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Canadian Oil Train Derails, Burns After Brakes Activated

A Canadian National Railway train carrying crude oil and propane derailed and caught fire in New Brunswick on Tuesday night after the emergency brakes were activated, federal safety officials said on Wednesday. The accident, the latest in a string of derailments that have put the surging crude-by-rail business under scrutiny, involved 17 cars on the railway’s main line, Canadian National Chief Executive Claude Mongeau told a news conference. Five cars carrying crude from western Canada and four carrying propane were among the derailed cars, he said. There were no injuries, but the fire that followed the derailment burned through the night. Approximately 150 residents were evacuated, local officials said. "At this point, the issue is contained, but of course things are evolving and we will be addressing the situation with the greatest possible safety," said […]

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Canadian Railway CEO Apologizes After Train Derailment

;Several oil tankers continued to burn into the early evening Wednesday in eastern Canada, a day after the train carrying them derailed and caught fire, forcing the evacuation of 150 nearby residents and an apology from the chief executive of the train’s operator. A total of 17 cars, including five tankers carrying crude oil and four propane tankers, went off the tracks at 7:06 p.m. local time Tuesday about, 2.8 miles east of Plaster Rock, New Brunswick, near the Maine border, according to CN. The accident comes in a country still reeling from the derailment of a train in Quebec which left 47 people dead last summer when its crude cargo exploded in the center of the town of Lac-Mégantic. It also follows on the heels of a Dec. 30 explosion in North Dakota after a collision between two trains, one carrying a cargo of oil tankers. A boom […]

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Fiery Oil-Train Accidents Raise Railroad Insurance Worries

Trains have resumed rolling through this small community again, past 47 Christmas trees in front of St. Agnes Church that honor the townspeople killed last July when a runaway oil train left their downtown in an inferno. The 1 a.m. crash of a driverless train that had broken free from its moorings and barreled downhill before derailing sent waves of flame coursing through town. "The downtown vanished," says Roger Garant, a retiree and city councilman. That raises the question, beyond still-unhealed psychic wounds from the tragedy, of where the money will come from to rebuild. This, in turn, leads unavoidably to a commercial issue in the midst of the human ones: insurance. The cleanup cost alone at Lac-Mégantic is running about $4 million a week, according to Mr. Garant. It may total $200 million, the Canadian government has said. Beyond that comes the expenses for rebuilding the library […]

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Crude-Derailment Risk Rises as Trains Haul More Oil

People living near rail lines in the U.S. and Canada could be at increasing risk as trains transport more and more of the output of the continent’s energy boom. The danger was underscored this week when a Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) train hauling propane and crude caught fire en route to a New Brunswick refinery, nine days after the crash of an oil-laden train in North Dakota . They were the latest in a spate of explosive accidents drawing attention to the perils of oil in tank cars on North America ’s tracks. “We’re going to see more disasters, more chances taken,” said John Stephenson , a portfolio manager at First Asset Investment Management Inc. in Toronto who helps oversee C$2.7 billion ($2.49 billion), including shares in pipeline and rail companies. “You’re going to be putting more trains on the […]

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Shocking Prediction: Part II – The 'Second Phase' Of The Oil Boom Could Eclipse The First

Shocking Prediction: Part II – The ‘Second Phase’ Of The Oil Boom Could Eclipse The First Last week, I told you about how the "second phase" of the oil boom could make the first phase look like small potatoes (you can read the article here ). At the end of my article, I mentioned that if the price of oil drops below $70 per barrel, horizontal drilling plays could see their margins shrink considerably, along with investment returns. I know a lot of oil investors are worried about that potential outcome, so I wanted to write this follow-up to show you why I think high oil prices are here to stay, and why over time they’re likely to go higher. If you think we’ve escaped "peak oil" and oil prices are destined to fall… think again. Back in 2008, before the financial crisis […]

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Shocking Prediction: Part II – The ‘Second Phase’ Of The Oil Boom Could Eclipse The First

Shocking Prediction: Part II – The ‘Second Phase’ Of The Oil Boom Could Eclipse The First Last week, I told you about how the "second phase" of the oil boom could make the first phase look like small potatoes (you can read the article here ). At the end of my article, I mentioned that if the price of oil drops below $70 per barrel, horizontal drilling plays could see their margins shrink considerably, along with investment returns. I know a lot of oil investors are worried about that potential outcome, so I wanted to write this follow-up to show you why I think high oil prices are here to stay, and why over time they’re likely to go higher. If you think we’ve escaped "peak oil" and oil prices are destined to fall… think again. Back in 2008, before the financial crisis […]

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Crude Futures Hover Higher After US Stocks Drawdown

Brent crude-oil futures were somewhat higher in London trading Wednesday, but gaining only scant support from large draws on U.S. stockpiles and residual tension in North Africa. Brent crude for February delivery was up 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $107.52 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were up 8 cents at $93.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices recovered slightly Tuesday after five days of declines that followed the re-opening of an important oil field in Libya. JBC Markets said that Libyan export capacities remain limited, however, despite the government’s success in regaining control over the El-Sharara field that had been shut for several months. In the U.S., the American Petroleum Institute revealed that stocks had fallen by 7.3 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 3. Such draws suggest a tighter market, which could also support prices. Opinion is […]

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Oil Futures Boosted by API Data

Crude-oil futures were higher in Asian hours Wednesday as prices got a boost from an American Petroleum Institute report showing U.S. stocks fell by 7.3 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 3. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $93.98 a barrel at 0606 GMT, up $0.31 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.08 to $107.43 a barrel. "Despite ongoing strong crude production in the U.S. due to the shale oil and gas boom, the continuous fall in stockpiles denote strong demand for the commodity," said Singapore-based Phillip Futures analyst Tan Chee Tat. Crude-oil prices are also supported by cold weather in the U.S., he added. Mr. Tan added the focus currently is on Libyan production following the reopening of the al-Sharara oilfield, one of the country’s largest, over the weekend. […]

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WTI Rises for Second Day as U.S. Stockpiles Seen Dropping

West Texas Intermediate rose for a second day on speculation government data will show crude stockpiles declined a sixth week in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures climbed as much as 0.5 percent in New York . Crude inventories fell by 2.75 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Information Administration report today. The coldest U.S. weather in almost 20 years also signaled fuel demand may gain. In Iraq , al-Qaeda and allied fighters vowed to resist government forces trying to retake towns Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says are under the terrorist group’s sway. “Markets are likely to trade mostly sideways,” said Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. in Middelfart, Denmark . “Various issues remain in the geopolitical scene. We set geopolitics as moderately bullish.” WTI for February delivery advanced as much as 51 cents to $94.18 a […]

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Oil Tumble Sends U.S. Trade Gap to Four-Year Low: Economy

A plunge in oil imports pushed the trade deficit in November to the lowest level in four years, showing the U.S. economy is becoming more energy independent. The gap narrowed 12.9 percent to $34.3 billion, smaller than projected by any economist surveyed by Bloomberg and the least since October 2009, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington . Petroleum imports were the weakest in three years as advances in domestic extraction put the U.S. on track to become the world’s largest oil producer by 2015. The fuel-driven drop in purchases from abroad overshadowed record demand for foreign autos, parts and capital goods that indicate spending by American consumers and businesses is strengthening. Exports also were the strongest ever as improving economies in Europe and Asia benefit companies like Boeing Co. (BA) , contributing to a pickup in manufacturing. Related: Republican Murkowski Urges End to […]

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Gasoline Futures Jump as Frigid Air Causes Refinery Shutdowns

Gasoline futures rose for the first time in seven days as frigid temperatures caused refinery shutdowns from Newfoundland to Louisiana. Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) ’s Memphis refinery in Tennessee had a instruments freeze and units trip offline, a person familiar with operations said. Phillips 66 (PSX) had an electrical issue at its Westlake plant in Louisiana, according to a regulatory filing. Korea National Oil Corp.’s site in Come-by-Chance, Newfoundland, is trying to restart after an island-wide power failure over the weekend, company spokeswoman Gloria Slade told CBC News. “The concern over some of the refinery issues we’ve seen as a result of the brutally cold climate across the continent has led to buying in the refined products,” said Andrew Lebow , a senior vice president at Jefferies Bache LLC in New York. Gasoline for February delivery rose 2.05 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $2.6665 a gallon […]

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In Iraqi City Under Siege, More Support for Militants Than Officials

On a good day, the drive from Falluja to Baghdad takes less than an hour. On Sunday morning, with his city under siege, its morgue filled with bodies and people running low on food, water and generator fuel, Osama al-Ani packed his family of seven into his car and set off for the capital. The trip, with its constant checkpoints and vehicle searches, took more than 12 hours, he said. Yet, even after being forced to flee for his family’s safety, Mr. Ani remains more sympathetic to the militants who have set up checkpoints across his city and are largely aligned with Al Qaeda than he is toward the central government. “We had no food, no electricity and no water, and mortar shells were falling all around us,” said Mr. Ani, who is staying with relatives in the Sunni neighborhood of Ameriya here. “But many of us […]

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Stretched thin, Syrian extremists are pressured

Just a week ago, al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria enjoyed an arc of dominance across the country’s north and east, ruling with brutality. But a series of stunning reversals in recent days has made clear that the militant group may be more vulnerable than it seemed, in part because its frequent kidnappings and attacks on fellow rebels have won it few allies. By Tuesday, the group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, appeared increasingly desperate, with its fighters pushed out of some towns and turning to suicide bombings in a bid to hold on to pockets of Raqqah, the large north-central city that was its stronghold. Still, the group showed no sign of giving up easily, calling Tuesday for its followers to behead anyone associated with the Western-backed Syrian Opposition Coalition, which it accused of starting the conflict. For now, at least, a coalition of more-moderate Syrian […]

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Saudis Back Syrian Rebels Despite Risks

On his eighth trip to fight with the rebels in Syria, in August, Abu Khattab saw something that troubled him: two dead children, their blood-soaked bodies sprawled on the street of a rural village near the Mediterranean coast. He knew right away that his fellow rebels had killed them. Abu Khattab, a 43-year-old Saudi hospital administrator who was pursuing jihad on his holiday breaks, went to demand answers from his local commander, a notoriously brutal man named Abu Ayman al-Iraqi. The commander brushed him off, saying his men had killed the children “because they were not Muslims,” Abu Khattab recalled recently during an interview here. It was only then that Abu Khattab began to believe that the jihad in Syria — where he had traveled in violation of an official Saudi ban — was not fully in accord with God’s will. But by the time […]

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Analysis: U.S. fears grow about Iraq, but response remains limited

The Obama administration is considering expanding its support to Iraqi forces as they fight off a renewed al Qaeda threat, but Washington’s ability to significantly increase security assistance to Baghdad will remain limited. U.S. officials say they are in discussions with the Iraqi government about training its elite forces in a third country, which would allow the United States to provide one modest measure of new assistance against militants in the absence of a troop deal that allows U.S. soldiers to operate within Iraq. No further details were immediately available about where that might take place or how many troops it might involve. Reluctance to further empower Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki or put American boots on the ground constrains U.S. support for Iraq as it battles militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al Qaeda affiliate, in Anbar province, and seeks to […]

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Kenya, Uganda Scramble to Bring Peace to South Sudan

Kenya and Uganda were recruiting investors to back an oil pipeline in South Sudan in December when a rebellion upended the world’s newest nation. Now the two East African nations have joined a diplomatic effort to end the conflict in South Sudan —yet another reminder of how the security crises of a volatile region intrude on efforts to boost commerce among its countries. "I’m not sleeping," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in a televised address last week. "I am monitoring the crisis which is taking place in the young country of South Sudan and I want to see that peace is attained there." More than 1,000 people have died and more than 100,000 have fled their homes since troops loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar rose up in December against those loyal to President Salva Kiir . On Tuesday, South Sudanese military spokesman Philip Aguer said government troops […]

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Nigerian oil unions drop strike threat as government says won't sell refineries

The Nigerian government will not privatize its four ailing oil refineries, labor minister Chukwuemeka Wogu said Wednesday, prompting the country’s two powerful oil workers’ unions to declare that they have now dropped plans to embark on a nationwide strike intended to cripple crude oil production and exports. "The Federal Government is not selling the nation’s refineries," Wogu said in a statement issued after a meeting with the unions in Abuja. The government called the meeting after the unions had threatened to begin a strike this week aimed at forcing the government to reverse earlier announcements by two government agencies that Nigeria would commence the sale of the state-owned refineries by first quarter of this year. "After extensive deliberations on the situation with the refineries, the two parties agreed that…the unions shall not embark on any form of industrial action over the subject matter," Wogu […]

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Nigerian oil unions drop strike threat as government says won’t sell refineries

The Nigerian government will not privatize its four ailing oil refineries, labor minister Chukwuemeka Wogu said Wednesday, prompting the country’s two powerful oil workers’ unions to declare that they have now dropped plans to embark on a nationwide strike intended to cripple crude oil production and exports. "The Federal Government is not selling the nation’s refineries," Wogu said in a statement issued after a meeting with the unions in Abuja. The government called the meeting after the unions had threatened to begin a strike this week aimed at forcing the government to reverse earlier announcements by two government agencies that Nigeria would commence the sale of the state-owned refineries by first quarter of this year. "After extensive deliberations on the situation with the refineries, the two parties agreed that…the unions shall not embark on any form of industrial action over the subject matter," Wogu […]

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Ivory Coast Sees Soaring Oil Output Rivaling Ghana by 2019

Ivory Coast Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said his nation will boost oil production within five years to 200,000 barrels a day, rivaling neighboring Ghana as stability returns to a country racked by a decade of turmoil. The West African nation wants oil companies to increase exploration and drilling offshore after output more than halved to about 30,000 barrels a day because of technical problems, he said in an interview Jan. 6. Ghana pumps about 100,000 barrels a day and wants to more than double output to 250,000 by 2021. Ghana is West Africa’s fourth-largest producer, after Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. “We have about 50 oil blocks of which half have been awarded,” Duncan said in the commercial capital, Abidjan. “We expect to add at least five wells a year.” President Alassane Ouattara has pledged to spur economic growth by investing in energy and infrastructure […]

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Talks Fail to Resolve Dispute Over Panama Canal Expansion Costs

The Panama Canal Authority and a consortium of international companies overseeing a multibillion-dollar construction project to widen the canal met on Tuesday but failed to resolve a dispute over huge cost overruns that threaten to derail the historic undertaking. The Panama Canal opened in the summer of 1914, and 100 years later the 50-mile waterway is two-thirds of the way through a massive expansion project that would allow ever-larger ships to pass through. The project could quadruple the government’s $1 billion in annual revenue, which comes mostly from toll charges. But GUPC, the consortium of construction firms led by Spain’s Sacyr SA SCYR.MC -2.42% Sacyr S.A. Spain: Madrid € 3.46 -0.09 -2.42% Jan. 8, 2014 12:12 pm Volume : 7.42M P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap €1.58 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee €153,727 01/07/14 Talks Fail to Resolve Dispute … 01/06/14 Spanish Official in Panama to … 01/02/14 […]

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Oil-Tanker Data Show China Shift

Crude-oil tankers anchored offshore the port of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Reuters Steady energy demand in the world’s second-largest oil-consuming country has been a saving grace for the oil-tanker market, with much of the credit going to one Chinese oil trader: China International United Petroleum & Chemicals Co., better known as Unipec. Unipec was the No. 1 charterer of oil tankers for the second year in a row in 2013, beating global oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC in both years, according to consulting firm Poten & Partners. Unipec accounted for 791 fixtures—or agreements to hire tankers for specific routes—last year and also accounted for the largest volume of cargo transported, at 171 million metric tons, or 11% of the total, the data show. Shell trailed with 752 fixtures and less than half of Unipec’s volume, at 83 million tons. A decade ago, Unipec didn’t even figure among […]

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China's most-polluted province faces enormous challenge

Hebei, a northern region with the worst air in China, faces an enormous challenge in cleaning up its dirty air as data showed that little more than one third of all days last year met quality standards. The air quality index (AQI) in 129 days, 35.3 percent of days in 2013, was below 100, Chen Guoying, director of the Hebei provincial bureau of environmental protection, told a local legislature on Wednesday. The province, which surrounds the national capital Beijing, had 80 days, or 21.9 percent, of severe air pollution (AQI readings higher than 200), Chen said. According to statistics published monthly by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Hebei is home to up to seven of the country’s top 10 polluted cities. "Heavy smog hit at the time of the "two sessions" in 2013 and again this year," said Liu Ronghua, a local political advisor, […]

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China’s most-polluted province faces enormous challenge

Hebei, a northern region with the worst air in China, faces an enormous challenge in cleaning up its dirty air as data showed that little more than one third of all days last year met quality standards. The air quality index (AQI) in 129 days, 35.3 percent of days in 2013, was below 100, Chen Guoying, director of the Hebei provincial bureau of environmental protection, told a local legislature on Wednesday. The province, which surrounds the national capital Beijing, had 80 days, or 21.9 percent, of severe air pollution (AQI readings higher than 200), Chen said. According to statistics published monthly by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Hebei is home to up to seven of the country’s top 10 polluted cities. "Heavy smog hit at the time of the "two sessions" in 2013 and again this year," said Liu Ronghua, a local political advisor, […]

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Gangsters and ‘slaves’: The people cleaning up Fukushima

In the depths of Japan’s nuclear crisis in March 2011, a small band of workers at the Fukushima power plant stayed behind, stomaching daily doses of deadly radiation to bring the plant under control after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered multiple meltdowns. They became known as the Fukushima 50. “We felt we had a responsibility to put things right,” nuclear engineer Atsufumi Yoshizawa told America Tonight. “And we felt that we were probably the only ones that could deal with the situation.” The courage of employees like Yoshizawa made them heroes in Japan, and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken power plant, showcases them as symbols for what the company represents. But there is another group of workers that TEPCO rarely mentions, workers who […]

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India's Dec coal imports fall 4% on month to 12.2 mil mt: Interocean

India’s coal imports via major ports across the country dropped 4% month on month in December, to around 12.2 million mt, data released late Tuesday by Indian ship broker Interocean showed. In November, imports totaled 12.7 million mt. Of the total imports in December, 2.6 million mt was coking coal, up 53% from 1.7 million mt in the previous month, while steam coal comprised 9.6 million mt, down 13% from 11 million mt in November, the data showed. Mundra port on India’s west coast received the largest quantity of coal shipments in December, at 2 million mt, down 17% from 2.4 million mt in November. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Coal Trader International International Coal Report Platts Coal Trader International is the only daily publication where you can access Platts proprietary price assessments for coal trading in the Atlantic and […]

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India’s Dec coal imports fall 4% on month to 12.2 mil mt: Interocean

India’s coal imports via major ports across the country dropped 4% month on month in December, to around 12.2 million mt, data released late Tuesday by Indian ship broker Interocean showed. In November, imports totaled 12.7 million mt. Of the total imports in December, 2.6 million mt was coking coal, up 53% from 1.7 million mt in the previous month, while steam coal comprised 9.6 million mt, down 13% from 11 million mt in November, the data showed. Mundra port on India’s west coast received the largest quantity of coal shipments in December, at 2 million mt, down 17% from 2.4 million mt in November. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Coal Trader International International Coal Report Platts Coal Trader International is the only daily publication where you can access Platts proprietary price assessments for coal trading in the Atlantic and […]

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Slowly, Asia’s Factories Begin to Turn Green

When Intel went about setting up its chip factory in Vietnam, it found an oddity: Local laws did not govern every aspect of the building. The government had no comprehensive standards, for instance, on refrigerant chemicals, which in the United States are typically regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, officials asked Intel whether the company had any ideas on the subject that might be useful to other manufacturers operating in the country. Yet today, Intel’s $1 billion plant, about 10 miles from downtown Ho Chi Minh City, embraces environmental and sustainability measures far beyond those required by Vietnam’s laws. Opened in 2010, the complex has the country’s largest operating solar array. Company officers say a new water-reclamation system could soon help it reduce water consumption as much as 68 percent. It is also vying for certification by the U.S. Green Building […]

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Pakistan has sanctions jitters over Iranian gas pipeline

A planned natural gas pipeline from Iran isn’t protected from Western economic sanctions, the Pakistani Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said. A Pakistani Senate committee was told by the ministry that relaxed sanctions that came as a result of last year’s interim nuclear deal with Iran didn’t extend to a planned natural gas pipeline from Iran, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported Tuesday. Pakistan says its aging infrastructure has left it with a crumbling energy sector and a subsequent need for an external source of natural gas. Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said companies normally slated for pipeline construction on the Pakistani side of the border would likely face sanctions once the work began. Iran says it has the pipeline completed on its side of the border. The Pakistani government said it wants to meet with its Iranian counterparts to discuss the issue later this […]

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Republican Murkowski Urges End to U.S. Crude Export Ban

The top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee urged President Barack Obama to end a 39-year ban on exports of U.S. crude oil, joining what is shaping up as a major election-year debate over energy policy. “We need to act before the crude oil export ban causes problems in the U.S. oil production, which will raise prices and therefore hurt American jobs,” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska , top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said today in remarks at the Brookings Institution in Washington . Most exports of U.S. crude oil are prohibited under a 1975 law meant to counter surging gasoline prices after an Arab oil embargo. Advances in drilling techniques have led to increased production, and the Paris-based International Energy Agency projects that the U.S. will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2015. Related: […]

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Ethanol Advances as Frigid Midwest Weather Curtails Supply

Ethanol advanced as icy, snowy conditions sweeping across the Midwest caused rail delays and terminal closures that may force companies to reduce operations. Futures rose 1 percent as Kinder Morgan Inc. said it’s working under force majeure at its Argo, Illinois, ethanol terminal. Union Pacific Corp., BNSF Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. have also said their operations are affected. Rail is a virtual pipeline for ethanol in the U.S. “They’re having to dial back because they can’t move production quick enough,” said Mike Blackford, a consultant at INTL FCStone in Des Moines , Iowa . “We’ve had rail issues. With this cold snap all of a sudden you’re shutting down truck, too.” Denatured ethanol for February delivery climbed 2 cents to $1.944 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade. Gasoline for February delivery gained 3.26 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $2.6786 a gallon on the New York […]

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EIA Increases U.S. Gasoline Demand, Price Estimates for 2014

The Energy Information Administration increased its forecast for 2014 U.S. gasoline demand and retail prices. Gasoline consumption will average 8.78 million barrels a day this year, up 0.5 percent from the EIA’s December outlook of 8.74 million, the statistical arm of the Energy Department said today in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook . Demand in 2014 will be less than last year’s daily average of 8.79 million. Gasoline pump prices in 2014 will average $3.46 a gallon, 3 cents above last month’s estimate. Prices in 2013 averaged $3.51. Distillate demand, including diesel and heating oil, will be 3.88 million barrels a day this year, up from last month’s outlook of 3.87 million. Distillate consumption in 2013 averaged 3.83 million barrels a day. On-road diesel fuel will average $3.81 a gallon this year, higher than last month’s forecast of $3.77. Prices in 2013 averaged $3.92 a gallon. Households in the […]

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GOM Production and Other News

GOM Production and Other News Not much happening on the Peak Oil front these days. I checked out the BSEE Gulf of Mexico production. Data is in kb/d with the last data point September 2013. Average production from the GOM has been relatively flat for the last two and one half years at about 1.260 million barrels per day. The arrow marks April 2010, the month of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The big deepwater plays continue to decline. I guess they are bringing on other wells in order to keep production flat.   The above chart is combined liquids production of Atlantis, Thunder Horse, Tahiti and Blind Faith. The last data point is September 2013. I found this chart while browsing the net yesterday. It was published in the Albany Tribune  but they say it  is from the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook . I failed to locate it there however. […]

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Unforeseen U.S. Oil Boom Upends Markets as Drilling Spreads

The U.S. oil boom has put European refineries out of business and undercut West African crude suppliers. Now domestic drillers threaten to roil Asian markets and challenge producers in the Middle East and South America. Fifteen European refineries have closed in the past five years, with a 16th due to shut this year, the International Energy Agency said, as the U.S. went from depending on fuel from Europe to being a major exporter to the region. Nigeria, which used to send the equivalent of a dozen supertankers of crude a month to the U.S., now ships fewer than three, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And cheap oil from the Rocky Mountains, where output has grown 31 percent since 2011, will soon allow West Coast companies to cut back on imports of pricier grades from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela that they process for customers in […]

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BP to Conoco Seek Alaskan Oil Comeback as Palin Tax Dies: Energy

BP Plc (BP/) and ConocoPhillips (COP) , looking to benefit from the repeal of an Alaska oil tax championed by Sarah Palin when she was governor, are chasing enough crude to end the state’s two-decade-long slump in production. Governor Sean Parnell signed a bill in May that wipes out a system backed by Palin tying oil producers’ taxes to the price of crude. The end of the “progressivity” formula has triggered investments from companies including BP and Conoco that may boost the state’s output by at least 90,000 barrels a day within four years and renew exploration in the nation’s second-largest oil reserve, estimated at 3.82 billion barrels. The increase would signal a resurgence for Alaska , which tied as the country’s largest oil supplier in the 1980s and has since fallen to fourth place. Lower taxes may further enhance the allure of drilling for Alaskan crude, which can […]

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Arctic Cold Cuts Fuel Supplies as Refineries to Pipelines Freeze

Record cold weather pummeled energy infrastructure across the U.S., prompting gas pipeline operators to reduce flows, fuel terminals to shut loading racks and refineries to scale back production. The cold snap pushed oil prices higher for a second straight day and boosted natural gas on the spot market yesterday to a 17-month high. Temperatures in several cities across the eastern half of the U.S. dropped to record lows, with New York’s Central Park hitting 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 16 Celsius) yesterday, breaking a mark for the date set in 1896, according to AccuWeather Inc. in State College , Pennsylvania. Flows on all natural gas pipelines into New England from further west and south were constrained yesterday, as were flows into New York, the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, said in a report . “The very cold temperatures widespread from Chicago east are […]

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U.S. Oil Use Seen Flat in 2014, Up 0.4% in 2015, EIA Says — Update

U.S. oil demand will be little changed through 2015, but continued strong growth in domestic crude-oil output will shrink reliance on imports to its lowest level since 1970, government forecasters said Tuesday. The world’s biggest oil consumer will burn an estimated 18.88 million barrels of petroleum products in 2014, barely up from 18.87 million barrels a day in 2013, the Energy Information Administration said. Forecasters see only a slim 0.4% increase to 18.96 million barrels a day in 2015. Demand for gasoline–the most widely used petroleum product–is expected to ease, while demand for diesel fuel is seen inching higher. The flat demand picture will allow U.S. petroleum-product exports to continue to rise. As domestic producers pump more crude oil from shale-oil fields, U.S. reliance on oil imports will continue to drop. Net oil imports will drop to 4.53 million barrels a […]

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EIA: U.S. October Lower 48 Gas Output Up 2% on Year; Near Record

U.S. natural gas output in the Lower 48 states rose 0.9% in October to 74.6 billion cubic feet per day, fractionally below the high of August 2013, government data released Tuesday show. The rise of 0.65 bcf/day came against a September level that was revised up modestly to 73.95 bcf/day, the Energy Information Administration said. Output rose 2% from a year earlier and was just shy of the record level of 74.68 bcf/day for August 2013, which EIA revised up Tuesday, by 0.26% from last month’s report. Much of the rise came from the Marcellus shale area of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, where many operators reported new wells had come on stream, the EIA said. The EIA said output from so-called other states, or those outside the traditional producing areas of Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming and the Gulf of Mexico, rose by […]

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EIA: US Oil Output Growth To Slow In 2015; OPEC To Pump More

The pace of U.S. oil production growth will begin to slow in 2015, even as global demand continues to rise, allowing OPEC to pump more crude for the first time in three years, U.S. government forecasts showed on Tuesday. In its first projections for 2015, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said U.S. output will rise by 9 percent or 750,000 barrels per day next year to reach 9.3 million bpd, the highest in 43 years. That rate may seem heady but is less than the breakneck 1 million bpd growth seen last year and forecast for 2014, the result of the biggest oil boom in a generation as fracking and horizontal drilling technologies make millions of barrels in domestic on-shore oil reserves more accessible. The data arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, like many other analysts, has consistently underestimated the […]

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Oil Edges Higher in Asia; Brent-WTI Spread at $13.61/Bbl

Crude-oil futures bounced back in Asian trading hours Tuesday as investors monitored the U.S. oil supply situation and developments in the oil-producing regions of Iraq and Libya. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $93.67 a barrel at 0654 GMT, up $0.24 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.55 to $107.28 a barrel. This week’s data on U.S. oil stockpiles will commence with the American Petroleum Institute’s weekly statistical bulletin later Tuesday. The more closely-watched inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due on Wednesday. The EIA will also publish its short-term energy outlook today. An extreme cold wave in the U.S. has raised concerns about oil production in North America. The Schork Group said concerns about oil output from Canada and the Bakken formation have seen […]

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Brent Halts Longest Decline Since August Amid Iraq Clash

Brent halted its longest run of losses since August on concern that clashes between Iraq’s government and militants linked to Al-Qaeda may lead to a disruption in oil output. Futures climbed as much as 0.7 percent in London , snapping a five-day losing streak, amid fighting in the city of Fallujah and surrounding Anbar province in Iraq, the largest OPEC member after Saudi Arabia. West Texas Intermediate broke its longest run of losses since September amid the coldest U.S. weather in almost 20 years and forecasts that the nation’s crude inventories declined for a sixth week. “A lot depends on geopolitics,” said Hannes Loacker , an analyst at Raiffeisen Bank International AG in Vienna. “People shouldn’t ignore the tensions in Iraq. This may become much more serious than it already is.” Brent for February settlement rose as much as 79 cents to $107.52 a barrel on the ICE Futures […]

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Speculators Cut Natural Gas Wager on Fading Polar Blast: Energy

Hedge funds became less bullish on natural gas for the first time in six weeks as the coldest weather in almost 20 years gives way to higher temperatures. Money managers cut net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, by 3 percent in the seven days ended Dec. 31, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Bullish bets, or long positions, fell from a six-month high. Gas slumped 4.2 percent during the report week as forecasts showed mild weather that would curb fuel consumption. The futures have surged 23 percent since Nov. 1 amid rising heating demand, which today may reach the highest level since 1996, as frigid air swept across the central U.S. toward the East Coast, according to MDA Weather Services. MDA has predicted mostly above-normal temperatures in the lower-48 states from Jan. 11 to Jan. 15. “Traders are hesitant to become more bullish since […]

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U.S. and Iran Face Common Enemies in Mideast Strife

Even as the United States and Iran pursue negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program, they find themselves on the same side of a range of regional issues surrounding an insurgency raging across the Middle East. While the two governments quietly continue to pursue their often conflicting interests, they are being drawn together by their mutual opposition to an international movement of young Sunni fighters, who with their pickup trucks and Kalashnikovs are raising the black flag of Al Qaeda along sectarian fault lines in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. The United States, reluctant to intervene in bloody, inconclusive conflicts, is seeing its regional influence decline, while Iraq, which cost the Americans $1 trillion and more than 4,000 lives, is growing increasingly unstable. At the same time, Shiite-dominated Iran, the magnetic pole for the Shiite minority in the region, has its own reasons to be nervous, with the […]

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UN decides to stop updating Syria death toll

The U.N.’s human rights office says it has stopped updating the death toll from Syria’s civil war since its last count of at least 100,000 in late July. Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, blamed the failure to provide new figures on the organization’s own lack of access on the ground in Syria and its inability to verify "source material" from others. Colville told reporters Tuesday in Geneva that the total number of dead the U.N. had estimated was based on an exhaustive effort to verify a combination of six different figures supplied by a variety of sources and "for the time being we’re not updating those figures." © 2014 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use […]

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Western Libya oil production resumes

Oil production resumed at Libya’s Sharara field after a shutdown and is now at 205,000 barrels per day, a Libyan National Oil Corp. official said Monday. Mustafa Sanalla, a boad member of the company, said operations at Sharara, closed by protests in October, resumed during the weekend, the Platts energy news service reported. Protesters who forced the shutdown had demanded more local authority, officials said. "Today production is 205,000 bpd from Sharara," Sanalla said. The field in western Libya has the capacity to produce 350,000 bpd. Libya has struggled to return to its pre-civil war level of 1.6 million bpd because of national security issues. Platts reports there were no indications crude oil from Sharara has reached the export market. In 2012, the International Energy Agency called on its member states to tap into their strategic reserves to compensate for supply disruptions in […]

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Success, but more tests, in Basra unrest turnaround

Success, but more tests, in Basra unrest turnaround In the final months of 2013, Basra’s security forces and oil industry faced a series of challenges unseen in their ferocity and succession since foreign oil companies returned to Iraq.Yet oil production is increasing and exports are on track to follow suit, as southern Iraq looks increasingly safe to operate multi-billion dollar oil development projects, in large part because Iraqi officials moved quickly to contain and quell incidents that could have derailed them.The arrest of police o…

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In Iraq, a Sunni revolt raises specter of new war

The Iraqi army, trained and equipped at great expense by the U.S. military before it pulled out of the country in 2011, is struggling to hold its own against what is at once a populist revolt and a militant insurgency. On Monday, Maliki urged the people of Fallujah to expel al-Qaeda-­affiliated militants to avert a full-on attack, echoing calls made by U.S. forces a decade ago when they warned residents to leave the city or suffer the consequences. “The prime minister appeals to the tribes and people of Fallujah to expel the terrorists from the city in order to spare themselves the risk of armed clashes,” Maliki said in a statement read on state television as convoys of military personnel, tanks and heavy equipment headed toward the city to reinforce troops who were surrounding it. Instead, most residents were trying to leave, packing their possessions into cars and fleeing […]

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Sunni Fighters in Anbar Defiant as Iraq Readies Attack

Al-Qaeda and allied fighters in Iraq vowed to resist government forces trying to retake towns Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says are under the terrorist group’s sway. “They’ll only enter Fallujah over our dead bodies,” Khamis al-Issawi, who said he’s part of a 150-strong brigade in the city 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Baghdad, said in a phone interview. “We are ready and prepared to fight Maliki forces if they decide to begin their offensive on the city.” Fighting in Fallujah and the surrounding Anbar province over the past few days is part of an escalating wave of sectarian violence in Iraq, where Maliki’s Shiite Muslim-led government is confronting Sunni Muslim militants. Some are affiliated with the al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has gained prominence through its role fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria. Sectarian tensions throughout the region have been […]

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Saudis’ Grant to Lebanon Is Seen as Message to U.S.

If a wealthy patron were all the Lebanese Army needed to counter the Shiite militant group Hezbollah as the dominant force in the country, the recent $3 billion grant from Saudi Arabia might make a decisive difference in the country’s complex political landscape. But the Saudi aid package — nearly twice Lebanon’s $1.7 billion annual defense budget — is earmarked to buy French arms and is unlikely to give the army what it needs most, say supporters and opponents of Hezbollah here. And even if it does, they say, it will take years to make an impact. And while the Saudis are clearly alarmed at Hezbollah’s staying power and its intervention in Syria’s civil war, analysts say the gift announced last week was intended as much to send a message to the United States as to shift the military balance. Yezid Sayigh, a scholar of Arab […]

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High Stakes for Sudan in the South’s Conflict

The United States has demanded negotiations. Uganda has threatened to intervene. China has called for an immediate cease-fire. The conflict in South Sudan has attracted attention from around the world, but nowhere are leaders watching the crisis with more interest — and more at stake — than here in the country’s longstanding rival, Sudan. Before South Sudan voted to break away from the north and form its own country in 2011, the two sides had been locked in decades of civil war that claimed the lives of more than two million people. But their division did not sever all ties. The oil that both rely on continues to flow northward from South Sudan’s fields to Sudan’s refineries, linking the two foes in a rocky but crucial economic marriage. The recent fighting in South Sudan has disrupted oil production, with foreign workers fleeing the violent clashes in […]

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