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U.S. rail petroleum delivery up 18.6 percent for week ending Dec. 7

U.S. rail delivery of crude oil was up 18.6 percent last week from the previous week, the American Association of Railroads said. The AAR said Thursday 14,831 carloads of crude oil, or about 10.3 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the rail system last week. So far this year, 665,450 carloads, or about 465 million barrels of oil, were delivered by rail, a 32.1 percent increase from the same period last year, the trade group said. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy Department, said domestic oil production averaged 8 million barrels in November, the highest for any month since 1988. An accelerating pace of oil production in the United States has placed a burden on pipeline capacity, industry officials say. U.S. oil production has increased in part because of gains from states including Texas and North Dakota. The […]

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Canada Considers Classifying Crude as High-Risk Good

Canada is considering measures to treat crude oil as a high-risk, dangerous product that would require rail shippers to have government-approved emergency-response plans in place, a government official said Friday. The initiative would be part of a broad package of measures the Canadian government will likely unveil early in 2014 to boost rail safety, the official said. The transport of oil by rail has been under heightened scrutiny since last July, when the derailment of a train in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killed 47 people. That train, operated by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Inc., was carrying crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region. Preliminary findings by Canadian transportation-safety regulators suggested the oil carried on those derailed railcars was more flammable than its shippers originally indicated. Investigators also suggested the amount of braking force applied to the train, which was left unattended outside Lac-Mégantic, was insufficient for the grade on which […]

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Energy Secretary Calls Oil Export Ban Dated

Signaling a possible break with 40 years of energy policy, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has suggested that it may be time for the Obama administration to reconsider the nation’s ban on exporting domestically produced crude oil. Congress made most oil exports without a license illegal in the 1970s to conserve supplies at a time when OPEC oil embargoes produced long lines at gas stations and threatened the American economy. But over the last five years a frenzy of oil drilling in shale rock formations in Texas and North Dakota have produced a glut of crude in the Midwest and Gulf of Mexico states. “Those restrictions on exports were born, as was the Department of Energy and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, on oil disruptions,” Mr. Moniz said in remarks to reporters at the Platts Global Energy Outlook forum in New York on Thursday. “There are lots of issues […]

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Bakken Update, Is Production Slowing Down?

The Bakken production data published by North Dakota is out with October production data.  ND Monthly Bakken Oil Production Statistics (Bakken Only) and ND Monthly Oil Production Statistics (All North Dakota) . The below chart is North Dakota Bakken barrels per day and All North Dakota Barrels per day. As you can see it’s mostly Bakken and very little "the rest of North Dakota. Bakken Barrels Per Day   It looks like there is a pattern developing. I charted the month to month percent change in the chart below with a line indicating a possible trend. Bakken Percent Change   Basically I think you can ignore everything before July 2011. That is because that was the month the surge started, additional wells almost tripled that month and Bakken production has tripled since that date. From the  Director’s Cut :  The drilling rig count was unchanged from Sep to Oct […]

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BP Still Paying For Deepwater Horizon Blowout

More Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill A little over three years ago – April 20, 2010, to be exact – a drilling rig named the Deepwater Horizon was drilling in the Gulf of Mexico when an explosion occurred and created one of the largest oil spills in history. The accident killed 11 people, and the drilling rig sank two days later on April 22. The well oozed crude oil and natural gas until for several months. On July 15, the well was temporarily plugged and completely plugged on September 19. The blowout of the Deepwater Horizon was a great tragedy in many ways. But what has happened to BP, the company that was the operator of the well, is a tragedy, too. For example, the Gulf Settlement Program, which was created to make monetary awards to people who had been harmed by the accident, has awarded millions […]

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Chevron agrees to explore Polish shale gas potential

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 13 (UPI) — PGNiG, a Polish state-owned energy company, said it reached a deal with a Chevron subsidiary to explore for shale natural gas in southeastern Poland. State-owned Polish Petroleum and Gas Mining, known by its Polish initials PGNiG, said the deal was signed in Warsaw with Chevron Polish Energy Resources. PGNiG President Jerzy Kurella said both sides would benefit by sharing the exploration risks, including the possible costs associated with development of the shale gas reserves in southeastern Poland. "We could benefit from the experience of Chevron in the exploration and production of shale gas around the world," he said in a statement Thursday. Chevron said if the exploration effort proves successful, both sides would form a joint venture for further operations in the license areas. Neither company offered an estimate of the reserve potential in the license areas. The Polish government estimates it has […]

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Energy Crunch: Energy round-up: why the government should stick to its carbon budget

Photo credit: bryanburke/flickr. Creative Commons 2.0 license .  Three things you shouldn’t miss this week Cost savings fear if greenhouse gas targets are scaled back  –  Watering down the UK’s efforts to tackle global warming would risk wiping out at least £100bn in cost savings even if shale gas production takes off.   New shale gas drilling areas to be revealed as communities promised £100,000 benefits for fracking  –  Large swathes of UK to be opened up for shale drilling, with communities where fracking takes place to receive £100,000, even if no gas is produced.   IEA projection of global all-liquids production to 2035.  The ‘New Policies’ scenario takes into account policy commitments and plans that have already been implemented, as well as those that have been announced. Source: IEA 2012 World Energy Outlook. Paris, France: International Energy Agency.   Weakening the UK’s Fourth Carbon Budget has no legal […]

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Inexpensive oil vanishing at alarming rate Add to …

The United States is awash in shale oil. Iran, once OPEC’s second-largest producer, is slowly ramping up output. Oil consumption growth in the Western world has been somewhere between negative and flat since the 2008 financial crisis. The “peak oil” theory has pretty much vanished, along with The Oil Drum, the bible of peak oil believers. Rest in peace. TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline. Or turn in your grave, for the oil price charts tell a different story. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures are up 13 per cent over one year. Since 2009, they have climbed every year except 2012. In Europe, the Brent crude futures are flat over the year after rising three years on the trot. Brent, the de facto global benchmark, trades at about $108 (U.S.) a barrel; West Texas Intermediate, the North American benchmark, is at $97. For the sake of […]

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Post Carbon Institute: The Next 10 Years

During the past decade Post Carbon Institute’s influence has grown markedly, thanks in no small part to all our supporters and allies . And we’re proud of the impressive list of accomplishments we’ve racked up ( see this ) in that time. Where do we go from here? That depends on what’s needed and what’s possible. Our mission remains consistent, but our projects tend to shift as global events unfold (for example, my two most recent books, The End of Growth and Snake Oil were written in response to the global financial crisis and the recent North American fracking boom, respectively). We have a general understanding of what likely will drive change over the next decade: peak net energy, climate change, resource depletion, and financial bubbles. However, how these main drivers interact with established economic and political institutions, growing population, and Earth’s already-strained […]

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Oil prices down as Libya plans to resume output

Oil prices were subdued Friday amid the possibility of new supplies from the Middle East after a Libyan militia said oil terminals could reopen. Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was down 9 cents to $97.41 a barrel at mid-afternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 6 cents on Thursday to settle at $97.50. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, eased 4 cents to $108.34 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London. The Libyan militia that shut down most of the country’s oil terminals for months has said the terminals will reopen Dec. 15. Libya has been losing millions of dollars every day after production dropped from 1.4 billion barrels a day to a few thousand since the closure. Libya has said it hopes to increase output to 2 million barrels a day […]

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WTI Poised for Weekly Loss Amid Fed Stimulus Taper Expectations

West Texas Intermediate crude headed for a weekly drop amid speculation that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of economic stimulus in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures swung between gains and losses in New York and are set for a 0.3 percent decline this week. U.S. retail sales increased more than estimated in November, government data showed yesterday, adding to expectations that the Fed will taper bond buying as soon as next week. Oil may fall in the coming days as the nation’s fuel inventories expand amid reduced demand, according to a Bloomberg News survey. “Tapering of stimulus is seen as a hawkish maneuver,” said Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney, said by phone today. “As markets look for the terminal point, tapering may damage the outlook for demand. Bulls and bears are at evens based on existing fundamentals.” […]

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Natural Gas Futures Settle At Highest Price Since July 2011

Natural gas futures climbed to their highest price in nearly two and a half years Thursday after a government storage report showed a supply decline last week that was greater than normal for this time of year. Meanwhile, weather forecasts continue to project more frigid temperatures later this month. Natural gas for January delivery settled 7.2 cents higher, or 1.7%, to $4.409 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose to their highest level since July 20, 2011 and have gained 27% since Nov. 5. "We had a fairly mild winter last year and so far it’s turning out be pretty cold this year. A lot of people are trading […]

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Natural-Gas Prices Heat Up

The big chill gripping the U.S. is heating up the natural-gas market. Prices climbed to a two-and-a-half-year high on Thursday as one of the coldest autumns in more than a decade has kept stoking demand for the heating fuel. The run-up has helped investors who bet that gas prices would rise once temperatures fell. But it is bad news for utilities, which use gas to fuel power plants but are prevented in many states from immediately passing higher prices along to consumers. If the rally is sustained, it will spell relief for producers, which have struggled with low prices for years as output has soared. As cold weather set in across the Midwest and Northeast in November, utilities have been forced to use more gas, sending prices up more than 26% since Nov. 1. The added demand has sapped supplies. Gas in storage dropped by 81 billion cubic feet […]

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Iran's fears of being a target cloud nuke talks

Assassinations, cyber-attacks and possible military strikes: As nuclear negotiations with Iran enter a crucial stage, Tehran is voicing fears that tougher oversight of its activities will increase the risks of an attack on its atomic facilities and the scientists working on them. Iranian fears that the country’s nuclear activities are a target are plausible but some nuclear experts say such concerns are overblown. Five of Tehran’s nuclear scientists and researchers have been killed in Iran since 2010 and a computer virus aimed at the heart of Tehran’s nuclear program temporarily slowed its uranium enrichment activities three years ago. Since then, Iran has claimed to have thwarted other potential malware invasions. It blames Israel, the United States or their allies for the physical and virtual attacks There have been no reports of recent attacks, but Iranian officials are clearly concerned that opening their nuclear program to greater […]

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Iran’s fears of being a target cloud nuke talks

Assassinations, cyber-attacks and possible military strikes: As nuclear negotiations with Iran enter a crucial stage, Tehran is voicing fears that tougher oversight of its activities will increase the risks of an attack on its atomic facilities and the scientists working on them. Iranian fears that the country’s nuclear activities are a target are plausible but some nuclear experts say such concerns are overblown. Five of Tehran’s nuclear scientists and researchers have been killed in Iran since 2010 and a computer virus aimed at the heart of Tehran’s nuclear program temporarily slowed its uranium enrichment activities three years ago. Since then, Iran has claimed to have thwarted other potential malware invasions. It blames Israel, the United States or their allies for the physical and virtual attacks There have been no reports of recent attacks, but Iranian officials are clearly concerned that opening their nuclear program to greater […]

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White House Wins Delay on New Iran Sanctions

The White House on Thursday blocked Congress from passing new sanctions against Iran, at least through the end of the year. Lawmakers in the House and Senate will not vote on new sanctions this year, following a White House campaign to stall legislative action for at least six months while the U.S. and other nations negotiate a comprehensive deal over Tehran’s nuclear program. Congress could return next year and adopt new sanctions, but the delay in a vote has bought the White House more time to make its case amid political pressure over President Barack Obama’s gamble to pursue diplomacy with Iran. As important, more Democrats have fallen in line behind Mr. Obama’s diplomacy, making it less likely they will help advance legislation undermining the Iran talks. In a bid to reduce opposition to an interim deal reached last month between world powers and Iran, the administration blacklisted more […]

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Iran, world powers work on how to implement nuclear deal

Experts from Iran and six world powers labored for a fourth day on Thursday to work out exactly how to implement last month’s breakthrough deal for Tehran to curb its nuclear program in return for limited sanctions easing. The length of the closed-door discussions at the Vienna headquarters of the U.N. nuclear watchdog indicated the complexity of the task, not necessarily any major disagreements. Diplomats said it showed the parties were determined to ensure that there would be no misunderstandings in the implementation of the November 24 interim agreement. It is a "good sign" they are taking their time to get it right, one said. Iranian officials suggested after the second day of talks on Tuesday that progress was being made but have since declined to comment. Diplomats said the discussions were likely to continue on Friday and might stretch into the weekend. Experts from Iran, […]

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Saudis Shy Away from Unilateral Oil Output Cut

Saudi Arabia won’t unilaterally cut oil production as it and fellow OPEC members discuss how to cope with a possible increase in global crude output, said people familiar with the matter. This month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a group of some of the world’s largest oil producers, said it would keep its output ceiling unchanged. But OPEC officials have been publicly and privately jostling over whether the group might have to throttle back—should global oil output rise significantly and threaten to weaken prices—and how to divvy up any cuts among members. For the past two years, Saudi Arabia has essentially promised to steady markets no matter what fractious OPEC delegates decide. Saudi ministers walked out of an OPEC meeting in 2011 after members failed to agree to raise the group’s collective output to help make up for lost global output owing to civil war in Libya. […]

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U.N. confirms chemical arms were used repeatedly in Syria

Chemical weapons were likely used in five out of seven attacks investigated by U.N. experts in Syria, where a 2 1/2-year civil war has killed more than 100,000 people, according to the final report of a U.N. inquiry published on Thursday. U.N. investigators said the deadly nerve agent sarin was likely used in four incidents, in one case on a large scale. The report noted that in several cases the victims included government soldiers and civilians, though it was not always possible to establish with certainty any direct links between the attacks, the victims and the alleged sites of the incidents. "The United Nations Mission concludes that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic," the final report by chief U.N. investigator Ake Sellstrom said. Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari and the opposition Syrian National Coalition […]

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Mexico Lower House Passes Oil Overhaul to End State Monopoly

Mexico ’s lower house passed an energy bill that ends Petroleos Mexicanos’s 75-year oil monopoly in a bid to attract foreign investment and boost growth. Lawmakers approved the bill in general terms in a 354-134 vote late yesterday and continue to discuss minority-party challenges to specific articles. If these are rejected, the initiative will be sent to Mexico’s states, where it’s likely to receive approval from more than half of the legislatures, the threshold for changing the constitution. The bill, passed by the Senate two days ago, would change Mexico’s charter to permit companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) to drill for oil for the first time since 1938. It would allow production sharing and licenses for outside companies that will also be able to log crude reserves for accounting purposes. Supporters say it will boost economic growth, while opponents say it will funnel […]

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Nigeria's leader under fire over missing $50B in oil money

President Goodluck Jonathan is under growing pressure from top-level corruption in Nigeria’s oil industry, with the central bank asking what happened to $50 billion in missing oil revenues and his political mentor, former president Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo complaining about massive fraud in the industry. Meantime, massive oil theft in the Niger Delta, the southern region where Nigeria’s oil production is centered, is rising amid reports of growing politicization of militants who have been blamed for much of the theft in recent years. They have threatened to bring oil production to a halt by 2015 unless the government and foreign oil companies compensate impoverished villagers for massive environmental damage in the region and introduce more equitable sharing of oil revenue. The multifaceted oil issue is becoming a major problem for Jonathan, who hails from the Christian south himself, and is currently grappling with a […]

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Nigeria’s leader under fire over missing $50B in oil money

President Goodluck Jonathan is under growing pressure from top-level corruption in Nigeria’s oil industry, with the central bank asking what happened to $50 billion in missing oil revenues and his political mentor, former president Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo complaining about massive fraud in the industry. Meantime, massive oil theft in the Niger Delta, the southern region where Nigeria’s oil production is centered, is rising amid reports of growing politicization of militants who have been blamed for much of the theft in recent years. They have threatened to bring oil production to a halt by 2015 unless the government and foreign oil companies compensate impoverished villagers for massive environmental damage in the region and introduce more equitable sharing of oil revenue. The multifaceted oil issue is becoming a major problem for Jonathan, who hails from the Christian south himself, and is currently grappling with a […]

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Mexico Congress Passes Historic Energy Bill

Mexico’s Congress voted amid fistfights and shouts of "treason" to end the 75-year monopoly of the state-owned oil firm Petróleos Mexicanos. The landmark bill aims to open the door for foreign oil giants to return to one of the world’s biggest energy markets for the first time since 1938. The bill passed the lower house 354-134 just minutes before midnight Wednesday, a day after it passed the Senate, and on Thursday Congress cleared the remaining related articles. Proponents say the initiative will attract tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment, lift Mexico’s sluggish economic growth, and add to a North American energy boom that could lower costs for manufacturers across the region. The vote itself was high drama. Opponents from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) tried to prevent discussion by blockading the entrances to the lower house’s main voting hall. Lawmakers from the ruling […]

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Mexican oil future uncertain beyond 2015

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 12 (UPI) — A move in the Mexican Senate to review the privatization of the nation’s oil sector could create unease among potential investors, an energy consultant said. The Mexican Senate approved a measure Tuesday to open the energy sector up to private investors, ending a monopoly for state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, known also as Pemex. A measure introduced in the lower house, however, calls for a national vote on the privatization measure in 2015. Jorge Chavez , a former Mexican government official now serving as an energy consultant in Mexico City, told the Wall Street Journal the new referendum adds a layer of uncertainty to Mexico’s energy future. "From here to 2015, are companies going to want to invest?" he was quoted as asking Wednesday. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto outlined his privatization proposal in August to revive the oil and natural gas sector […]

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Mexico’s Pride, Oil, May Be Opened to Outsiders

