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Canadian Oil Sands Projects Continue to Vie for Skilled Talent

Article title More than 98,000 oil sands construction, maintenance and operations jobs will be generated over the next decade, according to a new report “the Oil Sands Construction, Maintenance and Operations Labour Demand Outlook to 2023”. “Accurate labor market information gives us a clear understanding of the workforce issues affecting oil sands development, and helps ensure that $172 billion in wages and salaries continues to generate economic benefits right across this country. This new information helps government and industry make the best possible decisions, and helps Albertans and Canadians make informed choices about their careers,” said Kyle Fawcett, minister of Alberta Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour, in the report. The Labour Demand Outlook report analyzed data and viewed insights from the construction sector, the oil sands sector and government to highlight the need for the construction and oil and gas industries to work together to ensure the supply of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Cheap Oil is Gone Forever

Sixty years ago, a man stood in front of a crowd that had gathered at a small hotel in San Antonio. Minutes before approaching the podium, however, he was quietly ushered off the stage to take an urgent phone call. On the other end of the line was a PR rep for one of the largest oil companies in the world, begging him not to give his speech. Luckily, Dr. Marion King Hubbert wasn’t persuaded. He went on to deliver what was arguably the most important oil prediction since Edwin Drake first drilled a hole into the Pennsylvanian soil in search of salt brine. Essentially, Dr. Hubbert believed there would be a point in time when oil production in the U.S. would peak and begin to decline. Even though his work became the basis for the peak oil theory, far too many people haven’t realized that this isn’t a […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Gazprom delays pre-payment scheme for Ukraine

Russian energy company Gazprom said it was delaying a move to force Ukraine to pay in advance for gas because of the intensity of contractual negotiations. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week said he was ready to offer Ukraine a discount on natural gas on a permanent basis. The Ukrainian government had balked on earlier proposals , something Putin said would take the gas relationship to an "absolutely different stage." Gazprom has said it would force Ukraine to pay in advance unless it settles the billions of dollars of debt owed for natural gas deliveries. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Wednesday he was holding off on the pre-payment scheme because of trilateral talks involving members of the European Union. "The Russian side made a move towards continuing talks which have been very intense lately," he said . "The Russian side has decided to postpone the switch to prepayment until […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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OPEC Update and news from Iraq

The new  OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report just came out with their Crude Only production numbers for May. All data in the OPEC charts are in thousands barrels per day. OPEC 12 There was very little in production changes and no surprises in the May data. Total OPEC production was up 142,000 barrels per day and that was after the April numbers had been revised up by 29,000 bpd. Everyone is concerned about Iraq. Iraq’s April numbers were revised down by 22,000 bpd and May production was up 18,000 above that revised number. Iraqi production stood at 3,331,000 bpd in May but I expect that number will change in June and most definitely in July. Saudi Arabia Of course everyone is concerned about Saudi Arabia. Nothing much happened to Saudi Production in May either. April production was revised up 35,000 bpd and May production was up 32,000 above that. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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IEA Investment Report – Stumbling on the Real Story

Recently, the IEA published  a “Special Report” called  World Energy Investment Outlook . Lets’s start with things I agree with: 1.  World needs $48 trillion in investment to meet its energy needs to 2035.  This is certainly true, if we assume, as  the IEA assumes , that world economic growth will actually improve a bit, from 3.3% per year in the 1990 to 2011 period to 3.6% per year in the 2011 to 2035 period. It is likely that the growth in investment needs will be even higher than the IEA indicates. In my view, this is a  CYA report . The IEA sees trouble ahead. There is no way that investment of the needed amount (which is likely far more than $48 trillion) can be met. With the publication of this report, the IEA can say, “We told you so. You didn’t invest enough. That is why energy supply […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Crude Rises Ahead of OPEC, EIA Data

Crude-oil futures remained supported in Asia Wednesday amid twin expectations of a fall in crude supplies in the U.S. and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries keeping its supply quota unchanged. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $104.48 a barrel at 0505 GMT, up $0.13 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.22 to $109.74 a barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will publish its closely watched inventory survey, which is due at 1430 GMT. Analysts expect the EIA to report that supplies fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week ended June 6, according to a survey by The Wall Street Journal. Expectations that crude supplies in the U.S. declined in the week to June 6 remains the key fundamental support for prices, Timothy Evans, energy futures specialist at Citigroup, said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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OPEC Ministers Agree to Maintain Output Quota

Delegates of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to roll over the group’s production quota, maintaining the group’s current official production output. The decision comes despite concerns over adequate global supply. Libya has struggled to lift its output amid political turmoil in the country. Meanwhile, global growth—and by extension, oil demand—has been picking up. OPEC, which is holding its semiannual meeting in the Austrian capital, agreed to keep its official output quota at 30 million barrels a day, delegates said. OPEC produces about one in three barrels of the world’s crude. Oil prices had been rising most of Wednesday on the expectation the cartel would keep output steady and amid fresh violence in Iraq. Militants there earlier this week overran one of Iraq’s key cities, Mosul, threatening the security of the country’s northern oil fields. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark U.S. oil for July delivery was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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OPEC can't act alone, minister says

Maintaining stable global oil market conditions isn’t something the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can do alone, a top delegate said Wednesday. OPEC members met Wednesday in Vienna for a regular conference. Acting Libyan Oil Minister Omar Ali El Shakmak, serving as conference chairman, told delegates market stability was the top focus of member states. The acting minister said the cartel expects world oil demand to increase by 1.1 million barrels per day and keeping markets satiated required a global effort. Market stability, he said, benefits all market players. "To achieve this, though, OPEC cannot stand alone," he said in his address . "It will need the support and contribution of many stakeholders, who must do their part." The 12 OPEC members combine to produce about 40 percent of the world’s crude oil and their exports represent about 60 percent of the international market. An increase in oil production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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OPEC can’t act alone, minister says

Maintaining stable global oil market conditions isn’t something the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can do alone, a top delegate said Wednesday. OPEC members met Wednesday in Vienna for a regular conference. Acting Libyan Oil Minister Omar Ali El Shakmak, serving as conference chairman, told delegates market stability was the top focus of member states. The acting minister said the cartel expects world oil demand to increase by 1.1 million barrels per day and keeping markets satiated required a global effort. Market stability, he said, benefits all market players. "To achieve this, though, OPEC cannot stand alone," he said in his address . "It will need the support and contribution of many stakeholders, who must do their part." The 12 OPEC members combine to produce about 40 percent of the world’s crude oil and their exports represent about 60 percent of the international market. An increase in oil production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Militants Sweeping Toward Baghdad

Sunni militants extended their control over parts of northern and western Iraq on Wednesday as Iraqi government forces crumbled in disarray. The militants overran the city of Tikrit, seized facilities in the strategic oil refining town of Baiji, and threatened an important Shiite shrine in Samarra as they moved south toward Baghdad. The remarkably rapid advance of the Sunni militants, who on Tuesday seized the northern city of Mosul as Iraqi forces fled or surrendered, reflects the spillover of the Sunni insurgency in Syria and the inability of Iraq’s Shiite-led government to pacify the country after American forces departed in 2011 following eight years of war and occupation. By late Wednesday, witnesses in Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, were reporting that the militants, many of them aligned with the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS, were on the outskirts of the city. They […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple