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