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Tepco Prepares to Remove Fuel Assemblies at Fukushima

TOKYO—Operators of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant this month will begin a potentially hazardous operation to remove fuel rods from one of the reactor units, a critical step in what is expected to be a decadeslong cleanup of the site of one of the worst nuclear-energy accidents in history. Tokyo Electric Power Co. 9501.TO -1.14% Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. Japan: Tokyo ¥ 520 -6 -1.14% Nov. 8, 2013 3:00 pm Volume : 26.08M P/E Ratio 3.62 Market Cap ¥856.54 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee ¥129,550,000 11/07/13 Tepco Prepares to Remove Fuel … 11/07/13 Fukushima Watch: Daiichi Plant… 10/30/13 Fukushima Watch: Watchdog Appr… More quote details and news » 9501.TO in Your Value Your Change Short position , known as Tepco, plans to transfer 1,533 metal casings holding nuclear-fuel pellets from their precarious storage pool—130 feet above the ground in one of the plant’s reactors—to a common […]

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Colorado's Fracking Bans Could Fall Before Courts

Reuters More NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) – For environmentalists, votes this week to ban fracking in three Colorado cities may prove symbolic victories at best, as two decades of legal precedent suggests drillers can successfully contest the bans in court, experts say. In elections on Tuesday, the cities of Boulder, Lafayette and Fort Collins voted to suspend or ban fracking, which environmentalists hoped would strengthen opposition to the drilling process. But in Colorado, which has been a hub of energy production for decades, a number of cases have established that local municipalities may not halt energy drilling. Attorneys versed in Colorado law say the votes will likely be overturned should they be pursued in court. In 1992, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a drilling ban implemented by the City of Greeley, known as the Voss versus Lundvall Brothers case, upholding the Oil and Gas Conservation Act that […]

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Colorado’s Fracking Bans Could Fall Before Courts

Reuters More NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) – For environmentalists, votes this week to ban fracking in three Colorado cities may prove symbolic victories at best, as two decades of legal precedent suggests drillers can successfully contest the bans in court, experts say. In elections on Tuesday, the cities of Boulder, Lafayette and Fort Collins voted to suspend or ban fracking, which environmentalists hoped would strengthen opposition to the drilling process. But in Colorado, which has been a hub of energy production for decades, a number of cases have established that local municipalities may not halt energy drilling. Attorneys versed in Colorado law say the votes will likely be overturned should they be pursued in court. In 1992, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a drilling ban implemented by the City of Greeley, known as the Voss versus Lundvall Brothers case, upholding the Oil and Gas Conservation Act that […]

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Chesapeake Energy Production Outlook Sparks Anxiety

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK -3.16% Chesapeake Energy Corp. U.S.: NYSE $ 25.40 -0.83 -3.16% Nov. 7, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 19.55M AFTER HOURS $ 25.36 -0.04 -0.16% Nov. 7, 2013 7:57 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 136,454 P/E Ratio 18.81 Market Cap $17.46 Billion Dividend Yield 1.38% Rev. per Employee $1,366,500 11/06/13 Chesapeake Energy Production O… 11/06/13 Stocks to Watch: Tesla, Humana… 10/17/13 Energy Industry’s Odd Couple: … More quote details and news » CHK in Your Value Your Change Short position is cutting costs after years of liberal spending, but the natural-gas company’s newfound thrift is raising questions about its growth prospects. The Oklahoma City company, which shelled out billions of dollars more than it made from operations in recent years, spent 45% less to drill wells in the third quarter than a year earlier. Chesapeake still managed to boost oil production by 23%, helping the […]

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U.S. rig operations decline

HOUSTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) — Oil service company Baker Hughes Inc. said Thursday oil and gas exploration internationally was increasing though U.S. activity declined. Baker Hughes published its monthly rig count for October. The international rig count for October was up 56 year-on-year to 1,315. For international offshore work, the rig count was up 10 year-on-year to 316. The company’s rig count reflects the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. For the United States, the company said the average rig count for October was 1,744, down 90 compared to the same time last year. A similar U.S. trend was observed last month. For Canada, the number was up 13 to 378 when compared to last October, but nine fewer than the number reported in September. New drilling technologies for shale oil and natural gas deposits helped push North America to the top […]

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Canadian Oil Companies Trail on Environmental Disclosure

Canada ’s biggest energy companies including Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) and Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO) are trailing global peers in reporting environmental performance as scrutiny of the oil sands intensifies. The 10 largest Canadian oil and natural gas producers by market value scored an average 31.7 out of 100 on environmental-performance disclosures in 2011, the last year with information for all companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Environmental Disclosure Scores weigh information such as emissions, spills and water use. The Canadian scores lag behind those of some of their largest U.S. and European competitors, including 54.6 (XOM) for Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest energy company, 48.8 (RDSA) for Europe’s No. 1 oil producer Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and 62 (BP/) for London-based BP Plc, which has taken a charge of $42.5 billion related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil-spill disaster. Canadian oil-sands producers […]

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Canada boasts of gas potential in western provinces

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 7 (UPI) — The Montney field across Alberta and British Columbia holds more than 400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the Canadian government said. The National Energy Board, along with provincial energy regulators, announced they completed the first-ever study of the marketable unconventional resources in the Montney area. The governments said the formation holds 449 trillion cubic feet of marketable natural gas and 1.1 billion barrels of marketable oil. “At current consumption rates the Montney gas resource would meet Canadian needs for 145 years,” NEB Chairman Gaetan Caron said in a statement Wednesday. “The report clearly shows that Canadian energy markets will be well supplied with natural gas far into the future.” The NEB said Montney’s marketable gas reserves add to a lucrative resource base already under development in Western Canada. Montney stretches from northeast British Columbia to northwest Alberta. The NEB said it’s been […]

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Russian long-term forecast sees oil price flat in real terms

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia forecast on Thursday that oil prices would remain flat in real terms through to 2030, taking a more bullish view than many independent forecasters who expect an exploration revolution to deliver ample supply and depress prices. After taking inflation into account, the price of crude oil and other commodities will remain roughly unchanged over the period, the government said in its revised long-term forecast for Russia’s $2 trillion economy. Expressed in 2010 dollars, making prices comparable over time, the average cost of a barrel of oil would be in a range of $90-$110. In nominal terms – or the money of the day – crude is seen rising to $160-$170 per barrel by 2030, said the forecast, which cited "worsening production conditions and increased demand from developing countries". The price forecast by Russia, the world’s leading oil producer, is more bullish than expectations of a […]

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Greece encouraged by Ionian Sea hydrocarbon survey

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 8 (UPI) — Greece this week hailed the preliminary results of an oil and gas survey in the Ionian Sea showing similarities to earlier finds in Italian and Albanian waters. Greek Energy Minister Yiannis Maniatis, speaking Wednesday at a petroleum industry conference in Athens, said the first conclusions of a seismic survey carried out in the Ionian and south of Crete by the Norwegian company Petroleum Geo-Services were promising. Maniatis said the initial findings revealed geological analogies between the underwater area of the North Ionian and Italian and Albanian regions of the sea where oil and natural gas have already been found, the Greek daily To Vima reported. In the findings, PGS reported “a diversity of geological characteristics of the Greek subsoil and a corresponding number of potential petroleum resources” — potentially good news for the cash-strapped country, which is seeking to improve its financial situation […]

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10 Years After 'The Party's Over': an interview with Richard Heinberg

10 Years After ‘The Party’s Over’: an interview with Richard Heinberg While running the risk of sounding like a Hello! Magazine reporter, I must introduce this post by saying that while in the US recently, I joined Richard Heinberg and his wife Janet in their beautiful permaculture garden in Santa Rosa, California.  Richard will be known to most readers of this blog as the author of  The Party’s Over, Powerdown, The Oil Depletion Protocol, Peak Everything, Blackout  and  Snake Oil  as well as one of the best communicators on the whole peak oil/everything question.  This year marks the tenth anniversary of the publication of  The Party’s Over .  Richard has already reflected on this in September’s Museletter [ 10 Years After ], but Richard and I pulled up a chair under a tree in his garden and chatted more about the book, its impact, and other related issues.  You transcript […]

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10 Years After ‘The Party’s Over’: an interview with Richard Heinberg

10 Years After ‘The Party’s Over’: an interview with Richard Heinberg While running the risk of sounding like a Hello! Magazine reporter, I must introduce this post by saying that while in the US recently, I joined Richard Heinberg and his wife Janet in their beautiful permaculture garden in Santa Rosa, California.  Richard will be known to most readers of this blog as the author of  The Party’s Over, Powerdown, The Oil Depletion Protocol, Peak Everything, Blackout  and  Snake Oil  as well as one of the best communicators on the whole peak oil/everything question.  This year marks the tenth anniversary of the publication of  The Party’s Over .  Richard has already reflected on this in September’s Museletter [ 10 Years After ], but Richard and I pulled up a chair under a tree in his garden and chatted more about the book, its impact, and other related issues.  You transcript […]

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Pakistan 'ready to deliver nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia'

Intelligence sources say Pakistan-made nuclear weapons ready for delivery to Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to counter Iran’s atomic programme, but Islamabad says claims ‘baseless’ Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also dismissed the allegations as “baseless”, as did General Hamid Gul, a former head of the ISI intelligence service. Saudi officials have long told their American allies that they planned to obtain atomic weapons if Iran went nuclear. The latest reports suggests they could be ready even sooner. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told a conference in Sweden last month that if Iran got the bomb, “the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring”. Pakistan declared itself as a nuclear armed state in 1998 with its first test. It has never signed up non-proliferation agreements and has […]

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Pakistan ‘ready to deliver nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia’

Intelligence sources say Pakistan-made nuclear weapons ready for delivery to Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to counter Iran’s atomic programme, but Islamabad says claims ‘baseless’ Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also dismissed the allegations as “baseless”, as did General Hamid Gul, a former head of the ISI intelligence service. Saudi officials have long told their American allies that they planned to obtain atomic weapons if Iran went nuclear. The latest reports suggests they could be ready even sooner. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told a conference in Sweden last month that if Iran got the bomb, “the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring”. Pakistan declared itself as a nuclear armed state in 1998 with its first test. It has never signed up non-proliferation agreements and has […]

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GE Aviation signs 10-year supply agreement for biomass FT jet fuel for engine testing; baseline of 500,000 gallons per year

  « Study shows connected-car ecodrive system can increase fuel savings 27% without increasing inter-vehicle spacing | Main | DOE launches alternative fueling station locator app » Print this post GE Aviation signs 10-year supply agreement for biomass FT jet fuel for engine testing; baseline of 500,000 gallons per year Web Schematic 2013 Updated740x442 Schematic of the DG Energy facility that will produce the cellulosic synthetic jet fuel. Click to enlarge. GE Aviation, which consumes more than 10 million gallons of jet fuel annually at its engine testing centers, has signed an agreement to purchase cellulosic synthetic biofuel from The D’Arcinoff Group (DG), based in Washington, DC, to be used for production and development testing of GE jet engines, starting in 2016. The 10-year agreement calls for GE’s baseline commitment of 500,000 gallons annually of the low-emissions jet fuel to be used at the company’s main jet engine testing […]

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BP to Give Up Control of Big Libyan Oil, Gas Project

LONDON— BP BP.LN -0.72% BP PLC U.K.: London GBp 480.95 -3.50 -0.72% Nov. 7, 2013 3:10 pm Volume : 11.47M P/E Ratio 5.93 Market Cap GBp90.92 Billion Dividend Yield 4.93% Rev. per Employee GBp2,864,460 11/06/13 BP to Give Up Control of Libya… 11/01/13 BP Names Michael Gibbs CIO 10/30/13 India Asks Reliance Industries… More quote details and news » BP.LN in Your Value Your Change Short position PLC is in talks to relinquish control of a major oil and natural-gas project in Libya, a blow to the country as it tries to attract companies to tap Africa’s largest oil reserves. BP is negotiating a deal with Libya’s state-controlled National Oil Co. to transfer a stake in BP’s two Ghadames blocks to NOC subsidiary Arabian Gulf Oil Co., or Agoco, and make it the operator of the venture, according to executives at both NOC and BP. BP is seeking to […]

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WTI Fluctuates After Gaining on Increased U.S. Gasoline Demand

West Texas Intermediate crude fluctuated after rising the most in five weeks as the U.S. consumed gasoline at the fastest rate since July. Futures were little changed in New York after climbing 1.5 percent yesterday. Demand for motor fuel expanded 2.6 percent last week, draining 3.76 million barrels from gasoline inventories, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The stockpile decline was more than nine times the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News . “We have seen from the last couple of reports that the gasoline drawdown is still quite robust,” said David Lennox , a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. “There appears to be enough demand being generated in the U.S. to at least take care of some domestic supply coming into the market. If that’s the case, the price will remain relatively robust.” WTI for December delivery was at $94.85 a barrel in […]

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Crude Surges the Most in Five Weeks as Fuel Demand Climbs

West Texas Intermediate crude surged the most in five weeks as U.S. gasoline demand rose to the highest level since July, trimming fuel inventories. Futures jumped after the Energy Information Administration reported that consumption of the motor fuel climbed 2.6 percent last week and gasoline supplies decreased 3.76 million, more than nine times the 400,000-barrel drop forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Crude inventories increased for a seventh week, extending the longest stretch of gains since March. “The shocker number is the draw in gasoline,” said Rich Ilczyszyn, chief market strategist and founder of Iitrader.com in Chicago . “Demand is picking up, and it’s supportive for the market. The market is definitely responding to the products numbers. Crude oil is oversold.” WTI for December delivery rose $1.43, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $94.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange , the biggest one-day advance since […]

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Crude-oil futures were slightly lower in Asian trade Thursday

Crude-oil futures were slightly lower in Asian trade Thursday with sellers gaining the upper hand in Brent amid signs of progress in Iran-U.S. nuclear talks and ahead of central bank announcements in Europe. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $94.73 a barrel at 0603 GMT, down $0.07 in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.34 to $104.90 a barrel. Brent crude extended losses as markets wait for announcements by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank later Thursday, as any changes in monetary policy will affect the euro and oil prices. The premium of Brent crude over Nymex WTI has dropped to around $10.10 a barrel. A lot of traders have significant positions in the Brent-WTI spread and are probably liquidating their positions as the spread narrows, Ken Hasegawa, commodity […]

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Oil prices may be losing Iranian ‘risk premium’

Page added on November 6, 2013 One of several factors contributing to the sharp drop in global oil prices in recent months has been optimism about a deal over Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Despite Tehran’s denials, fears the country is developing nuclear weapons has kept the international benchmark price for crude oil above $100 a barrel for nearly three years. A new round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program begins in Geneva on Thursday. Iran’s top negotiator has said it is possible that there could be a preliminary deal as early as this week, which could have a dramatic impact on oil prices—and U.S. consumers. “There’s a $10-to-$15 ‘risk premium’ in the price of oil, and it’s been there for quite a while—just related to what’s going on with Iran, its nuclear program and the West’s reaction to it,” said Addison Armstrong, senior director of market research at Tradition Energy, […]

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Crude Traders Seen Sticking With Brent Amid Manipulation Claims

The alleged fixing of oil prices is unlikely to sway traders from using Brent as a benchmark for buying and selling oil in the $5.7 trillion commodity market, according to analysts and brokers from London to Tokyo. Four energy traders claim in a lawsuit that some of the world’s biggest oil companies including BP Plc (BP/) , Statoil ASA (STL) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) conspired with Morgan Stanley (MS) and energy traders such as Vitol Group to fix spot prices for Brent for more than a decade. The North Sea oil price as assessed by Platts, a unit of New York-based McGraw Hill Financial Inc., is used to price more than half the world’s crude including Australia ’s Cossack, Malaysia’s Tapis and Castilla in Colombia. “Brent is going to remain as the benchmark for the foreseeable future at least, because there is no real alternative to it […]

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WMO: CO2 levels at record highs

GENEVA, Switzerland, Nov. 6 (UPI) — The World Meteorological Organization said Wednesday the amount of greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2012. “The observations from WMO’s extensive Global Atmosphere Watch network highlight yet again how heat-trapping gases from human activities have upset the natural balance of our atmosphere and are a major contribution to climate change,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a statement. “As a result of this, our climate is changing, our weather is more extreme, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising.” WMO said there was a 32 percent increase in the warming effect of greenhouse gases between 1990 and 2012. Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal accounted for 80 percent of the increase. CO2 levels in the atmosphere increased at a higher rate from 2011 to 2012 than the […]

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Water Shortages Threaten Energy Output: Wood Mackenzie

Water shortages are threatening energy output and increasing costs in some of the world’s most prolific sectors including shale gas in the U.S., crude oil in the Middle East and coal in China, and the situation is set to worsen, Wood Mackenzie said Thursday. The energy sector is already the world’s largest consumer of water for industrial purposes, using over 15% of global supply, and this is rising, the consulting firm said in a report, noting huge quantities are needed to increase pressure at oil fields, in technologies like hydraulic fracturing and to upgrade coal quality. Growing water needs will pit energy companies against other users, and increase production costs significantly, it said. Water is already a major cost factor for companies involved in shale developments in the U.S., including Antero Resources Inc., AR -0.27% Antero Resources Corp. U.S.: NYSE $ 55.04 -0.15 -0.27% Nov. 6, 2013 4:00 pm […]

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BP extends olive branch to Kirkuk over field development

BP extends olive branch to Kirkuk over field development BP CEO Bob Dudley met with the Kirkuk governor on Wednesday in an attempt to remove local opposition to developing the field that has been a key flashpoint of Iraq’s territorial disputes.Dudley and Oil Minister Abdul Karim Luaibi met with Governor Najmaldin Karim and other Kirkuk provincial government officials in Kirkuk, and went to the state-run North Oil Company’s (NOC) headquarters for a briefing on Kirkuk field development plans. The delegation then traveled to Baghdad to meet with Prim… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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Iran nuclear issue not insoluble, says FM Javad Zarif

Iranian technicians outside the building housing the reactor of Bushehr nuclear power plant. File photo 7 November 2013 Last updated at 09:26 The West suspects Iran’s programme is arms production – a charge Iran denies Iran’s foreign minister has expressed cautious optimism about upcoming talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, saying the issue is “not insoluble”. World powers and Iran are due to meet in Geneva later on Thursday for a further round of discussions. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the talks would be “highly laboured” but the aim was to “cross over the wall of distrust” created by Western policies. The West suspects Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. ‘First step’ Analysis The air in Geneva is clear. So is the lake. But, for the next two days, everything else negotiators face in this city may be cloudy, muddy, […]

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U.S. Will Ease Sanctions if Iran Halts Nuclear Program, Official Says

GENEVA — On the eve of a new round of talks between world powers and Iran, a senior Obama administration official said Wednesday that the United States was prepared to offer Iran limited relief from economic sanctions if Tehran agreed to halt its nuclear program temporarily and reversed part of it. The official said that the suspension of Iran’s nuclear efforts, perhaps for six months, would give negotiators time to pursue a comprehensive and far more challenging agreement. “Put simply, what we’re looking for now is a first phase, a first step, an initial understanding that stops Iran’s nuclear program from moving forward for the first time in decades and that potentially rolls part of it back,” the official told reporters. The long-stymied talks with Iran were re-energized after Hassan Rouhani, the new Iranian president, took office in August and declared that he wanted to resolve longstanding concerns about […]

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US seeks ‘first step’ nuclear deal with Iran

Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran ©AP The reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran The US is looking to negotiate a “first step” deal with Iran which would halt parts of its nuclear programme in return for modest suspension of sanctions, a senior US official said on Wednesday ahead of a crucial new round of talks . The initial agreement could last for six months and would “put time on the clock” in order to allow for a more detailed negotiation about Iran’s nuclear programme. The administration official also warned that any effort by the US Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran could scupper the negotiations. “For the first time, Iran appears to be committed to moving this negotiating process forward quickly,” the US official said. “We do not see them using the negotiating process to buy time.” US officials […]

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First-step Deal on Curbing Iran's Nuclear Program Takes Shape

GENEVA—U.S. and Iranian officials said a confidence-building deal on curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities is within reach ahead of a new round of negotiations in Geneva starting Thursday. A senior U.S. official said weeks of detailed discussions between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers have shaped a “first-step” deal that could be forged this week. It would have Iran pause its nuclear program—probably for six months—in return for a suspension of some Western sanctions. The deal would put “additional time on the clock” for the two sides to pursue a comprehensive solution to the decadelong conflict over suspicions that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb, the official said on Wednesday. “For the first time, we aren’t seeing them use this negotiating process simply to buy time,” the official said of Iran. “We are coming to understand each other in terms of what the equation would look like […]

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First-step Deal on Curbing Iran’s Nuclear Program Takes Shape

GENEVA—U.S. and Iranian officials said a confidence-building deal on curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities is within reach ahead of a new round of negotiations in Geneva starting Thursday. A senior U.S. official said weeks of detailed discussions between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers have shaped a “first-step” deal that could be forged this week. It would have Iran pause its nuclear program—probably for six months—in return for a suspension of some Western sanctions. The deal would put “additional time on the clock” for the two sides to pursue a comprehensive solution to the decadelong conflict over suspicions that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb, the official said on Wednesday. “For the first time, we aren’t seeing them use this negotiating process simply to buy time,” the official said of Iran. “We are coming to understand each other in terms of what the equation would look like […]

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U.S.-Iran Thaw Grew From Years Of Behind-the-Scenes Talks

WASHINGTON—The White House heralded President Barack Obama ‘s phone call with Iranian counterpart Hasan Rouhani earlier this fall as a foreign-policy milestone born of a rush of last-minute diplomacy. But the historic conversation was more intricately choreographed than previously disclosed. Top National Security Council officials began planting the seeds for such an exchange months earlier—holding a series of secret meetings and telephone calls and convening an assortment of Arab monarchs, Iranian exiles and former U.S. diplomats to clandestinely ferry messages between Washington and Tehran, according to current and former U.S., Middle Eastern and European officials briefed on the effort. Mr. Obama had empowered the administration’s top Iran specialist, Puneet Talwar, for some time to have direct meetings and phone conversations with Iranian Foreign Ministry officials, those people say. Some of the contacts took place in Oman’s ancient capital, Muscat, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials say, which sits less than […]

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Iran Loses Nuclear Leverage as World Ignores Export Drop

Iran ’s new government, pressing for relief from oil sanctions that have squeezed as much as $5 billion from its monthly export revenue, enters nuclear talks today with limited economic leverage. Since the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions on purchasers of Iranian oil in July 2012, higher production in the U.S. and Iraq and flat demand in Europe have more than offset the loss in world markets of more than 1 million barrels a day in Iranian exports. As U.S. consumers pay $3.23 a gallon for gasoline, almost a dime less than at the start of July 2012, Iran’s economy will contract 1.5 percent this year after shrinking 1.9 percent in 2012, according to International Monetary Fund estimates. “Right now, Iran needs to sell its oil far more than the rest of the world needs to buy it,” Trevor Houser , a partner at the Rhodium Group LLC, […]

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Iran says nuclear deal possible this week in Geneva talks

GENEVA (Reuters) – An agreement that would open the door to a resolution of the decade-long nuclear standoff between Iran and six world powers is possible this week if negotiators exert the maximum efforts, Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday. "If everyone tries their best we may have one," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters after a breakfast meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. "We expect serious negotiations. It’s possible," he said when asked if an agreement was conceivable at Thursday-Friday talks between Iran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl, Justyna Pawlak, Louis Charbonneau)

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Israel drills disputed West Bank oilfield with 3.5B barrels

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov. 6 (UPI) — Israel’s Givot Olam oil company says it’s exploring an oil field that could contain 3.53 billion barrels of crude, which along with the rich natural gas fields the Jewish state’s found under the Mediterranean Sea seems set to make it a regional energy power. There’s only one problem: Most of the Meged field, where Givot Olam started drilling in 2011, appears to lie in Palestinian West Bank, which Israel has occupied since June1967. On Tuesday, just hours before U.S. Secretary of state John Kerry arrived to press Israel on Washington’s latest peace initiative, Israeli negotiators told the Palestinians that the Separation Wall the Jewish state’s building across the West Bank will mark the border with a future Palestinian state. That would mean almost the entire Meged, which starts just inside Israel near the pre-1967 Green Line that separates the Jewish state from […]

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Eni Says Libyan Protests Could Block Gas Exports to Italy

By Liam Moloney ROME–Libyan natural gas exports to Italy may grind to a halt if protests at a key terminal continue, Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of Italian energy giant Eni SpA (ENI.MI), said Wednesday, indicating that civil unrest in the north African country could interrupt critical supplies to Europe ahead of winter. Protests at the Mellitah terminal are “pushing us to interrupt total [gas] exports to Italy,” said Mr. Scaroni in a radio interview. “This is worrying.” The Mellitah terminal, which is jointly run by Eni and the Libyan National Oil Company, is key to facilitating gas exports via the Greenstream pipeline from Libya to Italy. The pipeline can supply more than 10% of gas demand in Italy. However, Mr. Scaroni played down the risk to Italy’s gas supplies. “I see no problems of supply, there’s plenty from other parts of the world and with the present benevolent [warm] […]

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Report: Shell Nigeria falsely reports oil spills

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Amnesty International accuses Nigeria’s biggest petroleum producer, Shell, of manipulating oil spill investigations and documents in cases where the rights group says the company has wrongly reported on the cause and volume of pollution devastating the Niger Delta and made false claims about cleanup measures. The future of farmers and fishermen whose livelihoods are destroyed by such spills depends on reports that can be “very subjective, misleading and downright false,” according to an independent U.S. industry expert hired by Amnesty International to review documents newly obtained under Nigeria’s freedom of information law. The Amnesty report offers detailed analysis to back longstanding charges that oil companies blame sabotage for spills sometimes caused by corrosion and other faults in aging pipelines. Sabotage or oil theft means a community is not eligible for compensation. Shell Nigeria said it “firmly rejects (the) unsubstantiated assertions” and seeks “greater transparency and […]

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China urges cooperation ahead of climate talks

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (UPI) — China’s top climate change negotiator has urged richer nations to help developing countries cut their emissions, as they had pledged to do in 2009. Xie Zhenhua , deputy head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, was referring to the 2009 U.N. summit in Copenhagen in which developed nations pledged $100 billion a year by 2020 to help fight climate change. Although a specific date for donor pledges to begin has still not been decided, developing countries have already contributed a majority of emissions reductions even without promised support from developed countries, Xie said. “This shows developed countries haven’t honored provisions in the [Copenhagen] convention, while developing countries have taken active actions at home to actively tackle climate change,” Xie was quoted as saying Tuesday by the Financial Times. “Especially in China, we haven’t got any financial or technology support but we’ve taken actions […]

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Asian Crude-Oil Market Stays Strong

By Eric Yep Asians who think they’ll benefit from sliding U.S. and European benchmark oil prices may have another thing coming. New York Mercantile Exchange and ICE crude-oil benchmarks have more or less steadily fallen for the past two months, and prices of current futures contracts are weakening relative to more distant months—evidence of weak prompt demand—but shipping data and price indicators show that demand remains strong in Asia’s physical crude markets. Storage tanks on Singapore’s Jurong island, the center of the city-state’s petroleum and petrochemical industry. Bloomberg News In a market that favors sellers, prices for the current month are higher than prices for subsequent months, a structure known as backwardation. The current Nymex benchmark contract, December, is trading around a 30-cent-a-barrel discount to the January contract, a contango structure, which is indicative of more of a buyers’ market. ICE Brent crude nearly moved into contango on Monday […]

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Chinese Leader’s Economic Plan Tests Goal to Fortify Party Power

HONG KONG — China’s president, Xi Jinping, is about to plunge the country and himself into a risky experiment: an attempt to carry out market-driven economic overhauls while reinforcing the Communist Party’s pillars of political and ideological control. This mixed agenda has magnified doubts about whether he can deliver on his promises of transformation. At a meeting, or plenum, of the party’s Central Committee that starts Saturday, Mr. Xi will enumerate his plans for an economic overhaul, and state-run news media has promoted the event as a turning point. Mr. Xi and Prime Minister Li Keqiang have indicated that they want to nurture healthy, sustained growth by encouraging more market competition, private business, financial liberalization and individual consumption, leaning away from the state-focused policies of the past decade. Yet, Mr. Xi wants to achieve this economic shift away from the state while strengthening the ruling party , which derives […]

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Fukushima nuclear plant set for risky operation

Fukushima Unit 4 More than 1,000 fuel rod assemblies need to be removed from a building that was badly damaged following the tsunami A task of extraordinary delicacy and danger is about to begin at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power station. Engineers are preparing to extract the first of more than 1,000 nuclear fuel rods from one of the wrecked reactor buildings. This is seen as an essential but risky step on the long road towards stabilising the site. The fuel rods are currently in a precarious state in a storage pool in Unit 4. This building was badly damaged by an explosion in March 2011 following the Great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Moving the rods to safety is a high priority but has only become possible after months of repair work and planning. One senior official told me: “It’s going to be very difficult but it has to happen.” […]

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Senators question EPA’s estimated methane emissions from gas operations

Two Republican senators urged the US Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its methods of calculating methane emissions from natural gas operations and to also reconsider its earlier estimates. The comments came during a hearing of a subcommittee on oversight of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Nov. 5 in Washington, DC. Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) both praised a report released in September that said some parts of the gas production process actually emit less methane than EPA has estimated. The study also noted the leaks from pneumatic controllers involved higher methane emissions than EPA estimates, saying more study is needed. The Environmental Defense Fund and nine gas operators funded the ongoing study, which measured actual emissions from 190 wells instead of relying on computer models as does the EPA. A report outlining first-phase results of the UT study concluded the methane emissions […]

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Shell moves to resume Arctic drilling

Arctic Shell Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday filed a formal exploration plan for the Arctic waters north of Alaska, marking an important step forward for its ambition to drill next summer what will be the world’s most closely watched oil well. The plan for multiple wells in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska was delivered to US federal regulators in Anchorage. Shell needs the interior department to approve the programme, a revision of its previous plan, to be able to drill when the ice clears next summer, which is expected to be in mid-July. In a statement, the company said it wanted to keep its “2014 exploration options viable”, and it would “only proceed if the programme meets the conditions necessary to proceed safely and responsibly”. Shell will be targeting the Burger prospect, seen as the most promising potential oilfield in an area in which the […]

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Natural gas gains squeeze family-run oil firms

AP Photo NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The black-and-white photo on the wall of Jennifer Tracey-Carlo’s heating oil company shows her father and grandfather standing beside a small fleet of gleaming delivery trucks, offering a glimpse into a time when oil was king and honoring the two men who built the business. Tracey-Carlo, the third generation to run Tracey Energy Services in New Haven, says oil dealerships like hers once expanded with a growing population and followed the exodus to suburbia. “We have their grandchildren,” she said of customers whose families grew up with hers. “As people moved further, we’d move with them.” Now, the industry faces a relentless boom in cheaper natural gas, on top of a more than 50 percent drop in the number of homes heated by oil between 1973 and 2011. The threat to the industry dominated by family businesses is particularly keen in the […]

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Congress Seen Debating Oil Exports While Wary of Gas Cost

Congress probably will consider loosening restrictions on U.S. oil exports, though a push by industry to sell more crude overseas will be resisted by members concerned about the impact on gasoline prices, lawmakers said. Senator Lisa Murkowski , the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, believes the debate on oil exports will happen “sooner rather than later,” according to Robert Dillon, a spokesman for the Alaska lawmaker. “It’s something we are looking at,” Dillon said. The chairman of the committee, Senator Ron Wyden , an Oregon Democrat, agrees the debate is coming though he would need to see benefits to consumers before supporting such a move, said spokesman Keith Chu in an e-mail. The American Petroleum Institute is developing the “necessary legal analysis” and may “highlight potential violations” of global trade rules in support of natural gas and oil exports, according to an internal planning […]

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Canada's oil relative to others in terms of emissions

HOUSTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) — Oil sands imported from Canada into the United States have a lighter environmental footprint than often assumed, a consulting company said. IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates said oil sands are the largest source of U.S. oil imports. Globally, Canadian oil sands could account for 16 percent of all new oil production by 2030. Oil sands are viewed as more carbon-intensive to produce than rival grades. IHS CERA said the greenhouse gas intensity of oil sands imported from Canada is less of a threat to the environment than often suspected. “Oil sands are on par with other sources of U.S. crude, including crudes from Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq and heavy oil production in the U.S.,” it said in a report published Tuesday. The debate over emissions is one of the sticking points over the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline planned from Canada. Shawn Howard, a spokesman […]

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Canada’s oil relative to others in terms of emissions

HOUSTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) — Oil sands imported from Canada into the United States have a lighter environmental footprint than often assumed, a consulting company said. IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates said oil sands are the largest source of U.S. oil imports. Globally, Canadian oil sands could account for 16 percent of all new oil production by 2030. Oil sands are viewed as more carbon-intensive to produce than rival grades. IHS CERA said the greenhouse gas intensity of oil sands imported from Canada is less of a threat to the environment than often suspected. “Oil sands are on par with other sources of U.S. crude, including crudes from Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq and heavy oil production in the U.S.,” it said in a report published Tuesday. The debate over emissions is one of the sticking points over the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline planned from Canada. Shawn Howard, a spokesman […]

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Gazprom: Ukraine short on paying off debt

MOSCOW, Nov. 6 (UPI) — It’s too early to declare a thaw in the natural gas relationship between Russia and Ukraine, a spokesman from Russian gas company Gazprom said. Alexei Miller , chief executive officer at Gazprom, said last week Ukraine has more than $880 million in unsettled debt from its August natural gas bills. Sergei Kupriyanov , a Gazprom spokesman, said Kiev has a long way to go before settling its obligations. “We have received several small installments for gas supplies in August, but it’s too early to speak about complete payment of the debt,” he was quoted by Russia’s state-backed news agency RIA Novosti as saying Tuesday. A debt row in 2009 prompted Russia to cut gas supplies to Ukraine. That decision left downstream European consumers in the cold for weeks because most of their Russian gas supplies run through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government […]

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The downside of higher U.S. energy exports

oil tanker Photo: MrHicks46/Flickr. Critics of TransCanada’s Keystone XL project often argue that Canada should reap the full benefits of its natural resources, rather than exporting its petroleum riches south of the border. Head to the U.S. and, ironically, you can hear the same discussion. Much of America’s new found oil wealth is being shipped abroad, which is worrying Americans who figured they had a Made-in-the-USA solution to the country’s energy needs. Since 1975, U.S. federal law has banned raw crude from being exported in the interests of national energy security. The legislation, however, doesn’t cover refined products, such as gasoline or diesel. American refineries are free to export as much refined product as they can sell. And these days that’s a lot. Refineries in the U.S. are shipping record amounts of gasoline around the world, exporting the fruits of the country’s shale revolution to some of the same […]

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Why the oil majors are getting hammered

Page added on November 6, 2013 As in the second quarter of the year, third quarter results for the oil majors, the international oil companies and other major listed operators, were disappointing. Some were downright awful. Why have results for the oil companies deteriorated so markedly, and what should we expect in the future? In this article, we’ll look primarily at upstream liquids — primarily crude oil production. Historically, when crude oil consumption has reached 4.25% of GDP in the US, the consumer has chosen to reduce consumption rather than accept further price increases. This number represents a Brent oil price of $103 / barrel today. The equivalent numbers for China are about 6.25% of GDP and $120 / barrel, Brent basis. Take the combined average, and the global “carrying capacity”, the price the global economy as a whole can manage, is about $112 / barrel Brent, just a […]

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Oil hovers below $94 ahead of US supplies report

BANGKOK (AP) — Oil hovered below $94 a barrel Wednesday ahead of a report expected to show another increase in U.S. crude stockpiles. Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery was up 42 cents at $93.78 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract slid $1.25 to $93.37 on Tuesday, adding to a month-long slide. Crude is down about 10 percent since closing at $104.10 on October 2. U.S. crude stockpiles have increased in each of the past six weeks, mostly because of rising domestic production, and were more than 10 percent above their five-year average near the end of October. Energy Information Administration figures for the week ending Nov. 1 due Wednesday are expected to show a further increase of 2.5 million barrels, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Brent crude, […]

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WTI Rebounds From Five-Month Low Before U.S. Fuel Supply Data

West Texas Intermediate rebounded from the lowest level in five months before a report that may show U.S. fuel supplies shrank. Price declines the past week are probably excessive, according to a technical indicator. Futures advanced as much as 0.7 percent in New York. Gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, a Bloomberg News survey shows before data from the Energy Information Administration. Crude’s relative strength index is below 30 for a fourth day, signaling losses may not be sustainable. “The price is completely oversold, and people are sort of looking for the chance of a rebound within a few days,” Tetsu Emori , a senior fund manager at Astmax Asset Management Inc. in Tokyo , said by phone. “We’re heading into winter, so I think demand will be increasing. I’m not really pessimistic.” WTI for December delivery rose as much […]

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U.S. Oil Futures Tumble on Worries Over Swelling Inventories

NEW YORK–U.S. oil futures settled at their lowest level in five months Tuesday as traders worried about a potential seventh straight weekly increase in domestic supplies amid weak demand and high crude production. Meanwhile, a better-than-expected reading on the U.S. services industry led to speculation that the Federal Reserve will soon begin to scale back its economic stimulus program, which has helped to prop up crude prices. Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $1.25, or 1.3%, to $93.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The decline was the fifth in six sessions for oil futures, which have plunged 16% over the past two months and finished at their lowest price since June 4. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange lost 90 cents, or 0.9%, to $105.33 a barrel. The European benchmark, considered to be a gauge of world oil prices, was supported somewhat by reports […]

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