Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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
Category:

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
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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
Category:

South Sudan: Oil Workers Evacuated From Upper Nile Amid Fear of Rebel Attacks

South Sudan said on Friday that it is evacuating foreign oil workers from the oil fields in Upper Nile state, allegedly to avoid being caught in the crossfire, should the rebel launch attacks in the area. "The government has since Monday, been receiving numerous requests from the foreign oil workers, through their governments and the representatives of the companies they work for, to consider evacuating them from the area urgently, because of the developing security situation", Francis Ayul, Upper Nile State minister of mining and petroleum told Sudan Tribune on Friday. "Based on genuineness of the request, and considering the current security situation in the state, the state government in consultation with the central government responded to the requests and approved the immediate evacuation of all foreign workers involving in the engineering work." Minister Ayul said the evacuated foreign workers would be kept in the country’s capital, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: "You Can't Suspend the Truth" – Worries for Nigeria Over Sanusi's Ouster

President Jonathan’s suspension of the CBN governor raises concerns not just over the economy and elite vested interests, but also the rule of law. In what has been seen by most as a baldly political move, President Goodluck Jonathan shocked both markets and observers yesterday as he suspended Nigeria’s widely-celebrated Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. In a press release Jonathan’s spokesman claimed that "Lamido Sanusi’s tenure has been characterised by various acts of financial recklessness," but offered no details or specifics, and many commentators believe the real reason for Sanusi’s removal was his outspokenness on institutional corruption. "Sanusi’s persistent criticism of Nigeria’s opaque oil revenue management and allegations of unremitted NNPC [Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation – the state-owned oil company] oil proceeds made him a public enemy of the political elite," says Samir Gadio, Emerging Market Strategist at Standard Bank. "His suspension is a disruptive move which indicates […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: “You Can’t Suspend the Truth” – Worries for Nigeria Over Sanusi’s Ouster

President Jonathan’s suspension of the CBN governor raises concerns not just over the economy and elite vested interests, but also the rule of law. In what has been seen by most as a baldly political move, President Goodluck Jonathan shocked both markets and observers yesterday as he suspended Nigeria’s widely-celebrated Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. In a press release Jonathan’s spokesman claimed that "Lamido Sanusi’s tenure has been characterised by various acts of financial recklessness," but offered no details or specifics, and many commentators believe the real reason for Sanusi’s removal was his outspokenness on institutional corruption. "Sanusi’s persistent criticism of Nigeria’s opaque oil revenue management and allegations of unremitted NNPC [Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation – the state-owned oil company] oil proceeds made him a public enemy of the political elite," says Samir Gadio, Emerging Market Strategist at Standard Bank. "His suspension is a disruptive move which indicates […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Risks Around China's Sinopec Filling Up at the Gas Station

China bulls see signs of a revamp in a plan for the country’s top refiner by capacity to shed part of its gas-station business to private investors. But is Beijing really opening up that market or just finding another way for the public to fund its energy policy? China Petroleum & Chemical , or Sinopec, plans to sell up to 30% of its retail arm. Like much in China these days, this could partly be a property play. Brokerage CLSA, applying a simple average of 500 yuan ($82) a square foot, posits that the land beneath Sinopec’s stations could be worth nearly $1 trillion, some 10 times Sinopec’s entire market capitalization and equivalent to a third of the entire Hong Kong stock market’s value. A fantastical sum, but it suggests the business is undervalued to some extent. It enjoys stable margins and contributes roughly 40% of Sinopec’s operating profits. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Risks Around China’s Sinopec Filling Up at the Gas Station

China bulls see signs of a revamp in a plan for the country’s top refiner by capacity to shed part of its gas-station business to private investors. But is Beijing really opening up that market or just finding another way for the public to fund its energy policy? China Petroleum & Chemical , or Sinopec, plans to sell up to 30% of its retail arm. Like much in China these days, this could partly be a property play. Brokerage CLSA, applying a simple average of 500 yuan ($82) a square foot, posits that the land beneath Sinopec’s stations could be worth nearly $1 trillion, some 10 times Sinopec’s entire market capitalization and equivalent to a third of the entire Hong Kong stock market’s value. A fantastical sum, but it suggests the business is undervalued to some extent. It enjoys stable margins and contributes roughly 40% of Sinopec’s operating profits. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China gives big state firms more influence in strategic sectors of economy.

Beijing When China’s leaders wanted to give a boost to the domestic semiconductor industry last year, a big state-owned electronics company scooped up smaller privately owned chip-design and chip-making firms. Beijing followed the same script to get control of the sprawling, polluting rare-earths industry: A big state-owned company purchased nine firms in December that mine the minerals used in such strategic industries as defense and telecommunications. Expect China’s leaders to insist on a big state role in sectors they deem strategic when the officials lay out their economic plans for the coming year at a session of the country’s largely toothless legislature. On the one hand, China has pledged to dismantle some state-owned monopolies so they operate by market principles and pay more dividends to fund social spending. But on the other, China specialists say the state may actually end up with more influence over the economy in coming […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pilots Do Texas Chicken Amid Houston Channel Oil Traffic

Photographer: Scott Dalton/Bloomberg It takes an expert pilot to pull off the Texas Chicken. The maneuver, in which crossing ships set up for a head-on collision and use each other’s wave pressure to swerve safely past, is the only way to handle two-way traffic in the Houston Ship Channel, which connects downtown with the Galveston Bay and Gulf of Mexico . The narrow waterway is used by some 400 vessels every day, from barges to tankers almost as long as the tallest skyscraper on the horizon. “We’re still trying to stuff these bigger ships up these tiny ditches,” said Captain Mike Morris, presiding officer of the Houston Pilots, the corps of 95 mariners who drive ships on the six-hour trip up the channel. “Everywhere you look in the port, we’re expanding.” More from Gas Boom: America for Shale : All along this 52-mile (84-kilometer) shipping lane, there are signs […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Reverse Engineering the North Dakota Bakken Data

There is considerable discussion on this site regarding when the North Dakota portion of the Bakken will peak.  Having looked at the monthly Bakken data that the State publishes, it raised the question of whether it was possible to do a reverse analysis of the data and then use it to develop a model that would replicate the ND Bakken production, exactly.   The objective being to provide further insight on what is happening in the ND Bakken. In order to do this, the following conditions and information were required: A monotonically increasing number of new producing wells A typical/average decline curve for the ND Bakken field Not too many wells being shut/reworked each month The last bullet is a preferred condition because if a number of low producing wells are shut and replaced by newer high producing wells, then the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

ExxonMobil replaces 103% of 2013 production

ExxonMobil Corp. replaced 103% of its oil and natural gas production last year with additions to reserves, mostly of crude oil and other liquids. At yearend 2013, the company’s reserves totaled 25.2 billion boe, 53% liquids. According to a press statement, ExxonMobil added 1.2 billion bbl of liquids reserves during 2013, 153% of production. Gas reserves additions totaled 400 million boe, 52% of production. Without asset sales, the overall replacement factor would have been 106%. ExxonMobil added reserves exceeding 700 million bbl of crude oil at Upper Zakum field offshore Abu Dhabi last year and more than 300 million boe of oil and gas reserves from the liquids-rich Woodford , Bakken , and Permian plays in the US and the Montney and Duvernay plans in Canada. It also added reserves elsewhere in Canada and in Kazakhstan, the Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria, and the Netherlands. The company also added 6.6 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bakken Shale Oil Carries High Combustion Risk

Crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale formation contains several times the combustible gases as oil from elsewhere, a Wall Street Journal analysis found, raising new questions about the safety of shipping such crude by rail across the U.S. Federal investigators are trying to determine whether such vapors are responsible for recent extraordinary explosions of oil-filled railcars, including one that killed several dozen people in Canada last summer. The rapid growth of North Dakota crude-oil production—most of it carried by rail—has been at the heart of the U.S. energy boom. The volatility of the crude, however, raises concerns that more dangerous cargo is moving through the U.S. than previously believed. Neither regulators nor the industry fully has come to terms with what needs to be done to improve safety. There have been some steps, for example, slowing trains and promising to redirect around high-risk areas. But debate still rages […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Polar Vortex Set to Bring More Snow on Return to U.S. This Week

Another blast of freezing air is forecast for the central and eastern U.S. this week as two storms threaten to bring disruptive snow to the Northeast. “After a mild and pleasant weekend for many, winter will make a harsh return to much of the central and eastern U.S.,” the National Weather Service said in a bulletin on its website at 10:41 a.m. U.S. East Coast time yesterday. “Frigid air will first impact the northern Plains on Monday before diving south and east throughout the week. By Wednesday, most of the Great Lakes will have single digit high temperatures and parts of the Tennessee Valley will struggle to rise above freezing.” Milder weather across the Northeast over the weekend pushed temperatures into the 60s Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius) in Washington and Philadelphia and the 50s in New York City and Boston , AccuWeather Inc. said on its website . Highs […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Keystone Review Goes to PSC Faulted Over Campaign Cash

A Nebraska agency faulted over campaign donations from regulated companies may soon decide the fate of Keystone XL, its first review of an oil pipeline. The Public Service Commission , which sets rules for phone companies and grain storage, gained oversight for oil pipelines about two years ago. Its five elected members were criticized by a watchdog group for accepting campaign donations from companies. They now may become targets for Keystone supporters and foes counting on getting the panel to rule in their favor. “They’re an elected body,” said Jane Kleeb, the head of Bold Nebraska , a local group fighting the pipeline. “So they hopefully will be listening to their constituents.” The commission emerged to rule on the fate of TransCanada Corp. ’s $5.4 billion pipeline after a Nebraska district court judge last week voided the approval issued a year ago by […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Arctic Oil Still Seen Decades Away as Producers Balk at Costs

Lundin Petroleum AB (LUPE) , the Swedish explorer focused on Norway , said there won’t be any oil production in the ice-filled waters of the Arctic for at least 15 years because of technical and logistical challenges. “I don’t think we’ll see any oil production in the Arctic any time soon — probably not this decade and not the next,” Chairman Ian Lundin said in a Feb. 20 interview in Stockholm. “The commercial challenges are too big.” The Arctic holds 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas reserves and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil, according to U.S. Geological Survey estimates. Still, exploration of the Arctic ocean floor, where 84 percent of these resources are thought to be trapped, has suffered setbacks in recent years. Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSA) , Europe ’s biggest oil company, in January again halted drilling plans off Alaska after a court ruled […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Obama climate change agenda faces first Supreme Court test

The U.S. Supreme Court considers on Monday whether President Barack Obama’s administration overstepped its authority by imposing new regulations to reduce pollution in response to climate change. In a 90-minute oral argument, extended from 60 minutes because many parties are involved, the justices will examine a relatively narrow challenge by industry groups and Republican-leaning states to one aspect of a suite of regulations issued by Obama’s Democratic administration in 2009 and 2010. The regulations represent the first major federal effort to tackle greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are the driving force behind climate change. Obama has been going it alone on climate change, largely because of opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress. The Clean Air Act has been the Environmental Protection Agency’s main tool for addressing emissions since the U.S. Senate rejected a cap-and-trade bill in 2010. The nine justices will weigh whether […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Transition Towns: The Solution To Peak Oil?

Page added on February 22, 2014 Peak oil is the ever approaching, if not already passed point in which the world’s crude oil production rate reaches its maximum output, and then falls into decline. 86 million barrels of crude oil are produced everyday, however as a planet, we are using around 88 million barrels a day (Transition Culture 2007), showing an uneven consumption rate which will aid the decline of available oil. The International Energy Agency stated that there could be as much as 20,000 billion barrels (Transition Culture 2007) of oil under the planet’s surface but that much of it will remain undiscovered. Additionally, a considerable percentage of oil has been found under protected sites such as reindeer sanctuaries in Alaska and the newly found oil in the Arctic; the question is whether the value of this oil is worth the destruction of these ecosystems and environments as […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Is ammonia the holy grail for renewable energy storage?

If you want to beat carbon, it’s the only way to do it unless you change the chemical charts." So says Jack Robertson about the prospects for making ammonia the world’s go-to liquid fuel and renewable energy storage medium. Robertson is chairman and CEO of Light Water Inc., an ammonia energy storage startup. The carbon he mentions refers, of course, to the major carbon-based fuels of oil, natural gas and coal that provide more than 80 percent of the world’s energy. The charts he mentions refers to the periodic table of elements , a listing of the basic elements of the universe which are about as likely to change their properties as the proverbial leopard is to change his […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fantasizing About California, or Already Here: 5 Shocking Drought Facts to Make You Rethink the Golden State

There are likely a lot of East Coasters wishing they lived in sunny, dry (and comparatively warm) California right now. But Californians know their weather is anything but a blessing these days with a drought that’s being called “unprecedented.” The situation has even sparked a trip from President Obama, who visited the epicenter of California’s massive agriculture industry, the Central Valley, on Friday and announced $100 million in livestock disaster assistance, $5 million in targeted assistance for hard-hit areas, $5 million for watershed protection programs, $60 million for food banks and 600 new sites for a summer meals program, $3 million in emergency water assistance for rural communities, and a commitment from the federal government to reduce water use and focus nation-wide on climate resilience. While the funding and programs may be welcome for immediate assistance, solving California’s water crisis will require more than a big checkbook. Water in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Tackling food security with a growing population, climate change and peak oil

With a growing population and improving diets there is a need to double our food supply by 2050. Identify three measures you would take to meet this demand. Identify one of your measures from your list and post your solution into the discussion – be prepared to defend your choice! That is a big question to throw in a climate change course. I am presently doing an online course – Climate Change: Challenges and solutions – offered by the University of Exeter (UK). So please indulge me as I also use this blog for some climate course work. This article is for week 6, section 6.5 of the course on ‘Tackling food security’. Food security is one helluva big area to try and come to terms with. Earth’s population is just over 7 billion people. It is projected by the United Nations in a June 2013 report on global […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

ConocoPhillips CEO: Skeptics’ warnings of shale bubble are unfounded

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance targeted shale boom skeptics Friday, refuting arguments that the surge in oil and gas production will be short-lived. Speaking at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Lance said he believes the country’s shale revolution is only in the “first inning of a nine inning game,” and critics shouldn’t assume growing shale production will stop any time soon. “What we’re learning is we’ve only scratched the surface of what technology can do to improve the outlook over the years,” said Lance, who’s also chairman of the Houston-based oil and gas giant. “This is the layer that can last for quite some time.” Some skeptics — notably Canadian geoscientist […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Futures Slip on Concerns About Demand

Oil futures weakened Friday on indications that the U.S. crude-oil market is amply supplied. Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $102.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are still poised for a weekly gain after reaching a four-month high earlier in the week. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe wavered, recently trading up 2 cents at $110.32 a barrel. Domestic crude-oil supplies rose for a fifth straight week last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Market watchers expect supplies to expand further in the coming weeks, as refineries shut down units to perform maintenance and prepare to blend summer-grade gasoline. "There’s a lot of crude, and we haven’t fully started the spring maintenance season yet," said Dominick Chirichella, analyst for the Energy Management Institute. Mr. Chirichella noted that supplies in the Gulf Coast, which has the largest concentration […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Crude Slips With Brent to Pare Sixth Weekly Advance

West Texas Intermediate crude fell, paring a sixth consecutive weekly gain, on speculation prices have climbed more than justified as the heating season nears its end. Brent also slipped, narrowing a weekly advance. WTI decreased 0.5 percent while diesel futures, a proxy for heating oil, declined for the first time in six days. Supplies of distillate fuel , a category that includes heating oil and diesel, slid by 339,000 barrels last week, Energy Information Administration data yesterday showed, a smaller drop than forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Gasoline use sank to a one-month low. Futures reached a four-month high Feb. 19. “The market has climbed as much as possible on heating-fuel demand,” said John Kilduff , a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “The inexorable march of the calendar means that the heating oil season is coming to an […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. expected to keep oil embargo even if Iran nuclear deal struck

A unilateral U.S. oil embargo on Iran is expected to remain in place even if a long-term nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers is reached that includes an easing of international sanctions, a U.S. official said on Thursday. The embargo pre-dates the decade-long nuclear dispute with Iran. Washington cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran during a hostage crisis shortly following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and began imposing sanctions around the same time. "The American domestic oil embargo is expected to remain in place even if a comprehensive agreement is reached," the U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Western diplomats say U.S. companies would be unhappy about being left out if European Union and U.N. sanctions are lifted, allowing non-U.S. firms to resume business with the Islamic Republic. Iranian officials say they would have no problem with American oil companies returning to Iran. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Kurds Have Not Agreed to Export Oil via Iraq's SOMO

Kurdistan has not agreed to export crude via Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO), a spokesman for the autonomous region’s government said on Thursday, contradicting earlier comments by a top energy official in Baghdad. Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani said in a televised interview late on Wednesday that the Kurds had agreed to export through SOMO, which would have removed a major sticking point between them over oil exports. Kurdistan’s prime minister and top energy official travelled to Baghdad earlier this week, intensifying efforts to settle the long-running dispute over exports of oil from the region via a new independent pipeline to Turkey. But Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Safeen Dizayee said on Thursday that was not the case. "Absolutely we have not reached any agreement to export oil via SOMO. The dialogue and discussions are still underway". Dizayee described […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Kurds Have Not Agreed to Export Oil via Iraq’s SOMO

Kurdistan has not agreed to export crude via Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO), a spokesman for the autonomous region’s government said on Thursday, contradicting earlier comments by a top energy official in Baghdad. Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani said in a televised interview late on Wednesday that the Kurds had agreed to export through SOMO, which would have removed a major sticking point between them over oil exports. Kurdistan’s prime minister and top energy official travelled to Baghdad earlier this week, intensifying efforts to settle the long-running dispute over exports of oil from the region via a new independent pipeline to Turkey. But Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Safeen Dizayee said on Thursday that was not the case. "Absolutely we have not reached any agreement to export oil via SOMO. The dialogue and discussions are still underway". Dizayee described […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fears of Syria militancy expand influence of Saudi prince

Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, perhaps the most powerful younger prince in the ruling al-Saud family, is shaping Riyadh’s new emphasis on protecting the kingdom from a fresh wave of Islamist militancy inspired by the war in Syria. The United States pulled out the stops for him when he visited Washington last week to prepare for President Barack Obama’s fence-mending trip to Riyadh next month. Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Central Intelligence Agency chief John Brennan, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey and National Security Agency director Keith Alexander all sat down with the 54-year-old, a veteran of Saudi Arabia’s fight against al Qaeda. Prince Mohammed seems likely to be a central figure in the world’s top oil exporter for decades to come. Many Saudis say he is a strong candidate to become king […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela and Chavez's Deadly Endgame

Venezuela’s cities are convulsed with riots . A local beauty queen was shot in the head during protests over . . . well, everything: chronic shortages of basic goods, increasing repression of free speech by a government that clearly feels it cannot tolerate any dissent. She is not the only person to have been killed in recent days. The government is cracking down — hard — on any and all opposition. It seems to me that this was always the inevitable end game to the disastrous policies of the late President Hugo Chavez. Diverting funds from capital investment into the nation’s oil fields was politically popular. But it was also disastrous: Venezuela’s oil is sludgy stuff, hard to get at and hard to refine, and it requires a high level of capital expenditure just to keep production level. Predictably, production is now well below pre-Chavez levels. That wasn’t so […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela and Chavez’s Deadly Endgame

Venezuela’s cities are convulsed with riots . A local beauty queen was shot in the head during protests over . . . well, everything: chronic shortages of basic goods, increasing repression of free speech by a government that clearly feels it cannot tolerate any dissent. She is not the only person to have been killed in recent days. The government is cracking down — hard — on any and all opposition. It seems to me that this was always the inevitable end game to the disastrous policies of the late President Hugo Chavez. Diverting funds from capital investment into the nation’s oil fields was politically popular. But it was also disastrous: Venezuela’s oil is sludgy stuff, hard to get at and hard to refine, and it requires a high level of capital expenditure just to keep production level. Predictably, production is now well below pre-Chavez levels. That wasn’t so […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Cheap Gasoline: Why Venezuela Is Doomed To Collapse

Riots in the streets. Killings of protesters. Shortages of consumer staples like toilet paper and flour. Power outages. Confiscations of private property. Capital flight. Inflation running at more than 50%. The highest murder rate in the world. The situation in Venezuela has grown so terrible that we could very well be witnessing the waning days of the Chavez-Maduro regime. But don’t hold your breath. Despots propped up by revenues from natural resources have had a surprisingly robust track record over the past 100 years. Saddam Hussein survived through ruthlessness and handouts to Baath party loyalists. Khadafi perfected the same model in Libya. The Saudis and other Gulf sultanates and emirates have survived by paying off tribe members. Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe is still around thanks to his trade in blood diamonds. In each case, the big boss keeps his head by paying off everyone who matters. Hugo Chavez appeared to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela 'revokes accreditation and visas' of CNN journalists

Mr Maduro said many international networks had created a false idea that Venezuela is facing civil war The American news network, CNN, says Venezuela has revoked the accreditation of its Caracas-based reporter, Osmary Hernandez. Two journalists who had been sent to Venezuela to cover the current crisis had their working permits cancelled. President Nicolas Maduro had vowed to expel CNN unless it "rectified" its coverage of recent opposition marches. Eight people have been killed in the protests, according to the government. Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz said 137 people had been injured in the current series of protests, which began earlier this month. The opposition leader who called for the marches, Leopoldo Lopez, was detained on Tuesday during a protest in Caracas. The government accused him of inciting violence as part of a right-wing coup plot. CNN […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela ‘revokes accreditation and visas’ of CNN journalists

Mr Maduro said many international networks had created a false idea that Venezuela is facing civil war The American news network, CNN, says Venezuela has revoked the accreditation of its Caracas-based reporter, Osmary Hernandez. Two journalists who had been sent to Venezuela to cover the current crisis had their working permits cancelled. President Nicolas Maduro had vowed to expel CNN unless it "rectified" its coverage of recent opposition marches. Eight people have been killed in the protests, according to the government. Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz said 137 people had been injured in the current series of protests, which began earlier this month. The opposition leader who called for the marches, Leopoldo Lopez, was detained on Tuesday during a protest in Caracas. The government accused him of inciting violence as part of a right-wing coup plot. CNN […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ecuador 2013 Crude Output Rises 4% on Year to 526,000 Barrels a Day

By Mercedes Alvaro QUITO–Ecuador’s average oil output rose 4% to 526,000 barrels a day last year, from 504,000 barrels a day the same period a year before, the central bank said. Petroecuador, Petroamazonas and Rio Napo, the three state-run oil companies, accounted for 75% of Ecuador’s crude oil production in the period. The country’s total oil production last year was 192 million barrels. Ecuador’s crude-oil output in December increased about 9% from the one year earlier to an average of 548,000 barrels per day. Oil is Ecuador’s main export and the government’s main revenue earner. According to official projections, Ecuador could produce about 741,000 barrels of crude oil per day by 2019. Reaching this goal will require investments of about $5.5 billion per year over the next five years. Last August, President Rafael Correa announced that his government will go ahead with the development of the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini oil field, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Exxon Says Its Oil And Gas Reserves Rose Slightly In 2013

More Feb 21 (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, said on Friday its crude oil and natural gas reserves rose slightly in 2013, lifted by projects in U.S. shale fields and Abu Dhabi. Proved reserve additions of 1.6 billion barrels oil equivalent from places like the Permian Basin inTexas and the Bakken Shale in North Dakota helped Exxon replace 103 percent of its 2013 output, theIrving, Texas company said in a statement. In 2012, Exxon’s reserve replacement ratio, a key measure of growth for investors, was 115 percent. At year end, Exxon’s proved reserves totaled 25.2 billion oil-equivalent barrels. The reserves were 53 percent liquids, which typically bring higher profits. Shares of Exxon fell 9 cents to $95.28 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Copyright 2014 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions. More

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Gold Rush Ghost Town Bodes Ill for California Power Flow: Energy

An unwelcome sign for electricity users is emerging from the waters of Folsom Lake: the remnants of a Gold Rush mining town submerged for almost 60 years has resurfaced amid California ’s record dry spell. Just west of the stone ruins, Folsom Power plant is silent, its six-story-high columns without enough water to propel their turbines. It’s one of dozens of hydroelectric stations shut or running at reduced rates because of the worst drought in the state’s history. “Seeing this town is intriguing and at the same time so scary,” said Heidi Anderson, a 55-year-old registered nurse who drove from Sacramento to explore the crumbling remnants of the 19th century town known as Mormon Island. “That power plant there obviously isn’t making power because there isn’t any water. Where has it all gone? What’s happening?” California had the least rain and snow water in data going back to 1895 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Rig Count Advances to 1,771, Baker Hughes Says

Rigs targeting oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by seven this week to 1,771, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) Oil rigs rose by two to 1,425, data posted on the company’s website show. The gas count advanced five to 342, the Houston-based field services company said. The total rig count rebounded after storms that poured rain, snow and ice across the eastern half of the U.S. slowed oil- and gas-drilling operations in major basins. “Operations in our completion and production services segment either slowed dramatically or ceased altogether in the extreme cold,” Tony Petrello, chief executive officer of Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) , the world’s largest land-rig contractor, said in a conference call with analysts Feb. 19. U.S. oil output climbed for a second straight week in the seven days ended Feb. 14, adding 16,000 barrels a day, or 0.2 percent, to 8.15 million, data compiled […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

American Petroleum Institute: U.S. crude oil imports at longtime low

The American Petroleum Institute said the United States imported less crude oil in January than at any time since the late 1990s. The API said crude oil imports of 7.5 million barrels per day marked a 5.2 percent decline year-on-year and the lowest level in 17 years. The organization attributed the decline to higher domestic crude oil production. "Domestic crude oil production remains strong," API Chief Economist John Felmy said in a statement Thursday. The API said January crude oil production of approximately 9.1 million bpd was the highest for any January since 1988. The amount of crude oil in the nation’s inventory last month was 361.1 million barrels, a 4.4 percent drop from January 2013. Demand for gasoline increased 1.1 percent in January when compared with last year but was down 5.2 percent from December. Felmy said the extreme winter weather this season […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Rail delivery of oil up 7.9 percent from 2013, AAR says

U.S. rail delivery of petroleum and petroleum products was up 7.9 percent last week from the same period in 2013, the American Association of Railroads said. The AAR said 14,234 carloads of petroleum and petroleum products, or about 9.9 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the rail system for the week ending Feb. 15, up from the same time last year and nearly 3.8 percent more than the preceding week. Since Jan. 1, 99,973 carloads, or about 69 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the U.S. rail system, an 8.6 percent increase from the same period last year, the AAR said Thursday. Industry officials say the increase in U.S. crude oil production is outstripping the existing pipeline capacity, forcing some energy companies to turn to rail as an alternate transit option. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told the Capital New York news […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S., Railroads Agree to New Oil-Transport Measures

Federal regulators and the rail industry said Friday they agreed to new voluntary measures aimed at making it safer to ship crude oil by rail, including increased track inspections and lower speed limits in some urban areas. The agreement comes a little more than a month after federal regulators and the rail and petroleum industries met to discuss enhancing safety measures after several recent accidents involving tank cars containing crude—including a fiery derailment in Quebec last July that killed 47 people. "Safety is our top priority, and we have a shared responsibility to make sure crude oil is transported safely from origin to destination," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. Most of the new rules, scheduled to be in place by July 1, hammered out by the Transportation Department and the Association of American Railroads apply to trains with at least 20 carloads of crude. "We […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

California’s drought heightens fear of fire season

There is no relief in sight from the historic drought ravaging every corner of California, and where there’s drought, there’s fire. In the thick of winter and normally wet months, 545 fires have broken out so far this year, burning 1,142 acres. That is a staggering 330 percent increase in fires over the same Jan. 1 to Feb. 15 period last year and a 150 percent jump in burned acreage. “This is unprecedented,” said Capt. Michael Mohler of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Current conditions are as severe as during the hottest summer months, and Cal Fire is bracing for the worst. It has already brought in 125 additional firefighters, who normally come on board when fire season starts in late May in the North and in June in Southern California. Facilities where firefighting aircraft are based usually close in the winter. Not this […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US railroads, DOT agree on voluntary crude-by-rail safety steps

US railroads on Friday announced several voluntary steps they will take to boost crude-by-rail safety, including lower speed limits in urban areas and the use of rail traffic routing technology, under an agreement reached with the Department of Transportation. The Association of American Railroads said that beginning July 1 trains with 20 or more tank cars carrying crude that include at least one older DOT-111 car will travel no faster than 40 mph in 46 federally designated high-threat urban areas. The industry currently voluntarily restricts speeds of trains with 20 or more carloads of hazardous materials, including crude oil, to 50 mph. Railroads will also begin using the Rail Corridor Risk Management System to determine the safest routes for trains with 20 or more cars of crude. RCRMS, developed with the US Homeland Security Department and other federal agencies, is currently used for the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US Government Issues Loans for the First Nuclear Reactors in 30 Years

US Government Issues Loans for the First Nuclear Reactors in 30 Years Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will travel to Waynesboro, Georgia on Thursday to issue approximately $6.5 billion in loan guarantees for two new nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant . The reactors will be the first new nuclear facilities constructed in the U.S. in about three decades. The terms of the loan agreement were tentatively offered to Southern Company in 2010, but low natural gas prices, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown and a lack of a federal carbon policy have hampered nuclear power. The loan guarantee was also sidelined by Solyndra’s bankruptcy , which rattled the DOE loan program.  Since becoming the head of the U.S. Department of Energy, Moniz has repeatedly talked about  small modular reactors , pointing to their benefits in terms of cost and security. Last year, the DOE issued about $250 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple