Category:

Cairn Seeks Oil Swaps to Circumvent Export Ban: Corporate India

Cairn India Ltd., the nation’s biggest onshore crude oil producer, is proposing swap deals in the commodity to help skirt the government’s ban on exports that yield higher margins. Some Japanese utilities and Singapore-based refiners are interested in the high-wax crude extracted from Cairn’s fields in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, Chief Executive Officer P. Elango said in an interview. The company has sought India ’s approval for a tripartite agreement that would replenish the exported volume with no loss to any of the parties including the government, he said. Billionaire Anil Agarwal , who controls Cairn India, is seeking to increase the best profit margin among the biggest Asian oil companies as his metals and mining businesses founder in the South Asian country. Shipping to customers who are best equipped to process the low-sulfur crude may help the company command a premium versus a 15 percent discount on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Obama’s Pollution-Control Agenda Goes to Court Tomorrow

Two of President Barack Obama ’s top pollution-control measures face courtroom tests tomorrow as coal-dependent utilities, miners and some states challenge what they call overreach by the Environmental Protection Agency. Efforts to regulate pollutants that cause smog and soot, as well as mercury from coal plants, have moved in fits and starts for more than a decade. If both rules go forward it would cause power producers such as American Electric Power Co. (AEP) and Southern Co. (SO) to shutter old plants or invest billions of dollars in pollution-control technology. Health and environmental groups say the rules clean the air and reduce heart attacks, asthma and related illnesses. The decisions in these cases — one being argued before the Supreme Court and the other in federal appeals court — could have a longstanding impact on how the Clean Air Act is implemented. “This is the biggest day for clean […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Great Wall of Canadian Energy Keeps Chinese on Outside

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said developing the world’s third-largest pool of oil reserves is as difficult as building China ’s Great Wall. Chinese companies may find themselves outside looking in. Harper announced a year ago tomorrow that Canada will keep state-owned enterprises from acquiring oil sands businesses — one of the last and biggest steps in an overhaul of foreign-investment review rules that govern takeovers of Canadian companies together worth more than C$1.87 trillion ($1.75 trillion). In addition to limits on state-owned investors, Harper has also blocked takeovers on national security grounds and concerns over the loss of strategic resources such as potash. The message for investors is Canada will accept less foreign capital and slower development to ensure resources are kept under some Canadian control, even at the expense of lower company valuations. Harper’s policy is “constructive nationalism,” said Marcel Coutu, chief executive officer of Canadian Oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shale gas boom to transform US into chemicals exporter

The US chemicals industry is planning a sharp increase in its exports as a result of the cost advantage created by the shale gas boom , putting pressure on higher-cost competitors in Europe and Asia. The American Chemistry Council, the industry association, predicts in forecasts published this week that US chemicals exports will rise 45 per cent over the next five years, as a result of a wave of investment in new capacity that will be aiming at overseas markets. The US has already shifted from being a net importer of chemicals in 2011 to forecast net exports of about $2.7bn this year, and the ACC expects that to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US PIRG report finds reduced driving and rates of car commuting in most populous US urbanized areas

t US PIRG report finds reduced driving and rates of car commuting in most populous US urbanized areas VMT per capita has declined across the US (2006 to 2011). States with shading are missing reliable data for all or part of an urbanized area, and ‘X’s denote the location of excluded urbanized areas. Source: US PIRG. Click to enlarge. A new report by the US PIRG Education Fund and the Frontier Group details reduced driving miles and rates of car commuting in the US’ most populous urbanized areas, as well as greater use of public transit and biking in most cities. The average American drives 7.6% fewer miles today than when per-capita driving peaked in 2004. The report, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The U.S. energy independence story: Will anyone be punished if it turns out to be wrong?

