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Use of Rail in Crude Transport Unlikely to Slow Down Despite Accidents

More Use of Rail in Crude Transport Unlikely to Slow Down Despite Accidents With limited pipeline infrastructure available to transport oil to refineries – and the downsides of greenhouse gas emissions, fuel costs and road damage resulting from hauling fuel by truck – the oil and gas industry does not have many other options available for transporting crude oil, said Ankur Jajoo, environmental industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan, in an interview with Rigzone. “The energy industry as a whole works on the economics. Whether it’s upstream, midstream or downstream, transportation is a key area for reducing costs. The industry looks to save where it can. If using rail is more economic versus trucks, then that is what companies will use,” said Ankur Jajoo, environmental industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan, in an interview with Rigzone. Barring any significant developments, rail will continue to be widely used over the […]

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No oil leaking from Philly train derailment

A Coast Guard office in Philadelphia said a train carrying crude oil slipped off a track on a bridge, though there were no reports of oil leaking from the cars. The Coast Guard said Philadelphia police notified its offices a train carrying crude oil derailed over a bridge crossing the Schuylkill River. "There is no report of material leaking from the derailed cars," the Coast Guard said in a statement Monday. There were no reports in injuries. The Coast Guard said it was notified of the incident early Monday and set up a safety zone around the bridge as a precaution. The train was operated by rail company CSX Corp. Company spokesman Gary Sease said six of the 101 cars were carrying crude oil and an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the accident, WCAU-TV, Philadelphia, reported. The train was traveling […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. oil gains good for drivers, AAA says

The shift away from oil produced by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is a win for U.S. drivers, a AAA spokesman said Tuesday. OPEC, in its monthly report for January, said demand for its crude oil should decline in 2014 by about 400,000 barrels per day. This comes as oil production in the United States, one of the world’s leading energy consumers, increases. Michael Green, a AAA spokesman, said in response to email questions this translates to a win for U.S. drivers. "U.S. demand for OPEC oil is likely to continue to decline as domestic production increases and cars become more fuel efficient," he said Tuesday. "This is an enormous structural shift from the previous few decades and a win for American drivers, especially when compared to the oil crises of the 1970’s." The average price for a gallon of regular […]

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Koch Ends Plans for Pipeline to Illinois From Bakken

Koch Pipeline Co. called off plans to build a 250,000-barrel-a-day crude line to Illinois from North Dakota ’s Bakken formation, where a shale boom has helped lift domestic production to the highest in a quarter-century. The indirect subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., one of the largest private companies in the U.S., is no longer developing the so-called Dakota Express pipeline, Jake Reint, a Koch spokesman, said by e-mail yesterday. He didn’t provide a reason for the decision. The Wichita, Kansas-based company was scheduled to begin a 45-day open season to gauge interest from potential shippers on the line in July. “The non-binding open season for the Dakota Express pipeline is no longer being pursued,” Reint, based in Wichita, said in the e-mail. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have helped producers reach shale deposits of oil across the middle of the U.S. from North Dakota to Texas , sending domestic […]

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Brent Crude Rises for First Time in Four Days on Demand

Brent crude advanced after a three-day decline on signs that demand is strengthening as the economic recovery takes root in developed nations. Futures gained as much as 1.1 percent in London . Global oil consumption will increase more this year than previously forecast as growth gathers momentum, the International Energy Agency said today in its monthly market report. Demand in developed countries expanded last year for the first time since 2010, the Paris-based IEA said. The People’s Bank of China yesterday added funds and expanded access to a lending facility as money-market rates surged. “People are heartened by the rosy picture in the U.S.,” said Christopher Bellew , a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd. in London. “The action by the Chinese central bank to inject money may improve the picture in China too.” Brent for March settlement climbed as much as $1.14 to $107.49 a barrel on the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Medium-Term Oil Market Report 2013

  Crude oil markets firmed in December on seasonally stronger winter demand in the Atlantic basin. Brent prices were supported by continued supply outages in Libya while WTI reflected a surge in domestic refinery throughputs. Prices eased in January, though, with WTI last trading at $93.70/bbl and Brent at $106.35/bbl. The estimate of 4Q13 global oil demand was raised by 135 kb/d on unexpectedly strong US deliveries, partly offset by curtailments in China and elsewhere. For 2013 as a whole, growth is estimated at around 1.2 mb/d, accelerating to 1.3 mb/d in 2014 as the economy continues to recover. Global supplies inched down by 25 kb/d month-on-month in December to 92.23 mb/d, with a seasonal fall in […]

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IEA Sees Higher Oil Demand on Developed-Nation Economic Recovery

Global oil demand will increase more this year than previously forecast, the International Energy Agency said. A ban on U.S. crude exports may crimp output growth, the Paris-based group said. World consumption will climb by 1.3 million barrels a day, or 1.4 percent, to 92.5 million barrels a day, the IEA said today in its Oil Market Report. The increase of 90,000 barrels a day from last month is the first year of annual demand growth in developed nations since 2010, it said. U.S. restrictions on exports may mean its surging domestic production hits a “crude wall” that curbs further expansion, the IEA said. “Upside risks to oil demand growth are much more relevant this year than the same period last year, where concerns were for downside risks to materialize,” Miswin Mahesh, an analyst at Barclays Plc in London , said by e-mail yesterday. “Demand-supply metrics in the oil […]

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IEA Warns U.S. Oil Output Growth Could Hit a Wall

Surging U.S. oil production could hit a wall in the coming years if the country maintains its ban on crude exports, the International Energy Agency said. America’s crude output has surged in recent years, driven by a boom in shale oil production. Last year, the country’s oil production rose 15%, the fastest absolute annual growth in any country in 20 years. By next year, the IEA estimates imported oil of a similar quality to the crude produced from shale could be almost entirely backed out of U.S. coastal refineries. However, the U.S. tightly regulates exports of its oil, limiting the market for its new oil supply. "The growing volumes of light tight oil that cannot leave North America are increasingly posing a challenge to industry, putting the spotlight on the U.S. crude oil export ban," the IEA said in its monthly oil market report. For now, refinery, pipeline and […]

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US oil demand growth outstrips China in 2013 – IEA

Shale Gas Costing 2/3 Less Than OPEC Oil Converges With U.S. US demand for oil grew by more than China’s last year for the first time since 1999 according to the International Energy Agency, in a startling indication of how abundant energy supplies are driving an economic resurgence in the US. The IEA – the rich world’s energy club whose forecasts are the gold standard for the energy market – said US oil demand grew by 390,000 barrels a day or 2 per cent last year, reversing years of steady decline. Chinese demand grew by 295,000 b/d, the weakest in at least six years. Oil demand figures are closely followed as indicators of economic growth, because use of fuels such as gasoline and diesel indicate the strength of industrial and consumer activity.  As China’s economy has boomed over the past decade its oil demand has surged, while US consumption […]

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Talks Over Syria Are Set to Begin, but Iran Is Not Invited

American and other Western diplomats on Monday managed to salvage the long-awaited peace conference on Syria, which had seemed on the verge of unraveling before it even began when Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, issued an unexpected invitation to Iran to attend. The possible presence of the Iranians infuriated Syrian opposition leaders, who said they would not attend the conference. But after a day of intensive consultations in which American officials made clear their unhappiness with Mr. Ban’s move, Iran was disinvited, and diplomats affirmed the conference will begin in Switzerland on Wednesday. The 24-hour controversy, while a diversion from the main issues about Syria’s future that will be on the table there, seemed a fitting prelude for what even the most optimistic American diplomats say will be […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple