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NYMEX April gas falls 5.6 cents as traders eye end of winter

April natural gas futures contract fell 5.6 cents Friday to settle at $4.313/MMBtu as traders looked ahead to lower shoulder-season demand in the coming weeks. Over the past four sessions, the contract has shed a total of 22.3 cents, or about 5%. "I think we’re looking like we’re trying to shake off winter," said INTL FC Stone broker Tom Saal. "We are trading for April, and the expectations are that April will probably show less colder weather than March." Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Gas Daily Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points in major U.S. markets. Gas Daily keeps you informed about complex state and federal regulations that affect competition in the gas industry. You will also learn about business-critical issues such as storage levels, pipeline […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq Hit by Wave of Bombings and Attacks

Thirty-seven people were killed on Friday in a wave of bombings and attacks across Iraq, and eight soldiers were kidnapped, security officials said. At dawn, a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives into a police station in northeastern Diyala Province, followed by gunmen who sprayed bullets from speeding S.U.V.s. Eleven police officers were killed, including the commander of the unit, officials said. In the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, gunmen in S.U.V.s attacked an army unit, took control and killed five soldiers, while kidnapping eight others and bringing them to an undisclosed location, a police official said. A curfew was imposed in Samarra. Jafar al-Jibory, a security analyst and an army officer during the Saddam Hussein era, placed blame for the attacks on militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a powerful jihadist group once affiliated with Al Qaeda that is also […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan army in heavy fighting with oil port rebels

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels occupying oil ports clashed with troops on Saturday after attacking an army base where reinforcements were preparing for an offensive to break the blockade, local residents said. Anti-aircraft gunfire and explosions were heard late at night and again after dawn on Saturday in Ajdabiya, the hometown of rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters seized three ports in summer to demand a greater share in Libya’s oil wealth. Fighting broke out just hours before the return to Libya of an oil tanker seized on Sunday by U.S. commandos in the Mediterranean after it had loaded crude at one of the ports Jathran’s men have occupied. The Morning Glory, once a North Korean-flagged vessel, was expected to arrive on Saturday in Libya under U.S. Navy escort and dock at Zawiya, one of the country’s key ports under government control. There was no immediate confirmation from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya's guns free-for-all fuels region's turmoil

At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it’s Tripoli’s biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars. Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. The arms free-for-all fuels not only Libya’s instability but also stokes conflicts around the region as guns are smuggled through the country’s wide-open borders to militants fighting in insurgencies and wars stretching from Syria to West Africa. The lack of control is at times stunning. Last month, militia fighters stole a planeload of weapons sent by Russia for Libya’s military […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya’s guns free-for-all fuels region’s turmoil

At the heart of the Libyan capital, the open-air Fish Market was once a place where residents went to buy everything from meat and seafood to clothes and pets. Now it’s Tripoli’s biggest arms market, with tables displaying pistols and assault rifles. Ask a vendor, and he can pull out bigger machine guns to sell for thousands of dollars. Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. The arms free-for-all fuels not only Libya’s instability but also stokes conflicts around the region as guns are smuggled through the country’s wide-open borders to militants fighting in insurgencies and wars stretching from Syria to West Africa. The lack of control is at times stunning. Last month, militia fighters stole a planeload of weapons sent by Russia for Libya’s military […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Limits and the Economy: One Story, Not Two

The two big stories of our day are (1) Our economic problems: The inability of economies to grow as rapidly as they would like, add as many jobs as they would like, and raise the standards of living of citizens as much as they would like. Associated with this slow economic growth is a continued need for ultra-low interest rates to keep economies of the developed world from slipping back into recession. (2) Our oil related-problems: One part of the story relates to too little, so-called “peak oil,” and the need for substitutes for oil. Another part of the story relates to too much carbon released by burning fossil fuels, including oil, leading to climate change. While the press treats these issues as separate stories, they are in fact very closely connected, related to the fact that we are reaching limits in many different directions simultaneously. The economy is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US corn-based ethanol production falls 10.76% to 11-month low: EPA

February production of corn-based ethanol in the US lowered by 125.01 million gallons, or 10.76%, to an 11-month low of 1.04 billion gallons, US Environmental Protection Agency data showed Friday. The drop in ethanol production was unsurprising to sources as delayed rail return times to plants forced reduced run rates and a significant drop in production. "If you think those numbers are nuts, wait until March comes out," one trader said. "We’ll be lucky if we hit 900 [million gallons]." US ethanol prices have soared in recent weeks as supply concerns continue to send a resounding bullish sentiment throughout the market. Delayed return times on railcar deliveries, caused primarily by severe freezing weather and a higher demand for railcar space, was the root of the price surge throughout February, sources said. The Platts Chicago Argo ethanol assessment hit $3.24/gal Friday, up $1.1850/gal from a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Mexican Oil Rush Is On as Ex-President Gets Black Gold Fever

An event to celebrate the anniversary of the expropriation of Mexico’s oil industry at the Petroleos Mexicanos petrochemical complex in Cosoleacaque, Veracruz, Mexico, on March 18, 2014. Close Close Open Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg An event to celebrate the anniversary of the expropriation of Mexico’s oil industry at the Petroleos Mexicanos petrochemical complex in Cosoleacaque, Veracruz, Mexico, on March 18, 2014. Mexican companies are racing to be first in line to invest in the country’s energy industry even before lawmakers pass final legislation that would end a 76-year state monopoly. Alfa SAB (ALFAA) , owner of Mexico’s largest petrochemicals producer, sold $1 billion of bonds yesterday to help fund its energy business and refinance debt. State-owned Comision Federal de Electricidad plans to take advantage of the legal changes to sell natural gas, Chief Executive Officer Enrique Ochoa said at the Bloomberg Economic Summit in Mexico City yesterday. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela says street protests have caused $10 billion in damage

Venezuela’s president said on Friday that street protests for the past month have caused at least $10 billion in damage, accusing hardline foes of carrying out terrorist acts to sabotage public assets. President Nicolas Maduro did not say how the government arrived at that figure from the clashes between demonstrators barricading roads, pro-government radicals and security forces that have killed at least 31 people. "The minority who want a coup have done so much damage to the country … they burnt a public university where hundreds of young people studied," he said in a nationally televised speech. "This isn’t protest. It’s vandalism. It’s terrorism." Maduro was referring to a military college affiliated with the Venezuelan armed forces that authorities say was torched by demonstrators in the western city of San Cristobal, near the border with Colombia. San Cristobal has been harder hit by the violence than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Challenges Facing Saudi Arabia Include More Than Oil

The Challenges Facing Saudi Arabia Include More Than Oil" alt="The Challenges Facing Saudi Arabia Include More Than Oil thumbnail" align="right" border="0" style="padding: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 10px 15px; width: 226px; height: 170px;"/> The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently issued a call for Saudi Arabia to sustain its current oil output during the upcoming seasonally weak global oil demand period in order to rebuild global crude oil inventories following the harsh winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the uptick in developing country oil needs. The IEA estimates that Saudi oil production in January was 9.76 million barrels a day (b/d), down about 60,000 b/d from December’s output level. Saudi’s sales for January, which includes volumes from storage, averaged 9.92 million b/d, down 70,000 b/d from December. A challenge for the Kingdom may come after March when it shuts down the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple