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Oil Futures Ease Ahead of Inventory Data

Crude-oil futures cooled off in Asian trading hours Thursday after a sharp overnight surge and on disappointing manufacturing data from China. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $96.65 a barrel at 0609 GMT, down $0.08 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.24 to $108.03 a barrel. The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for January was at 49.6, compared with a final reading of 50.5 in December, the first contraction in six months. A score above 50 indicates an increase in manufacturing, while a score below points toward contraction. China is the world’s second-largest oil consumer after the U.S. and slowing economic activity is likely to weigh on crude prices, analyst Tan Chee Tat at Phillip Futures Pte. Ltd. said. U.S. crude inventories for the week ended Jan. 17 rose […]

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WTI Halts Advance on Speculation China Fuel Demand

West Texas Intermediate halted an advance near a three-week high amid speculation China ’s fuel demand will slow after a manufacturing index unexpectedly contracted. Futures were little changed in New York after rising for a third day to close at the highest level since Dec. 31. A preliminary Purchasing Managers ’ Index in China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, declined more than estimated in January to the lowest level in six months, according to a private gauge. Crude stockpiles in the U.S. probably increased last week as refiners reduced processing, a Bloomberg News survey shows before data from the Energy Information Administration today. “A weaker PMI will translate to slowing China oil demand,” said Gordon Kwan , the regional head of oil and gas research at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong . “Expect oil prices to drift much lower after the ‘U.S. Arctic Express’ cold weather departure.” WTI […]

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Natural Gas Futures Post Highest Settlement In Over Two and a Half Years

-Natural gas futures soared to a more than 2 1/2 year high on Wednesday as a deep freeze stretching across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. boosted demand for the heating fuel. Natural gas for February delivery rose 25.8 cents, or 5.8%, to $4.689 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange and reached its highest settlement since June 10, 2011. Nymex natural gas posted its largest one-day dollar gain in about 19 months and has added 36.3 cents, or 8.4% over the past two sessions. The gains came as weather forecasters, including MDA Weather Services, a Gaithersburg, Md., company, projected "a prolonged period of intense cold […]

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Megaprojects A Megaheadache For Oil Bosses

Giant oil and gas extraction projects will be giving oil industry executives headaches to match for the years ahead as delays, cost overruns and increasing risks call for new strategies to manage them. The sheer scale and complexity of such projects is threatening to outgrow the ability of even the largest oil companies to manage them. They have emerged as the central topic for debate as oil executives gather on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum this week in the Swiss alpine resort of Davos. Almost all the top companies have seen huge delays and broken budgets at projects ranging from record-breaking Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) schemes to the enormous and a technically challenging Kazakhstan oilfield in the freezing Caspian Sea. The subject has elbowed out last year’s hot topic, security, which was forced […]

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Iran delays London oil conference

The Iranian government said Wednesday a conference planned for the introduction of a new framework governing oil contracts has been delayed to July. The Oil Ministry had planned an April conference in London to introduce the new framework, though the ministry’s official news website, Shana, reports the conference is rescheduled for July. Mehdi Hosseini, the head of a committee tasked with overhauling the oil contract framework, said Iran wanted a "win-win" formula for the new contracts. He provided no specific reason for the delay other than to say U.S. and European sanctions on Iran were discouraging foreign investors from playing a major role in Iran’s oil industry. Shana reported Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh wants to woo "giant oil companies" to Iran’s energy sector. "We have arranged many plans for boosting investment," he was quoted as saying. The European Union announced Monday it lifted […]

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Rouhani Says Iran Has No Plan for Nuclear Weapons

Describing himself as an advocate of “prudent moderation” as he pursued a diplomatic offensive to remold his country’s image on Thursday, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said he sought “constructive engagement” with its neighbors and pledged that his country had no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons. He was speaking in this Alpine village at the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum while, elsewhere in Switzerland, international negotiators sought to persuade Syrian government representatives and their exiled adversaries to sit down face-to-face at peace talks seeking an end to Syria’s nearly three-year civil war. Iran is a key player in the region’s diplomacy and the principal regional ally of President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Rouhani referred to recent cooperation with the United States and other powers on his country’s nuclear program as a “major development” and urged American leaders to accept his country’s Islamic revolution as the […]

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Basra Governor faces legal challenge, demands oil contracting rights

Majid al-Nasrawi has been holding community meetings in the heart of oil country asserting the rights of the Basra government in oil contracting and threatening to stop oil production if an increase in petrodollar revenue redistribution doesn’t take effect. His controversial workload and high stress of the job are what officials close to the first-time politician said they blame for Nasrawi’s heart attack last week in Baghdad followed by angioplasty surgery in Kuwait. Nasrawi, who became g…

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Iraq oil exports dip in 2013

Iraq exported a total of 872.3 million barrels of oil last year, or 2.39 million bpd, according to oil ministry figures Baghdad (AFP) – Iraq’s oil exports in 2013 declined compared with the previous year, new figures showed on Wednesday, despite the country’s efforts to dramatically ramp up crude sales to fund much-needed reconstruction. Exports in December recovered from multi-month lows earlier in the year, but were still below their peak, with overall exports and revenues for the year lower than similar figures for 2012, according to oil ministry data compiled by AFP. Overall, Iraq exported 72.6 million barrels of oil in December, an average of 2.34 million barrels per day (bpd), bringing in revenues of $7.47 billion (5.5 billion euros). Those figures were higher than in November, and also represented marked increases on September, when Iraq managed to export just 2.07 million bpd. "The exports and income in […]

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Mideast looks at $50B to spend on solar power by 2020

The Middle East, spearheaded by the oil-rich Persian Gulf monarchies, could spend up to $50 billion on developing solar power over the next seven years, says the Middle East Solar Industry Association. The MESIA group based in Dubai, financial center of the United Arab Emirates, estimates the region will install 12,000-15,000 megawatts of solar power by 2020, with another 22,000-25,000 gigawatts from other renewable energy sources such as wind and hydro-power. The rapid expansion of power generation is a critical issue for governments and rulers across the region in the coming decade as populations swell and industrialization spreads, particularly in the petrostates of the gulf which have found their oil exports are suffering because they’re diverting too much oil to power plants. “It is estimated that installed generating capacity in the region will be required to double by 2020 to […]

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Algeria readies oil, gas auction

Algeria called on oil and natural gas companies to prepare for an August auction for exploration and exploitation of natural resources in the country. Sid Ali Betata, director of the National Agency for the Promotion of Hydrocarbon Resources, announced the call for tenders Tuesday, the official Algeria Press Service reported. The announcement comes one year after terrorists sympathetic with al-Qaida stormed the country’s In Amenas natural gas facility, leaving 38 civilians and 29 militants dead. Algeria has the 10th largest natural gas deposits in the world and is the third-largest gas supplier to Europe. Its exports have been in decline, however, because of lagging foreign investments. In Amenas has a production capacity of approximately 315 million cubic feet of natural gas per year, its operators Sonatrach, BP and Statoil said. In terms of oil, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Algeria had 12.2 […]

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Pirates Suspected of Hijacking Oil Tanker

An oil tanker that has disappeared off the coast of West Africa may have been hijacked by pirates, potentially marking the most southerly such attack to date in increasingly dangerous waters off African oil hubs Nigeria and Angola. The MT Kerala, a Liberian-flagged tanker carrying fuel oil, is owned by Dynacom Tankers. A person working for Dynacom in Athens said that the company hasn’t had any contact with the vessel since Friday afternoon. "We don’t know if the vessel has been hijacked—it is a suspected hijack," said the person, who didn’t want to give his name. Dryad Maritime Intelligence, a U.K.-based shipping intelligence firm, said that it had warned of a "suspect vessel operating off the Angolan coast" in the days leading up to the MT Kerala’s disappearance. If confirmed, this would mark the most southerly hijacking in the waters off West Africa for the purposes of refined product […]

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Study: Pollution from Chinese factories is harming air quality on U.S. West Coast

Bad air from China is blowing across the Pacific Ocean and contributing to smog in the United States, according to new scientific research. And much of that air pollution is being caused by the manufacture of goods in China for export to the United States and Europe. “We’ve outsourced our manufacturing and much of our pollution, but some of it is blowing back across the Pacific to haunt us,” said Steve Davis, a University of California at Irvine scientist and a co-author of the study. “Given the complaints about how Chinese pollution is corrupting other countries’ air, this paper shows that there may be plenty of blame to go around.” The paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday and, according to its researchers, is the first to quantify how much of the pollution reaching the West Coast of the United […]

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Before the cold snap, Japan's demand for direct-burning crude was seen as largely tepid for January and February loading cargoes following strong interest seen for December-loading cargoes.

SJapan’s direct-burning crude oil demand for power generation has picked up since late December as a cold spell across the country has increased appetite for loadings into March in the absence of nuclear output, industry and trading sources said Thursday. "Indeed, oil demand picked up [for power generation] this month," an industry source said. The source said Japanese incremental oil demand for power generation typically goes to fuel oil first, but it has fallen to crude in recent weeks amid further run cuts at Japanese refineries. In late December, a cargo of prompt January-loading Minas — which was heard to have gone into overhang from November to December — and a cargo of February-loading Minas were placed, but details of the trades were not clear, according to trading sources. The cargoes were heard to be headed to Japan. The Asia Pacific sweet crude market […]

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Before the cold snap, Japan’s demand for direct-burning crude was seen as largely tepid for January and February loading cargoes following strong interest seen for December-loading cargoes.

SJapan’s direct-burning crude oil demand for power generation has picked up since late December as a cold spell across the country has increased appetite for loadings into March in the absence of nuclear output, industry and trading sources said Thursday. "Indeed, oil demand picked up [for power generation] this month," an industry source said. The source said Japanese incremental oil demand for power generation typically goes to fuel oil first, but it has fallen to crude in recent weeks amid further run cuts at Japanese refineries. In late December, a cargo of prompt January-loading Minas — which was heard to have gone into overhang from November to December — and a cargo of February-loading Minas were placed, but details of the trades were not clear, according to trading sources. The cargoes were heard to be headed to Japan. The Asia Pacific sweet crude market […]

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China stocks dip over poor factory activity prediction

Chinese shares dipped over HSBC flash PMI figures released on Thursday indicating sluggish manufacturing activity in January. ( The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.47 percent, or 9.57 points, to finish at 2,042.18. The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 0.41 percent, or 31.98 points, to close at 7,788.47. Combined turnover on the two bourses fell to 212 billion yuan (34.7 billion U.S. dollars) from 216 billion yuan on the previous trading day. The flash reading for the China manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49.6 in January, hitting a 6-month low, said HSBC on Thursday. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction. The financial sector led the losing trend, with China Pingan, an insurance giant, dropping 1.94 percent and China Merchants Bank falling 1.68 percent. The furniture and media sectors made significant gains. Guangdong Guangzhou […]

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China piping in more natural gas

Chinese government data show Wednesday the country piped in 20 percent more natural gas in December than it did the same time last year. China’s General Administration of Customs reported approximately 90 billion cubic feet of natural gas was imported in December. The Platts news service reports the pipeline imports for December were 20.1 percent more year-on-year. About 80 percent of the natural gas piped into China comes through the Central Asia-China pipeline, which links China to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In August, China announced it started securing some natural gas volumes through a pipeline from neighboring Myanmar. China’s economy is expected to grow 7.8 percent in 2014, unchanged from 2013, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its January market report. China’s economy is outperforming its rivals, meaning it is taking on more energy supplies to keep up with demand. For oil, OPEC […]

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Shanghai considers arming residents with anti-pollution masks

P It was not immediately clear if the proposals would see authorities give masks to all of the city’s more than 23 million residents. Mr Zhu said children, traffic police and those who worked outdoors should be given priority. The masks would be distributed through the city’s health care system, the Xinmin Evening News reported. The report came as Yang Xiong, Shanghai’s mayor, told an annual summit of Communist Party leaders and advisers that his city needed to “break away from the conventional path of development.” “Environmental capacity is strained and air pollution such as haze has become a pronounced problem,” Mr Yang told Shanghai’s People’s Congress on Sunday. Mr Yang vowed to “pay more attention to the atmospheric environment” although on Tuesday the Shanghai Daily newspaper said the city’s investment in environmental protection […]

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Australia's drinking water at risk from extreme weather events

Australia’s drinking water is at risk from extreme weather, a new study says. The study, commissioned by the United States-based Water Research Foundation, says flooding, prolonged rainfall, drought, cyclones and bush fires impact surface water quality. Such weather events, it says, are predicted to become more frequent and intense in many parts of Australia due to climate change. “We need to focus on building resilience into our future supplies,” said Stuart Khan, an associate professor of the school of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New South Wales, and lead author of the report, in a news release. “This means designing systems that are more protected from the impacts of climate change and that have greater flexibility to respond to extreme weather events. This could be partially brought about through a diversification of water sources.” The report comes as Australia broke another […]

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Australia’s drinking water at risk from extreme weather events

Australia’s drinking water is at risk from extreme weather, a new study says. The study, commissioned by the United States-based Water Research Foundation, says flooding, prolonged rainfall, drought, cyclones and bush fires impact surface water quality. Such weather events, it says, are predicted to become more frequent and intense in many parts of Australia due to climate change. “We need to focus on building resilience into our future supplies,” said Stuart Khan, an associate professor of the school of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New South Wales, and lead author of the report, in a news release. “This means designing systems that are more protected from the impacts of climate change and that have greater flexibility to respond to extreme weather events. This could be partially brought about through a diversification of water sources.” The report comes as Australia broke another […]

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Australia Divided on Fracking

Debate over hydraulic fracturing is growing in Australia, where environmentalists are concerned about new efforts to tap the country’s substantial reserves of oil and natural gas . So far, experts say, hydraulic fracturing has made few inroads in Australia. But the practice, also known as fracking, is expected to grow as Australia seeks more natural gas for export. Fracking involves extracting oil or gas from shale rock with a high-pressure mix of water, sand and chemicals. Australia is poised at the “forefront of shale development,” because of its infrastructure, low population density and other factors, according to a report last week from the firm Lux Research. That is not what the country’s environmentalists want to hear. They have watched the rise of fracking in the United States, where the practice has proliferated in recent years, and fear the possibility of water contamination or overuse, as well as earthquakes from […]

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Analysts: Oil-by-rail still attractive

A series of high profile accidents in North America involving crude oil transportation by rail won’t deter the industry, energy analysts say. U.S. legislators are calling for a closer look at the regulations governing the rail sector following a series of accidents involving the transportation of crude oil by rail. Ankur Jajoo, an analyst with market research company Frost & Sullivan, told energy news website Rigzone the industry would continue using rail as a transit option so long as it makes economic sense. “The industry looks to save where it can,” he said in an interview published Tuesday. “If using rail is more economic versus trucks, then that is what companies will use.” The National Transportation Safety Board said about 950 barrels of oil spilled when two trains operated by BNSF Railway collided and derailed near Casselton, N.D., in late December. No injuries were […]

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Spot Gasoline in Los Angeles Strengthens on Plant Maintenance

Los Angeles gasoline gained against futures on speculation that plant repairs in Southern California will cut supplies in the market. Gasoline’s discount narrowed as Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD) said it was preparing for maintenance at the Carson, California, hydrogen plant “in coordination with a key customer.” The Carson complex, which supplies hydrogen to refineries in the Los Angeles area to fuel process units, is expected to restart in mid-February, Art George, a company spokesman in Allentown, Pennsylvania , said by e-mail today. California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, in Los Angeles strengthened 1 cent versus futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange to a discount of 5 cents a gallon, according to data compiled by Bloomberg at 4:20 p.m. East Coast time. The prompt-delivery price jumped 6.05 cents to $2.6271 a gallon, a two-week high. Tesoro Corp. (TSO) ’s Wilmington plant, part of the company’s 363,000-barrel-a-day Los Angeles […]

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TransCanada Gulf Pipe Start Opens Path for Canada Crude

TransCanada Corp. (TRP) started moving crude on its Gulf Coast Pipeline, opening up a pathway for more Canadian oil to reach U.S. refineries. The Gulf Coast line, also known as the southern leg of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, was initially flowing at 288,000 barrels a day and transporting entirely U.S. light, sweet oil to Nederland, Texas , from Cushing, Oklahoma . It will ramp up over the course of the year toward its 700,000-barrel capacity and carry more heavy crude from Canadian oil sands formations, executives said in a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Calgary. “Refiners couldn’t access lower-cost domestic production and were forced to pay a premium to ship crude from foreign suppliers,” TransCanada Chief Executive Russ Girling said. “The Gulf Coast project will change that.” The $2.3 billion (C$2.55 billion) Gulf Coast line was split apart from the larger Keystone XL project in 2012 […]

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Alaska Coastal Oil Drilling Challenge Revived by Court

Alaskan coastal drilling by oil companies including ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) may be further delayed after a federal appeals court ruled the government acted illegally in opening almost 30 million acres on the continental shelf to energy exploration. The Sierra Club and other organizations sued the government after the $2.6 billion sale of development leases for the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska in 2008, saying the amount of oil from the leases was far higher than the 1 billion barrels the U.S. Interior Department estimated in an environmental review approving the sale. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco today concluded the estimate was “chosen arbitrarily.” That meant the Interior Department “based its decision on inadequate information about the amount of oil to be produced pursuant to the lease sale,” the court said in a decision reinstating the lawsuit. “The agency is […]

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What happens when the shale oil boom ends?

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he viewed the increase in U.S. oil production as a new source of supply that will help stabilize oil markets. Oil from shale is providing a buffer against an unsteady Middle East market, but it’s not too early to consider what happens to markets after the revolution. Skip to next paragraph Recent posts Naimi said during a meeting in Riyadh with U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz the increase in U.S. oil production was adding a level of stability to an international oil market unsettled by problems in the Middle East and North Africa. "It is necessary to continue consultations between our two countries to expand the horizons of cooperation, including joint investments, and working with oil producing and consuming countries for the stability of […]

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Europe Forges Ahead With Climate Plan

BRUSSELS—The European Union executive stuck to its guns Wednesday in proposing far-reaching targets to combat climate change, defying expectations that it would ease off in the face of intense lobbying from heavy industry and even some member states. The European Commission said the 28-member bloc should cut carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. Heavy industry and utilities as well as some governments had sought a target of 35% . It also proposed that clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, make up at least 27% of the overall energy use by 2030, also compared with 1990 levels. That goal, however, applies to the EU as a whole and not to each member state individually. The commission also put forward legislation to fix structural weakness in the struggling European carbon-trading system, but set out guidelines only for the exploration of shale gas in the face […]

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Victory for Britain and Poland as EU Issues Guidelines on Controversial Fracking Technique

BRUSSELS—Britain scored a victory Wednesday, when the European Commission shied away from earlier plans to put forward legislation on the exploration of shale gas. The European Union’s executive issued only guidelines for the technology after strong pressure from Britain and Poland, which are keen to forge ahead with the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking,’ used to tap shale gas reserves. The commission said it was responding to calls for "minimum principles…to address environmental and health concerns and give operators and investors the predictability they need," said the EU’s environment chief, Janez Potocnik. Britain and Poland are keen to tap into potential shale gas reserves after seeing the U.S. become the world’s largest gas producer from its reserves. But public opinion in Europe is largely set against the technique, amid concerns over its impact on the quality of water, soil and air. France has put in place a […]

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Europe, Facing Economic Pain, May Ease Climate Rules

For years, Europe has tried to set the global standard for climate-change regulation, creating tough rules on emissions, mandating more use of renewable energy sources and arguably sacrificing some economic growth in the name of saving the planet. But now even Europe seems to be hitting its environmentalist limits. High energy costs, declining industrial competitiveness and a recognition that the economy is unlikely to rebound strongly any time soon are leading policy makers to begin easing up in their drive for more aggressive climate regulation. On Wednesday, the European Union proposed an end to binding national targets for renewable energy production after 2020. Instead, it substituted an overall European goal that is likely to be much harder to enforce. It also decided against proposing laws on environmental damage and safety during the extraction of […]

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Oil Security 2025 report – US remains vulnerable

The inaugural work of the Commission on Energy and Geopolitics, “Oil Security 2025: U.S. National Security Policy in an Era of Domestic Oil Abundance,” explores the potential for U.S. oil production to impact American foreign policy and national security in the coming decade and presents a series of recommendations designed to safeguard and advance U.S. interests. Link to the report page Link to full report  (PDF) Released January 15, 2014   Click on the headline (link) for the full text. US still vulnerable to oil shocks, say generals Ed Crooks, Financial Times The US remains vulnerable to oil price shocks caused by disruptions in the Middle East and other producing regions in spite of the North American shale boom, a commission of former generals and senior officials has warned. (15 January 2014) How the oil boom could change U.S. foreign policy Brad Blumer, WonkBlog, Washington post The United States […]

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Oil Futures Extend Gains

Crude-oil futures extended gains in Asian trade on Wednesday ahead of initial weekly oil inventory data from the U.S. and as the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline goes into operation. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March were $95.37 a barrel at 0617 GMT–up $0.40 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.34 to $107.07 a barrel. Oil ended higher in overnight floor trade on positive sentiment after the International Energy Agency raised its estimate for world-wide daily demand in 2014 to rise 1.3 million barrels a day to 92.5 million barrels a day. Rising U.S. oil production may hit a wall in coming years if it maintains a ban on exports, the Paris-based energy watchdog said. The southern leg of TransCanada Corp.’s (TRP.T) Keystone XL pipeline in the U.S. is expected to go […]

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WTI Oil Rises Amid Speculation U.S. Distillate Stockpiles Shrank

West Texas Intermediate crude rose for a third day amid speculation that government data will show distillate-fuel inventories declined for a second week in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures advanced as much as 0.7 percent in New York . Distillate stockpiles , including heating oil and diesel, probably slid by 500,000 barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a report from the Energy Information Administration tomorrow. The International Energy Agency raised its forecast yesterday for global oil consumption, citing a strengthening economy. “Demand in the U.S. appears to be on the way up,” David Lennox , a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone today. “The IEA report helped to push prices.” WTI for March delivery gained as much as 63 cents to $95.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange , and was at $95.56 […]

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Storm Sends Natural Gas Prices for NYC, Mid-Atlantic States Soaring

-The price of natural gas delivered to New York City and the mid-Atlantic states soared to a record high Tuesday as a snowstorm brought freezing temperatures to the U.S. Northeast and as traders worried about a potential drop in supplies of the heating fuel. Natural gas for delivery Wednesday soared to $135 per million British thermal units at Transco Zone 6, a pipeline delivery point in New Jersey where New York City gas prices are set, according to IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. On Friday, prices traded between $10 and $25 per million Btus. Prices on the same pipeline for delivery from […]

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Storm Sends Natural Gas Prices Higher

The price of natural gas delivered to New York City and the mid-Atlantic states soared to a record high on Tuesday, as a snowstorm brought freezing temperatures to the Northeast U.S., and traders worried about a potential drop in supplies of the heating fuel. Natural gas for delivery Wednesday soared to $135 per million British thermal units at Transco Zone 6, a pipeline delivery point in New Jersey where New York City gas prices are set, according to IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc. On Friday, prices traded between $10 and $25 per million Btus. Other pipelines, including the Iroquis Gas Transmission System that brings gas from eastern Canada to the New York City area, posted similar milestones by midday Tuesday. The surge in prices for the second time this month underscores concerns about the infrastructure needed to transport natural gas from booming shale fields to densely populated areas when the heating […]

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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: Global oil demand for fourth-quarter 2013 revised upward

Global oil consumption during fourth-quarter 2013 was adjusted to 92.1 million b/d, according to the International Energy Agency’s most recent Oil Market Report. The total, which marks a 135,000-b/d upward revision from last month’s OMR report, was adjusted because of exceptionally strong US demand since October, partly offset by reduced Chinese fourth-quarter 2013 demand. Global demand for 2014 is expected to rise by 1.3 million b/d to 92.5 million b/d from the 1.2 million b/d rise now envisaged for 2013, to 91.2 million b/d, “an acceleration supported by the likelihood of stronger macroeconomic momentum as the year progresses, IEA said. Led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, crude oil supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries rebounded by 310,000 b/d to 29.82 million b/d in December, reversing 4 months of declines. Iraq was the only member to post a decline. Non-OPEC supplies for the month fell by […]

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Iran not open for business, U.S. says

Though Iran gets some relief from sanctions under terms of a nuclear deal, a U.S. government official said its oil sector isn’t open for business. Sanctions pressure on Iran eased Monday in response to implementation of a nuclear deal that calls on Iran to curb some of its uranium enrichment activity. The deal is part of an interim agreement reached last year between Iran and its Western negotiating partners. A U.S. official told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity Iran gets about $4.2 billion from sanctions relief during the six-month interim period. That relief, however, is a "drop in the bucket" compared with oil revenue still off limits because of sanctions. "Iran is not truly open for business," the official said in an interview published Monday. There were few official responses from Iran regarding oil in the wake of the sanctions relief. A […]

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Iraq only slumping OPEC member, IEA says

Iraq was the only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to post a decline in oil production last month, the IEA said Tuesday. The International Energy Agency, which has headquarters in Paris, said Tuesday oil production from the 12 members of OPEC declined 535,000 barrels per day in December year-on-year. OPEC’s December production, however, was 310,000 bpd higher than the previous month. OPEC said in its January market report demand for its crude oil declined because of production increases from North America. The IEA said 11 of the 12 members of the OPEC cartel, including Libya, were reporting production gains, reversing four months of decline. "Iraq was the only member to post a decline, though beleaguered Libya saw only a modest rise, amid government expectations of an imminent recovery in oil output," the IEA said in its market report. Violence has increased […]

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Mediterranean Oil Tanker Rates Near Six-Year High on Libya Cargo

The cost of shipping oil across the Mediterranean Sea surged to the highest in almost six years as traders accelerated bookings to load Libyan cargoes at a time when tankers are being delayed reaching the region. Aframax ships hauling 80,000 metric ton cargoes to southern European refineries from North African exporters are earning $137,687 a day, according to data today from Poten & Partners, a New York-based shipbroker. The figure is the most since March 2008, its data show. Nationwide protests shut Libyan oil fields and export terminals in July last year, curbing shipments from Europe ’s third-largest crude supplier. Some lost output is now returning and traders booked tankers to load 610,000 tons of Libyan oil in the week ended Jan. 26, the most since Sept. 1, according to charter lists compiled by Bloomberg. Fog is delaying ships at Turkey ’s shipping straits, meaning fewer in the Mediterranean, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan oil production up 2 percent

The Libyan Ministry of Oil said oil production has reached an average level of 581,657 barrels per day, a 2 percent increase from its previous estimate. The government said the 581,657 barrels per day average was achieved during the week ending Jan. 18. It beats the previous week’s average of 569,135 bpd, the Libya Herald reported Monday from Tripoli. Before the civil war in 2011, Libya produced on average 1.6 million bpd and was one of the premier oil producers in North Africa. The country has flirted with that level since widespread fighting ended in late 2011 but recent production levels have suffered because of internal conflict. Rebel groups in the east of the country, some of which helped topple the regime of Moammar Gadhafi , in November declared independence for the region known as Cyrenaica, which hosts some of Libya’s key oil […]

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More oil expected from Kazakhstan

The Kazakh Ministry of Energy outlined a strategic 2014 agenda to the nation’s president, a plan that calls for a slight increase in oil production. Kazakh Oil and Gas Minister Uzakbai Karabalin met President Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss plans for the current year, the president’s official website said Monday. The EIA, the U.S. Energy Department’s statistical arm, said Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, is estimated to hold 30 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. Its Kashagan field, the fifth largest in the world in terms of volume, holds an estimated 13 billion barrels of oil. The Kazakh government said it expects to see a modest increase in oil production in 2014 to 608 million barrels of oil, compared to the 600 million barrels produced last year, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported. The press agency didn’t say which reserve areas would be […]

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Shell to further scale down Australian operations?

Shell’s Australian investments are in the spotlight after the company offloaded its holdings in a major gas project in Western Australia. Shell announced Monday it is selling an 8 percent stake in the Wheatstone-Iago joint venture gas fields, and also a 6.4 percent holding in the Wheatstone gas project to Kuwait’s Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. for $1.3 billion. "Shell will remain a major player in Australia’s energy industry. However, we are refocusing our investment to where we can add the most value with Shell’s capital and technology," said Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden, in a statement announcing the Wheatstone sale. "We are making hard choices in our worldwide portfolio to improve Shell’s capital efficiency." The move follows Shell’s announcement of earnings Friday for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 of $2.9 billion, almost $1 billion less than market expectations. Other Shell assets […]

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China Seen Retaking Lead From U.S. in Oil Demand Growth

China will retake the lead over the U.S. in oil demand growth this year as its manufacturing and transportation industries expand, the International Energy Agency said. Chinese use is forecast to expand 3.6 percent, or 369,000 barrels a day, to 10.49 million barrels a day this year, the Paris-based energy adviser said in its monthly oil market report today. U.S. consumption will rise 0.4 percent, or 72,000 barrels a day, a slower pace than last year when its barrel-a-day expansion exceeded that of China. Soaring shale output in the U.S. is helping the world’s largest oil consumer achieve its highest level of energy independence in two decades. The U.S. will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top producer by 2015 and be close to self-sufficiency in the next two decades, while China will become the world’s largest oil consumer by 2035, replacing the U.S., the agency predicted […]

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New Suppliers Boost China Oil Imports

China is trimming dependence from some top oil suppliers, such as Saudi Arabia, as greater availability of global oil helps Beijing diversify its sources of foreign crude. The changing makeup of China’s foreign oil suppliers is one example of how weaker demand from buyers in the U.S., Europe and Japan is reshaping global trade flows. Beijing hopes the gradual shift in oil shipments can help it reduce dependence on a key group of suppliers—though new shipments in many cases are coming from politically risky areas. Chinese customs data released Tuesday showed China’s crude imports declined or stagnated from some of its largest oil suppliers in 2013, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Venezuela. Meanwhile, China has increasingly tapped supplies in Iraq, parts of western Africa and elsewhere. Imports from Saudi Arabia, China’s largest overseas supplier, were flat in 2013 from a year earlier, the first time in at least a […]

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China Focus: Air pollution chokes as smog migrates

People living in south China have been grumbling about gales blowing smog in from the north, as hazardous air chokes more parts of the country this winter. In 2013, China’s smog belt stretched from the developed regions of the Yangtze and Zhujiang river deltas and areas around Beijing and Tianjin, to other places where smog was seldom seen. The southernmost province of Hainan and autonomous region of Tibet recorded smoggy days. Chinese Academy of Sciences issued a report last month about climate change, saying that besides local pollutants, "smog migration" was another serious problem. In Beijing, 30 percent to 40 percent of the PM 2.5, airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, was caused by emissions, 20 percent to 30 percent from chemical conversion in the atmosphere, and the rest from smog movement, according to the report. Meanwhile, according to statistics published monthly […]

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New leak found in Fukushima plant’s wrecked No. 3 building

A new water leak, possibly from the effort to cool a crippled reactor, has been detected on the first floor of a reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Jan. 18. TEPCO said workers discovered by a video feed that water was leaking on the first floor of the wrecked No. 3 reactor building earlier in the day. The utility added that the water was flowing into the basement of the reactor building and not outside the structure. It is investigating the source of the leak. TEPCO suggested the possibilities that the water was leaking from a pipe that is sending cooling water to the reactor or from the reactor containment vessel. If the leak is from water being used to cool the reactor, it would be highly contaminated and a new headache for TEPCO […]

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South Korea's Dec crude imports from Iran slump 29% on year

South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil in December slumped 29.4% to 4.036 million barrels, or 130,194 b/d, compared with 5.724 million barrels a year earlier, data released Wednesday by state-run Korea National Oil Corp showed. But the December volume was up 4.7% from imports of 3.853 million barrels in November, the data showed. For the whole of 2013, South Korea imported 48.21 million barrels of Iranian crude, down 14.1% from the 56.15 million barrels it purchased in the previous year. The US said Monday it had taken the necessary steps to pause efforts to further reduce Iranian crude oil exports by allowing the six current customers of Iranian oil to maintain their purchases at current levels for the duration of the Geneva agreement between Iran and world powers that came into effect Monday. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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South Korea’s Dec crude imports from Iran slump 29% on year

South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil in December slumped 29.4% to 4.036 million barrels, or 130,194 b/d, compared with 5.724 million barrels a year earlier, data released Wednesday by state-run Korea National Oil Corp showed. But the December volume was up 4.7% from imports of 3.853 million barrels in November, the data showed. For the whole of 2013, South Korea imported 48.21 million barrels of Iranian crude, down 14.1% from the 56.15 million barrels it purchased in the previous year. The US said Monday it had taken the necessary steps to pause efforts to further reduce Iranian crude oil exports by allowing the six current customers of Iranian oil to maintain their purchases at current levels for the duration of the Geneva agreement between Iran and world powers that came into effect Monday. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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India to review oil and gas estimates

The Indian government announced plans to review more than a dozen basins across the country to update its estimated oil and natural gas potential. M. Veerappa Moily, India’s energy minister, set up a multilateral team to reassess the nation’s reserve potential. The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, reported the team will spend the next 30 months evaluating the reserve potential in 26 basins across India. The survey covers an estimated 1.2 million square miles of Indian territory. The newspaper reported Monday the last such exercise was carried out 20 years ago for 15 reserve areas. The Indian government is looking to secure more oil and gas reserves to help support its expanding economy. In early January, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. said it expects to produce as much as 353 million cubic feet of natural gas from offshore reserves by 2018. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Americans Driving Down Their Driving Miles

Americans Driving Down Their Driving Miles We may be witnessing a historic change in our driving habits. Americans love their cars and love to drive their cars. With each American traveling on average less than 10,000 miles a year  and the country as a whole nearly  three trillion total vehicle miles traveled per year  (VMT), we are hands down the champs at racking up the miles . But of late, something remarkable and, for many, unexpected has been happening. It’s not so much that our automobile love affair has ended, rather that maybe, just maybe, it’s not quite as hot and heavy as it has been. (See related story: “ U.S. Teenagers Are Driving Much Less: Four Theories About Why .”) Driving Habits Switching Directions And what is the evidence for this cooling of the passion between American drivers and their wheels? Exhibit A is the graphic below showing U.S. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple