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Oil output cut at Libya’s el-Feel field

LONDON–Oil production has been slashed at Libya’s el-Feel field, an oil official said Thursday, as a crude output recovery in the country starts to fizzle. The reopening of two key oil ports and a production restart at the country’s largest oil field, Sharara, drove international oil prices to a three-month low last week. But after ramping up to a five-month high, Libya’s oil production started falling again earlier Thursday. Now output is set to decline further after staff cut production at the 130,000 barrel-a-day el-Feel field, which is operated by an Eni SpA joint venture. Eni didn’t return a request for comment. "The field only has five wells under operation, other wells are totally closed," a person at the joint venture said, citing mounting insecurity. Staff are also considering shutting the field altogether, he said. An outbreak of violence in Tripoli–the worst in six months–led to fear of new […]

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More than 5,000 civilians killed in Iraq this year: U.N.

At least 5,576 Iraqi civilians have been killed this year in violence, the United Nations said on Friday in the most detailed account yet of the impact of months of unrest culminating in an assault by Sunni militants through the north of the country. At least 11,665 have been wounded since January, when Sunni insurgents led by al Qaeda offshoot now known as the Islamic State overran the city of Falluja in the western province of Anbar, the U.N. said in a report. Last month, the insurgents seized swathes of northern Iraq, including the area’s largest city Mosul. Of the 2,400 people killed in June, 1,531 were civilians, the U.N. said earlier this month. The report documents what it calls "systematic and egregious violations" of international law by the group now calling itself the Islamic State. The U.N found the group had executed civilians, committed sexual […]

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Egypt Cuts Tax Breaks for Fuel; Few Protest

When President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt said he intended to raise the price of flour, rice and other subsidized goods in 1977, he ignited days of riots that left more than 70 people dead and stood as a lasting warning to his successors about the perils of forcing impoverished Egyptians to make do with even less. So it was a surprise when, as one of his first major policy initiatives, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi sharply raised fuel prices two weeks ago, cutting deeply into energy subsidies, the most expensive single part of the government’s sprawling and expensive subsidy system. Even more surprising, perhaps, has been the absence of widespread civil unrest. The relative quiet appeared to signal an acknowledgment among many Egyptians that the fuel prices, which were among the lowest in the world, could not stay that way forever in an economy battered by years of […]

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Egypt: Fuel Price Raise to Increase Taxi Fares By 3-10 Percent – Capmas

Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has released a report saying that the recent increase in fuel prices will increase taxi fares by 3-10 percent. The Egyptian government recently increased fuel prices by up to 75 percent in an effort to decrease the budget deficit and reduce an economic burden that has increased in the past three years due to political turmoil. Cairo Governor Mostafa Saeed has promised that the raise would not affect public transport fares. Egypt has also increased electricity prices.

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Islamic State fighters seize Syria gas field

Fighters from the self-declared jihadist group, the Islamic State, have seized a gas field in the desert region of Palmyra in the Syrian central province of Homs, a monitoring group and the governor of Homs said. The fighters on Thursday morning attacked the Shaer gas field, east of the ancient site of Palmyra, killing 23 guards, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "The fate of 340 National Defence Force (paramilitary) members, guards, engineers and employees who were in the field, is unknown, as they were either taken prisoner or wounded during the operation," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. The operation, he added, was the Islamic State’s "most important so far against the government" of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Abu Bilal, an activist linked to the Islamic State in Homs province, also reported the attack. At least 12 members of the Islamic State had been slain in […]

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Iran oil exports normal

Any declines in Iranian oil exports are normal, though supplies to Asian economies are in line with contractual obligations, an executive said. Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Co., said exports to China and India are in line with contractual volumes. In its latest monthly oil report , the International Energy Agency said Iranian oil exports were down by as much as 36 percent to 510,000 barrels per day. Qamsari said any variances in export levels were natural. Iran secured some relief from Western sanctions targeting its energy sector in exchange for a November agreement from Tehran to curb nuclear research activity. The U.S. government said Iran can export oil so long as it stayed around 1 million bpd, according to the terms of the November agreement. Qamsari offered no export level for India. Exports to China, he said, increased 36 percent in May, […]

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Brazil, China Sign Power-Grid, Plane Deals

China and Brazil signed a number of deals on Thursday, ranging from jet sales to power-grid investments, at the end of a summit meant to showcase a bigger global role for emerging economies. The agreements come as Chinese President Xi Jinping wraps up a visit to Brazil for a meeting of the Brics nations, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. With China’s growing influence in Latin America, Mr. Xi’s presence far outweighed that of the other visiting leaders, most of whom left earlier in the week. In one of the deals, Brazilian plane maker Embraer SA clinched an order to sell 60 regional airplanes to Chinese companies, totaling $3.2 billion at list price. The agreement marks a major advance in Embraer’s China business—a market it has been cultivating for years. Not too long ago, Brazil and China had virtually no trade between them. But in the last […]

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Indian Power Company Says Coal Running Low

India’s biggest power company said coal shortages at six of its power stations are threatening to disrupt electricity generation in 22 of the country’s states and territories. In a letter to India’s Power Ministry on Monday, Arup Roy Choudhury , chairman of NTPC Ltd. said the generating stations had coal supplies sufficient for two days or less of power production. Mr. Choudury’s letter, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, didn’t say why coal was running low. Coal shortages–mainly because of failures by the state-run coal monopoly to deliver adequate supplies–are a major cause of power outages in India, where more than half of electricity-generation capacity depends on coal. Power supplies are especially strained now, with hot summer temperatures pushing up demand and below-normal monsoon rainfall denting generation by hydroelectric plants. According to government data, as many as 46 of India’s 100 coal-fired power stations have coal stocks of […]

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Environmentalists Denounce Repeal of Australia’s Carbon Tax

SYDNEY, Australia — Opposition politicians and environmentalists in Australia reacted with dismay Thursday to the country’s repeal of laws requiring large companies to pay for carbon emissions , saying that it made Australia the first country to reverse progress on fighting climate change. The Senate voted 39 to 32 on Thursday to repeal the so-called carbon tax after Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s conservative government secured the support of a number of independent senators. The House of Representatives had voted earlier in the week to repeal the unpopular measure, which has been a highly contentious issue in Australian politics for seven years. The tax was devised to penalize hundreds of Australia’s biggest producers of carbon emissions, setting a price of 23 Australian dollars, or $21.50, per metric ton of carbon dioxide when it was put into effect in 2012 under then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard of the Labor Party, which is […]

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Australia Repeals Carbon Tax

CANBERRA, Australia—Australia repealed laws forcing companies to pay for carbon emissions, making it the world’s first developed nation to undo legislation aimed at dealing with perceived man-made climate change. Australia’s Senate on Thursday voted to repeal the so-called carbon tax that conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott pledged to get rid of ahead of elections last year. The move follows almost a decade of heated political debate and wrangling between senators over the issue.

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Australia Axing Pollution Levy Marks First U-Turn on Climate

Australia ’s decision to repeal its levy limiting fossil-fuel pollution makes it the first nation to turn back from a market approach to fighting global warming. Prime Minister Tony Abbott ’s government won final approval from Parliament yesterday to scrap a levy about 300 companies paid for their carbon dioxide emissions. The move leaves Australia, the largest polluter per capita among industrial nations, without a system for reducing greenhouse gases as it prepares to host a meeting of the Group of 20 nations. “Australia is bereft of a credible climate policy just as the international community focuses on deeper reduction targets,” said John Connor, chief executive officer of The Climate Institute, a Sydney-based environmental group. He called the move an “historic act of irresponsibility and recklessness.” The about-face sets up Abbott for a clash with Europe and the U.S., which asked for climate policy to be on the G-20 […]

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China rainstorms affect millions

  A rescuer works at the site of landslide in Dakuo Village of Zhijin County in the city of Bijie, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, July 17, 2014. Six people died and another two were injured in the rain-triggered landslide here, local authorities said on Friday. Rainstorms have lashed Guizhou this week, triggering landslides and floods in many parts of the province. (Xinhua) GUIYANG/CHONGQING, July 18 (Xinhua) — Millions of people have been affected as days of heavy rain in southwest and central China have caused floods and landslides while also halting train services. The downpours have killed 10 people and left 10 missing as of Friday in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Guizhou’s provincial department of civil affairs told Xinhua. In the latest case, six people were killed and two injured in a rain-triggered landslide in Guizhou, local authorities said on Friday. The landslide happened at around 4 a.m. on […]

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China Flexes Might With Energy Giants

A Chinese coast guard vessel fired water in May at a Vietnamese vessel off the coast of Vietnam after China deployed an oil rig in disputed South China Sea waters. AP Executives at Talisman Energy Inc. are excited about promising oil-and-gas prospects off the coast of Vietnam and the Canadian company is gearing up to drill two exploratory wells there this year. "I would describe these as world-class exploration blocks," says Paul Ferneyhough, the Calgary, Alberta, company’s vice president for Asia-Pacific operations. The U.S. calculates that the South China Sea likely holds nearly 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. There is a problem: Proceeding with drilling could bring Talisman into conflict with China, which claims some of the blocks as its own. Talisman declined to comment on China’s position. The company says it accepts Vietnam’s assurances that it has the right to […]

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U.S. welcomes Chinese rig movement

The row between China and Vietnam over an oil rig in contested waters highlights the need to find a solution in international law, the U.S. government said. China National Petroleum Corp. announced it completed drilling and exploration activity in waters of the South China Sea disputed with Vietnam and pulled its rig out of the area . The May deployment of the CNPC rig sparked international concerns over China’s claims to regional maritime territory. The U.S. government said it had no stance on territorial jurisdiction, but viewed Chinese actions as provocative. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the government welcomed the announcement the rig had left controversial waters . "The oil rig incident has highlighted the need for claimants to clarify their claims in accordance with international law to reach a shared understanding on appropriate behavior and activities in disputed areas," she told reporters during […]

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Oil and natural gas resource categories reflect varying degrees of certainty

. The graphic shown above is applicable only to oil and natural gas resources. Crude oil and natural gas resources are the estimated oil and natural gas volumes that might be produced at some time in the future. The volumes of oil and natural gas that ultimately will be produced cannot be known ahead of time. Resource estimates change as extraction technologies improve, as markets evolve, and as oil and natural gas are produced. Consequently, the oil and gas industry, researchers, and government agencies spend considerable time and effort defining and quantifying oil and natural gas resources. For many purposes, oil and natural gas resources are usefully classified into four categories: Remaining oil and […]

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Natural Gas Weekly Update

Tight oil drilling lifts associated natural gas production While the number of natural gas-directed drilling rigs is particularly low right now, gas production continues rising, and is currently up 5% year-over-year. One key reason for the gas production boost is the significant increase in natural gas reserves and production associated with tight oil drilling and production. As noted in the Natural Gas Weekly Update of June 25, production of associated gas has been growing in those areas of the country where tight oil production has also been growing because tight oil production requires the presence of natural gas to drive liquids to the wellbore. The importance of tight oil drilling and production on natural gas supply is further illustrated by the 103% increase in Lower 48 natural gas reserves associated with oil, which increased from 21.9 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) at year-end 2007 to 44.5 Tcf at year-end 2012. […]

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U.S. Oil Export Ban Seen Weakening Rather Than Dying

The four-decade-old ban on most crude exports from the U.S., now the world’s largest producer, will be weakened bit by bit as government rulings allow exceptions, say energy analysts including IHS Inc. The Commerce Department’s permission for Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) to ship abroad ultra-light oil known as condensate foreshadows a chain of incremental actions that will chip away at the restriction until it’s obsolete. As much as 1.2 million barrels a day may be freed for export on the recent rulings alone. The ban was passed by Congress in 1975 in response to the Arab oil embargo that cut global supplies, quadrupled crude prices and created gasoline shortages in the U.S. at a time when the country’s own crude production was shrinking. Now that horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are unleashing record volumes of light oil from U.S. shale formations and […]

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API: US petroleum demand up in June, second quarter

Total US petroleum deliveries, a measure of demand, rose 1.5% in June vs. a year ago to average just above 19 million b/d, according to the American Petroleum Institute’s most recent Monthly Statistics Report . For the second quarter, petroleum demand increased 1.5% compared with the same period last year. “A wide range of measures show continued strength in petroleum demand and domestic supply last month, with imports around 20-year lows,” said API Chief Economist John Felmy. “Increased US production in recent years has provided an almost barrel-for-barrel counterweight to various disruptions in global supply from overseas.” Gasoline demand last month gained 4% from June 2013 to average 9.3 million b/d while distillate deliveries increased by 3% to average 3.8 million b/d. Jet fuel demand also increased by 8.4% over the same period, while demand for “other oils” fell by 5.5%. Residual fuel deliveries fell by 10.9%, marking […]

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Peak Petroleum Engineer? Or Still Time To Join The Boom?

Petroleum engineers are among the best paid professionals in the United States. Only chief executives and some specialist doctors earned more last year, according to federal government pay data. Petroleum engineers were paid an average of $132,000 a year, with the top 10 percent on more than $187,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These figures include everyone from the newest graduates to the most experienced engineers with decades of experience, and are based on median earnings in May 2013. Petroleum engineers earned almost four times as much as the average employee across the economy, who was on just $35,000 a year. Oil and gas specialists in all fields have benefited from the shale boom and the broader energy revolution sweeping the United States and Canada in […]

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Obama’s latest sanctions against Russia include oil, gas firms

In response to continued unrest in Ukraine, US President Barack Obama has announced new sanctions against Russia that include—for the first time—operations of Russian state-owned energy firms. “On top of the sanctions we have already imposed, we are designating selected sectors of the Russian economy as eligible for sanctions,” he told reporters at the White House on July 16. “We are freezing the assets of several Russian defense companies. And we are blocking new financing of some of Russia’s most important banks and energy companies. “These sanctions are significant, but they are also targeted—designed to have the maximum impact on Russia while limiting any spillover effects on American companies or those of our allies,” Obama said. Targeted firms include oil producer Rosneft ; Gazprombank , which is affiliated with its leading state-owned natural gas firm; Novatek , the country’s biggest independent gas producer; and Vnesheconomicbank (VEB), which promotes […]

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Tragedy on Top of Crisis May Strengthen Stand Against Russia in U.S. and Europe

The downing of a commercial Boeing 777 in the Ukrainian war zone on Thursday inflamed an already volatile international crisis and may bolster President Obama ’s efforts to isolate Russia if evidence points to complicity by Moscow’s separatist allies. Mr. Obama was careful not to offer any judgments in his only public comments on the crash. But Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said bluntly that the aircraft with 298 people on board was “blown out of the sky,” and the White House late Thursday issued a statement linking the crash to a crisis “fueled by Russian support for the separatists.” If investigators are able to confirm suspicions that the Malaysia Airlines jet was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russian rebels who mistook it for a military aircraft, American officials expressed hope that the tragedy will underscore their case that Moscow has been violating […]

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U.S. Sanctions Squeeze Putin, Stop Short of Economic War

The most aggressive U.S. sanctions yet on Russia are intended to inflict pain on President Vladimir Putin ’s inner circle for supporting Ukrainian separatists, while giving the Russian leader room to reverse course before the standoff escalates into economic warfare. The pressure on Putin could increase dramatically if it becomes clear that, as some U.S. officials now think, Russia-backed separatists were responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) jet yesterday, killing all 298 people on board. New penalties, enacted before the airliner was downed, target Russian banks, energy and military firms run by Putin loyalists, but they spare gas giant OAO Gazprom, reflecting a strategy to shield Europe from a wintertime natural gas cutoff and to escalate gradually, rather than risking blowback on the U.S. and European economies. The Obama administration’s latest action makes “very clear that we are prepared in a calibrated and thoughtful way to increase […]

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Russian Markets Hit By Fresh U.S. Sanctions

A fresh round of U.S. sanctions once again ripped into Russia’s markets, with stocks, bonds and the ruble taking a hit. The new restrictions, which target Russian state-controlled oil giant OAO Rosneft and other top firms, follow weeks of U.S. threats that Russia would face repercussions unless it helped defuse the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian government for months. Moscow’s MICEX index slid 2.4%, with investors interpreting the measures as more likely to hold back the Russian economy than previous sanctions. By the end of the day, the index capitalization shrank by $4.4 billion. Rosneft shares fell 4.5%, while gas company Novatek–also a target of the new sanctions–shed 5.5%. The yield on Rosneft’s benchmark bond due 2022 jumped to 6.1% from 5.3% the previous day, according to Tradeweb. The increase reflects a rise in the interest […]

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Ukraine's gas sector coping, EU says

Some of the proposals offered to break the Russian grip on the Ukrainian energy sector are working, a top European official said Thursday in Brussels. Outgoing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso updated leaders in Brussels on the status of trilateral negotiations between the European Union, Russia and Ukraine. Simmering conflict in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, grew out of its late 2013 decision to look beyond the Russian sphere of influence. Ukraine earlier this year signed an association agreement with the European Union. Beyond strategic areas, Barroso said energy supply to Ukraine is an area of concern. Russia suspended gas deliveries to Ukraine because of debt woes and similar rows in 2006 and 2009 left downstream European consumers in the cold. At this stage, the president said, Ukraine is meeting its energy needs with domestic sources and alternative suppliers. Some of its neighbors have reversed gas flows toward […]

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Ukraine’s gas sector coping, EU says

Some of the proposals offered to break the Russian grip on the Ukrainian energy sector are working, a top European official said Thursday in Brussels. Outgoing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso updated leaders in Brussels on the status of trilateral negotiations between the European Union, Russia and Ukraine. Simmering conflict in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, grew out of its late 2013 decision to look beyond the Russian sphere of influence. Ukraine earlier this year signed an association agreement with the European Union. Beyond strategic areas, Barroso said energy supply to Ukraine is an area of concern. Russia suspended gas deliveries to Ukraine because of debt woes and similar rows in 2006 and 2009 left downstream European consumers in the cold. At this stage, the president said, Ukraine is meeting its energy needs with domestic sources and alternative suppliers. Some of its neighbors have reversed gas flows toward […]

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The Big One – Russia’s Bazhenov Shale

As U.S. and EU policymakers have imposed targeted sanctions on Russian individuals and firms in response to the crisis in Ukraine, Western companies have sought to insulate their own projects from the political imbroglio and continue developing the country’s vast oil and gas resources. Exxon Mobil and Shell have joint ventures with Rosneft and Gazprom respectively to explore and produce shale oil and gas from beneath the swampy plains of Western Siberia and both want to be allowed to continue operating there. It’s easy to see why. The West Siberian basin is the largest petroleum basin in the world, covering 2.2 million square kilometres between the Ural Mountains and Yenisei River, extending from Kazakhstan in the south to under parts of the Kara Sea in the north. The region contains dozens of super-giant and giant oilfields, including Samotlor with 28 billion barrels of oil originally in place, and Urengoy […]

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How Can We Feed Billions More People?

How Can We Feed Billions More People? One out of every eight people in the world goes hungry. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, which calculated this figure , has also reported that 852 million of these 870 million hungry people live in developing countries. Worse, the world population will likely balloon from its present 7.1 billion to 9.6 billion by 2050 . Scientists say this will be coupled with a projected doubling in demand for crops by that same year. Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment now argue in a Science paper, however, that it is possible to feed at least 3 billion more people—with existing cropland. These researchers claim that a “small set of regions, crops, and actions” could “provide strategic global opportunities to increase yields, reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, and deliver food more efficiently from what is already grown.” […]

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Oil Gain on Russian Sanctions Seen Muted on Spare Capacity

Gains in crude prices driven by new sanctions on Russia will be limited because there’s sufficient spare export capacity and no shortage of global supply, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. and Sapient Global Markets. Brent crude for September delivery was little changed at about $107 a barrel in London trading today after the U.S. Treasury Department said OAO Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil company, and natural gas producer OAO Novatek are among those hit by the penalties. Futures rose 2 percent to $111.20 on March 3 after Ukraine mobilized its army reserves as its neighbor seized control of the Black Sea region of Crimea. The measures are the latest response to what U.S. and European leaders say is President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to end support for rebels who have been battling Ukrainian government forces in the east. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which last month pledged to replace any […]

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Natural-Gas Futures Rise on Expected Demand Increases

Natural-gas futures rose Wednesday as traders anticipate increased demand from power generators that have new incentives to switch away from coal. Prices for the front-month August contract settled up 2.2 cents, or 0.5%, at $4.119 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The front-month contract closed trading at a six-month low on Tuesday. Mild weather and high natural-gas prices this summer so far have encouraged operators of power plants to keep burning coal, which allowed a rapid build-up in gas supplies. However, after falling 14% since hitting a one-month high on June 12, gas prices are low enough for the fuel to be competitive with coal again. Aaron Calder, senior market analyst at energy-consulting firm Gelber & Associates in Houston, has identified $3.91/MMBtu as a point where power generators are likely to switch from burning coal to burning natural gas. Some producers […]

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Negotiators Turn to Possible Extension of Iran Nuclear Talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif at a news conference in Vienna on Tuesday. Reuters VIENNA—Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program on Wednesday turned to the possible extension of the talks, with senior officials saying the current round could end as early as Friday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry , who left Vienna on Tuesday after two days of talks with his Iranian counterpart, met with U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to discuss the negotiations and "talk about the path forward," a senior State Department official said. Meanwhile, in Vienna, negotiators from the U.S., Iran and the European Union met for discussions that focused mainly on options for extending the negotiations, a western diplomat said. On Tuesday, both Mr. Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif signaled that negotiations would likely continue, and diplomats said the most-likely scenario was that Sunday’s deadline would be pushed back […]

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Kurdish government lashes out at Dana Gas

The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq said Wednesday it was upset with arbitration statements made by Emirati energy company Dana Gas. Dana said in a Sunday statement it was successful with its application in an international court of arbitration in London against the semiautonomous KRG. The company said the court called for the restoration of "regular payments" owed to it by KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources KRG said Wednesday the company violated a confidentiality clause in relation to the arbitration rules and subsequently aims to correct what it says were misleading statements by Dana Gas. "Contrary to the assertions by Dana Gas, no sums are ‘outstanding’ from the KRG to Dana Gas," it said . Further, KRG said Dana owes it $4.8 billion and the tribunal has yet to make a final determination on the issues of the case. The Kurdish government said it would "vigorously" pursue its own […]

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For Iraq, Debacle in Tikrit as Forces Walk Into Trap Set by Militants

Iraqi troops and their militia and volunteer allies were on the verge of declaring victory over Sunni militants holding the strategic town of Tikrit and were about to hoist the Iraqi flag over key government buildings, when, a survivor recalled Wednesday, “the doors of hell opened.” The Iraqi forces had apparently walked into a trap, and some soldiers — and many more of their untrained volunteer supporters — were either killed or badly wounded when the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria sprung it, according to accounts from two soldiers and volunteer leaders reached by telephone afterward. The debacle in Tikrit on Tuesday offered a vivid illustration of how badly the Iraqi military needs advisers. For weeks, the Americans had implored Iraqi leaders not to fight for the centers of cities, but to establish control of roads and highways, and thus set their own conditions for battle. […]

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Kirkuk oil starts to flow into Kurdistan

Kirkuk oil starts to flow into Kurdistan A worker maintains production at the North Oil Company in Kirkuk. A worker for Iraq’s state-run North Oil Company tends to a pipeline in Kirkuk, in 2003. (ED KASHI/Corbis) Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region has begun pumping crude from Kirkuk into its own independent oil infrastructure, days after Kurdish Peshmerga forces took full control of fields that have long been managed by Iraq’s federal government.The flow of oil signals the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) intention to continue solidifying its control over Kirkuk, the epicenter of a decade-long territorial dispute. The move is also likely to exacerbate the political divisions between Iraqi Prime …

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Israeli Invasion of Gaza Is Likely, Official Says; Brief Cease-Fire Is Set

TEL AVIV — Even as Israel and Hamas agreed to suspend hostilities briefly on Thursday at the request of the United Nations, a senior Israeli military official said that his government was increasingly likely to order a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that it had hoped to avoid. Though Israel initially set limited goals of halting the rocket assaults against it and degrading Hamas, the Islamist movement that dominates Gaza, the group’s tenacity and surprisingly deep arsenal have led to widespread calls to expand the mission. The military official said only “boots on the ground” could eradicate terrorism from Gaza and indicated that Israel was even considering a long-term reoccupation of the coastal territory. But with the Palestinian death toll reaching 214 on Wednesday, Israel and the Gaza militants agreed to end the violence for five hours on Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For Israel, it […]

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China at work on climate protection plans

A climate protection plan from Beijing should be finalized by early next year, a director at the National Development and Reform Commission said from Berlin. China is the world leader in emissions. Beijing says it’s readjusted its economic structure in a way that promotes green energy and a low-carbon economy in an effort to combat climate change. Zie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the NDRC, says the government is working on reports outlining the trajectory of a low-carbon economy. "We have been developing our climate protection plan for beyond 2020 for a year now," he said Tuesday. "We expect it to be finalized by the first quarter of 2015." China and the United States signed memorandums of understanding last week that envision a wide range of climate initiatives, though differences remain between both sides in terms of the climate responsibilities of developed and developing countries. In June, […]

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China done with oil work in disputed waters

China National Petroleum Corp. said it’s completed a drilling and exploration operation in waters of the South China Sea disputed with Vietnam. "The petroleum drilling and exploration operation of Zhongjiannan Project was smoothly completed on schedule on July 15th with the oil and gas shows found," the company said in a statement . CNPC dispatched a drilling rig to an offshore area claimed by both the Chinese and Vietnamese governments. Both sides met last month in Hanoi to discuss the situation, though each side blamed the other for the lingering tensions. Vietnam says its vessels in the region were harassed by Chinese patrol ships, though Beijing said Vietnam was painting itself as the victim in the dispute. CNPC said it’s been conducting seismic surveys in the region to get a better understanding of the reserve potential there since 2004. "In accordance with the work procedures of deep-sea petroleum exploration […]

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Automated Cars May Boost Fuel Use, Toyota Scientist Says

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) , among carmakers developing driverless technology, said the appeal of autonomous cars carries the risk of adding to urban sprawl and pollution as they may encourage commuters to travel farther to work. Technologies that let a driver turn vehicle controls over to the car itself should begin arriving late this decade, said Ken Laberteaux, senior principal scientist for Toyota’s North American team studying future transportation. Faster commutes can bring unintended consequences, Laberteaux said in an interview at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in San Francisco yesterday. “U.S. history shows that anytime you make driving easier, there seems to be this inexhaustible desire to live further from things,” Laberteaux said. “The pattern we’ve seen for a century is people turn more speed into more travel, rather than maybe saying ‘I’m going to use my reduced travel time by spending more time with my family.’” Toyota and other […]

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Drug crime soaring in North Dakota

More federal drug enforcement agents are needed in western North Dakota, the heart of the state’s oil boom, Sen. said. Hoeven said he’s been working with the office of the state’s attorney general and local law enforcement officials on how best to tackle drug-related crimes in western North Dakota. The result of talks was that more agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency are needed to back up local and state officials. "That’s why we’re requesting that DEA station additional agents in North Dakota to help us investigate drug crimes and prevent drugs from coming into the state," he said in a statement . North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple in June boasted gross domestic product in the state had increased for the fourth year in a row and topped all other U.S. states. The state’s mineral resources accounted for 3.6 percent of the GDP growth. Oil production from the […]

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More solar power slated for Virginia grid

| License Photo New rooftop installations in northern Virginia are part of a program aimed at installing 30 megawatts of solar power in the state, Dominion Virginia Power said. The utility company said it installed 3,000 solar panels on the roof of a distribution center in Sterling, Va., used by industrial real estate company Prologis, Inc. Once completed by October, the installation will generate around 800 kilowatts of power, enough to meet the annual energy demands of about 200 homes. It’s the first such installation in the area for Dominion and part of a broader effort to build 30 megawatts of rooftop solar installations for the utility company’s customers. "The partnership with Prologis will enable us to evaluate the benefits and study the impact of distributed solar generation on our electric grid," Ken Barker, vice president of customer solutions, said in a statement. The Virginia state assembly has recommended […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. investing more in biofuels research

The U.S. Energy Department said it was spending $6.3 million on research aimed at generating a biofuel that could be cost competitive by 2017. SRI International of California and Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina received funding from the Energy Department for research and development projects meant to drive down the cost of producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuels from biomass. The funding is part of an effort to make biofuels competitive with regular fuels. The Energy Department said it wants to produce a drop-in biofuel that would cost about $3 per gallon by 2017. Data from 2011 show some biofuels were close to the point at which they’d be competitive with regular fuels. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said the government is looking for ways to increase energy security and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by advancing a low-carbon economy. The transportation sector in the United States accounts for nearly 60 […]

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Shell claims discovery with CNOOC

A discovery in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico is a milestone for a partnership that includes a spinoff of China’s state oil company, Shell announced. Shell announced a discovery in the Rydberg area of the Norphlet play in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the third major discovery in Norphlet for Shell and part of a series of wins for the partnership that includes the U.S. subsidiary of Colombian energy company Ecoptrol and Nexen, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. Shell said Tuesday it’s still assessing the data from the exploratory well in the Rydeberg area but expects it to hold about 100 million barrels of oil equivalent. Together with the two other discoveries in the Norphlet play — Appomattox and Vicksburg — Shell says the region holds at least 700 million boe. Shell and Nexen are planning another exploratory well […]

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States Siphon Gas Tax for Other Uses

States are allotting a growing share of the funds they raise from gas taxes to debt service and spending unrelated to roads and bridges, making them more reliant on federal assistance to pay for new infrastructure. The shrinking pot of state cash is one reason why governors increasingly are in a panic over a congressional impasse about replenishing the federal Highway Trust Fund. The federal fund, too, is running out of money and will cut disbursements to states in August if Congress doesn’t intervene. Texas spends 25% of its fuel-tax revenue on education programs. Kansas has allocated some of its gas-tax revenue to pay for Medicaid and schools. Nationwide, making interest payments on debt used to fund existing infrastructure projects is one of the biggest state expenditures. Allen Biehler, who ran Pennsylvania’s transportation department for eight years before joining Carnegie Mellon University in 2011, said many states pursued bond […]

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Petrotrin blames US shale gas revolution for reduced refinery runs

07/16/2014 Trinidad and Tobago’s state-owned Petrotrin is blaming the shale gas revolution in the US and lower crude prices at Cushing, Okla., for its decision to significantly reduce its refinery throughput to 120,000 bo/d from 180,000 bo/d. Petrotrin Pres. Khalid Hassanali told OGJ that the decision was an attempt to limit the company’s losses at its Point a Pierre refinery and to avoid going out of business like two other Caribbean refineries. Refineries in both Aruba and the US Virgin Islands have been shuttered as Caribbean refineries are facing higher prices for crude on the international market than many US refineries, which are benefiting from the continued bottleneck at Cushing. While the 30% reduction in refinery throughput is hurting the company’s bottom line, Hasannali insists that Petrotrin—an integrated company—is allowing its exploration and production arm to carry the ball for the time being. Mado Bachan, Petrotrin vice-president of refining […]

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North Dakota flaring reduction policy may impact January production

North Dakota production continued to climb in May but new requirements in the state’s flaring reduction plan slowed permitting activity in June and may lead to production curtailments for some operators early next year. About 75% of permit applications required an extra 2-7 days of processing time while the state contacted operators to obtain additional information on gas processing plans, Lynn Helms, director, North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, told reporters during a July 14 conference call. “At least 75% of the permits are missing one or more pieces of information,” Helms said. The state began requiring operators to submit gas capture plans with permit applications on June 1. Plans include information on area gas-gathering system connections and processing plants ; the rate and duration of planned flowback; current system capacity; a timeline for connecting the well; and a signed affidavit verifying […]

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US refiners pursue more overseas product sales, EIA forum told

US refiners continue to respond to a changed competitive environment with additional investments and aggressive oil product export deals, speakers said during the US Energy Information Administration’s 2014 energy conference’s opening day. Flat US demand has made exports more attractive, but feedstocks and regulations continue to matter, “and the industry is deintegrating,” Joanne M. Shore, chief industry analyst at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers , said during a July 14 session on changing global product trade flows. “Our surplus has allowed the US to change from a net product importer to a net exporter,” Shore said. “Rail has been a tremendous boon in moving crude to refineries. So have pipelines.” Not every US refinery has access to discounted crude, Shore said. Plants in the Midwest and Rocky Mountains have ample supplies, but situations for East Coast, Gulf Coast, and West Coast refineries have not changed much, she […]

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U.S. slaps toughest sanctions yet on Russia, targets Putin allies

President Barack Obama imposed the toughest U.S. sanctions yet on Russia, striking at the heart of Vladimir Putin’s powerbase by targeting companies closest to him over what Washington says is Moscow’s failure to curb violence in Ukraine. By imposing penalties on Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft, its second largest gas producer Novatek and its third largest bank Gazprombank, Washington targeted Putin’s allies, many of whom have become wealthy during his tenure. The sanctions, which in effect close medium- and long-term dollar funding, were also put on Vnesheconombank, VEB, a state-owned bank that acts as payment agent for the government, and eight arms firms, including the producer of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. The sanctions did not freeze those four companies’ assets, or stop U.S. firms from doing business with them and several were quick to say it was business as usual. But Russia’s rouble-traded stock market and […]

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U.S., EU Escalate Russia Sanctions as Putin Holds Firm

The U.S. and the European Union imposed the most aggressive sanctions to date on Russian business and said more may follow, acting after weeks of threats to squeeze the $2 trillion economy over the confrontation in Ukraine. The benchmark Micex index dropped 1.9 percent as of 10:54 a.m. today in Moscow to the lowest since May 30 and the ruble slid 0.7 percent against the central bank’s basket of currencies after the Obama administration unveiled the sanctions. Targeted companies include OAO Rosneft (ROSN) , Russia’s largest oil company, natural gas producer OAO Novatek (NVTK) , OAO Gazprombank, the country’s third-largest lender, and eight defense firms. EU leaders agreed to blacklist companies and halt lending to public-sector projects in Russia. “These sanctions are significant,” U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday at the White House. “But they are also targeted, designed to have maximum impact on Russia while limiting any spillover […]

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London signs off on Rampion wind farm

| License Photo The British government said Wednesday it signed off on plans to build the 700 megawatt Rampion wind farm off the coast of Sussex. German utility company E.ON is leading development of the offshore installation that should be completed by 2019. The British government said it expects the project to bring in more than $3.4 billion worth of investments to its economy. Signing off on the project Wednesday, the British government said the Rampion wind farm would generate enough energy to meet the annual needs of 450,000 households. The government said the consent decision is a testament to its commitment to renewable energy resources. "We’re driving investment in our energy security, and our plans have made us number one in the world for investment in offshore wind energy," British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said in a statement . DECC in a recent assessment said […]

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Put 53 Years on the Clock: The End of Easy Oil Is Within Sight

Love it or hate it, British multinational oil and gas company BP ( NYSE:BP ) is one the world’s top institutional experts on energy. Besides being a business leader in its industry — the sixth largest integrated oil company (IOC) by market cap in 2013 — the supermajor is at the forefront of the semi-commercial, semi-academic conversation about the future of energy use at large. Since 1952, BP has offered a share of its two cents in the form of an annual statistical review , the aim of which is to share data and insight about current energy markets and where the world could be heading. The report proper is somewhat dense and is generally only partially digested, if at all, by the media, but the 2013 review contained a few salient points that were thrust into the spotlight. First, and most broadly, was this insight: Demand growth for […]

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Researchers Address Economic Dangers of ‘Peak Oil’ in USA

Researchers from the ICTA-UAB and the University of Maryland (UMD) demonstrate in a new study which sectors could put the entire U.S. economy at risk when global oil production peaks (‘Peak Oil”). This multi-disciplinary team recommends immediate action by government, private and commercial sectors to reduce the vulnerability of these sectors. References Christian Kerschner, Christina Prell, Kuishuang Feng, Klaus Hubacek (2013). Economic vulnerability to Peak Oil , Global Environmental Change. While critics of Peak Oil studies declare that the world has more than enough oil to maintain current national and global standards, these researchers from ICTA-UAB and UMD say Peak Oil is imminent, if not already here—and is a real threat to national and global economies. Their study is among the first to outline a way of assessing the vulnerabilities of specific economic sectors to this threat, and to identify focal points for action that could strengthen the U.S. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple