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Cold weather impacts petroleum demand, API says

A lingering cold spell in much of the United States is suppressing the demand for petroleum and petroleum products, the American Petroleum Institute said. API said the delivery of petroleum products, a measure of demand, declined 0.6 percent in February to 18.5 million barrels per day, the lowest average for any February since 1998. API Chief Economist John Felmy said the cold weather was suppressing demand for petroleum products like gasoline. "Cold weather tends to have a dampening effect on the economy, which helped reduce demand for many types of fuel in February," he said in a statement Thursday. API said demand for gasoline declined 0.2 percent from February 2013, though it was up 1.1 percent from the previous month. January’s gasoline demand of the equivalent of 8.4 million barrels per day, however, was a 13-year low for the month. API said crude oil […]

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Rail delivery of oil up 2.9 percent from 2013, AAR says

Petroleum product delivery on the U.S. rail system for the week ending March 15 was up 2.9 percent year-on-year, the Association of American Railroads said. The AAR said 14,365 railcars of petroleum and petroleum products, or about 10 million barrels, were delivered on the U.S. rail system last week. While a 2.9 percent increase year-on-year, last week’s deliveries were 2.8 percent less than the week ending March 8. Last week, the rail group said fourth quarter 2013 delivery was the equivalent of about 76 million barrels of oil. For the entire year of 2013, about 285 million barrels of oil traveled on the U.S. rail network, a 74 percent increase from the previous year. So far this year, 99.6 million barrels of petroleum and petroleum products traveled by rail in the United States, a 7 percent increase from the same period last year, AAR […]

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What does U.S. know about Putin's oil wealth?

The most startling part of Washington’s sanctions on Russian businessmen loyal to President Vladimir Putin may be a single sentence that contains an explosive allegation: that Putin himself profits from the world’s No. 4 oil trading company, Gunvor. Among the people the United States sanctioned on Thursday as part of its drive to put pressure on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine was businessman Gennady Timchenko, a long-time acquaintance of Putin and, until this week, co-owner of Geneva-based Gunvor, which trades nearly 3 percent of the world’s oil. In announcing the sanctions, the Treasury Department went a step further, adding a single sentence that hits squarely at one of the most controversial topics that Putin has faced in 13 years as the Kremlin ruler and head of the government. "Timchenko activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin. Putin has investments in […]

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What does U.S. know about Putin’s oil wealth?

The most startling part of Washington’s sanctions on Russian businessmen loyal to President Vladimir Putin may be a single sentence that contains an explosive allegation: that Putin himself profits from the world’s No. 4 oil trading company, Gunvor. Among the people the United States sanctioned on Thursday as part of its drive to put pressure on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine was businessman Gennady Timchenko, a long-time acquaintance of Putin and, until this week, co-owner of Geneva-based Gunvor, which trades nearly 3 percent of the world’s oil. In announcing the sanctions, the Treasury Department went a step further, adding a single sentence that hits squarely at one of the most controversial topics that Putin has faced in 13 years as the Kremlin ruler and head of the government. "Timchenko activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin. Putin has investments in […]

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As Sanctions Start, Russia Feels a Sting

American and European sanctions rattled Russia’s economy on Friday, with Moscow’s stock indexes opening sharply lower, rating agencies threatening to reduce the country’s creditworthiness, and hints of trepidation coming from Russia’s tycoons as they concluded an annual conference here. But if the aim of the sanctions is to put economic pressure on the wealthy allies crucial to President Vladimir V. Putin’s continued grip on power, there were few signs they would succeed, largely because those targeted were among the new generations of oligarchs who owe their fortunes and loyalties to Mr. Putin. And even though Russia has become more integrated in the global economy, those who were not targeted — other billionaires and millionaires who have prospered in the Russia that emerged under Mr. Putin’s rule — have not shown signs of breaking ranks , either, since the prospects of sanctions first arose. One of those […]

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Petrodollar Alert: Putin Prepares To Announce “Holy Grail” Gas Deal With China

If it was the intent of the West to bring Russia and China together – one a natural resource (if “somewhat” corrupt) superpower and the other a fixed capital / labor output (if “somewhat” capital misallocating and credit bubbleicious) powerhouse – in the process marginalizing the dollar and encouraging Ruble and Renminbi bilateral trade, then things are surely “going according to plan.” For now there have been no major developments as a result of the shift in the geopolitical axis that has seen global US influence, away from the Group of 7 (most insolvent nations) of course, decline precipitously in the aftermath of the bungled Syrian intervention attempt and the bloodless Russian annexation of Crimea, but that will soon change. Because while the west is focused on day to day developments in […]

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Category: Uncategorized

In its World Water Day Report, the UN highlights the need for cooperation between water and energy industries

The world needs to manage its use of water and energy if it wants to have enough of either vital resource, a new United Nations report states .  Most of the world’s energy production requires water, and demand for the resource is set to spike in the coming decades, most notably in China’s expanding economy. The boom in hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — in the United States, in particular, puts even more pressure on water sources, according to the report.  With fracking, water and chemicals are pumped into the ground to break up deposits of trapped gas. To generate electricity, many plants burn coal or use nuclear fuel to heat water, creating steam that turns turbines and produces electricity. In essence, a   river runs through every light switch.  “Decisions concerning energy production need to take account of the limits of water resources, the water requirements of other […]

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Oil Futures Drift Lower, WTI Trades Under $100/Bbl

Crude-oil futures slipped in Asian trading hours Friday on a strong dollar even as oil traders remained on edge as the sanctions contest between Western countries and Russia spilled over to the oil-trading business. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $98.31 a barrel at 0527 GMT, down $0.59 in the Globex electronic session. May Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.39 to $106.06 a barrel. Nymex WTI crude extended overnight losses, dropping below the $100 a barrel mark, as it came under pressure from a strong greenback as markets reacted to U.S. Federal Reserve commentary Thursday that interest rates could start rising in the fall. "The appreciation in the U.S. dollar has inevitably hurt overseas demand for the U.S.-denominated benchmark crudes, resulting in downward pressure," analyst Tan Chee Tat at Phillips Futures said. President […]

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WTI Heads for Third Weekly Drop Amid Rising Supply; Brent Steady

West Texas Intermediate is poised for a third weekly drop as crude supplies climbed to the highest level since November in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent was steady in London . Futures slid for a second day in New York , falling as much as 0.7 percent. U.S. oil inventories rose for a ninth week as production increased, the Energy Information Administration said March 19. Brent advanced yesterday as the U.S. announced sanctions on Russia after it seized control of Crimea from Ukraine. The measures target aides and associates of President Vladimir Putin , including billionaire Gennady Timchenko , co-founder of energy-trading company Gunvor Group Ltd. “The increase in inventories overall and production set a soft tone,” said Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “Even if some disruption comes out of the Ukraine situation it’s not really something that would be a […]

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Natural Gas Slips to 2-Month Low on Signs of Falling Demand

Natural-gas prices fell Thursday as forecasts for warmer weather and a smaller-than-expected storage withdrawal indicated that weather-driven demand for the heating fuel is subsiding. Natural gas for April delivery settled down 11.5 cents, or 2.6%, at $4.369 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement price since Jan. 17. A long, frigid winter has fueled record demand for indoor heating and has sharply reduced natural-gas stockpiles. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. As of March 14, supplies stood at 953 billion cubic feet, 48% below the five-year average for the week and the lowest level for any week since May 2003, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said […]

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Iran Complying With Interim Nuclear Deal

The United Nations atomic agency said Thursday that Iran is complying with the interim nuclear deal it signed with six major powers last November. In its monthly report on Iran’s implementation of the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran continues refraining from enriching uranium to 20% purity and is reducing its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium, which is a level considered only a few technical steps from producing weapons-grade uranium. The IAEA said Iran has also met its pledge not to carry out major work on its planned heavy water reactor in Arak, which could in the future produce plutonium. It has also, as promised, provided further information on its plans for the reactor. The agency said Iran also has kept within the agreed research and development limits for uranium-enrichment work under the interim accord. In November, Iran and six major powers that saw Tehran pledge to […]

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In Iran, Hopes Fade for Surge in the Economy

Suffering in an economy dragged down by years of mismanagement and the effects of international sanctions, Iran’s increasingly impoverished middle class voted in huge numbers last summer for President Hassan Rouhani , who promised to reignite growth by restoring ties with the rest of the world. But more than six months after Mr. Rouhani took office, hopes of a quick economic recovery are fading among ordinary Iranians, business owners and investors, while economists say the government is running out of cash . Although Mr. Rouhani has managed to stabilize the national currency, halt inflation and forge a temporary nuclear deal that provides some relief from sanctions, delivering on his promises of economic growth has proved far more difficult. On taking office, he discovered that the government’s finances were in far worse condition than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had ever let on. Now, with a lack of petrodollars […]

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Under pressure from Baghdad, Kurds offer limited exports

As U.S. mediators work to broker a temporary export deal between Erbil and Baghdad, Kurdistan has pledged to pump 100,000 bpd through federal channels. Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said it will begin contributing 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the country’s national oil exports starting April 1, in an effort to revive stalled negotiations with Baghdad over oil policy. "As a goodwill gesture, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has offered to make a contribution to Iraq oil pipeline exports to give the negotiations the maximum chance of success," said KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in a statement issued Thursday. "The KRG h…

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Baghdad Cafe Attack Pushes Iraq Toll to 46 Dead

Late night bombings at a Baghdad cafe left 13 people dead, officials said Thursday, pushing the toll from a day of nationwide blasts, shootings and shellings to at least 46. The violence has been primarily driven by discontent in the minority Sunni Arab community, which alleges mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government and security forces, and by the civil war raging in neighboring Syria. The coordinated bombings struck the cafe in the Washash area of western Baghdad at around 9:00 pm (2100 GMT) Wednesday, killing 13 people and wounding 40, according to a revised toll Thursday by security and medical officials. An initial roadside bombing near the cafe was followed by a suicide blast, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Violence elsewhere in and around the capital on Wednesday killed eight people, while four policemen were killed by a booby-trapped corpse north of Baghdad. Attacks […]

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U.N. resolution authorizes force against illicit Libyan oil

A resolution authorizing the boarding of vessels suspected of carrying illicit Libyan oil gives Tripoli the stability it needs to grow, the U.S. envoy said. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to support a Chapter VII resolution that authorizes U.N. member states to board vessels and return any oil illegally seized from Libyan ports to the Libyan government. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement that, with Libya’s oil funds accounting for the bulk of the government’s budget, the resolution ensures Libya’s oil wealth stays in the hands of the Libyan people. "Good stewardship of Libya’s oil resources is critical to supporting Libya’s successful democratic transition," she said Wednesday. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs raided the oil tanker Morning Glory, a North Korean-flagged ship, in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea last weekend after it took on a cargo of oil from a […]

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South Sudan Troops Recapture Malakal From Rebels

South Sudanese troops recaptured Malakal, the capital of the state that is home to the country’s only functioning oil fields, ending more than a month of rebel occupation amid faltering regional efforts to broker a truce in the nearly four-month-old conflict. Government troops seized control of Malakal, located 400 miles north of the capital Juba, after a two-day gunbattle with rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told The Wall Street Journal. Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, has changed hands several times since the conflict between rebel fighters and government troops erupted in mid-December, raising concerns over the safety of the vast oil fields in the beleaguered nation. "Our forces have finally taken full control of Malakal, the rebels are in disarray," Col. Aguer said, adding that rebels had virtually "destroyed and looted everything" during their monthlong occupation. Review events […]

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Venezuelan Mayors Are Jailed Amid Protests

The authorities have jailed the mayors of two cities that have experienced some of the most intense unrest in a wave of protests that has shaken the country in recent weeks. The arrests came as the National Assembly called for a criminal investigation of a prominent opposition lawmaker on charges related to the demonstrations. The intelligence police on Wednesday arrested Daniel Ceballos, the mayor of San Cristóbal, a city near the western border with Colombia where the protests began in early February. Many parts of San Cristóbal have been virtually shut down for weeks by demonstrators manning barricades, and clashes between residents and security forces are common. Mr. Ceballos was arrested during a trip to Caracas, the capital. The justice minister, Miguel Rodríguez, said that the mayor had been taken into custody on a judicial order after citizens filed court papers accusing him of failing to […]

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Higher Prices for Residential Consumers by the End of 2015

China’s top economic planning agency said Friday it would raise natural gas prices for residential consumers by the end of 2015 in a bid to conserve energy. The move won’t have a big initial impact on the market as about 80% of households won’t see a change in their rates, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website. But the heaviest consumers will pay around 1.5 times a base rate for household use gas while a second tier will pay 1.2 times the base rate—and these two groups make up about 20% of the market, the NDRC said. The move is part of a broader effort to relax controls on prices of scarce resources. At a key policy meeting in November, senior Communist […]

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PetroChina Net Beats Estimates as Gas Price Tempers Costs

PetroChina Co. Chairman Zhou Jiping. PetroChina Co. (857) is cutting spending as it prepares to invite private investment in line with the government’s push to reduce state dominance at the country’s biggest oil and gas producer. The company’s target for capital expenditure in 2014 at 297 billion yuan ($47.7 billion) is 7.1 percent lower than last year. PetroChina will keep investment at that level for “the next couple of years,” Chairman Zhou Jiping said yesterday at an earnings press conference in Hong Kong. China is pushing the most aggressive reforms in more than a decade as President Xi Jinping works to increase market forces in the economy. The government raised retail natural gas prices and signaled it will start allowing private companies to invest in areas traditionally dominated by state-owned giants. “One of the reasons […]

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Coal Sliding as Australian Flood Boost Lost in Drought

The drought across most of Australia ’s Queensland state means coal producers are exporting record volumes into an oversupplied market, depriving them of the usual price gains caused by weather disruptions. Shipments from Queensland, the biggest exporter of coal used in steelmaking, will rise 14 percent to 205 million metric tons in the 12 months ending June 30, the government says. The heavy rains that crimped output and boosted prices in three of the past four years by flooding pits such as Cockatoo Coal Ltd.’s Baralaba mine haven’t come this year. “Waters that we collected during that flood we’re now utilizing” to reduce dust and in the construction of a wall to protect against a 1-in-a-1,000 years flood, said Andrew Lawson, Cockatoo’s managing director. “Water is a risk and an opportunity,” said Lawson, who joined the company a year after flooding in 2010 halted output. Deluges in Queensland in […]

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North Carolina regulators cite Duke Energy for dumping coal ash

Environmental regulators in North Carolina have cited the country’s largest energy company for dumping millions of gallons of wastewater from coal ash ponds into a public waterway. The company could face $2.75 million in fines if the allegations are confirmed. The citations issued Thursday concern two coal ash ponds near the Cape Fear River,  where regulators allege Duke Energy  pumped the wastewater into a public canal, violating its environmental permit. Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal and contains high levels of toxic arsenic. In a statement to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, the company said the water pumped was within the limits of its permit and necessary to perform routine maintenance. “Our permit authorizes this type of maintenance specifically under the condition that we meet permit limits,” Duke Energy told Al Jazeera. “The water was being pumped to the existing, permitted outfalls.” However, Tom Reeder, director of North […]

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American Coal Feeding European Needs

Two stories from either side of the Atlantic Ocean ably demonstrate the interrelations at play in the energy sector. From Baltimore, The Wall Street Journal’s John Miller reports from a sprawling coal terminal that is at the front line of a booming business: selling American coal to the world. As the article explains, 2014 is on course to be the third straight year of record exports. Europe is the biggest target market, where demand is strong and, thanks to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, likely to grow further. A caveat comes from Brussels. The European Union’s climate chief, Connie Hedegaard, tells the Journal’s Vanessa Mock that although it is time to […]

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Exxon Agrees to Disclose Its 'Carbon Risk'

Exxon Mobil is set to disclose the impact of carbon regulations on its investments, such as mining oil sands in Alberta, Canada. Exxon Mobil Corp. has agreed to disclose how the regulation of carbon emissions could affect the value of its oil and gas holdings, a sign that America’s biggest energy company is stepping up efforts to address shareholders’ environmental concerns. The oil giant will publish a report later this month explaining how it weighs the risks that regulations could make it prohibitively expensive to tap oil and gas, according to Arjuna Capital, an investment management firm focused on social responsibility that submitted a shareholder resolution asking for such a report. Exxon is set to disclose a range of measures in the report, including a calculation of the carbon emissions that its operations give off and a discussion of how it incorporates the risk of regulation into its spending […]

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Exxon Agrees to Disclose Its ‘Carbon Risk’

Exxon Mobil is set to disclose the impact of carbon regulations on its investments, such as mining oil sands in Alberta, Canada. Exxon Mobil Corp. has agreed to disclose how the regulation of carbon emissions could affect the value of its oil and gas holdings, a sign that America’s biggest energy company is stepping up efforts to address shareholders’ environmental concerns. The oil giant will publish a report later this month explaining how it weighs the risks that regulations could make it prohibitively expensive to tap oil and gas, according to Arjuna Capital, an investment management firm focused on social responsibility that submitted a shareholder resolution asking for such a report. Exxon is set to disclose a range of measures in the report, including a calculation of the carbon emissions that its operations give off and a discussion of how it incorporates the risk of regulation into its spending […]

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API says Gulf sale means it's time to open the Atlantic

The Interior Department’s auction in the Gulf of Mexico shows more U.S. offshore waters should be open for exploration, the American Petroleum Institute said. The Department of Interior said Wednesday it garnered more than $870 million in bids for the 1.7 million acres auctioned off in the gulf. API Director of Upstream Operations Erik Milito said the federal government has raised more than $17.3 billion from similar auctions in the last decade. "Holding lease sales in the Atlantic and more of the eastern Gulf of Mexico would make America stronger economically and diplomatically," he said in a statement. API said the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf could add as much as 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day to domestic production if it were opened up for exploration. Last month, the government released a final environmental impact statement for proposed seismic surveys in U.S. […]

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API says Gulf sale means it’s time to open the Atlantic

The Interior Department’s auction in the Gulf of Mexico shows more U.S. offshore waters should be open for exploration, the American Petroleum Institute said. The Department of Interior said Wednesday it garnered more than $870 million in bids for the 1.7 million acres auctioned off in the gulf. API Director of Upstream Operations Erik Milito said the federal government has raised more than $17.3 billion from similar auctions in the last decade. "Holding lease sales in the Atlantic and more of the eastern Gulf of Mexico would make America stronger economically and diplomatically," he said in a statement. API said the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf could add as much as 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day to domestic production if it were opened up for exploration. Last month, the government released a final environmental impact statement for proposed seismic surveys in U.S. […]

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Canada courts China as energy partner

Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver told members of a Chinese trade group his country has the reserves available to meet growing energy demands. Oliver told members of the Canada-China Chamber of Industry and Commerce Association diversification of Canada’s export economy was a win-win situation for both sides. "Canada has the resources China needs," he said in a keynote address Wednesday. "We are an energy partner that China can depend on for the long term." Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week signed a free-trade agreement with South Korea. That deal is part of his administration’s effort to diversify an export economy that relies almost exclusively on the United States as its destination for oil and natural gas. Oliver said China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner and Canadian exports to China have more than quadrupled since 2003. Last year, China National Offshore Oil Corp. acquired Canadian rival Nexen for $15.1 […]

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Scottish renewables may falter alone, British minister says

British Energy Secretary Ed Davey said Scotland could face a difficult task in supporting its renewable energy ambitions if it breaks from the United Kingdom. Scotland holds a September referendum for independence from the United Kingdom. The government in Edinburgh said it could support itself economically through oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. Davey told an energy conference in Edinburgh that while the Scottish people could endure alone, unity was better in terms of energy policies. Scotland, he said, is developing its renewable energy sector at a record pace. Scotland accounts for 10 percent of all households in the U.K., but gets 25 percent of all support for renewable energy generation. "If Scotland were to choose to go it alone, maintaining this level of support would take up a greater proportion of national finances," he said in remarks published Wednesday. "This has the potential to fundamentally change […]

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Ukraine crisis: EU signs association deal

The agreement moves Ukraine and its interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk closer to the EU EU leaders have signed an agreement on closer relations with Ukraine, in a show of support following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Ukraine’s interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the EU signed the deal in Brussels. Pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych’s abandonment of the deal had led to deadly protests, his removal and Russia taking over Crimea. On Friday, Russia’s upper house unanimously approved the treaty on Crimea joining the Russian Federation. The EU Association Agreement is designed to give Ukraine’s interim leadership economic and political support. EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in a tweeted message: "Signing political part EU-Ukraine Association Agreement symbolises importance of relations [and] will to take it further." The move comes hours after the EU broadened its sanctions over Russia’s annexation of Crimea. It added 12 individuals to an earlier list of 21 […]

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BYD’s Qin plug-in hybrid the best selling automotive EV in China

BYD’s second-generation Dual-Mode, plug-in hybrid electric sedan Qin has posted a second month of strong sales in February. Trends in March now make it “China’s Best-Selling Electric Vehicle” according to China’s National Passenger Car Association. In the first weeks of 2014, more than 6,000 Qin vehicles were sold, accounting for more than one-half of the Chinese new-energy vehicle market. Analysts are not expecting sales to slow, as both Shanghai and Beijing announced earlier this month that they will now permit BYD new energy vehicles to qualify for local municipality green-vehicle incentives and be licensed in those regions. The Qin combines a 1.5-liter, turbocharged, direct-injection 4-cylinder, 113 kW (152 hp), 240 N·m (177 lb-ft) […]

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Musings: It's Official – Oil Industry Enters The New Era Of Austerity

Last week, Chevron (CVX-NYSE), the second largest oil company, held its annual analyst meeting at which time the company’s management laid out its plans for the next five years, including projections for capital spending and oil and gas production growth. The meeting followed on a presentation at the IHS CERA Week conference in Houston by Chevron CEO John Watson in which he proclaimed that today’s $100 a barrel oil is the equivalent of the past’s $20 a barrel oil. By that he meant that the oil industry must now figure its budget outlooks based on the need for oil prices to stay around the $100 a barrel level in order for the company to generate the necessary cash flow to support spending plans and for projects to offer future returns to […]

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Musings: It’s Official – Oil Industry Enters The New Era Of Austerity

Last week, Chevron (CVX-NYSE), the second largest oil company, held its annual analyst meeting at which time the company’s management laid out its plans for the next five years, including projections for capital spending and oil and gas production growth. The meeting followed on a presentation at the IHS CERA Week conference in Houston by Chevron CEO John Watson in which he proclaimed that today’s $100 a barrel oil is the equivalent of the past’s $20 a barrel oil. By that he meant that the oil industry must now figure its budget outlooks based on the need for oil prices to stay around the $100 a barrel level in order for the company to generate the necessary cash flow to support spending plans and for projects to offer future returns to […]

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Peak Oil: It’s Baaaack

 As an old oil hand, I was seriously disturbed five years ago when it was almost impossible to develop a payback time for shale oil production.  Since then it has continued to go missing as massive amounts of cash was spent on the industry.  This suggests that we now know.  It is never at the present pricing regime. This could not be worse news.  It means that our vulnerability to supply disruption is rocketing while elasticity is dropping.  US shale oil has merely postponed our day of reckoning by a few years while the decline in conventional oil production actually accelerates. Right now we are swapping dollars in the oil industry at best and the ship is clearly leaking. The only good coming out of all this is that massive amounts of money are coming home to be spent drilling more wells.  Obviously this allows repatriation of US currency […]

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Oil Futures Advance on Petroleum-Product Demand

U.S. oil prices rose Wednesday as investors regarded shrinking petroleum-product stockpiles as well as a brighter employment outlook from the Federal Reserve as cues for strengthening demand. Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled up 67 cents, or 0.7%, at $100.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The April contract expires Thursday. The more actively traded May contract expired up 29 cents, or 0.3%, at $99.17 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell 94 cents, or 0.9%, to $105.85 a barrel. Crude-oil stockpiles increased by 5.9 million barrels to 375.9 million barrels in the week ended March 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Analysts had expected stocks to rise by 2.3 million barrels on the week, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. Crude-oil supplies are at their highest level since November. Demand for crude oil typically falls in […]

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Natural Gas Rises Ahead of Inventory Report

Natural gas ticked higher Wednesday on expectations that inventories, already at 11-year lows, would continue to shrink in the coming weeks. Natural gas for April delivery settled up 2.8 cents, or 0.6%, at $4.484 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is set to release its weekly storage report for the week ended March 14 Thursday at 10:30 a.m. EDT. Analysts and traders expect the agency to report that 59 billion cubic feet of gas were withdrawn from storage in the week, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. If the storage estimate is correct, inventories as of March 14 will total 942 billion cubic feet, 50% below the exceptionally […]

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Second Round of Iran Nuclear Talks Ends With Optimism

The second round of talks between Iran and six world powers over Iran’s nuclear program ended Wednesday with all parties expressing satisfaction with the discussions, which were the most detailed so far on each of the main issues dividing them. Both Catherine Ashton, the European Union ’s foreign affairs chief and the chief negotiator for the six powers, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, described the talks as “useful and substantive.” Although neither offered details, a senior American official described the sessions as “intense” and said there were discussions of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, the construction of a heavy water reactor at Arak that could be used to make plutonium into a fissile material, civilian cooperation on nuclear power and sanctions. The talks, which started on Jan. 20 and are expected to last until July 20, are aimed at reaching a permanent agreement intended to […]

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Iran boasts of gas production from eastern fields

A director for Iran’s eastern gas fields said Tuesday production for the Iranian year should be in line with expectations of 2 billion cubic feet per day. Mohammad-Reza Mehdi-Pour, managing director of Iran’s East Oil and Gas Production Co., said gas fields along the eastern border produced as expected, the Oil Ministry’s official news agency Shana reported. He added gas production from the Khangiran and Gonbadli fields has outpaced regional refinery capacity by more than 10 percent. Iran is the third-largest natural gas producer in the world. Much of its production comes from the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported Tuesday five of the 12 wells from phase 12 operations should begin in mid-April. Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Mansour Moazami said, however, China National Petroleum Corp. was at risk of losing its $4.7 billion contract for […]

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Iran Bank to Market Energy Fund to Foreign Investors, CEO Says

An Iranian bank plans to target foreigners with the first fund dedicated to investing in the country’s oil and gas industries, in anticipation of a further easing of sanctions against the Islamic republic. Kardan Investments is preparing to set up a Global Energy Fund to invest in projects to develop Iranian oil and natural gas fields and joint ventures between local and international oil companies, Chief Executive Officer Majid Zamani said in an interview in Tehran. Kardan will seek to sell shares in projects and ventures to institutional investors in Europe, he said. “ Iran ’s oil and gas industry needs a lot of investment, and not all of this can come from inside Iran,” Zamani, a former consultant to the Washington-based World Bank, said March 12. “A lot of it has to come from outside.” Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union have deterred many foreign companies […]

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Baghdad regains control in oil disputes

Maliki’s government is using harsh tactics to reassert itself against Kurdistan’s increasingly autonomous oil policy, while the core disputes remain unresolved. Iraqi central government authorities have regained leverage in their long-standing oil disputes with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).Just a few months ago, the KRG seemed poised to solidify the independence of its oil sector by sending crude through its new pipeline to the Turkish border. But those plans have been complicated both by scandals swirling around Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and by a newly assertive government in Baghdad.As more than 1.3 mill… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Suicide attack in Baghdad cafe kills 12 people

A suicide bomber struck inside a Baghdad cafe overnight where customers were watching a football game on TV, killing at least 12 people and wounding 38, Iraqi officials said Thursday. The attack in the western Washash neighborhood took place late on Wednesday night, two police officers said. The bomber had mingled with the cafe crowd and set off his explosives-laden belt as they watched the game. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media. Iraq has been struck by a surge in violence unseen since 2007, relentless attacks that have become the Shiite-led government’s most serious challenge. Violence has spiked since last April, when security forces cracked down on a Sunni protest camp north of Baghdad in clashes that left 45 dead. Scores of people have been killed in the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Israeli Strikes on Syrian Army Sites Raise Concern About Entanglement

Israeli airstrikes against several Syrian Army positions across the decades-old cease-fire line in the Golan Heights on Wednesday came as a specific response to a bomb attack against Israeli forces along the frontier a day earlier, according to Israeli officials. But for many here, the unusually sharp exchange signaled the possibility of a broader Israeli slide into regional turmoil. The airstrikes, against a Syrian Army training facility, a military headquarters and artillery batteries, were the first in Syrian territory that Israel has openly acknowledged since the Syrian civil war began three years ago. The bombing on Tuesday that prompted the strikes was the first to cause Israeli casualties, wounding four soldiers, one severely. Both events raised the stakes along a frontier that has been largely quiet for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Two Officers Killed by Militants, Egypt Says

Islamist militants killed an Egyptian brigadier general and a colonel in an early-morning gun battle in the Nile Delta province of Qalyubeya, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday. The killings followed the shooting deaths of six military conscripts over the weekend on the streets of Cairo, in an escalation of attacks on security forces after a lull in the violence over the past month. Islamist extremists have killed hundreds of military service members and police officers in retaliation for the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last summer. Militants stunned Egypt in late January with a succession of high-profile attacks: a deadly car bombing at the gates of the Egyptian security headquarters in Cairo, the assassination of a senior Interior Ministry official on the streets of the capital, and the shooting down of a military helicopter in northern Sinai. In February, terrorists blew up a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria: NNPC – Nigeria Lost 109.5 Million Barrels of Oil in 2013

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said Tuesday that Nigeria lost 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day or 109.50 million barrels in 2013 from severe attacks on critical export pipelines. The NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Andrew Yakubu, gave the figures at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Yakubu said incessant vandalism of crude oil export pipelines and domestic crude oil and petroleum product pipelines impacted negatively on the economy. According to him, what Nigeria lost in 2013 was equivalent to the total output of Equatorial Guinea and larger than the entire production of Ghana, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroun and Gabon. Yakubu said the shut-ins of such significant production had prompted the federal government to take some drastic actions to tackle the […]

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Air Pollution May Cause Genetic Harm in Kids, China Study Finds

Air pollution led to genetic changes that may have sapped learning skills in children whose mothers were exposed to a Chinese coal-fired power plant before it was shuttered a decade ago, researchers found. Babies born in the southwestern Tongliang county just before the plant was shut in 2004 had significantly lower levels of a protein crucial to brain development in their cord blood than those conceived later, a March 19 report in the Plos One journal said. They also had poorer learning and memory skills when tested at age two, the study by Columbia University and Chongqing Medical University found. […]

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Sinopec Is in Talks to Buy Up to 15% Stake in Petronas LNG Project

Sinopec’s logo at its headquarters in Beijing. The Chinese company is in talks to buy a stake in a LNG project in Canada. Corp. is in talks with Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd. to buy up to 15% of a liquefied-natural-gas project on Canada’s western coast, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The Pacific Northwest LNG project is an export terminal planned for an undeveloped island in northern British Columbia, which was acquired by Petronas in 2012 as part of its 5.5 billion Canadian dollar (US$4.9 billion) purchase of Canada’s Progress Energy Resources Corp. The terminal could begin operating as soon as 2018 and will have the capacity to export 12 million metric tons of LNG a year. Petronas has been selling stakes in Pacific Northwest LNG’s reserves and output to raise funds for its development, which could cost as much as C$11 billion. The company has sold 10% […]

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CNPC JV Starts Shale Gas Development in Sichuan

A joint venture of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and domestic companies has started drilling its first shale gas well in the southwest Sichuan province, CNPC said on Wednesday. Sichuan Changning Natural Gas Development Co last week started drilling the Changning H3-6 well in Changning block and is expected to finish drilling in 70 days, CNPC said on its website (news.cnpc.com.cn). Sichuan Changning Natural Gas Development Co was founded in Dec 2013 by CNPC, Sichuan Energy Investment Co, Yibin State Assets Operation Co and a Beijing investment fund. The company is China’s first joint venture by an oil major and domestic companies dedicated for shale gas development, it said. CNPC, parent of PetroChina , plans to drill some 50 shale gas wells in Changning block this year. Shale gas production in Changning block is expected to be 1.0 billion cubic metres in 2015, it […]

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Ford installing GE WattStation chargers, charging network at facilities

Ford Motor Company, in conjunction with GE, will supply electric vehicle charging stations at Ford facilities nationwide, beginning with facilities in and around its headquarters. Ford will begin installing the GE WattStation Level 2 charging stations across its North American campuses, developing a workplace charging network at nearly every Ford facility in the United States and Canada. Ford now offers three plug-in vehicles: the battery electric Focus Electric, and the C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi plug-in hybrids. Ford Fusion Energi and C-MAX Energi drivers typically make three of their four daily trips in all-electric mode, based on data from Ford’s MyFord Mobile app. Ford estimates that its customers now have logged 65 million all-electric miles, increasing at a rate of 290,000 electric miles per day. (MyFord Mobile is complimentary for five years from the vehicle sale date as recorded by the dealer. Subscriptions fees apply after five years. MyFord […]

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BP Is Highest Bidder for 24 Gulf of Mexico Blocks

PLC appeared to win new drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, less than a week after a federal ban was lifted that kept the company from doing business with the U.S. government for 16 months. London-based BP was the high bidder on 24 oil and gas blocks offshore out of 31 properties it pursued in the auction. The company will pay $41.6 million for new access to explore in U.S. waters off the coasts of Louisiana and Alabama. The deal marks the first time since November 2012 that BP has been able to expand its offshore drilling sites in the Gulf. The Environmental Protection Agency banned BP from getting any new government contracts, including offshore leases and jet fuel supply agreements with the military, in the wake of the company’s guilty plea to several criminal charges related to its deadly 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple