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Why Natural Gas Should Stay Cheap — For a Long Time

Natural gas prices are likely to stay low for at least the next 20 years, with a long term annual average price of $4 to $5 per million Btu, a new study says. Even with new demand, the quantity of U.S. gas resources is so vast thanks to unconventional drilling techniques that average Henry Hub prices should not rise dramatically from the $4 to $5 range, though they could fluctuate. (Henry Hub, based in Louisiana, is the delivery point for physical natural gas traded in the Nymex futures market.) Henry Hub prices averaged $4.24 per million British thermal units in December, and hit a high above $13 per million Btu in October 2005. “We now have knowledge and comfort that we have an incredible resource base-technically recoverable resources of 3,000 trillion cubic feet,” said Rita Beale, IHS senior director of power, gas, coal […]

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Royal Society: Theme issue on peak oil

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society has the prestige of being the world’s first scientific journal and also published the work of Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, William Herschel and many more celebrated names in science. Recently, this journal published a theme issue, edited by Richard G. Miller and Steve R. Sorell, on peak oil. This volume presents the best scientific evidence on why a decline in oil supply may, or may not, be in sight. It considers the production and resources of conventional oil and the potential for developing alternative liquid fuels from tar sands, shales, biomass, coal and gas. It describes how economies might react and adapt to rising oil prices and how the transport sector could be transformed. It provides comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective on the ‘peak oil’ debate and reflects a range of views. Ultimately, it reminds us that the […]

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WTI Crude Advances to Two-Week High on U.S. Economy

West Texas Intermediate crude rose to a two-week high on signs that economic growth is accelerating in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil-consuming nation. Futures gained 0.4 percent. The pace of U.S. home construction dropped less than forecast in December, capping the best year for the sector since 2007, the Commerce Department reported. Industrial production grew for a fifth month in December, according to the Federal Reserve in Washington . U.S. crude supplies slid to the lowest level since March 2012. “The rise in prices is a reflection of the better economic picture,” said Michael Lynch , president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts . “An improving economy translates into more fuel demand.” WTI for February delivery increased 41 cents to $94.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange . It was the highest settlement since Jan. 2. Futures climbed 1.8 percent this week. The […]

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Natural-Gas Futures Slide, But Post Gain for the Week

Natural-gas futures slid Friday but ended higher for the week as traders closed out their bets on higher prices following a record-high storage withdrawal. Natural gas for February delivery settled down 5.6 cents, or 1.3%, at $4.326 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose 6.7% this week. Futures surged to a two-and-a-half-week high Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that natural-gas inventories fell by 287 billion cubic feet in the week ended Jan. 10, the largest storage withdrawal on record. Demand for natural gas has been consistently strong this winter as colder-than-average temperatures have prompted people to turn up the heat in homes and offices. About half of all […]

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Suez Canal, energy lifeline, seen vulnerable to jihadist attack

Egypt’s military has stepped up security along the Suez Canal, a vital oil shipping artery that’s one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, to protect it from attack amid a swelling jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. There were at least two jihadist operations in 2013 on the canal — 120 miles long and 900 yards wide, most of which is vulnerable to attack. No serious attacks have been reported since then but a study by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy warns the military-led government "appears increasingly incapable" of curbing such strikes and that "ships in the canal risk future attacks." "There is concern that militants could successfully disrupt shipments through the Suez Canal, such as sinking a large vessel and blocking the canal for a period of time," the report, written by Middle East analyst Stephen Starr, concluded. […]

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IAEA team arrives in Tehran for nuclear visits

A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Tehran on Saturday, another step towards implementing a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers which was finalized last week, according to the semi-official Fars News agency. The team, led by nuclear engineer Massimo Aparo, will begin reporting to the IAEA on Monday, marking the official start of the deal, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. Under the terms of the agreement with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, Iran will stop work on some portions of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some international sanctions which have damaged the country’s economy. The IAEA team will visit the Natanz and Fordow nuclear facilities to ensure that Iran will stop enriching uranium to 20 percent and that its stockpile of enriched uranium is diluted, according to […]

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Middle East Faces Oil Challenges From Shale And Within – BP

Middle Eastern oil producers face a mountain of challenges in the next two decades as Russia and South America strive to replicate the U.S. shale oil boom, while demand jumps in the region’s domestic markets. Oil company BP said in its influential annual outlook issued on Wednesday that Middle East energy use will grow by 77 per cent by 2035, double the increase in production, meaning as little as 65 per cent of oil output will be available for export, down from 72 per cent. This could put additional pressure on government budgets of countries such as Saudi Arabia that depend on oil export revenue, at the same time as supply from shale oil and other non-conventional sources meets the bulk of global demand growth. BP expects Russia and South America to join the United States in tapping shale oil over the next two […]

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Kashagan Operators Weigh Way to Restart Oil Output While Fixing Pipe

Operators of Kazakhstan’s huge Kashagan oil field are considering a temporary solution to resume output, halted indefinitely since mid-October after a series of dangerous gas leaks, people with direct knowledge of the plan said. Before the stoppage, sour and toxic gas coming off the offshore field in the Caspian Sea was separated from crude oil, and sent to an onshore processing plant via a 56-mile pipeline. But the pipe is plagued by leaks and the North Caspian Operating Co. running the $50 billion project has yet to determine how to fix it. Releasing the potentially lethal gas into the air or flaring it isn’t an option because of safety and environmental regulations. Exxon Mobil Corp. , Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and other members of the NCOC consortium are now looking into a makeshift solution that would involve re-injecting the gas into the ground, the people familiar with the matter […]

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Pakistani official says Iranian gas line slowed by funding issues

Slow development of a gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan is caused by funding issues, not pressure from the United States, a Pakistani official said. "The gas pipeline is a bilateral issue between Pakistan and Iran," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said during a Thursday news briefing. Pakistan says a pipeline from Iran could help offset an energy shortage brought on by aging infrastructure and a crumbling energy sector. Envisioned more than a decade ago as a pipeline that could reach to India, the project has come up against pressure from Western powers concerned about its benefits to Iran. Aslam said the development was plagued more by the lack of funding than by pressure from any foreign government. "The progress on pipeline has been slow because of the funding issues and not because of the United States," she said. Pakistan could get 21 million […]

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Iraq to sue Turkey, blacklist traders over Kurdish crude sales

Iraq’s oil minister said Friday that the country has started legal action against Turkey as part of the ongoing dispute over the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region’s independent oil exports. "The Oil Ministry has taken the necessary procedures by asking the legal parties in Baghdad and Ankara to start the legal process to conduct a lawsuit against the Turkish government because it allows the [Kurdistan] region to pump oil through the export pipeline without the approval of the central government," Abdul Karim Luaibi said Friday, according to a statement given to Platts by the Oil Ministry. Over the past year, the Kurdistan Regional Government has built a 300,000 b/d pipeline within its northern Iraq territory and connected it to the 40-inch-diameter leg of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline. Under a series of oil and gas export agreements signed between Erbil and Ankara late November, crude exports have […]

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Baker Hughes: US drilling rig count jumps to 1,777

Land rigs accounted entirely for the sharp 23-unit increase in the US drilling rig count during the week ended Jan. 17, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. The US now has 1,777 rigs working. Rigs drilling offshore and in inland waters each were unchanged from a week ago, remaining at respective totals of 57 and 20. Oil rigs grew by 15 units to 1,408 while gas rigs gained 8 units to 365. Rigs considered unclassified remained at 4 total, unchanged from last week. Horizontal drilling rigs claimed 15 more units to reach 1,173 as directional drilling rigs relinquished 5 units to settle at 219. For the second consecutive week, Canada experienced a large rise in its rig count, leaping 88 units to 565. A vast majority of those units were oil rigs, which rose 79 units to 379. Gas rigs increased 9 units to 186. Canada now has 36 fewer rigs […]

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Obama's climate plans get mixed review during Senate hearing

climate director at the Natural Resources Defense Council said President Obama’s effort to address climate change needs support but others weren’t convinced. Obama’s "historic climate action plan will set us on the right track to cut dangerous pollution that threatens our health and well-being," Daniel Lashof said at a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing Thursday. The panel heard testimony on Obama’s plans to cut pollution and tackle climate change and got a mixed reaction. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, the ranking Republican on the panel, said the president’s climate plan would lead to the closure of power plants and lead to higher energy costs for consumers. He said the plan undermines U.S. economic recovery, would keep certain energy reserves off limits to energy companies and add another layer of "red tape" to federal regulations. More than a dozen environmental […]

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Obama’s climate plans get mixed review during Senate hearing

climate director at the Natural Resources Defense Council said President Obama’s effort to address climate change needs support but others weren’t convinced. Obama’s "historic climate action plan will set us on the right track to cut dangerous pollution that threatens our health and well-being," Daniel Lashof said at a U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing Thursday. The panel heard testimony on Obama’s plans to cut pollution and tackle climate change and got a mixed reaction. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, the ranking Republican on the panel, said the president’s climate plan would lead to the closure of power plants and lead to higher energy costs for consumers. He said the plan undermines U.S. economic recovery, would keep certain energy reserves off limits to energy companies and add another layer of "red tape" to federal regulations. More than a dozen environmental […]

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Oil! New Texas boom spawns riches, headaches

Not long ago, Richard Dockery was a real estate and insurance broker in this town of 1,800 residents, putting together small land deals and cobbling together a nest egg for retirement. Today, Dockery, 47, lives in a new, 2,400-square-foot home that he bought with cash and will have his 23-year-old daughter’s medical school bills covered before she steps into her first classroom. Once a month, a six-figure check in his name arrives in his mailbox from an energy company — royalties earned by leasing his property to oil companies and co-owning wells. It’s one of several that appear in his box each month that, added up, equal roughly the annual salary of a midlevel NBA player. "It’s crazy," Dockery says. "And I’m small fry. There are literally thousands of people out here who are millionaires, and some who are going to be billionaires. It’s […]

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Russia concerned by Ukrainian fracking

The Russian Natural Resources Ministry said Friday it was concerned hydraulic fracturing in neighboring Ukraine could pollute regional water supplies. The ministry issued a statement Friday saying it was concerned about the prospects for shale natural gas development in neighboring Ukraine. Hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, uses large quantities of water mixed with potentially harmful chemicals to get at oil and natural gas deposits locked in shale formations. Environmental groups have expressed concern some of that water could eventually spoil drinking water supplies. Deputy Environment Minister Rinat Gizatulin said there are real concerns about contamination because potential drilling sites may be in close proximity to aquifers. He said Friday a letter was sent to his Ukrainian counterparts calling for a bilateral meeting to address the issue. Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell are among the energy companies interested in developing Ukrainian shale. The government […]

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Peak Oil Is Irrelevant

Peak oil has been predicted since the 1950s to occur by various near-future dates, originally as early as 1965. The prediction that US oil production would peak in the 1970s was, in fact, accurate, but new discoveries – including North American sources involving fracking and tar sands – keep pushing the timeline outward. Some say we will always find new oil sources, though economic theory states they will also get inexorably more expensive. Recent discussions have revived the peak oil debate. A Business Insider articl e last spring claimed “it is probably safe to say we have slayed "peak oil" once and for all, thanks to the combination new shale oil and gas production techniques and declining fuel use.” It was counterpointed here . But I basically don’t care. All the talk of peak oil, that we are running out of fossil fuels and therefore need […]

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BlackLight Power, Inc. Announces the Game Changing Achievement of the Generation of Millions of Watts of Power from the Conversion of Water Fuel to a New Form of Hydrogen

BlackLight Power, Inc. (BLP) today announced that it has produced millions of watts of power with its breakthrough Solid Fuel-Catalyst-Induced-Hydrino-Transition (SF-CIHT) patent pending technology in its laboratories. Using a proprietary water-based solid fuel confined by two electrodes of a SF-CIHT cell, and applying a current of 12,000 amps through the fuel, water ignites into an extraordinary flash of power. The fuel can be continuously fed into the electrodes to continuously output power. BlackLight has produced millions of watts of power in a volume that is one ten thousandths of a liter corresponding to a power density of over an astonishing 10 billion watts per liter. As a comparison, a liter of BlackLight power source can output as much power as a central power generation plant exceeding the entire power of the four former reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters […]

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US Army colonel: world is sleepwalking to a global energy crisis

Earth insight badge An oil refinery in Canada An oil refinery in Canada. Has cheap oil gone forever? Photograph: Dave Reede/All Canada Photos/Corbis A conference sponsored by a US military official convened experts in Washington DC and London warning that continued dependence on fossil fuels puts the world at risk of an unprecedented energy crunch that could inflame financial crisis and exacerbate dangerous climate change . The ‘ Transatlantic Energy Security Dialogue ‘, which took place on 10th December last year, was co-organised by a US Army official, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel L. Davis, in association with former petroleum geologist Jeremy Leggett, chairman of the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Gas . Participants, who addressed one another via video link, consisted of retired military officers, security experts, senior industry executives, and politicians from the main parties – including two former UK ministers. According to US Army colonel Daniel […]

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Thousands of Gas Leaks Discovered Under Streets

Researchers from Duke revealed today that they had discovered nearly 5,900 gas leaks under the streets of Washington DC , including 12 that posed a serious risk of explosion. And it’s not just Washington: a gas industry whistleblower who is part of the team showed this was happening in cities all over America .” New research today says the nation’s capital, notorious for leaking state secrets, has thousands of leaks of another sort: methane from natural gas pipelines. More than 5,800 leaks from aging pipelines were found under Washington, D.C.’s streets by scientists from Duke University and Boston University, who dispatched a car equipped with measuring instruments across the city last January and February. Their findings appear in this week’s peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology. The researchers found 19 of the leaks had high concentrations of methane, a potent heat-trapping greenhouse gas […]

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OPEC View of Supply Glut Hits Brent

Crude-oil futures moved in opposite directions in Asian trade on Friday with Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries projections of healthy international supply weighing down Brent crude prices. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $94.10 a barrel at 0634 GMT–up $0.14 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.23 to $105.52 a barrel. Brent extended losses after slipping overnight as OPEC said in a report demand for its oil fell by half a million barrels a day last year to 29.9 million barrels a day–and it expects demand to decline by a further 400,000 barrels a day in 2014. The value of OPEC’s reference basket–a measure of the prices of various grades of oil–fell 3% from 2012–breaking a three-year winning streak, the cartel said. In Iran President Hasan Rouhani on Thursday said […]

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WTI Crude Set for First Weekly Advance This Year on U.S. Economy

West Texas Intermediate crude headed for the first weekly gain since December amid speculation that U.S. unemployment and manufacturing data signaled the world’s biggest oil consumer will sustain its economic growth. Futures were little changed in New York and have advanced 1.7 percent since Jan. 10. U.S. jobless claims fell last week to the lowest level since November while a factory index for this month increased, according to separate reports yesterday. Industrial production data for December is due today. Prices may retreat next week, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Morgan Stanley said it sees “downside risk” for crude from rising supply. “There’s still a good case for an acceleration in U.S. economic growth, that, even if energy efficiency is rising, will lead to higher oil demand in the U.S.,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB in Oslo. WTI for February delivery was at $94.30 a […]

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Days of Near-Record-Low Natural Gas Prices Not Over Yet

Natural gas prices are climbing after a steep drop in supplies. But one analyst says bulls are forgetting something: There’s plenty more where that came from. High production is still casting a shadow on the U.S. market, and the days of near-record-low gas prices are not over, says Katherine Spector, head of commodities strategy at CIBC World Markets. The current strength in prices could lead to even more supply down the line, she says. Utility companies have pulled natural gas out of storage at high rates this winter to meet indoor heating demand. In the week ended Jan. 10 – when record-cold temperatures swept the Midwest and East Coast – 287 billion cubic feet of natural gas were withdrawn from storage, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s the largest storage withdrawal on record – and the second largest, 285 bcf, occurred last month. Suddenly, market […]

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Polar Vortex Melted Natural Gas Supply Cushion

Natural gas traders got confirmation that the recent polar vortex drained a huge amount of the heating fuel last week. Closely-watched data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that utilities pulled a record 287 billion cubic feet of gas supplies from storage tanks in the week ended Jan. 10. The sharp decline, which beat the previous record withdrawal of 285 bcf in December, came as many Americans turned up their thermostats to burn a higher-than-normal amount of the fuel in furnaces to heat their homes. While the amount of gas withdrawn was less than the 299 bcf that analysts had expected, traders have moved on to focus on weather forecasts for another cold snap in late January. “The overall outlook remains bullish, with plenty of heating demand forecast for the balance of the month, and so we would expect the downside price reaction to prove limited,” said Tim […]

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Natural-Gas Futures Rise on Record Storage Withdrawal

-Natural-gas futures pared earlier gains, but finished higher Thursday after government data showed that supplies of the heating fuel fell by a record amount last week on frigid temperatures. Natural gas for February delivery climbed 5.7 cents, or 1.3%, to $4.382 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and posted the highest settlement since Dec. 30. Prices had risen as much as 3.9% earlier in the session, approaching the 2 1/2-year high of $4.532/mmBtu set in December, as weather forecasts called for another cold snap in late January. However, futures pulled back from that level as traders elected to book profits from a sharp 12% runup over the past week. Market participants were also somewhat disappointed that the amount of gas withdrawn from storage tanks fell short of analysts’ expectations. In the report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said natural-gas inventories fell by 287 […]

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OPEC declines offset partially by North America

OPEC said Thursday oil production from its member states was down 20,000 barrels per day last month, a level offset partially by North America. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries published its monthly market report Thursday, highlighting sector developments for December. It said oil production from its 12 member states averaged 29.4 million barrels per day in December, a decline of 20,000 bpd from the previous monthly report. Crude oil output increased from member states Algeria, Iran, Nigeria and others, while production declined in other member states, including Iraq and Saudi Arabia. For oil producers outside the cartel, OPEC said fourth quarter 2013 production increased 1.2 million bpd from the same period last year. Overall for 2013, OPEC said oil production gains were seen in North America, Brazil and both Sudans. Oil production from Norway, the United Kingdom and Mexico were among those experiencing […]

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Extreme Weather Wreaking Havoc on Food as Farmers Suffer

Volatile weather around the world is taking farmers on a wild ride. Too much rain in northern China damaged crops in May, three years after too little rain turned the world’s second-biggest corn producer into a net importer of the grain. Dry weather in the U.S. will cut beef output from the world’s biggest producer to the lowest level since 1994, following 2013’s bumper corn crop, which pushed America’s inventory up 30 percent. U.K. farmers couldn’t plant in muddy fields after the second-wettest year on record in 2012 dented the nation’s wheat production. Graphic: Living With Extreme Weather “ Extreme weather events are a massive risk to agriculture,” said Peter Kendall, president of the U.K. National Farmers Union , who raises 1,600 hectares (3,953 acres) of grain crops in Bedfordshire, England . “Farmers can adapt to gradual temperature increases, but extreme weather events have the potential […]

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Moscow shrugs off concerns about Iranian oil

The Russian government said Thursday it was brushing off Washington’s concerns about a potential oil-for-goods swap deal with Iran. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported the Kremlin is considering a deal to swap goods and potential financial payments in exchange for Iranian crude oil. It said Russian government officials told Russian-language business daily Kommersant there were no real concerns about triggering sanctions with the deal. “Russia does not violate any sanctions and is not obliged to coordinate such projects with anyone,” the source said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry , saying Russia had every right to make an oil-for-goods deal with Iran. An interim deal reached between Iran and Western powers calls on Iran to curb its nuclear activity in exchange for relief from some economic sanctions. Washington said new sanctions on […]

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Bomb attacks kill 52 in Baghdad and Baquba: Iraqi police

Bomb attacks kill 52 in Baghdad and Baquba: Iraqi police January 15, 2014 10:28 AM (Last updated: January 15, 2014 11:14 AM) Reuters Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed BAGHDAD: Bomb attacks hit the Iraqi capital Baghdad and a village near the northern town of Baquba on Wednesday, killing at least 52 people, police and hospital sources said. In the deadliest incident, a bomb blew up in a funeral tent where mourners were marking the death two days ago of a Sunni Muslim pro-government militiaman, police said. It killed 18 people and wounded 16 in Shatub, a village south of Baquba. Police had earlier put the death […]

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Syrian energy deal puts Russia in gas-rich Med

Syria’s new 25-year energy deal with Russia, a key ally of embattled President Bashar Assad, could open the way for Moscow’s eventual move into the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean — if the Damascus regime survives the civil war that’s raged since March 2011. The Dec. 25 agreement gives Russia’s state-controlled Soyuzneftegas exclusive exploration, development and production rights over 850 square miles of Syria’s Exclusive Economic Zone in an area known as Block 2 roughly between the coastal cities of Banias and Tartous. The deal gives the Russians, one of the world’s leading energy producers, their first real foothold in the Levant Basin, considered to be rich in natural gas. Israel, which hit major gas fields in 2009-10, containing an estimated 30 tcf, is the more advanced in terms of developing its gas reserves, which are likely much higher. Its Tamar field began producing in […]

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Pakistan’s Oil & Gas to Boost Supply as Deficit Hurts Growth

; Gas Development Co., Pakistan ’s biggest energy explorer, will boost gas output from existing fields by a third in the next 12 to 18 months as energy shortages hamper growth and shut factories. “We are working on six projects and expect to increase gas supplies by about 350 million cubic feet a day,” Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Riaz Khan said in an interview yesterday. “The major portion of gas would come in this financial year” which ends June 30, he said. New supply is needed to ease gas shortages that widened to about 2 billion cubic feet a day during peak hours this winter causing social unrest and shutting factories in the nation of over 196 million people. Pakistan’s production of natural gas has plateaued since 2008, the country’s central bank said in a report yesterday. Gas from existing reservoirs of Kunnar Pasakhi Deep, […]

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Pakistan’s Oil & Gas to Boost Supply as Deficit Hurts Growth

; Gas Development Co., Pakistan ’s biggest energy explorer, will boost gas output from existing fields by a third in the next 12 to 18 months as energy shortages hamper growth and shut factories. “We are working on six projects and expect to increase gas supplies by about 350 million cubic feet a day,” Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Riaz Khan said in an interview yesterday. “The major portion of gas would come in this financial year” which ends June 30, he said. New supply is needed to ease gas shortages that widened to about 2 billion cubic feet a day during peak hours this winter causing social unrest and shutting factories in the nation of over 196 million people. Pakistan’s production of natural gas has plateaued since 2008, the country’s central bank said in a report yesterday. Gas from existing reservoirs of Kunnar Pasakhi Deep, […]

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Nigeria Overstates Crude Production in 2014 Budget – Report

Global rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, S&P, yesterday, raised concerns that Nigeria’s crude oil production forecast of 2.39 million barrels a day in the 2014 budget, was over-estimated. This, according to the rating agency, was due to increased tension in the Niger Delta region and the forthcoming 2015 general elections. Ravi Bhatia, an analyst at S&P, said: "It’s a concern if they have a big rise in pre-election expenditure and there’s a big revision on the oil price or there is a production shortfall due to Niger Delta tensions. High global oil prices are helping to sustain the picture as it stands now." Bhatia described as optimistic, the 2.39 million barrels a day projection put forward by the Presidency to the National Assembly According to him, a $10 to $15 fall in the global oil price might change the fiscal equation for Nigeria, adding that " the country is […]

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South Sudan Finds Friend in Old Enemy Sudan as Revolt Rages

As the conflict between South Sudan ’s government and rebels worsens, President Salva Kiir has found succor from an unexpected source: Sudan, the country that southerners fought against for two decades to win independence. Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir’s motivation in helping his former enemies is based on the need to maintain oil flows from the south, according to analysts including Magdi El Gizouli at the Nairobi-based Rift Valley Institute. His government is also concerned that instability along its border will hamper the battle against its own rebels, he said. “For the first time in history they are interested, even more than the South Sudanese themselves, in retaining stability in South Sudan in some form under a government that is ready to do business, and Kiir is ready to do business,” El Gizouli said Jan. 15 by phone from Freiburg, Germany . Since South […]

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China's New Year travel rush starts with 3.62 bln trips expected

China kicked off its annual Lunar New Year travel rush period on Thursday, with more than 3.62 billion trips expected to be made on roads, and via trains, planes and ships in the next 40 days. The staggering figure of passengers is set to make Chunyun, which literally means Spring Festival transportation, the largest seasonal human migration on the globe. Chinese authorities have taken contingencies to ensure a smooth beginning of the 40-day travel period around the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 31 this year. About 3.62 billion trips will be made across the country, including more than 258 million people who are expected to travel by rail. On Thursday, signs about the holiday travel period could be seen in bus and train stations up and down the country, with more members of staff and volunteers on hand to maintain order. […]

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China’s New Year travel rush starts with 3.62 bln trips expected

China kicked off its annual Lunar New Year travel rush period on Thursday, with more than 3.62 billion trips expected to be made on roads, and via trains, planes and ships in the next 40 days. The staggering figure of passengers is set to make Chunyun, which literally means Spring Festival transportation, the largest seasonal human migration on the globe. Chinese authorities have taken contingencies to ensure a smooth beginning of the 40-day travel period around the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 31 this year. About 3.62 billion trips will be made across the country, including more than 258 million people who are expected to travel by rail. On Thursday, signs about the holiday travel period could be seen in bus and train stations up and down the country, with more members of staff and volunteers on hand to maintain order. […]

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Hundreds flee homes as heatwave fans Australia bushfires

Extreme heat and high winds fanned dozens of bushfires across Australia on Friday, prompting hundreds to flee their homes in some of the worst conditions seen since Black Saturday in 2009. One person died in the Grampians bushland in the southeastern state of Victoria, about 300 km (186 miles) west of Melbourne, where bushfires are burning out of control amid temperatures which have hit above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees F), destroying or damaging houses. Victoria was the hardest hit, with 70 bushfires burning out of control. Dozens of blazes are burning in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales. Authorities have issued seven emergency warnings to severely affected areas, prompting hundreds of residents to flee their homes. Victoria Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said conditions were "up there" as the worst since the Black Saturday fires that killed 173 people in 2009. Lapsley said […]

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Japan's Tepco to restart nuclear reactors?

The Japanese government has approved a business turnaround plan submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, which includes restarting idled reactors at the utility’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The business plan approval is required under the terms of a $10 billion state bailout of Tepco, received after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster that was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The approval would allow the utility to receive an additional $38 billion in state funding, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tepco is facing massive costs of cleaning up the Fukushima plant and huge compensation payments to those affected by the disaster. The overall decommissioning of the facility is expected to take around 40 years. Japanese Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when handing over the approval document Wednesday, told Tepco President Naomi Hirose: “This new plan is […]

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Japan’s Tepco to restart nuclear reactors?

The Japanese government has approved a business turnaround plan submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, which includes restarting idled reactors at the utility’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The business plan approval is required under the terms of a $10 billion state bailout of Tepco, received after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster that was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The approval would allow the utility to receive an additional $38 billion in state funding, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tepco is facing massive costs of cleaning up the Fukushima plant and huge compensation payments to those affected by the disaster. The overall decommissioning of the facility is expected to take around 40 years. Japanese Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when handing over the approval document Wednesday, told Tepco President Naomi Hirose: “This new plan is […]

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Japan power utilities' Dec LNG use hits monthly record high 5.27 mil mt

Japan’s 10 major power utilities consumed 5.27 million mt of LNG in December, a record high for monthly imports and up 4.2% year on year, data released Friday by the Federation of Electric Power Companies showed. The major power utilities’ previous monthly record high LNG consumption was in January 2012 at 5.21 million mt, while the previous high for the month of December was in 2012 at 5.05 million mt, an FEPC official said. The power utilities also used a total 466,078 b/d of crude and fuel oil for power generation in December, down 25.9% from a year earlier, according to Platts calculations based on FEPC data. Of the total oil consumption, the utilities used 993,123 kiloliters (201,501 b/d) of crude and 1.3 million kl (264,577 b/d) of fuel oil in December, down 30.7% and 21.8%, respectively, from a year earlier, according to FEPC […]

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Japan power utilities’ Dec LNG use hits monthly record high 5.27 mil mt

Japan’s 10 major power utilities consumed 5.27 million mt of LNG in December, a record high for monthly imports and up 4.2% year on year, data released Friday by the Federation of Electric Power Companies showed. The major power utilities’ previous monthly record high LNG consumption was in January 2012 at 5.21 million mt, while the previous high for the month of December was in 2012 at 5.05 million mt, an FEPC official said. The power utilities also used a total 466,078 b/d of crude and fuel oil for power generation in December, down 25.9% from a year earlier, according to Platts calculations based on FEPC data. Of the total oil consumption, the utilities used 993,123 kiloliters (201,501 b/d) of crude and 1.3 million kl (264,577 b/d) of fuel oil in December, down 30.7% and 21.8%, respectively, from a year earlier, according to FEPC […]

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Unconventional Shale Presents Challenges for EPC Companies

More Unconventional Shale Presents Challenges for EPC Companies In the past, some engineering and construction (EC) firms may have shied away from conventional oil and gas projects, which typically were a series of small, discrete, loosely-related development projects separated by stretches of time, characteristics that did not lend themselves to EC companies’ core competencies for managing large-scale projects. However, U.S. shale plays are providing EC firms with a new business opportunity which also can deliver distinct value for oil and gas companies, said John Doherty, U.S. engineering, construction and advisory leader at PwC, in an interview with Rigzone. Despite the exponential growth seen in U.S. shale plays, the oil and gas industry is still in the formative stages of developing these plays. This development involves tens of thousands of well sites being developed and the growth of scale, geography and complexity on top of existing base operations is pushing […]

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Rail, Oil Industries to Make Safety Changes for Transporting Crude

Federal regulators said railroads and energy companies agreed Thursday to take significant steps to make shipping crude oil by rail safer after a string of accidents and explosions prompted rising fears in cities and towns across the country. The voluntary changes, which include improving the safety of tanker cars, were announced after a meeting convened by the U.S. Department of Transportation that included top agency officials, executives from the big freight railroads and members of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s chief lobbying group. But at least one of the parties involved in the meeting on the rapidly growing crude-by-rail business began criticizing the other and regulators shortly after the announcement in Washington. A spokeswoman for railroad company Union Pacific Corp. UNP -1.29% Union Pacific Corp. U.S.: NYSE $ 167.96 -2.19 -1.29% Jan. 16, 2014 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.39M AFTER HOURS $ 167.82 -0.14 -0.09% […]

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U.S. Chamber offers path to U.S. energy dominance

Tom Donohue, chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said national policies in the United States are inhibiting its ability to become "an energy superpower." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce published a report on U.S. energy policy, outlining more than 60 recommendations in nine energy areas that it sees as vital for the nation in 2014 and beyond. Donohue said that, if embraced, the platform could create "millions" of new jobs in the United Sates and generate "billions" of dollars in new revenue. "America now has the opportunity to become an energy superpower, but our national energy policy is stuck in the past," he said in a statement Wednesday. "The platform will allow us to realize our full potential." In its 60-page report the group, which represents business interests, said the United States would rely less on foreign imports if it opens up more […]

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Oil-by-rail deliveries up for week ending Jan. 11, rail group says

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) — U.S. rail delivery of petroleum and petroleum products was up 12.4 percent last week from the same period in 2013, the American Association of Railroads said. The AAR said Thursday 13,881 carloads of petroleum and petroleum products, or about 9.71 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the U.S. rail system for the week ending Jan. 11. One rail company, Genesee & Wyoming, which has headquarters in Connecticut, said this week it transported 2,747 rail cars of petroleum and petroleum products in North America in December, a 254.8 percent increase over the same month in 2012. An accelerating pace of oil production in the United States has placed a burden on pipeline capacity, industry officials say. U.S. oil production has increased, in part, because of gains from states including Texas and North Dakota. In a short-term market report for January, the U.S. Energy Information […]

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Shell Profit Sinks as Weak Refining Adds to Output Losses

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) said profit plunged because of deteriorating refining markets and mounting losses in the Americas, surprising investors with an early earnings report that wiped out $10 billion in shareholder value. Europe’s biggest oil company, in its first profit warning since 2004, said adjusted earnings excluding one-time items and inventory changes were about $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter. That compares with $4.5 billion in the previous three months and an average fourth-quarter analyst estimate of $4.9 billion. “It’s a shock,” Jason Kenney, an analyst at Banco Santander SA in Edinburgh, said today by telephone. Shell had “to pre-announce to get the market to reality, but even so it’s a very weak set of results.” Shell fell as much as 4.4 percent in London trading, the most since Oct. 31, and was down 2.9 percent at 2,130.5 pence as of 8:53 a.m. local time. Chief Executive […]

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How the oil boom could change U.S. foreign policy

The United States is suddenly awash in crude oil. From 2008 to 2013, domestic oil production rose by 2.5 million barrels per day — the biggest five-year increase in the country’s history. Last year, U.S. produced more oil than it imported for the first time since 1995. The Valero refinery in Port Arthur, Tex., glows in the dusk. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) So what does that mean for the rest of the world? Or for U.S. foreign policy? Well, for starters, it probably doesn’t mean that Americans can now safely ignore the Middle East. The U.S. economy is still heavily reliant on oil, and prices are still largely swayed by what goes on in the global markets. Disruptions in places like Saudi Arabia, Iran or Iraq still have a big impact. That’s one conclusion of a major new report by a commission of former generals and senior officials, backed by Securing […]

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Harper Says Keystone Consultations Signal Obama Punting

Canada is urging President Barack Obama ’s administration to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline amid signs of further delays in a final ruling on the $5.4-billion project. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in an interview yesterday the U.S. move to seek more public comment suggests Obama’s government may postpone a decision further, while Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird called on the U.S. to end the “state of limbo” over the project. “How much consultation do you need to do?” Harper said in an interview in his Ottawa office. “It’s clearly another punt.” The U.S. State Department will give the public a second opportunity to comment on the pipeline after an environmental impact review is complete, according to an agency official who spoke on condition of anonymity this week. The agency hasn’t said how long it would accept public comments, though adding that step could delay a […]

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Trans Mountain oil pipeline may face public scrutiny

Canada’s energy regulator called for interested parties to apply to take part in a hearing on the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline. Pipeline company Kinder Morgan wants to spend more than $5 billion to twin the existing pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia, which would double the corridor’s capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil per day. It submitted an application to Canada’s National Energy Board in December and the NEB said the application process was now open to those wishing to take part in a hearing on the project. "The NEB is reviewing the application to determine if it is complete and if so, the NEB will hold a public hearing," the regulator said Wednesday. "Those who wish to participate in the NEB hearing must apply to participate." Advocacy groups in British Columbia have expressed concern about the potential environmental threat […]

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Royal Dutch Shell Issues Profit Warning

LONDON— Royal Dutch Shell Rn PLC warned Friday that fourth-quarter profit would be significantly weaker than recent levels partly because of higher exploration costs and lower oil and gas volumes. The company also cited weaker industry conditions in downstream oil products for the weaker performance. The oil major expects to post fourth-quarter earnings of $2.2 billion on a current cost of supplies basis—a figure that factors out the impact of inventories, making it equivalent to the net profit reported by U.S. oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple