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Tanzania positioned as LNG hub, BG Group says

BG Group said a test from an appraisal well at the Mzia discovery off the coast of Tanzania yielded a sustained gas flow rate of 101 million cubic feet per day. A similar well last year flowed at 57 million cubic feet per day. BG Group Chief Operating Officer Sami Iskandre said the results are a "critical factor as we progress design of the upstream production facilities and infrastructure" tied to liquefied natural gas development. Last year, energy consultant group Wood Mackenzie published a report saying Tanzania was a part of a growing number of emerging producers in East Africa. The report said output from Tanzania could help regional production increase from the current rate of 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 1.5 million barrels of oil equivalent. BG Group said test results from offshore developments "provided further support for a hub development to supply a potential […]

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Shell Agrees to Sell Some Nigeria Oil Blocks

LONDON–Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Wednesday it had agreed to sell some of the oil blocks in Nigeria previously earmarked for disposal as the Anglo-Dutch oil group moves forward with its divestment program. Shell said last year it wanted to divest four oil licenses and a pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, where sabotage and oil theft has dogged oil companies working in the region. "We have signed sales and purchase agreements for some of the oil mining leases but not all that we are seeking to divest," a Shell spokesman said, without providing any details. The sale process "hasn’t yet concluded," the spokesman said. Shell remained committed to Nigeria where it plans to retains offshore production, he said. The divestment, if completed, would be part of $15 billion worth of assets Shell wants to sell by the end of 2015 as it seeks to focus on its more profitable […]

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Russia to take rubles, yuan for oil

For exports from the Novoportovskoye field in the arctic, the company said it would accept the Russian currency, while China could use its own currency for oil delivered from the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline. The switch could help the Russian economy reduce its dependency on the U.S. dollar in an era when Western economies are imposing tough sanctions on Moscow in response to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Gazprom Neft said it made $2.4 billion in net profits and increased production 4.1 percent during the first half of the year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, said in a July brief that exports of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas accounted for 68 percent of all export revenues for Russia in 2013. The first branch of the ESPO pipeline entered service in January 2010. Gazprom Neft started work in the arctic field […]

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Chinese oil demand declines

Apparent oil demand, a reflection of how much oil goes into domestic refineries combined with net oil product imports, decreased 2.1 percent in July year-on-year. From June, apparent oil demand dropped 6.2 percent to 9.61 million barrels per day. "The weakness in China’s oil demand reflects the ongoing slowdown in its economy," James Bourne, Platts associate editorial director for Asia news, said in an emailed statement. That’s in contrast to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which said in its latest monthly oil market report Chinese oil demand should increase another 3.8 percent during the fourth quarter of the year. Asian economies are growing at a faster rate than other major markets. OPEC said in a 97-page annual report published earlier this year that oil demand should increase most notably in China, Thailand and Indonesia. OPEC said commercial oil inventories in China fell by 4.9 million barrels in June […]

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Labor Day gas prices cheapest since 2010

Samir Cook fills up his vehicle at a city-run station on Saturday, July 19, 2014, in Somerset, Ky. The station on the outskirts of Somerset opened to the public on Saturday, selling regular unleaded gas for $3.36 a gallon. In the first three hours, about 75 customers fueled up at the no-frills city station, where there are no snacks, no repairs and only regular unleaded gas. The city’s mayor says he hopes the no-frills station will lower gas prices around town.(Photo: Bruce Schreiner, AP) The late summer slide in global crude oil prices will push the cost of U.S. gasoline to its lowest Labor Day level since 2010. Better yet: Prices are likely to continue dropping to 2014 lows by mid-autumn. Nationally, regular gasoline will average $3.41 a gallon — 18 cents less than 2013’s Labor Day weekend and 42 cents less than the record $3.83 average for the […]

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U.S. liquid fuels production growth more than offsets unplanned supply disruptions

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook August 2014 and IntercontinentalExchange Note: The difference between U.S. liquid fuels and crude oil production represents production of hydrocarbon gas liquids, biofuels, and refinery processing gain. Non-OPEC supply disruptions include both crude oil and liquid fuels, while OPEC disruptions include only crude oil. Growth in oil production and supply disruptions represents changes since January 2011. Record-setting liquid fuels production growth in the United States has more than offset the rise in unplanned global supply disruptions over the past few years, although differences in quality and location suggest that the substitution may not be exactly 1-for-1. U.S. liquid fuels production, which includes crude oil, hydrocarbon gas liquids, biofuels, and refinery processing gain, grew by more than 4.0 million barrels per day (bbl/d) from January 2011 to July 2014, of which 3.0 million bbl/d was crude oil production growth. During that same period, […]

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Conoco’s Bakken Production Up 19% – Q2 2014

Conoco Phillips Bakken Acreage Map Conoco Phillips Bakken Acreage Map | Click to Enlarge Liquids production volumes from Conoco Phillips’ (COP) Lower 48 assets increased by 22% year-over-year thanks largely to the Eagle Ford and the Bakken, company officials reported in their second quarter 2014 report at the end of July. COP production grew by 38% year-over-year to 208,000 boe/d in the Eagle Ford Shale and Bakken Shale plays combined. That’s ~39% of the company’s total production for its Lower 48 asset portfolio. In the Bakken alone, production grew 19% quarter-on-quarter from 43,000 boe/d to 51,000 boe/d. However, company officials expect for the rate of growth to slow in both plays in the second half of the year due to multi-pad drilling effects and weather-related issues in the fourth quarter. Read more :  Conoco Phillips’ Bakken Ford Production Up 80% in Q4 2013 to 43,000 boe/d Conoco’s EVP, Exploration and […]

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Fracking Foes Force Some Oil Drillers to Tread Lightly

A fight over fracking is looming in Texas . Another stand-off is shaping up in Colorado . Yet drillers’ reactions couldn’t be more different. In Texas, drillers are doing their noisy in-your-face fracking as usual. Meanwhile, on a small farm about an hour from the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the oil industry is giving fracking a makeover, cutting back on rumbling trucks and tamping down on pollution. Oil companies in Colorado are responding to a rising tide of resentment as local communities and environmental activists vie to impose measures to ban fracking or restrict drilling. A series of ballot initiatives and other grass roots opposition around the country is seen as threatening the booming shale industry, even in oil-friendly Texas, where the U.S. energy renaissance began. If those initiatives “continue to proliferate then companies lose access to those resources,” said David B. Spence, professor of law, politics and regulation at the […]

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North Dakota gets more gas processing capacity

"We remain committed to meeting the needs of our customers by building essential natural gas and natural gas liquids infrastructure in the Williston Basin," Terry Spencer, president and chief executive officer of ONEOK Partners, said in a statement Tuesday. The company, which has headquarters in Oklahoma, said its gas processing capacity in the area today is five times greater than it was four years ago. More gas processing capacity in the state means less gas associated with oil deposits is burned off, or flared. North Dakota lacks the infrastructure necessary to take full advantage of natural gas associated with oil reserves in the state at the heart of the shale oil and natural gas boom. The state government said, however, that gas processing capacity has increased from 200 million cubic feet per day to 1.3 billion cubic feet per day since 2006. ONEOK said it should have 1.1 billion […]

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Texas oil production up 25 percent from 2013

The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s energy agency, said crude oil production in July averaged 2.15 million barrels per day, up from the 1.68 million bpd reported in July 2013. The rise in production reflects a 31 percent increase in the number of drilling permits issued year-on-year. For natural gas, the commission said production of 602 billion cubic feet in June is an 8 percent increase year-on-year. Texas is the No. 1 oil producer in the nation. Combined with North Dakota, the No. 2 producer, they produced 120 million barrels of oil in April, the last full month for which data are available from the U.S. Energy Department. Texas is host to the Eagle Ford shale reserve area, one of the most prolific shale basins in the United States.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple