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Sudan and South Sudan

Map of key oil infrastructure in Sudan and South Sudan Since its independence in 1956 from joint British and Egyptian rule, Sudan has experienced several armed conflicts that have affected the country’s economic development, particularly its natural resources. The longest conflicts in the unified Sudan were the two civil wars fought between the Northern Sudanese government in Sudan (1955-1972) and the government in Southern Sudan (1983-2005). The second civil war ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that was in place from 2005 to 2011.The CPA set standards for sharing oil revenue (50:50 split) and a timetable toward a referendum on the South’s independence. A referendum took place in January 2011 in which the people of the South voted to secede from Sudan. In July 2011, Sudan became two countries: Sudan (Khartoum as the capital) and South Sudan (Juba as the capital). The border separating Sudan […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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PDVSA Chances of Lifting Output Seen Boosted by Reshuffle

President Nicolas Maduro ’s removal of his main economic and oil policy maker improves Venezuela’s chances of tapping more of the world’s largest crude reserves, according to Barclays Plc and Medley Global Advisors LLC. While Rafael Ramirez ’s exit from the posts of vice president for economy and energy minister dims hopes for economic reform, it may give his successor at Petroleos de Venezuela SA the opportunity to focus more on the job of pumping oil. Besides running PDVSA, Ramirez oversaw the exchange system and housing programs among other non-oil duties. His deputy on the PDVSA board, Eulogio Del Pino, will take over as part of a series of government changes unveiled by Maduro on Sept. 2. With a master’s degree in exploration from Stanford University , Del Pino oversaw the company’s operations and coordinated agreements with international oil firms as head of Corporacion Venezolana del Petroleo, or CVP. […]

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Venezuela Leader Scraps Expected Economic Revamp

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro speaks during a news conference at Miraflores Palace in Caracas on Tuesday night. He disappointed investors with a cabinet shake-up. Reuters CARACAS, Venezuela—In recent weeks, the government here hinted it was considering controversial steps to ease a deepening economic crisis, including raising the price of gasoline. But on Tuesday night, in a widely anticipated address, President Nicolás Maduro didn’t unveil any major economic adjustments. Instead, the president announced a cabinet shake-up that removed Rafael Ramírez, the powerful oil minister, who was seen as a proponent of modest changes. Investors didn’t take long to deliver their verdict. The price of Venezuela’s benchmark bond on Wednesday fell hard for the second consecutive day to levels last seen in April, while yields on some bonds from Petróleos de Venezuela climbed to nearly 15%, among the highest in emerging markets. "All of those promises have fallen flat because he […]

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A once-proud industrial city, now a monument to Venezuela’s economic woes

Residents of a neighborhood in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela, block traffic with burning tires to protest a broken sewer main. (Nick Miroff/The Washington Post) Long before Hugo Chávez launched his socialist revolution, government planners came here to Venezuela’s eastern frontier, where the mighty Orinoco and Caroni rivers converge, and envisioned an industrial workers’ paradise. President Rómulo Betancourt, a key partner in John F. Kennedy’s “Alliance for Progress,” founded the city in 1961, inviting his countrymen to turn Ciudad Guayana into a tropical Pittsburgh. More than a city, “it felt like you were building a country,” said Alfredo Rivas, who arrived as a young engineer and went on to become president of the huge steelworks here. A half-century later and 15 years after Chávez came to power, Ciudad Guayana’s factories are crippled, starved for investment and roiled by labor disputes. So faint is Betancourt’s vision that his own monument is coated […]

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Modi Vies With Widodo as India Set to End Diesel Subsidy

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closer to scrapping controls on diesel prices that led to $66 billion of losses on sales of the fuel in the past decade. The loss has fallen to 0.08 rupees (less than 1 U.S. cent) a liter from 13.4 rupees in September last year after Modi continued with gradual price increases that began in January 2013, Oil Ministry data show. The ministry will seek Cabinet approval to remove diesel controls once losses end, one of its officials with direct knowledge of the matter said last week, while requesting anonymity citing rules. Modi is vying with counterparts including Indonesian President-elect Joko Widodo to woo investors by curbing petroleum subsidies, which frees up funds to invest in infrastructure for faster growth. The government and state-run crude producer Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) bore the brunt of the 4 trillion-rupee cost of cushioning diesel in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s Petroleum Reserve Builds Shaky Floor for Oil

An oil field in Panjin, Liaoning province, China. Sheng Li/Reuters China’s secretive effort to build a Strategic Petroleum Reserve has given oil bulls comfort that the underpinnings for global oil prices are strong. Yet in the near term, there are reasons to believe this mysterious hoard won’t offer much support. The world’s second largest consumer of oil after the U.S. began building its strategic reserves a decade ago and recently stepped up construction of storage facilities. China aims by 2020 to squirrel away 100 days of net imports, according to state media. At current rates of imports, that would mean 600 million barrels of crude oil at least. Analyst estimates of how much China has managed to fill so far vary hugely, ranging between 120 million and 260 million barrels. Beijing doesn’t divulge details regularly on the program, which is thought to buy oil when the price dips. If […]

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Shell makes Utica gas discovery in Pennsylvania

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has made a natural gas discovery within the Utica shale in Tioga County, Pa. The Neal and Gee wells were respectively drilled to total measured depths of 14,500 and 15,500 ft with respective lateral lengths of 4,200 ft and 3,100 ft. Shell says the results are comparable to the best publically announced thus far in the emerging southeast Ohio Utica dry gas play. The Gee and Neal discovery wells extend the “sweet spot” of the Utica formation beyond southeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania, where previous discoveries have been located, and into an area where Shell holds a major leasehold position of 430,000 acres, the company said. Shell expanded its Utica acreage in Pennsylvania last month ( OGJ Online, Aug. 14, 2014 ). Producing for almost a year, Gee was drilled more than 100 miles northeast of the nearest horizontal Utica producer, and had an initial […]

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In Speech on Mexico Trip, Gov. Christie Lays Out Vision for Energy ‘Renaissance’

MEXICO CITY — Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey offered a prescription for what he called a “North American energy renaissance” in an expansive speech here, calling for an end to Washington’s 40-year ban on crude oil exports, faster approval of natural gas pipelines between the United States and Mexico , and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast. On the opening day of Mr. Christie’s trip to Mexico, a rare journey abroad as he considers a run for the presidency, he abandoned his trademark swagger for a data-filled, policy-rich and humility-heavy approach. He quoted the writer Bill Bryson and the energy expert Daniel Yergin. He offered lavish praise for the market-oriented overhauls of the Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto. And he took pains to present himself, over and over, as an eager student prepared to absorb the lessons of his Mexican counterparts. “I […]

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Demand Ebbs for Electric, Hybrid Cars

Auto makers’ efforts to put more electric vehicles on the road appears to be shorting out. Despite a booming U.S. auto market, sales of electric and hybrid cars have stalled this year, capturing 3.6% of the market through August, slightly down from last year’s 3.7% share, says research firm Edmunds.com. The leveling off comes as surprise. Many auto industry executives and analysts predicted that hybrid and electric car sales would continue to grow incrementally as car makers expanded new offerings and public awareness increased. In 2011, the Obama administration put forth the lofty goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Last year, a total of 581,240 electric and hybrid cars were sold in the U.S., said Edmunds.com. "As the summer months wind down, we’re approaching the time of the year when sales of these vehicles tend to be slower, so a late-year surge isn’t […]

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AAA: Gas prices keep falling

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States is the lowest it’s been in more than four years, motor club AAA said. AAA reported a national average price Wednesday of $3.43, relatively unchanged from last week, but 7 cents lower than one month ago and 16 cents less than this date in 2013. The price also reflects the lowest price in four years, the motor club said. AAA said the price at the pump reflects a steady decline in crude oil prices , which make up nearly 60 percent of the retail price for gasoline. "While geopolitical developments in Ukraine and Iraq remain front page news, oil markets have marched steadily lower reflecting the assessment that global supplies remain unaffected," AAA said in a report published Tuesday. Gasoline prices in the United States typically fall after the Labor Day holiday as the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple