Platts’ annual survey of the Top 10 Energy Stories of 2010 is now open and will remain open until Christmas:
The top 10 survey: what were the biggest oil stories of 2010?
They listed about 40 stories; I pulled out a list below that I think is worth debating on inclusion in the Top 10.
- BP Macondo well blows out, rig collapses, 11 men killed, flows for three months
- Drilling off US Atlantic Coast moves forward before Macondo
- World demand on steady upward rise, bigger jump seen in ’11
- BP sets huge asset sales, sets up fund to deal with spill claims
- Peak oil prophet Matt Simmons dies
- Bakken production grows, producers turn to rail to move oil to market
- IEA sees 50 million b/d petroleum supply gap by 2035
- Obama administration slaps on drilling moratorium in wake of Macondo, lifts it in October
- Prices break through $80 by end of year, but tight trading range rest of 2010
- US allows E15 in newer cars, but not in older ones
- French port strikes shut down refineries
- Some rigs begin to exit Gulf in wake of moratorium
- Uganda’s oil prospects look bright; Tullow to explore, but deal not done
- India significantly increases petroleum import taxes
- Refiners come up short in effort to overturn California GHG law
- Colombia’s crude output increases significantly
- Shallow water permitting slows to crawl after Macondo; Gulf of Mexico lease sale unlikely until 2012
Russian crude output continues to climb
You are also free to add your own stories. Two I think they missed are the debate on ethanol subsidies and tariffs set to expire at year end, and the massive reduction in the cellulosic ethanol mandates due to the lack of any cellulosic ethanol (which I will address pretty quickly).
I will put up my own list in late December.
Note: As some readers pointed out, the Platts survey is specific to oil. Mine will be across all energy sectors, so feel free to bring up top energy stories in the comments.