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Export nod frustrates Freeport LNG

HOUSTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) — Freeport LNG Chief Executive Officer Michael Smith said he was disappointed with conditions set by the U.S. Department of Energy for a planned Texas terminal. The Department of Energy last week gave Freeport LNG the authority to ship liquefied natural gas from a planned Texas facility to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States. The approval was for 1 billion cubic feet per day less than what the company sought. “We’re quite disappointed in the order itself,” Smith told the Platts energy news service Monday. “They’re basically making the rules up as they go along.” The Department of Energy is obligated to pass export applications for countries with a U.S. free trade agreement but may restrict or otherwise modify applications for exports to countries that don’t have such agreements. Smith said he was frustrated with the lack of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Vitol, Shell Ask Judge to Halt Release of Oil Documents

Some of the world’s largest oil traders including Vitol Group, Morgan Stanley and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) are asking a judge to stop the disclosure of millions of records gathered by the top U.S. commodity regulator during its nationwide investigation of the crude markets. The haul includes e-mails, depositions, trading records and audio files obtained by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission since its probe of the oil market began in December 2007. The companies are appealing an Oct. 25 order by U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley that would allow the handover of the trove to lawyers leading a civil case alleging market manipulation by firms controlled by Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen. The battle over the records reveals for the first time the breadth of the CFTC’s investigation. The agency told Pauley in August that 5.7 million documents and almost 200,000 audio files had been sent to […]

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US natural gas exports into Mexico to continue growth

Natural gas imports into Mexico from the US—its largest supplier—increased 24% to 1.69 bcfd in 2012, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration cited by Mayer Brown Practices in a legal update on US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permitting of NET Mexico Pipeline Partners LLC’s cross-border gas export project. FERC issued a Presidential Permit and Granting Authorization Nov. 8 (under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act) allowing NET Mexico, a subsidiary of NET Midstream, Houston, to build a 2.1-bcfd gas export site at the US-Mexico border. According to the FERC order, the export hub will be supplied by a 120-mile, 42-in OD intrastate pipeline NET Mexico is planning to build from the Agua Dulce Hub in Nueces County, Tex. Exports would enter Mexico’s Los Ramones Pipeline, which has yet to be built ( OGJ Online, May 21, 2013 ). The FERC order adds that the export […]

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BP adds two more rigs to Gulf of Mexico program

BP PLC has added two more drilling rigs to its deepwater Gulf of Mexico fleet. The company said it now accounts for a record nine rigs in the region. The West Auriga has started development drilling in Mississippi Canyon’s Thunder Horse field. The ultradeepwater drillship , provided by Seadrill Ltd. under a long-term contract, can operate in as much as 12,000 ft of water. Thunder Horse achieved production of more than 200,000 boe/d in 2008 ( OGJ Online, Dec. 22, 2008 ). A reconstructed drilling rig has resumed development drilling at the Mad Dog field complex, replacing the platform’s original rig that was toppled and sent to the seafloor by Hurricane Ike in 2008 ( OGJ, Oct. 27, 2008, p. 64 ). The spar was installed in 4,734 ft of water on Green Canyon Block 782 and began production in 2005. BP said it expects to invest at least […]

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Arctic oil spill is certain if drilling goes ahead, says top scientist

Arctic oil spill pollution risks : Cairn Energy Leiv Eiriksson oil rig An oil rig off Greenland’s coast in the Arctic waters. Photograph: Greenpeace A serious oil spill in the Arctic is a “dead cert” if drilling goes ahead, with potentially devastating consequences for the pristine region, according to a leading marine scientist who played a key role in analysis of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The warning came as Russia filed court orders this week to have Greenpeace activists and journalists kept in prison for a further three months in prison before their trial over a protest at Arctic oil dirlling . Concerns about the potentially dire consequences of drilling for oil in the region have intensified as the Russian government and others have begun exploration under the Arctic seas. In such a cold region, any spill would be much more troublesome, because the oil would not naturally […]

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Ukraine, Gazprom make amends

KIEV, Ukraine, Nov. 19 (UPI) — Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky said a deal was reached with Russian energy company Gazprom that may avert a winter gas crisis. Gazprom in 2009 cut gas supplies to Ukraine following contractual disputes over payments. In early November, Gazprom said Ukraine had more than $880 million in unsettled debt from its August natural gas bills, sparking fears of another gas spat. Stavytsky said Monday both sides reached an agreement that may stave off another payment row. “We have reached a compromise that will allow Ukraine to timely pay for the natural resources that we receive under the new schedule that has been signed, and meet the needs of all of our partners — on behalf of the supplier of gas — Gazprom and on behalf of the transit [country],” he was quoted by the National News Agency of Ukraine as saying. The minister […]

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Imminent peak oil could burst US, global economic bubble – study

Earth insight badge Person using petrol pump Petrol prices have continued to rise as oil prices hit new highs. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA A new multi-disciplinary study led by the University of Maryland calls for immediate action by government, private and commercial sectors to reduce vulnerability to the imminent threat of global peak oil , which could put the entire US economy and other major industrial economies at risk. The peer-reviewed study contradicts the recent claims within the oil industry that peak oil has been indefinitely offset by shale gas and other unconventional oil and gas resources. A report by the World Energy Council (WEC) last month, for instance, stated that peak oil was unlikely to be realised within the next forty years at least. This is due to global reserves being 25 per cent higher than in 1993. According to the WEC report, 80% of global energy is currently […]

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Will the real International Energy Agency please stand up?

It was as if the International Energy Agency were appearing on the old American television game show To Tell the Truth last week as it offered a third contradictory forecast in the space of a year. You may recall that on To Tell the Truth the host would begin by reading a statement from a person with an unusual story or profession. Then, a celebrity panel would question three contestants who claimed to be that person. Afterwards, the panelists would vote on whom they believed was the real person. Finally, the host would say, “Will the real [name of person] please stand up?” (Some episodes are still available here on YouTube.) The difference is that the contestants on To Tell the Truth would try to tell similar, plausible stories so as to stump the panel. In the non-game-show world of energy forecasting, the IEA–a consortium of 28 countries, all […]

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Oil little changed near $93 a barrel

BANGKOK (AP) — Oil was little changed below $93 a barrel Tuesday, awaiting new cues from U.S. economic indicators and the resumption of negotiations in Geneva meant to curb Iran’s nuclear program. Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery was down 7 cents at $92.96 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 81 cents to $93.03 on Monday. Oil has traded between $93 and $96 a barrel over the past two weeks, and is down from nearly $110 a barrel in early October due to ample supplies and tepid demand. U.S. retail sales due Wednesday might halt oil’s recent slide if the figures show increased demand for gasoline. Iran, meanwhile, will resume talks this week in Geneva with the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany aimed at resolving a decade-long standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. The powers […]

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WTI Crude Drops for Second Day as Investors Weigh Stimulus Taper

West Texas Intermediate oil fell for a second day as investors weighed the prospect that the U.S. will taper economic stimulus. Crude stockpiles declined after eight weeks of increases, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Futures lost as much as 0.3 percent in New York before a speech by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in Washington , as investors speculated if he will support the case for maintaining bond purchases. Prices dropped to a five-month low yesterday after comments from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley that raised the prospect the central bank will reduce stimulus. “Tapering won’t happen — they can’t back down, they have to keep going,” said Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney. “The stockpile builds have been happening and eventually you will see some demand pick-up, but it has to be sustained.” WTI for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple