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Nigeria: Fuel in Jerry Cans, Long Queues and Mr. President

I drove into Mobil fuel station on International Airport Road, Lagos, sometime last week and after sitting on the rather long queue, it finally got to my turn. I alighted, opened the boot of the car and made to bring out a 25 litre jerry can that has become a permanent companion since this lingering fuel scarcity started about two months ago but the meter attendant shocked me by saying, ‘Oga, we nor dey sell for keg o. I asked why, he said, ‘dem dey raid us, task force people, so our manager say make we nor sell for keg again’." I was now very angry and told him I would not move my car unless he sells in the jerry can. I guess he saw the resolve in my eyes and after using his eyes to pan around the fuel station, probably to see if his manager was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria: Seeking Solutions to Oil Theft in Nigeria

The oil industry in Nigeria, like every other sector, has its own peculiar problems. In fact, it has been said over and over again by those who have ample knowledge about Nigeria oil industry that the greatest theft in the industry across the world, takes place in Nigeria. According to statistics, as much as $8 billion a year is lost to oil thieves operating in Nigeria. The figure, a report said, is based on an claims that an average of 100,000 barrels a day (b/d) are stolen from the country’s oil industry, a figure some persons have said, is conservative. Another report, while looking at the major challenges and reasons why the illicit trade thrives, says Politicians, security forces, militants, oil-industry staff, oil traders and members of local communities, all profit from "bunkering" of oil, so few have interest in stopping it. Profits from the crude stealing, are laundered […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela’s Oil Heads East

The late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez used to berate the old management of state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) for sending oil to Europe. Chávez, who died in March 2013, said PDVSA’s sales to Germany, the U.K., and Sweden made no commercial sense because of the distance involved and the proximity of Middle East suppliers to European customers. Fast-forward 15 years, and PDVSA is firmly in the hands of the late president’s adherents. Last year, PDVSA sent more oil to Asia than to North America, the first time in the company’s history, even though it takes a month for Venezuelan crude to reach China and India. Sales to Asia rose 11 percent to about 1.03 million barrels a day, while sales to North America, chiefly the U.S., fell 12 percent to 879,000 bbl. per day. Today, Chávez’s old criticisms about the wisdom of having far-flung markets are forgotten, as his successors […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Fracking Prostitutes of American Colleges

Lackawanna College, a two-year college in Scranton, Pa., has become a prostitute. The administration doesn’t think of themselves or their college as a prostitute. They believe they are doing a public service. Of course, streetwalkers and call-girls also believe they are doing a public service. Lackawanna College’s price is $2.5 million. That’s how much Cabot Oil & Gas paid to the School of Petroleum and Natural Gas, whose own nine-building campus is in New Milford in northeastern Pennsylvania.  On the School’s logo are now the words, “Endowed by Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation.” That would be the same Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation that has racked up more than 500 violations since it first used horizontal fracking to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale almost six years ago. That would be the same company that was found to be responsible for significant environmental and health damages in Dimock, Pennsylvania. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EPA cuts 2013 cellulosic-ethanol mandate

The US Environmental Protection Agency lowered the amount of cellulosic ethanol required in 2013 to the amount actually produced, relieving refiners and importers of the need to buy credits to cover shortfalls against the earlier mandate. The adjusted volume is 810,185 ethanol-equivalent gal. The earlier requirement, published on Aug. 15, 2013, was 6 million gal. EPA made the change in response to petitions for reconsideration from the American Petroleum Institute and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. AFPM welcomed the move. “I expect EPA to use the same rational thinking to revise its proposed 2014 ethanol and biodiesel requirements, which are already long overdue,” said AFPM Pres. Charles T. Drevna. He said EPA has proposed a mandate of 17 million gal of cellulosic ethanol for 2014 and noted production of the material in the first quarter totaled less than 75,000 gal. Because commercialization of cellulosic ethanol has been slow to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bakken field production reaches 1 billion bbl mark

Citing data from IHS, Continental Resources Inc. reported that Bakken field has surpassed 1 billion bbl of cumulative light, sweet crude oil production during this year’s first quarter. Two thirds of the total was produced in the last 3 years, Continental said. The Oklahoma City independent remains the Bakken’s top operator, with more than 1.2 million acres, the largest remaining reserves, and the most advanced delineation program in the deeper Three Forks benches ( OGJ Online, Apr. 2, 2014 ). In 2013, Continental estimated 32 billion bbl of oil to be recoverable from Bakken at a 3.5% recovery factor, 36 billion bbl at 4%, and 45 billion bbl at 5%. The US Geological Survey said a mean of 8 billion bbl of oil and natural gas liquids remains to be discovered ( OGJ, May 20, 2013, p. 19 ).

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ohio gas-fired power plant gets final approval from siting board

Advanced Power Services’ plans to construct a 742-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle plant near Carrollton, Ohio, gained final approval Monday from the Ohio Power Siting Board. The Carroll County Energy Generating Facility will be located on a 77-acre parcel of agricultural land and have a permanent footprint of 17 acres, the board said. The Boston-based developer said the $800 million plant is needed to offset the impending retirement of thousands of megawatts of older coal-fired generation in the Midwest. Article continues below… Megawatt Daily provides detailed coverage of power prices in major US and Canadian electricity markets, up-to-date information about solicitations and supply deals, and information about complex state and federal power regulations. The board’s order authorizes the construction of the facility, subject to 17 conditions agreed to in a stipulation filed by the company on March 10 with the board. Construction is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Implications of accelerated power plant retirements

In 2012, coal-fired and nuclear power plants together provided 56% of the electricity generated in the United States. The role of these technologies in the U.S. generation mix has been changing since 2009, as both low natural gas prices and slower growth of electricity demand have altered their competitiveness relative to other fuels. Many coal-fired plants also must comply with requirements of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and other environmental regulations. Some of the challenges faced by coal-fired and nuclear generators, and the implications for electricity markets if the plants are retired in significant numbers, are analyzed in this discussion. Implications of lower natural gas prices on industrial production Release Date: 4/23/14 This analysis focuses on variation in industrial output in the Low and High Oil Price cases and Low and High Oil and Gas Resource cases compared to the Annual Energy Outlook 2014 (AEO2014) Reference case. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Cold economics may limit big LNG ambitions

Natural gas enthusiasts from Texas to Capitol Hill insist the world is clamoring to buy American supplies of the fuel and the only major obstacle is the federal government. But there’s an even bigger economic reality standing in the way: The facilities to super-chill gas for transport cost billions to build, and even with permits, few will ever make it past the drawing board. "It’s very easy for us in this country to blame everything on our regulators, but economics are the biggest driver here," said Joe Fagan, a partner at Day Pitney who advises clients on liquefied natural gas import and export matters. "Even […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Fracking comes to the world’s ‘greenest city’

From a plane landing in Vancouver, the city shimmers below. Skyscrapers sheathed in glass reflect water that lies on three sides of downtown. Forested mountains serve as a backdrop that has made it easy for politicians to brand Vancouver the world’s “ greenest city .” There is more to that reputation than just PR. Vancouver’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are among the lowest of any urban center in North America. The city council has made bicycling infrastructure a priority. And in 2008, the government of British Columbia enacted a relatively steep carbon tax that has earned international praise for lowering the province’s per capita consumption of fossil fuels to well below Canada’s average. Making B.C. look even cleaner by comparison is its dirty neighbor. Right next door in Alberta are the Athabasca oil sands, a development vilified around the world as one of the most environmentally […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple