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Cairn Seeks Oil Swaps to Circumvent Export Ban: Corporate India

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama’s Pollution-Control Agenda Goes to Court Tomorrow

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Great Wall of Canadian Energy Keeps Chinese on Outside

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shale gas boom to transform US into chemicals exporter

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US PIRG report finds reduced driving and rates of car commuting in most populous US urbanized areas

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The U.S. energy independence story: Will anyone be punished if it turns out to be wrong?

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Now the world needs new energy systems

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

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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WTI Crude Caps Biggest Weekly Gain Since July on Economy

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Futures Gain 5.3% For The Week After Robust Jobs Report

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Goldman tells oil market U.S. is the new China as cycle reverses

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

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple