Week in Oil & Gas: Climate Bill's Small GOP Blessing and the Race For Energy Assets

(MoneyWatch)  Earnings season is ramping up again with companies like Halliburton and General Electric already pulling back the curtain on their third quarter results. But before we dive into the numbers over here at BNET Energy -- a word or two about some developments last week shaping the fundamentals of the energy industry.

Last week kicked off with an op-ed bang as a Republican senator -- gasp! -- penned his support for "the idea" of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., along with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., co-wrote "Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation), a bipartisan op-ed in the New York Times that outlined support for climate change legislation. There were a few caveats, of course, namely the bill had to make room for nuclear energy, expanded offshore drilling, establish carbon tariffs and institute a price collar on the cost of emission allowances.

Graham received plenty of disparaging remarks from "tea party" activists in the wake of the op-ed's publication. But at least one other Republican was moved to show a little support.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, hinted at support for the op-ed -- not the actual bill -- and even went as far as to "hope that it would mark a turning point in the climate debate."

It's an important shift for the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Murkowski does not want the Environmental Protection Agency imposing its own regulations. A climate change bill that contains some of her favorites things -- nuclear energy, offshore drilling -- will be easier to swallow than the EPA flexing its own regulatory muscle.

While senators hunted for some climate bill support, a different kind of pursuit was underfoot. The recession had fueled speculation that soon -- very soon -- the energy industry will begin to take advantage of lower prices and start swooping up companies or their oil and gas assets.

We've seen an increasing number of examples of that already including Baker Hughes' $5.5 billion acquisition of BJ Services. Lately, major U.S. companies like ExxonMobil have begun vying for stakes in oil and gas fields, notably in off the West African coast. Exxon is reportedly close to a deal to buy Kosmos Energy's stake in the Jubilee field offshore Ghana, home of one of the largest finds in the region in a decade.

But other companies, specifically national ones like China's CNOOC and the Ghana Petroleum Corp., also want a piece and their interest in the field may scuttle Exxon's plans.

CNOOC doesn't have eyes only for West Africa and the week closed with the company's asset hunt drifting West.

The Chinese company is in talks with Norway's StatoilHydro for some leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The deal is more than a grab at oil and gas assets. It also would open up the United States to China's oil companies for the first time.

Other BNET Energy coverage from the week:

• Senate Returns Funding to Hydrogen -- What's Next?
• Repsol: Lots of Nat Gas -- And Some Crude -- Offshore Venezuela
• Canada Starts Doling Out Carbon Capture Dollars
• Governments Push Carbon Capture as a Cheap Way to Reduce Coal Emissions
• Tipping Point? Republican Hints at Support for Climate Change Bill
• Taking Flight on Natural Gas: Will Airlines Use Shell's Gas-to-Liquids Jet Fuel?
• Oil Demand in Developed Nations Peaked in 2005 -- And It's Not Coming Back