Ecuadoreans trying to collect a $9.5 billion environmental verdict against Chevron Corp. can attempt to seize the oil giant’s assets in Canada, a Canadian appellate court ruled on Tuesday. The plaintiffs, residents of Ecuador’s jungles, are seeking to enforce a 2011 judgment against Chevron by confiscating its properties in other countries where it operates. In May, a lower court in Ontario held that the Ecuadorean judgment didn’t […]
Ecuadoreans trying to collect a $9.5 billion environmental verdict against Chevron Corp. can attempt to seize the oil giant’s assets in Canada, a Canadian appellate court ruled on Tuesday. The plaintiffs, residents of Ecuador’s jungles, are seeking to enforce a 2011 judgment against Chevron by confiscating its properties in other countries where it operates. In May, a lower court in Ontario held that the Ecuadorean judgment didn’t […]
Brazil will get more than $400 billion in royalties and crude oil over the next 35 years from its share of the massive Libra offshore oil prospect, President Dilma Rousseff said Tuesday. In her weekly question-and-answer column with Brazilians, Ms. Rousseff said that new production-sharing agreements for Brazil’s offshore oil discoveries ensured the country’s "sovereignty over this treasure, with great benefits for the population and our economy." Ms. Rousseff’s administration has faced criticism from Brazilians who viewed the sale of the field as delivering Brazil’s natural resources into the hands of foreign companies. Protests marred the October auction, which featured heavy security by soldiers who fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd gathered outside the hotel where the sale was held. But the auction also generated lukewarm interest from private-sector companies that balked at the terms of the production-sharing agreements and heavy government oversight […]
Brazil will get more than $400 billion in royalties and crude oil over the next 35 years from its share of the massive Libra offshore oil prospect, President Dilma Rousseff said Tuesday. In her weekly question-and-answer column with Brazilians, Ms. Rousseff said that new production-sharing agreements for Brazil’s offshore oil discoveries ensured the country’s "sovereignty over this treasure, with great benefits for the population and our economy." Ms. Rousseff’s administration has faced criticism from Brazilians who viewed the sale of the field as delivering Brazil’s natural resources into the hands of foreign companies. Protests marred the October auction, which featured heavy security by soldiers who fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd gathered outside the hotel where the sale was held. But the auction also generated lukewarm interest from private-sector companies that balked at the terms of the production-sharing agreements and heavy government oversight […]
Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras, said Tuesday it found the first oil in the deep water of the Potiguar basin off the coast of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. The oil was found in the 1-BRS-A-1205-RNS (1-RNS-158) well, also known as Pitu, under 1.1 miles of water 34.2 miles off the coast, the company said in an note to Brazil’s financial markets regulator. Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at [email protected]
Bakken crude strengthened against domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate as frigid temperatures and precipitation in North Dakota limited output. State production has likely been “not so great” in December after a strong November and a record in October, said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Mineral Resources Department, on a Dec. 13 conference call. “December has been anything but nice, with arctic temperatures, icy roads and snowfall almost every day,” Helms said on the call. Bakken oil delivered in Clearbrook, Minnesota , was $8 a barrel cheaper than WTI at 3:47 p.m. in New York, compared with $9.50 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bakken’s discount has been cut in half since Nov. 7 and 8, when it reached $16 a barrel, the widest level of 2013. It has averaged about $5 this year. Prices will probably stay soft for much of 2014, Helms said, explaining that […]
The American Petroleum Institute said hydraulic fracturing of shale oil and natural gas deposits spawned an "energy revolution" in the United States. "America is in the midst of a game-changing energy revolution," API Chief Economist John Felmy said in a statement Monday. He was commenting on a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which predicted record-setting levels of oil and natural gas production in the United States. The EIA in its Monday report said crude oil production in the United States should reach 9.6 million barrels per day by 2016, equaling a record set more than 40 years ago. Crude oil production is expected to decline after 2020, though EIA said natural gas production should increase steadily through 2040. "This potential has been unlocked by innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling that have made America the world’s top energy producer," Felmy said. […]
The American Petroleum Institute said hydraulic fracturing of shale oil and natural gas deposits spawned an "energy revolution" in the United States. "America is in the midst of a game-changing energy revolution," API Chief Economist John Felmy said in a statement Monday. He was commenting on a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which predicted record-setting levels of oil and natural gas production in the United States. The EIA in its Monday report said crude oil production in the United States should reach 9.6 million barrels per day by 2016, equaling a record set more than 40 years ago. Crude oil production is expected to decline after 2020, though EIA said natural gas production should increase steadily through 2040. "This potential has been unlocked by innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling that have made America the world’s top energy producer," Felmy said. […]
The chairman of Kunlun Energy Co., a gas distribution arm of China National Petroleum Corp., resigned amid a widening government anti-corruption campaign that claimed his predecessor four months earlier. Its shares declined. Wen Qingshan quit with immediate effect as both chairman and director of the company due to personal matters, Kunlun said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. Executive Director Zhang Bowen will assume the chairman’s duties, it said. China’s Caixin magazine reported on Dec. 16 that Wen is helping in a government graft probe. Wen was taken into custody to assist with an investigation, a person with knowledge of the matter said yesterday, asking not to be identified as he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about it. Kunlun slumped to a one-month low in Hong Kong today, after its New York-traded stock plunged 16 percent. Wen’s resignation follows government investigations into five other officials […]
Japan has decided to take matters into its own hands to find appropriate domestic locations to permanently store highly radioactive nuclear waste, after waiting in vain for more than a decade for an offer from a regional government. "The government will play an active role in choosing a permanent place," Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters at a regular news conference Tuesday. "We’ll abandon the current system of waiting for volunteers to raise their hands." Japan, which currently doesn’t have any final disposal sites for high level radioactive waste, has 17,000 metric tons of domestically spent nuclear fuel that dates back to the 1970s. Most of the current waste is stored in a facility in Rokkasho, a small village in Aomori prefecture in northern Japan, where it is mixed with liquid glass to let it consolidate in big cylindrical bins. The prefecture only allowed the facility to be established […]
