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California Cuts Oil-by-Rail Shipments by 29% in Third Quarter

Oil delivered by rail to California, the world’s ninth-largest economy, tumbled 29 percent in the third quarter as shipments from Canada were halted and deliveries from states including North Dakota dropped. The most populous U.S. state received 531,766 barrels of crude in rail-cars from July through September, down from 748,802 barrels in the prior three months, data posted on the state Energy Commission’s website show. Rail imports from Canada dropped to zero after totaling 76,648 barrels a quarter earlier. North Dakota, where fields in the Bakken formation are producing a record volume of crude, cut rail deliveries by 17 percent. Third-quarter rail shipments were up 9.5 percent from a year ago as West Coast refiners, facing declining supplies from California and Alaska, build rail offloading terminals to reach a glut of oil being extracted from shale formations in the middle of the country. Alaska supplied 12 percent of California’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russian PM plays down 'gas war' talk, warns Ukraine on EU

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he saw no reason for Moscow to cut gas supplies to Ukraine over an unpaid bill for now, playing down talk of an imminent "gas war" that might disrupt flows to Europe. In an interview with Reuters, he denied Russia’s demands for payment had anything to do with opposition to Ukraine signing agreements with the European Union this month which would mark a historic shift away from former imperial master Moscow. But the 48-year-old ex-president said the "special relationship" between the two former Soviet republics would change if Ukraine moved closer to Europe and that Kiev should no longer come to Moscow seeking loans. Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said on Tuesday that Ukraine, which is dependent on supplies of Russian gas, had failed to settle a $882 million bill for August deliveries and demanded it be paid urgently. Medvedev […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russian PM plays down ‘gas war’ talk, warns Ukraine on EU

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he saw no reason for Moscow to cut gas supplies to Ukraine over an unpaid bill for now, playing down talk of an imminent "gas war" that might disrupt flows to Europe. In an interview with Reuters, he denied Russia’s demands for payment had anything to do with opposition to Ukraine signing agreements with the European Union this month which would mark a historic shift away from former imperial master Moscow. But the 48-year-old ex-president said the "special relationship" between the two former Soviet republics would change if Ukraine moved closer to Europe and that Kiev should no longer come to Moscow seeking loans. Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said on Tuesday that Ukraine, which is dependent on supplies of Russian gas, had failed to settle a $882 million bill for August deliveries and demanded it be paid urgently. Medvedev […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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French energy company Total investing in Canadian oil project

PARIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) — French energy company Total said it decided to proceed with an investment in an oil sands project in Canada, that is expected to yield 180,000 barrels per day. Total said it expected to spend more than $13.5 billion in the four years it should take to develop the Fort Hills oil sands mining project in Alberta, approximately 55 miles north of Fort McMurray. “With an expected mine life in excess of 50 years based on current planned production rates, Fort Hills represents more than 3 billion barrels of resources and strengthens Total’s global portfolio by adding geographic diversity and long-plateau production with limited geosciences risk,” Yves-Louis Darricarrere, president of upstream operations for Total, said in a statement. Total has been involved in Canadian operations for 15 years. Last year, it was associated with the production of about 12,000 barrels of oil per day in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russia to Transfer Detained Greenpeace Activists

MOSCOW — Russia, unexpectedly and without explanation, is preparing to transfer 30 crew members of a Greenpeace International ship from a detention center in the far northern city of Murmansk to a jail in St. Petersburg, the organization said Friday night. The reason for transferring the detainees, who have been held since their ship was seized on Sept. 19 after an open seas protest against oil drilling in the Arctic, was not immediately clear, and a spokesman for Russia’s prison system declined to comment. In a statement , Greenpeace said it also did not know the reason for the transfers, which were expected to begin soon. The move came after the authorities in Murmansk completed charging the 30 people who were aboard the ship, the Arctic Sunrise, with hooliganism, a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison. Greenpeace noted earlier on Friday that, technically, all remain charged […]

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South Stream gas pipeline construction begins in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria, Nov. 1 (UPI) — The start of construction of the South Stream gas pipeline in Bulgaria marks the launch of one of Europe’s largest energy projects, Gazprom’s chief said. “A landmark event has taken place today: Construction started on the Bulgarian section of the South Stream gas pipeline, the most large-scale and important project in Europe,” Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller said in a statement Thursday. “This project is a key element of energy security of the whole European continent.” South Stream is meant to add diversity to Russia’s export routes through Europe. A contractual dispute between Gazprom and its counterparts in Ukraine, which hosts most of Russia’s gas for Europe, adds a layer of risk to conventional routes, officials say. Miller said the direct connection to Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, means geopolitical risks associated with transit countries are eliminated “forever.” Bulgarian consumers will receive […]

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Austrian company OMV takes over North Sea oil, gas fields

VIENNA, Nov. 1 (UPI) — Austrian energy company OMV said it completed a $2.65 billion transaction to take over North Sea oil and gas production areas from Norwegian rival Statoil. OMV said it acquired a 19 percent stake in the Gulfaks field and a 24 percent stake in the Gudrun field, both on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and also took on shares in the Rosebank and Schiehallion fields, located west of the Shetland Islands. “The transaction is a key part of OMV’s strategy of focusing on exploration and production in politically stable markets and will be a substantial factor in achieving our 2016 targets,” OMV Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Rois said in a statement Thursday. “We are thereby bolstering our position in the heart of our North Sea growth region.” OMV said the production contribution from the acquired assets should reach 58,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by […]

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Gazprom eyes gas foundation in Far East market

MOSCOW, Nov. 1 (UPI) — Russian gas company Gazprom said Friday it was teaming up with gas processing company SIBUR to build a processing plant in the Far East. “Gazprom is planning to construct a gas processing plant in Belogorsk [near northeast China] with the annual capacity of up to 2.1 trillion cubic feet, where ethane and other valuable components will be stripped from natural gas,” the company said in a statement. “SIBUR, in its turn, intends to create a gas chemical complex technologically connected with the gas processing plant for the purpose of processing ethane.” Gazprom provided no financial terms for the deal. The company said the partnership would draw gas from the Chayandinskoye and Kovyktinskoye fields, which contain a combined 95 trillion cubic feet of estimated gas reserves. Gazprom has focused its efforts on meeting the energy demands of expanding Asian economies. “The joint activities will result […]

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Saudi Arabia, Emirates lead charge on Mideast solar power

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 1 (UPI) — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of the world’s leading oil producers, are spearheading a Middle Eastern drive to develop solar energy, with plans for projects requiring $1.5 billion in investment by the end of 2014. The program, designed to free up for export increasing amounts of oil and gas being used domestically for power generation, got a major endorsement from the Arab Forum for Environment and Development Monday. It urged Arab states to re-evaluate their relationship with oil, the economic mainstay of the Arab world since the 1950s, and phase out state energy subsidies to focus investment in developing renewable energy. “Oil and gas are important, they will continue to be important,” said Najib Saab, the forum’s secretary-general. “We call for more careful use of oil and gas and for more serious development of renewable energy.” Saudi […]

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Oil Rises on China Factory Data

Crude-oil futures were higher in Asian trading hours Friday after two sets of data showed an expansion in manufacturing activity in China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $96.44 a barrel at 0543 GMT, up $0.06 in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.37 to $109.21 a barrel. China’s slowing manufacturing landscape has weighed on oil demand and any uptick in manufacturing activity supports oil prices, particularly Brent. Both the official purchasing managers’ index, an indicator for the performance of large and state-owned companies, and the private HSBC PMI, an indicator for small and medium enterprises, showed an expansion, although some analysts remained skeptical. The PMI data suggests the recovery momentum might be slightly stronger than what markets had expected and the reading should be positive for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple