Category:

Brent Crude Skids on Reported South Sudan Recapture of Oil City

Brent crude futures slid Friday on news that the South Sudanese government has recaptured a key oil city from rebel forces. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe fell as low as $106.06 a barrel on the news, after trading as high as $107.25 a barrel earlier in the session. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 61 cents, or 0.6%, to $92.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Violence in South Sudan in recent weeks has boosted Brent, the international oil benchmark, as halted crude-oil exports from the young nation have reduced global supplies. Agence France-Presse reported Friday that South Sudanese troops have recaptured Bentiu, a key northern oil city, citing a spokesman for President Salva Kiir. Rebel forces seized Bentiu in late December, forcing oil companies to halt as many as 40,000 barrels a day of crude production from oil fields around the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Rises Most in a Month as Jobs Data Limits Fed Concern

West Texas Intermediate crude gained the most in a month as worse-than-expected jobs data reduced concern that the Federal Reserve will further pare bond buying. Futures rallied from an eight-month low and trimmed a second weekly decline. Payrolls increased in December at the slowest pace since January 2011 and the unemployment rate dropped as more people left the labor force . Prices also went up China’s crude imports climbed to a record and on speculation that an $8.66 slide in the previous eight days was excessive. “The Fed is probably not in any rush to tighten, and they’ll probably continue to have a very accommodative stand for quite some time,” said Kyle Cooper , director of commodities research at IAF Advisors in Houston. “The China data showed that global oil demand is still strong. Crude had fallen $8 in the last few days and it’s just a little bit […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Falls on Week as Cold Weather Subsides

Natural gas gained Friday, but ended lower for the week as traders weighed unusually strong heating demand earlier in the week against forecasts for more moderate temperatures. Natural gas for February delivery settled up 4.8 cents, or 1.2%, to $4.053 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell 5.8% on the week, the worst one-week decline since November. Prices traded above $4.25/mmBtu earlier in the week as record-cold temperatures across the central and eastern U.S. fueled demand for gas-powered heating in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S. natural-gas demand hit a record high of 138.9 billion cubic feet […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Sources: Iran and Russia closing in on trade agreement

Iran  and  Russia  are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month that would let Iran increase oil exports substantially, undermining Western sanctions that helped persuade Tehran in November to accept a preliminary deal to curb its nuclear program. Russian and Iranian sources close to the barter negotiations said final details were in discussion for a deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods, according to the Reuters news agency. "Good progress is being made at the moment with strong chances of success," said a Russian source. "We are discussing the details, and the date of signing a deal depends on those details." The Kremlin declined to comment. "Our desire is to sign the deal as soon as possible," said a senior Iranian official, who declined to be named. "Our officials are discussing the matter […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Negotiators Move Closer on Iran Nuclear Pact

Iran and a group of six world powers moved closer on Friday to carrying out the nuclear agreement reached in November, with the Iranian side saying all outstanding issues have been resolved. The agreement, which still requires final approval by all the governments, would temporarily halt some of Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and deputy nuclear negotiator, said “we found solutions for all the points of disagreements” during a two-day meeting in Geneva with his counterpart representing the so-called P5-plus-1 countries: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, which are the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany. A spokesman for that side — represented by Helga Schmid, deputy to the lead negotiator, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s top foreign policy official — issued a statement that did not go quite […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran, Western Powers Close on Verge of Interim Nuclear Deal

Iran and Western powers closed in on an interim accord Friday that would provide for a six-month relaxation of tensions and, they hope, pave the way for a longer-term deal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program. A deal would provide concrete steps for how to implement the Nov. 24 agreement, which requires Iran to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for the easing of some of the West’s longtime sanctions against the country. If the interim deal is implemented, the two sides have given themselves 12 months to reach a broader, more comprehensive agreement that would represent a historic rapprochement between Iran and the West. But leaders of both sides say they hope to reach that deal sooner, within six months of the interim accord. U.S. and European officials hope that the implementation agreement will be finalized by the end of the month, marking the first formal warming of relations […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Al Qaeda group fights back against Syria rebel assault

Al Qaeda-linked jihadists struck back against rival rebels in eastern and northern Syria on Friday after a week of internecine fighting among opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in which 500 people have been killed, a monitoring group said. A coordinated offensive by armed groups had seized several strongholds of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in Aleppo, on the border with Turkey, and further east in Raqqa – the only city under control of Assad’s foes. But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIL fighters pushed back rival rebels on the eastern approaches of Raqqa on Friday. They also killed 20 fighters in the town of Al-Bab, north-east of Aleppo, the monitoring group said. The fighting comes less than two weeks before the planned start of international peace talks aimed at ending nearly three years of conflict in Syria, which the Observatory says […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Baghdad warns of legal action against Kurdish exports

Iraq’s Oil Ministry said it is “exceptionally dismayed” by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) announcement of independent crude sales and has accused Turkey of breaching treaty obligations by collaborating with the KRG to commandeer a leg of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP).The “Iraqi Federal Ministry of Oil, represented by SOMO [the State Oil Marketing Organization], is the exclusive sole official body authorized to enter into contracts for the export of hydrocarbon resource.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Jordan, Iraq mull prospects of pipeline from Basra to Aqaba

AMMAN, Jordan, Jan. 10 (UPI) — Jordan wants Iraq to move quickly on implementation of an oil pipeline from the Iraqi port city of Basra, the Jordanian prime minister said. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met in Amman with Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Karim al-Luaibi to discuss ties in the energy sector and said his government was interested in the quick development of a pipeline from Basra that could deliver as much as 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the Jordanian shore, the official Jordan News Agency reported Thursday. The pipeline would stretch from Basra to the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. Ensour said the private sector should play a role in a project that could eventually extend to Egypt and other Mediterranean countries. The Iraqi minister said there is the possibility of building an oil refinery and power plant in Aqaba in addition to a pipeline. In a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Baghdad Says It Is 'Bewildered' by Kurdistan's Oil Pact With Turkey

Iraqi Kurdistan’s aspiration to become an independent oil exporter took a hit Friday, when Baghdad criticized the semiautonomous region for publicly planning international sales before striking a deal with the central government. The Kurdistan Regional Government said it plans to sell the first parcel of oil at the end of January through the Kurdistan Oil Marketing Organization, rather than Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization. Iraq’s oil ministry responded with "deep regret" and bewilderment, saying Friday that Kurdistan’s plans are a "flagrant violation of the provisions of the Iraqi constitution." The ministry also criticized Turkey’s government for allowing Kurdish oil to pass through the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline without Baghdad’s consent. Exports without Baghdad’s approval could prove fraught. Iraq’s oil ministry has threatened to take legal action against any company that buys Kurdish oil exported without Baghdad’s blessing. The twist is the latest on a long and tortured road to an agreement […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Baghdad Says It Is ‘Bewildered’ by Kurdistan’s Oil Pact With Turkey

Iraqi Kurdistan’s aspiration to become an independent oil exporter took a hit Friday, when Baghdad criticized the semiautonomous region for publicly planning international sales before striking a deal with the central government. The Kurdistan Regional Government said it plans to sell the first parcel of oil at the end of January through the Kurdistan Oil Marketing Organization, rather than Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization. Iraq’s oil ministry responded with "deep regret" and bewilderment, saying Friday that Kurdistan’s plans are a "flagrant violation of the provisions of the Iraqi constitution." The ministry also criticized Turkey’s government for allowing Kurdish oil to pass through the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline without Baghdad’s consent. Exports without Baghdad’s approval could prove fraught. Iraq’s oil ministry has threatened to take legal action against any company that buys Kurdish oil exported without Baghdad’s blessing. The twist is the latest on a long and tortured road to an agreement […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Baker Hughes Sees Profit Hit on Iraq Disruption

Baker Hughes Inc. warned that a disruption to its business in Iraq last year will reduce its fourth-quarter profit by about $80 million. The oil-field services company, which resumed operations by the end of December, had warned in November that it suspended operations in Iraq following a protest incident at a facility belonging to one of its units. Baker Hughes had said there was a significant […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Exclusive: U.S. weighs targeted sanctions against South Sudan – sources

The United States is weighing targeted sanctions against South Sudan due to the failure of leaders in the world’s youngest nation to take steps to end a crisis that has brought the country to the brink of civil war, sources briefed on U.S. discussions told Reuters. "It’s a tool that has been discussed," a source told Reuters on condition of anonymity about the possibility of U.S. sanctions against those blocking peace efforts or fueling violence in South Sudan. Another source confirmed the remarks, though both declined to provide details on the precise measures under consideration. No decisions have been made yet, the sources added. Targeted sanctions focus on specific individuals, entities or sectors of country. The U.S. government was unlikely to consider steps intended to economically harm impoverished South Sudan but would likely focus on any measures on those individuals or groups it sees as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Sudan retakes oil town from rebels

South Sudanese troops on Friday retook the capital of an oil-producing state from rebels loyal to the country’s former vice president, a military spokesman said. Government troops retook Bentiu, the capital of Unity state, after a 2 1/2-hour battle, Col. Philip Aguer said. Aguer said the forces loyal to the former vice president, Riek Machar, had "destroyed" the town. Rebels looted the bank, stole food and set the market on fire, Aguer said. Doctors Without Borders, which is also known as MSF, said its facilities in Bentiu were also looted. "It is unacceptable that one of the only humanitarian organizations still providing assistance to the population in Bentiu has been looted," MSF General Director Arjan Hehenkamp said. The loss of Bentiu weakens Machar at the negotiating table in Ethiopia, where mediators are trying to defuse a political conflict that broke out Dec. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Sudan’s Death Toll Approaches 10,000 as Fighting Rages

The death toll in South Sudan ’s four-week-old conflict may be close to 10,000, as fighting continues in the world’s newest nation, the International Crisis Group said. “We believe the death toll to be approaching 10,000,” Casie Copeland, an analyst for Brussels-based ICG, said in an e-mailed response to questions. The United Nations has said the conflict has killed thousands of people and forced about 270,000 to flee their homes. The rebels estimate that as many as 6,000 people may have died. Government forces today recaptured Bentiu, capital of oil-producing Unity state, army spokesman Phillip Aguer said by phone from Juba. The army is now advancing on Bor, the capital of Jonglei state that’s currently held by the rebels, he said. Fighting began on Dec. 15 after President Salva Kiir accused former Vice President Riek Machar of trying to stage a coup, a charge Machar denies. The dispute escalated […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Italy's Eni Shuts Nigeria Pipeline After Sabotage

Eni SpA said Friday it had shut down an export pipeline following a sabotage in the Niger Delta of Nigeria as community unrest adds to oil theft to rattle the oil industry in the restive African nation. "There was a shutdown of the pipeline, due to sabotage" in Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria, a spokesman The pipeline, called Tedidaba-Brass pipeline and operated by a local Eni joint-venture, normally carries the high-quality Brass grade for export. The Eni spokesman said the Italian company was losing 3,500 barrels […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Italy’s Eni Shuts Nigeria Pipeline After Sabotage

Eni SpA said Friday it had shut down an export pipeline following a sabotage in the Niger Delta of Nigeria as community unrest adds to oil theft to rattle the oil industry in the restive African nation. "There was a shutdown of the pipeline, due to sabotage" in Bayelsa State, southern Nigeria, a spokesman The pipeline, called Tedidaba-Brass pipeline and operated by a local Eni joint-venture, normally carries the high-quality Brass grade for export. The Eni spokesman said the Italian company was losing 3,500 barrels […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Total joins UK’s pursuit of shale boom

Cuadrilla Shale Fracking Plant Total of France is to become the first major oil company to explore for shale gas in the UK, in a big boost for government efforts to create a US-style fracking boom on British soil . The deal, to be announced on Monday, will be seen as a big vote of confidence in the UK’s fledgling shale industry. The coalition has made the exploitation of Britain’s unconventional gas reserves a top priority, offering tax breaks to shale developers and promising big benefits to communities that host shale drillers. Total will announce on Monday a deal to join a shale gas exploration licence in the Midlands currently operated by Ecorp of the US, according to people familiar with the matter. The other partners in the project are Dart Energy and UK-listed Igas and Egdon Resources . George Osborne, chancellor, has argued that shale has “huge potential” […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. gas output hits record high, but growth slows

Natural gas output in the U.S. is hitting record levels, but there’s mounting evidence that the best days of the shale boom are over. Government data released Tuesday show production climbed to 70.21 billion cubic feet in 2013. Output grew by just 1.5% from 2012, the slowest rate since output fell in 2005, before widespread use of new drilling technologies began to unlock massive quantities of natural gas from shale rock formations. The EIA is projecting output to rise by 2.1% in 2014 and 1.3% in 2015. The slowdown has major implications for gas prices. As abundant supplies flooded the market, benchmark U.S. gas prices have fallen, averaging $3.20 per million British thermal units over the past five years, down from close to $9/mmBtu in 2008. Sustained bouts of cold weather this winter have eroded supplies, spiking prices to two-a-half-year highs near $4.50/mmBtu recently. A […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. oil boom could slip in 2015, feds forecast

The shale-oil boom that has lifted economies and made millionaires in Texas and North Dakota will slow next year for the first time since it began in 2011, a new federal forecast shows. U.S. oil producers are slated to increase their output by about 750,000 barrels per day in 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s first projections about the nation’s energy position next year, released this week. But that’s well below the 1.3-million-barrel growth in daily production forecast for this year and the growth in each of the past two years. And lower oil prices – falling, in part, because improved vehicle efficiency has reduced fuel demand – could dampen the incentive for energy companies to harvest as much oil from the dense shale rock, said John Staub, head of the information agency’s exploration and production team. Still, the agency says […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US jobs data puncture recovery hopes

New year hopes for an accelerating recovery in the US in 2014 were punctured on Friday after December saw the slowest pace of growth in new jobs for three years. Jobs growth, at just 74,000, came in far below expectations of a 197,000 increase. The data highlight the ongoing vulnerability of the US labour market, although the most likely cause of the recent weakness was miserable winter weather . The news is unlikely to put the US Federal Reserve off a further slowing of its asset purchases this month, from a pace of $75bn to $65bn. But it all but rules out a faster taper for now. In one of the most perverse jobs reports for months, the unemployment rate plunged from 7 to 6.7 per cent, despite weak jobs growth, as more people dropped out of looking for work. “We suspect that the unexpectedly weak 74,000 increase in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Court upholds approval of BP oil spill settlement

Over BP’s objections , a federal appeals court Friday upheld a judge’s approval of the company’s multibillion-dollar settlement with businesses and residents who claim the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico cost them money. BP has argued that U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier and court-appointed claims administrator Patrick Juneau have misinterpreted settlement terms in ways that would force the London-based oil giant to pay for billions of dollars in inflated or bogus claims by businesses. During a hearing in November before a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a BP lawyer argued that Barbier’s December 2012 approval of the deal shouldn’t stand unless the company ultimately prevails in its ongoing dispute over business payments. But the divided panel ruled Friday that Barbier did not err by failing to determine more than a year ago whether the class of eligible claimants included individuals […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Baker Hughes: U.S. oil well count declines but efficiency improves

Baker Hughes said Friday the number of oil wells counted inland in the United States in the fourth quarter declined but drilling efficiency improved. The oil services company, which has headquarters in Houston, issued a report saying the number of wells inland was 9,056, 19 fewer than the number recorded during the previous quarter. Despite the quarter-to-quarter decline, Baker Hughes said the well count for the final quarter was up 5 percent year-on-year. "Due to improved drilling efficiencies, the average U.S. onshore drilling rig now produces 9 percent more wells compared to the same quarter last year," the report said. Baker Hughes said the number of wells counted in the Eagle Ford, Mississippian and Marcellus shale basins increased but that gain was offset by declines in the Fayetteville and Granite Wash basins. New drilling technologies used in shale formations in the United States are […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. energy review welcomed by bipartisan think tank officials

Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet and other members of the Washington think tank welcomed a plan for a federal energy review. "It’s good to have a plan but what really matters is execution," Grumet said Thursday, responding to a White House announcement that it had begun its Quadrennial Energy Review. "Having all of the key agencies involved in a process like the QER increases the likelihood that the plan will lead to coordinated action," Grumet said. The White House said the nation’s energy sector was strained by climate change, cybersecurity threats and an increase in domestic oil and natural gas production. The QER will offer recommendations on how to transform the U.S. energy sector to meet 21st century conditions, Energy Department officials said. "The QER will identify important opportunities to modernize, expand, replace or transform our energy infrastructure system so that it better […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Safety of seismic surveys in Atlantic questioned

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) — A top member of a U.S. House committee on natural resources said he was worried about the ecological impact of potential energy surveys of the Atlantic Ocean. Rep. Peter DeFazio , D-Ore., ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, was joined by fellow Democrats from states bordering the Atlantic in expressing their concerns to the Department of Interior and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. DeFazio and his counterparts said they were concerned about how marine mammals would be impacted by potential seismic surveys used to get a better understanding of the reserve potential offshore. "Recent reports have shown that these activities can have significant impacts on marine mammals, fish, and their habitats, yet it is not at all clear that these impacts are being given serious consideration when decisions about offshore resource development are being made," they said in a joint statement […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Alaska unveils new way forward on gas line

Gov. Sean Parnell on Friday announced a new way forward on a long-hoped-for natural gas pipeline, including getting out from under terms of a 2007 law that he said no longer works well for the situation. In a major policy speech in Anchorage, Parnell said the state and Canadian pipeline builder TransCanada Corp. have agreed to terminate their involvement under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. He made clear, however, that TransCanada would remain a partner in the project, just under new terms. Parnell said he would seek legislative approval for state participation in a new commercial agreement with TransCanada and the North Slope’s three major players, Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and ConocoPhillips. He said he expected an agreement with a set of terms to be signed soon. The governor said he also would propose legislation that would allow the state to enter into shipping […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Chemical spill brings W.Va. capital to standstill

A chemical spill left the water for 300,000 people in and around West Virginia’s capital city stained blue-green and smelling like licorice, with officials saying Friday it was unclear when it might again be safe for even mundane activities like showers and laundry. Federal authorities began investigating how the foaming agent escaped a chemical plant and seeped into the Elk River. Just how much of the chemical leaked remained unclear. Officials are working with the company that makes the chemical to determine how much can be in the water without it posing harm to residents, said West Virginia American Water president Jeff McIntyre. "We don’t know that the water’s not safe. But I can’t say that it is safe," McIntyre said Friday. For now, there is no way to treat the tainted water aside from flushing the system until it’s in low enough […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Total of 69 vessels backed up at Mississippi River lock due to repairs

Some 69 barges and other craft remained backed up early Friday at a Mississippi River lock that feeds the primary barge route between Louisiana and Florida, the US Army Corps of Engineers said. The Corps website indicated 45 ships were backed up on the river side of the Inner Harbor Canal Lock and 24 were waiting in Lake Ponchartrain near New Orleans mid-morning Friday. The gear that operates the river entry to the lock sheared in half on the evening of January 3, Corps spokesman Rickey Boyett said. Repairs are expected to be completed by January 17, he said. The 5.5-mile lock feeds the saltwater Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which runs 1,100 miles from Brownsville, Texas, to Carrabelle, Florida. The waterway is the primary link for barged gasoline shipments moving from the Gulf Coast to Florida. "The backup has been holding steady. As news has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Canada Plans Tougher Tank-Car Standards

Canada plans tougher standards for new tank cars used to ship dangerous goods by rail, as concerns mount about the increased use of trains to ship crude oil across the continent in the wake of several fiery derailments. Canada’s Transport Department said Friday the proposed regulations would apply to newly built tank cars and require, for instance, that thicker steel be used in their construction. Canada will also require new designs for tank cars that carry liquefied natural gas. The changes would apply to general-purpose DOT-111 tank cars, the type involved in a tragic derailment last July in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, which killed 47 people. There have since been non-deadly derailments involving tank cars filled with crude in North Dakota and Alberta, and just this week, 150 residents of a small New Brunswick town were forced from their homes when a Canadian National Railway Co. CNR.T +1.40% Canadian National Railway […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

So much for “peak oil”

The Romans named the first month of the year after the double-headed god Janus, the symbol of thresholds and transitions. He reminds us how life often involves choices between opposites. Janus stands at January’s doorway looking at both 2013 and the New Year. One Janus-like debate in the energy sector revolves around the world’s oil and gas supply. Views are always vacillating between “there’s not enough” and “there’s more than enough”. This point would be trivial were it not for a recent dramatic shift towards the first view. Until the middle of the last decade, the popular view was that production of “non-renewable” energy resources was peaking. In a sense, […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Shale gas, peak oil and our future

The following interview with Richard Heinberg was originally published in Flemish at the Belgian website De Wereld Morgen . The interview was given in conjunction with the release of the Dutch translation of Richard’s Book Snake Oil: How Fracking’s False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future . The Dutch title is Schaliegas, piekolie & onze toekomst . Selma Franssen: Considering the shale gas and oil reserves in Europe, is there any sense in fracking here, all other objections aside? Richard Heinberg: Until test wells are drilled, it’s very difficult to know what the actual shale gas and oil production potential is for Europe. All sorts of numbers have been cited, but they are simply guesses. Back in 2011, the US Energy Information Administration estimated that Poland’s shale gas reserves were 187 trillion cubic feet, but a little on-the-ground exploration led the Polish Geological Institute to downgrade that figure to […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Heinberg: Shale gas, peak oil and our future

Page added on January 9, 2014 Selma Franssen: Considering the shale gas and oil reserves in Europe, is there any sense in fracking here, all other objections aside? Richard Heinberg: Until test wells are drilled, it’s very difficult to know what the actual shale gas and oil production potential is for Europe. All sorts of numbers have been cited, but they are simply guesses. Back in 2011, the US Energy Information Administration estimated that Poland’s shale gas reserves were 187 trillion cubic feet, but a little on-the-ground exploration led the Polish Geological Institute to downgrade that figure to a mere 27 TCF—a number that may still be overly optimistic. My institute’s research suggests that US future production of shale oil and gas has been wildly over-estimated too. So, without attempting to put a specific number to it, I think it would be wise to assume that Europe’s actual reserves […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

New research points to risk peak oil presents to business

For many years, the most compelling issue driving sustainability efforts among businesses, consumers, governments and activists has been climate change. We are all becoming increasingly concerned with the impacts of rising temperatures and extreme weather events on our supply chains, cities, transportation networks, agricultural industries, and lives. We have become increasingly alarmed about the results of burning too much coal, oil and gas; the consequences of excessive emissions resulting from some of the most useful substances humanity has ever harnessed. We have identified our most important struggle – to maintain economic growth while reducing carbon emissions. Because our concern has been first and foremost the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, we have designed and sporadically implemented economic incentives to reduce carbon emissions. We issue carbon credits to companies that emit less carbon. We offer cash to countries who don’t cut down […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Brent Boosted by China Demand Data

Brent crude-oil futures ticked higher in London Friday, boosted by strong Chinese demand data, but the trend remains to the downside with both Brent and WTI having settled Thursday at multi-month lows. Brent crude for February delivery rose 33 cents to $106.72 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were 80 cents, or 0.9%, higher at $92.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In the previous session the North American contract settled at an eight-month low, and Brent at a two-month low. WTI has lost $6 since the last trading day of 2013; Brent has lost almost $4 in the same period. Brent gained support from positive Chinese import data. China’s crude-oil imports in December rose to a record high on a daily basis, although for the year as a whole the country’s crude import growth slowed by 4% from 6.8% in 2012. Net imports […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Obama Orders Review Of US Energy Infrastructure

President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered a broad review of the country’s energy infrastructure, noting that factors such as rising demand and climate change have put increased pressure on the aging system. It would include all the systems required for "transporting, transmitting, and delivering energy," the White House said in a statement announcing the Quadrennial Energy Review. A related task force would develop recommendations and submit a report to the president every four years, according to Obama’s memo establishing the review. The first report is due by Jan. 31, 2015. "Our current infrastructure is increasingly challenged by transformations in energy supply, markets, and patterns of end use; issues of aging and capacity; impacts of climate change; and cyber and physical threats," the memo said. "Any vulnerability in this infrastructure may be exacerbated by the increasing interdependencies of energy systems with water, telecommunications, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Exclusive: Iran, Russia negotiating big oil-for-goods deal

ran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap that would let Iran lift oil exports substantially, in defiance of the Western sanctions that helped force Tehran in November to agree a preliminary deal to end its nuclear program. Three Russian and Iranian sources close to the negotiations said final details were in discussion for a barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. "Good progress is being made at the moment with strong chances of success," said a Russian source. "We are discussing the details and the date of signing a deal depends on those details." It is not clear whether the deal would be implemented before the details of November’s nuclear agreement in Geneva between Iran and six world powers, including Russia, are finalized. Technical talks between Iran and the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

As Iran Nuclear Talks Resume, Ayatollah Criticizes U.S.

Iran’s supreme leader harshly denounced the United States on Thursday as negotiations to conclude an interim agreement in the Iranian nuclear dispute resumed, saying those talks illustrated what he called the hostility of Americans toward Iran and the Muslim world. The remarks by the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reported by Iran’s official news media, covered a range of grievances against the United States, including what he described as American hypocrisy on human rights issues, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which President Obama had promised to close. Ayatollah Khamenei also reiterated his contention that the American-led economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program had no relevance to the progress in the negotiations with six world powers in recent months under Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani. “The enemies think they imposed the embargo and forced Iran to negotiate,” he said. “No! We have already […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Another Iraq War? Here’s How to Avoid It

g Many Americans are surprised to see Fallujah back on the front pages of newspapers. How did things get so bad that the Iraqi government was compelled to call for American support in its battle against an al-Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria? This crescendo of violence is the culmination of two well-established trajectories. The first trajectory is the worsening violence in Syria and the way in which the unrest has bled into neighboring states. While Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon have borne the bulk of Syria’s refugees, Iraq has suffered greatly under the weight of Syria’s oozing sectarianism. In many ways, Syria (a Sunni majority country long ruled by an Allawite minority) is the mirror image of Iraq (a majority Shi’a country long ruled by a Sunni minority). Iraq had only begun to heal from its sectarian war when the venom of Syria’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bomber in Iraq Kills 22 Recruits Seeking to Fight Al Qaeda

A suicide bomber detonated explosives on Thursday among a group of recruits who were joining the Iraqi Army to fight Al Qaeda in Anbar Province, the police said. Twenty-two recruits were killed, and 31 were wounded, officials said. The recruits were lined up just outside the entrance gate at the Muthana airfield in Baghdad when the attacker joined the line and blew himself up. “We came to join the army to fight Al Qaeda, and this will not stop us,” Ali Jasim, one of the recruits at the base, said in a telephone interview after the blast. Mr. Jasim said the attack was an attempt by Sunni militants to stop the flow of government troops to Anbar, where Qaeda fighters have taken control of significant parts of the two main cities, Ramadi and Falluja. “We are here to die for our country; we’ve had enough of them,” […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Gazprom Neft makes breakthrough with Iraqi oil

Russian energy company Gazprom Neft said Thursday its first volumes of oil were produced from the Badra field near the eastern Iraqi border with Iran. Gazprom Neft said it moved one step closer to commercial production after recording a daily natural flow rate of 7,000 barrels of oil from the Badra field. Vadim Yakovlev, first deputy chief executive officer at Gazprom Neft, said the company started "practically from scratch" three years ago and was now nearly finished with the infrastructure necessary for large-scale production at Badra. Gazprom Neft serves as the operator at Badra in a consortium that includes Korean and Brazilian counterparts. Gazprom Neft under the terms of a 2009 agreement with the Iraqis will develop the Badra field in Wasit province for the next 20 years. Total capacity could reach 170,000 barrels per day. The company said apart from the commercial infrastructure, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iraq Is New Schism for Saudis in Strained Alliance With West

Few goods transit the desert border between the Middle East ’s two biggest oil producers, and Saudi authorities have built a fence to help ensure that political instability in Iraq doesn’t cross over either. Dysfunctional ties between the countries have come into focus as a wave of violence sweeps Iraq, turning it into another arena where Saudi interests are diverging from those of the U.S. Fighting is centered in Anbar province, bordering Saudi Arabia , where Sunni fighters with ties to al-Qaeda are rebelling against the Shiite-led government of Nouri al-Maliki, which is supported by Iran . The Saudi view is that Maliki is “aggravating the feelings of marginalization that some Iraqi Sunnis have long complained about, and that are at the root of the current violence,” said Fahad Nazer, a political analyst at Vienna, Virginia-based intelligence analyst JTG, and a former analyst for the Saudi embassy in Washington […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Lebanon's prospects of gas bonanza slip further away

With Lebanon’s long-awaited auction for exploration licenses in the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean postponed because there’s no functioning government, time may be running out for the tiny country to grasp what’s likely to be its last chance for economic salvation as it slips once more toward sectarian savagery. Energy Minister Gebran Bassil was supposed to hold the auction Friday, but on Wednesday he postponed it — for the third time — to April 10 after political rivalries blocked the caretaker government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati from convening to endorse two decrees authorizing the bidding for exploration blocks in Lebanon’s maritime exclusive economic zone. "This is the last time bidding will be delayed," he declared, although it was far from clear why that should be so since the political paralysis gripping the nation is not expected to end anytime soon. Bassil insisted the auction […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Lebanon’s prospects of gas bonanza slip further away

With Lebanon’s long-awaited auction for exploration licenses in the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean postponed because there’s no functioning government, time may be running out for the tiny country to grasp what’s likely to be its last chance for economic salvation as it slips once more toward sectarian savagery. Energy Minister Gebran Bassil was supposed to hold the auction Friday, but on Wednesday he postponed it — for the third time — to April 10 after political rivalries blocked the caretaker government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati from convening to endorse two decrees authorizing the bidding for exploration blocks in Lebanon’s maritime exclusive economic zone. "This is the last time bidding will be delayed," he declared, although it was far from clear why that should be so since the political paralysis gripping the nation is not expected to end anytime soon. Bassil insisted the auction […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Sudanese Forces Press Rebel-Held Oil Hub

President Salva Kiir’s government held out a possible pardon to rival Riek Machar if he agrees to end nearly a month of fighting, as South Sudanese troops advanced toward the strategic rebel-held town of Bentiu on Thursday. Military and aid officials said Mr. Kiir’s troops were within five miles of Bentiu, a hub for South Sudan’s 240,000-barrel-a-day oil industry now held by forces loyal to Mr. Machar, a former vice president. The intensifying battle in South Sudan’s oil-rich north has raised fears that fighting could disrupt an industry that funds nearly all of the country’s federal budget and foreign exchange. South Sudan is sub-Saharan Africa’s No. 3 producer behind Angola and Nigeria. "Our forces are closing in on Bentiu from two fronts," said military spokesman Philip Aguer. Meanwhile, talks between envoys for Messrs. Kiir and Machar in Ethiopia showed signs of stalling. The rebel delegation rejected the government’s offer […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Maliki fights fire in Iraq he helped to start

It is back to a wounded past in Fallujah, the city ravaged by an American offensive in 2004, one of the bloodiest episodes in the US occupation of Iraq. The Sunni Muslim town fell into the grip of jihadis earlier this week and has since been threatened with a large-scale assault by the Shia Muslim-led government in Baghdad. Yet today, just as much as a decade ago, Fallujah embodies a broader political problem of Sunni disenfranchisement that is unlikely to be resolved by tanks and artillery. True, Fallujah takes pride in its reputation as a rebellious town, its population still holding on to memories of the US offensive, which was launched after the murder of American contractors whose bodies were viciously left hanging on a bridge. Even as its people rebuilt the schools and hospitals, a few buildings were deliberately left in ruins to remind them of the assault, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

New Estimate Sharply Raises Death Toll in South Sudan

As fighting continued to rage across South Sudan on Thursday, a new estimate raised the death toll in the conflict significantly and a senior American official questioned the government’s insistence that a coup attempt was responsible for setting off the violence and instability there. The International Crisis Group said Thursday that the number of dead from the conflict was close to 10,000 people, a major increase from earlier estimates by the United Nations. “Given the intensity of fighting in over 30 different locations in the past three weeks, we are looking at a death toll approaching 10,000,” said Casie Copeland, an analyst at the International Crisis Group , a research and advocacy institution. The United Nations special representative for South […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China Crude Imports Rise to Record High as New Refineries Start

China , which consumes more oil than any country except the U.S., boosted net crude imports to a record high last month as two new refineries prepared to begin operations. Overseas crude purchases exceeded exports by 26.69 million metric tons in December, according to data released on the website of the General Administration of Customs in Beijing today. That’s equivalent to 6.31 million barrels a day, 13 percent higher than the same month in 2012 and up 10 percent from November. China, the first country to sell more than 20 million vehicles domestically in a year, is increasing crude purchases to meet fuel demand. Imports last year climbed by 4 percent to 282 million tons, or about 5.66 million barrels a day, the data show. The U.S. shipped about 7.81 million barrels a day in 2013, according to the Energy Information Administration. “Two new refineries that are scheduled to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China December export growth slows, rosier 2014 seen

China’s export growth slowed more than expected in December due to a higher comparison base a year earlier and a clamp-down on speculative activities disguised as export deals, missing the official target on foreign trade. But the outlook for 2014 is expected to be brighter as global demand picks up, giving more wiggle room for Chinese leaders to push through reforms to balance the world’s second-largest economy. "Exports weakened dramatically, but were close to the consensus. The data is positive for China and Asia sentiment as it alleviates concerns that China is slowing too sharply," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, a senior economist and strategist for Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong. Exports rose 4.3 percent in December from a year earlier, the Customs Administration said on Friday, slowing from 12.7 percent in November and compared to market expectations of 4.9 percent. Imports rose 8.3 percent, quickening from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China's December exports slow, imports accelerate

China’s export growth slowed in December while imports accelerated, possibly helping to temper fears of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. Exports rose 4.3 percent to $207.7 billion, slowing from November’s 12.7 percent expansion, trade data showed Friday. Imports rose 8.3 percent to $182.1 billion, up from the previous month’s 7.6 percent. Stronger exports might be a sign China’s domestic demand is relatively strong despite concerns a modest economic recovery is weakening. China’s economic growth tumbled to a two-decade low of 7.5 percent in the second quarter. It rebounded to 7.8 percent the following quarter but private sector analysts say that recovery is likely to fade. The Cabinet in late December said it expected 2013’s full-year growth to be 7.6 percent, which would be the weakest performance since 1999. "Our country’s economic development was stable overall," said a government spokesman, Zheng Yuesheng, at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China’s December exports slow, imports accelerate

China’s export growth slowed in December while imports accelerated, possibly helping to temper fears of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. Exports rose 4.3 percent to $207.7 billion, slowing from November’s 12.7 percent expansion, trade data showed Friday. Imports rose 8.3 percent to $182.1 billion, up from the previous month’s 7.6 percent. Stronger exports might be a sign China’s domestic demand is relatively strong despite concerns a modest economic recovery is weakening. China’s economic growth tumbled to a two-decade low of 7.5 percent in the second quarter. It rebounded to 7.8 percent the following quarter but private sector analysts say that recovery is likely to fade. The Cabinet in late December said it expected 2013’s full-year growth to be 7.6 percent, which would be the weakest performance since 1999. "Our country’s economic development was stable overall," said a government spokesman, Zheng Yuesheng, at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple