Companies are buying and selling existing oil projects in Mexico as a result of the country's suspension of oilfield auctions and new partnerships with state-operated Pemex. The transactions allow sellers to reduce their risks and buyers to gain oilfield stakes in Mexico, which wants companies to increase oil and natural gas production before licensing rounds resume.

Scientists say they can use satellite radar and algorithms to determine when a volcano is on the verge of an eruption. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar images can show ground movement at volcanoes and an algorithm can analyze the changes, compare them to previous movements and create an alert, researchers say.

Petronas has awarded EnQuest a production-sharing contract for a hydrocarbon block off the coast of Peninsular Malaysia, EnQuest says. Under the agreement, EnQuest will operate and have an 85% stake in the block, which contains several undeveloped discoveries and covers 1,699 square kilometers.

The City Council of Broomfield, Colorado, unanimously approved a six-month extension of an oil and natural gas moratorium imposed in May. The move will give local authorities more time to consider revisions to oil and gas regulations following the passage of Senate Bill 181.

Low natural gas prices and high debt are taking a heavy toll on Appalachian drillers despite surging gas production, with five of seven companies analyzed in an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis report operating on negative cash flow in the third quarter. "Even though Appalachian gas companies have proven that they can produce abundant supplies of gas, their financial struggles show that the business case for fracking remains unproven," the IEEFA said.

The Energy Information Administration has released updated maps and geologic information for the Bone Spring formation in the Delaware Basin. Thanks to hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the number of wells in the Bone Spring formation increased from 436 in 2005 to 4,338 in mid-2019, while oil production per well skyrocketed from 67 barrels per day to 770 bpd over the same period.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel have used satellite imagery and statistical modeling to identify a "country effect" linking soil erosion rates to the establishment of political borders. However, the pattern is inconsistent around the world, researchers said.

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