NORTH AMERICA Fuel Fix Shale pioneer McClendon hires Chesapeake in Utica Aubrey McClendon, the pioneering shale

le wildcatter who helped usher in the U.S. energy renaissance, has hired the company that he left under intense criticism to drill wells for his newest natural gas venture. Newmont Mining, Barrick Gold Merger Talks Break Down - WSJ.com The two companies had intended to announce a deal as early as Tuesday, one of the people said. They have discussed combining a number of times before, people familiar with the matter have said, and it is possible they could do so again. E&Y: North American oil, gas industry staves off geopolitical strife in 1Q The North American oil and gas market started the year on a good note during the first quarter as a cold winter brought relief to producers and refiners while Mexico progressed on energy reform, Ernst & Young said in its US quarterly report on the industry. Fuel Fix More drilling, capital needed to sell shale, PE investor says Shale has unearthed its secrets over time, and it is now expensive or almost impossible to get access to land around the sweetest spots in the major shale plays. Shale Boom Winners: Quality, Not Quantity of Sites - WSJ.com LATIN AMERICA Petrobras Defends Texas Refinery Purchase - WSJ.com In a hearing at Brazil's Senate, Petrobras Chief Executive Maria das Graas Silva Foster said the deal started out as a promising enterprise but ended up as a low-return investment. She blamed lower demand for gasoline in the wake of the U.S. recession and a bad deal summary provided to the company's board of directors by an executive in 2006. Repsol Deal to Open Argentine Energy Investment, Capitanich Says - Businessweek The proposed compensation plan, which was already approved by the Senate and is being voted on today by the lower house, would provide the Madrid-based energy company with $5 billion worth of government bonds and end international lawsuits over the 2012 takeover of YPF. Jagercor Energy Corp and Central Resources Inc. Sign MOU to Jointly Pursue Opportunities in Argentina Oil and Gas - WSJ.com The MOU was recently signed by Edgardo Russo, President and CEO of Jagercor Energy Corp.; and Pablo Chebli, Vice President and Country Manager of Central International Corporation Sucursal Argentina. The purpose of this MOU is for both parties to jointly indentify and pursue a suitable mutual business opportunity in the oil and gas business in Argentina. EUROPE Shell Plans Russian Expansion With Putin Support for Sakhalin-2 - Bloomberg Putin is pushing to add oil and gas routes for Russia to supply Asia, to tap growing demand and ease the countrys reliance o n Europe. Shell and state-run OAO Gazprom, its partner in the Sakhalin venture, are looking at expanding capacity by 50 percent before a new wave of supply reaches markets. ASIA / PACIFIC PetroChina Quarterly Profit Falls on Lower Crude Price - Bloomberg The profit decline came mostly from the lower realized crude price, said Laban Yu, a Hong Kong -based analyst at Jefferies Group LLC. Yu said that future quarters could see earnings improve due to higher gas retail prices in China if production stays at the current level and crude prices dont go much lower. China Shale Boom Seen by Honghua as Pollution Cuts Coal Use - Bloomberg Honghua Group, a Chinese drilling-equipment maker that gets most of its business from overseas which has sold rigs for use in U.S. gas fields since 2005, sees an opportunity in China as the country looks to boost production from shale formations to meet growing energy demand and move away from dirtier sources of fuel like coal, Chairman Zhang Mi said in an interview.

AFRICA Guinea Approves Stripping Vale, BSG of Iron-Ore Rights - Bloomberg Guineas cabinet approved a recommendation to strip rights to part of the worlds biggest untapped iron -ore deposit from a venture of Vale SA and billionaire Beny Steinmetzs mining company, BSG Resources Ltd., a government spokesman said. Nigerias Cheaper-Than-Ghana Stocks Lure Bargain Hunters - Bloomberg Nigerian stocks are rebounding from the worst selloff in more than two years as valuations cheaper than South Africa, Kenya and Ghana lure investors from Investec Plc to Renaissance Asset Management. MIDDLE EAST Chevron Richmond Banks on Middle East Oil - Bloomberg Chevrons 245,300-barrel-a-day Richmond refinery is seeking regulatory approval to replace a hydrogen plant and increase capacity at the fluid catalytic crackers hydrotreater and sulfur -recovery system. The upgrade will take about two years and could be done as soon as mid-2016 if city officials greenlight the project in June or July, Nicole Barber, a company spokeswoman, said in an interview at the plant yesterday.