentine arm of Brazilian state-run Petrobras reported a higher first-quarter net profit of 192 million pesos ($60.2 million).

Brazil may bring a case against the US to the World Trade Organisation if proposed ethanol tax rules are approved as part of a new US farm bill, Brazil's chief trade negotiator said.

Chevron said in a regulatory filing that after implementing a restructuring plan last year, about 1100 employees were eligible for severance payments, with the US supermajor adding that it is poised to make a slew of job cuts.

Argentina's Mendoza province has handed out 11 exploration blocks, saying that the awards will pump $291 million into the region's economy.

First-quarter profit at Canadian Natural Resources jumped 170% as surging oil prices more than made up for lower production, the company said.

Perth-based Red Fork Energy said the Redfork 1-18 well had spudded on the Osage project in Oklahoma, targeting oil in Tyner and Wilcox sands to a depth of 2300 feet.

Indigenous rights groups praised Peru's petroleum agency yesterday for excluding areas where isolated tribes live from an auction of oil and gas concessions.

Australia-listed Samson Oil & Gas has sold stakes in two properties in the Amber field, in Grady County, Oklahoma, including nine producing wells, for $4.8 million, it said today.

Venezuela's Petrolera Sinovensa oil project will boost output to 110,000 barrels per day from 65,000 bpd within three months, a director of state oil company PDVSA said.

Sandridge Energy, the subject of a high-profile listing last year, plunged deeper into the red in the first quarter on hedging losses, despite sharply higher production numbers.

Denver minnow Kodiak Oil & Gas trimmed its losses in the first quarter, compared with the first quarter of 2007, when it was hit by $14 million in impairment charges on the value of its oil and gas properties.

US energy officials stated they will continue to accept bids from oil companies to supply the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, despite calls from Democrats to suspend deliveries in response to record oil prices.

Mexican Energy Minister Georgina Kessel said Mexico is making diplomatic contacts to ensure it retains its share of oil in cross-border Gulf of Mexico fields.

Natural-gas producer Williams Companies has agreed to buy a 24,000-acre stake in Colorado's Piceance basin owned by SandRidge Energy and other unnamed companies for $285 million.

Opec is refusing to pump more oil into world markets despite member nations’ calls to increase supply to curb skyrocketing prices.

Offshore Houston oilfield service provider Atwood Oceanics sang as its fiscal second-quarter profit rose 32% on a 20% jump in revenue.

Investments worth about $600 billion will be needed to develop recent big oil finds in the Santos basin in Brazil, said analysts at UBS.

Cooler weather and tighter supplies led to an increase in Canadian spot natural gas prices.

Ukraine's environment ministry has cancelled Vanco Energy's licence for the Prykerchensky Block, in the Black Sea - awarded to the US explorer last October, according to a ministry order published today.

A 25% increase in US natural gas prices in less than two months has made the US a more attractive destination for liquefied natural gas imports, said Houston-based consulting firm Waterborne Energy.

Canadian Petrolifera Petroleum reports steady growth during its first quarter with sales up 12% and cash flow per share up 14% over the fourth quarter last year.

Calgary intermediate TriStar reported an unrealized loss of C$21.4 million (US$21.3 million) in the first quarter of this year while increasing production 372%.

Japan Canada Oil Sands has plans to expand its Hangingstone oil sands operation, which will provide more production capacity from the area of up to 35,000 barrels per day over a projected period of 25 to 30 years.