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Imminent peak oil could burst US, global economic bubble – study

A new multi-disciplinary study led by the University of Maryland calls for immediate action by government, private and commercial sectors to reduce vulnerability to the imminent threat of global peak oil , which could put the entire US economy and other major industrial economies at risk. The peer-reviewed study contradicts the recent claims within the oil industry that peak oil has been indefinitely offset by shale gas and other unconventional oil and gas resources. A report by the World Energy Council (WEC) last month, for instance, stated that peak oil was unlikely to be realised within the next forty years at least. This is due to global reserves being 25 per cent higher than in 1993. According to the WEC report, 80% of global energy is currently produced by either oil, gas or coal, a situation which is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The new University of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Up on Ukraine, Slow Libya Return

Crude oil prices were finding support Thursday from continuing tensions in Ukraine and the slow return of Libyan crude to the market, but plentiful supply in the U.S. is likely to limit any rises. Brent crude for June delivery was up 19 cents at $109.30 on ICE Futures Europe, while WTI crude for June delivery was up 28 cents at $101.72 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Libyan crude is not returning quickly to the market despite a deal to reopen oil terminals in the restive country, noted Commerzbank . "Even three weeks after the agreement to gradually open the rebel-occupied oil terminals, oil production in Libya has so far increased only negligible," it wrote in a note to clients. Tensions in Ukraine that have underpinned some energy prices are also likely to increase further now that the Easter holiday has ended, Commerzbank said. The government in Kiev is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil prices recoup earlier losses on Ukraine woes

U.S. crude for May delivery added 31 cents to close at $101.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, it fell by about the same amount. Brent crude, an international benchmark for oil, rose 22 cents to $109.33 on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Oil prices fell overnight when a U.S. government report showed a bigger-than-expected rise in oil supplies. The U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said oil supplies rose 3.5 million barrels in the week that ended April 18. That exceeded the expectations of analysts surveyed by Platts, who forecast an increase of 3.1 million barrels. At a record 397.7 million barrels, supplies are now 2.3 percent above year-earlier levels. Ukraine is going through its biggest political crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, sparked by months of anti-government protests and President Viktor Yanukovych’s flight to Russia. President Barack Obama, while visiting […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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WTI Trades Near Two-Week Low as Stockpiles Climb; Brent Steady

West Texas Intermediate traded near the lowest in more than two weeks as crude inventories increased to the highest level in 83 years in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent was steady in London. Futures were little changed in New York after two days of losses. Crude stockpiles expanded by 3.52 million barrels to 397.7 million last week, the Energy Information Administration reported yesterday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country would defend its citizens in Ukraine as a truce faltered, while the U.S. prepared to send hundreds of troops for military exercises in four nations bordering Russia. “There’s not great appetite for selling right now, given what else is happening,” Ole Hansen, the head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen, said by phone today. “There’s Ukraine on one side providing support to prices and high U.S. inventory on the other that’s capping […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Inches Up on Questions about Supply

By Timothy Puko Natural-gas futures are rising for the third time in four sessions Wednesday as cool spring weather across the U.S. reinforces concerns about gas supply levels. Natural gas for May delivery rose 3.4 cents, or 0.7%, to $4.773 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices shot up 21.1 cents Thursday morning on reports that stockpiles have been refilling from the winter more slowly than expected and have mostly hovered above $4.70/mmBtu since then. "There’s nothing to move the market one way or another, so it’s just slowly drifting higher as a result of having a colder" year that has pushed demand for home heating, said analyst Dominick Chirichella of the Energy Management Institute. "Natural gas is just not the commodity to trade in this 10 seconds." Spring is usually a tepid time in the natural-gas market. Demand to heat homes wanes as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EIA’s International Energy Statistics Updated

The EIA has finally updated their International Energy Statistics . They were a month behind so they caught up by updating two months of data. The last update had data through October. This update has the data through December 2013. They also updated their annual data page. If you click on the link, then mouse over “Petroleum, Production” and click, you will get “Total Oil Supply”. That data is everything including ethanol, biodiesel, NGLs and even refinery process gain. I never use that data. After that page comes I go to the box labeled “Total Oil Supply” then click on the down arrow, then click on “Crude Oil including Lease Condensate” That is the data I use, that is all I use. From the annual data I found total World C+C was up a mere 167 kb/d. US production was up 967 kb/d. That means that the World less […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran putting final touches on new energy contracts

The Iranian government said Wednesday it would revise how it governs oil and natural gas contracts, though sanctions must be lifted for full utilization.Mehdi Hosseini, the director of a committee tasked with contract revisions, said Iran will be switching from a buy-back system to one based on joint ventures in the oil and natural gas sector. Iran under the terms of the previous buy-back contracts paid contractors a set price for oil and natural gas produced. Under the planned new system, state-run energy companies will establish joint ventures with their international counterparts, who will be paid with a share of the output. Hosseini said the new contract system was designed to bring more foreign investments into the Iranian energy sector. "In order for international companies to be able to invest in Iran projects, the sanctions must be lifted so that they would be able […]

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Pipeline attack causes Tigris oil slicks, water crisis

The April 16 bombing of pipelines near the Tigris has sent oil spilling into the river and endangered the water supply for millions of Iraqis. Diyala province has closed water intakes along the Tigris River, as oil slicks attributed to the April 16 bombing of pipelines feeding the Baiji refinery are heading toward Baghdad.Preventative measures were taken the morning after the attack on the oil and gas pipelines in the al-Fatha area along the Tigris River in Salahaddin province.Oil in the water and on shore was set ablaze to reduce the amount of pollutants in the water, initially causing massive black clouds and then persistent…

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Suicide attack in Iraq kills at least 11 people

A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint south of Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing at least 11 people, officials said, the latest episode in an uptick in violence in the run-up to next week’s parliamentary elections. The attack struck during the morning rush hour, when the checkpoint at one of the entrances to the city of Hillah, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, was crowded with commuters. Among the 11 killed were seven civilians and four policemen while 27 people were wounded in the bombing, a police officer said. The blast also damaged about 15 cars nearby. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The Shiite-dominated city of Hillah has seen sporadic violence recently. Last month, a suicide car bomber hit another checkpoint […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Maliki Looks to Iraq’s Oil Gusher for Election Edge Amid Strife

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is banking on sales from the highest crude oil output in 35 years to earn him a third term even as he struggles against an emboldened al-Qaeda and a surge in political violence. Maliki, 63, is seeking a majority in April 30 parliamentary elections to extend his hold on power in the nation of 33 million people, where he first took office in 2006. The new parliament will also choose a president to replace Jalal Talabani, who has been receiving medical treatment in Germany since suffering a stroke in December 2012. “Maliki is still the front-runner, but he has lost support,” Robin Mills, the head of consulting at Dubai-based Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management, said by phone on April 20. “For a new government to be successful, it has to go much beyond the energy sector, and it will have to actually start […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple