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Coal’s Decline Hits Hardest in the Mines of Kentucky

Since he was laid off from his mining job in January, William Hensley’s life has been upended. Days after he lost his position, Mr. Hensley, 50 years old, said he was diagnosed with black lung disease. The bank soon took back his 2012 Chevy Suburban, after he was unable to make the $600 monthly payments. He can no longer afford health insurance and has drawn down all but $5,000 he had in a 401(k) retirement plan to pay for another vehicle and living expenses. Mr. Hensley, who is raising his 12-year-old granddaughter with his wife, went from making $82,000 a year as an underground foreman to collecting about $15,000 in unemployment benefits this year. But that aid is set to run out in December and mining jobs are scarce. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Mr. Hensley, who has spent 32 years of his life […]

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Mississippi River Still Shut After Fuel Spill; Few Boats Delayed

The Mississippi River remained closed to navigation along an eight-mile stretch near Le Claire, Iowa, on Tuesday after a boat containing up to 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel and lube oil struck a submerged object and sank late on Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. One northbound towboat with no barges and two southbound tow boats pushing a total of 25 barges were waiting at midmorning on Tuesday to pass through the closed section from river mile marker 493 to 501, about 15 miles upriver from Davenport. Officials have deployed nearly 3,000 feet of boom to contain any fuel leaking from the sunken boat. “The boom is still around the vessel, partially submerged. The Army Corps of Engineers is still assessing to see when the river could be reopened,” said Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash. U.S. grain shippers rely on the […]

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Natural Gas Production in Northeast Reduces Need from Other Regions

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released a report based on natural gas production in the northeast and the effects on the region’s gas inflow, reported the Penn State Extension. Compared to 2008 natural gas records, production in the northeast has increased almost six-fold to 12.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day in 2013.  This upward trend has been reflected in lower prices and an increased natural gas supply.  Natural gas use in power generation continues to increase, and the inflow of natural gas from other regions, such as the southwest, eastern Canada and from the Midcontinent region, has been declining. There has been a 60 percent drop in natural gas inflows for the first nine months of the year, compared to 2008 inflows.  Despite a 56 percent decrease in net inflow from the Southeast in this period, approximately three-quarters of the gas […]

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Wind Farms Are Expensive, Subsidies Are Uncertain, Plans Are Being Curtailed

LONDON—A major European utility said Tuesday it would scrap a wind farm that was due to become the largest offshore wind project ever built, a sign of the struggles of the industry to attract investment needed to overcome huge costs and technical challenges. The Atlantic Array, in the Bristol Channel off the west coast of England, could have generated up to 1,200 megawatts of electricity, almost twice as much as the largest farm already operating in U.K. waters. But RWE said on Tuesday that continuing with the project faced problems that were “prohibitive in current market conditions.” RWE’s decision highlights the central difficulty in achieving Europe’s ambitious wind targets. Huge plans are in place, but few investors are willing to stake the billions needed to build them, in an environment where government subsidy is essential but uncertain and costs can skyrocket. The U.K. has pioneered offshore wind power, maximizing […]

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Euro Parliament Transport Committee backs draft directive mandating expansion of alternative fuel stations

Euro Parliament Transport Committee backs draft directive mandating expansion of alternative fuel stations; grandfathering CHAdeMO Altfuelstations Minimum number of publicly-accessible recharging points for electric vehicles in each member state. Click to enlarge. EU member states would have to ensure that specified numbers of publicly-available electric vehicle recharging points and hydrogen and natural gas stations are built by 2020, under a draft directive endorsed by the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament on Tuesday. The draft rules aim to reduce dependence on oil and boost take-up of alternative fuels, so as to help achieve a 60% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 2050. Private sector players should play a leading role in developing this infrastructure, but member states should provide tax and public procurement incentives for them to do so, say the members of Parliament (MEPs). The directive specifies that: A minimum number of recharging points […]

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Why Forecasts of a World Without Carbon-Based Fuel Are Delusional Pt 1

While the US continues to engage in a delusional energy “debate” about whether we will continue to burn coal and whether natural gas is a panacea, China is struggling to acquire and deploy of energy resources to support its economic growth targets. China has an environment versus growth problem .    Already China is the #1 importer of oil in the world. That‘s right.  China imports more oil than the United States.     The US can hold its energy consumption below GDP growth through increased energy efficiency (technological improvements) and because our economy is more “services based” than China’s.   China on the other hand has to continue to consume more energy, particularly oil. The emerging and growing middle class there wants to buy cars, as is typical when annual GDP per capital hits $10,000-20,000 per year.  With 4X the population of the […]

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Robert Rapier: Oil Sands and the Environment – Part II

Today I continue coverage of my recent visit to the Athabasca oil sands near Fort McMurray, Alberta. I was there as a guest of the Canadian government, which hosts annual tours for small groups of journalists and energy analysts. I will be covering multiple aspects of oil sands production in a series of posts. In last week’s post — Oil Sands and the Environment – Part I — I discussed greenhouse gas emissions, impacts on wildlife, and I touched upon water usage. I also detailed some of the work of Pembina Institute (PI), which is working to improve the environmental conditions as the oil sands are developed. Today’s article will discuss the tailings ponds, water consumption, impacts to water quality, and impacts to indigenous people. Tailings Ponds There are two primary ways of extracting bitumen from the oil sands. In situ production […]

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World agricultural output continues to rise, despite predictions of decline

Many say agricultural output is headed for decline, but 2013 continues a 50-year rise. The year 2013 has been a great year for global agriculture. Record world production of rice and healthy production of wheat and corn produced strong harvests across the world. These gains were achieved despite continuing predictions that world agricultural output is headed for a decline. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that world rice harvests for 2012/2013 were a record 469 million metric tons. Corn and wheat harvests were also strong, following record harvests for both grains during the 2011/2012 season. The USDA is now projecting world record harvests for corn, wheat, and rice for 2013/2014. These numbers cap a 50-year trend of remarkable growth in world grain production. Since 1960, global wheat and rice production has tripled, and corn production is almost five times higher. For decades, […]

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Oil Futures Mixed on Skepticism Over Iran Deal

Oil futures are mixed in Asian hours Tuesday, as skepticism about Iran’s surprise interim nuclear accord with six world powers set in, damping expectations of a quick boost in global crude-oil supply. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $94.54 a barrel at 0621 GMT, up $0.45 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.14 to $110.86 a barrel. On Monday, crude-oil prices were volatile with Nymex crude oil prices falling as much as $1.76 intraday before settling 75 cents lower at $94.09/bbl . Brent crude oil prices fell as much as $3 before settling 5 cents lower at $111/bbl. The late recovery in prices Monday “suggested that the initial plunge was a mere speculative knee-jerk reaction,” said OCBC Bank in a note. The Singapore-based bank said lingering supply risk […]

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WTI Rebounds After Biggest Drop in Week as Supplies Seen Falling

West Texas Intermediate rebounded after the biggest drop in a week amid speculation that crude supplies shrank for the first time in more than two months in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures advanced as much as 0.6 percent in New York. U.S. crude stockpiles slid by 300,000 barrels in the week ended Nov. 22, the first decline in 10 weeks, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Information Administration report tomorrow. Oil prices fell yesterday after Iran and world powers reached an interim agreement to restrict the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear program. “Demand is slowly starting to occur but there’s still a long way to go,” said Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney who predicts investors may sell WTI contracts at about $95.50 a barrel. “The sell-off yesterday was a little bit overdone, and that’s why we saw […]

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Oil drifts above $94 ahead of supply report

Oil rose slightly Tuesday ahead of a U.S. supply report that might show an improvement in demand. Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was up 30 cents at $94.46 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 75 cents to $94.09 on Monday after a deal between Iran and six world powers on the country’s nuclear program raised the possibility that sanctions choking Iranian oil exports will eventually be lifted. Oil traders are now looking to Energy Information Administration figures on U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles for the week ended Nov. 22 due Wednesday. Crude oil supplies rose by 400,000 barrels for the week ended Nov. 15, the 9th straight weekly increase. But gasoline supplies fell by 300,000 barrels, and the agency said the average demand for gasoline over the prior four weeks was about 4 […]

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Oil Prices Dip on Iran Deal, but Exports May Not Rise

LONDON — Oil prices dipped and stocks around the world rose on Monday after the news of an agreement to temporarily freeze Iran’s nuclear program, but few specialists expected any significant change to consumer energy prices, at least in the short term. Under the interim deal brokered between the United States and other world powers with Tehran, little has changed in market fundamentals. Analysts doubted that Iran would be able to increase exports much, if at all, in the six months covered by the deal, because the Washington-led coalition has not lifted its embargo against Iranian oil. Gregg Laskoski, an analyst at GasBuddy.com, a website that tells motorists where to find the least expensive gasoline in the United States and Canada, said the Iran deal “may bring some calm to markets,” but he expressed doubt that it would have a significant impact soon. Even before the announcement Sunday, American […]

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More Bets on Brent Crude Price Rising

Speculators raised their net long position in Brent crude oil and futures in the seven days to Nov. 19 for the first time in six weeks, according to IntercontinentalExchange’s weekly Commitment of Traders report published Monday. Money managers, including hedge funds, raised their net long position–or bets that prices will rise–by 20.5% during the week to 107,381 positions. The reversal comes after net long positions were reduced for five consecutive weeks, to hit their lowest point since April last week. Traders in the category raised their long positions by 12,671 and reduced their short positions by 5,622. Open interest in crude oil futures and options increased to 1,779,535 contracts. ICE publishes the reports each week at about 1100 GMT Monday, with data from the previous Tuesday. The reports contain the same four categories of market participants used by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission: producers, swap […]

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Natural Gas Rises for 4th Straight Day on Winter Storm, Cold Weather Forecasts

Natural-gas futures finished higher Monday as traders bet that a powerful winter storm, moving toward the Eastern U.S., along with a period of below normal temperatures, would boost demand for the heating fuel. Natural gas for December delivery settled 2.1 cents, or 0.6%, higher at $3.789 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have risen 23.3 cents, or 6.6%, over the past four trading sessions. The gains Monday follow a nearly 3% climb last week as weather forecasts shifted toward a prolonged cold spell. Such an outlook is bullish for natural gas because nearly half of all U.S. households use the fuel as their primary heating source, according to the Energy Information Administration. “We finally got […]

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White House Launches Push to Sell Its Iran Nuclear Deal

The Obama administration is mounting an aggressive campaign to head off new congressional sanctions against Iran, arguing they would jeopardize the high-stakes deal sealed this past weekend to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. After arguing for weeks that sanctions would hurt the prospects of reaching a deal, senior administration officials are now asking lawmakers to hold off for another six months while negotiators try to achieve a long-term accord. The administration is taking steps to burnish the agreement, casting it as the alternative to Mideast conflict. And enforcement officials, seeking to counter arguments that the interim deal signed Sunday in Geneva would erode punitive economic sanctions, publicly warned any business, bank or broker against trying to do prohibited business with Iran. Meanwhile, doubts over the Iran deal emerged in oil markets, which bucked expectations that it would lead to cheaper crude. Traders initially pushed oil prices lower Monday, but later […]

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Barack Obama faces tough test in fending off new Iran sanctions

US President Barack Obama makes a statement from the State Dining Room of the White House November 23, 2013 in Washington after an agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear program was reached in Geneva US President Barack Obama will face a decisive test of his influence over Senate Democrats in December when he tries to fend off sanctions legislation that he believes could scupper nuclear negotiations with Iran. Senior members of both parties have called for new sanctions after rushing to criticise the historic interim agreement that was reached with Iran at the weekend, however some of the proposals might not clash with the next round of nuclear talks. At a time when his credibility has been badly damaged by the healthcare debacle , the president will need to secure the support of Democratic leaders in the Senate, especially majority leader Harry Reid, if he is […]

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U.S. and Saudis in Growing Rift as Power Shifts

There was a time when Saudi and American interests in the Middle East seemed so aligned that the cigar-smoking former Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was viewed as one of the most influential diplomats in Washington. Those days are over. The Saudi king and his envoys — like the Israelis — have spent weeks lobbying fruitlessly against the interim nuclear accord with Iran that was reached in Geneva on Sunday. In the end, there was little they could do: The Obama administration saw the nuclear talks in a fundamentally different light from the Saudis, who fear that any letup in the sanctions will come at the cost of a wider and more dangerous Iranian role in the Middle East. Although the Saudis remain close American allies, the nuclear accord is the culmination of a slow mutual disenchantment that began at the end of the Cold War. […]

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Israel, Gulf states and many U.S. lawmakers share deep unease about Iran nuclear deal

The signing of a short-term nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers on Sunday left ardent critics of the Islamic republic — most vocally the Israeli government and many U.S. lawmakers — deeply worried that the Obama administration and its partners were making a historic mistake. “Today the world has become a much more dangerous place, because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. He vowed to spend the six months covered by the interim agreement pushing the White House and other allies for a long-term deal that not only curbs Iran’s current nuclear program but also dismantles the infrastructure that could allow it to make a nuclear device. In Congress, many Republicans and some influential Democrats echoed Israeli concerns that the deal freezes Iran’s uranium […]

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Iraq: Attacks Kill at Least 23 People

A series of bombings and shootings on Monday left at least 23 people dead and more than 20 wounded, Iraqi security officials and medical workers said. Just after sunset, an explosion at a market in central Baghdad killed 12 people, the police said. Earlier, a suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing three police officers and two civilians. South of Baghdad, two militia members were killed by a roadside bomb. Another militia member was killed by a bomb attached to his car in Salahuddin Province, north of Baghdad, while a roadside bomb near a high school in the region killed a woman. In Baghdad, a bomb blew up a truck driver and gunmen killed a Ministry of Justice employee. More than 300 Iraqis have been killed this month in similar attacks.

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Militia in Benghazi Flees After Deadly Gun Battle

CAIRO — A militia in Benghazi, Libya, tied to the killing of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens fled its headquarters on Monday after an hourslong gun battle with a local military unit, a potential turning point in a continuing struggle between Islamists and their foes for control of the city. At least nine people were killed and more than 50 were wounded, health officials said, as the battle flared out across Benghazi, beginning before dawn. Stores and schools were closed. The local authorities advised residents to stay in their homes and avoid the streets. And by late afternoon, the militia, Ansar al-Shariah, appeared to have disappeared underground. Photographs circulated over the Internet that appeared to show its headquarters emptied and smoking, with the wreckage of a burned-out car sitting outside. The melee followed the deaths of more than 40 people in a similar battle in Tripoli this month, when militiamen […]

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Syria peace talks set for January 22 in Geneva: U.N.

GENEVA (Reuters) – An international peace conference aimed at ending Syria’s civil war will be held on January 22, the first face-to-face talks between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and rebels seeking to overthrow him, the United Nations said on Monday. The United Nations is hoping for a peaceful transition in Syria, building on an agreement between world powers reached in June last year. The deal calls for the warring sides to set up a transitional governing body with full executive powers, including over military and security entities, but leaves open the fate of Assad. "We will go to Geneva with a mission of hope," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. The announcement came as Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi met senior U.S. and Russian officials in Geneva in his latest effort to get negotiations on track to end a war, now in its third year, that […]

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Syrian officials say terrorists damaged refinery in Homs

The mayor of Homs, Syria, Talal Barazi, said work crews were repairing the city’s oil refinery, damaged in what was described as an attack by terrorists. Barazi said the city was providing all necessary resources to help in the repairs, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported Sunday. Akram Sultan, directory of the refinery, said terrorists attacked the facility during the weekend, crippling its ability to deliver crude oil to the Syrian market. SANA reported one worker was injured in the attack. In another attack, rebel forces, including those aligned with al-Qaida, captured the Omar oil field in eastern Syria, The New York Times reported Satuday. The report didn’t indicate if the field’s production infrastructure was damaged in the attack. Syria relies on oil and natural gas revenue to help pay off its government debt but its long-running civil war and western economic […]

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Ahead of Syria Talks, Local Truces Falter

With the first peace talks between the Syrian regime and opposition now set for January, a series of failed government efforts to forge regional truces underscores the deep mistrust between them. In most cases, what the government calls national reconciliation efforts are backed by the threat of force. Syrian troops have laid siege to many of the areas where the regime has tried to negotiate with rebels, according to government and military officials, opposition members, mediators and residents. Particularly around the capital Damascus and the city of Homs to the north, President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has put pressure on civilians and community leaders in rebel-held areas, banking on them to force local fighters to either surrender and accept amnesty or flee. But in one sprawling Homs neighborhood of more than 400,000 known as Waer, where reconciliation talks have faltered, some consider surrender as tantamount to suicide. In another […]

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Egypt’s Government Struggles to Gain Footing as Dissent Grows

When the new military-backed Egyptian government lifted a nationwide state of emergency more than 10 days ago, it seemed to be proclaiming a momentary victory in the battle with its principal foe, the Muslim Brotherhood, whose regular protests had begun to wither. But the government’s problems hardly abated. In brazen and occasionally spectacular attacks, militants have stepped up a campaign of assassinations and bombings aimed at the security services. Non-Islamist critics have accused the government of incompetence or growing authoritarianism, potentially broadening the opposition beyond supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the deposed Islamist president. At the same time, unrest has begun to surface in different places, lately sweeping up Islamist students on university campuses. And notably, small cracks have begun to appear in the coalition that supported the ouster of Mr. Morsi as the government has faced anger from recent allies and rare criticism in the once-fawning local […]

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New Law in Egypt Effectively Bans Street Protests

Egypt’s military-backed government has issued a law that all but bans street protests by applying jail time or heavy fines to the public demonstrations that have felled the last two presidents and regularly roiled the capital since the Arab Spring revolt. The new law, promulgated on Sunday, is the latest evidence of a return to authoritarianism in the aftermath of the military takeover that removed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July. It criminalizes the kind of free assembly and public expression that many Egyptians had embraced as a cherished foundation of their new democracy after the 2011 ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. And the relatively muted outcry against the law, mainly from human rights advocates, demonstrated how far public sentiment has swung. Rights activists said the new law appeared even stricter than those in place under Mr. Mubarak. It effectively replaces a three-month “state […]

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Egyptian students defy law banning protests

Egyptian security forces on Monday fired tear gas to disperse university students who had defied a new law that restricts demonstrations, the state news agency reported. Students of Al-Azhar University and Assiut University in Assiut province, south of Cairo, staged a protest, chanting against the army and police in defiance of the new law, passed on Sunday, which bans protests without prior police approval. In the first application of the new law, the Interior Ministry approved requests on Monday for protests by lawyers and political activists in front of the lawyers’ syndicate in Cairo and the State Council in Giza, it said on its Facebook page. In another statement, it issued a warning to supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, who it said were planning a protest on Tuesday in Giza province, near the pyramids, with the goal of disrupting traffic and harming tourism. “The Interior Ministry is determined to […]

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Argentina nears deal with Spanish group Repsol over YPF seizure

Argentina is close to striking a deal with Spanish oil group Repsol to compensate the company for the nationalisation of its YPF unit last year which prompted a diplomatic crisis between Buenos Aires and Madrid. A delegation from Spain, including José Manuel Soria, industry minister, and several executives from Repsol , met Argentine officials in Buenos Aires on Monday to reach a preliminary agreement over compensation for the Spanish company, people close to the talks said. Repsol said in a statement on Monday night that it had noted the agreement between the governments and would consider its value to its shareholders ahead of a board meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Argentina, led by president Cristina Fernández, expropriated Repsol’s majority stake in YPF, its former state oil company, last year after accusing the company of failing to invest sufficiently in the country’s energy sector, a charge Repsol vehemently denied. Repsol was […]

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Sinopec Personnel Detained After Deadly Pipeline Blast

Chinese authorities detained seven people from China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (386) , the nation’s biggest refiner, after at least 55 died in a pipeline blast. The personnel from Sinopec, as the refiner is known, and two from an economic development zone in China’s eastern Qingdao city were detained by police, the city’s Huangdao district government said yesterday on its official microblog . The explosion and crude oil leak on Nov. 22, the deadliest since at least 2005, adds to a growing toll from industrial accidents that’s building pressure for better safety standards and management. It shines a spotlight on management of state-owned energy companies after the government pledged this month to allow more private investment as part of the biggest reforms since the 1990s. “Someone has to be accountable for what has happened,” said Laban Yu, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Jefferies Group LLC. “Sinopec executives can only […]

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Pipeline Deaths Put China's Urbanization in Focus

Explosions at a pipeline that left dozens dead and upended cars and sidewalks in a busy Chinese port city have renewed focus on industrial facilities in densely populated areas—an issue of rising importance as Beijing pushes an ambitious urbanization plan. Regulators and the pipeline’s operator, China’s largest refining company, began exchanging blame on Monday over the Friday incident in the eastern city of Qingdao, which drew widespread attention across the country and prompted a visit by President Xi Jinping to a local hospital to meet with victims. Authorities on Monday raised the death toll to 55, with 136 injured and nine still missing. Chinese authorities said Monday that the blasts exposed problems caused by human error and that the accident was a “very serious dereliction of duty,” China’s official Xinhua news agency said, citing Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety. Mr. Yang said the problems […]

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Pipeline Deaths Put China’s Urbanization in Focus

Explosions at a pipeline that left dozens dead and upended cars and sidewalks in a busy Chinese port city have renewed focus on industrial facilities in densely populated areas—an issue of rising importance as Beijing pushes an ambitious urbanization plan. Regulators and the pipeline’s operator, China’s largest refining company, began exchanging blame on Monday over the Friday incident in the eastern city of Qingdao, which drew widespread attention across the country and prompted a visit by President Xi Jinping to a local hospital to meet with victims. Authorities on Monday raised the death toll to 55, with 136 injured and nine still missing. Chinese authorities said Monday that the blasts exposed problems caused by human error and that the accident was a “very serious dereliction of duty,” China’s official Xinhua news agency said, citing Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety. Mr. Yang said the problems […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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.” […]

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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 […]

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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
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Iran nuclear deal pushes oil prices lower

.A picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency shows supporters of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (portrait) flashing the sign for victory as the foreign minister arrived at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport after talks in Geneva in which world powers reached an agreement with Iran over its nuclear programme on November 24, 2013. Analysts praised a ground-breaking interim deal with Iran to rein in its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, but warned negotiations for a full agreement will prove even tougher. AFP PHOTO/ISNA/ARASH KHAMOOSHIARASH KHAMOOSHI/AFP/Getty Images Oil prices tumbled on Monday after Iran agreed a historic agreement with world powers to halt its uranium enrichment programme, lifting hopes for a relaxation of geopolitical risk and a boost in oil supplies. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama and David Cameron, UK prime minister, sought to reassure Israel that the accord would not threaten […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Slump Seen as ‘Knee-Jerk’ Reaction to Iran Nuclear Deal

Iran’s pledge to restrict nuclear work in return for loosened economic sanctions may have a limited effect on crude prices, said analysts who called today’s 2.5 percent slump in Brent a “knee-jerk” reaction. Oil exports from the Islamic republic will be held to about 1 million barrels a day under sanctions that remain in force after Iran and six world powers reached an agreement yesterday in Geneva, according to the White House. The sanctions cut Iranian crude sales by 60 percent since the start of 2012, depriving the country of more than $80 billion in revenue, U.S. President Barack Obama ’s administration said in a statement. London’s Brent crude prices slumped today in the first day of trading since the deal while West Texas Intermediate fell 1.3 percent in New York . “There will be a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction,” Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer […]

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Iran sanctions deal to unleash oil supply but Saudi wild card looms

Khaled al Otaiby, an official of the Saudi oil company Aramco watches progress at a rig at the al-Howta oil field near Howta, Saudi Arabia The bank said falling energy prices could mark the death of the commodity supercycle, already struggling as China shifts to a new phase of “smart urbanisation”. Alastair Newton from Nomura said the “geopolitical risk” premium in the oil price should fall but there will be no immediate softening of the oil embargo, adding that talks could still break down over Iran’s heavy water reactor at Arak. America’s rapprochement with Tehran is a dramatic upset in the region’s alliance system at a time when Shia Muslims led by Iran are locked in an epic struggle for Mid-East dominance with a Saudi-led bloc of Sunni regimes. Chris Skrebowski, editor of Petroleum Review, said the great unknown is how Saudi Arabia will react to a move deemed […]

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Iran will start implementing nuclear agreement in weeks: Zarif

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday his country would begin implementing a nuclear agreement struck with world powers in the next few weeks, as hundreds of supporters welcomed him and his negotiating team home. Crowds gathered at Mehrabad airport on Sunday evening local time, hailing Zarif as a hero and holding flags and flowers. "No war, no sanctions, no insults and no submission," they chanted. Some held aloft posters of President Hassan Rouhani, the architect of Iran’s initiative in striking a nuclear deal. "In the coming weeks – by the end of the Christian year – we will begin the programme for the first phase," Zarif said in a live interview at the airport. "At the same time, we are prepared to begin negotiations for a final resolution as of tomorrow." Earlier on Sunday, the team was acclaimed by Iran’s most powerful man, […]

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Special Report: 'Great Satan' meets 'Axis of Evil' and strikes a deal

GENEVA (Reuters) – Saturday night had turned into Sunday morning and four days of talks over Iran’s nuclear program had already gone so far over schedule that the Geneva Intercontinental Hotel had been given over to another event. A black tie charity ball was finishing up and singers with an after party band at a bar above the lobby were crooning out the words to a Johnny Cash song – "I fell into a burning ring of fire" – while weary diplomats in nearby conference rooms were trying to polish off the last touches of an accord. Negotiators emerged complaining that the hotel lobby smelled like beer. At around 2:00 a.m., U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were brought to a conference room to approve a final text of the agreement which would provide limited relief of sanctions on Iran […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Special Report: ‘Great Satan’ meets ‘Axis of Evil’ and strikes a deal

GENEVA (Reuters) – Saturday night had turned into Sunday morning and four days of talks over Iran’s nuclear program had already gone so far over schedule that the Geneva Intercontinental Hotel had been given over to another event. A black tie charity ball was finishing up and singers with an after party band at a bar above the lobby were crooning out the words to a Johnny Cash song – "I fell into a burning ring of fire" – while weary diplomats in nearby conference rooms were trying to polish off the last touches of an accord. Negotiators emerged complaining that the hotel lobby smelled like beer. At around 2:00 a.m., U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were brought to a conference room to approve a final text of the agreement which would provide limited relief of sanctions on Iran […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Asia Refiners Weigh Impact of Iran Oil Insurance Deal on Imports

Refiners in South Korea and Japan said they have no immediate plans to boost crude purchases from Iran while Indian processors intend to maintain contracted volumes after the EU lifted a ban on insuring tankers. It’s still too early to say whether SK Innovation Co. (096770) , South Korea’s largest refiner, will increase purchases, Lee Mi Ji, a spokeswoman in Seoul , said by phone. Japan’s Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. doesn’t plan to change its supply deals for the time being, according to the company. Indian Oil Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. said that while the removal of restrictions will enable them to import contracted volumes more easily, they don’t intend to buy more than previously planned. “Insurance was an issue, but the key point is that there is no lifting of current restrictions on Iranian crude, they just remain the same,” said Neil […]

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Iran Pact Faces Stiff Opposition

LONDON—A groundbreaking deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program faces towering obstacles at home and abroad to becoming a permanent agreement, starting with the U.S. Congress and two of America’s closest allies. The leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties are threatening to break with President Barack Obama ‘s policy and enact new punitive sanctions on Iran, arguing that the interim deal reached in Geneva on Sunday yields too much to the Islamist regime while asking too little. “The disproportionality of this agreement makes it more likely that Democrats and Republicans will join together and pass additional sanctions when we return in December,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), an influential member of the Senate Democratic leadership. Such a move could kill the nascent nuclear accord, U.S. and Iranian officials agree, and add to more recent political embarrassments for the White House. Reaching a comprehensive deal with Iran also […]

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Science of Nuclear Capacity Fuels Doubt on Deal's Impact

GENEVA—The big question over the agreement forged Sunday in this Swiss lakeside city between Iran and the world’s big powers is this: How much will it delay, if at all, Tehran’s ability to produce enough material for a nuclear weapon? Israel argues that as long as Iran can enrich uranium at even a low level, it can elude detection of any clandestine effort toward making higher-level, weapons-grade fuel, and can quickly restore the capacity that it agreed to reduce. The international community has sought ways to ensure that any Iranian move toward a weapon is slowed, and can be caught, though Iran says its activities are for civilian purposes. Even with Sunday’s accord, most analysts believe it would still take only weeks or months to produce enough highly enriched fissile material to fuel a bomb if Iran chose to go all out. Uranium ore in nature is only 0.7% […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Science of Nuclear Capacity Fuels Doubt on Deal’s Impact

GENEVA—The big question over the agreement forged Sunday in this Swiss lakeside city between Iran and the world’s big powers is this: How much will it delay, if at all, Tehran’s ability to produce enough material for a nuclear weapon? Israel argues that as long as Iran can enrich uranium at even a low level, it can elude detection of any clandestine effort toward making higher-level, weapons-grade fuel, and can quickly restore the capacity that it agreed to reduce. The international community has sought ways to ensure that any Iranian move toward a weapon is slowed, and can be caught, though Iran says its activities are for civilian purposes. Even with Sunday’s accord, most analysts believe it would still take only weeks or months to produce enough highly enriched fissile material to fuel a bomb if Iran chose to go all out. Uranium ore in nature is only 0.7% […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple