Category:

BP to Write Off $1 Billion on Failed Well

BP PLC said Wednesday it would write off more than $1 billion in costs related to an unsuccessful Brazilian well, but also said it made a large oil discovery in the deep water Gulf of Mexico. BP said the Pitanga exploration well on Block BM-CAOL-13 in the Camamu-Almada basin, offshore Brazil, found no commercial quantities of oil or gas. The company said it would therefore write off $1.08 billion in costs, of which $850 million relates to the value of the block […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Australia to reduce renewable energy target?

Australia’s renewable energy target appears to be on the table following Prime Minister Tony Abbott ‘s decision to review the country’s energy policy. Abbott announced Wednesday he will head an energy policy task force that will be "looking at new options to reduce the costs of energy." The review is expected to be completed in June. Australia’s Renewable Energy Target scheme, enacted in 2009, requires energy retailers and large customers to source a proportion of their energy from renewable sources. It calls for 20 percent of the country’s power generation to come from renewable sources by 2020. Abbott said "we support sensible use of renewable energy," but said circumstances had changed. "We have to accept that in the changed circumstances of today, the renewable energy target is causing pretty significant price pressure in the system and we ought to be an affordable energy […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Water security: ‘Water scarcity has put survival in jeopardy’

Increasing population worldwide, particularly in Pakistan has caused deterioration of the environment and challenges of food and water security, speakers at a seminar on Integrated Flood Management said on Tuesday. The seminar was organised at the New Senate Hall by the Water Management Research Centre of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. It was chaired by Vice Chancellor Iqrar Ahmad Khan. Dr Khan said 43 per cent of the world’s population lived in urban centres… urbanisation was also on the rise in Asia. By 2020, half of Asia’s population would be living in cities, he said. “We need to take emergency measures to provide water facilities for cities and create awareness about rational use of water,” said Dr Khan. Pakistan is barely above the 1,000 cubic metres per capita benchmark for water scarcity, he said. This would worsen in the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fed Dials Back Bond Buying, Keeps a Wary Eye on Growth

Ben Bernanke gave the U.S. economy a nod of approval just a month before he leaves the Federal Reserve, moving the central bank to begin winding down a bond-buying program meant to boost growth with the recovery on firmer footing. The Fed has pulled back its stimulus efforts before, only to restart them when the economy disappointed, and new challenges loom, including a surprising slowdown in inflation. But Mr. Bernanke said in his final news conference as Fed chairman that the economy was getting to a point where it needs less help. "Today’s policy actions reflect the [Fed’s] assessment that the economy is continuing to make progress, but that it also has much farther to travel before conditions can be judged normal," Mr. Bernanke said. After months of wringing their hands about the implications of less Fed stimulus, investors resoundingly approved of the latest action to begin paring the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Energy Tax Breaks to Shrink in Baucus Focus on Emissions

U.S. energy tax incentives would be cut by more than half under a draft plan released by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus . Baucus’ proposal would consolidate more than 40 breaks into two incentives for cleaner production of electricity and fuel. Today’s proposal would end tax breaks for energy efficiency , electric cars and appliances that benefit companies including Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) and Nissan Motor (7201) Co. “Our current set of energy tax incentives is overly complex and picks winners and losers with no clear policy rationale,” Baucus said in a statement. “We need a system of energy incentives that is more predictable, rational and technology-neutral.” The draft is Baucus’ fourth proposal in the past two months as he seeks to build momentum for the biggest U.S. tax-code changes since 1986. His effort has been stymied by partisan divides over whether the plan should increase taxes and resistance […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EPA to Invalidate 30 Million Fuel Credits After Fraud

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has invalidated 33.5 million renewable-fuel credits sold by an Indiana company for biofuel it didn’t produce, the fourth time the agency has alleged fraud in the program. The filing today follows fraud charges filed against the former owners of the Indiana-based E-Biofuels LLC in September. The U.S. Justice Department accused them of falsely claiming its products qualified under government incentives for renewable fuels. The EPA move, which was posted on its website, may further roil the market for credits used by refiners such as Valero Corp. (VLO) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) to meet government renewable-fuel requirements. Before today’s action, the agency had said three companies produced a total of 140 million fraudulent Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs. The basic credit for ethanol last sold for 28 cents. At today’s value of about 40 cents each for biodiesel, the RINs affected by […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil trains raise concerns in small towns, cities

It’s tough to miss the trains hauling crude oil out of the Northern Plains. They are growing more frequent by the day, mile-long processions of black tank cars that rumble through wheat fields and towns, along rivers and national parks. As common as they have become across the U.S. and Canada, officials in dozens of towns and cities where the oil trains travel say they are concerned with the possibility of a major derailment, spill or explosion, while their level of preparation varies widely. Stoking those fears was the July crash of a crude train from the Bakken oil patch in Lac Megantic, Quebec – not far from the Maine border – that killed 47 people. A Nov. 8 train derailment in rural Alabama where several oil cars exploded reinforced them. "It’s a grave concern," said Dan Sietsema, the emergency coordinator in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

BP makes Gulf of Mexico discovery, first since 2010

British energy company BP said Wednesday it made a significant oil discovery in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico, its first since the 2010 oil spill. BP said it discovered oil while drilling in the Gila prospect, located about 300 miles off the coast of New Orleans in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. BP last announced oil discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico at its Kaskida prospect in 2006 and its Tiber site in 2009. An accident on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which BP leased from Transocean, lead to a cascading series of failures in 2010 at BP’s Macondo well. BP said approximately 2.5 million barrels of oil were spilled over the course of 87 days. Eleven rig workers died in the accident. Richard Morrison, regional president for BP, said the Gila discovery marks the company’s return. "The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Noble Energy to target Colorado basin in 2014

Noble Energy Chief Executive Officer Charles Davidson said the bulk of his company’s spending next year will target the Denver-Julesburg basin in Colorado. "For the third consecutive year, production is projected to grow at strong double-digit rates," he said in a statement Tuesday. "We continue to accelerate development in the Denver-Julesburg basin, which will receive the greatest portion of our capital program, as well as the drilling program in the … Marcellus shale." The Marcellus shale is spread over parts of Pennsylvania and surrounding states. Noble, which has headquarters in Houston, said $2 billion of its $3.2 billion designated for developments in the United States will target the Colorado reserve area. About $1.1 billion will target the Marcellus formation. Combined, the company said it plans to drill more than 450 wells in the shale areas next year. Noble in October said production from the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

TransCanada's U.S. oil pipeline set for January service

Oil should be moving through the 485-mile Gulf Coast oil pipeline from Oklahoma by the middle of January, a spokesman for TransCanada said Wednesday. The Gulf Coast project from the oil storage hub in Cushing, Okla., is designed to carry as much as 700,000 barrels per day to refineries in the Houston area. TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard said customers can expect oil deliveries by Jan. 22. "This is another important milestone for TransCanada, our shippers and the refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast who have been waiting for this product to arrive," he was quoted as saying by The Oklahoman , a newspaper based in Oklahoma City. "Providing this notice gives our customers time to ensure that they have the appropriate volumes of oil to move into our system when the pipeline is ready to go into full commercial operation." The Gulf Coast […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple