Category:

Ambassador From Jordan Freed by Captors in Libya

he Jordanian ambassador to Libya, who was taken hostage by gunmen in the Libyan capital last month, was freed and returned to Jordan on Tuesday after his government agreed to release a Libyan citizen serving a life sentence on terrorism charges, officials in both countries said. The ambassador, Fawaz al-Itan, arrived at a military airport in Jordan on Tuesday and said he had been treated well in captivity. Nasser Judeh, the Jordanian foreign minister, said Mr. Itan’s captors had ties to the Libyan citizen, Mohamed el-Dressi, who was convicted in 2007 of plotting to blow up Jordan’s main international airport. He did not specify what those ties were. Mr. Dressi flew to Libya on Monday. The apparent exchange of Mr. Dressi for Mr. Itan immediately raised concerns that it would embolden militant groups in Libya, which have turned to kidnapping to win concessions at home and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Factories torched in anti-China protest in Vietnam

Mobs of rioters in Vietnam torched at least 15 foreign-owned factories and trashed or looted many more following a large protest by workers against China’s recent placement of an oil rig in disputed Southeast Asian waters, officials said Wednesday. The unrest at industrial parks close to Ho Chi Minh City built to attract foreign investors is the most serious outbreak of public disorder in the tightly controlled country in years. It points to the dangers for the government as it manages public anger at China while also protesting itself against the Chinese actions in an area of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam. The unrest late Tuesday at a Singapore-run industrial park and others nearby in Binh Duong province followed protests by up to 20,000 workers. Smaller groups attacked factories they believed were Chinese-run, but many were Taiwanese or South Korean, the provincial government […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Coal Missing Boom as Climate Foes Clean Asia’s Backyard

Bowie Resource Partners LLC wanted to export coal from the port of Oakland, California , promising thousands of construction jobs and a $3 million-a-year payroll in a city whose unemployment rate was almost double the national average. Oakland’s response: No, thanks. “We weren’t going to sell our souls here,” Jack Fleck, a retired engineer and Oakland resident who spoke out against Bowie’s plan, said by phone on May 12. “Whatever the economic benefit would’ve been, it wasn’t worth destroying the planet over.” Oakland’s rejection marks a sea change in the fight against coal exports from the U.S. and underscores an emerging challenge for energy projects. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups have scuttled three of six coal terminals proposed in the U.S. Pacific Northwest that would have shipped as much as 146 million metric tons annually to booming markets in Asia . Where coal projects were once fought […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China promotes both fuel efficiency and alternative-fuel vehicles to curb growing oil use

Unprecedented motorization in China has led to significant increases in oil demand and oil imports. In response to growing oil imports, the Chinese government is adopting a broad range of policies, including improvements in the fuel economy of new vehicles and the promotion of alternative-fuel vehicles. Consumption of gasoline in China grew from 0.9 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2003 to more than 2 million bbl/d in 2013. This continues a trend of significant growth in China’s transportation sector since the 1990s. Increasing oil demand requires China to import more petroleum from other countries, and since 2009, China has been importing more than half of its petroleum needs. Under the Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Plan for 2012 to 2020 released in 2012, average passenger car fuel economy is targeted to increase to 34 miles per gallon by 2015 and 47 miles […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China could become net oil-product exporter to Middle East: CNPC

China is on a long-term track to become a net exporter of petroleum products to the Middle East, a senior official of state-controlled China National Petroleum Corp said Tuesday. "China could at some point become a net exporter of fuel products to Arab countries," CNPC Director of Research Ding Shaoheng said during a question and answer session at the Abu Dhabi International Downstream Exhibition and Conference. China was likely to remain a major importer of Middle East crude for the foreseeable future, Ding said. During a conference presentation on the long-term outlook for oil product supply and demand in the Chinese domestic market, Ding forecast that Chinese annual oil-product consumption would rise from 286 million mt in 2013 to 360 million mt in 2020 and 440 million mt in 2030. Meanwhile, annual fuel production capacity at Chinese oil refineries was forecast to expand from 296 million mt in 2013 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Korean Kogas' LNG imports inch up on year to 12.61 mil mt LNG in Q1

South Korea’s state-owned Korea Gas Corp imported 12.61 million mt of LNG in the first quarter, up 0.5% from 12.55 million mt a year earlier, the company said in a statement Wednesday. All of the volumes were imported under long-term contracts. Kogas has term contracts for 10.02 million-11.02 million mt/year from Qatar, 4 million mt/year from Malaysia, 4 million mt/year from Oman, 3 million mt/year from Indonesia, 1.5 million mt/year from Russia’s Sakhalin, 1.3 million mt/year from Egypt, 0.7 million mt/year from Brunei and 0.5 million mt/year from Australia, according to the company. The company plans to import an additional 7.1 million mt/year from Australia from 2015 and another 2 million mt/year from 2018, as well as 3.5 million mt/year from the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana from 2017. Kogas’ domestic natural gas sales totaled 11.57 million mt in Q1, down 5.5% from 12.24 million mt in the same […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Korean Kogas’ LNG imports inch up on year to 12.61 mil mt LNG in Q1

South Korea’s state-owned Korea Gas Corp imported 12.61 million mt of LNG in the first quarter, up 0.5% from 12.55 million mt a year earlier, the company said in a statement Wednesday. All of the volumes were imported under long-term contracts. Kogas has term contracts for 10.02 million-11.02 million mt/year from Qatar, 4 million mt/year from Malaysia, 4 million mt/year from Oman, 3 million mt/year from Indonesia, 1.5 million mt/year from Russia’s Sakhalin, 1.3 million mt/year from Egypt, 0.7 million mt/year from Brunei and 0.5 million mt/year from Australia, according to the company. The company plans to import an additional 7.1 million mt/year from Australia from 2015 and another 2 million mt/year from 2018, as well as 3.5 million mt/year from the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana from 2017. Kogas’ domestic natural gas sales totaled 11.57 million mt in Q1, down 5.5% from 12.24 million mt in the same […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Oil-Export Ban Is Under Review

Top administration officials are considering relaxing federal laws banning crude-oil exports, a move that would upend decades-old policy, cause a political stir in Washington and sway the global oil market. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday that some of the fast-growing supply of domestically produced oil isn’t suitable for refining locally, which could warrant re-examining a nearly 40-year-old law that bans exports of most crude. "The nature of the oil we’re producing may not be well-matched to our current refinery capacity," Mr. Moniz said Tuesday after an energy conference in Seoul. The administration is studying the issue, though government officials declined to comment on its scope or timing. The statements, paired with similar comments by senior Obama counselor John Podesta last week, mark a notable policy shift inside the administration over the past six months. At an energy conference in December sponsored by Platts, Mr. Moniz responded only […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Energy Bill’s Failure Shows Congress Can’t Agree to Agree

The sponsors of a bill to promote U.S. energy conservation built it to pass in a Congress where almost nothing passes. After businesses complained, the authors deleted mandates for tougher building-efficiency standards. Then they cut provisions that would have increased the U.S. deficit. And they softened requirements that federal buildings phase out use of fossil fuels. With the changes, Senators Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Rob Portman , an Ohio Republican , built a coalition that included seven Republicans and seven Democrats as co-sponsors, and both the Natural Resources Defense Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And it still wasn’t enough. Deep divisions on issues unrelated to the bill — such as the Keystone XL pipeline and regulations on the coal industry — doomed it yesterday. The result underscores that even legislation with broad support faces an uphill fight as both parties eye midterm elections that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Texas still leads in oil production

Oil production from the Eagle Ford shale play in Texas is expected to increase by 27,000 barrels per day next month, a U.S. government report said. The Energy Information Administration published its drilling productivity report Monday showing anticipated production levels across the six regions — Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara and Permian — that combine to account for 90 percent of domestic oil production growth and nearly all of the gas production growth between 2011 and 2012. For Eagle Ford, EIA said it expects oil production to increase by 27,000 bpd to reach 1.41 million bpd by June. Texas is the nation’s No. 1 oil producer, with a January output of 89 million barrels, more than twice the level of the No. 2 producer, North Dakota. For North Dakota’s Bakken formation , EIA expects production levels to increase by 22,000 bpd in June to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Stopping Keystone Ensures More Railroad Tank-Car Spills

The Keystone XL Pipeline got another nail in its coffin Monday, in the form of a Senate energy vote that excluded the pipeline issue. But Keystone was already near death thanks to the Obama’s administration’s recent decision to ignore the evidence of a definitive government study—and instead keep listening to environmentalists’ dubious claims. The upshot will be more political fires in Washington caused by train derailments in the absence of a pipeline to transport oil more safely. After the derailment in downtown Lynchburg, Va., on April 30, approximately 30,000 gallons of Bakken crude oil burned or spilled into the James River. On May 9, a derailment north of Denver spilled another 6,500 gallons of oil, which was contained in a ditch before reaching the South Platte River. Fortunately, unlike in the 2013 derailment in Quebec where a 1.3 million-gallon spill killed 47 people and incinerated 30 buildings, no one […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Texas mayor appeals for fracking data after earthquakes jolt town

The state agency responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry in Texas has requested that fracking companies report data related to wastewater disposal wells daily — instead of yearly — after hundreds of earthquakes hit an area with no history of seismic activity, said the mayor of a small Texas town on Tuesday. At least 300 small earthquakes have hit north Texas — home to the heavily-drilled Barnett Shale region — since January, according to United States Geological Survey (USGS) data. Critics say the state has acted too slowly in investigating the unusual seismic activity and its possible links to fracking activities. “The Texas Railroad Commission has sent a letter requesting that companies voluntarily give that information,” said Alan Brundrett, mayor of Azle, a small town of about 11,000 in north Texas that has experienced unusual earthquakes. “That’s the biggest issue, that the data is not available," Brundrett […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The Status of U.S. Oil and Gas Production (Spring 2014)

I find it interesting that many of the individuals expressing the greatest concerns about oil and natural gas supplies are petroleum geologists.  The list includes, but is not limited to, Jean LaHerrere, Colin Campbell, Art Berman, Jeremy Leggett, David Hughes and Jeffrey Brown. Prominent entities expressing the view that there is no problem with oil and gas supplies include media sources, politicians and bureaucrats in organizations like the U.S. Department of Energy.  Is it more reasonable to expect experts in petroleum geology to give an honest assessment of petroleum resources or politicians, bureaucrats and media sources who stand to benefit from optimistic pronouncements? Based upon numerous media reports and statements by politicians you may have the impression that life couldn’t be any better for the U.S. oil and gas industry.  Production is booming and oil and gas companies are rolling in dough.  Fracking has made natural gas very cheap […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Eagle Ford Output and Texas Condensate and Natural Gas

This is a brief update on Eagle Ford Crude plus Condensate (C+C) output through February 2014.  February Eagle Ford C+C output was about 1200 kb/d by my estimate. Figure 1- RRC Data provided by Kevin Carter I have used my usual method of estimation where I find the percentage of total Texas(TX) C+C output that is from the Eagle Ford(EF) play (%EF/TX is the label that I use) and multiply this by the EIA’s estimate of TX C+C output. The chart shows the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Eagle Ford estimate (EF RRC) in thousands of barrels per day (kb/d), the EF est (kb/d) as described above, the percentage of EF C+C that is condensate (EF %cond/C+C), and the %EF/TX also described above. As before I would like to thank Kevin Carter who created a method to simplify gathering the Eagle Ford data. I have done estimates of Eagle Ford […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ukraine in ‘Undeclared War’ With Russia as Rebels Unite

Insurgents killed seven Ukrainian soldiers and wounded eight others in an ambush near an eastern rebel-held stronghold as the defense minister said the country was fighting an “undeclared war” with Russia . More than 30 attackers struck a convoy near the Donetsk region city of Kramatorsk at about 1 p.m., according to a statement by the Defense Ministry , which said that six paratroopers were killed. Another died later during transport to the hospital, according to Interfax. “Russia is already engaged” in Ukraine “in supporting Russian-led protesters and terrorists,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters in Brussels today after talks with European Commission President Jose Barroso . “We urge Russia to condemn them, to urge all these so-called protesters — or really, terrorists — to leave and vacate the buildings, and to do everything they can to stabilize the situation in Ukraine. Russia will fail to make Ukraine […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russian Slowdown to Shield Europe From Ukraine Gas Cuts

European natural gas traders are betting Russia ’s economy can’t afford to lose more than $100 billion if the crisis in Ukraine escalates, reducing the odds of a long-lasting supply cut to the former Soviet nation. Gas futures in the U.K., Europe’s biggest market, declined 19 percent since Russia invaded Crimea in February and tumbled last week to the lowest since 2010. An escalation of the conflict with Ukraine could cost Russia $115 billion on average in 2015, or more than 3 percent of its gross domestic product, according to IHS Inc. Expanding sanctions from the U.S. and European Union threaten Russia’s economy, which the International Monetary Fund says is entering a recession. The world’s biggest energy exporter is struggling to raise investments to stimulate growth as ties with the U.S. and the EU deteriorate, sparking capital flight and a selloff of ruble assets. “The Russian economy is already […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Norwegian oil and gas production slips

STAVANGER, Norway, May 13 (UPI) –Oil and natural gas liquids production from Norway, one of Europe’s top producers, was down about 1.5 percent, government data published Tuesday show. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said about 1.92 million barrels of oil and natural gas liquids were produced in April, about 30,000 bpd, or roughly 1.5 percent, less than the previous month. Norway is the largest oil producer and the third-largest natural gas producer in Europe. Most of its oil went to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands last year. It supplied members of the European Union with about 21 percent of their gas needs last year, just behind Russia. NPD said final production figures for March show an average daily production rate of about 1.5 million barrels of oil and 367 billion cubic feet of saleable natural gas production. Production was down in part because of technical issues at the Skuld […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Trades Near 3-Day High as Supplies Seen Falling

West Texas Intermediate traded near a three-day high amid speculation that crude stockpiles declined a second week in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent was steady in London . Futures were little changed in New York after rising 0.6 percent yesterday. Crude supplies near a record high probably fell by 1 million barrels last week to 396.6 million, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a government report tomorrow. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for New York futures, probably fell for a 14th time in 15 weeks, according to a separate Bloomberg survey. “There could be further stock draws in Cushing, which will continue to support the WTI” market, Olivier Jakob , managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland , said by e-mail. WTI for June delivery was at $100.45 a barrel, down 14 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Futures Flat in Asia

On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $100.72 a barrel at 0620 GMT–up $0.13 in the Globex electronic session. June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.01 to $108.42 a barrel. Industrial production in China slowed to 8.7% year over year in April compared with 8.8% in March and retail-sales growth eased to 11.9% from 12.2% in March. The data strengthened calls for monetary and policy easing, analysts said. Earlier in the day the market "largely ignored" news of a possible doubling of Libya’s oil production following the reopening of oil fields and pipelines on Monday after an eight-month blockade by protesters, Citigroup said in a report. "Given the history of inconsistent output of the past year we’d say the market is right to remain skeptical of any promised recovery but we also continue to view any sustained […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Lands on Lowest Closing Price in a Month as Supply Starts to Overwhelm Demand

Natural-gas prices dropped to their lowest closing price in nearly six weeks as several factors have begun to convince traders that record supply can handle strong demand. Prices for the front-month June contract fell 9.7 cents, or 2.1%, to $4.434 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It’s the fourth straight losing session for gas, the longest losing streak since late February. Prices are down 7.6% since Wednesday. Several factors are building confidence in the supply of gas, most notably the steady inventory additions that started pushing down prices last week. Producers added 74 billion cubic feet of gas to storage for the week ended May 2, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday. The gains beat Wall Street expectations for the third straight week and triggered the biggest losses. Natural-gas futures dropped 3.5% that day. Money managers who had piled […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Scientists Warn of Rising Oceans From Polar Melt

A large section of the mighty West Antarctica ice sheet has begun falling apart and its continued melting now appears to be unstoppable, two groups of scientists reported on Monday. If the findings hold up, they suggest that the melting could destabilize neighboring parts of the ice sheet and a rise in sea level of 10 feet or more may be unavoidable in coming centuries. Global warming caused by the human-driven release of greenhouse gases has helped to destabilize the ice sheet, though other factors may also be involved, the scientists said. The rise of the sea is likely to continue to be relatively slow for the rest of the 21st century, the scientists added, but in the more distant future it may accelerate markedly, potentially throwing society into crisis. “This is really happening,” Thomas P. Wagner, who runs NASA’s programs on polar ice and helped oversee some of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nuclear Talks Will Confront Iran’s Future Capability to Enrich Uranium

As Iran and six world powers meet this week in Vienna to begin drafting language to resolve their nuclear standoff, negotiators say they are finally confronting a crucial sticking point to a permanent agreement — the size and shape of the nuclear fuel production capability that Iran will be permitted to retain. It is a subject that, at least in public, the Obama administration steps around, acutely aware that Israel and members of Congress who are highly suspicious of the negotiations will say that Iran must be kept years from being able to develop a weapon, and that opponents of the deal in Tehran will argue that no restraints at all should be imposed. Both the Iranians and the Western powers have said their talks so far have been productive, with little of the drama, the ultimatums and the entrenched positions that have marked previous efforts. But […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Car bomb attacks kill 23 people in Baghdad

A wave of car bombings in mainly Shiite areas of Baghdad killed 23 people on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a surge in violence that has been the most serious challenge to the government’s efforts to achieve stability across Iraq. The attacks came as Iraqi Shiites were celebrating the birthday of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and Shiite Islam’s most sacred martyr. In the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, a car bomb went off in the morning hours, killing four people and wounding six, police officials said. Another car bomb elsewhere in Sadr City exploded near a cluster of homes, killing two people and wounding seven. Associated Press Television footage from one of the Sadr City attacks showed a thick cloud of smoke rising from the blast area where several cars were on fire. A short while later, a car […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya Oil Output May Double as Western Protests End

Libya’s daily oil output may double to 500,000 barrels today after protesters agreed to reopen pipelines carrying crude from fields in the country’s western region, according to officials. The valves at the Sharara field have reopened and oil will reach the Zawiya refinery within a few hours, Mansour Abdullah, an official at the refinery, said late yesterday. Earlier, National Oil Corp. spokesman Mohamed Elharari had said by phone from Tripoli that the Elephant, Hamada and Wafa fields, as well as Sharara, were due to resume production last night or this morning “and progressively increase output.” The protesters agreed to stop blocking oil shipments after the authorities started preparations to hold elections for a new parliament, Elharari said. Spokesmen for the protesters couldn’t immediately be reached by phone for comment. Repsol SA-operated Sharara and Eni SpA-operated Elephant are the largest fields in western Libya, with daily capacities of about 340,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Several Core Elements of Agreement Have Emerged

Several core elements of agreement between Iran and the West have emerged in recent weeks, heightening optimism that a comprehensive deal can be reached by the July 20 deadline, according to U.S., Iranian and European officials involved in the diplomacy. Still significant differences remain that could scuttle a deal or force negotiators to extend talks, officials said. "People are less pessimistic than they have been in the past—certainly," one European official said. "There are certain areas where some kind of consensus" is emerging. "But in certain areas, there is still a huge gulf." One of the key areas of agreement is the future of an Iranian plan to convert its heavy-water reactor in the city of Arak to produce significantly less weapons-grade plutonium, according to various officials. Iran also has begun to more substantively address evidence presented in parallel talks with the U.N’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Militants storm barracks, kill 20 troops in Iraq

Militants in Iraq launched an audacious attack on a military barracks in a remote area in the country’s north and killed 20 troops overnight, including some who had been bound and shot at close range, authorities said Sunday as other attacks killed 14. The killings at the military barracks in the village of Ayn al-Jahish outside of Mosul mirrored two previous assaults earlier this year in the area targeting security forces. It also represents the latest blow to the government’s efforts to achieve stability in restive Sunni-dominated areas. Gunmen staged the assault late Saturday night, two police officers said, shooting some at short range while others died fighting the insurgents when they stormed the barracks. A medical official, who confirmed the causality number, said 11 troops had their hands tied behind their backs and suffered close-range gunshots to the head. The slain troops are in charge […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ongoing fighting in Iraq's Anbar hits businesses

Fighting in Iraq’s western Anbar province, now in its fifth month, appears to have bogged down, with government forces unable to drive out Islamic militants who took over one of the area’s main cities. But the impact is being felt much further, with the repercussions rippling through the country’s economy to hit consumers and businesses. The large, desert province is a major crossroads. The main highways linking Baghdad and other parts of Iraq to Syria and Jordan run through it. So fighting has not only dislodged thousands of residents from their homes and forced shutdowns of their businesses. It has also disrupted shipping, inflating prices of goods in Baghdad and elsewhere. Fears of the road have gotten so bad Iraq has had to stop shipments of oil to Jordan. Anwar Salah, co-owner of al-Baqiee travel agency in Baghdad, said his company used to run more than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ongoing fighting in Iraq’s Anbar hits businesses

Fighting in Iraq’s western Anbar province, now in its fifth month, appears to have bogged down, with government forces unable to drive out Islamic militants who took over one of the area’s main cities. But the impact is being felt much further, with the repercussions rippling through the country’s economy to hit consumers and businesses. The large, desert province is a major crossroads. The main highways linking Baghdad and other parts of Iraq to Syria and Jordan run through it. So fighting has not only dislodged thousands of residents from their homes and forced shutdowns of their businesses. It has also disrupted shipping, inflating prices of goods in Baghdad and elsewhere. Fears of the road have gotten so bad Iraq has had to stop shipments of oil to Jordan. Anwar Salah, co-owner of al-Baqiee travel agency in Baghdad, said his company used to run more than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Missing U.S.$20 Billion – FG Appoint PriceWaterhouseCoopers to Audit NNPC

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, announced on Thursday that the accounting firm – PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been appointed to carry out the audit exercise on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the alledge missing $20 billion. She spoke during a debate at the 24the edition of the World Economic Forum for Africa with theme: "Forging inclusive growth, creating jobs." Okonjo-Iweala said the exercise would be carried out within 16 weeks under the supervision of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation. The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had blown the whistle on a missing $20 billion, which he claimed was not remitted to the federation account by the NNPC. Following the controversy generated by the revelation, Okonjo-Iweala said the forensic audit would help unravel all mystery surrounding the missing fund. "On the issue of holding government to account, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Rig Off Vietnam Crowns Push to Develop Energy Reserves Without Foreign Partners

China spent years working with or buying companies that had mastered deep-water technology, honing skills it is now deploying on its own in disputed waters near Vietnam. China also spent heavily on developing its own sophisticated offshore equipment, of which the rig at the heart of the China-Vietnam standoff is a crown jewel, illustrating how the country can now largely go it alone—developing oil or gas reserves far underwater without relying heavily on foreign partners. The fact that it no longer needs foreign assistance raises the specter of future maritime conflict with not just Vietnam, but also Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, all of which claim sovereignty over parts of the waters that China also claims. Chinese ships clashed with Vietnam’s coast guard over the rig Wednesday, the same day a crew of Chinese fishermen were detained by the Philippines near the disputed Spratly Islands. Philippine authorities on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Asian Century sails into troubled waters in the South China Sea

Only weeks after the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott introduced “Team Australia to help China build the Asian Century” to the Boao Forum on the island of Hainan in the South China Sea we get a foretaste how this much hyped Asian Century will look like: many fights over oil and gas. In a well prepared action China moved a 30,000 ton, 1$ billion semi-submersible drilling rig (HD 981) into position in contested waters 220 kms off the Vietnamese coast near the Paracel islands, and just 330 km South East of Hainan where Abbott spoke. Vietnamese coast guard boats tried to interrupt the positioning of the rig but were attacked by water cannons and rammed by Chinese boats. For Vietnam control over offshore oil and gas is absolutely vital because oil production has peaked 10 years ago and gas is expected to peak by 2018. Abbott would neither know […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Beijing Shakes Up Its Biggest Energy Company

China is shaking up its largest energy company by breaking apart its monopoly on natural-gas pipelines, which for years has discouraged the independent development of promising new supplies of the cleaner-burning fuel. State-controlled PetroChina Co. said late Monday that it will establish a new subsidiary containing some of its gas pipelines and that the business will eventually be sold. The subsidiary, known as PetroChina Eastern Pipelines Co., will hold the first and second phase of its West-East pipeline, which connects gas fields in China’s far northwestern region of Xinjiang with consumers in Shanghai to the east and in Guangdong to the south. PetroChina, the listed unit of China National Petroleum Corp., said that after the sale it won’t retain any ownership of the business, which it said will have 29 billion yuan ($4.65 billion) in net assets. PetroChina didn’t give a timetable or name a potential buyer. Those factors […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pakistan needs Iran's gas, envoy says

-Pakistan’s energy sector is in such disarray that it has few choices apart from a natural gas pipeline from Iran, the former Iranian envoy to Pakistan said. Ambassador Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian told Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency there are rivals to a pipeline clouded by sanctions imposed on Iran’s energy sector. "Owing to the grave conditions of energy (supply and demand) in Pakistan, some of the country’s major cities spend half of the day without electricity, meaning that Pakistan’s need to energy is real and inevitable," he said Sunday. Iran last year pulled out of a finance deal for Pakistan because of sanctions pressure. Pakistan was slated to get 21 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Iranian pipeline. The U.S. government supports a rival pipeline that would deliver natural gas to Pakistan from Turkmenistan. Last year, Washington said it was negotiating […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pakistan needs Iran’s gas, envoy says

-Pakistan’s energy sector is in such disarray that it has few choices apart from a natural gas pipeline from Iran, the former Iranian envoy to Pakistan said. Ambassador Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian told Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency there are rivals to a pipeline clouded by sanctions imposed on Iran’s energy sector. "Owing to the grave conditions of energy (supply and demand) in Pakistan, some of the country’s major cities spend half of the day without electricity, meaning that Pakistan’s need to energy is real and inevitable," he said Sunday. Iran last year pulled out of a finance deal for Pakistan because of sanctions pressure. Pakistan was slated to get 21 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Iranian pipeline. The U.S. government supports a rival pipeline that would deliver natural gas to Pakistan from Turkmenistan. Last year, Washington said it was negotiating […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pipeline, energy bill backers vow to keep up fight

Supporters of a popular energy savings bill and the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline say they will keep trying to force Senate action on the measures, even after they were defeated amid partisan gridlock in the Senate. The energy legislation would tighten efficiency guidelines for new federal buildings and provide tax incentives to make homes and commercial buildings more efficient. The pipeline measure would force a decision by President Barack Obama on the long-delayed project to carry oil from Canada to the United States. Both proposals fell victim to election-year politics Monday night, as a procedural motion to end debate on the energy bill without amendments fell five votes short of the 60 votes needed for approval. The demise of the energy bill also sealed the fate of the pipeline measure. Senate Democratic leaders said the pipeline vote could occur only after Senate action on an […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shale gas may be ready for British grid

British shale gas explorer Cuadrilla could start testing delivery rates through the nation’s transmission system, Chief Executive Francis Egan said. Egan said gas from shale deposits in the country could start flowing through the nation’s transmission system by the end of next year, albeit at low volumes. "After the initial flow test period, which is up to 90 days, if the flow rates look good then we would want to tie the well into the gas transmission system and flow it for a longer period to assess the flow rate over 18 to 24 months," he said Sunday. The company was the target of major demonstrations last summer when its work in the southern village of Balcombe was viewed as a prelude to hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking. In January, Cuadrilla sent a letter to village residents saying it was applying for an extension […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Negligence Charges Brought in Quebec Derailment and Fire

The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and three of its employees have been charged with criminal negligence in connection with a derailment that killed 47 people and incinerated much of downtown Lac-Mégantic, Quebec , last July, officials said on Monday. In a brief statement, the office of Quebec’s director of criminal prosecutions said that Thomas Harding, the engineer and sole employee working on the train, was among those arrested. Federal accident investigators have found that Mr. Harding failed to apply the minimum number of required hand brakes after parking the train for the night. The train was carrying crude oil from North Dakota. A fire in the locomotive led to the loss of the train’s air brakes. Combined with the lack of hand brakes, that eventually allowed the train to run out of control into the town. The unexpectedly volatile nature of the Bakken crude oil led […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Chemical spill fails to loosen coal’s grip on West Virginia politics

It has been more than five months since a leak at a chemical storage facility left more than 300,000 West Virginians without drinking water. Today voters across West Virginia are heading to the polls for the first time since the spill to participate in the state’s primary elections. In the immediate aftermath of the leak, some West Virginians, including Benjamin Seebaugh, believed its devastating impact would serve as a wake-up call for the state, which is known for its lax regulatory environment. Now they’re not so sure. “Many of us truly believed this would be the impetus for tangible change in West Virginia relating to environmental relations and the energy industry,” says Seebaugh, 22. A lifelong West Virginia resident and a Democratic Party activist, he felt that the proximity of the incident to the state’s seat of power was also significant. “Even though West Virginia is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Drilling Productivity Report

Sources & Uses Crude oil, gasoline, heating oil, diesel, propane, and other liquids including biofuels and natural gas liquids. Natural Gas Exploration and reserves, storage, imports and exports, production, prices, sales. Electricity Sales, revenue and prices, power plants, fuel use, stocks, generation, trade, demand & emissions. Consumption & Efficiency Energy use in homes, commercial buildings, manufacturing, and transportation. Coal Reserves, production, prices, employ- ment and productivity, distribution, stocks, imports and exports. Renewable &Alternative Fuels Includes hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and ethanol. Nuclear & Uranium Uranium fuel, nuclear reactors, generation, spent fuel.  Total Energy Comprehensive data summaries, comparisons, analysis, and projections integrated across all energy sources. Highlights This Week in Petroleum › Weekly Petroleum Status Report › Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report › Natural Gas Weekly Update › Electric Power Monthly › Quarterly Coal Report › Monthly Energy Review › Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2009 › Electricity Data Browser › Topics Geography

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA: US Shale Output To Rise In June

Oil production across U.S. shale fields will likely rise by 75,000 barrels-per-day in June after rising nearly as much in May, monthly estimates from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Monday. The largest increase will be recorded in the south Texas Eagle Ford shale, where output will rise by just over 26,000 bpd to about 1.4 million bpd between May and June, according to EIA’s drilling productivity report. Bakken oil production will rise to just under 1.1 million bpd in June, some 22,000 bpd above a month earlier. The Permian basin in West Texas and New Mexico will produce 1.5 million bpd next month, about 21,000 bpd higher than May figures. Meanwhile, gas production will rise 0.48 billion cubic feet month-over-month to 39.3 bcf in June, EIA’s estimates show. The drilling report is based on drilling rigs data and estimates of changes […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US energy giants use crude oil loophole to post record petroleum exports

The loophole allows oil companies to export products that they refine from crude oil”. More BS. This isn’t a “loophole”…a term deliberately used to give the impression refiners are cheating. The law was specifically written to allow product export. One reason was to allow US refiners to get rid of excess diesel. Had refiners not sold it to the EU market they would have had to increase their prices of domestic sales. Same reason EU refiners shipped their excess gasoline to the US. If the US refiners weren’t capturing profit margins in overseas markets they would have to do it all in the US market. So we would have higher domestic prices or refiners might have been driven to shut down. The foreign sales allow US refiners to be profitable. Folks don’t like them making a profit? Fine…cut back their activity […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ukraine needs more gas to avoid problems in winter: Russia's Gazprom

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine needs a total of 18.5 billion cubic meters of gas in storage to avoid problems in winter, double what it has now, Gazprom (GAZP.MM) Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov said on Tuesday. Moscow and Kiev are on the cusp of another gas war after Kiev has refused to pay at higher levels demanded by Gazprom. The Russian company is now asking for prepayment for June and says it will only provide gas that is paid for. "According to our colleagues (in Ukraine), 9 bcm is in storage. To pass through autumn and winter periods normally, we estimate that (Ukraine) needs around 18.5 bcm (in total)," Markelov told a news conference. "So around 9 bcm more is needed." Ukraine wants to change the conditions of a 2009 contract that locked Kiev into buying a set volume, whether it needs it or not, at $485 per 1,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ukraine needs more gas to avoid problems in winter: Russia’s Gazprom

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine needs a total of 18.5 billion cubic meters of gas in storage to avoid problems in winter, double what it has now, Gazprom (GAZP.MM) Deputy Chief Executive Vitaly Markelov said on Tuesday. Moscow and Kiev are on the cusp of another gas war after Kiev has refused to pay at higher levels demanded by Gazprom. The Russian company is now asking for prepayment for June and says it will only provide gas that is paid for. "According to our colleagues (in Ukraine), 9 bcm is in storage. To pass through autumn and winter periods normally, we estimate that (Ukraine) needs around 18.5 bcm (in total)," Markelov told a news conference. "So around 9 bcm more is needed." Ukraine wants to change the conditions of a 2009 contract that locked Kiev into buying a set volume, whether it needs it or not, at $485 per 1,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Peak Oil Review – May 12

  1.  Oil and the Global Economy Last week’s trading left futures prices little changed. New York oil closed Friday at $99.99 a barrel and London closed at $107.89. As has been the case for several weeks, the US crude inventory, weak demand, and the Ukrainian and Libyan situations were the main drivers of the oil markets. US crude imports were down markedly the week before last leading to a drop in inventories along the Gulf coast and even total US crude inventories for the first time in many weeks. Some analysts are wondering if Gulf Coast storage facilities can absorb much more oil. Natural gas futures dropped sharply on Thursday after the inventory report showed that the warmer weather has led to natural gas being injected into storage caverns at close to the normal pace. Futures prices are down about 30 cents per million from the $4.85 level […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Brent Crude Rises First Time in Three Days on Ukraine

Brent rose for the first time in three days on concern the Ukraine crisis may disrupt oil supplies from Russia , the world’s biggest energy exporter. West Texas Intermediate was steady after hedge funds cut wagers. Futures rose as much as 0.5 percent in London. Pro-Russian groups hailed a large majority in favor of secession in a referendum in eastern Ukraine that was dismissed as illegitimate by the government in Kiev and its U.S. and European allies. The global oil market is sufficiently supplied and demand is “great,” according to Saudi Arabia’s Petroleum Minister Ali Al-Naimi . “There is still a lit fuse in Ukraine,” Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. in Middelfart, Denmark , said by e-mail. “The weekend’s unofficial referendum means that the geopolitical tensions will still be around when considering the longer term.” Brent for June settlement climbed as much as 56 cents […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Non OPEC Annual C+C Production Charts

I will continue to depend on your work on peak oil as a great contribution to the understanding of and about peak oil. With respect to commodity and other markets, I will depend on the Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. His bio speaks to his knowledge: Biography[edit] Roberts is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He was a post-graduate at the University of California, Berkeley and at Merton College, Oxford University.[3] His first scholarly article (Classica et Mediaevalia) was a reformulation of “The Pirenne Thesis.” From 1975 to 1978, Roberts served on the congressional staff. As economic counsel to Congressman Jack Kemp,[4] he drafted the Kemp-Roth bill (which became the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981). He played a leading role in developing bipartisan support for a supply-side economic policy.[3] Due to his influential 1978 article on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Saudi Oil Minister Al-Naimi Sees No Reason to Change OPEC Output

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries won’t change its crude oil output level when it meets next month, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said Monday. "Supply is highly sufficient. Demand is great. And the market is fairly stable. There’s no reason for a change. absolutely no reason," Mr. Al-Naimi said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Seoul. Asked if OPEC’s output cap of 30 million barrels a day is right, the oil minister said: "I think so. I know so." He also said the current global oil price of $100 a barrel is the fair price "for everybody, consumer, producer and oil companies." Mr. Al-Naimi said OPEC is willing to supply any shortage which may arise in the market if Russia’s exports of oil are disrupted as a result of the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Benchmark Nymex crude oil for June delivery was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran leader slams West's 'stupid' missile stance before talks

Iran’s Supreme Leader described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development, striking a defiant tone ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to mass produce missiles and said the nuclear negotiations were not the place to discuss Tehran’s defense program or to solve the problem of sanctions damaging the Iranian economy. "They expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action," Khamenei was quoted as telling the IRNA news agency while on a visit to an aeronautics fair held by the Revolutionary Guards. "So this is a stupid, idiotic expectation … The revolutionary guards should definitely carry out their program and not be satisfied with the present level. They should mass produce. This is a main duty of all military officials." Iran and the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran leader slams West’s ‘stupid’ missile stance before talks

Iran’s Supreme Leader described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development, striking a defiant tone ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to mass produce missiles and said the nuclear negotiations were not the place to discuss Tehran’s defense program or to solve the problem of sanctions damaging the Iranian economy. "They expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action," Khamenei was quoted as telling the IRNA news agency while on a visit to an aeronautics fair held by the Revolutionary Guards. "So this is a stupid, idiotic expectation … The revolutionary guards should definitely carry out their program and not be satisfied with the present level. They should mass produce. This is a main duty of all military officials." Iran and the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran nuclear talks face a major hurdle

Three months into intense international negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear development program, Tehran’s team has surprised almost everybody with its apparent eagerness for a deal. Iranian negotiators have met all of their commitments under November’s interim agreement, have proposed compromises on some key disagreements, and have taken part in three top-level meetings without the squabbles that were common over the last decade of fruitless haggling. Yet President Hassan Rouhani’s government is moving away from the United States and its allies on an issue that may be the most important of all. Put simply, the six world powers want Iran to curtail enrichment of uranium. They want Tehran to cut its 19,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges to a few thousand. Tehran, however, is insisting on vastly expanding capacity by adding thousands more centrifuges for what it says is strictly civilian energy purposes. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple