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Libya Oil Disruption Worsens Amid Anti-Government Protest

The disruption of Libyan crude exports worsened as rebels shut down a recently re-opened oil port after protesting over the appointment of the country’s new prime minister. Petroleum Facilities Guards members aligned with federalist rebels stopped loadings at the Hariga oil port in eastern Libya , Oil Ministry Director of Measurement Ibrahim Al Awami said by telephone from Tripoli. The guard has also banned flights operated by state-run National Oil Corp. to Zueitina, another oil port in the east, he said. The eastern rebels’ leader Ibrahim Al-Jedran “seems to have given instructions for this protest to happen because he’s unhappy with the new government,” Awami said. The loss of Libyan oil production, down about 90 percent from its pre-conflict level, has boosted the price of Brent, the benchmark for half the world’s traded crude. On May 21, Citigroup raised its 2014 Brent price forecast to $109 a barrel, from […]

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Libyan Oil May Suffer More Disruption, General Says

Libyan crude exports may be disrupted further by a dispute over the appointment of a new prime minister or attacks against oil infrastructure by Islamists, a retired general leading the fight against militant groups said. Separatist rebels objecting to Ahmed Maiteg’s appointment as prime minister may reoccupy Zueitina and Hariga, two oil export terminals returned to government control last month, Colonel Mohammad Hijazi, a spokesman for General Khalifa Haftar’s self-proclaimed National Army, said today. Haftar respects the rebels’ demand for more autonomy for ’s regions, Hijazi said. “The crisis is worsening and it’s a possibility that the two oil ports that have re-opened close again,” Hijazi said by phone from Tripoli. Extremist groups Haftar is fighting in the east “could attack anything, including the oil facilities,” he said. The loss of Libyan oil production, down about 90 percent from its pre-conflict level, has boosted the price of Brent, the […]

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Egypt Scrambles to Raise Turnout in Presidential Vote

After Egypt’s revolution three years ago, so many voters eager for democracy turned out for elections that officials had to scramble to accommodate the throngs. On Tuesday, the military-backed government confronted the opposite problem. Officials extended a scheduled two-day vote for a third day not because of long lines, but because so few people had shown up. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former army field marshal who deposed Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s first freely elected president, is still universally expected to win by a landslide. Yet the disappointing turnout has upended his supporters’ hopes that the vote would grant him new legitimacy after the ouster. When polling places around the nation remained largely empty on the second day of voting, signs of panic swept the government. Officials initially extended voting hours on Tuesday by an hour, to 10 p.m. Then, a holiday was declared for […]

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India Brings Three Energy-Related Ministries Under One Minister

India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought three often-quarreling, energy-related ministries under one minister, hoping to crank up the supply of power the country needs to generate more economic growth. The new Bharatiya Janata Party government said Tuesday that Piyush Goyal will head the power, coal and renewable energy ministries. "The idea is clear. We need more electricity, more power," Mr. Goyal, told reporters as he became the first person to simultaneously head all three ministries. "The intention is to debottleneck the system." He said he plans to visit and study the power network of the western state of Gujarat, which is one of the few states in India with a power surplus. It was until recently led by Mr. Modi. "Narendra Modi was able to turn around the energy sector in Gujarat during his tenure as the chief minister of the state from […]

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Hungary's MOL finds oil, gas onshore Kazakhstan

Hungarian energy company MOL said it discovered oil and natural gas while drilling into the Rozhkovskoye field onshore Kazakhstan. MOL said it posted a test flow rate of 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent and 6 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the field’s Federovsky block. MOL has a 27.5 percent stake in a consortium controlled by the country’s state-owned KazMunaiGas. The Hungarian company said qualitative analysis was underway to get a better understanding of the full reserve potential in the Federovsky block. The company offered no reserve estimate for the entire Rozhkovskoye field in its Monday announcement. Kazakhstan has the second largest oil reserves and is the second largest oil producer among former Soviet republics. Onshore fields like Rozhkovskoye account for roughly half of the country’s proven oil reserves, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports . © 2014 United Press […]

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Hungary’s MOL finds oil, gas onshore Kazakhstan

Hungarian energy company MOL said it discovered oil and natural gas while drilling into the Rozhkovskoye field onshore Kazakhstan. MOL said it posted a test flow rate of 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent and 6 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the field’s Federovsky block. MOL has a 27.5 percent stake in a consortium controlled by the country’s state-owned KazMunaiGas. The Hungarian company said qualitative analysis was underway to get a better understanding of the full reserve potential in the Federovsky block. The company offered no reserve estimate for the entire Rozhkovskoye field in its Monday announcement. Kazakhstan has the second largest oil reserves and is the second largest oil producer among former Soviet republics. Onshore fields like Rozhkovskoye account for roughly half of the country’s proven oil reserves, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports . © 2014 United Press […]

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South Sudan: Government Admits Conflict Has Hampered Oil Production

Juba — South Sudan government admitted on Sunday that the ongoing conflict has affected the country’s oil production, with production now at just 165,000 barrels per day. Petroleum minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau, told Sudan Tribune that the country continues receiving revenues from oil produced in Upper Nile state, where production rate is reportedly on the decline since no additional explorations takes place in the area. "The oil production is continuing in Upper Nile. The current output is not bad, but there is a drop. At the moment the level of output stands at 165,000 barrel per day from 245,000 barrels per day before the current crisis erupted last year", said Dau. "This [oil] is produced in Paloch", added the petroleum minister. He commended government troops for providing protection and defense to the only remaining oil wells in the country, despite several attempts by rebels to control it. "There is […]

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Kenya: Oil Exploitation Contradicts Kenya's Climate Goals, Legislator Warns

Kenya is in the final stage of enacting a new climate change law, expected to be approved in the coming months. At the same time, the private sector is preparing to tap significant oil reserves in the north. Will the hunt for fossil fuels thwart Kenya’s efforts to go green and curb its carbon emissions? After a 2007 study forecast how climate change would impact Kenya, a National Climate Change Response Strategy was launched at the 2009 U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. The government then developed a Climate Change Action Plan to implement the strategy, which was completed in March 2013. The action plan spells out how to tackle climate change at local, county and national levels. The next step is to enshrine that in law. "We realised we had collected enough information to start preparing climate change legislation, because it cuts across all sectors – hence the need […]

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Kenya: Oil Exploitation Contradicts Kenya’s Climate Goals, Legislator Warns

Kenya is in the final stage of enacting a new climate change law, expected to be approved in the coming months. At the same time, the private sector is preparing to tap significant oil reserves in the north. Will the hunt for fossil fuels thwart Kenya’s efforts to go green and curb its carbon emissions? After a 2007 study forecast how climate change would impact Kenya, a National Climate Change Response Strategy was launched at the 2009 U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. The government then developed a Climate Change Action Plan to implement the strategy, which was completed in March 2013. The action plan spells out how to tackle climate change at local, county and national levels. The next step is to enshrine that in law. "We realised we had collected enough information to start preparing climate change legislation, because it cuts across all sectors – hence the need […]

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China Strips Senior Energy Official of His Posts

China has stripped a senior energy official of his government and Communist Party posts less than a week after announcing he was under investigation for suspected bribe-taking. Xu Yongsheng, one of seven deputy directors of the National Energy Administration, which drafts energy policy, has been removed from his positions, the official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday, citing the Organization Department of the Communist Party. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate said in a statement last week that the top investigative body had started a criminal probe into Mr. Xu and Wang Junli, director of the National Energy Administration’s new energy department. Both were said to be suspected of taking of bribes. The National Energy Administration had no immediate comment, but Mr. Xu’s name has already been removed from the list of senior officials on the administration’s website. China’s Communist Party leaders have been pushing ahead with a prolonged campaign against official […]

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Mexico’s energy reform seeks to reverse decline in oil production

In late 2013, Mexico’s congress approved historic legislation that altered the 1938 ban on private sector participation in the Mexican energy sector. These reforms, that end the 75-year monopoly of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and allow for greater foreign investment, are the first to include constitutional change, and promise to address many of the challenges that have resulted in a decade-long decline in Mexico’s oil production. Last year, Mexico produced 2.90 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of total liquids, continuing the decline from its peak of 3.85 million bbl/d in 2004. Crude oil is the most significant component of Mexico’s liquid fuels production, accounting for at least 85% of production in the past two decades. Preliminary estimates indicate April 2014 production of crude oil was about 2.5 million bbl/d, the lowest monthly average since 1995. The new reforms include the following: Create four oil and […]

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China Oil Demand Rose 1.4% in April Versus a Year Ago

April Demand Contracted from March, Reflecting Slower Industrial Activity Singapore – May 27, 2014 China’s apparent oil demand* in April rose 1.4% compared with the same month last year to 39.92 million metric tons (mt) or an average 9.75 million barrels per day (b/d), a just-released analysis of Chinese government data showed. The year-over-year growth in apparent oil demand in April was greater than the 0.5% recorded in the previous month. On a month-over-month basis, apparent oil demand in April fell 0.7% from March. This was the third consecutive year that apparent oil demand has contracted in April from March and is counter to prior years, when demand traditionally accelerated in the second quarter. Analysts have said this is mainly because of muted pick-up in industrial activities this spring. China’s refinery crude throughput volumes in April rose 3.8% from a year earlier to 9.67 million b/d, data from China’s […]

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Japan gets first LNG cargo from Papua New Guinea

Japan will receive the first shipment of liquefied natural gas from a project led by Exxon Mobil in Papua New Guinea, project developers said. Tokyo Electric Power Co. bought the first cargo of LNG from the partnership in charge of the $19 billion facility. The Japanese energy sector has taken on more LNG in response to the shortage of power brought on by the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, operated by TEPCO. Construction at the LNG facility in Papua New Guinea began in 2010. Its first section went into service in April and the entire facility can produce 6.9 million tons of LNG per year. More than 400 miles of natural gas pipeline from production and processing facilities in Papua New Guinea are associated with the LNG terminal. Peter Graham, regional project director for Exxon Mobil, said in a statement the LNG delivery to TEPCO […]

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Shakeout Threatens Shale Patch as Frackers Go for Broke

The U.S. shale patch is facing a shakeout as drillers struggle to keep pace with the relentless spending needed to get oil and gas out of the ground. Shale debt has almost doubled over the last four years while revenue has gained just 5.6 percent, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of 61 shale drillers. A dozen of those wildcatters are spending at least 10 percent of their sales on interest compared with Exxon Mobil Corp.’s 0.1 percent. “The list of companies that are financially stressed is considerable,” said Benjamin Dell, managing partner of Kimmeridge Energy, a New York-based alternative asset manager focused on energy. “Not everyone is going to survive. We’ve seen it before.” Some investors are already bailing out. On May 23, Loews Corp. (L) , the holding company run by New York ’s Tisch family, said it is weighing the sale of HighMount Exploration & Production […]

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US BOEM aims for revised Chukchi Sea analysis in spring

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management told a US District Court in Alaska on Friday it will have a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the 2008 Chukchi Sea lease sale prepared by August and publication of a Final EIS by February. Under the schedule the final action, publication of the record of decision, would occur in March. Whether Shell would have time to mobilize for a 2015 summer drilling season in the Arctic is uncertain, however. "We are considering the implications of the timeline presented in the status report and continue to work with the Department of Interior. We have made no decisions on the timing for our future exploration plans offshore Alaska," Shell spokeswoman Meg Baldino said Tuesday in a statement. Shell has been exploring in the region and hopes to resume drilling in 2015 on leases the company acquired in the 2008 lease sale. The […]

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Oil Shale's Future: Resources Aplenty, But Challenges Loom

It is widely accepted that the combination of 3-D seismic imaging, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in shale formations has brought about a renaissance in the energy industry in recent years. However, the results have been spread out unevenly, and opinions vary as to how long drilling in shale formations can continue to drive the market. Some predict that the energy boom provided by unconventional formations will likely slow in the next few years, while others say that drilling in shale formations will continue to be a dominant force in the industry for many years – and possibly decades – to come. By 2020, gross domestic product (GDP) could be boosted by nearly $700 billion a year, and up to 1.7 million jobs could be added to the economy by 2020 – all thanks to the U.S. shale boom, according to a study by McKinsey & Co. However, while […]

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Oil Shale’s Future: Resources Aplenty, But Challenges Loom

It is widely accepted that the combination of 3-D seismic imaging, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in shale formations has brought about a renaissance in the energy industry in recent years. However, the results have been spread out unevenly, and opinions vary as to how long drilling in shale formations can continue to drive the market. Some predict that the energy boom provided by unconventional formations will likely slow in the next few years, while others say that drilling in shale formations will continue to be a dominant force in the industry for many years – and possibly decades – to come. By 2020, gross domestic product (GDP) could be boosted by nearly $700 billion a year, and up to 1.7 million jobs could be added to the economy by 2020 – all thanks to the U.S. shale boom, according to a study by McKinsey & Co. However, while […]

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Sky Could Fall on North Dakota's Oil if We're Not Careful, Shale Boss Says

All parties with a collective interest in seeing the North Dakota oil experiment succeed need to work together because, right now, the boss at the largest stakeholder in the Bakken shale says opponents are drawing a bead on the region. And it’s not just exploration and production that’s a concern. Oil production from the Bakken shale oil play in North Dakota is increasing at an exponential rate. State government data show production for May, the last full month for which complete information is available, was 977,051 barrels per day, a new all-time high. On April 28, Continental Resources , the largest stakeholder in the Bakken play, said the field produced its 1 billionth barrel of oil at some point during first quarter 2014. The company’s chairman, Harold Hamm, said that, at the rate things are going now, production could hit the 2 million bpd mark by the end of […]

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Sky Could Fall on North Dakota’s Oil if We’re Not Careful, Shale Boss Says

All parties with a collective interest in seeing the North Dakota oil experiment succeed need to work together because, right now, the boss at the largest stakeholder in the Bakken shale says opponents are drawing a bead on the region. And it’s not just exploration and production that’s a concern. Oil production from the Bakken shale oil play in North Dakota is increasing at an exponential rate. State government data show production for May, the last full month for which complete information is available, was 977,051 barrels per day, a new all-time high. On April 28, Continental Resources , the largest stakeholder in the Bakken play, said the field produced its 1 billionth barrel of oil at some point during first quarter 2014. The company’s chairman, Harold Hamm, said that, at the rate things are going now, production could hit the 2 million bpd mark by the end of […]

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Chamber Study Predicts Obama Climate Rule Will Kill Jobs

The nation’s biggest business lobby says President Barack Obama ’s plan to tackle climate change could cost the U.S. economy $50 billion a year. Supporters predict it will create jobs and lower power bills. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Natural Resources Defense Council are both releasing economic impact studies this week, signaling that the political battle over the president’s plan will be fought over dollars and cents. For Obama, the risk is the plan gets labeled a job-killer just as campaigns heat up for an election that could determine control of the U.S. Senate . In an analysis set for release today — days before the Environmental Protection Agency unveils a proposal to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants — the Chamber says that an ambitious pollution-control effort could force more than a third of the coal-fired power capacity to close by 2030, resulting in economic losses […]

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BP Loses Bid to Stall Spill Payments During Appeal

BP Plc (BP/) must pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims while it seeks U.S. Supreme Court review of disputed payments in its $9.2 billion accord over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a court ruled. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected the U.K.-based energy company’s request to maintain a temporary halt on payments to businesses that can’t prove they were directly damaged by the spill. BP settled with most private-party plaintiffs in 2012, initially estimating the cost of the agreement at $7.8 billion. The company contends a flawed interpretation by the claims administrator helped raise the price to $9.2 billion or more. A trial judge in December suspended payments to all businesses harmed by the spill, even those with losses unquestionably linked to the disaster, while the appeals court weighed BP’s concerns. On May 19, the court refused to reconsider its earlier […]

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Are We Underestimating America's Fracking Boom?

Start with exotic Nazi technology, take a detour with South African apartheidists, and add a bit role for Iranian imams. What you have is—what else? —one of the most improbable and important American business stories of the past decade. It’s the tale of a company called , the former South African state oil company, which is embarking on what could be the single-largest foreign investment project in U.S. history. Sasol is building a 3,034-acre energy complex near a bayou in Lake Charles, La. Tapping into cheap, fracked natural gas as well as the pipeline and shipping infrastructure along the Gulf Coast, Sasol plans to spend as much as $21 billion there. It is expensive, elaborate and dirty work. Sasol plans to reduce, or "crack," the gas into ethylene, a raw chemical used in plastics, paints and food packaging. It also plans to convert the gas into high-quality diesel and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Are We Underestimating America’s Fracking Boom?

Start with exotic Nazi technology, take a detour with South African apartheidists, and add a bit role for Iranian imams. What you have is—what else? —one of the most improbable and important American business stories of the past decade. It’s the tale of a company called , the former South African state oil company, which is embarking on what could be the single-largest foreign investment project in U.S. history. Sasol is building a 3,034-acre energy complex near a bayou in Lake Charles, La. Tapping into cheap, fracked natural gas as well as the pipeline and shipping infrastructure along the Gulf Coast, Sasol plans to spend as much as $21 billion there. It is expensive, elaborate and dirty work. Sasol plans to reduce, or "crack," the gas into ethylene, a raw chemical used in plastics, paints and food packaging. It also plans to convert the gas into high-quality diesel and […]

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How Local Governments Lead the Way on Energy Policy

The U.S. federal government is failing its citizens by not developing a comprehensive energy policy that ensures secure, economical and reliable energy over the long term. But while our federal officials flounder in fear and partisan dysfunction, local leaders across the political spectrum are taking on the challenge, breaking dependence on conventional energy sources, and liberating their communities with efficiency and renewable energy technologies. States like California and Maine have passed laws limiting the building of new coal plants, while cities like Los Angeles and Dallas have joined many others to pass moratoria and bans on fracking. No one knows how to safely store nuclear waste, which coupled with the staggering costs of building new reactors and fixing old ones, is also forcing a decline in nuclear power. While some communities say no to polluting fossil energy, increasingly others are saying yes to renewable-energy […]

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BP faces resumption of Deepwater Horizon compensation payments

BP is close to being forced to restart contentious compensation payments under its settlement for victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster , after a federal appeals court rejected its call to keep an injunction in place. The Fifth Circuit appeals court on Tuesday denied a request from BP to maintain a block on payments to businesses while the US Supreme Court decided whether to take on the case over the settlement. The company said it was “disappointed” by the decision, and planned a second appeal to the Supreme Court to try to avoid being forced to resume the disputed payments. BP argues that the deal it agreed in 2012 has been misinterpreted by Patrick Juneau, the court-appointed claims administrator, to allow businesses that suffered no loss as a result of the oil spill to receive compensation. Payments for business losses were suspended by a court order last October, […]

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Russians Revealed Among Ukraine Fighters

For weeks, rumors have flown about the foreign fighters involved in the deepening conflict in Ukraine’s troubled east, each one stranger than the last: mercenaries from an American company, Blackwater; Russian special forces; and even Chechen soldiers of fortune. Yet there they were on Tuesday afternoon, resting outside a hospital here: Chechen men with automatic rifles, some bearing bloodstained bandages, protecting their wounded comrades in a city hospital after a firefight with the Ukrainian Army. “We received an invitation to help our brothers,” said one of the fighters in heavily accented Russian. He said he was from Grozny and had fought in the Chechen War that began in 1999. He said he arrived here last week with several dozen men to join a pro-Russian militia group. The scene at the hospital was new evidence that fighters from Russia are an increasingly visible part of the conflict […]

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Russian Gas Deliveries to Europe to Continue Uninterrupted

Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe ‎should continue uninterrupted in June as commercial disputes between Russia and Ukraine can be resolved in short order, Europe’s commissioner for energy said on Tuesday. "I’m quite optimistic we can [regarding to Europe] in the next days," Günther Oettinger said in Prague after meeting with the Czech foreign minister. Russia has threatened to halt European Union-bound ‎ due to its failure to pay for deliveries between November and May. The stoppage could be averted however by a compromise solut‎ion in which Ukraine pays part of its outstanding bill as a show of good faith while it negotiates a new price for future deliveries. The future price should be closer to the market price that Russia’s OAO Gazprom charges its EU customers, he said. To limit the risk to EU energy security, Mr. Oettinger said the bloc and member states should bolster gas storage […]

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Ukrainian Forces Inflict Rebel Losses After Poroshenko Win

Ukraine’s government said it will press on with military operations against pro-Russian rebel fighters after its forces retook Donetsk airport and inflicted “significant” losses on the separatists. Troops killed “dozens” of rebels in Donetsk without suffering any losses, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said yesterday, while the mayor’s office in the eastern city said 40 people died and 31 were wounded. President-elect Petro Poroshenko has vowed to wipe out the rebels and re-establish order across Ukraine after winning office May 25. He must stabilize a shrinking economy and confront separatists who’ve captured swaths of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. They’ve declared themselves independent and are fighting to join Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March. “The elections showed that the voters are tired of ongoing violence, giving the new president a mandate to act in a forceful way to put an end to this,” Arkady Moshes , head of […]

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EU, Russia, Ukraine propose deal to break gas impasse

BRUSSELS, May 27 (UPI) –Russian energy company Gazprom agrees to keep gas flowing through Ukraine for June without pre-payment from Ukraine, the European Union said. European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger met with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yuri Prodan, to settle lingering issues in the Ukrainian natural gas sector. The European Commission said Monday " substantial progress " has been made, though there were no major breakthroughs. Russian energy company Gazprom said Ukraine would have to pay in advance for natural gas unless it settles a multi-billion dollar gas bill. Ukraine hosts the bulk of Russia’s gas delivered for Europe and the stalemate has put the region’s energy security at risk. The European Commission said Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz agrees to pay $2 billion by Friday and another $500 million by June 7 to settle its outstanding debts. "Gazprom agrees to continue to supply gas […]

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Ukrainian Forces Inflict Rebel Losses After Poroshenko Win

Ukraine’s government said it will press on with military operations against pro-Russian rebel fighters after its forces retook Donetsk airport and inflicted “significant” losses on the separatists. Troops killed “dozens” of rebels in Donetsk without suffering any losses, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said yesterday, while the mayor’s office in the eastern city said 40 people died and 31 were wounded. President-elect Petro Poroshenko has vowed to wipe out the rebels and re-establish order across Ukraine after winning office May 25. He must stabilize a shrinking economy and confront separatists who’ve captured swaths of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. They’ve declared themselves independent and are fighting to join Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in March. “The elections showed that the voters are tired of ongoing violence, giving the new president a mandate to act in a forceful way to put an end to this,” Arkady Moshes , head of […]

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Charles Hall “Peak oil, declining EROI and the probability of degrowth”

Second Conference on Economic Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity March 26-29th 2010, Barcelona Peak oil is not some fuzzy academic concern but a reality: for the US in 1970, for some 60 of 80 oil-producing countries and, at least for the moment, for the world since about 2005. In addition the net energy delivered to society (as opposed to the total) is declining in recent decades from 30 or more to one to ten or less to one as we have exhausted our largest, shallowest, closest to shore and highest quality oil and gas fields. While technological improvements have slowed the effects of depletion the net effects are that there is a declining EROI (Energy Return on Energy [and money] Invested). Most alternatives to oil and gas except hydroelectric or coal have a small or very small EROI, and even for these the highest EROI sites in […]

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Explaining Peak Oil

Peak oil is seen by many oil experts and economists as a major threat to the stability of the global economy and social structure. In 1956, M King Hubbert developed models that correctly foretold that between 1965 -70 oil production in the United States of America would reach a peak and then decline. This model known, as Hubbert’s Peak has proved to be acceptably accurate in forecasting the rise and fall in production for oil-fields both regionally and nationally. The reliance of western economies on oil Most of the important component activities of an industrialised nation such as the UK are dependent on the use of oil. For example, most forms of mechanical transport rely on oil for fuel or lubrication. Therefore, what is produced in factories or farms and then sent to the marketplace uses oil for transportation and probably in some stage of the production. Even the […]

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Brent Crude Rebounds

Brent oil futures rebounded in Asian trading hours Tuesday. U.S. financial markets return from Memorial Day weekend later today. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $104.48 a barrel at 0526 GMT–up $0.13 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.40 to $110.72 a barrel. Ukraine and Russia indicated they are willing to talk but fighting flared Monday between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists. Analysts said the potential for further conflict remains. Oil markets will be tracking U.S. oil stocks data for indications of stronger demand with the onset of the summer driving season. Inventory reports will be delayed by a day owing to the long weekend. Bernstein Research remains positive in its long-term oil-price forecasts and expects flattish prices over the next two-years followed by a steeper increase in the second half […]

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Brent Rises From 4-Day Low as Ukraine Tension Flares; WTI Steady

Brent crude rebounded from the lowest price in four days amid speculation that renewed tension between Ukraine and Russia may threaten Europe’s energy supplies. West Texas Intermediate was steady. Futures rose as much as 0.4 percent in London . President-elect Petro Poroshenko set Ukraine on a collision course with Russia even before the last vote had been counted, vowing to step up operations to rein in separatists in the country’s east. Consumer confidence in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, probably rebounded in May while services expanded at a reduced pace, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before separate reports today. “Some geopolitical tension over Ukraine has crept back into the market,” Victor Shum, a vice president at IHS Energy Insight, a consultant, said by phone from Singapore today. “The situation has no immediate impact on oil supply but it affects the geopolitical tone in the market.” […]

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Where are Natural Gas prices headed?

Having spent more than 25 years in the oil and gas industry I have seen my fair share of hydro-carbon price fluctuations. So it has not come as a complete surprise to me that the "shale gas" phenomenon has had such a dramatic impact on North American Natural Gas prices. At the beginning of the 21st century Natural Gas prices were about $4.00/Million BTU and thereafter they rose rapidly to $8-$10/Million BTU in the years 2005-2007. The economic crisis that started in the fall of 2008 coincided with increasing production due to the success of shale gas development which translated into a very rapid decline in Natural Gas prices to just over $2.00/Million BTU in 2012. Since then prices have recovered somewhat to about $4/Million BTU. The low prices since 2008 have resulted in a very predictable decline in the number of drilling rigs exploring for new natural gas […]

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EPA Set to Unveil Climate Proposal

The Obama administration will next week unveil a cornerstone of its climate-change initiative with a proposed rule aimed at allowing states to use cap-and-trade systems, renewable energy and other measures to meet aggressive goals for reducing carbon emissions by existing power plants. Energy companies and others affected by the proposal will be watching for key details, including the percentage by which companies and states must reduce carbon emissions, which is expected to be proposed in a range instead of a single number. The baseline year against which those reductions are calculated will also be closely monitored. But the proposal is designed to give states, which will administer the regulations, flexibility to meet the benchmarks, as opposed to placing emissions limits on individual plants, according to people familiar with the Environmental Protection Agency’s work on the rule. Central to the strategy of flexibility: the option to include a cap-and-trade component […]

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Rivals challenge Iraq PM's election success

Nuri al-Maliki may be in pole position to remain Iraq’s prime minister, but allegations of malpractice during last month’s polls are clouding the prospect of forming a government anytime soon. Key rivals of the premier, from inside and outside his Shiite community, allege irregularities at the polling stations, as well as problems with the transport of ballot boxes and vote counting, potentially delaying the certification of results, or even changing final tallies. Maliki’s bloc emerged from the April 30 vote with by far the most seats in parliament, nearly three times as many as his nearest opponent, though his State of Law alliance fell short of an absolute majority on its own. That means he will need to court support from rival blocs, many of whom have publicly said they will not countenance a third term for a prime minister they allege has consolidated power and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Rivals challenge Iraq PM’s election success

Nuri al-Maliki may be in pole position to remain Iraq’s prime minister, but allegations of malpractice during last month’s polls are clouding the prospect of forming a government anytime soon. Key rivals of the premier, from inside and outside his Shiite community, allege irregularities at the polling stations, as well as problems with the transport of ballot boxes and vote counting, potentially delaying the certification of results, or even changing final tallies. Maliki’s bloc emerged from the April 30 vote with by far the most seats in parliament, nearly three times as many as his nearest opponent, though his State of Law alliance fell short of an absolute majority on its own. That means he will need to court support from rival blocs, many of whom have publicly said they will not countenance a third term for a prime minister they allege has consolidated power and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ecuador to Sign $7B Oil-Refinery Financing Deal With China

After about three years of negotiations, the government of Ecuador is preparing to sign a financing deal with China, valued at about $7 billion, to finance a new oil refinery known as the Refineria del Pacifico, an official said. The $10 billion refinery will process 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Thirty percent of the funds needed will come from the project’s partners and the remaining 70% will be financed by a group of Chinese banks headed by the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. 601398.SH +0.57% An official close to the deal, who asked not to be named, said Friday that the government of Ecuador will sign the financing deal, the first tranche of which will consist of about $2.5 billion and will be disbursed soon. The official said a high-level delegation of officials from China have been finalizing details in Quito, and President Rafael Correa […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China to take 6 million older vehicles off roads

China’s government plans to take 6 million older, polluting vehicles off the road this year in an effort to revive stalled progress toward cleaning up smog-choked cities. The plan also calls for filling stations in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities to switch to selling only the cleanest grades of gasoline and diesel, according to a Cabinet statement issued Monday. The order comes after China failed to meet official pollution-reduction goals for 2011-2013, the statement said. It said vehicles registered before 2005 that fail to meet cleaner emissions standards will be "phased out," though it did not say how. It called the country’s environmental situation "extremely grim." China’s major cities are smothered in eye-searing smog. The country has some of the world’s strictest emissions standards, but authorities have refrained from enforcing them until now to avoid forcing older, pollution-belching trucks off the road and hurting small […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tornado hits North Dakota oil workers camp, 9 hurt

A tornado struck a workers camp in North Dakota’s oil patch on Monday, injuring nine people – one critically – and destroying at least eight trailers where workers had been living, an emergency management official said. The twister touched down at around 7:50 p.m. at a camp about 5 miles south of Watford City, which is in the west of the state and about 30 miles southeast of Williston, the city at the heart of the state’s oil boom. McKenzie County Emergency Management Director Jerry Samuelson said crews sifted through a large amount of debris at the camp, but that he was confident that nobody was missing. He said there were a lot more trailers at the camp just a few days ago, so the situation could have been a lot worse had it happened earlier. "Obviously, we’re very fortunate there are no deaths, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Governments Await Obama’s Move on Carbon to Gauge U.S. Climate Efforts

President Obama is expected to announce on Monday an Environmental Protection Agency regulation to cut carbon pollution from the nation’s fleet of 600 coal-fired power plants, in a speech that government analysts in Beijing, Brussels and beyond will scrutinize to determine how serious the president is about fighting global warming . The regulation will be Mr. Obama’s most forceful effort to reverse 20 years of relative inaction on climate change by the United States, which has stood as the greatest obstacle to international efforts to slow the rise of heat-trapping gases from burning coal and oil that scientists say cause warming. The president had tried, without success, to move a climate change bill through Congress in his first term, and such legislation would now stand no chance of getting past the resistance of Republican lawmakers who question the science of climate change. So Mr. Obama is taking […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine’s Next President Vows to Restore Order and Mend Russia Ties

The president-elect of Ukraine, Petro O. Poroshenko, vowed on Monday to restore order in the country’s east, which is besieged by pro-Russian separatist violence, but said he would not negotiate with armed rebels and instead would demand swifter results from a military campaign that has achieved only limited success. While Mr. Poroshenko has said that he would push for parliamentary elections before the end of the year, on Monday he said he saw no reason for the removal of Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk and other leaders of the interim government, which has been running Ukraine since the toppling of President Viktor F. Yanukovych in February. Mr. Poroshenko also promised to mend ties with the Kremlin, citing his business connections to Russia as well as his personal relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin, who has promised to respect the Ukrainian election results. “Most probably the meeting […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine Forces Appear to Oust Rebels From Airport in East

The new Ukrainian government struck the separatists in this eastern province with a major military offensive on Monday, battling them over an important provincial airport in ground fighting that lasted for hours. The rebels were left scattered and shaken, just one day after a successful national election they had tried to disrupt. The airport battle was the first time the Ukrainian military had moved so aggressively against the separatists, who took over government buildings in two eastern provinces in March, after weeks of low-grade military maneuvers meant to stop their spread to other areas. There was no immediate indication that the Ukrainian military’s operations extended any further than the strategically important airport and surrounding area. Experts said that while the military’s attack might have put the separatists on the defensive, it was unlikely to stop their power. As fighting lasted into a rainy evening, the military […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine crisis: Army says it has retaken Donetsk airport

Ukraine’s army said on Tuesday it had retaken Donetsk international airport after a day of heavy fighting following its seizure by pro-Russia militants in the aftermath of an election that saw billionaire Petro Poroshenko become the country’s new president. However, occasional bursts of gunfire could still be heard in the area and it was not clear whether Kiev’s forces have regained full control. Sergei Prokofiev Donetsk airport , which was modernised in 2012, remained closed on Tuesday. Some representatives of the rebels said at least 30 had been killed. However, that number was impossible to immediately verify. Mr Poroshenko, who won 54 per cent of the vote with more than 76 per cent of the ballots counted, has promised to negotiate with the anti-Kiev groups in eastern regions to end the months-long crisis. But he has also said that force should be used against “killers and terrorists”. On Monday […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU Energy Commissioner Oettinger: Progress in Gas Talks Between Russia and Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine took a tentative step toward resolving a dispute that threatened to cut off Ukraine’s gas supply, as the two sides said they would consider a deal in which Ukraine would quickly pay Russia $2 billion in unpaid bills. Under a deal floated at negotiations in Berlin on Monday, Ukraine would make the $2 billion payment on Thursday, followed by negotiations on Friday over the disputed price Russia charges Ukraine for its gas, European Union Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said after Monday’s talks concluded. But first, the deal would need to be approved by Moscow and Kiev, as well as the boards of state gas companies Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom of Russia, according to Mr. Oettinger. Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister, said the two sides had made "significant progress" on Monday. But Ukraine Energy Minister Yuri Prodan stopped short of endorsing the possible […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine PM Hopes Gazprom, Naftogaz Sign Agreement By Thursday — Interfax

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said he hopes Russian and Ukrainian gas companies will sign a gas agreement by Thursday or meet in court in Stockholm to resolve their disputes, Interfax reports Tuesday. Mr. Yatsenyuk used harsh language when talking about a compromise gas-price agreement between Russia and Ukraine after the two sides agreed to sit down to discuss gas prices if Ukraine agrees to pay its gas supply debt promptly. "We hope that our Russian neighbors have a bright thought and the agreement between Naftogaz and Gazprom is signed," Mr. Yatsenyuk said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. "Russia has made no steps to solve the dispute," Mr. Yatsenyuk said. Mr. Yatsenyuk also said that Ukraine will only negotiate with Russia in the presence of intermediaries from the U.S. and the European Union. "You sit at the table with just them, they will sure deceive […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russian Gas Reliance in Europe Skewing Sanctions Debate

European leaders, while calling Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election a success, are still facing a deeper dilemma: how to free their countries from an addiction to Russian energy. Pro-European billionaire Petro Poroshenko’s victory has relieved the immediate pressure on the U.S. and the European Union to impose tougher sanctions against Russia. “The successful holding of these elections constitutes a major step towards the objective of de-escalating tensions and restoring security for all Ukrainians,” European Commission President Jose Barrosoand EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in a joint statement yesterday. The European and American reluctance to escalate in the wake of an election that was at least a partial success, a U.S. official said yesterday, suggests that by finally tempering his actions and rhetoric, Russian President Vladimir Putin may have achieved much of what he sought in Ukraine. Russia’s ever-changing mix of covert action, economic threats and the annexation of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Greenpeace Boards Rig Heading for Norway’s Northernmost Drilling

Activists from environmental group Greenpeace boarded a Statoil ASA (STL) rig en route to drill Norway’s northernmost exploration well in the Barents Sea , saying it’s too close to the polar ice cap and a key nature reserve. The Transocean Spitsbergen rig won’t resume its voyage to the Apollo prospect in the Hoop area or start drilling until about 10 activists have left the vessel, which is owned by Transocean Ltd. (RIG) , Statoil spokesman Oerjan Heradstveit said. “The action has so far been peaceful, but it’s still an irresponsible and illegal action,” Heradstveit said by mobile phone. “It’s too early to say” if the drilling that’s scheduled for the end of the month will be delayed, he said. Statoil, Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and other explorers are meeting obstacles from environmental groups, politicians and courts as they seek to tap oil and gas resources in the Arctic […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Are Shales a Bubble?

Hype works. Particularly when monetary and economic benefits are promised. Hype has been the primary tool used by the oil and gas industry with regard to shales and it has worked brilliantly. There is just one problem. When considering shale economic viability, hype was the only aspect that actually existed. Interestingly, the past year has brought massive write downs in shale assets and a frenzy of asset sales. Some companies, such as Shell, admitted that their divestment of North American shale properties was to stem the financial hemorrhaging and to distance themselves from disappointing well results. Others, like Exxon Mobil, claim to still be true believers in spite of their losses. According to a Bloomberg article dated May, 2014: “The recent battering of Forest Oil (FST) shows how the borrow-drill strategy can backfire. Forest generated $1.3 billion by selling assets in 2013 to pay down debt and finance its […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple