Category:

Iraqi Kurdish oil may finally be freely for sale as the US seems to be dropping its threats

The United Leadership, a tanker containing about one million barrels of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan, has been stuck at sea for two months. The ship has been mostly anchored off the Moroccan coast, the victim of legal threats against potential buyers. It is mired in a battle between Kurdistan, intent on parlaying the sale of such oil into independence, and the US and Iraqi governments, which are just as determined to prevent that and keep Iraq whole. + But people with knowledge of the situation say the US has signaled that it may stop actively discouraging potential buyers. If these people are right—and the US warnings are tempered—the market could see a fresh supply of 500,000 barrels of oil a day of Iraqi Kurdish oil by the end of 2014 and double that volume a year later. + Kurdistan already operates under relative autonomy but such new oil would probably […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libyan Port of Brega to Restart Crude Shipments

Libya’s Eastern port of Brega is set to restart crude exports after a tanker arrived Thursday, the port said, as the North African country ramps up exports despite escalating violence in the capital. The Overseas Fran tanker arrived in Brega to load 750,000 barrels of crude which will be delivered to the Italian port of Genoa, the oil port said on its Facebook page. Shipping tracking website Marinetraffic.com confirmed the Overseas Fran was due to arrive Thursday in Brega. The news come after an agreement between the government and striking guards over wages paved the way for the port reopening Tuesday. There hasn’t been any crude-oil tanker leaving the port since late June, according to shipping-tracking website FleetMon.com. Earlier this week, exports of oil from the Sharara field also restarted after a five-month interruption. The developments come despite escalating violence in Libya’s capital Tripoli as rival militias fighting for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pakistan courting LNG suppliers

A report Thursday from the Platts energy news service says Pakistan is on the cusp of receiving liquefied natural gas supplies from international companies. Platts reported an unnamed official in the Pakistani Ministry of Petroleum said 12 international companies have expressed interest in supplying Pakistan with as much as 40 million cubic feet of LNG per year. State-owned import company Pakistan State Oil solicited interest for LNG shipments in May. Pakistan doesn’t import LNG, but said Monday it was getting China’s help with the construction of a LNG terminal and associated pipeline infrastructure at the port city of Gwadar near the Iranian border. Islamabad estimates the pipeline could cost $1 billion, with another $2 billion need for the LNG terminal. The poor state of the nation’s energy infrastructure is leaving it short on energy supplies, the government said. Pakistan and Qatar signed a memorandum of understanding for LNG supplies […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China’s Plan to Limit Coal Use Could Spur Consumption for Years

Under pressure to reduce smog and greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese government is considering a mandatory cap on coal use, the main source of carbon pollution from fossil fuels. But it would be an adjustable ceiling that would allow coal consumption to grow for years, and policy makers are at odds on how long the nation’s emissions will rise. Senior officials are debating these issues as they formulate a new five-year development plan, to be finalized by the end of next year. China emits more carbon dioxide than any other country, so what President Xi Jinping and his colleagues decide will have far-reaching consequences for efforts to contain climate change. China’s leaders have not detailed their views on coal or carbon emission limits. But there is robust support among senior policy advisers for a firm national cap on coal starting in 2016, Wang Yi , a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

API survey finds gap between voters, federal officials on development

A substantial gap exists between registered voters’ support for more US oil and gas development on federal lands, and what they think federal officials actually are doing about it, according to a recent survey commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute . Nielsen’s random telephone survey of 1,012 largely suburban registered voters July 11-13 found 77% support more production of US oil and gas, including 92% of Republicans, 80% of Independents, and 66% of Democrats, API said on July 23. “But only 28% said the federal government does enough to encourage domestic oil and gas development,” API Upstream Group Director Erik Milito noted. “And 68%—including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—say they would be more likely to vote for candidates who support offshore drilling,” he told reporters. “Clearly, voters do not think energy should be a partisan issue.” The survey’s results came days after the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. West States Met to Discuss EPA Emission Proposals

Top air regulators from 13 states across the western U.S. met in private last week to talk about how they could work together on carbon-emissions cuts proposed by the Obama administration. California Air Resources Board chairman Mary Nichols , Nevada Environmental Protection administrator Colleen Cripps and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality director Henry Darwin attended the July 17 meeting in Denver, spokesmen for their agencies said. The closed discussion was organized by Colorado State University’s Center for the New Energy Economy, led by former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to cut carbon-dioxide pollutants from power plants 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 includes an incentive for states to develop regional carbon-trading systems. States that combine efforts can get an extra year, until 2018, to comply. “The meeting provided a forum for us to get a better understanding of how the proposal works,” said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. petroleum refineries running at record levels

U.S. refineries have been processing record volumes of oil recently. Refinery inputs hit a record-high 16.8 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in each of the past two weeks, exceeding the previous record from summer 2005. Refineries in the Midwest and Gulf Coast in particular pushed the total U.S. input volume upward, as these refiners’ access to lower-cost crude oil , expansions of refining capacity, and increases in both domestic demand and exports contributed to higher refinery runs. As discussed in This Week in Petroleum , refinery gross inputs in the Midwest have been higher than the five-year range since late April. Typically, Midwest drivers use more motor gasoline in the summer, and some of that has come from the Gulf Coast. However, recent and planned changes to pipeline infrastructure have altered both the type of products in the pipelines and direction of flow. These changes increase the incentive for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. shale helps Canada's Encana grow

Canadian energy company Encana said Thursday it had a strong second quarter on the back of an acquisition of assets in the Eagle Ford shale area. "We had a strong second quarter off of the back of a very good first quarter and we’re meeting or exceeding our targets in every area of our business," Encana President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Suttles said in a statement . The company in May spent $3.1 billion to acquire 45,500 acres in the Eagle Ford shale area in Texas. Describing it as a "bold strategic move," Encana said the 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day expected from Eagle Ford will almost double its current oil production capacity. In announcing its second quarter performance, Encana said the 34,200 barrels of oil produced per day on average represents a 49 percent increase year-on-year. Encana said it expects total production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. shale helps Canada’s Encana grow

Canadian energy company Encana said Thursday it had a strong second quarter on the back of an acquisition of assets in the Eagle Ford shale area. "We had a strong second quarter off of the back of a very good first quarter and we’re meeting or exceeding our targets in every area of our business," Encana President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Suttles said in a statement . The company in May spent $3.1 billion to acquire 45,500 acres in the Eagle Ford shale area in Texas. Describing it as a "bold strategic move," Encana said the 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day expected from Eagle Ford will almost double its current oil production capacity. In announcing its second quarter performance, Encana said the 34,200 barrels of oil produced per day on average represents a 49 percent increase year-on-year. Encana said it expects total production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Rail rules need further review, North Dakota says

North Dakota’s governor said new proposals for oil train safety need review, while the industry itself said concerns over North Dakota’s oil are without merit. The U.S. Department of Transportation rolled out a 200-page proposal outlining ways to make crude oil transport by rail safer. Within two years, the proposal calls for the elimination of older rail cars designated DOT 111 for shipment of flammable liquid, "including most Bakken crude oil." A series of derailments, including last year’s deadly accident in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, involved trains carrying Bakken crude oil from North Dakota. There aren’t enough pipelines in service to handle the glut of oil from North Dakota, which industry officials say leaves rail as the primary transit method. North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said the new proposals address several key areas of rail safety that are in need of improvement. "Still, we need to further review the specifics of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple