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Ukraine gets brief gas break from Gazprom

KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 4 (UPI) — The director of Ukraine’s national energy company Naftogaz said Russian natural gas company Gazprom agreed to a delay in the repayment of gas debts. Naftogaz Chief Executive Officer Yevgeny Bakulin said his company reached an agreement with Gazprom to defer natural gas payments for winter fuel deliveries until early 2014 because of “problems” in the region, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. Gazprom in October expressed concern with Ukraine when it hadn’t yet settled an $882 million bill for August natural gas deliveries. Bakulin said some of the outstanding debt had been settled and Gazprom should consider that when making future decisions about gas deliveries to Ukraine. Gazprom, most recently in 2009, cut gas supplies to Ukraine because of outstanding debt. That left downstream consumers in Europe with a gas shortage because the bulk of their gas supplies from Russia run […]

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Oil Futures Up on U.S. Pipeline Opening, Stockpiles Hopes

Oil futures are higher Wednesday in Asian hours, extending strong overnight gains on news that the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline would begin carrying crude oil to Texas refineries next month, which may help reduce domestic stockpiles. “It’s only influencing WTI (West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark on the New York Mercantile Exchange) because the news came very late in overnight trade,” said Newedge Japan Inc. commodity analyst Masaki Suematsu. On the Nymex, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $97.20 a barrel at 0555 GMT, up $1.16 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.24 to $112.86 a barrel. This came after Nymex January crude settled up $2.22, or 2.4%, at $96.04 a barrel overnight, the highest settlement price since Oct. 31. Mr. Suematsu said Nymex crude is likely to extend gains on the […]

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Oil Gains on U.S. Pipeline Opening

Oil futures are higher Wednesday in Asian hours, extending strong overnight gains on news that the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline would begin carrying crude oil to Texas refineries next month, which may help reduce domestic stockpiles. “It’s only influencing WTI (West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark on the New York Mercantile Exchange) because the news came very late in overnight trade,” said Newedge Japan Inc. commodity analyst Masaki Suematsu. On the Nymex, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $97.20 a barrel at 0555 GMT, up $1.16 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.24 to $112.86 a barrel. This came after Nymex January crude settled up $2.22, or 2.4%, at $96.04 a barrel overnight, the highest settlement price since Oct. 31. Mr. Suematsu said Nymex crude is likely to extend gains on the positivity, with prices […]

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WTI Rises for a Fourth Day on U.S. Supply as OPEC Gathers

West Texas Intermediate oil advanced for a fourth day, the longest rising streak since August, as TransCanada Corp. said it will start part of its Keystone XL pipeline next month and data showed U.S. crude inventories fell. Futures climbed as much as 1.4 percent in New York after the American Petroleum Institute said crude stockpiles shrank by 12.4 million barrels last week. Prices gained the most since September yesterday after TransCanada said it will begin the southern portion of the pipeline to the Gulf Coast that could relieve a supply bottleneck. OPEC is forecast to keep its production quota unchanged at a meeting in Vienna today. “The inventory figures gave a boost to the move that was set off by the Keystone news,” said Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney who predicts the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain its target at 30 million […]

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Oil Rises Most Since September on Keystone Pipeline Plan

West Texas Intermediate crude gained the most since September after TransCanada Corp. (TRP) said it will begin operating the southern leg of its Keystone XL pipeline to the Gulf Coast in January. Prices jumped to a one-month high, narrowing WTI’s discount to Brent. TransCanada plans to start deliveries Jan. 3 to Port Arthur , Texas, via the segment of the Keystone expansion project from Cushing, Oklahoma, according to a government filing yesterday. Cushing is the delivery point for WTI futures. Crude also fell as U.S. total inventories probably slid for the first time since September last week. “With the pipeline up and running, you are going to see drops in Cushing inventories,” said Michael Lynch , president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts . “It drives up WTI prices far more than Brent. You are going to see […]

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Natural Gas Posts First Loss in Nine Sessions; Holds Near Six-Month High

Natural-gas futures fell Tuesday for the first time in nine sessions, but held near six-month highs amid mixed near-term weather signals. Market participants said winter weather is the driving force now and confirmation that in coming days temperatures in key markets will turn much colder could reignite the rally. “We’re seeing a bit of a pullback after the recent gains,” said Kyle Cooper, analyst at IAF Advisors in Houston. Front-month gas surged 12.1%, or 43.2 cents, over the prior eight trading sessions as frigid temperatures lingered in key Midwest and East Coast markets for gas-fired home-heating. Natural gas for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 1.2 cents lower at $3.976 per million British thermal units. Prices […]

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2013 different year for OPEC

OPEC ministers in Vienna are dealing with a market situation where there’s more oil, not less, available to international consumers, a commodities analyst said. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet Wednesday in Vienna. OPEC this year has been forced to react to supply disruptions in member state Libya as well as oil production gains from North America. Edward Morse, head of global commodities research at Citigroup, told The Washington Post the cartel’s leaders are expected to mull the geopolitical future of member states. “Unlike a year ago, most of the issues in the market that are geopolitical in nature could lead to more oil, not less,” he said in an interview published Monday. “You can’t take any more Libyan oil off the market; you can only put it back on.” The International Energy Agency last year called on its member states […]

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Iran accord in Geneva followed by new violence, new diplomacy for Mideast

A surge of diplomacy and an outburst of violence in the days since world powers reached a deal with Iran illustrate both the promise and the peril of what could be the start of a more peaceful era in the Middle East — or the beginning of a new round of bloodletting. The announcement of the six-month accord on Iran’s nuclear program, hailed by President Obama as an opportunity to reverse decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran, has quickly been followed by indications of the deal’s potential to unlock other regional conflicts. An anti-Government protester raises his fist after getting into the compound of Government House in Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Dec. 3 2013. Anti-government protesters swarmed into the Thai prime minister’s office compound Tuesday as police stood by and watched, allowing them to claim a symbolic victory after three days of bitter clashes. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn) […]

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Iran, Iraq put OPEC on notice of big oil increases

Iran and Iraq on Tuesday put OPEC on notice of substantial oil output increases to come, saying others in the producer cartel will need to give way to make room for them. Speaking ahead of an OPEC meeting, oil ministers for the two countries — rivals as the group’s second and third biggest producers after Saudi Arabia — said they were targeting 4 million barrels a day, growth of about one million bpd apiece. Neither country can expect to reach those goals any time soon, but both are keen to prepare the ground for special treatment should the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting […]

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31 killed, 73 wounded in bomb attacks in Iraq

At least 31 people were killed and 73 others wounded Tuesday in bomb attacks in Iraq, including three suicide bombings, police said. The deadliest attack occurred in the town of Tarmiyah, some 40 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, when two roadside bombs went off outside the local government building, apparently in an attempt to pave the way for two suicide bombers to enter the building, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A police force guarding the government building opened fire on the suicide bombers and forced them to blow up their explosive vests at the gate of the building, killing a total of nine people, including five policemen, and wounding 11 people, the source said. Meanwhile, another coordinated suicide bomb attacks took place in the city of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province, when a car bomb […]

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Jihadist Groups Gain in Turmoil Across Middle East

Intensifying sectarian and clan violence has presented new opportunities for jihadist groups across the Middle East and raised concerns among American intelligence and counterterrorism officials that militants aligned with Al Qaeda could establish a base in Syria capable of threatening Israel and Europe. The new signs of an energized but fragmented jihadist threat, stretching from Mali and Libya in the west to Yemen in the east, have complicated the narrative of a weakened Al Qaeda that President Obama offered in May in a landmark speech heralding the end of the war on terrorism. The leaders of the Senate and House intelligence committees, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California and Representative Mike Rogers of Michigan, raised warnings in an interview on CNN on Sunday when they said that Americans were “not safer” from terrorist attacks than in 2011. The concerns are based in part on messages relayed this year […]

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Iraq Close to Agreeing Cuts in Oil Output Targets

Iraq’s oil minister said Tuesday the country is close to agreeing to sharp cuts with major Western oil companies in production targets set out for them at some of its largest oil fields, casting doubts over Iraq’s ambitious oil output targets. When Iraq signed up a number of big Western companies to help it reverse declining output in some of the world’s most promising fields, government officials set lofty—many experts said unrealistic—production targets for these companies.

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Iraq Controls Kurdish Oil Exports Under New Accord, Luaibi Says

Iraq ’s self-ruling Kurds agreed to let the central government in Baghdad control the amount and quality of crude they export as well as manage revenue from its sale, Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi said. The Kurdistan Regional Government will export oil using a metering system operated by the Oil Ministry in Baghdad, Luaibi told a news conference yesterday in Vienna. The Kurds also agreed to put money earned from the sale of oil from Kurdish fields into a UN-administered account for Iraq’s earnings from crude, he said. The agreement may herald an end to years of confrontation between Iraq’s Kurds and the central government. It may lead to a formal accord this month under which Kurdish authorities resume oil shipments via Iraq’s government-run export pipeline to neighboring Turkey , Luaibi said. The KRG halted the flow last December in a dispute with the central government over how […]

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Hezbollah chief: Saudis behind embassy bombings

The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has accused Saudi Arabia of being behind last month’s two suicide bombings that targeted the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah’s comments mark the first time Hezbollah has openly accused the kingdom, and marks a sharp escalation in the Shiite Muslim group’s rhetoric. An al-Qaida linked group has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 19 attack that killed 23 people, saying it was in response to Hezbollah and Iran’s involvement in Syria. Nasrallah said the claim was credible but accused Saudi intelligence of providing backing and support. He also said Saudi intelligence was behind daily terrorist attacks in Iraq. Nasrallah spoke in an interview Tuesday with Lebanon’s private OTV network. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms […]

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UN: 250,000 besieged in Syria, beyond reach of aid

An estimated 250,000 people in besieged communities in Syria remain beyond the reach of aid, the U.N, humanitarian chief said Tuesday in a closed-door Security Council briefing that one member called “chilling.” Deep divisions in the council have kept it from taking more action on the 2 1/2-year-old civil war that activists say has killed more than 120,000 people. Valerie Amos’ task has been to tell the world body about the worsening conditions for millions of civilians in Syria – and how difficult it is to reach them. Amos was able to report “modest progress” in such basics as getting 50 more long-demanded visas for aid workers and opening three humanitarian hubs inside Syria, “only two of which are helpful to us.” But “We have not seen any progress” in the major issues of protecting civilians and demilitarizing schools and hospitals, Amos said. Last month, […]

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Hezbollah commander killed outside home in Lebanon

A senior commander for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was gunned down Wednesday outside his home in southern Beirut, security officials said. The Iranian-backed group blamed its arch-enemy Israel for the killing, something officials there quickly denied. Hezbollah immediately announced the death of Hassan al-Laqis and described him as one of the founding members of the group, suggesting he was a high-level commander close to the Shiite party’s leadership. His shooting death comes as Lebanon faces increasing sectarian violence pouring over from the civil war in neighboring Syria, where Hezbollah forces fight alongside President Bashar Assad’s troops, angering the mainly Sunni rebels seeking to oust him. Hezbollah strongholds have been the target of car bomb attacks and suicide bombers attacked the Iranian Embassy in Beirut last month, killing 23 people. Sunni militant groups have claimed responsibility for those attacks, calling it retaliation for Hezbollah’s […]

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Syria Crisis Is Worsening, U.N. Relief Official Says

The top emergency relief official at the United Nations expressed new alarm on Tuesday at the humanitarian crisis caused by Syria’s civil war, telling the Security Council that despite some modest progress, both the government and insurgent sides were still impeding urgent deliveries of food and medicine to millions of desperate civilians. Speaking to reporters after a closed briefing for Security Council diplomats, the official — Valerie Amos, the under secretary general and emergency relief coordinator — said that the Syrian authorities had been permitting aid convoys from Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, but had refused to allow any from Turkey, which the Syrian government has accused of abetting the insurgency. Ms. Amos said that nine aid convoys had entered Syria over the past month, three times as many as in earlier months, but “this is still far too few to meet the needs of the millions […]

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Big Oil to Get Brazil-Like Terms in Plan to End Mexico Monopoly

Global oil majors from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Chevron Corp . are about to get their clearest indication yet of how far Mexican lawmakers will go to lure them into the world’s second-largest unexplored crude-producing region. Senate committees will begin debating a bill to end a seven-decade state oil monopoly as soon as today. On the agenda is a proposal by members of President Enrique Pena Nieto ’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and the opposition National Action Party, or PAN, to extend a profit-sharing model unveiled in August by also allowing production sharing or a license model used in Brazil, according to two people with knowledge of the talks who asked not to be named as the plan is not yet public. The proposal seeks to offer companies more control over riskier fields and attract enough investment to halt a decade-long output slump in Mexico’s $95 billion industry, […]

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Brazil October Crude Oil Output Falls on Lower Pre-Salt Output

Brazil’s crude oil production fell slightly in October on reduced output from recently discovered offshore fields, the country’s National Petroleum Agency, or ANP, said Tuesday. Brazil produced an average 2.079 million barrels a day in October, down 0.7% from September but up 3.4% from October 2012, the ANP said. October’s output was undercut by operational troubles at a floating platform tapping oil deposits in Brazil’s pre-salt oil frontier, where billions of barrels of crude oil were discovered trapped under a thick layer of salt miles below the seabed, the ANP said. Pre-salt production fell to 308,400 barrels a day in October, down 6.5% from September, the ANP said. State-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, has boosted production in recent months as several new platforms were installed at offshore oil fields. The company has also completed renovations of several aging platforms in the Campos Basin, […]

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Shell floats hull for world’s largest FLNG facility

The 488-m hull of Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) plant was floated from the dry dock at the Samsung Heavy Industries yard in Geoje, South Korea, where Prelude is being built. The company laid the keel for the vessel in May. Shell’s first deployment of FNLG technology, Prelude FLNG will be the largest floating facility in the world once it’s complete and is expected to produce 3.6 million tonnes/year of LNG. The facility will operate for 25 years in a remote basin 475 km northeast of Broome, Western Australia, developing the Prelude and nearby Concerto gas fields in permit WA-371-P with total reserves of 3 tcf of gas and about 120 million bbl of condensate. Prelude FLNG is designed to withstand a category 5 cyclone. Shell said the facility will enable the development of gas resources ranging from clusters of smaller more remote fields to potentially […]

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Australia at risk of severe consequences of climate change

Australia is at risk of severe consequences as a result of climate change, a new book warns. “Four Degrees of Global Warming: Australia in a Hot World,” by a group of scientists and economists, looks at the economic implications of global warming of 4 degrees Celsius – or 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit — by or before 2100. The book’s editor, Peter Christoff, associate professor of environmental policy at the University of Melbourne, says that even if the world’s major economies were to enact current carbon emissions reduction pledges aimed at limiting warming to below 2C, the world is still on track to experience 4C of warming by 2100, The Guardian reports. “Australia is exceptionally vulnerable ecologically to climate change,” Christoff told the newspaper. Four degrees of warming, he said, would mean “a comprehensive transformation for life in Australia, from its wealth to its access to […]

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Drilling California: A Reality Check

Written by PCI Fellow J. David Hughes and published in partnership by Post Carbon Institute and Physicians, Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy , this report provides the first publicly available empirical analysis of actual oil production data from the Monterey Formation, including from wells that have undergone hydraulic fracturing and acidization. It lays out some of the play’s fundamental characteristics compared to other tight oil plays, including geological properties, current production, production potential, and associated environmental issues. Unlike previous studies looking at potential production and economic impacts, this report is based on analysis of real production data (compiled in the most comprehensive oil and gas production database publicly available) and should therefore help ensure that public policy decisions on the development of the Monterey are grounded in data, not assumptions. Be sure to visit montereyoil.org for more resources. A print version of the report can be purchased here […]

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How Green Interests Swayed Virginia Vote

The energy industry is worried what Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s successful Virginia gubernatorial bid means for Old Dominion—and for other energy-producing states as the midterm elections approach. Almost a third of the $34 million poured into Mr. McAuliffe’s campaign came from environmental groups that claim the governor-elect as an ally. And Mr. McAuliffe staked out an unusually strong green stance during the campaign in a state that historically has been friendly to energy interests and a leader on pushback against environmental regulatory matters given its proximity to the Washington political-power structure. A month before the Nov. 5 election, Mr. McAuliffe came out in favor of new federal emission limits for future coal-fired power plants. That policy position has spooked energy-industry players ahead of critical Environmental Protection Agency emissions guidelines for existing power plants, due next June, that will give states—and governors—authority to apply and enforce the national guidelines. Mr. McAuliffe […]

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EIA’s World Oil Exports

Jeffery Brown is our Export Land expert and I would never try to match wits with him on world exports. And congratulations to Jeffery for having the Number one post on Resilience.Org. Top 10 Reader’s Favorites – Resilience and Energy Bulletin 1. Peak oil versus peak exports by Jeffrey J. Brown, Samuel Foucher PhD, originally published by ASPO-USA – Oct 2010 All I can do is post the data the EIA, or someone else supplies. And the EIA only has world export data through 2010. But I found even that pretty startling, especially the Non-OPEC data. Anyway here is the World Crude + Condensate exports, 1986 through 2010 in thousand barrels per day. Notice how the increase in World exports go up almost linear. Actually between 1986 and 2010 the increase averaged 3.41 percent per year for 18 years. But for the last seven years world exports have declined by […]

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Daniel Yergin: Power in 2030 The Roads We May Take

Page added on December 4, 2013 There is no question that we are at a turning point in world energy. But then we are often at a turning point. Just as everybody gets comfortable with what they expect to happen, a big change comes along that undercuts existing assumptions. Just consider: • Less than three years ago, a ‘‘nuclear renaissance’’ seemed to be unfolding. Now, in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the renaissance has turned into a ‘‘nuclear patchwork’’  —  moving ahead in some countries, stalled or shut down in others. • Five years ago, the United States was suffering an advanced case of ‘‘peak oil’’ and was going to run out of petroleum. Since then, crude oil output has increased by 56 percent and its net oil imports are down 40 percent. • Four years ago, the cost of solar panels seemed stubbornly high. […]

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Federal study warns of sudden climate change woes

A panel of scientists advising the federal government says the world needs to worry more about hard-to-predict sudden changes from global warming than it does about the bigger but more gradual impacts. The National Academy of Sciences looked at warming problems that can occur in years instead of centuries. The panel said Tuesday that melting ice in the Arctic Ocean and mass species extinction are already here and worse than predicted. It says the melting ice could be more of a wild card than originally thought. However, the report said two other abrupt climate threats worried about earlier likely won’t be so sudden. Study co-author Richard Alley compared the threats to the random danger of drunk drivers: If you see them coming, you can get out of the way. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

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Crude Oil Price Volatility on the Way?

Predictive relationships appear to occur between large, rapid swings in oil price and recessions, stock market crashes and shifts in political polls, as I have previously discussed in articles published in 2010 and 2011 . Given the economic disruptions that nearly always happen in the aftermath of oil shocks, it seems important to understand what is behind the timing of transient instabilities in the oil markets. Last time, I examined whether repetitive patterns could be found in the ebb and flow of oil price changeability (volatility) between 2000 and 2010. To do this, I calculated rolling standard deviations (for explanation, please see Figure 2 in this post ) for a 120-month series of monthly oil prices starting from January 2000. A mathematical tool called Fast Fourier Transform then scanned for repeating patterns in this rolling 10-year sequence. What I found was that from the mid-2000s, changes in oil price […]

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Why Uranium & Coal Rank High For Energy Return On Energy Invested

Not all energy options are equally good, says Thomas Drolet, principal of Drolet & Associates Energy Services Inc. Using an “Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)” calculation to decide which energy sources yield the most for the least energy investment, Drolet sees hydroelectricity, natural gas, uranium and coal at the top of the list. Drolet adds that the need for reliable power will keep baseload power fueled by uranium and coal at the center of the world’s electricity systems for many years, but he tips  The Mining Report  to some technologies looking for investment that can help make coal a more environment-friendly fuel. The Mining Report:  Tom, thanks for joining us today. I’d like to start out with the concept of an “Energy Return on Energy Invested cliff,” which is being debated widely these days.” What is it and what does it mean […]

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Why Uranium & Coal Rank High For Energy Return On Energy Invested

Not all energy options are equally good, says Thomas Drolet, principal of Drolet & Associates Energy Services Inc. Using an “Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)” calculation to decide which energy sources yield the most for the least energy investment, Drolet sees hydroelectricity, natural gas, uranium and coal at the top of the list. Drolet adds that the need for reliable power will keep baseload power fueled by uranium and coal at the center of the world’s electricity systems for many years, but he tips  The Mining Report  to some technologies looking for investment that can help make coal a more environment-friendly fuel. The Mining Report:  Tom, thanks for joining us today. I’d like to start out with the concept of an “Energy Return on Energy Invested cliff,” which is being debated widely these days.” What is it and what does it mean […]

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GE: The Age of Gas is Upon Us

Natural gas is poised to play a far greater role in the world’s energy mix, threatening to supplant oil and coal in many areas of industrial activity as well as in transportation and in the home, according to a report recently published by General Electric Co. In fact, the report  anticipates global gas consumption will increase by more than a third of its current global consumption by 2025. The findings of the GE report – “The Age of Gas & the Power of Networks” – echo a conversation that Rigzone had with Martin Haigh , energy advisor at Royal Dutch Shell plc’s Scenarios unit, a year ago. Back then, Haigh said that his team had identified that gas was set to play a more important role in world energy markets, driven both by the shale gas revolution and by the inherent flexibility of gas as a fuel. Indeed, Shell […]

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Brent Falls From Near 3-month High With OPEC in Focus

-Brent crude oil prices fell slightly in London Tuesday after they briefly hit a near three-month high in the previous session. Brent crude for January delivery fell 4 cents to $111.41 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil January futures were up 24 cents, or 0.3%, at $94.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Both contracts received momentum on Monday after manufacturing data confirmed signs of economic expansion in the world’s two largest oil-consuming nations, China and the U.S. Comment from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ ministers, arriving for the group’s meeting in Vienna, appeared to underline expectations for no change in OPEC’s output policy. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, told reporters “the market is in the best situation it can be,” and said rising global oil demand could accommodate extra Iranian and Iraqi barrels. As OPEC’s largest producer, […]

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Oil rises above $94 ahead of OPEC meeting

– The price of oil extended gains to rise above $94 a barrel Tuesday, ahead of an OPEC meeting and bolstered by encouraging manufacturing data from the world’s top two economies. Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was up 29 cents to $94.11 a barrel at midafternoon Kuala Lumpur time on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $1.10 to close at $93.82 on Monday. Investors are looking to a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna on Wednesday for an update on production levels. Analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna estimate that OPEC’s crude output fell to 29.44 million barrels a day in November, the lowest since May 2011 and the third straight month with output below 30 million. Most of the difference was attributed to production and export snags in Libya, where political volatility and the effects of the […]

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WTI Oil Gains a Third Day as U.S. Crude Stockpiles Seen Falling

West Texas Intermediate rose for a third day amid forecasts crude stockpiles dropped last week for the first time since September in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures climbed as much as 0.5 percent in New York after data yesterday showed U.S. manufacturing accelerated more than estimated. Crude inventories shrank by 700,000 barrels, the first decline in 11 weeks, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a government report tomorrow. The global oil market is “in equilibrium,” Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries prepared to discuss its production quota in Vienna. “Economic recovery is with us,” said Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney who forecasts investors may sell WTI contracts at $94.50 a barrel. “The inventory builds scared the market,” he said, predicting OPEC will maintain its output target. WTI for January delivery […]

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Distillate Fuel Supplies Drop to Five-Year Low in Survey

U.S. supplies of crude oil probably fell for the first time in 11 weeks as refineries boosted operating rates and fuel production. Inventories dropped by 700,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 390.7 million barrels in the seven days ended Nov. 29, based on the median of eight analyst estimates before an Energy Information Administration report on Dec. 4. Six respondents forecast a decline and two projected a gain. Refineries raised their operating rate to above 90 percent last week for the first time since September, the survey showed. The crude supply rose to the most since June in the prior week as domestic production climbed to more than 8 million barrels a day. “This report will finally show a drop in crude supplies,” said John Kilduff , a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “We’ll be seeing de-stocking through the year.” […]

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Natural Gas Pulls Back After Seven Sessions of Gains

-Prices decline as traders cash in profits after seven days of gains –January futures down 0.96% at $3.916/mmBtu –Forecasts call for colder-than-normal temperatures this week By Nicole Friedman NEW YORK–Natural-gas futures slipped after seven-straight days of gains, as traders who had bet on higher prices cashed in their profits. Natural gas for January delivery fell 3.8 cents, or 0.96%, to $3.916 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Price settled at $3.954/mmBtu Friday, their highest price since March, capping off a 10.4% gain for the month of November. Forecasts for cooler-than-normal temperatures have boosted expectations that demand for natural-gas-powered heating in homes and offices would rise. About half of all U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating source, according to the Energy Information Administration. The central and western U.S. is expected to see especially cold temperatures, driven by Arctic air masses, in […]

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OPEC Will Probably Maintain Current Output Target, Delegates Say

OPEC will probably stick with its current production target as demand for its crude next year will be at a similar level, said three delegates from the group. The 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will make that decision in two days, when ministers meet in Vienna, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions are private. The three delegates spoke to Bloomberg before Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi arrived at his hotel in Vienna. “The market is doing well for the past two years, price is doing well, supply and demand in equilibrium, inventories are in the right position,” al-Naimi told reporters. “The market is in the best condition it can be.” Rising supply from outside OPEC, including surging U.S. shale oil production, has coincided this year with disruptions in some members, such as Libya and Iraq , while Iranian exports remain curtailed because of […]

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OPEC Inaction Masks Looming Supply Glut in 2014: Energy Markets

Even with OPEC forecast to keep its output quota unchanged at a meeting this week, falling oil demand and prospects for increased supply from some member states mean the group’s leader, Saudi Arabia, will have to cut production anyway. The kingdom and its allies Kuwait , Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will need to produce about 2 million barrels a day less in 2014 to prevent a glut, the Centre for Global Energy Studies predicts. That’s equal to annual revenue of about $80 billion at today’s prices. The 12-nation group meets in Vienna on Dec. 4 and will reaffirm its collective limit of 30 million barrels a day, according to 22 of 24 analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg News . OPEC is already producing above target, even with output disrupted in member states Iraq , Libya and Iran . Demand for the group’s crude will decline by […]

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Limitations of nuclear deal temper Iranians' enthusiasm

It was a flourishing packing business in Iran’s historic city of Isfahan, but the last two years of harsh economic sanctions brought the family enterprise to its knees. Owner Gholam Dolatmardian struggled to raise the funds to keep going but finally succumbed to the inevitable, laying off his 100-strong workforce and closing the doors of the once prosperous factory. The prospects for a revival of his business and those of thousands of others may depend on an interim nuclear accord reached between Iran and world powers last week. The deal has allowed those Iranians seeking greater foreign contact and the economic opportunities it brings to see a glimmer of hope for the first time in years. But Iranians’ enthusiasm about the accord has been tempered by its complexity and expected gradual implementation, which puts off relief from restrictions on banking, trade and international travel that ordinary Iranians […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Limitations of nuclear deal temper Iranians’ enthusiasm

It was a flourishing packing business in Iran’s historic city of Isfahan, but the last two years of harsh economic sanctions brought the family enterprise to its knees. Owner Gholam Dolatmardian struggled to raise the funds to keep going but finally succumbed to the inevitable, laying off his 100-strong workforce and closing the doors of the once prosperous factory. The prospects for a revival of his business and those of thousands of others may depend on an interim nuclear accord reached between Iran and world powers last week. The deal has allowed those Iranians seeking greater foreign contact and the economic opportunities it brings to see a glimmer of hope for the first time in years. But Iranians’ enthusiasm about the accord has been tempered by its complexity and expected gradual implementation, which puts off relief from restrictions on banking, trade and international travel that ordinary Iranians […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iranians mull new nuclear power stations

Iran’s top atomic energy official, Ali Akbar Salehi , said he asked the federal government to make room in next year’s budget for new nuclear power plants. Salehi said he issued a request for funding to President Hassan Rouhani after lawmakers called on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to lay the groundwork for more nuclear power. “Our new nuclear plants will be built at the site of the Bushehr nuclear [power] plant,” he was quoted as saying Sunday by Iranian broadcaster Press TV. Russia supplies fuel for the Bushehr plant, which went into service last year. Salehi said additions to the nuclear power sector could add another 20,000 megawatts of electricity to the Iranian grid. Salehi gave no indication of the funding needed to build the new facilities. Under the terms of the nuclear deal reached with Western powers last month, Iran can […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Company security forces thwart Iran pipeline attack plot

The governor of Iran’s southern Abadan province said an oil company’s security forces halted a plot to bomb a pipeline. The security forces “vigilantly discovered and thwarted a bombing plot against Abadan-Mahshahr oil pipeline on Saturday evening,” Gov. Bahram Ilkhaszadeh told the semiofficial Fars News Agency. Fars provided no further details about the incident in its report Sunday. A refinery associated with the pipeline was the target of an insurgent attack in 2005, Fars said. Abadan province is near the Persian Gulf. Zumba instructor Alexis Wright gets out of jail early Exploding whale video goes viral on Internet Josh Romney lifts accident victims to safety [PHOTO] Man arrested after woman catches him masturbating in Walmart bathroom Giada De Laurentiis slices finger on live Food Network broadcast Zumba instructor Alexis Wright gets out of jail early Exploding whale video goes viral on Internet Katherine Webb […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shanghai suffers another morning of heavy air pollution

Shanghai continued to suffer smoggy weather this morning with the air quality index stayed at 246 by 9am today. The city’s air has been in the several polluted zone since yesterday, the worst day for air pollution since the index was launched last December. PM2.5 density stayed above 160 micrograms per cubic meter by 8am, double the national limit of 75. PM2.5 refers to airborne particles which are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. They are the main cause of urban smog and are harmful to human health. Pedestrians put on masks to avoid the particles that can cause lung or cardiopulmonary health problems. The Shanghai Education Commission issued a directive to schools before classes began that they should reduce outdoor activities. A second notice in the morning ordered a halt to outdoor activities. Students who were late or absent yesterday and today would […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq Says Can Export Extra 1 Million Bpd Next Year

Iraq is planning to lift oil output by more than a million barrels a day to over 4 million bpd in 2014, in what would be the country’s biggest oil supply increase since the fall of Saddam Hussein a decade ago. Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi said Iraq planned to lift exports to 3.4 million barrels daily, including 400,000 bpd from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. With domestic consumption running at about 700,000 bpd that would take total Iraqi supply above 4 million bpd, up from just below 3 million bpd now. That scale of production increase would raise the pressure on others in OPEC, chiefly Saudi Arabia, to curb supply to prevent oil prices falling. But industry experts and oil company executives working on Iraqi oilfield development say a 4 million bpd output target looks very unlikely to be achieved next year. They […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kurds Forge a Risky Oil Deal With Turkey

The autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan said it agreed to supply Turkey with oil through a pipeline in a landmark deal that raised tensions with Baghdad, which fears the move could spark independence drives by other Iraqi governorates. But the Monday announcement here, in the region’s capital, was tempered by Baghdad’s refusal to approve the deal, which it considers illegal. As a result, Kurdish officials didn’t begin shipping pipeline oil, as observers had expected, and Turkey pledged to organize trilateral talks between Erbil, Baghdad and Ankara to resolve the issue. The tensions go to the heart of the disagreement between Kurdistan, a relatively prosperous and stable province, and Baghdad, where sectarian violence has soared in recent months as the central government strives to maintain control over restless regions. Iraq’s ties with Turkey have also frayed, as Shiite Muslim-led Baghdad accused Ankara of meddling in its internal affairs by […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Attackers target Syrian natural gas infrastructure

Attacks on natural gas facilities in Syria caused a substantial loss in daily energy supplies, a petroleum ministry official said. The official in the Syrian Petroleum Ministry told the Syrian Arab News Agency terrorists attacked a natural gas pipeline that links Homs, a city in western Syria, to Deir Ezzor province, in the east. SANA said Sunday the attack cut off the supply of 194 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. A separate attack on a natural gas field in Palmyra, in central Syria, led to the loss of 70 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The ministry source said the government restricted the use of electricity to cope with the natural gas shortage. SANA reported work was under way to repair damage from the attacks “as soon as possible.” Last week, city officials in Homs said terrorists attacked […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple