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Airlines halt ticket sales in Venezuela

Tempers flared at airline offices in Caracas on Friday as Venezuelans reacted angrily to international carriers’ refusal to sell tickets after the government devalued the bolivar for flights abroad. The offices of American Airlines, Delta, United and Panama’s Copa were all either closed or had halted sales on Friday as the higher exchange rate took effect, adding to uncertainty as carriers try to collect $3.3 billion they say they’re owed by the socialist government. "Don’t waste your time," a United representative, sticking her head out from behind a closed glass door, told a group of 10 waiting customers standing outside a ticket office at Caracas’ Centro Lido shopping mall. "It’s out of our hands. We can’t sell any more tickets." When customers protested that they’d never experience such poor service in the US, the agent, who didn’t identify herself by name, said "our […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Arctic ruling a setback for Shell?

A court decision regarding offshore oil and gas leases off the coast of Alaska could hinder oil giant Shell’s plans to drill in the Chukchi Sea. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Interior Department did not properly evaluate the scale of oil production that could result in the Chukchi Sea when it sold more than $2.6 billion in development leases in the environmentally sensitive area in 2008. Shell has devoted about $5 billion and more than eight years of work for its Arctic oil exploration off Alaska’s coast in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Shell’s preliminary drilling in the Arctic in 2012 was overshadowed with problems, including a grounded drilling rig, violations of air pollution limits, engine failures on a tow ship and an oil spill containment system damaged during testing, the Anchorage Daily […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Sen. Hoeven: 'Common sense' rules can reduce rail shipment risks

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said recommendations on rail safety from federal regulators were "common sense" safeguards for the energy industry. Hoeven, a Republican, said he was told by National Transportation Safety Board Administrator Deborah Hersman of the recommendations. The NTSB, he said, recommended that rail companies take note of flammability risks for their rail cars, plan ahead to ensure safety and have the necessary mitigation plans in place for potential accidents. "These are common sense recommendations that can reduce the risk and damage associated with rail accidents, and they should be followed," he said in a statement. The NTSB said about 950 barrels of oil spilled when two trains operated by BNSF Railway collided and derailed near Casselton, N.D., in late December. North Dakota’s crude oil production is adding to the overall increase in North America. Industry officials say the rate of production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Sen. Hoeven: ‘Common sense’ rules can reduce rail shipment risks

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said recommendations on rail safety from federal regulators were "common sense" safeguards for the energy industry. Hoeven, a Republican, said he was told by National Transportation Safety Board Administrator Deborah Hersman of the recommendations. The NTSB, he said, recommended that rail companies take note of flammability risks for their rail cars, plan ahead to ensure safety and have the necessary mitigation plans in place for potential accidents. "These are common sense recommendations that can reduce the risk and damage associated with rail accidents, and they should be followed," he said in a statement. The NTSB said about 950 barrels of oil spilled when two trains operated by BNSF Railway collided and derailed near Casselton, N.D., in late December. North Dakota’s crude oil production is adding to the overall increase in North America. Industry officials say the rate of production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hess Corp. to spend $2.85 billion on Bakken reserve in North Dakota

Hess Corp. said it plans to spend nearly half of its 2014 exploration and production funds on unconventional shale resources, mostly in North Dakota. Hess announced $2.85 billion of the $5.8 billion budgeted for exploration and production during the year will be spent on exploiting shale reserves. Greg Hill, Hess president and chief operating officer, $2.2 billion is earmarked for exploitation of North Dakota’s Baken area, same as last year. "However, as a result of lower well costs and decreased investments in infrastructure projects we plan to operate 17 rigs versus 14 last year and to bring 225 new operated wells online in 2014 compared to 168 in 2013," he said in a statement Thursday. The North Dakota Industrial Commission’s Oil and Gas Division said in its monthly production report most of the 29.1 million barrels of oil produced in November, the last […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Baker Hughes: US drilling rig count remains at 1,777

The US drilling rig count was unchanged from a week ago with 1,777 rigs working during the week ended Jan. 24, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. A 1-unit gain in land-based rigs to a total of 1,701 was offset by a single-unit loss in offshore rigs to 56. Rigs drilling in inland waters were unchanged from a week ago at 20. Oil rigs increased 8 units to 1,416 while gas rigs gave up 9 units to 356. Rigs considered unclassified were up 1 unit to 5. Horizontal drilling rigs declined 3 units to 1,170 as directional drilling rigs dropped 8 units to settle at 211. In Canada, a 25-unit rise to 590 consisted of a 15-unit jump in oil rigs to 394 and a 10-unit increase in gas rigs to 196. Canada now has 31 fewer rigs working compared with this week a year ago. Major states, basins New Mexico […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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America's Feel-Good Oil Bonanza

Think back to early 2004. Oil cost around $40 per barrel 1 —on the high side compared to the previous few decades but not much out of the ordinary. Gasoline still cost under $2.00 a gallon for most of the country. The evening news was more concerned with wardrobe gaffes by Janet Jackson ( too little , at the Super Bowl) and President Bush ( too much , on the USS Abraham Lincoln ) than with energy prices. In retrospect, these were the last days of "normal." Most everyone in business, the media, and government assumed that the world had plenty of cheap oil. 2  And hardly anyone outside the fossil fuel industry had heard of peak oil, the idea that we were nearing physical limits to global oil production and a new period of oil price and supply volatility. We now know that the world’s conventional oil production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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America’s Feel-Good Oil Bonanza

Think back to early 2004. Oil cost around $40 per barrel 1 —on the high side compared to the previous few decades but not much out of the ordinary. Gasoline still cost under $2.00 a gallon for most of the country. The evening news was more concerned with wardrobe gaffes by Janet Jackson ( too little , at the Super Bowl) and President Bush ( too much , on the USS Abraham Lincoln ) than with energy prices. In retrospect, these were the last days of "normal." Most everyone in business, the media, and government assumed that the world had plenty of cheap oil. 2  And hardly anyone outside the fossil fuel industry had heard of peak oil, the idea that we were nearing physical limits to global oil production and a new period of oil price and supply volatility. We now know that the world’s conventional oil production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Propane Is Scarce As Cold Spell Lifts Demand, Prices

Frigid temperatures in many parts of the country are contributing to soaring demand for propane, kicking off a surge in prices and a scramble to get the liquid gas used in agriculture and home heating to parts of the Midwest and South. "Demand has just been unprecedented," said Eldon Meyers, the operations and risk manager for K & H Cooperative Oil Co. in north-central Iowa. He said winter heating sales were 35% higher in December than a year earlier, and January’s cold spell means that propane needs "have really hit the fan this past week." On Friday, the energy supplier said that his retail price for propane of $4.24 per gallon nearly doubles the former record of $2.32 before this season. "It’s hard on people," he said. "We don’t like to see our customers go through this." According to the National Propane Gas Association, 5.5 million homes use propane […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chicago pollution board rules against new limits on petcoke

Chicago environmentalists are reeling after an Illinois government panel rejected proposed rules to regulate piles of petroleum coke along Chicago’s shipping channels, which nearby residents and activists say can cause environmental and health problems. Gov. Pat Quinn and Illinois’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had filed a request with the Illinois Pollution Control Board to craft emergency rules to regulate the piles of petroleum coke, also known as petcoke. Petcoke is a powder-like byproduct of crude oil production that’s often shipped overseas for use in energy production or in concrete or brick construction. Residents of Chicago’s southeast, where the petcoke is located, have been petitioning the government for years to do something about the piles, which they say blanket their neighborhood with noxious dust on windy days. Their complaints gained attention from city and state officials in August, after petcoke was documented by residents blowing into a neighborhood and park. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple