Tuesday, January 22, 2008
ENERGY
Halliburton to Drill in Mexico
Halliburton won a $683 million three-year contract from Petroleos Mexicanos to manage drilling and completion of 58 oil wells in southern Mexico.
Halliburton said the land wells range in depth from 11,500 feet to 21,300 feet but didn't say where the wells were.
Pemex, as Mexico's government-owned oil monopoly is known, is trying to make up for a decline in production at its offshore oil field Cantarell with drilling activity in Chicontepec, an oil field in rugged, mountainous terrain in southern Mexico.
Natural Gas Field Found Near RioThe energy firms Petroleo Brasileiro of Brazil and Galp Energia of Portugal found an offshore natural gas field that may be as big as 5 billion to 8 billion barrels.
The discovery, known as Jupiter, is off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state.
Petrobras owns 80 percent of the project and operates the field.
JAPANWhale Hunt Halted by Greenpeace
Japan's whaling fleet has stopped hunting because a Greenpeace vessel has been preventing harpoon boats from transferring their catch to the factory ship, the government said.
"It is very difficult to resume hunting when there is a ship that may interfere with our activity," said Toru Shirasu, the Japanese administrative vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
The Greenpeace ship Esperanza has been chasing the factory ship Nisshin Maru for 10 days in Antarctic waters and has stopped the entire whaling operation, Greenpeace said.
MEDIAOrange County Paper Kills Section
The Orange County Register in Southern California is killing its daily stand-alone business news section.
The Register, which had daily circulation of 284,613 as of Sept. 30, also reported that it was creating six geographically zoned versions of its local news section to provide more localized news coverage and advertising exposure.
Newspapers have been cutting newsroom costs as readers and advertisers migrate to the Internet.
BANKRUPTCYPrinting Firm Files for Protection
Quebecor World sought protection from creditors in the United States and Canada after talks over a rescue deal failed. Quebecor, of Montreal, was unable to secure a $387.5 million financing package from its parent company and Tricap Partners, a private-equity fund run by Brookfield Asset Management.
Credit Suisse Group and Morgan Stanley agreed to lend $1 billion to help Quebecor meet operating needs.
BRITAINNorthern Rock to Issue Bonds
Mortgage lender Northern Rock plans to issue state-guaranteed bonds to repay emergency government loans.
The plan significantly reduces the amount of money prospective bidders would need to raise to take over Northern Rock, as they would no longer face an obligation to repay $49 billion to the Bank of England.
EARNINGSSL Green Realty, Manhattan's biggest office landlord, reported that profit rose fourfold in the fourth quarter as it increased rents in Manhattan by an average of 43 percent.
Profit rose to $128.7 million from $29.4 million in the corresponding period a year earlier, the real estate investment trust said. Full-year profit increased to $640.5 million from $200.1 million.
Funds from operations, a cash-flow measure followed by REIT investors, rose 27 percent in the fourth quarter, to $76.9 million. Funds from operations were $358 million in 2007, a 60 percent increase from 2006.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
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