Every gas station in Mexico is stamped with the green-and-white logo of the state-owned oil monopoly, the economic lifeblood of the government. Oil Expropriation Day, commemorating the day Mexico seized control of the industry from foreign companies in 1938, is celebrated with speeches and even parades in some towns. An old song, “The Oil Worker Hymn,” credits oil with “saving our fatherland.” But now, in what could be the biggest economic change in two decades, President Enrique Peña Nieto is on the verge of rewriting the Constitution to open Mexico’s oil, gas and electricity industry to private investment — a provocative move expected to lure international oil companies and expand North America’s energy supply while testing the grip oil has on Mexico’s soul. “We must defend our oil,” Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a three-time presidential candidate and son of the president who nationalized the oil industry, […]

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In China, Western Companies Cut Jobs as Growth Ebbs

After years of rapid expansion in China, some Western companies are shedding jobs as the world’s second-largest economy grows at its lowest rate in more than 20 years. Hewlett-Packard Co. says it is laying off a small percentage of its workforce in China, which the company calls one of its most important markets. Johnson & Johnson is cutting its pharmaceutical sales force by an undisclosed amount, people close to the company say. Software-services provider Bsquare Corp. BSQR -1.21% BSQUARE Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq $ 3.26 -0.04 -1.21% Dec. 12, 2013 3:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 11,225 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap $37.07 Million Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $382,303 More quote details and news » BSQR in Your Value Your Change Short position is shutting its Beijing office, the Bellevue, Wash., company said in October, two months after telling analysts that "sales productivity was not up to […]

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Another cost blowout for Chevron's Gorgon LNG in Australia

Oil and gas giant Chevron Corporation has revealed the cost of its massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas project on Western Australia’s Barrow Island has increased to $54 billion. The cost blowout comes a year after the cost estimate for Gorgon, the world’s largest LNG development, was raised from $37 billion to $52 billion. Chevron said the project, under construction for four years, is nearly 75 percent complete. The company said Gorgon’s plant start-up and first gas is planned for mid-2015, a year later than initially planned. In a release Wednesday announcing the company’s 2014 overall capital and exploration budget, Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland said lessons learned from Gorgon’s complex construction were being applied to the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project, also in Western Australia, which he said remains on schedule and on budget and is nearly 25 percent complete. The economics of […]

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Another cost blowout for Chevron’s Gorgon LNG in Australia

Oil and gas giant Chevron Corporation has revealed the cost of its massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas project on Western Australia’s Barrow Island has increased to $54 billion. The cost blowout comes a year after the cost estimate for Gorgon, the world’s largest LNG development, was raised from $37 billion to $52 billion. Chevron said the project, under construction for four years, is nearly 75 percent complete. The company said Gorgon’s plant start-up and first gas is planned for mid-2015, a year later than initially planned. In a release Wednesday announcing the company’s 2014 overall capital and exploration budget, Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland said lessons learned from Gorgon’s complex construction were being applied to the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project, also in Western Australia, which he said remains on schedule and on budget and is nearly 25 percent complete. The economics of […]

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US crude export ban may be outdated, but SPR won't change: Moniz

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Thursday said with the US awash in domestically produced oil, it may be time to review the country’s ban on crude exports. But the Department of Energy has no immediate plans to change the composition of or sell off any part of the key Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he said. "There certainly is a need for a reserve," Moniz told reporters in a briefing at the Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum in New York. "In general terms, I do think that a relook at how the reserve is managed could be relevant, [but] going forward, nothing imminent." Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand trends, government […]

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US crude export ban may be outdated, but SPR won’t change: Moniz

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Thursday said with the US awash in domestically produced oil, it may be time to review the country’s ban on crude exports. But the Department of Energy has no immediate plans to change the composition of or sell off any part of the key Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he said. "There certainly is a need for a reserve," Moniz told reporters in a briefing at the Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum in New York. "In general terms, I do think that a relook at how the reserve is managed could be relevant, [but] going forward, nothing imminent." Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand trends, government […]

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Experts Eye Oil and Gas Industry as Quakes Shake Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY — Mary Catherine Sexton has been rattled enough. This fall her neighborhood in the northeastern part of this city has been shaken by dozens of minor earthquakes. “We would just have little trembles all the time,” she said. Even before a magnitude 4.5 quake on Saturday knocked objects off her walls and a stone from above her neighbor’s bay window, Ms. Sexton was on edge. “People are fed up with the earthquakes,” she said. “Our kids are scared. We’re scared.” Oklahoma has never been known as earthquake country, with a yearly average of about 50 tremors, almost all of them minor. But in the past three years, the state has had thousands of quakes. This year has been the most active, with more than 2,600 so far, including 87 last week. While most have been too slight to be felt, some, like the quake on Saturday and […]

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Marathon thinks big on U.S. shale deposits

Marathon Oil President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Tillman said a $3.5 billion investment in U.S. shale resources will encourage production growth in 2014. Marathon said it would invest more than 60 percent of its $5.9 billion in capital expenses next year on developing the Eagle Ford, Bakken and Woodford shale reserve areas in the United States. “This increased activity underpins our confidence in delivering approximately 4 percent year-on-year growth in overall 2014 volume,” Tillerman said in a statement Wednesday. The company has more than two dozen drilling rigs deployed in U.S. shale reserves areas. Tillerman said rig activity in the Bakken area in the northern United States and Eagle Ford in Texas, should increase by 20 percent next year. Rig activity in the Woodford region of Oklahoma should double in 2014. Bakken is one of the premier oil shale reserves areas in […]

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Keystone Backed in Poll by 56% of Americans as Energy Security

More Americans view the Keystone XL oil pipeline as a benefit to U.S. energy security than as an environmental risk, even as they say Canada should do more to reduce greenhouse gases in exchange for approval of the project. A Bloomberg National Poll shows support for the $5.4 billion link between Alberta ’s oil sands and U.S. Gulf Coast refineries remains strong, with 56 percent of respondents viewing it as a chance to reduce dependence on oil imports from less reliable trading partners. That compares with the 35 percent who say they see it more as a potential source of damaging oil spills and harmful greenhouse gas emissions. A push by environmental groups against the project may be affecting public opinion: 58 percent of poll respondents say they want Canada to take steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as a condition for approval, with 32 percent opposing such a […]

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Anadarko’s Kerr-McGee Held Liable in Tronox Spinoff

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) and its Kerr-McGee unit acted improperly in the 2005 spinoff of Tronox Inc. and may have to pay as much as $14 billion related to environmental cleanup and health claims, a judge ruled. Anadarko plunged 9.3 percent in after-hours trading, cutting its market value to $38 billion. The judge’s ruling yesterday weighed how much money can be recovered from a successor to a polluting company, even after bankruptcy has ostensibly cleaned the slate of obligations. The company said it expects to appeal the ruling. The case stems from Kerr-McGee’s spinoff of its chemicals business and old environmental liabilities as Tronox beginning in 2005. About three months after that transaction was completed, Anadarko offered to buy Kerr-McGee’s oil and natural gas assets for $18 billion. Burdened by environmental debts, Tronox filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and sued Anadarko and Kerr-McGee the same year. A nonjury trial […]

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Peak Car? We’re Not Even Close

Page added on December 12, 2013 The term “peak oil” has been around for decades, referring to when domestic oil production in America would peak. The jury is still out on peak oil, though the latest term to go around is “peak car”, with some studies indicating that the American car market is over saturated, and shrinking. But on a global scale, we’re not even close to reaching peak car. From 2006 to 2011, miles driven by Americans fell in three-quarters of urbanized areas where recent data was available. That’s quite specific, and also includes four of the five toughest economic years since the Great Depression. This data definitely screams out “selection bias!” to me, as high unemployment and stagnant wages means less reasons and less money for, you know, driving. While the study claims the economy has little to no impact on driving, again, by focusing only on […]

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Titan moon's colossal methane seas

Ligeia Mare is twice the area of Lake Michigan in the US Measurements of a big sea on Titan, a moon of Saturn, show that it contains about 9,000 cubic km of mostly liquid methane. This huge volume is equivalent, say scientists, to about 40 times the proven reserves of oil and gas on Earth. The extraordinary thing is that Ligeia Mare is only the second largest hydrocarbon sea on Titan . The body of liquid methane known as Kraken is perhaps five times as big. "What you’re talking about here is essentially liquefied natural gas," explained Randy Kirk from the US Geological Survey (USGS). "People ask me if you could bring it to Earth, and that’s a dumb idea on many levels. But what you might not realise is that there […]

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Titan moon’s colossal methane seas

Ligeia Mare is twice the area of Lake Michigan in the US Measurements of a big sea on Titan, a moon of Saturn, show that it contains about 9,000 cubic km of mostly liquid methane. This huge volume is equivalent, say scientists, to about 40 times the proven reserves of oil and gas on Earth. The extraordinary thing is that Ligeia Mare is only the second largest hydrocarbon sea on Titan . The body of liquid methane known as Kraken is perhaps five times as big. "What you’re talking about here is essentially liquefied natural gas," explained Randy Kirk from the US Geological Survey (USGS). "People ask me if you could bring it to Earth, and that’s a dumb idea on many levels. But what you might not realise is that there […]

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US Energy Independence: Another Pipe Dream

One of Canada’s top energy analysts has warned investors and geologists that “the shale revolution” will not meet conventional expectations as a so-called game-changer in energy production. Speaking at the Denver meeting of the Geological Society of America and later at Queen’s University and an energy conference in Toronto, David Hughes challenged the assumptions of industry cheerleaders by spelling out startling depletion rates for high-cost unconventional shale and tight oil wells. “The shale revolution has been a game-changer in that it has temporarily reversed a terminal decline in supplies from conventional sources,” said Hughes in both talks given in late October and early November. “Long-term sustainability is questionable and environmental impacts are a major concern.” The geoscientist, who now […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Advances Ahead of Storage Report

Natural gas prices climbed to a seven-month high Wednesday on expectations that colder-than-average weather would fuel demand for gas-powered heating and help reduce high supply levels. Natural gas for January delivery settled up 10 cents, or 2.4%, to $4.337 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since April 30. Market participants are looking ahead to weekly government reports showing natural gas inventory levels in the weeks ended Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, both of which are expected to show large declines in stockpiles. Colder-than-average weather has supported natural gas prices in recent weeks by boosting demand for heating in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EIA Sees 2014 US Natgas Output Up From 2013 Record High

The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its estimate on Tuesday for domestic natural gas production in 2014, expecting output next year to be up 1.4 percent from 2013’s estimated record-high levels. In its December Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA said it expected marketed natural gas production in 2014 to rise by 0.98 billion cubic feet per day from 2013 to 71.43 bcf per day, up from its November outlook of 71.03 bcf daily. If the forecast is realized, it would be the fourth straight year of record production. Growth has mostly been driven by rising production in the Marcellus shale play in Appalachia, which has more than outpaced declines in offshore Gulf of Mexico and Haynesville shale output. Pipeline imports from Canada are expected to decline slightly next year, falling to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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IEA sees non-OPEC oil supply growing

The International Energy Agency said Wednesday from Paris it expected crude oil demand to increase at the same time production from non-OPEC members rises. The IEA published its oil market report for December. It raised its estimate of global crude oil demand for 2013 because economies in the 34-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development performed well during the third quarter of the year. OECD members include the United States and Canada, two countries leading in terms of oil production from states outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC, in its monthly market report for December, said it expected OECD economies to grow 1.9 percent next year, compared to the 1.2 percent growth rate for 2013. World economic growth is expected to increase from 2.9 percent in 2013 to 3.5 percent next year. Economic growth typically translates to a higher demand for petroleum […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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OPEC Update, November Production Data

OPEC just published their latest  Monthly Oil Market Report  with crude only production data through November 2013. Their October numbers were revised downward by 67,000 barrels per day to 29,827 kb/d. Their November production was 29,633 /b/d. That was 261 kb/d below their unrevised October production and 194 kb/d below their revised October production numbers. OPEC production at 29,633,000 bp/d is at their lowest point since June 2011. As you can see from the chart OPEC has hat two peaks since 2005. Actually these are the two highest peaks ever for OPEC if the EIA data is correct. I only have MOMR data going back to January 2005. The July 2008 peak was 31,672,000 bp/d and the April 12 peak was 31,619,000 bp/d. I thought it might be interesting to plot who was up and who was down since those two peaks. The […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Basra oil workers renew protests

Hundreds of workers in Basra’s oil sector, including those seconded to fields operated by foreign oil companies, have restarted a campaign to pressure the Iraqi government to accede to demands for increased compensation, better living conditions and an end to punishment of union leaders.A rally held Tuesday outside the state-run South Oil Company (SOC) headquarters included politicians who, though not the most powerful in the country, will give the workers’ plight an added spotlight just fou…

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Sanctions cloud Iran, Pakistan pipeline prospects

The Pakistani government said Wednesday it was ready to move ahead with a gas pipeline from Iran but needed assurances regarding the impact of U.S. sanctions. Pakistani Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met Monday in Tehran with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh to discuss moving forward on a long-planned natural gas pipeline from Iran. A Pakistani government official told the Express Tribune on condition of anonymity there were concerns in Islamabad about U.S. sanctions on Iran. “We cannot move ahead with the project unless the issue of possible U.S. sanctions is resolved,” the official said. Iran got relief from Western economic sanctions in exchange for nuclear concessions after reaching an interim deal with multilateral negotiators last month. Iran’s trade in the energy sector, however, is still limited by sanctions. The Pakistani government said it needs more sources of natural gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Showdown on Iraqi Kurds' oil, gas is looming

The thorny dispute over Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil riches is likely to heat up in the weeks ahead, aggravating tensions in a flashpoint region at a time when al-Qaida bombers are wreaking havoc across the country spurred by the civil war raging in next-door Syria. The semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in the Kurdish enclave that spans three provinces in northern Iraq wants to export its oil and natural gas to neighboring Turkey through pipelines to be built by Ankara. Iraq’s federal government in Baghdad refuses to allow that and insists that the oil in question belongs to the state, and if it’s shipped north to Turkey should flow through state-controlled pipelines running from the Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey’s Mediterranean export terminal at Ceyhan. A few weeks ago, it looked like the KRG, headquartered in the city of Erbil, and Ankara had after months […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Showdown on Iraqi Kurds’ oil, gas is looming

The thorny dispute over Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil riches is likely to heat up in the weeks ahead, aggravating tensions in a flashpoint region at a time when al-Qaida bombers are wreaking havoc across the country spurred by the civil war raging in next-door Syria. The semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in the Kurdish enclave that spans three provinces in northern Iraq wants to export its oil and natural gas to neighboring Turkey through pipelines to be built by Ankara. Iraq’s federal government in Baghdad refuses to allow that and insists that the oil in question belongs to the state, and if it’s shipped north to Turkey should flow through state-controlled pipelines running from the Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey’s Mediterranean export terminal at Ceyhan. A few weeks ago, it looked like the KRG, headquartered in the city of Erbil, and Ankara had after months […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Syrian Industry Shot by Both Sides Suffers $2.4 Billion Hit

Syrian businessman Saeed Nahhas had already fled the country by the time his two workshops were engulfed by the civil war. Government shelling destroyed one that made packaging machines, and four months later rebels looted another that produced plastic bags and zippers. Nahhas was living in the Turkish province of Gaziantep near the Syrian border when he lost the two facilities. He decided to stay there and set up a new workshop while waiting for the conflict to end. “It’s a tragedy,” said Nahhas, 46. “And the longer the conflict drags on, the harder it will be for people to return and set up their businesses again.” As well as leaving more than 125,000 people dead since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began March 2011, the fighting has wiped out more than half of Syria ’s manufacturing output by crippling the network of small […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Top Western-Backed Rebel in Syria Is Forced to Flee

Islamist fighters ran the top Western-backed rebel commander in Syria out of his headquarters, and he fled the country, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The Islamists also took over key warehouses holding U.S. military gear for moderate fighters in northern Syria over the weekend. The takeover and flight of Gen. Salim Idris of the Free Syrian Army shocked the U.S., which along with Britain immediately froze delivery of nonlethal military aid to rebels in northern Syria. The turn of events was the strongest sign yet that the U.S.-allied FSA is collapsing under the pressure of Islamist domination of the rebel side of the war. It also weakened the Obama administration’s hand as it struggles to organize a peace conference next month bringing together rebels and the regime. The Islamic Front is a recently formed alliance of the largest Islamist rebel groups that excludes the two main al Qaeda-linked rebel groups—the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Suspends Nonlethal Aid to Syria Rebels

Just a month before a peace conference that will seek an end to the grinding civil war in Syria, the Obama administration’s decision to suspend the delivery of nonlethal aid to the moderate opposition demonstrated again the frustrations of trying to cultivate a viable alternative to President Bashar al-Assad. The administration acted after warehouses of American-supplied equipment were seized Friday by the Islamic Front, a coalition of Islamist fighters who have broken with the moderate, American-backed opposition, but who also battle Al Qaeda. Administration officials said that the suspension, confirmed on Wednesday, was temporary and that the nonlethal aid, which is supplied by the State Department, could flow again. But with rebels feuding with one another instead of concentrating on fighting Mr. Assad, and with the United States still groping for a reliable partner in Syria, the odds of any peace conference breaking the cycle of bloodshed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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How Shale Helped Frack Mexico's Energy Impasse

After decades of inertia, the energy-reform proposal given general approval by the Mexican Senate late Tuesday goes even further than many had expected. The country’s rapidly changing energy relationship with its northern neighbor helps explain why. Mexico’s dismal decline in oil production, to 2.94 million barrels per day last year from 3.85 million in 2004, is the obvious impetus for trying to coax in more foreign money and expertise. But an even starker picture emerges when you look at Mexico’s overall energy trade in oil and gas with the U.S. Using trailing 12-month averages, Mexico’s exports of crude oil to the U.S. peaked at 1.63 million barrels per day in fall 2006. By August this year, that was down to less than 0.9 million barrels—a level last seen in the early 1990s. U.S. exports of crude oil are effectively prohibited, but that isn’t true for refined products such as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple