The deepening of the global financial crisis and the sharp drop in energy prices have forced companies to scale back spending and delay projects, with expensive ventures in the Canadian oil sands hardest hit.
Below is a list of projects that have been delayed or scaled back in recent months, as well as other related news.
Jan 28 - ConocoPhillips said it would defer refinery upgrade projects at two of its plants to reduce capital spending, but did not identify which projects.
Jan 28 - Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd (AWE) will see production fall by about 10 percent in fiscal 2009 on weaker output from its main field, while the drop in oil prices will hurt its profits, the oil and gas company said.
Jan 27 - Leading U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp said it was cutting capital spending in 2009 by $800 million by delaying construction of a diesel hydrotreater and aromatics unit at its Norco refinery in Louisiana and the upgrade of an FCC at its Memphis refinery in Tennessee.
Jan 22 - Peru's state-owned energy company Petroperu S.A. has placed under review a $1 billion plan to modernize its Talara refinery because of low crude oil prices, Peru's mining and energy minister said. The project would raised the refinery's capacity to 90,000 barrels per day from 62,000 bpd.
Jan 20 - Suncor Energy Inc, Canada's No. 2 oil sands producer, halts construction of its C$20.6 billion oil sands expansion called Voyageur, including the planned upgrader and new stages of its steam-assisted production operation known as Firebag. Suncor also halves its previously lowered 2009 capital spending budget to C$3 billion.
Jan 19 - The $2.2 billion Al Dur power and water project in Bahrain is delayed. The Al Dur project is 50 percent owned by the Gulf Investment Corp, with France's GDF Suez owning the other 50 percent.
Jan 17 - Canada's Enbridge Inc shelves plans for a C$346 million ($277 million) pipeline reversal that would have shipped 170,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude from Sarnia, Ontario, to a tanker port in the state of Maine, supplying refineries in Montreal en route and replacing the imported oil the line now carries.
Jan 13- Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said contractor problems caused by the global financial crisis pose a threat to its launch of a major oil route to China this year.
Jan 9 - Suncor delays a C$120 million expansion of its St. Clair ethanol plant at Sarnia, Ontario, scheduling completion for 2011 instead of late 2009.
Jan 8 - Hit by falling oil prices, Ecuador plans to delay some gas and oil projects while it seeks loans and investment to boost the OPEC nation's key sector, Oil Minister Derlis Palacios said.
Jan 5 - North Sea gas pipeline operator Gassco says the 10 billion crown ($1.81 billion) Skanled gas pipeline project to Scandinavia could be delayed from its planned 2012 launch, partly due to worries over investment plans by British chemicals group Ineos, a key client.
Dec 19 - Italian energy group Eni delays its decision on picking a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Goliat oil discovery in the Barents Sea from its end-2008 deadline.
Dec 17 - Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina, state power firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) delay the construction of Indonesia's first LNG receiving terminal.
Dec 15 - Canadian oil producer Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd slows bitumen production at its Great Divide thermal oil sands project to 5,000 barrels per day from 9,000 bpd and suspends construction of its second thermal oil sands development, the C$345 million Alger project.
Dec 8 - Santos Ltd, a partner in the A$850 million ($605.4 million) Reindeer gas project off Australia's west coast, says it has been deferred indefinitely after a proposed customer failed to commit to a sales contract. Keywords: FACTBOX/ENERGYINVESTMENT
Dec 4 - Norway's StatoilHydro scraps plans for a C$16 billion upgrader for its Canadian oil sands holdings.
The company will go ahead with plans to produce up to 200,000 barrels a day of bitumen, but will sell it on the open market instead of turning it into more valuable synthetic oil.
Nov 27 - Irving Oil Ltd slows construction on its planned C$7 billion refinery at Saint John, New Brunswick, breaking work into two C$4 billion phases of 150,000 bpd each and stretching construction over up to eight years from 2011 instead of four.
Nov 27 - Royal Dutch Shell withdraws a request for regulatory approval for its 100,000 bpd Carmon Creek thermal oil sands projects in Canada.
Nov 18 - British energy group BP Plc says it will close its Australian solar-cell factory by the end of March 2009 to focus on bigger, lower-cost operations offshore. The factory is BP's smallest solar plant.
Nov 17 - Petro-Canada defers construction of an upgrader for its C$21 billion Fort Hills oil sands project.
Nov 13 - Harvest Energy Trust defers its C$2 billion expansion of Come By Chance refinery in Newfoundland.
Nov 6 - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd slows spending on the second phase of its Horizon oil sands project for 2009 after first phase costs rise to C$9.7 billion, up 42 percent from 2004 estimate.
Nov 9 - Saudi Aramco and Total SA delay a bid round for a 400,000 bpd refinery at Jubail to February from November.
Nov 6 - ConocoPhillips and Saudi Aramco halt bidding on the 400,000 bpd joint-venture Yanbu refinery in Saudi Arabia.
Nov 5 - Sunoco Inc to save $375 million by scrapping the upgrade of Tulsa, Oklahoma, refinery.
Nov 4 - British gas and oil producer BG Group postpones a decision on Phase III development of the Karachaganak field in western Kazakhstan, which aims to lift oil output to 16 million tonnes a year from 11 million.
Oct 30 - Royal Dutch Shell delays its investment decision on a second expansion of Athabasca oil sands project.
Oct 29 - Thai refiner and petrochemical company IRPC reviews a $1.5 billion investment plan. Has delayed a refinery expansion and cut run rate by 10,000 bpd.
Oct 27 - FPL Group, the largest wind-power operator in the United States, says it will cut 2009 spending nearly 25 percent to $5.3 billion and new wind-power generation to 1,100 megawatts from 1,500 megawatts.
Oct 23 - Suncor Energy delays oil sands upgrader for C$20.6 billion Voyageur expansion by one year to 2013. Expansion will boost production from Suncor's oil sands operations near Fort McMurray, Alberta, to 550,000 bpd from 350,000.
Oct 23 - Nexen Inc and Opti Canada Inc delay a second phase of Long Lake oil sands project to 2009.
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