” Will anyone who is currently predicting U.S. energy independence be punished if the story turns out to be wrong? I ask because the story– and that’s all it is right now –appears to be driving public policy and business planning practically worldwide. Often implied with that narrative is a corresponding abundance of oil globally. In fact, some are predicating worldwide abundance on a continuous rise in U.S. oil output . This is despite the fact that even many optimistic forecasts make such ideas seem foolish. The actual data for crude plus condensate (which is the definition of oil) show oil production in the rest of world declining almost as much as the United States has increased its production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Now the world needs new energy systems

On December 9th, the day before the Nobel Prizes are handled out in Stockholm, there is a “Nobel Week Dialogue” in Gothenburg. This year’s theme is “Exploring the Future of Energy” and participating Nobel Laureates are presented by the organizers. My contribution to the dialogue is now published by Svenska Dagbladet on “Brännpunkt” under the heading “Now we need new energy systems” ( Read the article in Swedish on Brännpunkt ). An English translation of the debate article can be found below. Now the world needs new energy systems Kjell Aleklett, Professor University of Texas at Austin and Uppsala University, Global Energy Systems NASA has just released a new image showing lights on the Earth’s surface at night. If one zooms in on Texas in the image it is easy to identify the cities of Austin, San Antonio and Houston. South of San […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

WTI Crude Caps Biggest Weekly Gain Since July on Economy

West Texas Intermediate crude capped the biggest weekly advance since July as the U.S. jobless rate dropped to a five-year low, bolstering the outlook for economic growth in the world’s biggest fuel-consuming nation. Futures climbed 0.3 percent today, bringing the weekly gain to 5.3 percent. The Labor Department reported today that the unemployment rate fell to 7 percent in November. Consumer confidence rose the most in five months. Government data on Dec. 4 showed that U.S. crude supplies fell for the first time in 11 weeks as fuel demand increased. “These were spectacular jobs numbers and will ultimately be supportive for energy prices,” said John Kilduff , a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “We’ve already seen demand pick up, and this is a signal that it will be stronger going ahead.” WTI for January delivery rose 27 cents to $97.65 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Futures Gain 5.3% For The Week After Robust Jobs Report

-Oil futures ticked higher Friday to finish 5.3% up from a week earlier on expectations that a surprisingly robust jobs report means stronger demand for oil. Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled up 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $97.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a fresh one-month high. Prices have gained for six straight sessions and hit fresh five-week highs in each of the last four. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange gained $1.92, or 1.75%, to settle at $111.61 a barrel. The U.S. added 203,000 new jobs in November, more than expected, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.0%, according to the Labor Department. Gasoline futures climbed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Goldman tells oil market U.S. is the new China as cycle reverses

The oil market is on the cusp of a new cycle, Goldman Sachs said on Friday, with demand in the United States growing at a faster pace than in emerging economies such as China and India for the first time in a decade. That’s likely to have profound implications for how oil markets operate, Jeffrey Currie, Goldman’s influential chief commodity analyst wrote in a note, which says there will be a “new oil order”. Currie was one of the first oil analysts to predict that crude prices would surge last decade, driven by growing Chinese demand and tightening supplies. Now as U.S. shale production drives down prices for American consumers, the market may shift, he says. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iranian president defends interim nuclear deal

AP Photo TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president defended an interim nuclear deal that eases some of the international community’s crippling economic sanctions in return for a freeze on part of the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment activities, saying Saturday that improving the economy is as important as maintaining a peaceful nuclear program. Since Iran signed the interim agreement last month with world powers, President Hassan Rouhani has been trying to convince skeptics and hard-liners at home that Iran is not compromising on key issues of national sovereignty. It’s a task that will become all the more difficult for the moderate leader as Tehran moves toward a final accord six months from now. “Nuclear technology and uranium enrichment is our definite right,” Rouhani said in a speech to university students that was broadcast live on state TV. “But progress, better living conditions and welfare for the people is also our […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran deal could spell trouble for OPEC, Mideast

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 6 (UPI) — Iran’s expected return to full oil production after several years of U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear program will sharpen its feud with its longtime rival, Saudi Arabia, which will have to cope with Iraq’s mounting output as well, while the United States moves toward self-sufficiency. If the landmark interim agreement reached in Geneva Nov. 24 expands into a more lasting deal, Iran can be expected to go all-out to restore its lost market share, sharpening the friction with Saudi Arabia at a time when the Middle East is on a knife-edge over a potential region-wide conflict between the two branches of Islam these states represent. Iran’s full return to the market could take as long as two years, as production is restored and foreign investment sought to upgrade Iran’s antiquated oil industry to counter the declining output from mature fields that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela's president tightens grip on media

As Gov. Henrique Capriles campaigned for president of Venezuela last April, he couldn’t venture more than a few steps without being hounded by dozens of sharp-elbowed cameramen and photographers. Nearly eight months later, the visibly thinner and exhausted opposition leader is accompanied by just a handful of journalists at what was supposed to be one of the final, electrifying opposition rallies ahead of this weekend’s mayoral elections. Critics say the shrinking media coverage has been deliberate. Even while Venezuelans endure their toughest economic crisis in 15 years of socialist rule, the opposition has been largely knocked from public view by what they claim is a government-led campaign to intimidate media outlets that give airtime to the opposition and the nation’s mounting woes. Between January and September, the number of attacks on journalists, cases of harassment and reports of censorship has risen 56 percent […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela’s president tightens grip on media

As Gov. Henrique Capriles campaigned for president of Venezuela last April, he couldn’t venture more than a few steps without being hounded by dozens of sharp-elbowed cameramen and photographers. Nearly eight months later, the visibly thinner and exhausted opposition leader is accompanied by just a handful of journalists at what was supposed to be one of the final, electrifying opposition rallies ahead of this weekend’s mayoral elections. Critics say the shrinking media coverage has been deliberate. Even while Venezuelans endure their toughest economic crisis in 15 years of socialist rule, the opposition has been largely knocked from public view by what they claim is a government-led campaign to intimidate media outlets that give airtime to the opposition and the nation’s mounting woes. Between January and September, the number of attacks on journalists, cases of harassment and reports of censorship has risen 56 percent […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shanghai Hit by Heavy Air Pollution

Shanghai’s air pollution went off the charts on Friday as a thick gray smog shrouded its famously luminous skyline, in the latest high-profile episode highlighting China’s pervasive environmental woes. Officials called for factory closures and curbs on official car use to counter hazardous levels of particulate matter in the air, while airlines delayed or canceled some flights, according to local authorities. Commuters wore face masks and some rushed to purchase air purifiers at supermarkets. Parks were left empty. Schools remained open, although the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau suggested children, the aged and people with heart, lung, or other chronic diseases stay indoors. “It’s too hazardous to let him go to the kindergarten on such a smoggy day,” said Shen Lan, a 32-year-old airport manager, referring to her five-year old son. “I have kept the air purifier working at home all day and night,” she said. “But that’s not enough. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Record air pollution cancels flights in Shanghai

Shanghai smog Shanghai smog Shanghai smog Shanghai smog Shanghai smog Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled Friday in Shanghai as record levels of air pollution shrouded China’s commercial hub in smog, prompting authorities to urge residents to stay indoors. On Friday afternoon, the Shanghai government issued its most severe health warning as the city’s pollution index ranged between 23 times and 31 times the levels recommended by international health officials. In the first such advice since a new health warning system was launched in April, authorities urged residents to stay indoors and asked factories to either cut or halt production. Most of the flights leaving Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, one of the world’s busiest cargo airports, were delayed due to decreased visibility, according to the airport’s website. Hazardous air pollution forced schools to shut or suspend outdoor activities in at least two other cities in eastern China on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Japan to Call Nuclear Power 'Important'

In an attempt to overturn the previous administration’s pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government will call it an “important source of energy for the country” in its new energy plan. The first draft of the plan disclosed at an expert panel meeting Friday described nuclear power as a way to “stabilize Japan’s energy supply-demand structure” and said that the country will continue to use it. Given the traumas of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident and widespread public opposition to nuclear power, the government’s declaration of the importance of nuclear energy is a significant step toward trying to restart some of Japan’s 50 currently idled reactors. The panel, appointed by Mr. Abe’s government, has been discussing the plan since the premier took office after his party won a landslide victory in the Lower House elections in December 2012. While Mr. Abe has made bringing […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Japan to Call Nuclear Power ‘Important’

In an attempt to overturn the previous administration’s pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government will call it an “important source of energy for the country” in its new energy plan. The first draft of the plan disclosed at an expert panel meeting Friday described nuclear power as a way to “stabilize Japan’s energy supply-demand structure” and said that the country will continue to use it. Given the traumas of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident and widespread public opposition to nuclear power, the government’s declaration of the importance of nuclear energy is a significant step toward trying to restart some of Japan’s 50 currently idled reactors. The panel, appointed by Mr. Abe’s government, has been discussing the plan since the premier took office after his party won a landslide victory in the Lower House elections in December 2012. While Mr. Abe has made bringing […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fukushima Nuclear Situation Still ‘Very Complex’ Despite Progress

IAEA Water Storage Tanks The UN’s nuclear watchdog on Wednesday delivered a preliminary report on their review of Japan’s efforts to plan and implement the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station that suffered a meltdown during the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Following a 10-day visit, a 19-member team of experts praised Japan for making progress on shutting down the crippled plant, but warned that the situation there remained “very complex”. The International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) team also acknowledged that processed water now kept on site would probably have to be dumped in the ocean. “We are still at the beginning of a lengthy process but Japan is gaining a better understanding of the situation, an understanding that is critical to address the challenges,” said team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo, Director of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology at the IAEA […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US Rig Count Increased By 12 This Week to 1,775

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 12 this week to 1,775. The Houston-based company said in its weekly report Friday that 1,397 rigs were exploring for oil and 375 for gas. Three were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,800 active rigs. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained eight rigs, Oklahoma rose by five, California gained two and Alaska, Utah and West Virginia each increased by one. Louisiana and Pennsylvania each dropped two rigs, while Colorado and North Dakota lost one each. Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio and Wyoming remained unchanged. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999. More Post a Comment

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA: U.S. September Lower 48 Gas Output -0.8% Vs Record August Level

– U.S. natural gas out in the Lower 48 states dropped 0.8% in September from an August level that was revised downward, but remained at a record high, government data released Friday show. The Energy Information Administration data show September output of 73.91 billion cubic feet a day was up 1.7% from a year earlier. The EIA said September gas output declined from a month earlier due to maintenance work on facilities and “normal well decline” in Louisiana, and the shutdown for most of the month of a gas processing plant in Wyoming. The month-to-month decline was the first since March. August gas output was revised down by 0.4% from a month earlier, to 74.49 billion cubic feet. The EIA said output from Louisiana […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

ConocoPhillips to Spend $16.7 Billion on Capital Projects in 2014

ConocoPhillips said it plans to spend $16.7 billion on capital projects in 2014, with the bulk of it directed toward continuing oil and gas production in North America. The budget is about $900 million higher than the plan for 2013 the company announced last December. About 55% of spending for next year will be for North American operations, while the remaining 45% will be allocated to Europe, the Asia Pacific and other international businesses. Last year’s budget included a 60% allocation for North America and 40% for the international businesses. About 39% of the budget will be directed to development-drilling programs. Most of that portion will be spent in U.S. plays such as the Eagle Ford and the Permian Basin in Texas, and the Bakken in North Dakota, among others. Exploration and appraisal takes up about 13% of the budget, including drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and appraising […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

API official: 'Gold mine' awaits energy explorers in Atlantic Ocean

Oil and natural gas development in the Atlantic Ocean could create hundreds of thousands of jobs, said Erik Milito of the American Petroleum Institute . “Oil and natural gas production off our Atlantic coast is a potential gold mine,” Milito, the API’s director of upstream operations, said in a statement Thursday. “Developing oil and natural gas in the Atlantic could put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work, make us more energy secure, and bring in needed revenue for the government.” A 125-page report prepared for API, an industry trade group, by Quest Offshore Resources Inc. says oil and gas exploration on the U.S. Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf could generate $51 billion in new revenue for the federal government. The oil and gas potential in the region, the report said, is more than half of what energy companies are now producing from the Gulf […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

API official: ‘Gold mine’ awaits energy explorers in Atlantic Ocean

Oil and natural gas development in the Atlantic Ocean could create hundreds of thousands of jobs, said Erik Milito of the American Petroleum Institute . “Oil and natural gas production off our Atlantic coast is a potential gold mine,” Milito, the API’s director of upstream operations, said in a statement Thursday. “Developing oil and natural gas in the Atlantic could put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work, make us more energy secure, and bring in needed revenue for the government.” A 125-page report prepared for API, an industry trade group, by Quest Offshore Resources Inc. says oil and gas exploration on the U.S. Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf could generate $51 billion in new revenue for the federal government. The oil and gas potential in the region, the report said, is more than half of what energy companies are now producing from the Gulf […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shell scraps Gulf Coast gas-to-liquids project

Shell is scrapping its proposed massive gas-to-liquids project on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the company said. The Shell facility, to be located along the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish, La., was to produce 140,000 barrels a day of oil products from low-cost shale gas. “Despite the ample supplies of natural gas in the area, the company has taken the decision that GTL is not a viable option for Shell in North America, at this time, due to the likely development cost of such a project, uncertainties on long-term oil and gas prices and differentials, and Shell’s strict capital discipline,” the company said Thursday in a statement. When Shell and the state of Louisiana announced the location for the proposed facility in September, Shell estimated it would spend $12.5 billion. The state had offered an incentive package for the project that included a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. rail petroleum delivery up 20 percent for week ending Nov. 30

U.S. rail delivery of crude oil was up 20 percent last week from the previous week, the American Association of Railroads said. The AAR said Thursday 9,691 carloads of crude oil, or about 6.7 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the rail system last week. So far this year, 655,619 carloads, or about 458 million barrels of oil, were delivered by rail, a 32.4 percent increase from the same period last year, the trade group said. The AAR said its total for U.S. operations excludes deliveries from Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy Department, said domestic oil production averaged 7.7 million barrels in October, the last full month for which statistics are available. An accelerating pace of oil production in the United States has placed a burden on pipeline capacity, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

TransCanada Sets January Start for Pipeline

TransCanada Corp. said it expects to start crude shipments in mid- to late January on its Gulf Coast oil pipeline, which will take oil from the pricing and storage hub in Cushing, Okla., to refiners in Texas. The line, also known as Marketlink, is the southern leg of the controversial Keystone XL project that would take hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude from Canadian and U.S. oil fields, such as the Bakken in North Dakota, to the Gulf Coast. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Canadian forecast assumes heavy oil will be transported

Canadian government analysts identified transportation as a major export uncertainty in the National Energy Board’s latest long-term supply and demand projections, but expect market forces to resolve the question, particularly for heavy oil , one of them told a Washington audience. “We don’t make specific assumptions about how it will be transported, although we see it moving by rail now to pipeline terminals,” said Abra Bhargava, who leads the Energy Integration Team at NEB’s Calgary headquarters, during a Dec. 6 presentation on the forecast at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The analysts expect to take a closer look at long-distance rail transportation of diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands in future forecasts, she said, adding, “We strongly believe the markets can function, and transportation will be found.” That assessment differs significantly from many US environmental organizations’ declarations that crude oil production from Alberta’s oil sands won’t grow […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil industry R&D deactivates ‘peak’

Many energy observers believe that the global Petroleum Engineering Industry had successfully managed deactivating the famous Peak Oil theory through developing new advanced technologies that resulted in significant additional reserves as a result of the exponential increase in the Research and Development (R&D) investment in the last decade as compared to the last century. The Peak Oil theory attracted media headlines at the beginning of this century through the book “Twilight in the Desert: Shock Saudi Oil and the Global Economy”  written by the famous banker Matthew Simon, who died few years ago. The exponential increase in the R&D investment by national, international and service oil companies generated several new advanced technologies that helped the oil industry discover more oil and gas fields and increase the recovery factor from existing and new discovered fields to reach a level that was never thought of in the past. Indeed, it was […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Oil industry R&D deactivates ‘peak’

Many energy observers believe that the global Petroleum Engineering Industry had successfully managed deactivating the famous Peak Oil theory through developing new advanced technologies that resulted in significant additional reserves as a result of the exponential increase in the Research and Development (R&D) investment in the last decade as compared to the last century. The Peak Oil theory attracted media headlines at the beginning of this century through the book “Twilight in the Desert: Shock Saudi Oil and the Global Economy”  written by the famous banker Matthew Simon, who died few years ago. The exponential increase in the R&D investment by national, international and service oil companies generated several new advanced technologies that helped the oil industry discover more oil and gas fields and increase the recovery factor from existing and new discovered fields to reach a level that was never thought of in the past. Indeed, it was […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Collapse: The Post-peak Narrative

Page added on December 6, 2013 A consensus appears to have been reached that the world’s production of conventional oil peaked in recent years. And to many observers, it means that from this time forward the supply of oil and natural gas, along with peaking coal and uranium, will decrease toward zero, leaving global Industrial Culture without the precious energy that made that culture possible. With such a precipitous future awaiting the Industrial Tribe, it is curious that one does not hear much about declining energy supplies in the mainstream media. Instead, we are bombarded daily with the “Industrial Progressive Narrative” (Princen et al , 2013), a comforting meme that portrays society as having ever-more energy resources that will drive never-ending growth into the future: “This month Continental Resources told investors that the [Bakken Formation] contains enough recoverable oil to double the official count of U.S. reserves and enough […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Noam Chomsky on Peak Oil

Page added on December 6, 2013 Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production is expected to enter terminal decline. Global production of oil fell from a high point in 2005 at 74 mb/d, but has since rebounded setting new records in both 2011 and 2012. There is active debate as to when global peak oil will occur, how to measure peak oil, and whether peak oil production will be supply or demand driven. The aggregate production rate from an oil field over time usually grows until the rate peaks and then declines—sometimes rapidly—until the field is depleted. This concept is derived from the Hubbert curve, and has been shown to sometimes be applicable to the sum of a nation’s domestic production rate, and similarly to the global rate of petroleum production. However, the discovery […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Transition Town: A Tonic for the Peak Oil Blues

The term “Peak oil” warns of the end of cheap and plentiful energy. An expanding world population of 6.5 billion suggests a limit for growth will eventually be reached (if it hasn’t been already) and no combination of current alternative energy sources will sustain the world’s accelerating thirst for power. As oil production inevitably declines and resources become scarce, the world faces a turbulent descent. We depend on a globalized economy that is completely reliant on ready supplies of this non-renweable resource. But envisioning a life without the luxuries afforded by abundant oil can quickly lead one to denial. It’s much easier to absolve our responsibility to some higher authority – the government, the oil companies, technology, God. The exact tipping point in world oil production cannot be plotted exactly until a clear decline can be seen, by which time it will be too late. Experts analyzing this situation […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Brent Rebounds as Supply Fears Ease

Oil futures are mixed Friday, with Brent crude regaining some ground late in Asian trade as prices recovered after two straight days of losses due to profit-taking and as concerns over supply eased. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $97.36 a barrel at 0636 GMT, down $0.02 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.37 to $111.35 a barrel. U.S. crude prices have been supported this week on news that oil inventories fell for the first time in 11 weeks, as refiners in the key Gulf Coast region boosted crude-oil processing by 6.7% last week to a record high of 8.56 million barrels a day. Brent meanwhile settled lower for the second straight day Thursday as the European Central Bank reduced its inflation outlook and held rates steady, said ANZ Research. It […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Oil Heads for Biggest Weekly Gain Since July on U.S. Growth

West Texas Intermediate oil headed for the biggest weekly gain in five months as the U.S. economy posted the fastest growth since the start of 2012 and crude stockpiles shrank. Futures fluctuated in New York after climbing 0.2 percent yesterday to cap a five-day advance, the longest rising streak since August. U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 3.6 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said yesterday. Crude inventories declined for the first time in 11 weeks, government data showed this week. “The immediate focus for oil traders will now be the U.S. dollar and the non-farm payroll figure,” said Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney who predicts investors may sell West Texas contracts as prices approach $100 a barrel. “WTI now looks to be embarked on a correction of the medium-term move down.” WTI for January delivery was at $97.45 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Hits Six-Month High After Inventory Report

Natural gas prices surged to a six-month intraday high after a closely watched government report showed demand for natural gas was stronger than expected last week. Natural gas for January delivery was recently up $1.08, or 2.73%, to $4.068 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday price since May 30. The Energy Information Administration reported natural gas stockpiles fell by 162 billion cubic feet in the week ended Nov. 29. Analysts and traders had expected a 144-bcf draw, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. Stocks stood at 3.614 trillion cubic feet as of Nov. 29, the lowest inventory level for that time of year since 2008. The current storage levels are 5.2% below the exceptionally high year-ago level and 2.8% below the five-year average for the week. Stocks haven’t been below the five-year average since July 26. Temperatures were […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Al-Qaida claims responsibility for attacks in Yemen

SANAA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) — Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks on Yemen’s defense ministry, which has left 52 people killed and more than 167 injured. Al-Qaida claimed the deadest attack in Yemen in 18 months on its Twitter account, saying it targeted the defense ministry complex because it “proved that it accommodates drone control rooms and American experts.” It said any security institutions that facilitate the United States against al-Qaida are “legitimate targets.” Yemen’s supreme security committee released a statement on Thursday night confirmed the number of casualty. Among the dead are soldiers and civilians, including two aid workers from Germany, two doctors from Vietnam, two nurses from the Philippines and a nurse from India, it said. Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi held a meeting with the chief of staff inside the defense ministry compound after the attack, and he ordered an immediate investigation into the incident and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Kashagan Gas-Leak Probe Finds More Potential Problems

An investigation into a gas leak that closed Kazakhstan’s vast Kashagan oil field less than a month after it first started pumping crude found has more potentially problematic locations along an onshore gas pipeline, raising fears of further delays to the $40 billion project. A prolonged halt at Kashagan, which has been plagued by years of delays and cost overruns, could be a drag on the finances of the consortium behind the project, which includes Exxon Mobil Corp. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean yield successes for Noble

Noble Energy Inc. announced it made an oil discovery in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico and a gas discovery off the Israeli coast. Noble, which has headquarters in Texas, said it encountered a 120-foot column of oil while drilling a discovery well in the Dantzler prospect in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The company said the discovery may hold more than 55 million barrels of oil equivalent. Off the Israeli coast, the company said a well in the Tamar Southwest prospect encountered more than 350 feet of natural gas. Noble said it estimated the gross resources of the field to be more than 640 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Tamar Southwest is located about 8 miles away from the Tamar field, one of the most substantial natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea. “These new discoveries, combined […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Amid growing violence, Lebanon presses on with Med gas auction

As Lebanon stands on the brink of a new spasm of sectarian bloodletting, Energy Minister Gebran Bassil says he plans to go ahead with moves to launch exploration of offshore gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean on Jan. 10. That’s when the Energy Ministry has scheduled an auction in which some 46 international oil companies selected in April will bid to exploration rights on half a dozen offshore blocks, the first step toward exploiting what could be Lebanon’s last chance at finding economic salvation, and possibly political harmony, since independence from France in 1943. But with Lebanon’s fractious religious sects at each other’s throats again, the victims of regional power rivalries as much as their own historical feuding, Lebanon’s prospects of an energy bonanza seem to be slipping away. Bassil told an oil and gas conference in Beirut Wednesday that he was committed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Zambia: Power Deficit Serious Issue

IT is evident that Zambia, like many other countries in the sub region is experiencing an electricity deficit. The problem is not exclusively Zambian. The entire sub-region is experiencing a power deficit largely due to the industrial growth which has by far outstripped the power generating capacity of most countries, Zambia inclusive. Industrialisation, coupled with urbanisation and the loud cry by rural parts of Zambia to be included on the national electricity grid, has stretched the capacity of Zesco to limits, forcing the company to start rationing. That is why Zesco has embarked on the Zambia Power Rehabilitation Project (PRP) whose overall objective is to supplement Government’s efforts of enhancing the ability of Zambia’s electricity supply industry to provide electricity at least cost and in an efficient manner to stimulate more and inclusive growth in the Zambian economy. The PRP involves the rehabilitation and up-rating of the three major […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Chevron's $6.4 bln China gas project pushed back again-sources

A $6.4 billion gas project being built by Chevron CVN.X in China is facing further delays due to disagreements with partner PetroChina ( 0857.HK ) over how to develop the technically tricky fields, three industry sources said. The Chuandongbei project, the U.S. firm’s largest investment in China, is now not expected to deliver first gas until the second half of 2014, nearly 7 years after the firms clinched a 30-year deal to produce 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The latest setback follows a series of delays for Chuandongbei, which Chevron has described as one of its larger capital projects for 2013. PetroChina initially expected first gas to be delivered in 2010, while its parent CNPC forecast just four months ago that production would start by end-2013. China, the world’s top energy user, but the fourth-largest consumer of gas, is racing to unlock supplies […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Chevron’s $6.4 bln China gas project pushed back again-sources

A $6.4 billion gas project being built by Chevron CVN.X in China is facing further delays due to disagreements with partner PetroChina ( 0857.HK ) over how to develop the technically tricky fields, three industry sources said. The Chuandongbei project, the U.S. firm’s largest investment in China, is now not expected to deliver first gas until the second half of 2014, nearly 7 years after the firms clinched a 30-year deal to produce 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The latest setback follows a series of delays for Chuandongbei, which Chevron has described as one of its larger capital projects for 2013. PetroChina initially expected first gas to be delivered in 2010, while its parent CNPC forecast just four months ago that production would start by end-2013. China, the world’s top energy user, but the fourth-largest consumer of gas, is racing to unlock supplies […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Releasing radioactive water an option for Fukushima?

TOKYO, Dec. 5 (UPI) — The International Atomic Energy Agency has suggested that Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, consider discharging less harmful radioactive water from the site into the sea. The recommendation was included in a preliminary report released Wednesday, following a 10-day review by IAEA’s 19-member team — headed by Juan Carlos Lentijo, the agency’s Director of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology — to observe the decommissioning process at the plant, stricken by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. Tepco last month started the delicate operation of removing more than 1,000 nuclear fuel-rod assemblies from the spent fuel pool inside the damaged No. 4 reactor building. Tepco expects to complete that process by the end of 2014. The overall decommissioning work at the stricken nuclear plant, however, is expected to take as long as 40 years. In addition to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China Chases Renewable Energy as Coast Chokes on Air

New figures in China show the country adding clean, renewable electricity generation faster than it is expanding capacity of more polluting sources. But change can’t happen fast enough for residents in eastern China, who are now choking on soupy air associated with coal-burning plants more often associated with the country’s north. Led by hydropower, renewable energy sources made up 57% of newly installed electricity-generating capacity during the first 10 months of 2013, according to China’s National Energy Administration. The figures, published to the NEA’s website Wednesday, showed 20% expansion from the same period a year earlier. Renewable energy accounted for a larger portion of growth in electricity-generating capacity than traditional, more polluting sources such as coal. Thermal-power capacity accounted for 43% of the additional capacity added. Hydropower […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shrugging Off Winter's Bite In N. Dakota Oilfields

The extreme cold slamming the Great Plains isn’t about to cool off one of the hottest segments of the American economy: North Dakota’s oil patch. The roustabouts, roughnecks and thousands of others swept up in the state’s oil boom know they have to keep rigs operating in all conditions. One way workers stay safe is by taking timeouts in “doghouses” — small heated buildings near rigs. Craig Hovet, who is working well maintenance in the middle of the patch, says he loves what he does. He jokes that the prospect of temperatures not cracking single digits “keeps out the riffraff.” Technological advances in oil drilling have helped make North Dakota the second-leading oil producing state, pulling nearly a million barrels a day out of the ground. Post a Comment

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shrugging Off Winter’s Bite In N. Dakota Oilfields

The extreme cold slamming the Great Plains isn’t about to cool off one of the hottest segments of the American economy: North Dakota’s oil patch. The roustabouts, roughnecks and thousands of others swept up in the state’s oil boom know they have to keep rigs operating in all conditions. One way workers stay safe is by taking timeouts in “doghouses” — small heated buildings near rigs. Craig Hovet, who is working well maintenance in the middle of the patch, says he loves what he does. He jokes that the prospect of temperatures not cracking single digits “keeps out the riffraff.” Technological advances in oil drilling have helped make North Dakota the second-leading oil producing state, pulling nearly a million barrels a day out of the ground. Post a Comment

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA: Texas Crude Oil Production Hits Monthly Record in September

Texas produced oil at a record rate in September, according to data by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).  Daily crude oil production in the Lone Star State for the month averaged 2.7 million barrels of oil, the highest figure since the EIA began tracking monthly figures in 1981. In less than three years, Texas has more than doubled its year-on-year daily oil production, based on the September daily average figure. University of Michigan economist Mark Perry noted that oil production in Texas had increased by more than 25% year-on-year for 25 months in a row, according to the A.P. “Output in America’s No. 1 oil-producing state – Texas – continues its phenomenal, meteoric rise,” Perry wrote. “That production surge has to be one of the most significant increases in oil output ever recorded in the U.S. over such a short period of time.” The all-time monthly Texas record for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Marcellus/Utica produced ethane to reach USGC markets in January: Enterprise

Ethane from Enterprise Products Partners’ ATEX pipeline is set to arrive at the Mont Belvieu complex starting in January, the first time that barrels from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays will reach US Gulf Coast markets. Line filling on the ATEX line started in late November and it is set to begin delivering ethane to Mont Belvieu in January, Enterprise said Thursday. “The ATEX project provides producers in the rapidly growing Marcellus/Utica region with the critical ethane takeaway capacity that is needed now to allow them to continue developing their reserves, as well as gain access to the largest NGL market in the US,” said Jim Teague, chief operating officer of Enterprise. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Gas Daily Gas Daily Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple