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Punishing Putin Fuels Energy-Export Drive in Congress

In the decades after the Arab oil embargo, the U.S. restricted energy exports to promote self sufficiency as a matter of national security. Now Russia’s annexation of Crimea and massing of troops on the Ukrainian border is fueling a push in Congress to remove those limits to punish President Vladimir Putin . “In the 70s, we argued that for the sake of national security we have to prohibit exports,” Michael Webber , deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an interview. “Now we argue that for the sake of national security we have to allow exports. Our mind has flipped in 40 years.” Three congressional committees are holding hearings this week on whether the U.S. should sell more of its growing oil and gas resources overseas, in part to lessen European dependence on Russian oil and gas. Europe imports about 30 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Booming U.S. NGL Exports Idled With Houston Channel Shut

The closing of the Houston Ship Channel is idling ships that carried a record amount of U.S. natural gas liquids exports last year, raising questions about the need for geographic diversity in the burgeoning market. Most U.S. capacity to export NGLs is on the channel, said Peter Fasullo, a principal at Houston-based energy consultant EnVantage Inc. The U.S. averaged 475,000 barrels a day of exports in 2013, up from 164,000 in 2010, according to Energy Information Administration data. Two companies, Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) and , have channel operations that combine to represent 380,000 barrels a day of export capacity, Fasullo said. “That’s all going to go offline,” Fasullo said. “Ships can’t get into the terminals to get loaded, and those that are loaded can’t get out.” There is no estimate on when the 52-mile (83-kilometer) channel will reopen, U.S. Coast Guard Captain Brian Penoyer said yesterday at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US Senate Hears Pleas For More Natural Gas Exports

Calls to increase U.S. natural gas exports to counter Russian influence across Europe grew louder Tuesday amid concerns that Russia will move deeper into Ukraine. Lithuania’s energy minister, Jaroslav Neverovic, pleaded in emotional terms for U.S. help, saying his country is "100 percent" dependent on Russia for natural gas and has to pay 30 percent higher prices for it than other countries in Europe. "This is not just unfair, this is abuse," Neverovic told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Lawmakers from both parties used the hearing to urge the Obama administration to speed up natural gas exports as a hedge against the possibility that Russia could cut off its supply of gas to Ukraine and other countries. Four Central European nations — Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — made formal requests for U.S. exports as Moscow moved to annex part of Ukraine. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WoodMac: US tight-oil market ‘too robust to bust’

A drop in global oil price levels or a significant widening of the differential between global oil prices and inland realizations are just two of the ways the North American tight-oil boom could go bust, according to a recent analysis from Wood Mackenzie. The research and consultancy group, which reported its findings Mar. 25 at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers annual conference in Orlando, Fla., stated that 70% of US reserves would remain economic with global oil prices at $75/bbl. “There is not much US producers can do to influence global oil prices,” said Harold York, WoodMac principal downstream research analyst. “Supply and demand fundamentals and nonmarket dynamics around the globe keep the price environment well above the break-even economics levels of several US tight oil plays,” he said, adding that nearly all proved reserves of US light tight oil (LTO) are viable at today’s prices. WoodMac reported […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oregon LNG nod draws mixed reviews

The American Petroleum Institute welcomed a permit for LNG exports from Oregon, though the Sierra Club said it came with too many environmental risks. The U.S. Energy Department gave its consent to the Jordan Cove Energy project in Coos Bay, Ore., to export domestically produced liquified natural gas to countries that don’t have a free-trade agreement with the United States. American Petroleum President Jack Gerard said the LNG decision gives foreign energy markets an added layer of energy security. "We urge the administration to continue making U.S. exports a priority," he said in a statement . There are more than 20 applications pending for non-FTA exports of LNG. The federal government needs to weigh such projects against the public’s interest before giving its consent. Environmental groups are critical of LNG exports, saying it will lead to more hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling practice dubbed fracking. Nathan Matthews, an attorney […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Canadian National Railway to Phase Out Older Tank Cars Used for Fueling

Co. said Tuesday it will gradually phase out the older tank cars used to transport diesel fuel that it owns as part of its effort to improve safety in the wake of several fiery derailments. Canada’s biggest railway said it would spend 7 million Canadian dollars ($6.25 million) to remove from service the 183 DOT-111 railcars that transport fuel for its locomotives. The rail operator said it would replace those cars with 40 new ones meeting the latest safety specifications by the end of the year. It also plans to phase out and replace 143 DOT-111 cars that it leases for fueling. Mark Hallman, a spokesman with CN, said that DOT-111 railcars that ship crude oil across its rail network are owned by oil shippers and leasing agencies. He said Montreal-based CN is providing incentives to customers to replace the older DOT-111s and acquire more robust tank cars that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russia’s Black Sea Oil Flows Declining as Baltic Cargoes Gain

Russia is poised to cut crude exports from the biggest oil port near Crimea next month while shipping more in the Baltic Sea about 1,000 miles away. Cargoes will leave the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk at about 620,000 barrels a day in April, the lowest rate since at least 2008, according to loading programs obtained by Bloomberg News . Daily shipments from Primorsk in the Baltic will average 1 million barrels, the most since November. Igor Dyomin, a spokesman for OAO Transneft, Russia’s pipeline operator, declined to comment. Russia increases sales from Primorsk in April most years . Next month’s change in volumes between the country’s two main oil terminals will be the largest in a year when measured in barrels. There is also maintenance work scheduled on a pipeline running to Novorossiisk, which is about 70 miles from Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed this month. “One loading […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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G7 ties energy security to Ukraine's future

Energy security for Ukraine is an essential part of national security, Western leaders said in a joint declaration from The Hague. Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, along with high-ranking officials from the European Union, met in The Hague, Netherlands, to express their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The leaders in a joint declaration , published Monday, said energy security was part of national security for Europe and Ukraine. "We remain united in our commitment to provide strong financial backing to Ukraine, to coordinate our technical assistance, and to provide assistance in other areas, including measures to enhance trade and strengthen energy security," they said. Ukraine descended into chaos in November when the government of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych opted to suspend efforts to sign free trade and association agreements with the EU. Russia has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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G7 ties energy security to Ukraine’s future

Energy security for Ukraine is an essential part of national security, Western leaders said in a joint declaration from The Hague. Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, along with high-ranking officials from the European Union, met in The Hague, Netherlands, to express their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The leaders in a joint declaration , published Monday, said energy security was part of national security for Europe and Ukraine. "We remain united in our commitment to provide strong financial backing to Ukraine, to coordinate our technical assistance, and to provide assistance in other areas, including measures to enhance trade and strengthen energy security," they said. Ukraine descended into chaos in November when the government of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych opted to suspend efforts to sign free trade and association agreements with the EU. Russia has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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3 Surprising Sources of Oil Pollution in the Ocean

  The Texas spill is obvious, but automobile oil is a bigger contributor. An iridescent sheen spreads from a drop of crude oil on top of the water in the Gulf of Mexico. Obvious oil spills, like the 168,000 gallons (635,000 liters) of oil that leaked into Galveston Bay on Saturday, usually make national news, accompanied by pictures of oil-blackened wildlife . But such publicized events account for only a small part of the total amount of oil pollution in the oceans—and many of the other sources, such as automobile oil, go largely unnoticed, scientists say. In fact, of the tens of millions of gallons of oil that enter North American oceans each year due to human activities, only 8 percent comes from tanker or oil pipeline spills, according to the 2003 book Oil in the Sea III by the U.S. National Research Council of the National Academy of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple