Market Currents

• Friday, October 30, 2009

• 09:38 AM Repsol (REP -0.5%), long derided as the oil company with no oil, announces a "fairly sizeable" discovery in the Gulf of Mexico's Shenzi field that it says will help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Today's discovery comes on top of big finds in Brazil and West Africa, and leaves Repsol with the unexpected challenge of developing a sudden surge in oil and gas properties. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, September 16, 2009

• 08:48 AM Anadarko (APC +6% premarket) finds oil in its first deepwater test of the Sierra Leone-Liberian Basin. The discovery "confirms the existence of an active petroleum system in the basin and enhances the prospectivity of our vast West Africa acreage position," APC says. Repsol (REP +1.4%) owns 25% of the property; APC owns 40%. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 15, 2009

• 09:55 AM Brazilian oil giant Petrobras (PBR +0.6%) announces a fresh oil discovery in the Santos Basin, under waters more than a mile deep. Analysts say it's too early to quantify the find given its depth, "but today's news is clearly a positive" for PBR and its partners Repsol (REP +1%) and BG Group (BRGYY.PK +1%), "and lends proof to the view that this is a prolific area." Comment!