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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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