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Venezuela: More Protests and Deaths

A university student, a National Guard captain and a third man were shot to death in separate incidents on Wednesday during anti-government protests in the central city of Valencia. Three National Guardsmen and several protesters were wounded. Two of the deaths occurred in the opposition-dominated neighborhood of Isabelica, where residents dissatisfied with the scarcity of basic items and rising unemployment have protested for weeks by blocking streets and throwing rocks at police officers.  The opposition has accused the government of supporting armed civilian thugs who attack protesters. A month of student-led demonstrations in a number of Venezuelan cities has left at least 25 people dead, according to the government.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Japan Regulator Selects First Reactors for Possible Restart

Members of the media and Tokyo Electric Power Co. employees visit a control room at Fukushima Daiichi on March 10. Japan’s nuclear regulator said Thursday it would start wrapping up safety compliance screening of two reactors in southwestern Japan. TOKYO—Japan’s nuclear power regulator has chosen two reactors in southwestern Japan as the first candidates for being restarted under new regulations meant to prevent another disaster like the one at Fukushima in 2011. At its weekly board meeting Thursday, the Nuclear Regulation Authority selected Co. ‘s Sendai No. 1 and 2 reactors as the first on which it will aim to complete its screening process, with most major safety concerns having been cleared up during the past eight months of discussions. "There are still a few issues at Sendai. Please make sure they are solved before completion of the screening report," NRA chairman Shunichi Tanaka told fellow commissioners at the […]

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China Crude Processing Falls to Four-Month Low on Weak Demand

China refined the least crude in four months as fuel demand in the world’s second-largest oil consumer slowed amid a cooling economy. Processing in the January-to-February period fell 1 percent from a year earlier to 78.78 million metric tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its website today. That’s equivalent to an average of 9.79 million barrels a day, the lowest rate since October. The bureau in Beijing combines data for the two months, citing distortions from the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, whose timing differs each year. Refiners are cutting oil processing as the pace of China’s economic expansion slows. Benchmark U.S. crude futures dropped the past three days, the longest losing streak in more than two months, after data on March 8 showed an 18.1 percent slump in exports. Industrial output rose 8.6 percent in January-February from a year earlier, the weakest for […]

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China output and retail data adds to slowdown fears

China’s industrial output rose 8.6% in January and February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Retail sales – a key measure of consumer spending – also increased 11.8% from the year before, government figures show. The figures were less than analysts had been expecting, adding to fears of a slowdown. Markets in Asia fell on the news, with both Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Shanghai composite dropping. Fixed-asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, expanded 17.9%. The reporting period includes the Chinese Lunar New Year, which fell during both months. Threat continues The data comes as China’s leaders wrap up their parliamentary session, known as the National People’s Congress (NPC). During the session, the government unveiled plans to push ahead with a pilot programme of privately-owned banks, in order to help open up the financial sector. At the start of the NPC earlier this month, […]

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Aramco keen to raise natural gas output

Aramco keen to raise natural gas output thumbnail" align="right" border="0" style="padding: 0px; margin: 5px 0px 10px 15px; width: 226px; height: 170px;"/> Saudi Aramco plans to produce 200 million cubic feet per day (cfd) of unconventional natural gas by 2018 to supply a new phosphate project and a power plant, an industry source said. Saudi Arabia aims to develop shale gas for power generation in order to save more of its crude oil for export. Aramco is keen to increase gas output as it can fetch $100 per barrel by exporting crude oil versus around $4 if it sells it to a Saudi power plant. CEO Khalid Al-Falih said last year the company was ready to commit gas for the development of a 1,000 megawatt power plant which will feed a phosphate mining […]

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Eagle Ford Production to Keep Growing Through 2014

Production from the Eagle Ford unconventional oil play in South Texas is expected to keep growing through 2014 and to break the 1.5 million barrel per day (bpd) mark in 2015, an analyst told attendees at the Platts’ North America Crude Conference in Houston Feb. 27-28. Between now and the end of 2018, 4.4 million barrels of crude are expected to be produced in North America, said Suzanne Minter, manager of crude and natural gas analysis with Bentek Energy. In 2013, 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production was grown; crude production this year will exceed that number, Minter noted. While infrastructure projects will bring this crude production to market, little has been done to grow incremental demand in the North America Lower 48 market, Minter noted. For this reason, the light crude market should be pretty aggressive and competitive in the near-term; by year end, Bentek […]

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Technology to Create New Water Source for Marcellus Operators

Oil and gas producers working in the Marcellus shale play near Pittsburgh now have a new option for water resources for hydraulic fracturing operations. Winner Water Services, a Pennsylvania-based joint venture between privately owned technology company Winner Global LLC and Columbus, Ohio-based Memorial Battelle Institute, a private, non-profit applied science and technology development company, was formed a year ago to provide water management services for oil and gas, including source water and water treatment. Initially focused on the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, Winner treats acid mine drainage water, which can be used in hydraulic fracturing in place of fresh water drawn of Pennsylvania’s lakes and streams. Using technology licensed from Battelle to the Winner family to treat acid mine drainage water, Sharon, Pennsylvania-based Winner has designed and is ready to install its first treatment system next month just outside of Pittsburgh, said John Ontiveros, Winner president and CEO, […]

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Chevron Trims Production Forecast On Project Delays, Rising Costs

Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company, lowered expectations for its 2017 production on Tuesday, citing lower natural gas prices, rising costs and project delays. The company now expects to produce 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) by 2017. Chevron had previously forecast 2017 production of 3.3 million boe/d. "Our growth strategy remains intact, though some things have changed," chief executive John Watson said at the company’s analyst day in New York. The company has slowed development of its holdings in the Marcellus shale formation in the eastern United States due in part to low natural gas prices. Chevron plans to sell about $10 billion of assets in the next three years, an increase from the $7 billion in asset sales in the previous three years. Most of the new asset sales will be uncompetitive assets in the company’s oil […]

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EIA: Harsh winter affected US heating expenditures, oil production

Worldwide liquids fuels consumption will increased by 1.2 million b/d this year and by 1.4 million b/d in 2015, according to the latest outlook from the US Energy Information Administration. In last month’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA projected that global oil demand would climb by 1.3 million b/d in 2014 and 1.4 million b/d in 2015. The outlook for this year sees countries outside of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) accounting for all consumption growth in 2014 and nearly all of the growth in 2015. EIA expects lower OECD consumption in 2014, led by projected consumption declines in both Japan and Europe. “China is expected to see the biggest jump in petroleum demand this year, with consumption increasing by 400,000 b/d. Japan and Europe are forecast to lead the decline in oil demand this year among industrialized countries as a group, with consumption falling by […]

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US propane, propylene stocks drop 1.09 million barrels week on week: EIA

US propane and propylene stocks fell 1.09 million barrels to 26.05 million barrels for the reporting week ended Friday, US Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday. The draw was above market expectations, which were for at most a 500,000 barrel draw, Gulf Coast sources said. Gulf Coast stocks fell 114,000 barrels to 15.50 million barrels. Midwest stocks saw a draw of 922,000 barrels to 7.5 million barrels. The East Coast saw a small build to 2.02 million barrels. Mont Belvieu, Texas, propane was stronger following the news, with March propane trading at $1.1075/gal, which was 1.75 cents higher than Tuesday’s assessment of $1.09/gal. –Mike McCafferty, [email protected] –Edited by Annie Siebert, [email protected]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple