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Quebec plans oil exploration program

Quebec plans to partner with private sector interests in an oil exploration program on Anticosti Island in the Canadian province. "These agreements with private sector partners will create sustainable wealth and quality jobs if the presence of oil is confirmed," Premier Pauline Marois stated in a news release Thursday announcing two agreements. The first is a $100 million drilling program with Petrolia Inc., based in Quebec, and Nova Scotia ‘s Corridor Resources, as well as France’s Maurel & Prom, in which the province, through its government agency Resources Quebec, would invest $70 million in return for a 35 percent stake. Under the second preliminary agreement, with Junex, based in Quebec, the province "and an operator yet to be determined" would fund an exploration program of $90 million, with the province getting at least 40 percent of the joint venture. Each of the two […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Eurozone economic recovery gains traction on back of improved GDP

The eurozone’s recovery gained a little traction in the final quarter of 2013, with the currency bloc’s economy expanding by 0.3 per cent on the back of stronger-than-expected growth in the region’s two largest economies. Eurostat, the commission’s statistics bureau, on Friday published figures showing growth had edged up from 0.1 per cent in the third quarter by slightly more than the 0.2 per cent expected by economists. The figures will boost hopes that economic conditions in the bloc are steadily improving after the region became engulfed by a sovereign debt and banking crisis. The Eurostat figures were published hours after it emerged that Germany, the bloc’s economic powerhouse, had expanded 0.4 per cent, beating forecasts of 0.3 per cent growth. The German data, published by the Federal Statistics Office, were up from 0.3 per cent in the previous quarter and ahead of its preliminary estimate published last month […]

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Fusion shows progress

Fusion energy experiments at Lawrence Livermore Labs have finally produced more energy than they consumed, a huge step forward in turning fusion into a viable source of energy. The researchers, led by physicist Omar Hurricane, described the achievement as important but said much more work is needed before fusion can become a viable energy source. Hurricane said that the reaction did not produce self-heating nuclear fusion, known as ignition, that would be needed for any fusion power plant. Researchers have faced daunting scientific and engineering challenges in trying to develop nuclear fusion – the process that powers stars including our sun – for use by humankind. “Really for the first time anywhere, we’ve gotten more energy out of this fuel than was put into the fuel. And that’s quite unique. And that’s kind of a major turning point, in a lot of our minds,” Hurricane told reporters. “I think a lot […]

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Oil Futures Lower in London as Investors Weigh Mixed Cues

Crude-oil futures were slightly lower in London trade Friday as investors weighed mixed market cues and oil-demand projections by energy agencies. Brent crude for April delivery on London’s ICE futures exchange traded down 19 cents, or 0.18%, at $108.33 a barrel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded down 46 cents, or 0.46%, at $99.89 a barrel. Paris-based energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, said in its monthly report that oil-demand growth in developed countries more than compensated for weaker-than-expected demand from emerging-market economies. Global oil inventories were tight in the fourth quarter, with commercial oil stocks in developed countries plummeting 135 million barrels, the steepest quarterly decline since 1999. As a result, stocks hit their lowest level since 2008 by end-December. "While there are good reasons to expect the market to rebalance in the […]

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WTI Slips a Second Day on Speculation of Higher Supply

West Texas Intermediate slipped for a second day on speculation that crude inventories will accumulate once demand for winter heating fuel tails off. Futures declined as much as 0.6 percent in New York. Twenty-one of 34 analysts and traders, or 62 percent, in a Bloomberg News survey estimated WTI will decline through Feb. 21 as U.S. crude stockpiles expand and freezing temperatures recover. Crude supplies rose by 3.27 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration. “Crude is overbought,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov , an analyst at VTB Capital in London . “Refinery rates will be shrinking as we finally enter the seasonal maintenance period and the weather in the U.S. Northeast improves.” WTI for March delivery dropped as much as 57 cents to $99.78 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $99.92 as of 10:54 a.m. London time. The volume […]

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Oil dips; natural gas soars on supply report

The price of oil barely budged Thursday. But natural gas futures soared and U.S. drivers again saw higher numbers at the gas pump. Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery slipped 2 cents to $100.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. economic indicators were mostly downbeat on Thursday, suggesting weak demand. A report from the International Energy Agency gave oil some support. The agency raised slightly its 2014 forecast for global demand to 92.6 million barrels a day, 125,000 barrels a day above its previous expectations from a month ago. Natural gas futures jumped 40 cents, or 8 percent, to $5.22 per 1,000 cubic feet. The Energy Department said supplies fell by 237 billion cubic feet last week, more than the 230 billion cubic feet decline predicted by analysts. Meanwhile, U.S. drivers are paying 6 cents more per gallon on average than a week ago. The nationwide […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Soars as Stockpiles Drop

NEW YORK—Natural-gas prices surged Thursday as government data showed that supplies in storage facilities, already relatively limited, shrank more than expected last week. High demand for the heating fuel, the result of unusually cold weather, has boosted prices 23% this year and reduced natural-gas stockpiles, prompting fears that supplies could stay exceptionally low even after winter ends. At 1.686 trillion cubic feet, natural-gas supplies are at their lowest for this time of year in a decade, analysts said. About 237 billion cubic feet of gas was pulled from storage in the week ended Feb. 7, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday. That was 8 bcf more than a Wall Street Journal survey indicated analysts had expected. Futures prices shot above $5 a million British thermal units after the report’s release and settled up 8.3% at $5.223 per mmBtu. "What a very explosive reaction," said Teri Viswanath, director of […]

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Spot LNG Prices Hit Record in Asia

Energy prices aren’t just soaring in the U.S. as a cold winter sets in. In Asia, liquefied natural gas has surged to a record as demand for the clean fuel rises and supply constraints hobble the market. LNG is increasingly the fuel of choice in Asia, with large users such as power producers in many cases under pressure from their governments to limit the environmental impact of rising fossil-fuel consumption, but record prices could force some to rethink their fuel choices. Japan, for example, has boosted its LNG imports since the Fukushima Daiichi crisis that led to the idling of all its nuclear-power plants, helping to push its trade deficit to a record last year and reigniting a debate on whether to restart reactors . For more price-sensitive consumers in India and Southeast Asia, higher LNG prices are prompting power generators to rely more heavily on alternatives like coal. […]

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Non-OPEC production lauded by IEA

– Production outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries helped with the increase in oil output since last year, the IEA said Thursday from Paris. The International Energy Agency said in its monthly market report oil supplies since last January are up because of "steep growth" from non-OPEC members. The IEA, however, said global oil supplies in January declined by 290,000 barrels per day to 92.1 million bpd because of lower non-OPEC output. OPEC in its monthly market report, published Wednesday, said oil production from the Americas meant demand for OPEC crude from those markets was down. In terms of production, it said winter operations in the Bakken oil reserve area in North Dakota, the second-largest oil producing state in the United States, decreased because colder temperatures "freezes" the more viscous type of oil found there. For OPEC members, IEA said oil supply increased marginally […]

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International Energy Agency urges Opec to sustain oil production

Opec will need to sustain production at its current level of almost 30m barrels a day if badly depleted oil inventories in the developed world are to be rebuilt, according to the International Energy Agency. In its widely followed monthly report, the west’s energy watchdog said stronger than expected demand in the US and other industrialised nations had drained oil stocks to the lowest level in five years, tightening the market and supporting prices. Oil inventories in the OECD group of countries dropped by 1.5m barrels a day in the last three months of 2013, the steepest quarterly decline since 1999. “Far from drowning in oil, markets have had to dig deeply into inventories to meet unexpectedly strong demand,” the report said. Rising oil production from North America has led many forecasters to predict a supply glut and a decline […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple