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Oil futures fall on unexpected build in US crude stocks

New York (Platts)–17Sep2014/523 pm EDT/2123 GMT The oil complex turned lower Wednesday after data showed an unexpected rise in US commercial crude stocks for last week. NYMEX October crude settled 46 cents lower at $94.42/barrel, while ICE November Brent closed 8 cents down at $98.97/b. Data from the US Energy Information Administration showed stocks rose 3.67 million barrels, to 362.27 million barrels, for the reporting week ended September 12. That was counter to analysts’ expectations of a 400,000-barrel draw. In refined products, NYMEX October RBOB settled 1.04 cents higher at $2.5692/gal, while NYMEX October ULSD closed up 1.12 cents at $2.7451/gal. "The EIA gave a big number on crude stock build which in and of itself is fairly bearish," Tony Headrick, energy analyst at CHS Hedging, said. "We resisted moving sharply lower, due to a combination of support levels just under $92 and refiners operating at 93%, and these […]

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Iran Committed to Nuclear Agreement, Foreign Minister Says

Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, left, and Italian foreign minister and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, speak at a joint news conference after a meeting in Rome this week. AFP/Getty Images NEW YORK—Iran is committed to reaching a nuclear deal and could "live with" an agreement that placed constraints on their activities for less than 10 years, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Wednesday. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Mr. Zarif said "we are committed to resolving this issue." Mr. Zarif said Iran couldn’t accept an agreement which lasted for 10 or 15 years "but I’m willing to live with less." U.S. officials have said privately they want an agreement that curtails Iran’s future nuclear program for as many as 20 years. After that, they say, Iran will be free to expand its nuclear program. Mr. Zarif’s comments come ahead of […]

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OPEC Supply Risks Mount as Biggest Libyan Field Is Halted

A reduction in OPEC crude output deepened as Libya’s biggest producing oilfield stopped pumping amid supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and potential disruptions to Nigerian exports. Libya halted the Sharara oilfield as a precaution after a rocket attack on the connected Zawiya refinery three days ago, closing down about 30 percent of national output. In Africa ’s largest oil producer, state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. was in talks yesterday to prevent a strike that threatened to disrupt exports. Saudi Arabia told the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that in August it made the deepest production cut in 18 months. Brent crude futures declined 14 percent in the past three months, falling to a two-year low of $96.21 a barrel on Sept. 15. Global oil demand growth is the slowest since 2011, while the U.S. shale boom means oil production outside OPEC is rising by the most since the 1980s, […]

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House Votes to Authorize Aid to Syrian Rebels in ISIS Fight

WASHINGTON — A House divided along unusual and unpredictable lines voted Wednesday to authorize the training and arming of Syrian rebels to confront the militant group Islamic State, backing President Obama after he personally pleaded for support. The 273-to-156 vote was over a narrow military measure with no money attached, but it took on outsize importance and was infused with drama. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, actively and strongly backed the legislation, and both sought to portray it as a modest measure. The Senate hopes to pass it as soon as Thursday. “The American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission,” President Obama said Wednesday in addressing troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. “I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another […]

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Iraq’s Oil Output Revival at Stake for Want of Water

DUBAI, Sept 17 (Reuters) – A lack of water threatens Iraq’s plans to raise its oil output, boost its stumbling economy and become a leading producer in the region after Saudi Arabia. A multi-billion dollar common seawater injection scheme designed to boost production from the giant export oilfields in Iraq’s south is snarled up in red tape and acrimony. The seawater injection project is core to the development of the southern fields – which account for most of Iraq’s production – and aims partly to flush oil to the surface and overcome declines in production at fields such as Rumaila, West Qurna, Zubair and Majnoon. While the Islamist insurgency has hit oil exports from Iraq’s northern pipeline, the southern oilfields have not been affected by Baghdad’s fight with Islamic State. But the shortage of water is hurting production at two main southern fields: West Qurna-1 and Zubair, official and […]

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Tony Hayward: Kurdish oil sector open for business

| License Photo ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sept. 17 (UPI) — The Kurdish north of Iraq is secured and positioned to become a global leader in the energy sector, the top executive at Genel Energy said from Istanbul. Genel in August said net working production for the second half of the year averaged 63,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, an increase of around 50 percent from the second half of 2013. The majority of that comes from the Kurdish north of Iraq. Genel Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward told delegates gathered in Istanbul for a conference organized by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists the Kurdish region was open for business . "Without the oil industry, Kurdistan doesn’t exist," he said in his Tuesday remarks. "I am very confident in the capability of Kurdish security forces to insure that there is no sort of infiltration to the region." Iraqi and […]

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Kenya Sees Oil Resources Almost Doubling With More Drilling

Kenya expects its estimate of oil resources to almost double to 1 billion barrels as well-drilling climbs and the government forges ahead with plans to build an export pipeline, an energy ministry official said. Tullow Oil Plc. (TLW) and its partner Africa Oil Corp. (AOI) have discovered an estimated 600 million barrels of oil in the South Lokichar Basin since announcing the country’s first crude find in March 2012. The discovery has spurred the East African nation to accelerate infrastructure-development plans, including construction of an oil pipeline that will link Uganda to a planned port in the Kenyan coastal town of Lamu. Initial data acquired from northern Kenya indicates the figure for estimated oil resources is set to rise with increased drilling, said Petroleum Commissioner Martin Heya. “Most licenses will move to the drilling stage next year because that is when their initial license period of two to three […]

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Eni makes major oil discovery offshore Angola

Eni SPA has made an oil discovery on Block 15/06 in the Ochigufu exploration prospect offshore Angola. It is the 10th commercial oil discovery for the block, and is estimated to hold 300 million bbl of oil in place. The Ochigufu 1 NFW well was directionally drilled by the Ocean Rig Poseidon drilling unit in 1,337 m of water, reaching a total depth of 4,470 m. Eni says it found 47 m of proved net oil pay of 34° gravity in the Lower Miocene and Oligocene sandstones. Data acquired in Ochigufu 1 indicate a production capacity of more than 5,000 b/d of oil. Studies are under way to evaluate an early tie-in to the 100,000-b/d Ngoma floating production, storage, and offloading vessel that lies in the nearby West Hub oil development project, which would enable Ochigufu 1 to be “brought into production in record time,” the company says. Separately, […]

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Panama Canal expansion will allow transit of larger ships with greater volumes

Ships carrying crude oil and petroleum products are limited by size restrictions imposed by several of the main thoroughfares of maritime navigation: the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, and the Strait of Malacca. These size restrictions provide another way to classify the large tankers that carry most of global crude oil and petroleum product trade. The Panama Canal , an important route connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, currently has a limited role in global crude and petroleum product transport. The canal’s current size restrictions means smaller vessels, with capacities of approximately 400,000-550,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil, are the only ships that can safely pass through the canal. These ships are referred to as Panamax tankers, and their smaller cargos lead to a higher per-barrel cost. However, the Panama Canal is undergoing an expansion that will allow for the passage of […]

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AWE, Origin in Huge Western Australia Gas Find

AWE and Origin’s Waitsia gas discovery is about 217 miles north of Perth, Western Australia. This picture shows the Pearce Air Base in Bullsbrook, some 21 miles north of Perth. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images PERTH, Australia—Australian energy company AWE Ltd. said Thursday it may have made the largest onshore natural-gas discovery in Western Australia for 50 years, in partnership with Origin Energy Ltd. The Waitsia field could contain more than one trillion cubic feet of natural gas, AWE said, following an initial analysis of the recently drilled Senecio-3 well. The assessment helped to send shares in Melbourne-based AWE up 14%. Australia has long been a hot spot for oil and gas exploration, and international companies including Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC are investing billions to build export facilities following success with the drillbit in previous years. However, industry groups say interest has been flagging recently, especially offshore where […]

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