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Diesel Gains as Ukraine Tension Boosts Crude and Gasoil

Diesel futures advanced for the first time in three days as rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine inflated crude and gasoil prices. Diesel gained as much as 0.8 percent. President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine against continuing its offensive against pro-Russian separatists after troops killed five rebels in the city of Slovyansk. “Ukraine rhetoric is heating up and we’re seeing the price of oil and gasoil going up,” said Phil Flynn , senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago . Ultra low sulfur diesel for May delivery rose 1.64 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $2.9973 a gallon at 10:48 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange . Volume was 9.5 percent below the 100-day average. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery on the Nymex gained 45 cents to $101.89 a barrel. Brent for June settlement increased 70 cents to $109.81 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural-Gas Prices Fall After Larger-Than-Expected Stockpile Rise

Natural-gas futures fell Thursday after a larger-than-expected increase in stockpiles eased some of the concern about a potential shortage of the heating fuel next winter. Natural gas for May delivery fell 2.5 cents, or 0.5%, at $4.705 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose in early morning trading, then fell after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said stockpiles increased last week at a faster-than-expected pace. Producers added 49 billion cubic feet of gas to storage for the week ended April 18, according to the EIA. That is 7 bcf more than what 21 traders, brokers and analysts had forecast in a Wall Street Journal survey. The addition leaves 899 billion cubic feet in storage. While that is more than experts predicted, it is still less than half of the 1.9 trillion cubic feet of gas that is typically in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New pipeline plan could spur Baghdad-Erbil cooperation

Oil from federally controlled oil fields could flow through Kurdistan’s new export pipeline to Turkey within six months. Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has agreed in principle to use its new pipeline to export crude oil produced by the federal North Oil Company (NOC) – an initiative which could strengthen economic ties between Erbil and Baghdad and change the political dynamics of Iraq’s long-running disputes over oil policy.Under the prospective plan, Kurdistan’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the NOC would work together to commission a new 36-inch pipeline to connect federal…

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Libya rebels warn Tripoli oil ports to stay closed unless deal implemented

A rebel group in eastern Libya that controls several oil ports said on Thursday it would not reopen the key Ras Lanuf and Es Sider terminals unless the government implemented its part of a recent deal to end the oil blockade. In a sign of further delays to restart vital oil exports from the volatile east, rebels said the Tripoli government had failed to fulfill its part of the accord reached this month. Diplomats expect both sides to implement the deal eventually as the country badly needs the oil revenue but tactical maneuvers and mutual mistrust are likely to cause delays. The row is part of chaos in the North African country where the government cannot control militias who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but have held on to their weapons to make political and financial demands by seizing oilfields or government ministries. "The government […]

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Noble Energy sees remarkable progress offshore Israel

Developments made at the Leviathan natural gas field off the coast of Israel have been "remarkable," Noble Energy Chairman Charles Davidson said Thursday.Noble this year signed export contracts for gas from the Leviathan and nearby Tamar natural gas fields with Jordanian and Palestinian authorities. Davidson said in a quarterly statement Thursday larger contracts are expected to follow during the next several fiscal quarters. "The progress we have made recently regarding the Leviathan project offshore Israel has been remarkable, and we are close to executing a number of domestic and regional export sales agreements to support the field’s development," he said in a statement . Tamar, with an estimated 8.5 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, entered into production in March 2013. Leviathan, with an estimated 18 trillion cubic feet of gas, should go onstream in 2016. Australian energy company Woodside Petroleum last month balked […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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World Cup Power Cut Fears Spur Record Brazil LNG Buying

Miguel Abitbol spent almost $4,000 on television equipment to show World Cup soccer matches at his bar and restaurant in Rio de Janeiro . He’s praying there will be enough electricity to power it. Abitbol’s 48-inch (122-centimeter) set is one of 16 million expected to be sold in Brazil this year as it hosts the world’s most-watched sporting event. The kick off in June is looming as the nation contends with a drought that reduced water supply needed for hydroelectric power to near-critical levels. A blackout in February cut electricity to 6 million people. Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR3) , the state-owned energy company, is buying record amounts of liquefied natural gas in the spot market to run gas-fired power plants at full capacity and preserve water reserves. Increased competition for the fuel is narrowing the discount of Latin American prices to those in Asia , the costliest, to the […]

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China Shale Boom Seen by Honghua as Pollution Cuts Coal Use

Honghua Group, a Chinese drilling-equipment maker that gets most of its business from overseas, is seeking to expand at home as the nation works to spark its own shale gas revolution. The Chengdu, Sichuan-based company, which has sold rigs for use in U.S. gas fields since 2005, sees an opportunity in China as the country looks to boost production from shale formations to meet growing energy demand and move away from dirtier sources of fuel like coal, Chairman Zhang Mi said in an interview. “It’s highly likely for China to develop shale on a large scale like the U.S.,” Zhang said in Beijing on April 23. “China needs natural gas very badly.” China, the world’s biggest holder of natural gas reserves trapped in shale rocks, has set a national output goal of 6.5 billion cubic meters by 2015 and as much as 100 billion cubic meters by 2020. While […]

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China Takes On Pollution With Biggest Changes in 25 Years

China passed the biggest changes to its environmental protection laws in 25 years, outlining plans to punish polluters more severely as leaders work to limit contaminated water, air and soil linked to economic growth. The amended law “sets environmental protection as the country’s basic policy,” according to a copy posted on the government’s website. The rules hadn’t been changed since first enacted in 1989 as China began consuming more energy and the world’s most-populous country transformed into a global manufacturing hub. Now the world’s biggest carbon emitter, China has moved to address the environmental damage that has been a byproduct of its breakneck economic growth and become a leading cause of social unrest. Government reports and recent comments from top officials about pollution have revealed the extent of the damage and raised new concern about its health effects. The amendments give the public and government “powerful new tools” to […]

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Natural Gas Weekly Update

Marcellus gas production backlog spurs pipes heading south as well as north Increasing natural gas production in the Appalachian Basin’s Marcellus Shale play continues to outpace the growth in the region’s pipeline takeaway capacity. This has led to supply backups in the Marcellus region, with new production often unable to flow to areas where gas is in high demand, placing downward pressure on prices in the region. It has also contributed to a number of natural gas wells in Marcellus remaining backlogged , with a February 28 report from Barclay’s estimating that more that 1,300 wells there are drilled but not completed. Natural gas prices at Leidy Hub in central Pennsylvania have continued to trade significantly below the Henry Hub national benchmark spot price. This winter, the Leidy spot price averaged $3.55 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), $1.08/MMBtu below Henry Hub, and lower than the average spot price […]

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Extended California fire season confirms severity of climate change

The climate change debate currently pits the  bulk of the scientific community against holdout deniers who don’t believe rising temperatures are the result of human activity. But in California, a state suffering from a historic drought, why the phenomenon is happening is less important than the simple fact that it is. Forecasters and fire agencies have now tossed aside their normal fire calendar – mid-May to mid-October – and prepare for what some call a “new normal” of a greatly extended fire season. They are hiring extra staff and issuing more warnings. Some local officials have warned that fire season in some parts of California is basically a year-round phenomenon now. The National Weather Service has been issuing an unprecedented number of fire forecasts and alerts in the thick of the usually-wet season, months earlier than normal. Its forecast offices have kicked into fire-season mode well ahead of schedule. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple