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Chinese Lending Slowed Drastically in July

HONG KONG — Chinese lending unexpectedly and drastically slowed in July to the lowest level since the depths of the global financial crisis, with a weak property market appearing to drive down demand for new loans despite recent moves to ease credit. A broad measure of new credit was 273.1 billion renminbi, or $44.3 billion, in July, the central bank reported on its website Wednesday. That is the lowest monthly total since October 2008, the month before China announced a huge stimulus program that was seen as key to China’s success in avoiding the deep recessions experienced in the United States and Europe. In an unusual step, the People’s Bank of China issued a separate statement that offered some explanations for the weakness of the July credit figures, citing better supervision of the so-called shadow lending sector, a natural slowdown after strong credit expansion in June of almost 2 […]

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N. China province suffers worst drought in 63 years

A river narrows due to lingering drought in Furong Town of Fuxin Mongolian Autonomous County, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, Aug. 12, 2014. Liaoning Province is suffering the harshest drought in 63 years with its precipitation since July hit a record low since meteorological records began in 1951. The drought may be caused by the weather anomaly known as El Nino, which usually triggers drought in northern China while bringing more rains to southern China. Liaoning has raised its emergency response level to the third-highest in a bid to reduce the drought’s impact. Local meteorologists said they are prepared to fire artificial rain-making rockets to force rainfall if conditions are suitable. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong) SHENYANG, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) — North China’s Liaoning Province is suffering the harshest drought in 63 years, and things could get worse. Since July, the province has received the least precipitation since meteorological records began in 1951, […]

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North Carolina coast considered for wind farms

| License Photo The federal U.S. government said it outlined three areas off the coast of North Carolina as potential sites for commercial wind energy development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said more than 307,000 acres off the coast could be developed for wind energy. So far, the agency has awarded five commercial wind energy leases for the Atlantic coast, though none of the projects are in service. "We look forward to working with the state of North Carolina, industry and a broad range of stakeholders as this exciting process continues to further commercial wind development in the United States," U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement Monday. The Mid-Atlantic Wind Energy Institute estimates the region could host the development of enough wind energy to support the annual electricity needs of more than 50 million homes. BOEM said it’s only considering the issuance of leases and […]

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IEA: Oil demand to rise in 2015

The International Energy Agency said Tuesday it lowered its growth forecast for global oil demand to 1 million barrels per day in part due to weaker economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund. For the United States, one of the world’s leading economies, the IMF said in a July report parts of the economy were still struggling to gain traction, though overall growth for 2015 should "accelerate to the fastest annual pace since 2005" barring any unforeseen shocks. Globally, IEA said in its oil market report for August that "as the economy improves in 2015, [oil] demand is set to accelerate by 1.3 million bpd." In July, the Paris-based group said oil supplies increased by 840,000 bpd on the back of a 1.2 million bpd increase from producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. That helped offset declines among most OPEC members, though IEA said it was an […]

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Dalrymple wants safer oil transit measures

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said he was pressing the U.S. energy secretary on comprehensive ways to make crude oil transportation safer. Dalrymple arrived in Washington to take part in the U.S. Energy Department’s Quadrennial Energy Review. He said he was there to press U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on ways to make the transportation of crude oil as safe as possible. The state’s government said May oil production , the last full month for which data are available, was 1.04 million barrels per day, a new all-time high for the state and the second consecutive month with oil output above the 1 million bpd mark. More than 90 percent of the oil produced from North Dakota comes from the Bakken reserve area, though there’s not enough pipeline capacity to keep up with the accelerating pace of production. Industry officials say that leaves rail as the primary alternative transit […]

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AAA: Gas prices continue steady decline

AAA reports a national average price Tuesday of $3.47 for a gallon of regular unleaded, down 2 cents from this time last week and 15 cents from one month ago. The national average price for this date last year was $3.52 per gallon. AAA says drivers in most states saw prices at the pump decline, though some markets posted incremental increases last week because of refinery issues in the Midwest and Central states. In an asessment on price trends, published Monday, AAA said crude oil prices have traded near multi-month lows despite U.S. airstrikes on Sunni insurgents in Iraq , simmering internal conflicts in Libya and ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine . "None of these occurrences have resulted in a disruption to supply," AAA said . The U.S. Energy Department says 67 percent of the price at the pump is tied to crude oil prices, with the bulk […]

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Ohio's Utica Region now included in EIA's monthly Drilling Productivity Report

The Utica Region in eastern Ohio, one of the fastest growing natural gas production areas in the United States, has been added to the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). Total natural gas production in the Utica Region, which includes production from the Utica and Point Pleasant formations as well as legacy production from conventional reservoirs, has increased from 155 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) in January 2012 to an estimated 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in September 2014. Utica formation drilling activity has been primarily focused in eastern Ohio since mid-2012, although the geologic formation extends into Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Some producers are successfully targeting the Utica formation in northern West Virginia, but these wells fall within the existing DPR Marcellus Region. The DPR analyzes all drilling and production within geographic areas in order to capture total production volumes supplied to the market […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ohio’s Utica Region now included in EIA’s monthly Drilling Productivity Report

The Utica Region in eastern Ohio, one of the fastest growing natural gas production areas in the United States, has been added to the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). Total natural gas production in the Utica Region, which includes production from the Utica and Point Pleasant formations as well as legacy production from conventional reservoirs, has increased from 155 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) in January 2012 to an estimated 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in September 2014. Utica formation drilling activity has been primarily focused in eastern Ohio since mid-2012, although the geologic formation extends into Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Some producers are successfully targeting the Utica formation in northern West Virginia, but these wells fall within the existing DPR Marcellus Region. The DPR analyzes all drilling and production within geographic areas in order to capture total production volumes supplied to the market […]

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Production growth, mild weather lower forecast for gas prices: US EIA

Strong growth in natural gas production coupled with mild weather this summer has sped the pace of gas injections into storage and helped lower gas prices, a US Energy Information Administration official said Tuesday. "Natural gas storage injections continue on pace for a record refill of 2.6 trillion cubic feet by the end of October," EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said in a statement. These factors, he said, have prompted the agency to raise "its forecast for onshore marketed natural gas production this year and in 2015, and [lower] its natural gas price outlook." EIA said in its Short Term Energy Outlook, released Tuesday, that gas marketed production is expected to grow by an annual rate of 5.3% in 2014 and 2.1% in 2015. The agency increased its third-quarter gas marketed production estimate 1.3 Bcf/d to 74.54 Bcf/d, and raised its Q4 estimate 1.7 Bcf/d to 75.18 Bcf/d. EIA’s forecast […]

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Columbia to build Marcellus-Utica gas pipeline

Columbia Gas Transmission (CGT), part of NiSource Inc.’s Columbia Pipeline Group , will build a 160-mile natural gas pipeline , Leach XPress, in Ohio and West Virginia, supporting gas supply development in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. Long-term firm service agreements with Range Resources Appalachia LLC, Noble Energy Inc., Kaiser Marketing Appalachian LLC, and American Energy-Utica LLC (AEU), support the project. CGT describes the 1.5-bcfd pipeline as providing access to multiple Marcellus and Utica receipt points and establishing a new header system serving the Appalachian supply basin. It will interconnect with NiSource’s Columbia Gulf Transmission pipeline in Leach, Ky. The same four shippers are also underpinning Columbia Gulf’s Rayne XPress project, which will boost the line’s capacity by 1 bcfd through additional compression. AEU recently completed acquisition of 27,000 net acres in Monroe County, Ohio ( OGJ Online, Aug. 5, 2014 ). CGT has begun outreach […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple