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Oil Rigs in U.S. Gain to Record Amid Surging Crude Prices

Rigs targeting oil in the U.S. gained to a record this week as crude prices surged and energy producers ramped up drilling in the Eagle Ford shale formation of South Texas. Oil rigs increased by three to 1,545, the highest level since Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) separated its oil and gas counts in 1987. Rigs targeting crude rose the most in the Eagle Ford shale, where the count added four to 210. Gas rigs climbed by one to 311, and the total count , including miscellaneous rigs, rose to 1,858, the Houston-based field services company said on its website. Companies are expected to spend a record $165 billion on exploration and production in the U.S. this year, spurred by energy price gains and horizontal drilling that has helped draw record volumes of oil and gas out of U.S. shale formations. The boom has raised domestic crude production to the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Texas RRC Report April Production Data

The Texas Rail Road Comission has released their latest report with oil, gas and condensate production for April. The RRC data is always incomplete however and takes many months for the all the data to trickle in. The below chart shows that problem. Texas RRC-EIA The data is barrels per data with the EIA data through March and RRC data through April. The EIA has Texas C+C data is highly linear for the 10 months June 2013 through March 2014, increasing at 48 kb/d for 4 months, 41 kb/d for one month then 49 kb/d for the last 5 months. The EIA has Texas C+C increasing at an average of 48.6 bp/d each month for the last two years. I think that is a little high. I think the production has been increasing at close to 43 kb/d each month but with a recent slow down in that increase. Texas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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As U.S. Production Increases and Imports Drop, Oil-Exporting Nations Find Another Outlet

With increased domestic production, the U.S. is importing less oil; fortunately for oil-producing nations, Asia looks ready to pick up the slack. Associated Press SINGAPORE—Asia will be able to absorb increasing amounts of crude oil not needed by the U.S. in the years ahead, providing an important outlet for oil suppliers in several regions. With new technology having unlocked vast quantities of North American crude and natural gas previously trapped in shale rock beds, oil suppliers accustomed to selling to the U.S. are already having to search for new customers. They are finding buyers in Asia—particularly China and India. Insufficient Asian reserves and relatively strong economic growth in parts of the region should ease worries among African, Latin American and even Middle Eastern oil producers that they might struggle, or have to offer deep discounts. Producers of displaced oil for now can draw comfort from not having to compete […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Wave energy project set for Oregon's coast

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says it took a major step forward with an effort to test utility-scale wave energy devices off the coast of Oregon. "Wave energy off the West Coast has incredible potential," BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank said in a statement Thursday. Researchers at Oregon State University aim to design, build and operate a project that could generate much as 20 megawatts of electricity from waves. The energy could be sent to the mainland through a subsea cable from a site four nautical miles off the coast of Newport. Cruickshank said his agency would work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on project development. BOEM said it was now ready to move forward after determining there is no competitive interest in the area of the proposed research center. In early June, BOEM awarded a lease to Florida Atlantic University for marine hydrokinetic technology testing. Wave […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Wave energy project set for Oregon’s coast

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says it took a major step forward with an effort to test utility-scale wave energy devices off the coast of Oregon. "Wave energy off the West Coast has incredible potential," BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank said in a statement Thursday. Researchers at Oregon State University aim to design, build and operate a project that could generate much as 20 megawatts of electricity from waves. The energy could be sent to the mainland through a subsea cable from a site four nautical miles off the coast of Newport. Cruickshank said his agency would work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on project development. BOEM said it was now ready to move forward after determining there is no competitive interest in the area of the proposed research center. In early June, BOEM awarded a lease to Florida Atlantic University for marine hydrokinetic technology testing. Wave […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. oil imports dip

Crude oil imports into the U.S. market are at their lowest levels since the 1990s, the American Petroleum Institute said. API said total imports for May, the last full month for which data are available, averaged just under 9.6 million barrels per day, which is 4.5 percent less than the same time last year. That’s the lowest level for May since 1995. "Last month saw a continuation of recent trends, with strong demand and even stronger production resulting in falling import levels," API Chief Economist John Felmy said in a statement. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly petroleum report the United States imported on average 7.2 million bpd for the week ending June 13, which is up 88,000 bpd from previous week. Long-term trends, however, show a general import decline. On the production side, API said the United States produced 8.3 million bpd […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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No political games with energy, Moscow says

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said using energy for geopolitical gain leads to market instability and a poor investment climate. Novak told delegates gathered in Moscow for the World Petroleum Congress the Kremlin isn’t trying to dominate global energy markets for political gain. "We are focused on fundamental market mechanisms," he said in his Thursday address . "Using energy as a tool to achieve geopolitical goals leads to increased instability and worsening of the investment climate in the energy sector, with end users paying for this." Russian energy company Gazprom this week said it would sell future natural gas supplies to Ukraine only with advance payment . Europe gets about a quarter of its gas from Russia, though most of those supplies run through Ukraine’s pipeline system. Europe has looked for alternate gas supplies to break the Russian grip on the region’s energy sector. European Energy […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Putin orders forces in the Urals on combat alert

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday ordered military forces in central Russia on combat alert as well as a drill of airborne troops, a day after Ukraine ordered a cease-fire with pro-Russian rebels. NATO said earlier this week that Russia has resumed a military build-up on the border with Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting government forces for weeks in a conflict that has left about 300 people dead and displaced over 34,000. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered his forces to cease fire Friday and halt military operations for a week, the first step in a peace plan he hopes will end the fighting that has killed hundreds. The Kremlin dismissed the plan, saying it sounded like an ultimatum and lacked any firm offer to open talks with insurgents. The combat alert in the central military district, which encompasses the Volga region and the Ural […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Heinberg on peak oil and options for energy transition

Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg was interviewed on peak oil and energy transition options at RT. 3 Comments on "Heinberg on peak oil and options for energy transition" Davey on Fri, 20th Jun 2014 8:17 am  Energy transition will have to include drastic changes in attitudes and lifestyles. This will “Only” happen with a ground shaking crisis where BAU still functions but at a precarious level. After all we are on a knife edge of collapse from here on out. Collapse means little energy to zero energy in many locations. Last crisis sooner the better spoken objectively. On the subjective side “BAU” if you can hear me I need 2 years please. Obama had a bit of straightforwardness yesterday : “It is in our national security interests not to see an all-out civil war inside of Iraq, not just for humanitarian reasons, but because that ultimately can be […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Bottom Up, Top Down

Those of us who have some grasp of the urgent dilemmas posed by climate change and peak oil face a terrible conundrum. The whole system of industrial civilization is moving toward collapse. How can we reverse course to avert an unprecedented series of crises that might entail massive human mortality and the more or less permanent crippling of planetary ecosystems? I can think of two broad strategies: Top down. Convince the folks in charge that it’s in their interest to change direction—that is, to reorganize financial, food, transport, and manufacturing systems on a no-growth, low-carbon model. Advantage: this audience at least theoretically has the power to organize a comprehensive and rapid energy descent. Recall the rapidity with which the US re-organized its economy at the start of World War II. Disadvantages: the elites’ incentives are all in the current direction of growth-at-any-cost, many of the key players remain in […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA