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Oil Imports Seen Falling to Zero as Soon as 2037 by U.S.

Net oil imports to the U.S. could fall to zero by 2037 because of robust production in areas including North Dakota ’s Bakken field and Texas ’s Eagle Ford formation, according to a government projection released today. The Energy Information Administration, the branch of the Energy Department that collects and analyzes energy data, said the once-chimerical goal of U.S. energy independence could be within reach in 23 years under a “high-production” estimate contained in an update of its periodic energy forecast. “This is the first time that a case in the Annual Energy Outlook has projected that net imports’ share of liquid fuels consumption could reach zero,” said John Krohn, a spokesman for the EIA, in an e-mail. Estimating oil production is a tricky business, particularly for the length of time in EIA’s analysis. Forecasters must make a number of guesses, including the size of oil reserves lying thousands […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Age of Gas Seen as Sideshow to U.S. Producers Prizing Oil

The “ golden age of gas ” that the International Energy Agency foresees as a result of the U.S. energy boom is hardly the future being embraced by industry executives. At least based on comments from company officials presenting at the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s conference in New York yesterday. For them, oil is still the prize. Gas is almost an afterthought. Abraxas Petroleum (AXAS) Corp. Chief Executive Officer Bob Watson boasted about how much of his company’s proved reserves are oil and liquids rather than gas (74 percent). PDC Energy (PDCE) Inc. said it’s sitting on huge leases in gas fields that aren’t worth drilling. Whiting Petroleum Corp. (WLL) Chairman and CEO James Volker explained why: oil sells for three times as much as the equivalent amount of natural gas. That’s no knock against the producers for chasing oil – the commodity that makes the best return […]

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Oklahoma Swamped by Surge in Earthquakes Near Fracking

There have been more earthquakes strong enough to be felt in Oklahoma this year than in all of 2013, overwhelming state officials who are trying to determine if the temblors are linked to oil and natural gas production. The state on April 6 experienced its 109th earthquake of a magnitude 3 or higher, matching the total for all of 2013, according to Austin Holland, a research seismologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey. More quakes followed, including a magnitude 4 near Langston about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Oklahoma City . A surge in U.S. oil and gas production by fracturing, or fracking, in which drillers use a mix of water and chemicals to coax liquids from rock formations, has generated large volumes of wastewater. As fracking expanded to more fields, reports have become more frequent from Texas to Ohio of earthquakes linked to wells that drillers use to […]

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North Sea coal seams eyed for natural gas

British energy company Five Quarter said it wants the government’s approval to try to coax natural gas from coal deposits under the North Sea bed. Five Quarter wants government support for its $2 billion plan to use oxygen and steam injection to produce gas from coal beds in the North Sea. So-called syngas would be processed onshore and fed to the chemical industry. Five Quarter Chief Executive Officer Harry Bradbury told the Daily Telegraph his company was looking for financial backing for a pre-drilling phase that could began later this year. Unlike hydraulic fracturing, another unconventional source of natural gas, Bradbury said coal seam gas would provide a reliable and less risky source of natural gas for the British economy. "Gas has become a global geopolitical issue as the supply and demand map has changed," he said Saturday. "Accelerating the development of North Sea […]

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Kiev standing up to Russia's Gazprom

The Ukrainian government won’t bow to pressure from the Kremlin by accepting a rise in natural gas prices, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. Russian energy company Gazprom said Ukraine has accumulated around $1.7 billion in gas debt and a discounted price for natural gas, secured in December, no longer applied. Yatsenyuk said his government was ready to make "all payments" for previous gas supplies from Russia, adding increased prices were unacceptable. "Ukraine is ready to continue buying natural gas at the price that was in effect since the beginning of the year — $268 [per 1,000 cubic meters]," he said Saturday. "This is an acceptable and balanced price." Gazprom in 2009 cut gas supplies to Ukraine in response to contractual disputes. The deal that ended the impasse left Ukraine with some of the highest gas bills in Europe and sparked concerns about energy security in the region. European consumers […]

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Kiev standing up to Russia’s Gazprom

The Ukrainian government won’t bow to pressure from the Kremlin by accepting a rise in natural gas prices, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. Russian energy company Gazprom said Ukraine has accumulated around $1.7 billion in gas debt and a discounted price for natural gas, secured in December, no longer applied. Yatsenyuk said his government was ready to make "all payments" for previous gas supplies from Russia, adding increased prices were unacceptable. "Ukraine is ready to continue buying natural gas at the price that was in effect since the beginning of the year — $268 [per 1,000 cubic meters]," he said Saturday. "This is an acceptable and balanced price." Gazprom in 2009 cut gas supplies to Ukraine in response to contractual disputes. The deal that ended the impasse left Ukraine with some of the highest gas bills in Europe and sparked concerns about energy security in the region. European consumers […]

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EU Calls Talks on Ukraine Energy Supply

The European Union’s energy chief, Günther Oettinger, has hastily convened two meetings for Tuesday to discuss growing concerns in Brussels about potential disruption of gas supplies to Ukraine. Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan will attend a roundtable on energy security on Tuesday, alongside representatives from the gas industry and Eurogas, a body representing European gas companies. Mr. Oettinger, who will chair the talks, called the meeting to look at ways to help Ukraine meet its gas needs, a European Commission official said. On the same day, Mr. Oettinger is also convening a meeting of the Gas Coordination Group, composed of officials from the bloc’s member states, gas network operators and other industry representatives. The Gas Coordination Group usually meets a few times a year, though the next scheduled meeting hadn’t been due to take place before the end of May. "We’re all under a lot of time pressure," the […]

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U.S. Gas Tantalizes Europe, but It’s Not a Quick Fix

As congressional pressure builds on the Obama administration to quicken gas exports to Europe to reduce its dependence on Russia, it may be tempting to gaze upon a marshy, alligator-infested Louisiana inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. There 3,000 workers are installing a huge set of turbines, pipelines and refrigeration units, building a terminal that will send American natural gas around the world by the end of next year. By 2017, the facility built by Houston-based Cheniere Energy could handle roughly a sixth the amount of gas that flows from Russia to Europe every day. The Cheniere plant will be part of a new surge of liquefied natural gas supplies coming from not only the United States but also Australia, Africa and the Middle East. That surge, perhaps along with increased production in Europe itself, promises to keep the Continent flush with non-Russian natural gas at the […]

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Amid showdown with energy-rich Russia, calls rise in Europe to start fracking

Europe’s newest weapon in the battle of wills with Russian President Vladimir Putin lies buried deep beneath the ancient oaks and rolling green pastures of this quintessentially English village. There, wedged in the bedrock, lie vast quantities of oil and natural gas — enough, when combined with the spoils of hundreds of other sites like it, to help kick Europe’s addiction to Russian energy. Or so says David Cameron. Ever since Russian forces took hold of Crimea last month, the British prime minister has been leading a chorus of conservative politicians and energy executives in a refrain they believe will spark a shale gas revolution in Europe: Frack, baby, frack. The push for a European boom in fracking — shorthand for hydraulic fracturing — has been underway for years, but it has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as fears grow […]

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Peak Oil: Ignoring Other Considerations

Peak Oil is You Gail Tverberg shares some of the most insightful observations about the connection between economic growth and energy. In an article posted at her website several weeks, she raised issues which are too often shunted aside in the primary debate of  “not enough” versus “all we need” fossil fuel supplies in the years to come. They’re too important to continuously skip past. I’d like to focus on just a couple of the (as usual) excellent points she raised. We do not have an alternate fuel supply that will allow the economy to continue to grow, regardless of fossil fuel consumption. The published reserves include large amounts of oil in the ground that are not of the very cheap to extract type. Extracting such oil will be impossible if oil prices are very low, or if credit availability is lacking. It is tempting for observers to look […]

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Just How Good Are The EIA’s Predictions?

Folks here know that I like to post charts created from oil production data. But there has been a dearth of data lately. But not to worry, the data should start coming fast and furious later this week.  However in the meantime I decided post a little about what the EIA expects in the future. They published the below comments and chart April 7, 2014. Bold mine. Petroleum & Other Liquids In the Annual Energy Outlook 2014 (AEO2014) Reference case, crude oil* production rises from 6.5 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d) in 2012 to 9.6 MMbbl/d before 2020, a production level not seen since 1970. Tight oil production growth accounts for 81% of this increase, and sees its share of national crude oil production grow from 35% in 2012 to 50% in 2019. In the High Oil and Gas case, U.S. crude oil production reaches 11.3 MMbbl/d in 2019 and reaches 13.3 […]

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Oil prices down after Libyan deal

Oil prices fell Monday after reports that a Libyan militia agreed to reopen some oil terminals, possibly boosting global supplies. Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery was down 53 cents to $100.61 a barrel at 0915 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 85 cents to close at $101.14 on Friday. The price has vacillated around $100 per barrel for most of the past month. Brent crude, used to set prices for international varieties of oil, sank 93 cents to $105.78 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London. The official Libyan news agency said the country’s main militia in the east agreed to hand back control of four oil terminals it captured and shut down last summer to demand a share in oil revenues. The shutdown has cost Libya millions of dollars. Under the deal reached late Sunday, the militia would immediately […]

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The price of crude oil fell sharply Monday on news that Libyan crude will re-enter the market after a protracted shut-in.

Brent crude for May delivery fell as much as $1.32 to $105.40 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were down 53 cents at $100.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Over the weekend, the Libyan government came to an agreement with other factions in the country that four oil terminals in the east of the country will be gradually re-opened. Two terminals with a combined export capacity of 200,000 barrels per day will open immediately. Commerzbank said that "this solution…falls short of last week’s hope that all oil terminals might be opened within a matter of days." The re-opening of two larger ports is subject to further talks. "We thus expect oil prices to recover during the course of this week," Commerzbank said. Morgan Stanley’s analysts also said that optimism could quickly fade. "We are skeptical of any interim, let alone long-term, agreement. Some […]

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Oil market awaits evidence of restart of eastern Libyan ports

Oil traders Monday were waiting to see whether a deal struck by Libya’s government and rebels in the east of the country to reopen the Zueitina and Marsa al-Hariga oil ports would be implemented and eastern exports resume. An agreement on reopening the ports, with a combined export capacity of 180,000 b/d, was signed at Zueitina on Sunday, the official Libyan News Agency reported. Front-month Brent crude prices dipped on the news, though traders said Monday they were still waiting for evidence that shipments are actually set to restart. "On the physical side, it’s slightly too early to see any reaction," one trader said Monday. "Certainly it is a step forward if it does flow," he said. Analysts also remain skeptical, especially about whether the truce between the government and protesters would hold. "The news seems fairly credible and is clearly bearish," said SEB […]

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Iran Can’t Withdraw Much Oil Revenue Under Interim Nuclear Deal

  Iran has been unable to withdraw much of the unfrozen oil revenue it was to receive under a November interim nuclear deal, a possible complication for efforts to end the decadelong standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The problems were outlined in interviews with nearly a dozen Western and Iranian officials and diplomats, bankers and lawyers with knowledge of the issue. An estimated $100 billion in payments for Iranian oil imports has been locked up in accounts in the importing countries in compliance with U.S. banking sanctions that have been among the most effective in pressuring Iran economically. Only $4.2 billion was to be freed up gradually under the interim deal. One reason Iran is having difficulty tapping the unfrozen revenue is that banks remain fearful they could violate tight U.S. financial sanctions, especially while the outcome of talks on a final nuclear deal remains uncertain. If financial institutions […]

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10 killed in insurgent attacks in Iraq

Ten people were killed and nine other wounded in separate violent attacks in Iraq on Sunday, police said. In early hours of the day, unknown gunmen broke into the house of a man in the town of Latifiyah, some 30 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and stabbed him, his wife and four of his sons to death with knives, an Interior Ministry source said. Latifiyah is part of the restive area, dubbed "Triangle of Death", which is a hotbed of the insurgency against the U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces. The town is one of a cluster of Sunni towns scattered north of Babil’s provincial capital city Hilla, about 100 km south of Baghdad. In Anbar province, a leader of a […]

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ISIL jihadists open new front in Baghdad push

An Iraqi man helps his son who is headed to school at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014. A wave of explosions rocked mainly Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad shortly after sunset on Monday, killing and wounding scores of people. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) Baghdad (AFP) – A powerful jihadist group inspired by Al-Qaeda has opened a new battlefront with Iraqi security forces that could see it try to push into Baghdad, officials and analysts warn. The latest clashes, just weeks before parliamentary elections, raise key questions over the capacity of the army and police to repel militant attacks. Anti-government fighters currently hold all of Fallujah, a town that is just a short drive from Baghdad, and other pockets of territory. The push by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) into the Abu Ghraib area, […]

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Libya Oil Sales to Rise as Rebels Surrender Two Ports

Libyan rebels surrendered control of two oil ports to the government, potentially enabling the OPEC member to triple crude exports this month with an increase of at least 180,000 barrels a day. Brent futures dropped. The self-declared Executive Office for Barqa handed over the oil terminals of Zueitina and Hariga overnight, said Ali Al-Hasy, a spokesman of the group that seeks self rule for the region that is also known as Cyrenaica. An agreement yesterday with the government also provides for the rebels to relinquish the other two ports they control, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, in two to four weeks, he said. The government confirmed the agreement in a statement on its website. With Africa ’s largest oil reserves, Libya’s oil production slumped by more than 1 million barrels a day in the past year as protests halted oil fields and ports. Brent crude futures, which fell 1.3 […]

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Speculators Cut Bullish Oil Bets by Most in Nine Months

Fewer than three weeks into spring, oil speculators are already thinking about the summer. Hedge funds and other money managers boosted bullish wagers the most since February, betting that refineries will need to buy more crude to accelerate gasoline output before the peak U.S summer driving season. Fuel supply is already tight, with consumers paying the most at the pump in seven months. U.S. refineries are processing the most oil since January as plants come out of seasonal maintenance, squeezing crude stockpiles for the first time in 11 weeks. Speculative bets on rising prices for West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark grade, are the highest for this time of year since 2006, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. “Refinery runs are up and as long as they are up, it’s mighty hard to get crude to build,” said Tom Finlon, the Jupiter, Florida-based director of Energy Analytics Group LLC. […]

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Libyan militia agrees to give up 4 oil terminals

A key Libyan militia in the east has agreed to hand back control of four oil terminals it captured and shut down last summer in its demand for a share in oil revenues, the official Libyan news agency reported. The seizure and the shutdown of the terminals has cost Libya billions of dollars and escalated a political crisis that has threatened to plunge the country into even greater turmoil, unseen since the 2011 civil war that ousted longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi. After months of a tense standoff – exacerbated by an attempt by the eastern militia to use a North Korean-flagged tanker to export oil from one of the seized terminals – the state news agency LANA reported that a deal was reached with representatives from eastern Libya late on Sunday. The deal could help bolster the authority of the weak central Libyan government in […]

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Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, dogged by fuel shortages

The man in the large SUV forces his way to the front of the line at the gas station, ignoring the blaring horns and threats of fisticuffs from drivers who have slept in their cars and waited for more than 12 hours for the scarce fuel. Raw anger and frayed tempers give way to resignation as the big man wins, waved in by fuel attendants, no doubt expecting a bribe. Nigeria, despite being Africa’s biggest petroleum producer, has been dogged by a fuel shortage for weeks. In this West African nation that does not only mean scarce gas to keep cars on the road. It means no diesel to run generators that are the lifeblood of industry in a country where frequent power cuts last hours. It means no kerosene for stoves used to cook meals by tens of millions of poor people. […]

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Nigeria almost doubles GDP in recalculation

Nigeria overtook South Africa on Sunday to become Africa’s largest economy and 26th largest in the world after the government released updated figures that nearly doubled estimates for gross domestic product. As a result of the statistical revision, Nigerian GDP for 2013 was $509bn, 89 per cent larger than previously stated for last year. The change was made by bringing forward the base year for calculations to 2010 from 1990, when the structure of the economy was very different and services such as banking and telecoms had barely taken off. Companies ranging from Nestlé and Standard Bank to Heineken and MTB have already poured millions of dollars into Nigeria but foreign businessmen and analysts said the revision could serve as a catalyst for further investment. “The revision will have a psychological impact. It underlines to foreign investors that this country has a large consumer base. It validates the […]

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U.S. Gasoline Prices Rise to Eight-Month High in Lundberg Survey

The average price for regular gasoline at U.S. pumps rose 4.9 cents in the past two weeks to $3.6065 a gallon, the highest since July 26, according to Lundberg Survey Inc. The survey covers the period ended April 4. It’s based on information obtained at about 2,500 filling stations by the Camarillo, California-based company. The average retail price is 4 cents lower than a year ago, Lundberg said. “In general, the uptrend has been losing steam,” Trilby Lundberg , the president of Lundberg Survey, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “This is a modest rise. Demand is higher than it was during the same period one year ago.” Implied demand for gasoline fell 3.5 percent in the week ended March 28, remaining 0.8 percent above the five-year seasonal average , data from the Energy Department show. The highest price for gasoline in the lower 48 U.S. states among the […]

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Fracking and earthquakes: Scientists link rise in seismic activity in Oklahoma to increased oil and gas exploration

Between 1975 and 2008, Oklahoma recorded an average of no more than six earthquakes per year, yet now it is the second most seismically active of the contiguous United States, beaten only by California. Scientists have linked this surge in seismic activity to a parallel increase in oil and gas exploration, including fracking. In 2009, there were almost 50 quakes in Oklahoma. The following year, that number leapt to more than 1,000. Most were not “felt” earthquakes – those of magnitude 2.5 and above, which can be detected by humans. However, the state’s annual record of 222 felt quakes, set in 2013, has already been broken this year, with 253 so far. Seismologist Austin Holland of the Oklahoma Geological Survey told Reuters: “We have had almost as many magnitude 3 and greater already in 2014 than we did for all of 2013… We have already crushed last year’s record […]

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Traders Encouraged by Job Growth That Could Boost Demand for Petroleum Products

U.S. oil prices climbed Friday as traders were encouraged by job growth in March that could boost demand for petroleum products, even though the data slightly missed expectations. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 85 cents, or 0.8%, to $101.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe rose 57 cents, or 0.5%, to $106.72 a barrel. The Labor Department said the U.S. added a seasonally adjusted 192,000 jobs in March, less than the gain of 200,000 projected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Still, higher employment could indicate increased demand for petroleum products in the U.S., which is the top oil-consuming nation. "Demand is going to get bigger and better," said Carl Larry, president of research and consulting group Oil Outlooks & Opinions. "The more jobs that are created, the more demand will increase for oil." Meanwhile, some […]

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WTI, Brent Crudes Gain as Payrolls Increase

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crudes rose for a second day after U.S. employers increased payrolls in March, signaling fuel consumption may climb in the world’s biggest oil-consuming country. Futures advanced 0.8 percent in New York, trimming a weekly decline. Payrolls grew 192,000 after a 197,000 gain in February that was larger than first estimated, Labor Department data showed today. The unemployment rate held at 6.7 percent. Brent also rallied as rebels continued to block exports from Libya ’s east as traders await a possible resumption. “This data shows that the U.S. economy is doing better, which bodes well for oil demand,” said Addison Armstrong , director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut . “We’re all keeping an eye on developments in Libya. If there’s a resolution and the oil starts to move, we could turn around and test the recent lows.” WTI for May delivery […]

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Natural-Gas Prices Retreat on Split View of Production

Natural-gas futures slid Friday for the first time in three days, indicating the market remains divided on the ability of producers to replenish stockpiles that were depleted over a harsh winter. Natural gas for May delivery settled down 3.1 cents, or 0.7%, at $4.4390 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price has dropped in four of the past six sessions. Teri Viswanath, an analyst at BNP Paribas, said the market is transitioning to the "shoulder season," where weather forecasts become less important and focus turns to the restocking of supplies. "One faction believes robust production growth will help the market move back into more comfortable equilibrium, though we actually think the market will remain understocked over the next two years," Ms. Viswanath said. Stockpiles have fallen to an 11-year low on the heels of a severe winter marked by […]

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Global crude oil prices gain on U.S. jobs data, Libya doubt

U.S. crude oil rose on Friday as data showed strong jobs growth in the United States and Brent crude followed suit as investors cast doubt on reports Libya’s oil ports were about to reopen. Both benchmarks retreated from the day’s highs along with the U.S. equities market, which fell sharply from the intraday record highs hit after the March U.S. nonfarm payrolls report was released. The report showed 192,000 jobs were added in March. The jobs figure was seen as confirmation that the weakness in the U.S. economy in January and February was the result of severe winter weather. Expectations had been building that an eight-month blockage of Libya’s oil export ports would end after rebels and […]

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U.S. crude oil imports fall, but share of top three suppliers highest in four decades

While U.S. total net crude oil imports fell during 2013, the share of imports last year from the United States’ top three foreign oil suppliers—Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico—was the highest in at least four decades, according to preliminary annual trade data from EIA’s Petroleum Supply Monthly report. These three countries provided almost three out of every five barrels of oil imported into the U.S. market last year. U.S. net crude oil imports in 2013 declined 10.2% to 7.6 million barrels per day (bbl/d), the lowest level since 1996, as rising domestic crude oil production cut into the volume of imports needed to meet refinery demand for crude oil. The overall decline in U.S. net imports has led to an increasing concentration of net imports from Canada , Saudi Arabia , and Mexico . Combined net oil imports from these countries decreased by 1.5% last year. As a result, […]

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US ethanol prices rebound after historic two-day tumble

US ethanol prices reversed course on a historic three-day tumble Friday as demand for prompt material rebounded significantly. Chicago Argo ethanol was assessed 20.5 cents higher at $3.01/gal, recovering a portion of value lost in the previous three sessions. Beginning Tuesday when buyers positioned themselves ahead of weekly production data that sent an extremely bearish sentiment throughout the market, the assessment plunged 95.5 cents in three sessions. "This week was a wild ride," one broker said. "No one had seen something like the movements on Wednesday and Thursday since the infancy of this industry in 2006." Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Biofuelscan Platts Biofuelscan is a daily report, covering the latest worldwide biofuel news and prices. It provides a daily summary of market events and developments, along with closing market price assessments from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Platts Biofuelscan includes […]

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U.S. Warns on Potential Russia-Iran Oil Deal

The U.S. has no information to suggest that a reported Russian oil-for-goods deal is being completed, but has expressed concerns about a move that could lead to fresh U.S. sanctions, a senior official said late Friday. "We do not have any information to suggest this deal has been culminated," the senior U.S. official said in a teleconference ahead of the resumption of international talks on Iran’s nuclear program. "We have been very clear about our concerns with both parties regarding this or any similar deal." Reuters reported earlier this week that Iran and Russia were working to seal a $20 billion oil-for-goods deal in which Russia will receive oil in exchange for Russian goods and equipment. "If such a deal were to happen, it appears it would be inconsistent with" last November’s interim nuclear deal "and could potentially trigger U.S. sanctions against the entity and individuals involved in any […]

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Kashagan Oil Field Seen as Unlikely to Restart This Summer

Production at the giant Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan is unlikely to restart this summer as the companies involved in the consortium running the project are still awaiting a report on a gas leak that closed the field last October, people familiar with the project said Wednesday. Resuming output is important so the companies, which include Exxon Mobil Corp. , Royal Dutch Shell PLC, France’s SA and Italy’s SpA, can start generating revenue to recoup some of the $50 billion they have already invested in Kashagan over the last 17 years. It is also important for the Kazakh government, which had based its economic forecasts on revenue from Kashagan, where output was expected to ramp up to 370,000 barrels a day from 180,000 barrels a day initially. "There’s no date for restart, but it certainly won’t be this summer," said one person familiar with the project. In February, Claudio […]

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Canada's Sonoro Energy eyes Iraqi oil sands

Canadian energy company Sonoro Energy said it was exploring the opportunity to develop oil sands resources in Iraq. Sonoro said it met with Iraqi officials during the first quarter of 2014 to discuss exploration, production and development of bitumen, or oil sands, in Iraq. "The company has received a positive response to its efforts, and management is of the opinion that it is feasible to achieve a form of federal approval to pursue the development," the company said in a statement Thursday. Bitumen is a viscous form of oil found primarily in the Athabasca deposit in Alberta, Canada. Its viscosity means it requires special heating processes to refine. Sonoro said it was optimistic about its potential to explore the resource in Iraq, but cautioned there are no guarantees approval would be granted. Iraq holds general elections in late April. The company said it expected some regulatory delays given the […]

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Canada’s Sonoro Energy eyes Iraqi oil sands

Canadian energy company Sonoro Energy said it was exploring the opportunity to develop oil sands resources in Iraq. Sonoro said it met with Iraqi officials during the first quarter of 2014 to discuss exploration, production and development of bitumen, or oil sands, in Iraq. "The company has received a positive response to its efforts, and management is of the opinion that it is feasible to achieve a form of federal approval to pursue the development," the company said in a statement Thursday. Bitumen is a viscous form of oil found primarily in the Athabasca deposit in Alberta, Canada. Its viscosity means it requires special heating processes to refine. Sonoro said it was optimistic about its potential to explore the resource in Iraq, but cautioned there are no guarantees approval would be granted. Iraq holds general elections in late April. The company said it expected some regulatory delays given the […]

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Syria Ships Out More Chemicals After a 2-Week Lapse

Syria has delivered a consignment of chemical weapons materials for export and destruction overseas for the first time in more than two weeks, a delay that revived concerns about the country’s readiness and ability to meet newly extended deadlines for completing the task this month. The delivery, completed on Friday, involved an unspecified volume of chemical agents, according to a statement by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the international monitor group helping the United Nations oversee the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal. However, Friday’s consignment involved only a small volume of chemical agents, Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the agency, said in an interview. Syria missed a February deadline for completing the shipment of all chemical weapons materials to be destroyed abroad and later agreed it would finish the job by April 27, so as to fulfill the agreement brokered by the […]

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North Sea Crude Loadings to Drop During May Maintenance

The amount of crude oil due to be pumped from fields in the North Sea is set to fall nearly 15% in May compared to the previous month, as maintenance season takes large swathes of production out of the market. The Oseberg field will load only two cargoes this month, according to provisional loading programs seen by The Wall Street Journal, compared with six last month. "I think it’s just normal field maintenance [and] I would say it was planned. Whether or not the market knew about it until very recently is another matter," said Steve Sawyer, an oil consultant at FACTS Global Energy. The total number of barrels to be loaded in May will be 24 million, down 14.9% from 28.2 million the month before. A North Sea oil trader said that the "large maintenance" was likely priced in, and that the Oseberg field is […]

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Brazil Court Says Chevron Unit and 10 Employees Face Spill Charges

A judicial panel in Brazil ruled a Corp. subsidiary and 10 of its employees will face criminal charges related to offshore oil spills in 2011 and 2012, the company said on Friday. The original criminal charges had been dismissed in February 2013, but an appellate court last October reinstated two counts for environmental damage and failing to immediately notify authorities. Chevron appealed, but a three-judge panel upheld the charges in a 2-1 ruling last week, sending the case back to the federal court that had dismissed the criminal complaint. Chevron has appealed last week’s decision, saying its Brazilian unit "responded appropriately and responsibly to the incident and that there is no damage to the environment or risk to human health." The charges stem from two oil spills, totaling a little more than 2,400 barrels, in the Frade field, about 75 miles off the coast of Brazil. The country’s oil […]

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Maersk Drilling sees need for new rig fleets

Danish company Maersk Drilling said it’s trying to breathe new life into an industry working with a fleet of offshore rigs in need of replacement. Maersk Drilling Managing Director in Singapore Jan Holm said Thursday his company has set a goal of having 30 rigs in its fleet. "When the time is right," he told energy news website Rigzone, Maersk will reach deeper into the ultra-deep water and ultra-harsh drilling environments with new rig technologies. Maersk this week said it was deploying its Maersk Intrepid rig to work in the harsh environment of the Martin Linge field in the North Sea. It’s the first in a series of four meant to work in ultra-harsh environments. Holm said a large share of the global drilling rig fleet is more than 30 years old and will need to be replaced. That means the company’s new drillships […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Exxon Is Behind The Landmark Climate Report You Didn’t Hear About

Climate change is already impacting all continents. But it isn’t yet impacting all companies. The latest installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report released on Monday confirmed the former. A report released by Exxon Mobil the same day about how greenhouse gas emissions and climate change factor into its business model found that climate change, and specifically global climate policies, are “highly unlikely” to stop it from selling fossil fuels for decades to come. Exxon is the first major oil and gas producer to publish a Carbon Asset Risk report to address investor concerns over how market forces and environmental regulations might impact the production of some of its reserves. The company agreed to publish the report several weeks ago after Arjuna Capital, a sustainable wealth management platform, and As You Sow, a non-profit promoting environmental corporate responsibility, agreed to drop a shareholder resolution on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pa. Shale Impact Fees Reach Record Levels in 2013

As Pennsylvania shale production continues to soar, the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced Friday that impact fee revenue for 2013 hit record levels. With a total of 6,489 unconventional wells under development or in production as of December 31, 2013, shale producers contributed a total of $224.5 million in impact fees for the calendar year. This brings total impact fee revenue to more than $630 million over the past three years, in addition to the more than $2.1 billion in state tax revenue generated by the industry since 2008.    Marcellus Shale Coalition president Dave Spigelmyer issued this statement following the release of this data:   “This new stream of revenue is having a positive and real impact in communities with shale development as well as those without active Marcellus production. Whether these funds are invested in bridge and road projects, the purchase of new firefighting equipment, key environmental programs, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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USCG: ‘Chain of errors’ led to Shell drilling unit running aground

A US Coast Guard (USCG) investigation has found that a “chain of errors” led to the Royal Dutch Shell PLC conical drilling unit, the Kulluk, running aground on Sitkalidak Island, Alas., in December 2012 ( OGJ Online, Jan. 2, 2013 ). The primary cause was attempting a winter voyage in the Arctic with ineffective risk assessment and management, according to USCG’s report, which was released Apr. 2. The Kulluk broke free while being towed in heavy seas by Edison Chouest Offshore’s vessel, the Aiviq. There was no oil spill associated with the incident. The drilling unit was later salvaged and towed to an Asian dry dock for inspection and repairs. ( OGJ Online, Feb. 13, 2013 ). Complex series of events USCG’s investigation report describes a “complex series of events” that included inclement weather, seas of 20 ft, an inadequate tow plan, the Kulluk’s conical hull (see figure, OGJ, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Battle over EPA probes into fracking/pollution link rages on

Energy industry representatives and state officials on Friday ripped into a call by eight Democratic members of Congress for the US Environmental Protection Agency to reopen its investigation into incidents of water contamination in three states. In a Tuesday letter to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, the eight lawmakers called for new EPA probes into water pollution cases in Pavillion, Wyoming; Dimock, Pennsylvania; and Parker County, Texas, three areas in which the EPA had investigated whether gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities had impacted groundwater. In each case the EPA had concluded its investigation without proving a link between fracking and water contamination. 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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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How to Make Fracking Safer

New York state has a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. So do Los Angeles, Quebec and France. Polls show rising opposition to this controversial oil field technique, which cracks open rocks to free oil and natural gas, and some critics want it banned unless it can be proven safe. Meanwhile, U.S. energy companies are drilling and fracking about 100 wells every day across much of the country. Whether you think that it is an economic godsend or fear that it is an environmental disaster, whether you spell it fracking or fraccing (as the energy industry prefers), that is a lot of holes in the ground. Fracking is a fairly straightforward process. You drill a well straight down for a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil imports from top three suppliers up for U.S.

An industry brief Friday from the U.S. Energy Information Administration finds U.S. oil imports are down, though imports from top foreign suppliers increased. EIA finds U.S. net crude oil imports declined last year to 7.6 million barrels per day. That’s 10.2 percent fewer imports than the previous year and the lowest level since 1996. EIA said in a briefing Friday crude oil imports from Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia — the three top foreign oil suppliers to the U.S. market — were at their highest in since at least 1973. "These three countries provided almost three out of every five barrels of oil imported into the U.S. market last year," EIA said. EIA said Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia produce a medium to heavy grade of crude oil that’s suitable for the U.S. refinery sector, in contrast to the lighter grade from in U.S. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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To Export U.S. Oil or Not Boils Down to Industry Profit

When Big Oil began preparing last year to challenge the decades-old rules against exporting U.S. crude, the debate seemed fanciful. Then Russia took over Crimea and the idea of using American energy — oil as well as natural gas — to reshape global affairs became a Washington pet project. Here’s how the battle lines are drawn: Oil producers want to chase higher prices overseas. Refiners want to keep cheaper domestic supplies. Politicians want to balance those interests with concerns that gasoline prices would rise. Everyone invokes the goal of energy independence. Putting the posturing aside, it’s useful to imagine what actually happens to supply, demand and prices in an oil market without the export restrictions that date to the 1970s Arab oil embargo. That’s what JBC Energy GmbH, a Vienna-based research company, offered in a report this week. The upshot? Producers win, refiners lose, global prices converge — and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ships Colliding in Houston Expose Risks in Oil Channel

By the time the ships’ pilots realized they were on a crash course, it was too late. The fog was just beginning to lift on the Houston Ship Channel midday March 22 as a bulk carrier and a fuel barge found themselves three-quarters of a mile apart. For five minutes, they exchanged radio messages as they tried slowing down, speeding up and reversing while nearing a collision that closed one of the world’s busiest waterways for three days, according to U.S. Coast Guard recordings and radar data obtained by Bloomberg under the Freedom of Information Act. “I can put it down to a dead slow, but that still ain’t gonna stop,” the freighter’s pilot said, according to the recordings. The crash caused 4,000 barrels of fuel oil to spill and disrupted about $1.5 billion in commerce in the U.S.’s largest export gateway. As authorities work to determine the cause […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Steyer, NRG's Crane share visions for energy industry's future

Two of the energy industry’s most visible agents of change delivered messages here yesterday on policies and business models they believe are needed to reshape how energy is generated and how it’s used. Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and NRG Inc.’s David Crane delivered separate keynote speeches as part of the Clean Energy Challenge, a competition among early-stage companies and student teams from around the Midwest who were pitching business models for a share of $500,000 in prizes. Crane, the outspoken CEO of the nation’s largest independent power generator, covered a broad range of topics during a lunchtime question-and-answer session. And many of his answers revolved a central theme — his belief that today’s electric power business won’t be recognizable in five, 10 or 20 years, and that distributed generation will gradually supplant the current centralized power system. "The fact that distributed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple