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Scottish Oil and Gas an Issue in Vote on Independence

London is arguing that it could better manage the oil and gas reserves there than an independent Scotland could. Credit Pool photo by Andy Buchanan LONDON — They have disagreed over whether an independent Scotland could retain the British pound as its currency. They have sparred over whether Scotland would remain in the European Union if it votes in September to leave the United Kingdom. And on Monday, two of the most prominent advocates of the arguments for and against Scottish independence — Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, and David Cameron, the British prime minister — turned to another crucial economic issue at stake in the battle: the future of the still-substantial oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. In a staged but striking symbol of their differences, Mr. Cameron brought the British government’s cabinet to Aberdeen, a once gritty […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Polish shale gas future bright for BNK Petroleum

BNK Petroleum President Wolf Regener said Tuesday he was "very excited" about the results from a Polish shale natural gas operation. BNK, which has headquarters in California, said the 285,000 acres it controls in Poland have "good potential to produce natural gas." It said Tuesday exploratory drilling results in the Gapowo B-1 well were positive and the company was anticipating a production test later this year. "In Poland, I am very excited that we have confirmed our original discovery in the Gapowo B-1 vertical well," Regener said in a statement. The company said a separate 285,000 acres has the potential to produce natural gas, but has a "higher associated risk." New drilling technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, dubbed fracking, are used in shale deposits to access oil and gas reserves previously out of reach. That helped put the United States in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Crude-Oil Prices Consolidate

Crude-oil futures were slightly higher in Asian trading hours Monday after last week’s sharp rally and as markets assessed the outlook for weather-driven oil demand in the U.S. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $102.52 a barrel at 0608 GMT, up $0.32 in the Globex electronic session. April Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.22 to $110.07 a barrel. Nymex WTI crude has risen for six consecutive weeks and is up around 4% year-to-date, while Brent crude has rallied for three consecutive weeks and is down around 1% year-to-date. Earlier Monday, Chinese oil and oil-product stockpiles showed a sharp increase, confirming market assessments that cited a build-up in stockpiles as the reason for China’s high oil imports last month. China’s commercial crude-oil inventories in January rose 3.57% from a month earlier, while oil-product stocks rose 10.92%, according […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Oil Rebounds From One-Week Low on Cold Weather; Brent Gains

West Texas Intermediate crude rose from the lowest price in a week amid speculation that cold weather in the U.S. will boost heating demand in the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent gained in London . Futures climbed as much as 0.5 percent in New York , the first advance in three days. Arctic air will return to the Northeast and Midwest this week, according to AccuWeather Inc. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI contracts, fell to their lowest level since October in the seven days through Feb. 14, government data show. Money managers increased bullish bets on WTI for the fifth time in six weeks, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said. “The primary factor for WTI has been the inventory draw-downs, which has materially narrowed the discount to Brent at the front of the curve,” Guy Wolf, global head of market analytics at Marex Spectron Group […]

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Hedge Fund Natural Gas Wagers Jump on Tumbling Supplies: Energy

Hedge funds increased bullish bets on natural gas for the fifth time in six weeks as arctic weather stoked demand for the heating fuel, depleting stockpiles and sending prices to a five-year high. Money managers’ net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, jumped 5 percent in the seven days ended Feb. 18, to the highest level since May, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Bearish bets slid 7.3 percent to the lowest level in more than two years. Gas surged 15 percent during the period covered by the report as winter storms brought snow and below-normal temperatures to the eastern U.S. Forecasts show a polar blast returning to the region this week. Prices advanced to $6.40 per million British thermal units on Feb. 20, the highest intraday price since Dec. 4, 2008. Gas supplies dropped to 1.443 trillion cubic feet in the seven days ended Feb. 14, the […]

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South Korea's Jan crude imports from Iran plunge 66% on year to 64,419 b/d

South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil in January plunged 66.1% to 1.997 million barrels, or 64,419 b/d, compared with 5.896 million barrels a year earlier, data released Monday by state-run Korea National Oil Corp. showed. The January volume also fell 50.5% from 4.036 million barrels of Iranian crude imported in December, the data showed. For all of 2013, South Korea imported 48.21 million barrels of Iranian crude, down 14.1% from 2012. The US in November extended a six-month waiver from Iran sanctions to nine countries including South Korea, as the countries were deemed to have made significant reductions in the purchases in the previous six months. The waiver extension came after the US and five other global powers agreed in Geneva in November to a six-month pause in efforts to further reduce Iran’s crude sales in return for concessions on Iran’s nuclear program. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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South Korea’s Jan crude imports from Iran plunge 66% on year to 64,419 b/d

South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil in January plunged 66.1% to 1.997 million barrels, or 64,419 b/d, compared with 5.896 million barrels a year earlier, data released Monday by state-run Korea National Oil Corp. showed. The January volume also fell 50.5% from 4.036 million barrels of Iranian crude imported in December, the data showed. For all of 2013, South Korea imported 48.21 million barrels of Iranian crude, down 14.1% from 2012. The US in November extended a six-month waiver from Iran sanctions to nine countries including South Korea, as the countries were deemed to have made significant reductions in the purchases in the previous six months. The waiver extension came after the US and five other global powers agreed in Geneva in November to a six-month pause in efforts to further reduce Iran’s crude sales in return for concessions on Iran’s nuclear program. […]

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Iran to Pay Higher Fees for Riskier Oil Fields in New Contracts

Iran will offer foreign partners incentives to find and pump more crude and natural gas and will pay some fees in barrels as it seeks to boost income once international sanctions are lifted. New contracts Iran is developing will offer higher fees for riskier exploration and production projects, oil-ministry officials said at a conference in Tehran yesterday. Local and international executives attended a two-day meeting to discuss rules that would govern oil and gas production if Western curbs on Iranian energy exports are removed. The committee revising the Islamic republic’s contract model presented terms called the “Iran Petroleum Contract.” “We’ve analyzed all the contracts in the market right now, all available beneficial models, and this is what we’ve come up with,” Mehdi Hosseini, a government energy adviser who leads the ministry committee, said at the conference. “This is a good model, with flexibility.” Iran, a member of the Organization […]

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Libya oil output dives after key field shut

ibya’s oil production has fallen to 230,000 barrels a day from 570,000 bpd due to the closure of the el-Sharara field following protests, state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) said. "The country’s oil production has fallen to 230,000 bpd after the closure on Thursday evening of the oilfield at el-Sharara," which has an output of 330,000 bpd, NOC spokesman Mohamed al-Harairi said on Sunday. Harairi added that the field had to shut down because "protest movements near the… wells no longer ensure the optimal security conditions," without giving further details. It was repeatedly shut down by protesters as a way to pressure the weak central government into political and financial demands. Relaunch of production at el-Sharara in early January had pushed Libya’s output up to 570,000 bpd, when protesters in the area lifted their blockade of the site. It was considered as a […]

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Top Military Body Against Syria’s Assad Is in Chaos, Undermining Fight

It appeared to be a huge step forward for the scattered rebel groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad of Syria: the creation of a central body of top insurgent commanders who would coordinate military campaigns, direct foreign support and serve as a unifying force for their diverse movement. But 14 months after its creation, the body, known as the Supreme Military Council, is in disarray. Islamist groups have seized its weapons storerooms, its members have stolen or sold its supplies, and one prominent commander it armed and equipped has publicly joined an offshoot of Al Qaeda. The council’s full dysfunction spilled into public view recently when a group of its members decided at a secret meeting to oust its chief of staff, Gen. Salim Idris, and put another man in his place. While the opposition’s exiled leadership, the Syrian National Coalition, quickly congratulated the new […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple