Category:

Maryland offshore wind auction scheduled

Sixteen companies are cleared to take part in an upcoming lease sale to develop wind energy off the Maryland coast, the U.S. government announced. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell joined Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Acting Director Walter Cruickshank to announce nearly 80,000 acres off the Maryland coast go on the auction block Aug. 19. The Department of Energy says the area up for auction has the potential to support as much as 1,450 megawatts of wind energy, which could be enough to meet the annual demands of 300,000 homes. "Maryland is a leading force for building a clean and sustainable energy future," Jewell said in a statement Wednesday. The 16 companies cleared for the auction were determined by the federal government to have the legal, technical and financial qualifications to compete. Maryland has a goal of using renewable energy to provide 20 percent of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Criticism, praise erupt over New York shale ruling

A New York court decision to let cities and towns block hydraulic fracturing is a major blow to the industry, an advocacy group said. The Court of Appeals in Albany ruled in two separate cases that municipalities can use zoning laws to ban hydraulic fracturing within their borders. New York hosts a part of the Marcellus shale formations, one of the premier shale gas basins in the United States. There’s a current state moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. Karen Moreau, executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council, said that, because municipal boards can change every two years, the regulatory landscape in the state will keep energy investors at bay. "There are real losses here, and it’s a real tragedy for thousands of farmers and people in rural communities that would have realized the economic benefits that oil and gas development can deliver," she said in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bakken Shale Rig Count Stays Flat at 176

EIA Says North Dakota & Texas Make Up Nearly Half of U.S. Oil Production U.S. Oil Production U.S. Oil Production | Click to Enlarge The  Bakken-Three Forks rig count  remained flat at 176 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 190 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 20 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up. In recent Bakken news, combined production from North Dakota and Texas made up nearly half of U.S. oil production according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in April of 2013. Recently, the state of North Dakota hit the 1-million b/d mark for oil, nearly tripling its production over a three year period. The increase in production is directly related to the development of the Bakken Shale. Since April of 2011, production from the Bakken increased 19,000 b/d on average […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

North Dakota Fracking: Behind the Oil-Train Explosions

When energy companies started extracting oil from shale formations in South Texas a few years ago, they invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make the volatile crude safer to handle. In North Dakota’s Bakken Shale oil field, nobody installed the necessary equipment. The result is that the second-fastest growing source of crude in the U.S. is producing oil that pipelines often would reject as too dangerous to transport. Now the decision not to build the equipment is coming back to haunt the oil industry as the federal government seeks to prevent fiery accidents of trains laden with North Dakota oil. Investigators probing crude-by-rail accidents, including one a year ago that killed 47 people in Quebec , are trying to determine why shale oil has proved so combustible—a question that has taken on growing urgency as rail shipments rise. Only one stabilizer, which can remove the most volatile gases […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA Raises Projections of U.S. Crude Production, Prices

Government forecasters raised their projection for U.S. oil production this year and said they expect OPEC output to fall as it accommodates supply growth from other countries. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, in its monthly short-term energy outlook released Tuesday, raised its forecast for total U.S. crude production to 8.5 million barrels per day, up from the 8.4 million barrels last month. The agency kept its forecast for 2015 U.S. production steady at 9.3 million barrels per day, noting it would represent the highest level of annual average oil production since 1972. The change in the production forecast restores the agency’s projection to its prior level before a reduction last month. Meanwhile, the EIA said it expected U.S. average daily oil consumption to fall to 18.88 million barrels a day in 2014 from 18.93 million barrels a day in its prior forecast. The EIA increased its […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Surge in Seismic Activity Tied to Oil and Gas Extraction

Scientists say that a recent surge of low-magnitude earthquakes in Oklahoma is likely the result of the underground disposal of vast quantities of wastewater generated by oil and gas extraction. Temblors in Oklahoma used to be rare. Before 2008, the state experienced just one earthquake of magnitude 3 or larger each year. So far this year the state has already witnessed 230 quakes of that size-more than the number recorded in California. "There are large regions in the state that are lighting up" with quakes, said Katie Keranen, seismologist at Cornell University and lead author of a study on the Oklahoma temblors, published Thursday in the journal Science. "It’s a very profound increase." The findings add to a growing body of evidence that various types of large-scale human activity–from coal mining and quarrying to building dams–can help to trigger quakes. In most cases, the geological processes […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Record low waters in Nevada's Lake Mead

It’s at levels unseen since the Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s Drought in the southwestern U.S. will deplete the vast Lake Mead this week to levels not seen since Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s, federal water managers said Tuesday. The projected lake level of about 1,080 feet above sea level will be below the level of about 1,082 feet recorded in November 2010 and the 1,083-foot mark measured in April 1956 during another sustained drought. But U.S. Bureau of Reclamation regional chief Terry Fulp said water obligations will be met at least through next year without a key shortage declaration. The result will be full deliveries to cities, states, farms and Indian tribes in an area that’s home to some 40 million people and the cities of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Record low waters in Nevada’s Lake Mead

It’s at levels unseen since the Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s Drought in the southwestern U.S. will deplete the vast Lake Mead this week to levels not seen since Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s, federal water managers said Tuesday. The projected lake level of about 1,080 feet above sea level will be below the level of about 1,082 feet recorded in November 2010 and the 1,083-foot mark measured in April 1956 during another sustained drought. But U.S. Bureau of Reclamation regional chief Terry Fulp said water obligations will be met at least through next year without a key shortage declaration. The result will be full deliveries to cities, states, farms and Indian tribes in an area that’s home to some 40 million people and the cities of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Global, Kansas City Southern to build Port Arthur crude oil rail terminal

A new Port Arthur, Texas, unit train terminal is being planned to ship heavy sour crudes from Western Canada to the US Gulf Coast refining hub. Project partners Global Partners and Kansas City Southern said Tuesday that the terminal, which does not have a firm start date yet pending regulatory approvals, will initially handle two unit trains a day and have 340,000 barrels of oil storage. Unit trains have up to 120 rail cars with the capacity to haul up to 72,000 barrels of oil. US refiners have shown a preference recently for Western Canadian heavy sour crudes shipped by rail because of their low diluent content, ranging from close to zero up to 5% diluent. Canadian heavy sour crude shipments by pipeline require up to 15% diluent in the summer months and up to 33% diluent in winter. In addition, because the US has permitted re-exports of Canadian […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA cuts 2014 US coal demand, production forecasts; boosts price prediction

The US Energy Information Administration revised most of its 2014 projections for the US coal sector lower Tuesday, basing its decisions on weak electricity demand at home and oversupply in global seaborne markets. In its July Short-Term Energy Outlook, the agency said it expects US coal consumption to be 951 million st in 2014, compared with a June projection of 961 million st. The July figure is still up 2.8% compared with 2013 consumption of 925 million st. In 2015, the EIA projects US coal consumption will dip to 924.4 million st due to retirements of coal-fired power plants, slow electricity sales growth and lower natural gas prices. Article continues below… Coal Outlook Platts Coal Trader provides:The latest prices for key benchmark coals Daily pricing for tons and allowances for SO2 and NOx emissions The exclusive Platts OTC Broker Index, a market assessment compiled […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA Update, March Production Numbers

The EIA updated their International Energy Statistics  with the February production numbers about one day after they updated the January numbers. Then on Monday, July 7th, they posted the March numbers. So after preparing a complete post using the February data, I just trashed it and created a new one. World C+C production reached a new high in February, up 531 kb/d to 77,257 kb/d. It was down 525 kb/d in March to 76,732 kb/d. Non-OPEC C+C production reached a new high in December at 44,910 kb/d in December. Since then it has been down 362 kb/d in January, up 270 kb/d in February and up 19 kb/d in March. OPEC C+C The big change has been in OPEC C+C which peaked at 33,745 kb/d in April 2012. In the 23 months since it is down 1,850 kb/d to 31,895 kb/d. Non-OPEC Less USA Non-OPEC less USA is down […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA expects higher gasoline prices for driving season, full year

During the April-September summer driving season this year in the US, regular gasoline retail prices will average $3.66/gal, 8¢/gal higher than last year and 4¢ higher than projected last month, according to a forecast from the US Energy Information Administration in its July Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). As lower refinery margins more than offset higher crude oil prices , regular gasoline retail prices are projected to fall from an average of $3.68/gal during the second quarter to $3.64/gal during the third quarter. EIA expects regular gasoline retail prices to average $3.54/gal in 2014 and $3.45/gal in 2015. This compares to the agency’s forecasts of $3.50/gal in 2014 and $3.38/gal in 2015 in last month’s STEO. In the recent monthly outlook, total US liquid fuels consumption is expected to average 18.88 million b/d in 2014, 50,000 b/d lower than projected in June, and 18.95 million b/d in 2015, compared […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russian oil production expected to drop

An anticipated drop in oil production by 2016 is expected to hurt the Russian economy, the Russian said Monday. The ministry said Monday it expects a $4.5 billion decline in oil export revenue because of an anticipated 6.3 percent drop in oil production from 2014 figures. The ministry said the federal budget next year will receive about $2.2 billion less than expected because of a contraction in exports. A report on the Russian economy from the World Bank in March said real gross domestic product growth in 2013 was 1.3 percent, compared with 3.4 percent in 2012. There’s a "confidence crisis" emerging within the Russian economy, the bank warned. "In the past, the lack of comprehensive structural reforms was masked by a growth model based on large investment projects, continued increases in public wages, and transfers — all fueled by sizable oil revenues," it said. Russian energy exports last […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oettinger: Shale gas could meet 10 percent of EU demand

Shale could eventually meet about 10 percent of the energy demand among European nations, European Energy Commissioner said. Oettinger said companies with reservations about hydrualic fracturing, the controversial drilling practice dubbed fracking, should keep all options on the table. "I estimate that Europe has the potential to secure about a tenth of our needs this way in the long term," he said Sunday . Some countries in Eastern Europe are examining their shale natural gas potential. Other countries in Western Europe, however, have placed moratoriums on the controversial drilling practice. Shale efforts in Great Britain, meanwhile, are in their infancy. European leaders are looking for ways to break the Russian grip on the region’s energy sector. Russia meets about 20 percent of Europe’s demand for gas. Oettinger in May said members of the European Union should develop stronger energy partnerships to avoid falling victim to "political and commercial blackmail." […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

UK became a net importer of petroleum products in 2013

U.S. Energy Information Administration, from UK Department of Energy and Climate Change Fossil fuels (petroleum and other liquids, natural gas, and coal) account for most of the United Kingdom’s (UK) energy consumption. Although renewable energy use is growing, particularly in the electric power sector, fossil fuels accounted for 86% of total primary energy consumption in 2012. Like the United States, the UK has experienced significant changes in its net reliance on imported fossil energy sources since 1970. Beginning in the 1980s, the UK first became a significant net coal importer following the removal of domestic production subsidies and trade barriers. With the opening of North Sea production, the UK became a significant net exporter of crude oil beginning in the early 1980s, but has been a net importer since […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Blueprints for Taming the Climate Crisis

Here’s what your future will look like if we are to have a shot at preventing devastating climate change. Within about 15 years every new car sold in the United States will be electric. In fact, by midcentury more than half of the American economy will run on electricity. Up to 60 percent of power might come from nuclear sources. And coal’s footprint will shrink drastically, perhaps even disappear from the power supply. This course, created by a team of energy experts, was unveiled on Tuesday in a report for the United Nations that explores the technological paths available for the world’s 15 main economies to both maintain reasonable rates of growth and cut their carbon emissions enough by 2050 to prevent climatic havoc. It offers a sobering conclusion. We might be able to pull it off. But it will take an overhaul of the way we […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

World can still stop globe from warming more than 2 C, experts tell UN

Significant climate change may not be inevitable if governments take swift and decisive action now to reduce greenhouse gases, according to a report released Tuesday that rolls back some of the bleaker and more pessimistic assessments of recent climate negotiations. The report , prepared for the United Nations by experts from leading research institutes from 15 countries, challenges the idea that the world can’t avoid breaching a 2 degrees Celsius rise in global average temperature — many climate scientists have warned that an increase of 3 to 4 C is now inevitable. Moreover, they suggest defeatism on the 2 C limit target would contribute to dithering by heavily industrialized countries most responsible for climate change — the United States, China, India, major European economies and rising economic powers like Brazil and South Africa.  “We do not subscribe to the view held by some that the 2 C limit is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Are We Running Out of Oil?

For many years, a number of industry experts have been sounding the alarm that America, and the world, are about to run out of oil. This is nothing new. In 1914, the Bureau of Mines said that U.S. oil reserves would be exhausted by 1924. The Interior Department said global reserves would last 13 years… and that was in 1939. In 1956, Shell Oil geoscientist Marion King Hubbert advanced his peak oil theory, which said that world oil production had peaked and would begin to decline until all of the oil was gone. Every expert who’s predicted “the end of oil” has been wrong in the past. But with global energy consumption at an all-time high, and much of the world’s economy dependent on oil, the question needs to be asked: Are we about to run out of oil?… The Peak Oil Theory Hubbert, whose […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Debt: Eight Reasons This Time is Different

In today’s world, we have a huge amount of debt outstanding. Academic researchers Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff have become famous for their book This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly and their earlier paper This Time is Different: A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of Financial Crises . Their point, of course, is that the same thing happens over and over again. We can learn from past crises to solve our current problems. Part of their story is of course correct. Governments have gotten themselves into problems with debt, time after time. This is happening again now. In fact, the same two authors recently prepared a working paper for the International Monetary Fund called Financial and Sovereign Debt Crises: Some Lessons Learned and Some Lessons Forgotten , talking about ideas such as governments inflating their way out of debt problems and pushing problems off to insurance […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Tech Talk – of longer wells and drawdown pressure

There are, simply, three major parts to the coming global economic mess that will be created as we enter into the period of Peak Oil. The first of these comes from the current rising demand for oil, particularly emphasized by those countries, such as China and India, where demand is rising fastest. The second part is the declining production from existing fields as their reserves are drawn down. (Though it should be remembered that even when “exhausted” the fields will still contain vast quantities of oil, but oil which is at present not economically recoverable). And finally there is the oil in the undeveloped, and undiscovered wells and fields that can be added to the existing reserve to help ameliorate the imbalance between demand and supply from existing wells. The high decline rates from long horizontal wells drilled into, and along the shale deposits in the United States, most […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple