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Well integrity a fracking concern, British study finds

March 25 (UPI) — A study published Tuesday in the British journal Marine and Petroleum Geology finds underground wells used for shale exploration may cause water contamination. A study from Research Fracking in Europe, or ReFINE, finds the structural casing of underground wells may present a risk to underground water supplies. In the Marcellus shale play in the United States, the study found around 6 percent of the 8,000 wells had some sort of well integrity issue. In the United Kingdom, it found about one half of one percent of active wells showed evidence of failure. With European countries looking to replicate U.S. success with shale exploration, the study found the data on well failure rates of onshore wells in Europe were "scarce." Richard Davies, the project’s leader from Durham University, said well integrity will be an issue if the shale narrative evolves in Europe. "The data from the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Revisiting the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2013

I was going over the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2013 and noticed a few things you might find interesting. Exactly what is their opinion on Peak Oil? Here, cut and pasted from the report. Got that? The URR is great enough to delay any peak until after 2035. Here is one of their graphs that indicate how much they think is left, coal, gas and oil. Okay 54 years of proven reserves. That puts the peak out to well past mid century. Likely well past 2100 if you count those remaining recoverable resources. And just who has all this oil? 2.2 trillion barrels of conventional crude oil resources. However only 1.7 trillion barrels of that has a 90% probability of being recoverable. Of this the Middle East has the lions share, 971 billion barrels of resources with a 90% probability of recovering 813 billion barrels of that.   The […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Climate Change and Human Extinction – A Personal Perspective

Just one source, methane from the arctic…leads us [by 2030] to…a temperature beyond which humans have never existed on the planet.” Guy McPherson, professor emeritus of University of Arizona in Environmental Studies, shares highlights from his compilation of recent reports on climate change effects. Their number and extent have grown exponentially since he began five years ago. In this interview, he shares his personal journey through despair and deep grief to recent acceptance. “I suspect we get to see the end of this movie… Nobody else in human history [has]… We get to see how humans act in the face of their own demise.” Episode 262. [guymcpherson.com] Watch Guy’s Climate Change presentation February 2014

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Peak Oil: Laherrère, Real Curves, and Official Curves

The thin blue line at the top right is Laherrère’s prediction of the grand totals, differing considerably from the others. He explains: “The confidential technical data on [mean values of proven + probable reserves] is only available from expensive and very large scout databases. . . . There is a huge difference between the political/financial proved reserves [so-called], and the confidential technical [proven + probable] reserves. . . . Most economists . . . rely only on the proved reserves coming from [the Oil and Gas Journal, the US Energy Information Administration], BP and OPEC data, which are wrong; they have no access to the confidential technical data.” The difference between his figures and the various government figures is enormous. It reminds me of the 1950s, when M.K. Hubbert and others were saying one thing, and the government was saying quite the opposite. A few years ago I met […]

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WTI Oil Near $100 Before U.S. Crude Stockpile Data; Brent Steady

West Texas Intermediate traded near $100 a barrel before data that is forecast to show crude stockpiles rose for a 10th week in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil user. Brent was steady in London . Futures were little changed in New York. Crude supplies probably expanded by 2.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Information Administration report tomorrow. U.S. authorities are planning inspection flights over the Houston Ship Channel, home to 11 percent of the nation’s refining capacity, as the waterway remains closed for a fourth day after a fuel oil spill. “Supply is ample,” said Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney who predicts investors may buy West Texas contracts if prices fall to about $97 a barrel. “WTI looks like it wants to consolidate.” WTI for May delivery was at $99.72, up 12 cents, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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DOE approves LNG exports to non-FTA countries from Oregon project

The US Department of Energy conditionally approved Jordan Cove Energy Project LP’s application to export LNG through its proposed terminal on Oregon’s coast to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement with the US. The project near Coos Bay will be permitted to ship overseas as much as the 800 MMcfd of gas equivalent for 20 years subject to environmental review and final regulatory approvals, DOE’s Fossil Energy Office said in its Mar. 24 order . Federal law assumes that gas exports to countries having an FTA with the US are in the national interest. For those that don’t have an FTA, DOE must make a determination before they are permitted. DOE also said it has decided that the Jordan Cover project’s request for LNG export authorization to non-FTA countries was in the US national interest after considering possible economic, energy security, and environmental impacts, and reviewing more […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hundreds of Egyptians Sentenced to Death in Killing of a Police Officer

; A crowd gathered outside a courthouse in the town of Matay erupted in wailing and rage on Monday when a judge sentenced 529 defendants to death in just the second session of their trial, convicting them of murdering a police officer in anger at the ouster of the Islamist president. Here in the provincial capital just a few miles away, schools shut down early, and many stayed indoors fearing a riot, residents said. But the crowds went home, and soon the streets were quiet. After nine months of escalating repression that culminated in the extraordinary verdict, the military-led government that removed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood appears to have finally cowed his supporters into near-silence here in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan Oil Output Plunges to Six-Month Low as Elephant Halted

Libya ’s oil production plunged to the lowest in about six months after protesters seeking jobs and development projects halted a western oilfield run by Eni Spa. (ENI) Demonstrators forced the Elephant field to halt today, cutting the nation’s production to 150,000 barrels a day from 230,000 barrels yesterday, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for National Oil Corp., said by phone from Tripoli. Paolo Scaroni, Eni’s chief executive officer, met with Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah Theni today to discuss increasing production in the North African country. Protesters in the Western Mountain range, south west of the capital Tripoli, shut a valve on a pipeline that carries crude from Elephant to the Mellitah oil export terminal, Elharari said. The disruption is compounding a rebellion in the east, depriving the country from most of its oil production. Curtailed Libyan supply has bouyed the price of Europe ’s Brent crude this year, according […]

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Libya releases crew of renegade oil tanker

The crew of a renegade oil tanker seized by the U.S. Navy and handed over to Libya has been released and will be deported, a Libyan investigator said Monday. Al-Sadik al-Sour, the head investigator for Libya’s prosecutor general, did not give the nationality of the 21 crew members. He said they were referred to border police Monday to send them out of the country. Three eastern Libya militia members who were aboard the vessel will be detained for 14 days to be interrogated by prosecutors over their role in the saga. Al-Sour said investigations revealed that the crew members were working at gunpoint, according to witnesses interrogated at the militia-held eastern port where the vessel was loaded with an estimated 350,000 barrels of oil. The ship remains in Tripoli and is due to be unloaded in the port of Zawiya refinery, 40 kilometers (25 miles) […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela unveils new currency market

– President Nicolas Maduro’s cash-strapped government unveiled a new currency market Monday that allows Venezuelans to buy and sell dollars legally for the first time since 2010. Opposition leader Gov. Henrique Capriles said the so-called Sicad 2 exchange system is akin to a devaluation and will eat away at the savings of poor families. The government is counting on the new exchange mechanism to alleviate pressure on a black market Venezuelans turn to when they can’t purchase hard currency from the government at the official 6.3 bolivars per dollar rate. Maduro’s government has been increasingly safeguarding its shrinking supply of dollars as oil production declines and deficit spending remains high. That’s led it to fall behind on payments to foreign airlines and carmakers, exacerbating a shortage of imported goods.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple