Category:

Arctic Ice Melt Seen Freeing Way for South Korean Oil Hub

Melting Arctic ice is widening a path for ships to deliver European oil to Asia, stoking South Korea’s ambition to become a regional storage and trading hub. The country, whose proximity to China, Russia and Japan makes it an ideal conduit for oil arriving via the Arctic, plans to add tanks for storing almost 60 million barrels of crude and refined products by 2020, about the same as Singapore’s current capacity. The nation also seeks to leverage its energy infrastructure, which includes five refineries, to become Northeast Asia’s oil hub, said Kim Jun Dong , the deputy minister of energy and resources policy. Global temperatures are rising, breaking up polar ice and opening the Northern Sea Route to tanker traffic for a longer period each year than from July to October. It’s forecast to be ice-free for six months by 2020, boosting South Korea’s appeal as the destination for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pump Prices in U.S. at 4-Month Low as Refineries Ramp Up

Retail gasoline in the U.S. slid to the lowest level in almost four months as refineries boosted production to cash in on cheaper domestic oil, offering relief to consumers who saw their costs rise last month. Pump prices averaged $3.593 a gallon yesterday, down 4.2 cents from the previous week and the lowest since March 31, data posted on the Energy Information Administration’s website show. Gasoline was 2.4 percent below 2013 levels. Drivers are seeing relief at the pumps as U.S. refiners process a record amount of oil, reversing an increase in June that boosted U.S. consumer prices. A production boom from U.S. shale formations and Canadian oil sands pushed some domestic crudes down last month to multiyear seasonal lows versus foreign grades. Oil futures in New York and London have retreated as output in Iraq has been unaffected so far by unrest there. “Refineries are running really smoothly […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Sierra Club irked by U.S. LNG export stance

U.S. policies on the export of liquefied natural gas are out of step with renewable and climate protection goals, the Sierra Club said. The Sierra Club announced it filed comments with the Department of Energy on the impacts of LNG. The advocacy group said LNG exports would lead to more domestic gas production, which may cause an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and inhibit the development of renewable energy projects. Sierra Club attorney Nathan Matthews said Monday the analysis from the Department of Energy falls short. "The increase in drilling and fracking [needed] to meet export demand will increase overall carbon pollution emissions, putting it at odds with the Administration’s goal to reduce carbon pollution emissions 17 percent by 2020," he said in a statement . His statement follows an announcement from Exxon Mobil that it filed an application to export LNG from Alaska with the Department of Energy. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Test carbon capture plans start in Kentucky

The U.S. Department of Energy said construction started on a $19.5 million carbon capture research project at a coal power station in Kentucky. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and state Energy Secretary Len Peters joined Department of Energy officials and other dignitaries for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the construction of the pilot project at Kentucky Utilities’ E.W. Brown Generating Station near Harrodsburg, Ky. The facility is designed to strip carbon dioxide from the flue gas at the power station. The project, developed in part by the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, was selected to receive the majority of its funding by the Department of Energy in a competitive process in 2011. Eli Capilouto, president of the university, said results from the pilot project could determine if it’s ready for commercial-scale use for a state dependent on coal. "Coal has been the lifeblood of Kentucky and the most […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Obama Administration to Announce Stricter Oil Train Safety Standards

The Obama administration will unveil Wednesday new rules proposing stricter safety standards on trains carrying flammable fuels, including oil and ethanol, according to a Capitol Hill source familiar with the pending regulation. The rules, to be announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, will include standards for tank cars, speed limits for trains carrying flammable fuels, brake standards and required testing for oil and other volatile liquids. Railroads, oil companies and railcar owners have been expecting new federal rules meant to improve the safety of oil shipments in the wake of several fiery train accidents. The proposed regulation could impact several industries. The railroads have been worried that slower speed limits could cause major gridlock, while oil companies have fretted that new rules about tank car volumes might prevent them from shipping all the crude they wanted. Shipments of oil on trains have grown exponentially in the past few […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fuel economy and average vehicle cost vary significantly across vehicle types

Vehicle price and fueling costs are important factors consumers take into account when deciding to purchase a new light-duty vehicle. While vehicle purchase is influenced by cost and fuel economy, other important factors such as environmental concerns, performance, and style also play a part. Comparison of the fuel savings and incremental vehicle cost among various vehicle fuel types sheds light on how at least some consumers may perceive the value of purchasing a given vehicle fuel type relative to another. Standard gasoline vehicles. The compliance fuel economy of midsize passenger cars using gasoline is projected to increase from about 35 miles per gallon (mpg) today to more than 53 mpg in 2025 by adding fuel efficiency technology, including micro and mild hybridization. These additions raise the average vehicle price from about $25,000 (2012$) to more than $27,000 . For a vehicle driven 12,000 miles annually, 116 gallons of fuel […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Keeping Oil Production From Falling

Average monthly production from Texas wells drilled in indicated period as a function of months since well completion. Source: Anderson, Kellogg, and Salant (2014).” src=”http://econbrowser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AKS1-866×1024.png”> >Average monthly production from Texas wells drilled in indicated period as a function of months since well completion. Source: Anderson, Kellogg, and Salant (2014). Makati1 on Tue, 22nd Jul 2014 7:52 am  The recovery of real petroleum has been declining for decades. Net energy produced, per capita, has also been declining for at least as long. Never any mention of that in the ‘news’ though. Too depressing and the market casino would crash and never recover. BTW: We do not “produce” oil, we recover it. Mother Nature produced it hundreds of millions of years ago. “Which force is winning the race?” – Econbrowser I do not see it as a “race” nor is there any “winning,” there is only “depletion.” Anyway, the arithmetic is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Polish oil and natural gas production rising

| License Photo Oil and natural gas production in Poland increased during the second quarter of the year, state energy company PGNiG said in a Tuesday report. In an amended quarterly report , the state energy company said it produced roughly 2.2 million barrels of oil during the full second quarter of the year, a 33 percent increase year-on-year. For natural gas, the company said its second quarter production volume was nearly 40 billion cubic feet, a 3.7 percent increase over the same period last year. The European Investment Bank last month loaned Poland $132 million for the expansion of a pipeline that could bring gas, including domestically sourced liquefied natural gas, to the border of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine. The EIB said the Polish gas project is "crucial" to European energy security. Poland is thought to be rich in shale natural gas reserves. In April, PGNiG […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

As Russia’s Isolation Grows, Oil Companies Caught in Middle

The confrontation between Russia and the West took a turn for the worse with the downing of a Malaysian airliner on July 17, and that could spell trouble for several major oil companies operating in Russia. Just one day earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama slapped sanctions on Russia over its ongoing role in the destabilization of Ukraine. The sanctions prohibited American banks from issuing loans with a maturity of over 90 days to four key Russian companies – Rosneft, Novatek, Gazprombank, and VEB. “Because Russia has failed to meet the basic standards of international conduct, we are acting today to open Russia’s financial services and energy sectors to sanctions,” U.S. Treasury Official David S. Cohen said in a press release describing the agency’s actions . The sanctions tightened the economic noose on the Russian economy by targeting companies in Russia’s energy sector. Up until now, western sanctions largely targeted […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Rises for Second Day Before Stockpiles Data; Brent Gains

West Texas Intermediate rose for a second day before stockpile data that will signal the strength of fuel demand in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent gained in London. Futures climbed as much as 0.6 percent in New York. Crude inventories probably shrank by 2.8 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before tomorrow’s Energy Information Administration report. The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution calling for an international probe into the downing of a Malaysian Air passenger jet in Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is holding talks in Cairo to end fighting in the Gaza Strip. “Inventories are something that can influence prices as in the past weeks there were large draws which were bullish,” Gerrit Zambo, an oil trader at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich, said by phone today. “The biggest issue supporting prices are the crises […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple