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Shale industry scales back potential in region

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Gary Harmon): An oil shale industry in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming is likely to be about one-third the size it had been envisioned, an industry association said. Instead of a 1.5-million barrel-per-day industry, the more likely scenario is a 500,000-barrel-per-day industry, according to estimates by the National Oil Shale Association. The estimates were dramatically reduced “in light of a more pragmatic view of what an industry might look like in 50 years or so,” the association said, in an estimate that also noted that oil shale production would demand less water than had been previously believed. The United States in 2013 consumed 6.89 billion barrels of petroleum products or 18.89 million barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The oil shale association’s estimate is based on production of 225,000 barrels per day from in-situ means, or heating shale deep below […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New War Risk on Russia Fringes Amid Armenia-Azeri Clashes

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan plan to meet this week in a bid to defuse escalating tensions between the two countries after at least 18 soldiers were killed in the worst clashes in two decades. The fighting in the past week in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been the deadliest since the two former Soviet states signed a cease-fire in 1994. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will hold talks with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev in the Russian city of Sochi on Aug. 8-9, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said on the government’s website. “We hope that serious arrangements will be reached during the meeting,” Abrahamyan said. “We are not afraid of war, I just think it is not clever to solve problems with wars in the 21st century.” The skirmishes between the South Caucasus countries, which border Turkey and Iran , flared amid the worst geopolitical standoff […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Heads for Biggest Weekly Drop in 7 Months on Demand

West Texas Intermediate crude capped its biggest weekly decline in seven months on concern that demand will fall as refineries slow operations. Brent’s premium over WTI narrowed from a one-month high. Prices dropped for a fifth day as the refinery utilization rate fell last week for the first time in more than a month, according to government data. The rate may slip further because of a fire that shut CVR Refining LP (CVRR) ’s Coffeyville refinery in Kansas and the beginning of seasonal maintenance. Gasoline also slumped. “Weak fundamentals seem to be weighing on the market,” said Gene McGillian , an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford , Connecticut . “Refineries are entering into the maintenance season and demand for WTI will drop off.” WTI for September delivery declined 29 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $97.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Futures Prices Extend Losses

Oil futures prices extended their losing streak on Friday, falling in tandem with equity markets, as a key refinery outage in the U.S. was expected to weigh on commercial crude-oil demand. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 29 cents, or 0.3%, in price to $97.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since Feb. 6. The global Brent crude-oil contract fell $1.18, or 1.1%, to settle at $104.84 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was the fifth-consecutive losing session for Nymex crude and the fourth in a row for Brent. Friday’s losses prolonged a six-week slump for crude-oil prices, which fell 6.8% on the Nymex and 5.6% on ICE in July. Analysts and traders said a host of factors were at work in pressuring down prices, from logistical hiccups in the pipeline and refinery system that would […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Prices Fall Again as Supply Exceeds Demand

Natural gas prices dropped slightly Friday as weather forecasts suggest demand won’t keep up with record supply. Prices for the front-month September contract settled down 4.3 cents, or 1.1%, at $3.798 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gave back most of Thursday’s gains and landed 5.1 cents above the eight-month low closing price set earlier this week. Gas fell back this week immediately after both of its two winning sessions with analysts saying the overall supply-demand dynamic is too bearish to be broken by one-day market maneuvering. Prices jumped 1.5% Thursday when stockpile additions were smaller than expected, but ultimately they were still nearly double the average addition for this time of year. "There’s no demand for it at this point," said John Woods, president of JJ Woods Associates and a Nymex floor trader. "This market is basically […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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NYMEX September gas futures settle 4.3 cents lower as traders eye strong output

NYMEX September gas futures settled 4.3 cents lower Friday to $3.798/MMBtu as the market continues to witness strong storage injections in light of cooler-than-normal weather in large parts of the US and continued supply growth. "Natural gas remains well supplied with the May gross production number released yesterday showing a 6.2% year-over-year increase and storage injections running consistently above the five-year average benchmark rate," said Tim Evans, analyst at Citi Futures Perspective. "However, the warming trend in the 11- to 15-day temperature forecast is at least something of a relative support within what remains a bearish fundamental trend," he added. Aaron Calder, analyst at Gelber & Associates, also focused on the production report, adding that it "placed a damper on bullish enthusiasm." "The current Northeast basis suggests, and the backward-looking production report confirms, that there is a ton of new production coming out of the Marcellus right now," Calder […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Risks Remain to Libya's Oil Supply Despite Reopening of Ports, Fields

The reopening of Libyan oil fields and ports this month has been a key factor behind a steady fall in international oil prices recently, with U.S. prices falling to a four-month low on Thursday. But markets may be overlooking resurgent risks to the North African country’s oil supply. Over the past week fighting for control of the airport in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, has set ablaze part of a storage facility holding 90 million liters (almost 24 million gallons) of oil during the worst violence in the country since the 2011 civil war that led to the downfall of former leader Moammar Gadhafi. The oil tank blazes and fighting in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi have led to "serious doubts" about […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Risks Remain to Libya’s Oil Supply Despite Reopening of Ports, Fields

The reopening of Libyan oil fields and ports this month has been a key factor behind a steady fall in international oil prices recently, with U.S. prices falling to a four-month low on Thursday. But markets may be overlooking resurgent risks to the North African country’s oil supply. Over the past week fighting for control of the airport in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, has set ablaze part of a storage facility holding 90 million liters (almost 24 million gallons) of oil during the worst violence in the country since the 2011 civil war that led to the downfall of former leader Moammar Gadhafi. The oil tank blazes and fighting in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi have led to "serious doubts" about […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tunisia seals Libya border after violence

Tunisia has closed its main border crossing with Libya after thousands of stranded Egyptian and foreign nationals, fleeing ongoing fighting and violence in Libya, tried to break through the passage, the Tunisian news agency said. The unrest erupted on Friday when thousands of Egyptians, barred from entering Tunisia because they had no visa, held a protest then broke through part of a fence at the Ras Ajdir crossing, Tunisian security officials said. The news comes as Tunisia urged its estimated 50,000 to 60,000 nationals living in Libya to leave "as soon as possible" because of violence that has raged there since mid-July. "The ministry of foreign affairs urges Tunisians who find themselves in Libyan territory to return home as soon as possible," a ministry statement said. The border clashes on Friday was the second incident at the border in as many days, as thousands of Libyans stream into neighbouring Tunisia, along with foreign […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Gaza Cease-Fire Collapses; Israeli Soldier Is Captured

A newly reached cease-fire in the Gaza conflict quickly collapsed on Friday as the Israeli military announced that two soldiers had been killed and a third captured by Palestinian militants who emerged from a tunnel near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israelis responded with fierce assaults that left dozens more Palestinians dead. The United States and United Nations, which had orchestrated the cease-fire, joined with Israel in condemning the capture, and President Obama asserted that the soldier must be freed in order to salvage a halt to the 24-day-old crisis. Gaza health officials said more than 35 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 wounded as Israeli forces bombarded the Rafah area. Palestinian witnesses said by telephone that Israeli tank shells had hit eastern Rafah as residents returned to inspect homes they had evacuated. Each side accused the other of violating the 72-hour truce, which […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple