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EIA: U.S. Weekly Retail Gasoline Price Up 7.4 Cents to $3.293/Gallon

The national average retail price of regular gasoline rose 7.4 cents to $3.293 a gallon in the week ended Monday, the Energy Information Administration said. The rise was the biggest since the week ended July 15 and put prices at the highest level since Oct. 28. Signs of rising demand and tightening inventories boosted prices for a second straight week. Retail gasoline has gained 9.9 cents in the last two weeks after a 16.6-cent loss over the prior three weeks that left prices at the lowest level since Feb. 21, 2011. Prices are 14.4 cents, or 4.2%, less than the year-earlier level. The price of reformulated gasoline blendstock futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange last week gained more than 4%, or 10.4 cents a gallon, to the highest level since Sept. 13. The EIA last week said nationwide gasoline inventories in the week ended […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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AAA: Higher gasoline prices expected for Thanksgiving

Though some U.S. retail service stations are selling gasoline for less than $3, drivers may expect some pain at the pump for Thanksgiving, AAA said Monday. AAA said the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States was $3.28 per gallon, an increase of 7 cents compared with the previous week. AAA spokesman Michael Green told United Press International the increase in price was because of lingering refinery issues. “These higher prices are coming at exactly the wrong time for the nearly 39 million Americans that plan to travel by car for the Thanksgiving holiday,” he said. Green said seasonal maintenance at oil refineries is taking longer than expected to conclude. The price increase is likely temporary, he said, though most markets won’t see any relief until after the Thanksgiving holiday. AAA said Missouri had the cheapest state […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nuclear waste burial debate produces odd alliances

Ordinarily, a proposal to bury radioactive waste in a scenic area that relies on tourism would inspire “not in my backyard” protests from local residents – and relief in places that were spared. But conventional wisdom has been turned on its head in the Canadian province of Ontario, where a publicly owned power company wants to entomb waste from its nuclear plants 2,230 feet below the surface and less than a mile from Lake Huron. Some of the strongest support comes from Kincardine and other communities near the would-be disposal site at the Bruce Power complex, the world’s largest nuclear power station, which produces one-fourth of all electricity generated in Canada’s most heavily populated province. Nuclear is a way of life here, and many residents have jobs connected to the industry. Meanwhile, the loudest objections are coming from elsewhere in Canada and the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Los Angeles Gasoline Surges as Tesoro Said to Plan Unit Repairs

Los Angeles gasoline gained to its highest level against futures in almost two weeks after Tesoro Corp. (TSO) was said to be planning repairs on a unit at its Southern California refinery in January. The fuel advanced after Tesoro was said to plan maintenance on the hydrocracker in the Wilmington, California, section of its 363,000-barrel-a-day Los Angeles complex, according to two people familiar with the schedule. The work is expected to last six weeks, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, in Los Angeles jumped 5 cents against futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange to a premium of 2 cents a gallon at 5:19 p.m. East Coast time, its highest level since Nov. 12, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Retail gasoline in California slipped 0.1 cent to $3.561 a gallon, according to Heathrow, Florida-based […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Marcellus shale gas Bradford Co Pennsylvania: production history and declines

From a standing start in 2009, natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale in Bradford County Pennsylvania (PA) now exceeds 2.2 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day from 728 wells (to end June 2013). To put this in perspective, the UK consumes about 8 bcf per day and so 4 Bradford counties (about 3000 wells) could make the UK self- sufficient. The catches are that Bradford County is a production sweet spot – you have to find the sweet spots before you can produce them. And to keep production going, over a hundred new wells need to be drilled every year. 6 charts below the fold show the production history, average well productivity and decline rates from Bradford County. Figure 1   This chart shows the production stack for 728 Marcellus shale gas wells, Bradford Co. PA. XL would only let me plot about 150 data series and so […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU shale gas production could add 1 million jobs, study says

The development of shale gas in Europe could add as many as 1 million jobs to the economy, make industry more competitive, and decrease the region’s dependence on energy imports, according to a recently released study commissioned by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP). The research, carried out by independent consultancies Poyry Management Consulting and Cambridge Econometrics, has quantified for the first time how much Europe’s economy could benefit from shale gas production, which could add a total of €1.7-3.8 trillion to the economy during 2020-50. “Europe is still in a period of difficult economic and social recovery. This new study shows that shale gas production could have significant economic benefits,” said Roland Festor, OGP’s European Union affairs director, adding that while it may not be a “game changer” as in the US, “shale gas development in Europe could take full advantage of the lessons learned.” […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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London: Warsaw climate agreement good starting point

British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said world leaders have a framework with which to start addressing global warming. “The world now has a work program, with timetables,” he said in a statement Sunday. “While the long negotiations in Poland showed there are many tough talks ahead of us, the determined diplomacy of the U.K. and European Union achieved our aims, building alliances with our friends across the world.” The two-week U.N. Climate Change Conference in Warsaw concluded Saturday with an agreement to work toward a universal climate change agreement by 2015. Parties to the conference also agreed to work on ways to cut emissions and to address damage caused by climate change in developing countries. European Commissioner for Climate Change Connie Hedegaard said the Warsaw conference proved there’s a tough road ahead before the 2015 climate summit in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Toil for oil means industry sums do not add up

The most interesting message in this year’s World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency is also its most disturbing. Over the past decade, the oil and gas industry’s upstream investments have registered an astronomical increase, but these ever higher levels of capital expenditure have yielded ever smaller increases in the global oil supply. Even these have only been made possible by record high oil prices. This should be a reality check for those now hyping a new age of global oil abundance. According to the 2013 WEO, the total world oil supply in 2012 was 87.1m barrels a day, an increase of 11.9mbd over the 75.2mbd produced in 2000. However, less than one-third of this increase was in the form of conventional crude oil, and more than two-thirds was therefore either what the IEA calls unconventional crude (light-tight oil, oil sands, and deep/ultra-deepwater oil) or natural-gas liquids (NGLs). […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent Crude Loses Over 2% on Iran Deal

Brent crude fell 2% Monday in London following the weekend deal that will make it easier for Iran to export some of its crude oil to international markets over the next six months. Brent crude for January delivery was down $2.25, or 2% at $108.80 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were down $1.42 at $93.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The losses come on the back of Brent crude-oil futures climbing to a six-week high Friday on concerns over continued disruptions to Libyan oil exports and expectations of a continued stalemate in the Iran talks. In a surprise development, however, the U.S. and five other world powers struck a historic accord with Iran on Sunday, agreeing to ease part of an economic stranglehold in exchange for steps to cap Tehran’s nuclear program and ensure the Islamist government doesn’t rush to develop atomic […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent Slide Leads Energy Prices Lower After Iran Nuclear Accord

Brent crude led energy prices from gasoline to heating oil lower as the grade headed for its biggest loss in three weeks, after Iran and world powers reached an interim accord on the country’s nuclear program that will ease economic sanctions while keeping a cap on oil sales. Futures slid as much as 2.7 percent in London, declining for the first time in four days, while West Texas Intermediate fell 1.6 percent in New York. Iran’s oil exports will be held to about 1 million barrels a day under sanctions that remain in force after the deal announced yesterday in Geneva, according to the White House. Gasoline and heating oil futures both slid at least 2.3 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange. “We’re seeing both sides come one step closer to each other,” said Andy Sommer, a senior oil analyst at Axpo Trading AG in Dietikon, Switzerland. “The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple