Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

Keystone XL backers hail government's warning on oil-by-rail

A government warning about the dangers of increased use of trains to transport crude oil is giving a boost to supporters of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. U.S. and Canadian accident investigators urged their governments Thursday to impose new safety rules on so-called oil trains, warning that a "major loss of life" could result from an accident involving the increasing use of trains to transport large amounts of crude oil. The announcement came in the wake of a string of high-profile accidents. In July last year, a crude oil train crash in Quebec caused an explosion and fire that killed 47 people . Another train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in North Dakota last month . No one was killed, but the incident prompted evacuation orders for residents of a nearby town. Pipeline supporters said the stern joint warning by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Keystone XL backers hail government’s warning on oil-by-rail

A government warning about the dangers of increased use of trains to transport crude oil is giving a boost to supporters of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. U.S. and Canadian accident investigators urged their governments Thursday to impose new safety rules on so-called oil trains, warning that a "major loss of life" could result from an accident involving the increasing use of trains to transport large amounts of crude oil. The announcement came in the wake of a string of high-profile accidents. In July last year, a crude oil train crash in Quebec caused an explosion and fire that killed 47 people . Another train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in North Dakota last month . No one was killed, but the incident prompted evacuation orders for residents of a nearby town. Pipeline supporters said the stern joint warning by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Energy Crunch: Will Britain get on board with fracking?

Image via The Prime Minster’s Office/flickr. Creative Commons 2.0 license.   Three things you shouldn’t miss this week Commentary: America’s Feel-Good Oil Bonanza -What the EIA says matters—regardless of its veracity or substantiation. In this light, let’s take a look at what the EIA is now saying in AEO 2014. Commentary: 6 reasons why there’s no community in fracking – Fracking is too capital intensive to allow communities to set up and run their own wells, even if they wanted to…Income such as is being proposed is only one small part of the bigger picture of thinking about what a resilient community needs. Commentary : In brief: The EU’s new 2030 climate and energy package – The European Commission today announced new energy and climate targets for the EU. The UK is to go all out for shale gas and David Cameron is asking British people to get on […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Peak Oil: Investment Issues

Several months ago, I discussed the issue of “Capex compression.” When decreasing oil industry revenues cannot keep up with the increasing exploration and production costs of unconventional resources such as deep-water and shale fields, investments decline. Not exactly rocket science….   GETTING LESS = HAVING LESS   As I noted in that post, and as common sense suggests, when they invest less, we wind up with less. We now live in a world where demand is forecasted to increase [see this ] and conventional crude oil  production continues to decline by 3-4 million barrels per day—depending on which source is referenced. Lower investments and thus lower supply from resources harder to find, extract, and produce to begin with, means that we’re confronted with some legitimate supply and demand issues most fifth-graders would understand: Less supply and higher demand = a problem. Of course, prices at the pump could increase […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Davos delegates warned of imminent oil crisis

Some of the planet’s richest nations are to hear a warning that a global oil crisis could happen as early as next year. A British businessman will tell world leaders meeting in Switzerland today that it is dangerous to argue that fracking for shale oil and gas can help to avert a global energy crisis. Jeremy Leggett, a former Greenpeace staff member who founded a successful solar energy company, has been invited to the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos from 22 to 25 January. The theme of the meeting is The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business. Leggett told the Climate News Network: “The WEF likes to deal in big ideas, and last year one of its ideas was to argue that the world can frack its way to prosperity. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Has Petroleum Production Peaked, Ending the Era of Easy Oil?

Despite major oil finds off Brazil’s coast, new fields in North Dakota and ongoing increases in the conversion of tar sands to oil in Canada , fresh supplies of petroleum are only just enough to offset the production decline from older fields. At best, the world is now living off an oil plateau—roughly 75 million barrels of oil produced each and every day—since at least 2005, according to a new comment published in Nature on January 26. ( Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) That is a year earlier than estimated by the International Energy Agency—an energy cartel for oil consuming nations. To support our modern lifestyles—from cars to plastics —the world has used more than one trillion barrels of oil to date. Another trillion lie underground, waiting to be tapped. But given the locations of the remaining oil, getting the next trillion is likely to cost […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

CMU researchers find controlled charging of PHEVs can cut cost of integration into electricity system by 54-73%; higher benefits with wind power

CMU researchers find controlled charging of PHEVs can cut cost of integration into electricity system by 54-73%; higher benefits with wind power In a new study published in the journal Applied Energy , Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers found that controlled charging of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) reduces the costs of integrating the vehicles into an electricity system by 54–73% depending on the scenario. More specifically, controlled charging can cut the cost of integrating PHEVs approximately in half. The magnitude of these savings is ~5% to 15% higher in a system with 20% wind penetration compared to a system with no wind power, and the savings are 50–60% higher in a system that requires […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Futures Higher in Asia on U.S. Oil Demand

Crude-oil futures were in positive territory in Asian trade on Friday after U.S. inventory data showed an overall decline in oil and oil product stocks. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $97.58 a barrel at 0624 GMT–up $0.26 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.17 to $107.75 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories in the week ended Jan. 17 increased by 1 million barrels to 351.2 million barrels–the first weekly increase since November–compared with an estimated increase of 1.2 million barrels, Energy Information Administration data showed. Gasoline stocks rose by 2.1 million barrels to 235.3 million barrels. But, distillate stocks including heating oil and diesel fuel fell by 3.2 million barrels to 120.7 million barrels–indicating stronger fuel demand in January so far as a result of extreme cold. Nymex […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI-Brent Spread Near Narrowest in Two Months on Keystone

West Texas Intermediate narrowed its discount to Brent to the least in more than two months following the start of a pipeline carrying crude out of the U.S. storage center in Cushing, Oklahoma . The spread between WTI and Brent on the ICE Futures Europe exchange shrank to $9.82 a barrel today, the smallest gap since Nov. 11. WTI advanced as much as 0.5 percent in a fifth daily gain in New York , the longest rally in seven weeks. The Gulf Coast line, the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, was initially transporting 288,000 barrels of light, sweet crude a day to Nederland in Texas. “The Keystone XL south is about to increase arbitrage between Cushing and the Gulf Coast,” which will cause inventories at Cushing to decline, said Eugen Weinberg , head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt . WTI’s discount of about $10 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Brent, WTI Crude Prices Converge

European crude futures dipped Friday although the price gap with U.S. WTI narrowed, with few upward price signals for Brent and plenty of demand for U.S. products as the cold weather continues. The spread, or price difference, between WTI and Brent has closed in to the narrowest point since early November, as a North American cold snap supports demand for oil products and drives up the price of the raw material used by refiners. Brent crude for March delivery fell as much as 131 cents, or 1.2%, at $106.26 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were down 63 cents, or 0.6%, at $96.4 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Thursday’s Energy Information Administration report, distillates stocks decreased by more than expected, by 3.2 million barrels. BNP Paribas, in a note to clients, said stocks remain "below the bottom of the five year range." […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Crude Rises to Three-Week High as Distillate Supply Drops

West Texas Intermediate crude rose to a three-week high after a report showed that U.S. distillate supplies tumbled as cold weather bolstered heating demand. Futures gained 0.6 percent. The Energy Information Administration said stockpiles of the fuel , a category that includes heating oil and diesel, fell 3.21 million barrels last week to 120.7 million. Crude inventories increased for the first time since November. WTI also advanced after the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline linking Cushing, Oklahoma , to the Gulf Coast started making deliveries yesterday. “The confluence of the cold weather boosting demand and the opening of the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline is sending oil higher,” said Adam Wise, who helps run a $6 billion oil and gas bond portfolio as a managing director at Manulife Asset Management in Boston . “Crude supplies increased for the first time in eight weeks, but the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Hits Fresh Multiyear High as Cold Weather Persists

Natural-gas prices pared some gains but still reached a multiyear high as forecasts for colder-than-average weather next week spurred expectations of continued sturdy demand for the heating fuel. Natural gas for February delivery settled up 4.1 cents, or 0.9%, at $4.730 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since June 10, 2011. Prices have surged for three straight sessions as weather forecasts called for the frigid temperatures gripping the eastern two-thirds of the nation to continue. About half of all U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Futures climbed as high as $4.886/mmBtu earlier Thursday but pared most of their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran Oil Exports Exaggerated, U.S. Officials Say

Iran is exaggerating its crude oil export figures and won’t be allowed to sell more than 1 million barrels a day over the next six months, U.S. officials involved in managing sanctions against the country said. Iran says it shipped 1.51 million barrels a day in November, according to figures the nation submitted to the Riyadh-based Joint Organisations Data Initiative . The data, along with historical export figures, were published Jan. 20, the same day the U.S. and its allies temporarily eased some of the sanctions against the Persian Gulf state as part of a deal to curb its nuclear program. The Obama administration said after the Nov. 24 accord was struck that Iran’s exports have been forced down to 1 million barrels a day, a reduction of more than half from 2.5 million a day before U.S. and European Union sanctions were imposed, and won’t be allowed to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Warns Against Business With Iran

The Obama administration intensified efforts on Thursday to counter what officials called a misimpression that the six-month nuclear agreement with Iran had opened the door to new economic opportunities with the country, emphasizing that nearly all sanctions remained in force and warning businesses not to engage in any deals still pending after the accord’s July 20 expiration. As if to punctuate the administration’s assertion that little had changed, the Treasury Department announced what it described as a landmark $152 million settlement with Clearstream Banking, a Luxembourg-based banking subsidiary of Germany’s Deutsche Börse securities exchange, for having allowed Iran to bypass sanctions through the use of the company’s access to the American banking system. “Today’s action should serve as a clear alert to firms operating in the securities industry that they need to be vigilant with respect to dealings with sanctioned parties,” Adam J. Szubin, director of the Treasury’s Office […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Abbas 'seeks $1B deal with Russia on Gaza natural gas field

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 23 (UPI) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in Moscow on a four-day visit seeking to secure a $1 billion deal with Russia to develop a natural gas field off the Gaza Strip, The move would expand what appears to be a determined Russian push into the energy-rich Eastern Mediterranean, Russian media reports indicated. Russia signed a 25-year agreement with Syria’s embattled regime Dec. 25 that gives Russia’s state-controlled Soyuzneftegaz exclusive exploration, development and production rights over 850 square miles of Syrian waters, Moscow’s first real foothold in the booming Levant Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey reported in 2010 that the basin, which covers Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and the Gaza Strip, contains at least 123 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The Syrian deal gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a way into a region whose resources have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Abbas ‘seeks $1B deal with Russia on Gaza natural gas field

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 23 (UPI) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in Moscow on a four-day visit seeking to secure a $1 billion deal with Russia to develop a natural gas field off the Gaza Strip, The move would expand what appears to be a determined Russian push into the energy-rich Eastern Mediterranean, Russian media reports indicated. Russia signed a 25-year agreement with Syria’s embattled regime Dec. 25 that gives Russia’s state-controlled Soyuzneftegaz exclusive exploration, development and production rights over 850 square miles of Syrian waters, Moscow’s first real foothold in the booming Levant Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey reported in 2010 that the basin, which covers Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and the Gaza Strip, contains at least 123 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas and 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The Syrian deal gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a way into a region whose resources have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Cairo rocked by blasts on eve of anniversary of Egypt uprising

A large blast near police headquarters in central Cairo on Friday killed at least two people and wounded many others, security and medical sources said. Three security sources said a car bomb was the likely cause of the explosion, which damaged the building and sent smoke rising over the city centre Three explosions struck the Egyptian capital on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring almost 60, on the eve of the third anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak . At 6.30am a powerful car bomb exploded outside the Cairo police headquarters, killing at least four people and injuring 50. Several hours later, an explosion targeted police vehicles near an underground station in western Cairo, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Cease-Fire Pact Signed in South Sudan

The South Sudanese government and rebel forces signed a cease-fire agreement Thursday, a step toward ending more than a month of fighting that threatened to tear apart the world’s youngest nation. There were few immediate details about the deal, but negotiators said it hewed to a draft agreement distributed to media earlier in the week. Under the draft agreement, both sides agreed to freeze their troops in place and cease military operations, including ammunition resupplies. It also required them to protect civilians from violence, stop hostile statements in the media and open up corridors for humanitarian aid. Thursday’s pact marks the first sign of a potential peace in South Sudan since fighting broke out in mid-December. At the time, President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy of attempting a coup. A rebellion then erupted, eventually drawing into the conflict neighboring Uganda, which has sent troops to help South […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela Bonds Slide as Economic Measures Deemed Insufficient

Venezuelan bonds fell hard Thursday, a day after the government announced a partial currency devaluation seen largely as insufficient to resolve the oil-rich country’s growing economic challenges. Economists said the government’s plan to sell more dollars to Venezuelans at a weaker exchange rate against the dollar would produce a marginal difference in its fiscal deficit, and likely prompt the central bank to continue printing the bolivar currency. That is likely to potentially exacerbate an inflation rate that is already at 56%, one of the world’s highest. Economy Vice Minister Rafael Ramirez, who also heads the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, said Thursday that private companies would also be allowed to sell dollars. But details of the plan are scant, and observers said there was little indication that the state would do much to ease its rigid dollar controls. "It’s a case of too little, too […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Fuel Shipments to Latin America Surge on Wealth Gain

Latin American nations are poised to accelerate imports of U.S. refined-oil products after failing to build refineries to meet demand from a growing middle class. Freight traders booked tankers to send 19 million metric tons of fuels from the U.S. to Latin America in the spot market last year, 5.4 percent more than in 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Volumes may rise again because demand is expanding and no new regional refining capacity will be added in the short term, according to Houston-based Hart Energy Research & Consulting. While growth in some Latin American economies slowed in 2013, the region has outpaced the world for the past seven years, helping lift more than 50 million people out of poverty. For the first time there are more Latin Americans classified as middle class than poor, according to a 2012 study by the World Bank . Lower […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China taking in more oil from Kazakh pipeline

The Chinese government said oil imports through a pipeline from Kazakhstan reached a record high in 2013, marking a 14 percent increase from the previous year. China imported more than 86 million barrels of oil last year through the China-Kazakhstan pipeline, an increase of 14.1 percent from the previous year, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday. The pipeline runs 745 miles from central Kazakhstan to a PetroChina facility in northwest China. Xinhua said the increase in pipeline imports underscores the importance of securing natural resources through overland transit networks. Xinhua reported China imported an estimated 466 million barrels of oil each year since the pipeline went into service in 2006. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its January market report Russian oil transit company Transneft aims to send approximately 140,000 barrels of oil per day to China through a Kazakh pipeline […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China's Dec apparent demand for gas jumps 14% to record 16.3 bil cu m

China’s apparent demand for gas in December rose 14.1% year on year to a record high of 16.26 billion cu m, according to Platts calculations of recently released government data. China does not release consumption data on gas. Platts calculates apparent demand by taking into account domestic production and net imports of LNG and pipeline natural gas. The surge in apparent demand last month was due to record high LNG imports, which rose 33.3% year on year to 2.43 million mt, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed Wednesday. LNG supplies from Qatar hit a new high of 1.09 million mt last month, more than double volumes received in December 2012. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: International Gas Report International Gas Report International Gas Report is a biweekly report that intelligently analyzes what is happening in the natural gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China’s Dec apparent demand for gas jumps 14% to record 16.3 bil cu m

China’s apparent demand for gas in December rose 14.1% year on year to a record high of 16.26 billion cu m, according to Platts calculations of recently released government data. China does not release consumption data on gas. Platts calculates apparent demand by taking into account domestic production and net imports of LNG and pipeline natural gas. The surge in apparent demand last month was due to record high LNG imports, which rose 33.3% year on year to 2.43 million mt, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed Wednesday. LNG supplies from Qatar hit a new high of 1.09 million mt last month, more than double volumes received in December 2012. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: International Gas Report International Gas Report International Gas Report is a biweekly report that intelligently analyzes what is happening in the natural gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Australia on course for a shale boom?

Australia is slated to be the next big energy market for shale, experts say. Boston consultancy Lux Research in a recent report predicted that Australia will experience large-scale hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, sooner than in China, even though China’s shale resources are estimated to be twice that of the United States. "Existing infrastructure, low population density in resource-rich regions and a welcoming government position Australia at the forefront of shale development," Lux analyst Daniel Choi was quoted as saying by The Australian newspaper. China by contrast, is fraught with technical challenges caused by depth and geology, Choi says, in addition to the country’s poor infrastructure and local turf wars. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says Australia has an estimated 437 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas reserves, ranking the country the sixth highest in the world. The reserves are dispersed throughout the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Colder Weather Heads for U.S. as Ice Set to Coat Texas

Parts of southern Texas may get a rare coating of ice as temperatures plunging across the U.S. portend an even sharper cold snap to come. Temperatures across the eastern U.S. and parts of Ontario and Quebec will be at least 8 degrees below normal through Jan. 27, said Matt Rogers , president of the Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. Next week will be colder, he said. “The crazy thing is that the current cold snap this week looks to be a bit more modest in the face of next week’s outbreak,” Rogers said. “The cold coming for the end of January is sufficient to make this the coldest month of the century so far and the coldest the Lower 48 has felt in at least 20 years.” Temperatures in Chicago fell lower than the South Pole this month as freezing weather boosted energy consumption, grounded thousands of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Midwest Propane Jumps to Record Premium as Supplies Fall

Propane in the Midwest soared to another record premium over prices on the Gulf Coast as supplies of the heating fuel fell to the lowest level for this time of year since at least 1994 amid a cold front. Propane at the rack in Conway, Kansas , ranged from $3.62 to $4.50 a gallon today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The spot price yesterday in Conway was $1.72 more than at Mont Belvieu, Texas , the largest premium since at least 2001. Last year, propane at Conway sold at an average discount of 2.8 cents to Mont Belvieu. They are the top two U.S. propane storage hubs. Supplies of propane and propylene in the Midwest fell by 1.34 million barrels to 10.2 million last week, the Energy Information Administration said today. That’s the lowest level for mid-January since the EIA began keeping data in 1993. January may end […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Stronger Tank Cars Needed to Ship Oil by Rail: Agencies

Crude oil hauled by rail needs to be shipped in stronger tank cars and on safer routes, transportation investigators in the U.S. and Canada said following a series of accidents in North America . The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Canadian Transportation Safety Board issued the recommendations today as part of a probe into the July derailment of rail cars filled with oil in Lac-Megantic, Quebec . The accident ignited an inferno that killed 47 people spending a Saturday night in the town’s center. “The large-scale shipment of crude oil by rail simply didn’t exist 10 years ago, and our safety regulations need to catch up with this new reality,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said in a statement citing concerns about “the major loss of life” in accidents involving oil transported by rail. The Canadian agency recommended tougher standards for the type of tank car involved in the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil-by-rail deliveries up for week ending Jan. 18, rail group says

U.S. rail delivery of petroleum and petroleum products was up 13.3 percent last week from the same period in 2013, the American Association of Railroads said. The AAR said Thursday 15,708 carloads of petroleum and petroleum products, or about 10.9 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the U.S. rail system for the week ending Jan. 18. Since Jan. 1, the AAR said, 43,556 carloads, or about 30 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the U.S. rail system, a 12.7 percent increase from the same period in 2012. The AAR said its total for U.S. operations excludes deliveries from the Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway. Shawn Howard, a spokesman for TransCanada, said Thursday rail was playing an important role for oil transit while the industry waits for new pipeline capacity to come online. TransCanada this week started sending crude oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Industry Awakens to Threat of Climate Change

Coca-Cola has always been more focused on its economic bottom line than on global warming, but when the company lost a lucrative operating license in India because of a serious water shortage there in 2004, things began to change. Today, after a decade of increasing damage to Coke’s balance sheet as global droughts dried up the water needed to produce its soda, the company has embraced the idea of climate change as an economically disruptive force. “Increased droughts, more unpredictable variability, 100-year floods every two years,” said Jeffrey Seabright, Coke’s vice president for environment and water resources, listing the problems that he said were also disrupting the company’s supply of sugar cane and sugar beets, as well as citrus for its fruit juices. “When we […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US coal’s new focus on exporting leaves a cloud of dust over Louisiana

The domestic demand for U.S. coal has fallen in recent years as the use of other energy sources such as natural gas has grown. This, combined with tighter environmental rules , means that coal companies are starting to export their product like never before: From 2002 to 2012, coal exports from the United States more than tripled, to 127 million tons, according to the International Energy Agency. The U.S. government estimates that about 25 percent of that went to Asia. But coal companies haven’t captured enough of the international market, and haven’t built enough terminals, to make up for the sagging domestic demand — U.S. coal production has fallen by about 15 percent from its peak of about 1 billion tons in 2008. With Asia’s economy growing, coal companies see the Pacific Northwest as the best location for coal terminals. But a groundswell of environmental activism in Washington and Oregon has so far […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

N. Texas Residents Discuss Seismic Events With Texas RR Commission

More North Texas residents pleaded their case to the Texas Railroad Commission in Austin Tuesday, asking for a moratorium on injection wells that are used to store waste water from hydraulic fracturing. The residents, who live in or near Azle, Texas, told commissioners about their concerns following a recent spate of seismic activity that the residents say was caused by the injection of fracking water into underground storage facilities. However, the residents went home disappointed, according to the Austin Star-Telegram. The meeting was a follow-up to an earlier meeting Jan. 2, when the Texas Railroad Commission traveled to Azle to talk about the concerns of the residents regarding the rise in seismic activity. While seismic activity in North Texas has residents concerned, the commission maintained that the injection wells are being utilized within approved limits, and that other factors, such as a lowering of the water levels at Eagle […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The other side of the peak: Italy’s collapse of oil and gas consumption

Italy peak oil consumption. We are back to 1967.   All the data in this post are from BP statistical review up to 2012, updated to 2013 from various sources. Sometimes, peak oil looks like an intellectual game that people keep playing by arguing whether it has arrived or not. But the point with oil is not how much of it is produced, somewhere, but how much you can afford to use. And, for Italy, the peak of consumption has already arrived, as you can see in the figure above. It is impressive: consumption went down of more than 30% in less than 10 years. Today we are back to the levels of 1967. And, in 1967, Italy’s population was around 50 million people, some ten million less than today. We really have reached the other side of the peak and we don’t see […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US, Canadian transportation boards want tougher oil-by-rail rules

In an unprecedented move, the US and Canadian national transportation boards simultaneously called for tougher regulations covering shipments of crude oil by rail. “The large-scale shipment of crude oil by rail simply didn’t exist 10 years ago, and our safety regulations need to catch up with this new reality,” US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hersman said in Washington, DC. “While this energy boom is good for business, the people and the environment along rail corridors must be protected from harm,” she said. In its announcement, NTSB said crude oil shipments by rail have increased more than 400% since 2005, according to the Association of American Railroads’ Annual Report of Hazardous Materials. The independent federal agency said it is concerned that lives can be lost, property damaged, and the environment harmed when large volumes of crude or other flammable liquids are transported on a single train […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Alberta Looks Past Hurdles to Asian Crude Buyers

B The government of Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province isn’t getting hung up on hurdles in the way of getting its crude to markets in Asia. The hurdles are manifold, but slowing demand from its traditional market doesn’t justify the expense of extracting and refining oil sands, making Asia its best hope for exploiting bitumen, its particular brand of heavy crude oil, for profit. The most daunting problem at hand is the lack of a pipeline to get Alberta’s oil to port. The payoff is that Asia is projected to be the biggest growth market for energy over the next couple of decades. “We’ve clearly identified Asia as a priority market,” Alberta’s Minister […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EU 'invites' members to practice safe fracking

European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said member states are "invited" to follow a minimum set of guidelines for shale gas exploration. Several Eastern European countries are said to be rich in shale natural gas deposits though the reserves are either too expensive to exploit or up against moratoriums against the controversial drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing. Potocnik said there are hopes shale can help address European energy needs but resource extraction is up against public criticism. "The commission is responding to calls for action with minimum principles that member states are invited to follow in order to address environmental and health concerns and give operators and investors the predictability they need," he said in a statement Wednesday. Hydraulic fracturing uses large volumes of water laced with trace amounts of chemicals seen as harmful to human health and the environment. The commission’s recommendations call on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EU ‘invites’ members to practice safe fracking

European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said member states are "invited" to follow a minimum set of guidelines for shale gas exploration. Several Eastern European countries are said to be rich in shale natural gas deposits though the reserves are either too expensive to exploit or up against moratoriums against the controversial drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing. Potocnik said there are hopes shale can help address European energy needs but resource extraction is up against public criticism. "The commission is responding to calls for action with minimum principles that member states are invited to follow in order to address environmental and health concerns and give operators and investors the predictability they need," he said in a statement Wednesday. Hydraulic fracturing uses large volumes of water laced with trace amounts of chemicals seen as harmful to human health and the environment. The commission’s recommendations call on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EU 2030 climate package draws mixed review

A group of the top executives from leading international energy companies said it recognized the importance of EU climate goals but others were less supportive. The European Commission called for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 40 percent from the 1990 benchmark by 2030, an increase from the 20 percent target envisioned for 2020 for members of the European Union. A "more market-orientated approach" would help increase the share of renewable energy to 27 percent by 2030. The Magritte Group, a consortium of chief executives from leading energy companies, said it recognized the emissions target as a "crucial" element to a successful European energy policy. The approach adopted by the commission "is of utmost importance in shaping the energy transition to a low carbon future," the group said in a statement Wednesday. Jason Anderson, director of climate and energy programs at the WWF’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

BP declares the death of peak oil

The supermajor sees energy landscape shifting as demand growth slows and new fuels emerge to challenge oil’s supremacy. Helen Robertson reports   Click here to view charts  UK SUPERMAJOR BP has claimed the concept of global energy supply peaking amid rapidly rising consumption is no longer valid as new fuels emerge and energy demand growth slows.   "The theory of peak oil has peaked," BP chief executive Bob Dudley said as he unveiled the company’s new energy outlook to 2035 . The outlook, which forecasts global energy supply and demand trends between 2012 and 2035, estimates total global energy consumption will rise by 41% between 2012 to 2035. This is compared to a rise of 55% over the last 23 years and 30% over the past decade.  Global energy demand will grow at around 2% per year between now and 2020 then falling to a rate of 1.2% per […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

The World is sleepwalking to a Global Energy Crisis

All signs of desperation, Albert. The party’s about to end and the most greedy people are getting as bladdered as they can, and stashing away their own private supplies before the booze runs out. Sad, and also childish. 2014 – This documentary and the other documentaries on this channel are very informative, interesting, and even fun. You will see documentaries on important times and figures in history, science, technology, nature, archaeology, and education, as well as some more fringe topics like conspiracy theories and government corruption. The topics of these video documentaries vary greatly and cover ancient history and civilizations like Rome, Greece, Egypt, science, technology, nature, planet earth and other planets, the solar system, the universe, World wars, battles, military and combat technology, current events, teaching and education, biographies, television, movies and cinema, the arts, popular music worldwide, archaeology, the Illuminati, Area 51, serial killers, paranormal and supernatural […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA