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Shell Won't Proceed with Louisiana Gas-to-Liquids Project

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) said Thursday that it will not proceed with a proposed gas-to-liquids project in Louisiana due to the likely development costs and uncertainties over long-term oil and gas prices. Shell said in September that it had selected a site south of Baton Rouge for a potential multibillion-dollar project to convert natural gas into liquid fuels, such as diesel and gasoline. “We are making tough choices here, focusing our efforts and capital on the most attractive opportunities in our worldwide portfolio to add value for shareholders,” said Chief Executive Peter Voser Thursday. Shares closed Thursday in London at 2,104 pence, valuing the company at GBP77.81 billion. -Write to Rory Gallivan at [email protected]; Twitter: @RoryGallivan

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Shell Won’t Proceed with Louisiana Gas-to-Liquids Project

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) said Thursday that it will not proceed with a proposed gas-to-liquids project in Louisiana due to the likely development costs and uncertainties over long-term oil and gas prices. Shell said in September that it had selected a site south of Baton Rouge for a potential multibillion-dollar project to convert natural gas into liquid fuels, such as diesel and gasoline. “We are making tough choices here, focusing our efforts and capital on the most attractive opportunities in our worldwide portfolio to add value for shareholders,” said Chief Executive Peter Voser Thursday. Shares closed Thursday in London at 2,104 pence, valuing the company at GBP77.81 billion. -Write to Rory Gallivan at [email protected]; Twitter: @RoryGallivan

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Cold Snap Crimps Texas Oil Output

It isn’t just hurricanes and floods that can knock out oil and gas production—in Texas, wintry wind and ice can do the trick. Bitter winds that blew sleet across Texas just before Thanksgiving led to power outages, frozen equipment and icy roads throughout the prolific oil fields of the Permian Basin, including Midland, Texas. Some energy companies are warning that their oil output—and earnings—are being affected. Laredo Petroleum Holdings Co., of Tulsa, Okla., said Wednesday that […]

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And the glut on the Gulf Coast is likely to grow. In January, the southern leg of

The U.S. Gulf Coast—home to the world’s largest concentration of petroleum refineries—is suddenly awash in crude oil. So much high-quality U.S. oil is flowing into the area that the price of crude there has dropped sharply in the past few weeks and is no longer in sync with global prices. In fact, some experts believe a U.S. oil glut is coming. “We are moving toward a significant amount of domestic oversupply of light crude,” says Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup. Unthinkable five years ago, the abundance of petroleum reflects surging output from oil fields in West Texas and North Dakota, as well as new pipeline routes to move crude to the refining and petrochemical complexes that line the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. And the glut on the Gulf Coast is likely to grow. In January, the southern leg of TransCanada Corp.’s TRP.T -0.36% TransCanada Corp. […]

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Keystone Backers Await Report Vital to Pipeline’s Fate

Supporters and foes of TransCanada Corp. (TRP) ’s Keystone XL pipeline are bracing for the release of an environmental analysis from the U.S. government that could determine the $5.4 billion project’s fate. While the report isn’t the final step, it’s eagerly anticipated because it will answer a question central to whether President Barack Obama approves the project: would Keystone contribute significantly to climate change? Obama has said he wouldn’t support the pipeline if it were found to substantially boost carbon-dioxide emissions that many scientists say are raising the Earth’s temperature. “If that report comes out and it says Keystone is not going to have a significant climate impact, it will be hard for Obama to ignore his own agency’s finding,” said Ross Hammond, senior campaigner for Friends of the Earth, an environmental group based in Washington and Berkeley, California . Keystone has emerged as a flashpoint in the debate […]

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Thousands Moved as Flooding Hits English Coastal Areas

Thousands of people were moved from English coastal areas last night and the River Thames flood barrier protecting London was closed after warnings of the worst tidal surge in 60 years. The Environment Agency said people were at risk of being swept into the sea and were removed from high-risk areas in places such as Great Yarmouth on the east coast. As of 8:22 a.m., 37 severe flood warnings had been issued for England and Wales , the agency said on its website . Seventeen of the alerts, which mean there could be danger to life, were in the Anglian region, the most easterly in England. The U.K. government has called a meeting on the storm response. “In some areas, sea levels could be higher than those during the devastating floods of 1953,” the Environment Agency said on its website. “However, flood defenses built since then mean that many […]

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Ukraine Officials Fail to Show to Sign Gas Import Deal

Ukrainian officials failed to turn up to sign a deal Wednesday that could open a natural gas supply route via Slovakia, according to several people familiar with the situation, raising concerns that Kiev was walking away from an agreement the European Union spent months brokering. The gas deal would have opened up a major gas supply route to Ukraine that could have significantly reduced Kiev’s dependence on Russian supplies. The EU had hoped the deal would encourage authorities in Kiev to sign onto an EU trade and political deal. Though President Viktor Yanukovych’s government said two weeks ago that it was putting that trade pact on hold, the gas agreement remained on the table. Ukraine has for years sought cheaper gas from Russia without success, but importing gas from the EU via Slovakia would give it access to large volumes at what Ukraine says would be a lower price. […]

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Cobra to meet as storms threaten worst UK flooding in 60 years

Winds drove seawater on to the prom in Scarborough and threatened to cause floods on the east coast Winds drove seawater on to the prom in Scarborough and threatened to cause floods on the east coast The UK prime minister has called a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee to deal with flooding along the length of the east coast that authorities fear could be the worst in 60 years. Homes were evacuated in some areas, including Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, as the Environment Agency issued 28 severe flood warnings, its highest category of alert, and said more were expected. The port of Dover, in Kent, was on high alert and warned of possible disruption to Channel ferry services. The agency said sea levels could be higher than those during the devastating floods of 1953 . “Flood defences built since then, including the Thames and Hull barriers, mean […]

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Deadly storm and tidal surge batter northern Europe

Pedestrian struggles against the wind in Rotterdam 6 December 2013 Last updated at 09:26 Hurricane-force winds are battering northern Europe, with the port of Hamburg at a standstill and at least three people dead – two in the UK. Hamburg experienced its biggest tidal surges since the early 1990s. The city’s fish market and some streets by the river Elbe have been flooded. There was also limited flooding in the Netherlands – officials say the sea dykes withstood the onslaught. The Dutch and German authorities cancelled many flights and train services. The Oeresund road-rail bridge, linking Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmo in southern Sweden, has reopened. It had been closed on Thursday evening amid high winds. A woman died in Denmark after a lorry was blown over. In Scotland a lorry driver was also killed on Thursday when his vehicle was blown over near Edinburgh. A man was crushed […]

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BP’s learned nothing: The oil company is pursuing its riskiest strategy yet

BP’s learned nothing: The oil company is pursuing its riskiest strategy yet BP is yet to finish compensating the victims of the 2010 oil spill that killed 11 people and sent millions of gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, but the oil company isn’t about to let one major oil spill bring it down. Strapped for cash and in pursuit of bigger, deeper wells, it may be the only company capable of tapping risky reserves worth as much as $2 trillion. The AP reports : Three years [after the spill], there are a record 39 rigs drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, according to IHS Petrodata, as drillers probe enormous troves of oil in untapped formations — some of which are under especially high temperature and pressure. …Environmentalists are alarmed. “You hope (BP) has learned their lesson, but the nature of the […]

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Oil led to Pearl Harbor

Oil led to Pearl Harbor Few people realize that it was oil — the shortage of oil — that precipitated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Tensions between the United States and Japan were rising throughout that fateful year. Having initiated a war with China (America’s ally) and occupied Indochina, Japan’s totalitarian government was intent on imposing its will on all of the people of East Asia. In the summer of 1941, before leaving for Placentia Bay, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ordered a freeze on Japanese assets. That measure required the Japanese to seek and obtain licenses to export and pay for each shipment of goods from the United States, including oil. This move was most distressing to the Japanese because they were dependent on the United States for most of their crude oil and refined petroleum products. However, Roosevelt did not want […]

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Study: Which Sectors of U.S. Economy Will 'Peak Oil' Imperil?

This is what I’ve been talking about here, over and over again. We are not paying attention to this, and yet it’s the most important concern we are facing in Hawaii today. The Big Island’s anti-GMO bill, Bill 113, is just moving chairs around on the deck of the Titanic. The issue is so much bigger: According to a press release from the University of Maryland: “Researchers from the University of Maryland and a leading university in Spain demonstrate in a new study which sectors could put the entire U.S. economy at risk when global oil production peaks (“Peak Oil”). This multi-disciplinary team recommends immediate action by government, private and commercial sectors to reduce the vulnerability of these sectors.” The study looked at how vulnerable different aspects of the U.S. economy are to the effects of Peak Oil. In the United States, the research concludes, such sectors would include […]

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Study: Which Sectors of U.S. Economy Will ‘Peak Oil’ Imperil?

This is what I’ve been talking about here, over and over again. We are not paying attention to this, and yet it’s the most important concern we are facing in Hawaii today. The Big Island’s anti-GMO bill, Bill 113, is just moving chairs around on the deck of the Titanic. The issue is so much bigger: According to a press release from the University of Maryland: “Researchers from the University of Maryland and a leading university in Spain demonstrate in a new study which sectors could put the entire U.S. economy at risk when global oil production peaks (“Peak Oil”). This multi-disciplinary team recommends immediate action by government, private and commercial sectors to reduce the vulnerability of these sectors.” The study looked at how vulnerable different aspects of the U.S. economy are to the effects of Peak Oil. In the United States, the research concludes, such sectors would include […]

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Oil capped near $97 on oversupply possibility

Oil remained above $97 a barrel Thursday on lower U.S. stockpiles but concerns of oversupply in the Middle East capped gains. Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was up 4 cents at $97.24 a barrel at midafternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.16 to close at $97.20 on Wednesday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed Wednesday to maintain its daily production target of 30 million barrels a day. However, it faces the prospect of overproduction after Iran announced plans to pump up to 4 million barrels a day once sanctions on its crude exports are lifted. Libya also hopes to increase output to 2 million barrels a day once unrest ebbs. In all, OPEC members would have to reduce their production to keep prices from dropping sharply and hurting oil revenues that underpin […]

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Brent Seen Over $100 for Fourth Year as OPEC Bets on Demand

Brent, used to price more than half the world’s oil, will probably exceed $100 a barrel for a fourth year in 2014 after OPEC bet that demand won’t weaken enough to warrant production cuts. The 12-nation group, accounting for 40 percent of global supply, kept its 30 million barrel-a-day output target in Vienna yesterday. Brent will average $105 in 2014, according to the median of 31 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Six analysts contacted yesterday and Dec. 3 said they wouldn’t adjust their forecasts if the OPEC quota was unchanged. Some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, notably Saudi Arabia, will probably need to reduce output later in 2014 to prevent a glut, analysts at BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup Inc. said. The U.S. is producing the most oil in a quarter century and Iraq, Libya and Iran have said they plan to increase exports in the […]

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WTI Trades Near Five-Week High as U.S. Crude Supplies Dip

West Texas Intermediate traded near the highest price in more than a month after crude inventories shrank for the first time in 11 weeks in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures fluctuated in New York after gaining 1.2 percent yesterday to cap a four-day advance, the longest rising streak since August. U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 5.59 million barrels last week as refiners boosted processing, data from the Energy Information Administration show. Supplies were forecast to drop 500,000 barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey. OPEC agreed to maintain its production target at a meeting yesterday. “Oil is holding these levels, which suggest further gains,” said Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney. “It’s a combination of things: the good economic data and the inventory draws” have pushed futures higher, he said. WTI for January delivery was at $97.36 a barrel in […]

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Natural-Gas Futures Fall for Second Straight Day

Natural-gas futures declined Wednesday as traders paused following a runup that sent prices near six-month highs while they weighed differing short- and long-term weather outlooks. Natural gas for January delivery settled 1.6 cents lower, or 0.4%, to $3.960 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, prices climbed as high as $4.013 mmBtu, the second time this week they briefly crossed levels last reached in June. “The $4 level seems to be a bit of a hurdle,” said Addison Armstrong, senior director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Conn. “The rally we had experienced had been accomplished by a tremendous amount of short covering, but […]

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OPEC Maintains Crude-Production Target at Vienna Meeting

OPEC, content with current oil price levels, agreed to keep the group’s crude output ceiling unchanged at least until June even as Libya, Iran and Iraq plan to increase exports in coming months. Maintaining the 30 million-barrel-a-day target for the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will ensure price stability , Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said yesterday. There will be no need to reduce the cap at the next meeting, Libyan Oil Minister Abdulbari al-Arusi said. “The big question is what OPEC will do if output from Libya and Iran returns to the market next year,” Carsten Fritsch , an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt , said yesterday. He said that will probably be discussed in June. Some analysts warn that excess supply, including U.S. shale oil and a potential resurgence in exports from Iran, Libya and Iraq, […]

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OPEC mindful of North American oil growth

The president of OPEC’s 164th conference in Vienna said Thursday the 12-member cartel expects North American oil production to increase. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mustafa Jassim Mohammad al-Shamali delivered opening remarks to the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, serving as president of the conference in Vienna. Shamali said the cartel expected oil demand to increase because of the gradual recovery under way in the global economy. World oil demand is expected to increase by 1 million barrels per day as the global economy expands, he said. “Non-OPEC oil supply is also expected to rise in 2014 by 1.2 million bpd,” he said in his remarks Wednesday. “This will be mainly due to the anticipated growth in North America and Brazil.” OPEC, in its monthly market report for November, said the Americas are expected to lead in terms of oil production growth for […]

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Officials from Iraq, Iran and Libya Expect to Increase Crude Production

;The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its production ceiling unchanged Wednesday despite the threat of rising supply that could weigh on prices.  For the better part of a year, members of OPEC, a cartel of some of the world’s biggest oil producers, has been studying the possible market effects of increasing North American output. But now, the threat of surging supply from OPEC members themselves looms. The cartel pumps more than one in three barrels of crude consumed globally and uses its production ceiling, currently at 30 million barrels a day, to keep prices in check. But as its meeting here wrapped up, members didn’t express any consensus on what—if anything—the group would do about the prospect of new output from Iraq, Iran and Libya. Iraq now is producing more annually than it has in at least the last 20 years–and has shown little appetite to throttle […]

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U.N. Official Details Plans for Removing Syria’s Chemical Arms

The United Nations official in charge of coordinating the disposal of Syria ’s chemical weapons arsenal provided new details on Wednesday about the plan to eliminate them, saying the most dangerous materials would be sealed by trained Syrians and sent overland to the country’s Mediterranean port of Latakia, where ships would take them to a second, unspecified foreign port. From there, the official said, the chemicals would be transferred to a specially equipped naval vessel offered by the United States, which is capable of safely neutralizing the chemicals at sea. The official, Sigrid Kaag, acknowledged that the overland routes in Syria were dangerous because of the civil war, but that the Syrian authorities were taking steps to secure them and had designated Latakia as the departure point for the chemicals. Under a timetable established by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is collaborating with the United […]

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Iran Takes Charm Offensive to the Persian Gulf

Iran’s top diplomat, who only last month brokered a groundbreaking nuclear deal with the world powers, is now traveling the Persian Gulf region, trying to mend ties with Arab neighbors, Sunni nations that harbor deep suspicions of Shiite Iran. On Wednesday, the diplomat, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, arrived in the United Arab Emirates, having stopped in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman this week, with the goal of undoing years of regional tensions, not only sectarian but also the fruit of the confrontational approach of Iran’s former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Zarif met with several Emirati officials, among them Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, where an estimated 400,000 Iranians live and work in companies that are often front offices for trade with Iran — much of it illicit, because of sanctions. Mr. Zarif also invited the Emirates’ president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, to […]

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Iran Plans to Meet Foreign Oil Companies to Seek Investment

Iran plans to meet with international oil companies as soon as March to try to entice investors to its energy industry once world powers lift sanctions, the Persian Gulf state’s oil minister said. Iran, once OPEC’s second-largest producer, is talking with European companies about future projects, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters today in Vienna. The minister said he hopes Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) , Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) Plc, BP (BP/) Plc, Eni SpA and Statoil ASA (STL) will invest in the country. Iranian officials will meet with international companies in London in March, he said, declining to identify them. The Islamic republic agreed last month to restrict work on its nuclear program for six months in return for a loosening of sanctions that offers about $7 billion in relief and access to $4.2 billion in oil revenue frozen in foreign banks. The accord leaves in place banking and […]

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After execution-style killings, Iraqis await worse

A spate of execution-style killings in Iraq has rekindled memories of attacks carried out at the height of the country’s sectarian bloodshed and raised fears of a widespread return to such violence. In the past week Iraqi police have found the bodies of at least 41 men who were either shot in the head or decapitated in a wave of killings in Baghdad and northern Iraq. Iraqi security officials say these targeted killings have more to do with attempts to fuel instability, and with infighting within the two Muslim sects, than with direct hostility between Shi’ite and Sunni communities. They believe the killings are not directly related. But they warn that such chaos could set off wider sectarian violence, especially when combined with an insurgent bombing campaign led by al Qaeda, which is expected to get worse ahead of parliamentary elections in April next year. "The […]

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Coordinated attacks in northern Iraqi city kill 11, wound 70

Gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a police intelligence headquarters and a nearby shopping mall in a coordinated attack in the northern city of Kirkuk late on Wednesday, killing 11 people and wounding 70, police and medical sources said. Two suicide bombers armed with sniper rifles entered the shopping complex, took control of it and captured around 15 shoppers as hostages, police said. After a gun battle, one suicide bomber blew himself up and the other was shot dead by Kurdish security forces who took over the operation from local police. One hostage was wounded, police said. "I was inside my home when there was a big explosion, our house was shaking and the windows shattered," said a man who gave his name as Abu Ahmed who lives next to the mall. He saw several attackers carrying weapons heading towards the mall. "Dozens of women, men and […]

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Iraq police storm mall, kill gunmen after standoff

Iraqi police stormed a mall in a northern city that gunmen used to launch an attack on a nearby police station, killing three militants and ending an hourslong standoff as attacks elsewhere left seven dead Thursday, authorities said. Militants held off police from their rooftop position on six-story Jawahir mall in Kirkuk overnight, throwing down grenades and firing on officers and civilians who tried to flee the fighting. Officers raided the mall Thursday morning before dawn, killing the militants, said Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir, Kirkuk’s police commander. No security forces or civilians were wounded in that fighting, Qadir said, though it left large portions of the mall burned. Eleven storekeepers hid inside the mall during the attack, scared to leave, he said. The fighting in Kirkuk began Wednesday, when authorities said a car bomb exploded at the gates of the Police Intelligence Department. A suicide […]

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Kurdistan pipeline exports imminent despite Baghdad outcry

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (L) and Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani attend the opening of the CWC Kurdistan-Iraq Oil and Gas conference in Erbil on Dec. 2, 2013. (RAWAZ TAHIR/Iraq Oil Report/Metrography) As Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region continues to pump oil into its new export pipeline to Turkey, leaders in Erbil and Ankara have outlined a revenue-handling mechanism that appears to allow their burgeoning energy cooperation to move forward without Baghdad’s approval.The impending exports and sales threaten to undermine Baghdad’s top oil policymakers, who have long argued that all exports must be conducted under central government authority – a position they have reiterated forcefully … This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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Major Hezbollah Figure, Tied to Syrian War, Is Assassinated Near Beirut

Hassane Laqees was a major player in the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah from its inception three decades ago to its current intervention in Syria’s civil war. Over the years, he survived several assassination attempts. But as he parked his car just after midnight on Wednesday near an apartment south of Beirut that he sometimes used, he was shot dead at close range. It was a professional-style killing that signaled a new escalation in the attacks Hezbollah has faced after plunging into the turmoil in neighboring Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Laqees’s death was a significant loss for Hezbollah, analysts said, and any of the group’s primary enemies — Israel, the Syrian insurgents the group is battling, or their backers, such as Saudi Arabia or Lebanese Sunni militants — could have had reason to want him dead. Mr. Laqees was variously described […]

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Car bomb hits Yemen's Defense Ministry, killing 15

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car Thursday at Yemen’s Defense Ministry, killing 15 soldiers and wounding at least 40 in an attack underlining the persistent threat to the stability and security of the impoverished Arab nation. They said as many as 12 gunmen also were killed in a firefight between troops and a carload of attackers who arrived minutes after the early morning blast, apparently in a bid to take over the complex in downtown Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. They said the gunmen were armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades. They wore Yemeni army uniforms, the officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, whose chapter in Yemen is considered among the world’s most active. The Defense Ministry issued a brief statement confirming Thursday’s attack. It said “most” of the […]

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Car bomb hits Yemen’s Defense Ministry, killing 15

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car Thursday at Yemen’s Defense Ministry, killing 15 soldiers and wounding at least 40 in an attack underlining the persistent threat to the stability and security of the impoverished Arab nation. They said as many as 12 gunmen also were killed in a firefight between troops and a carload of attackers who arrived minutes after the early morning blast, apparently in a bid to take over the complex in downtown Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. They said the gunmen were armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades. They wore Yemeni army uniforms, the officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, whose chapter in Yemen is considered among the world’s most active. The Defense Ministry issued a brief statement confirming Thursday’s attack. It said “most” of the […]

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IAEA: Tepco Should Consider Controlled Discharge

TOKYO—The International Atomic Energy Agency has advised the operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant to consider discharging lightly contaminated water into the ocean, as storing radioactive water at the plant has become increasingly unsustainable. The IAEA’s advice reflects the dilemma facing the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., which must weigh risks from the storage of increasing amounts of contaminated water against those of releasing some partially cleaned water into the ocean, a move vehemently opposed by local fishing communities and residents. Groundwater flowing into the site and its reactors is continuously adding to about 400,000 tons of highly contaminated water stored in roughly 1,000 tanks at the site. Tepco said earlier this year that it had found contaminated water leaking from underground storage tanks. In addition to the leaks, concerns have also grown that the tanks will obstruct other work necessary to decommission the plant, which […]

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Tiny Cracks Scrutinized in Kashagan Pipeline Leak

Operators of the giant Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan are homing in on microscopic cracks in a steel pipeline as they race to understand the cause of dangerous gas leaks that have forced them to halt output indefinitely and could result in hefty repair costs. Members of the NCOC consortium running Kashagan fear the stoppage could extend well into next year if a technical investigation, launched in October after leaks were detected for the second time in three weeks, concludes that a poisonous mix of hydrogen and sulfur contained in the crude oil has done extensive damage to the pipeline system in the $40 billion project, people familiar with the matter said. A prolonged stoppage at Kashagan, where oil had begun flowing on Sept. 11 after many years of delays and cost overruns, could be a drag on the finances of consortium members, including Italy’s Eni ENI.MI -0.06% ENI […]

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Resource-hungry Chinese lead railroad drive in Africa

The Chinese, investing heavily in Africa to secure its oil and other raw materials for their expanding economy, are spearheading a new era of railroad building to unlock the continent’s interior. This is an echo of the long-gone colonial empires when a century ago British and French engineers first opened up Africa to plunder its riches. The railroad frenzy is being accompanied by a massive push to build several major ports along the coast of East Africa to accelerate exports across the Indian Ocean, mostly to China, India and Japan, as well as lay down a network of oil and gas pipelines to these ports. “Railways are key to increasing regional trade,” said Darlan Fabio de David, chief executive of Rift Valley Railways, a private equity-backed company rehabilitating the line between the Kenyan port of Mombasa and the inland Ugandan capital of Uganda […]

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Venezuela cyber crackdown ensnares Web's Bitly

Venezuelans have been scrambling for dollars for weeks, taking refuge in the greenback as their own currency is in free fall. Rather than address the economic imbalances behind the bolivar’s plunge, the government is going after the bearers of the bad news – it’s taking down websites people use to track exchange rates on the black market. Cyber-activists say the crackdown goes to absurd lengths, even targeting Bitly, the popular site for shortening Web addresses to make it easier to send them as links via Twitter and other social media. For more than two weeks, access to the service has been partially censored by several Internet service providers in Venezuela, apparently because Bitly was being used to evade blocks put on currency-tracking websites. The New York company says such restrictions have only previously been seen in China, which has one of the worst […]

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Venezuela cyber crackdown ensnares Web’s Bitly

Venezuelans have been scrambling for dollars for weeks, taking refuge in the greenback as their own currency is in free fall. Rather than address the economic imbalances behind the bolivar’s plunge, the government is going after the bearers of the bad news – it’s taking down websites people use to track exchange rates on the black market. Cyber-activists say the crackdown goes to absurd lengths, even targeting Bitly, the popular site for shortening Web addresses to make it easier to send them as links via Twitter and other social media. For more than two weeks, access to the service has been partially censored by several Internet service providers in Venezuela, apparently because Bitly was being used to evade blocks put on currency-tracking websites. The New York company says such restrictions have only previously been seen in China, which has one of the worst […]

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China leaders to set policy, reform priorities for 2014

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s leaders are expected to gather at a closed-door meeting next week to set policy and reform priorities for 2014, sources with government think tanks said, following a party meeting that laid out a bold reform agenda for the next decade. The annual Central Economic Work Conference will bring together top party leaders, ministers and provincial officials to discuss economic targets, including the rate of economic growth, inflation and money supply for the year ahead. Analysts and investors expect the government to spell out detailed reform plans for next year, after a plenum of the Communist Party’s Central Committee charted the course of sweeping economic and social changes. Top leaders are likely to held a meeting around the same time on urbanization to issue detailed plans on how to proceed with the much debated program without fanning a renewed local spending frenzy, according to the sources. […]

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Japan's Tepco to start up 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity mid-Dec

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company is eyeing the commercial startup of 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity around mid-December, a company official said Thursday. Tepco expects to start up the 1-GW No. 2 coal-fired unit at the Hitachinaka power plant in eastern Japan mid-December. It began commercial operation of the 600-MW No. 6 coal-fired unit at the Hirono thermal power plant on Tuesday, the official said. The utility’s oil demand for power generation fell this year following successful test runs in April at the two coal-fired plants at Hitachinaka and Hirono. Another 1 GW of output was added following the complete restart of Tohoku Electric’s earthquake-hit 2 GW Haramachi coal-fired power plant in the northeast, where Tepco has rights to half of the total production in fiscal 2013-2014 (April-March). In December, Tepco plans to buy around 600,000 kiloliters (122,000 b/d) of crude […]

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Japan’s Tepco to start up 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity mid-Dec

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company is eyeing the commercial startup of 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity around mid-December, a company official said Thursday. Tepco expects to start up the 1-GW No. 2 coal-fired unit at the Hitachinaka power plant in eastern Japan mid-December. It began commercial operation of the 600-MW No. 6 coal-fired unit at the Hirono thermal power plant on Tuesday, the official said. The utility’s oil demand for power generation fell this year following successful test runs in April at the two coal-fired plants at Hitachinaka and Hirono. Another 1 GW of output was added following the complete restart of Tohoku Electric’s earthquake-hit 2 GW Haramachi coal-fired power plant in the northeast, where Tepco has rights to half of the total production in fiscal 2013-2014 (April-March). In December, Tepco plans to buy around 600,000 kiloliters (122,000 b/d) of crude […]

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India needs $2.1 trillion investment for energy: IEA

India’s energy demand will double by 2035 on back of economic growth and increased population, the head of the International Energy Agency predicted. “When we look at India, we see that in 2035, India will be the largest importer of coal, will be the second [largest] importer of oil after China and will be No. 4 in importing gas after [the] European Union, China and Japan,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the Eighth Asia Gas Partnership Summit in New Delhi Wednesday, Press Trust of India reported. Although India’s energy demand will double, its per capita consumption will still be a fourth of the OECD average, she said. Van der Hoeven said India would need $2.1 trillion investment in its energy sector by 2035. Speaking Tuesday at the opening of the summit, Indian Prime Minister […]

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Pipeline On Wheels: Trains Are Winning Big Off US Oil

So far this year, 60 percent of all oil produced in North Dakota left the state by rail. One economist says there aren’t enough oil tankers to fill the demand. AP The oil boom in the United States is creating another boom — for the railroad industry. So far this year, in North Dakota alone, 140 million barrels of oil have left on trains. Shipments of crude oil by rail are up almost 50 percent over last year — and this upward trend is expected to continue. A visit to the world-famous Tehachapi Loop, part of a winding mountain pass in Southern California, demonstrates the scale and reach of the oil boom in the middle of the country. As a train full of oil tanker cars rumbles past, it’s […]

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Asian investment in Canadian oil sands seen to return in new form in 2014

Asian investment in Canada’s oil sands sector, which plummeted this year, will gain momentum in 2014, with sovereign wealth funds rather than state- owned enterprises taking the lead, industry officials said late Wednesday. Total investments in Alberta’s oil sands sector totaled $30 billion in 2012 before falling to about $1 billion in 2013, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. The decline followed a federal government investment guideline issued in late 2012 that restricted majority ownership of Canadian oil sands producers by foreign oil companies, barring “exceptional” circumstances, said Peter Glossop, a partner with Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt, at the 12th Annual Oil Sands Symposium in Calgary. December 7 will be the first anniversary of that announcement and what the industry has seen since is Asian state-owned enterprises, or SOEs, have stopped buying into Alberta’s oil sands sector, he said. “The word […]

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Oil and gas industry sues Colorado cities over fracking bans

A legal battle is brewing between the oil and gas industry and Colorado cities that have voted to ban shale gas extraction, raising questions about whether local governments, with the support of residents, can lawfully prohibit the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association  (COGA) filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the towns of Lafayette and Fort Collins, Colo., which have passed ordinances prohibiting fracking, a gas-extraction process through which sand, water and chemicals are pumped into the ground to release trapped fuel deposits. Environmentalists argue that fracking can contaminate local water supplies and cause other ills, like increasing the output of climate-changing greenhouse gases. In September, environmental groups warned of potential contamination by ruptured oil and gas industry infrastructure as Colorado reeled from devastating floods . Laurie Kadrich, a city official in Fort Collins,  told Bloomberg news  that the lawsuit did not come as […]

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Pickup in Demand Fuels Gasoline

Gasoline prices are rising as the holiday season kicks off, as stronger demand in the U.S. and elsewhere takes a bite out of fuel supplies. Gasoline futures, which tend to dictate prices at the pump, are up 7.6% in the past month, to $2.7192 a gallon on Wednesday. U.S. retail prices average $3.26 a gallon, up eight cents from a 33-month low in mid-November, according to automobile club AAA. Economists and consumers are watching gasoline prices ahead of the Christmas-shopping season. Subdued fuel prices in past months have boosted consumer confidence and left drivers with more disposable income. But as prices rebound, higher fuel expenditures could crimp pocketbooks. Holiday driving is one factor behind rising prices. More motorists hit the road on Thanksgiving and during the stretch from Christmas to New Year’s Day than on any other U.S. holidays, according to AAA. Also, gasoline prices fell so low earlier […]

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Moving Crude by Railcar Stalls on the Track

Companies that thought they had found a relatively easy way to move crude from the booming oil fields of North Dakota to the West Coast are encountering obstacles. Half a dozen companies are trying to build rail terminals on the coast of Washington state to receive trainloads of crude from the Bakken field in North Dakota. The oil would then be transferred to ships and barges that could carry it to refineries in the Pacific Northwest or south to California. Analysts say regulatory hurdles make it difficult to build the necessary rail yards and tank farms in California, and it’s more expensive to ship crude there. But getting a permit in Washington is proving more challenging than companies expected. Targa Resources Partners NGLS -0.75% Targa Resources Partners L.P. U.S.: NYSE $ 50.46 -0.38 -0.75% Dec. 4, 2013 4:03 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 301,209 AFTER HOURS $ 50.46 0.00 […]

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NRDC challenges latest report on global warming

Dan Lashof, director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said now is not the time to relax over global warming. “The warming signs are unmistakable and we have the know-how to heed them,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “The world needs to come together, quickly, to take serious actions to slow, stop and reverse climate change.” Lashof was reacting to a report from former U.S. space agency director James Hansen , now with Columbia University, that said the international community should work for no more than a 1 degree Celsius temperature, or about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, increase above preindustrial levels to keep future generations safe from the effects of climate change. That’s in contrast to an assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which said 2 degrees Celsius is the threshold. Hansen’s paper, published on […]

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USGS finds substantial shale gas potential in Denmark

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) — The U.S. Geological Survey said the Alum shale reserve area in Denmark holds an estimated 6.9 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas. The USGS study of Denmark is its first-ever assessment of the shale natural gas potential there. The results of the study were delivered Tuesday to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, which provided data to the USGS. The Alum shale area consists of an offshore and onshore section, with the latter accounting for the bulk of the estimated reserves. USGS said it doesn’t believe the area contains significant quantities of oil. Shale oil and natural gas extraction in North America has redefined the dynamics of the international energy market in part because the U.S. and Canadian economies are relying less on foreign energy reserves. USGS Acting Director Suzette Kimball said the Alum shale may be a potential reserve basin […]

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BP pushes technical limits to tap extreme fields

BP’s strategy after the Deepwater Horizon tragedy: Go deeper. BP is leading an industry-wide push to develop technology that can retrieve oil from formations that are so deep under the sea floor, and under such high pressure and temperature, that conventional equipment would melt or be crushed by the conditions. One BP field in the Gulf of Mexico, called Tiber, makes the Macondo field that the Deepwater Horizon rig was probing look like simple puddle of oil. It is thought to hold twenty times the amount of oil as Macondo. At 35,000 feet below the sea floor – 6.6 miles into the earth’s crust – it is about twice as deep. There’s an extraordinary amount of oil in similar discoveries around the world, several of which are controlled by BP. But BP first must figure out how to get it. New equipment, including blowout […]

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Canadian Natural Upgrader Cost Increases by Almost 50%

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ) said a 50,000-barrel-a-day oil-sands plant backed by the Alberta government will cost C$8.5 billion ($8 billion), almost 50 percent more than estimated previously, and be delayed. The startup date of the Sturgeon upgrader and refinery in Redwater, Alberta, will be pushed back to September 2017 from mid-2016. Both Canadian Natural and the Alberta government have agreed to inject further capital in the form of debt financing into the project, according to a company release. “The project remains a good deal for taxpayers,” Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes said in an e-mailed statement. “With the persistent discount on bitumen — the bitumen bubble — and equally persistent high prices for transportation fuels, we continue to expect a better return for Albertans’ barrels of bitumen through this enterprise than if we simply took the royalties in cash.” The Alberta government receives a portion of its oil […]

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Snow Falls by Foot in Minnesota as Texas Braces for Ice

Snow fell by the foot across the Upper Great Lakes and Northern Plains as winter storms threatened to coat highways, power lines and trees with ice as far south as Texas . As much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow was forecast in Minneapolis, according to the U.S. National Weather Service, with 40 inches possible on the coastline of Lake Superior northeast of Duluth as the storm moves into Canada. In Texas and Oklahoma , a half-inch of ice may affect electricity and transportation. “Significant travel impacts are possible during this event,” the weather service said in a winter storm warning for Dallas and Fort Worth. “Ice accumulations may make road surfaces impassable at times through Friday afternoon.” The storms are being fueled by a blast of arctic air that has gripped much of western Canada and is spreading through the U.S., […]

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High Winds Batter Scotland as Hamburg Braces for Storm Tides

Winds of up to 90 miles an hour and heavy rain are battering Scotland and England , disrupting road traffic and rail services, as northern Europe braces for heavy storms sweeping across the North Atlantic and the North Sea. Authorities issued severe flood warnings for northern parts of the U.K. as gales spread across the region. ScotRail suspended all rail services, sending trains to the nearest station to allow passengers to disembark safely. The airport in Hamburg, Germany’s main export hub, canceled 17 takeoffs and landings while authorities prepared for storm tides and monitored ships entering the Elbe estuary. A low pressure system dubbed Xaver may reach hurricane force with wind speeds of more than 140 kilometers (87 miles) an hour as it traverses southern parts of the North Sea before reaching landfall on the northern German and Danish coast around noon today, according to the German Weather Service […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple