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Alaska’s governor upset with BP move

JUNEAU, Alaska, Sept. 16 (UPI) — Sean Parnell BP announced layoffs as the result of the April sale of some of its assets in the North Slope to Houston-based energy company Hilcorp. "I’m extremely disappointed in this action," Parnell said in a statement Monday. "When I spoke with BP Alaska President Janet Weiss today, she assured me that BP remains on track for the new rigs planned for the North Slope and for new investment promised to Alaskans." BP said the assets sold to Hilcorp represent about 19,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day in production, or less than 15 percent of BP’s net production on the North Slope. The British company said the sale has no impact on its operations at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, where BP said it plans to deploy two new drilling rigs by 2016. Parnell’s office said he was confident those laid off […]

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Fracking Bans Enrage Coloradans Sitting on Energy Riches

Mineral owners left out of the energy boom in Colorado and other states are mobilizing to fight local fracking bans they say are depriving them of billions of dollars in oil and natural-gas royalties. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper repeatedly invoked the rights of his state’s 630,000 royalty holders to head off ballot measures that would have given local governments more control over energy drilling. Now owners of royalty interests are going public, organizing in an effort to exploit deposits that cities and counties have blocked them from developing. “We have valuable minerals in the Niobrara that may be worth some money — a lot of money,” Bill Peltier said of rights in an oil shale formation that his family has held for five generations. “They should pay me off for those mineral rights.” Mineral owners are emerging as a potent force in the escalating battle between residents and producers […]

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EPA Extends Comment Period on Climate Rules

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration said Tuesday it is allowing more time for the public to weigh in on draft regulations controlling carbon emissions from hundreds of fossil-fuel power plants across the country after a majority of senators called for the extension. The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it was extending by 45 days its public-comment period that was originally scheduled to end Oct. 16. In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy last week, 53 senators, including several Democrats up for re-election this year, urged the administration to allow 60 more days; the comment period was originally 120 days. The new closing date is Dec. 1. Announced on June 2, the proposed rule seeks to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s power plants 30% by 2030 based on emissions levels from 2005. EPA has set different standards for each state, based upon regional energy mixes and what the agency has […]

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White House says it will veto Republican-backed energy bill

Washington (Platts)–16Sep2014/428 pm EDT/2028 GMT The White House on Tuesday said it plans to veto a sweeping energy bill the Republican-controlled House is expected to approve this week. In a statement of administration policy, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said the bill, HR 2, could imperil oil and gas pipeline approvals and endanger public health and the environment. The bill "runs contrary to the administration’s commitment to promoting safe and responsible domestic oil and gas development as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy to increase domestic production and reduce dependence on foreign oil while protecting the environment and human health," the White House said. The bill was never seen as likely to get through the Democrat-controlled Senate, let alone to President Barack Obama’s desk. The House package, which is seen as highlighting the House’s energy priorities going into the next Congress, combines several previous bills, such […]

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BP To Cut 275 Jobs In Alaska After Oil Field Disposals

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – BP will cut around 275 staff and contractor jobs in its Alaska operations in early 2015 following the sale of its interests in four oil fields in the North Slope area, it said on Tuesday. BP, one of the largest oil producers in Alaska, last April announced the sale of the fields to privately held Hilcorp, though it remains committed to developing Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, the largest oil field in North America. BP has a total of 8,300 employees and contractors in Alaska, according to its website. Its plans for expansion in Alaska include an additional investment of $1 billion over five years, including two additional drilling rigs, one in 2015 and a second in 2016. "The Alaska business is still very important to BP. It’s just a smaller business than it was before," a BP spokesman said. BP is also considering production of […]

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Denmark – the last of a dying breed

Denmark is the European Union’s (EU) only net exporter of oil. The Nordic state’s oil exports totalled approximately 13.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2013. This is in stark contrast to the EU’s only other significant oil producer, the UK, which became a net importer in 2004 and has experienced a steep decline in output since, as its historically productive North Sea fields reach extreme maturity. Denmark has maintained its status as a net exporter despite peak oil production in 2004. A strong shift towards wind power has seen a decrease in oil used for electricity generation while district heating systems traditionally fuelled by oil are now switching to natural gas and renewable sources. Denmark’s ability to hold on to its status as the EU’s last net exporter is likely to diminish in the long-term. Its North Sea fields continue to stutter and decline in output, seeing production […]

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BP Seeks Access to $750 Million Transocean Insurance

BP Plc (BP/) , which has paid more than $28 billion for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, asked a Texas court to let it tap into $750 million in Transocean Ltd. (RIG) ’s insurance policies on the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig. BP filed claims with Transocean’s carriers in 2010, seeking to tap a $50 million primary policy issued by Ranger Insurance and $700 million in excess coverage from Lloyd’s of London and other underwriters. The carriers asked the court overseeing the spill litigation to rule that BP wasn’t entitled to unlimited access to Transocean’s insurance. BP lost its battle for coverage at a lower court, won reversal on appeal, then saw that victory erased last year as the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans withdrew its original opinion. The panel sent the case to the Texas Supreme Court , which held oral arguments today in Austin, […]

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Russian Central Bank Fears Weak Oil Price Could Threaten Economy

The headquarters of Russia’s central bank in Moscow. The Bank of Russia said that inflationary expectations among households increased in August. Bloomberg News MOSCOW—The Bank of Russia said that the ruble and the Russian economy could be hit by sliding prices for commodities—the country’s key exports—if oil prices fail to recover in the midterm. The ruble hit fresh all-time lows on Tuesday, weakening to 38.93 against the dollar, as banks and companies bought foreign currencies and external markets remained largely closed to Russian borrowers. A drop in the price of Brent crude to $98 per barrel from above $115 three months ago has added to downward pressure on the ruble. In a quarterly report on its monetary policy, the central bank said that it forecasts prices for Urals crude blend, which usually trades a bit lower than Brent, to recover above $100 per barrel in the next few quarters. […]

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Russian crude oil exports seen down 6pc in Q4

MOSCOW: Exports of seaborne Russian Urals and ESPO crude oil blends were seen declining by 6.2 percent to 50.17 million tonnes in the last three months of the year from the previous quarter, traders said on Monday, citing a quarterly loading schedule. Russia has been cutting crude oil exports as it has increased production of oil products from its refineries. Traders also said that the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk is expected to load 7.4 million tonnes next quarter, down from 8.86 million tonnes. However, shipments of Azerbaijan crude via the port in the fourth quarter has not been yet agreed. Russian crude exports from the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk were seen down to 11.5 million tonnes in the fourth quarter from 12.5 million tonnes in July-September. Shipments from the neighbouring port of Ust-Luga were scheduled unchanged, at 6.5 million tonnes. Fourth-quarter ESPO crude exports from the Pacific […]

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Ukraine Truce Wobbles as Eastern Regions’ Power Expanded

The cease-fire in Ukraine showed more signs of strain as rebels questioned further peace talks with the government, even after lawmakers in Kiev approved a special status for the country’s two easternmost regions. Some separatist groups called for a renewed offensive and a rebel leader accused the government of violating the terms of a truce signed Sept. 5. Clashes continued near Donetsk, the largest city in the conflict zone, including near the airport, site of some of the heaviest fighting. The uncertainty about the peace process overshadowed the ratification of Ukraine’s association agreement with the European Union on the same day that lawmakers approved a bill expanding the powers of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The law falls short of Russia’s demands, according to Otilia Dhand, an analyst at Teneo Intelligence in London . “The key point, the right of regions to influence foreign policy decisions, is not included,” […]

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Ukraine Moves Reflect Moscow’s Long Shadow

FIERY POLITICS: Ukraine’s legislature ratified a pact with the EU and approved an autonomy plan for separatist regions, as supporters of an anticorruption law clashed with police outside parliament. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Ukraine sought to draw a line under its confrontation with Moscow by ratifying a landmark trade-and-political deal with the European Union and approving limited autonomy for territories now controlled by Russia-backed separatists . But with full implementation of the EU deal postponed under Russian pressure, and the rebels insisting on independence, the developments illustrated Kiev’s weakened position—almost a year after Moscow began flexing its muscle to keep the ex-Soviet republic in its orbit. Many lawmakers in Kiev broke into the national anthem and cried "Glory to Ukraine" after the EU deal passed with 355 votes in the 450-seat legislature. President Petro Poroshenko hailed it as a first step toward eventual membership in the bloc. "No country has […]

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America: You’ve got three more years to drive normally!

Three more years? That’s pretty scary! Surely there must be a mistake in that headline. First in a series Is it possible that average Americans could have a hard time driving only three years from now? Preposterous, to say the very least! Three more years to drive would be awful scary if it were true. Fortunately, it can’t be true because the USA has been racing ahead, drilling like crazy, with the result that we are now the world’s third biggest oil producer, just behind Russia and Saudi Arabia. As everyone who follows the news has heard by now, an innovative drilling technology called “fracking” has added about three million barrels a day of new “tight oil” production, from areas of the U.S. like the Bakken in North Dakota, and the Eagle Ford shale in Texas. Obama used to tell us how we need to break our petroleum addiction, […]

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WTI Oil Falls From One-Week High Before Fed Meeting

West Texas Intermediate crude slipped from the highest closing price in more than a week before the Federal Reserve ’s review of interest rates. Brent was little changed in London . Futures lost as much as 0.4 percent in New York. Fed officials meet to review policy from today. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is set to increase interest rates gradually between 2015 and 2017, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Brent crude declined yesterday to the lowest level in more than two years on concern slower economic growth in China , the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, will reduce demand. “The main concern is whether the Fed will shift its policy and timing of interest rate hikes,” Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. in Middelfart, Denmark , said in a report. “ Oil prices are capped by continued demand fears.” WTI for October delivery fell as […]

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Brent crude futures fall to fresh 26-month, front-month low on Chinese data

New York (Platts)–15Sep2014/502 pm EDT/2102 GMT ICE October Brent futures settled 46 cents lower at $96.65/barrel, a front-month close not seen since June 2012, as weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data stoked concerns about the global economy and sluggish oil demand growth. NYMEX October crude futures closed 65 cents higher at $92.92/b. In refined products action, NYMEX October ULSD was essentially flat, up 9 points at $2.7396/gal, while NYMEX October RBOB settled 1.20 cents higher at $2.5308/gal. It was the second trading session in a row that the front-month ICE Brent futures contract settled at a multi-year low. On Friday, ICE October Brent set its own record-low close since June 2012. The last time front-month ICE Brent settled lower than Monday’s close was on June 28, 2012, when it closed at $91.36/b. News of slowing Chinese industrial production pushed down prices even further Monday, with an intraday low of $96.10/b posted. […]

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Fight Against Climate Change Seen Driving Economic Growth

Government and industry leaders need not choose between fighting climate change or growing the world’s economy. They can do both, according to a new study. Countries can expand their economies through emissions reductions in cities, land use and energy, according to a report released today by the Global Commission on the Economy & Climate, a panel set up by seven nations including the U.K. to advise on the best ways to tackle global warming. The report, which found that about $90 trillion will be invested in city infrastructure over the next 15 years, comes a week before world leaders head to New York for a climate summit hosted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Building better-connected cities relying on mass public transportation may save more than $3 trillion in investment costs over the next 15 years and would improve economic performance and quality of life, according to the […]

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Iranian gas pipeline to Iraq hurts security snag

TEHRAN, Sept. 15 (UPI) — Gas can’t be sent through a pipeline to a power plant in Iraq until next year because of the security situation there, an Iranian development official said. The 60-mile pipeline is designed to export 176 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from Iran’s offshore South Pars field. Iraq, for its part, has struggled to ensure around-the-clock electricity despite its vast natural resource wealth. Alireza Gharibi, managing director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Co., said the pipeline was ready for full-scale testing, but couldn’t pinpoint a set date for normal operations . "Iran’s gas cannot be exported to Iraq under the current insecure conditions, hence it will be exported to Iraq early next year," he said Saturday. U.S. and international forces are coordinating a measured response to help Iraq contain militants with the Islamic State, a Sunni-led terrorist group in control […]

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Kerry Says U.S. Is Still Open to Talking to Iran About ISIS Threat

PARIS — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that the Obama administration would keep the door open to confidential communications with Iran on the security crisis in Iraq, despite sarcastic criticism from Iran’s supreme leader, who said the American plan for bombing Islamic militants, their common enemy, was absurd. Mr. Kerry acknowledged that the United States had opposed a role for Iran at the international conference here on strengthening a coalition to help the new government in Baghdad fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Both King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and top officials from the United Arab Emirates had informed the United States that they would not attend the meeting here if Iran was present, said Mr. Kerry, who also stressed that the United States would not coordinate militarily with the Iranians. But Mr. Kerry also said that American officials were still prepared to talk […]

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Kurds Fight Iraq’s Second Bid to Seize Tanker Off Texas

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) –- The Kurdistan Regional Government asked a U.S. judge to reject the Iraqi Oil Ministry’s bid to use new legal theories to seek a second seizure order for $100 million of Kurdish crude waiting in a tanker off the Texas coast. U.S. District Judge Gray Miller ruled last month he had no authority to decide which government rightfully owns the cargo, which was pumped from wells in the autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq and exported through a Turkish pipeline. He threw out a U.S. magistrate’s arrest warrant that would have allowed federal agents to seize the crude and store it ashore at the Iraqi government’s expense, if the ship enters U.S. territorial waters, until the ownership dispute can be resolved. The judge gave the Iraqis a chance to revise their suit, and the central government asked to add new legal theories to try for a […]

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Kurds in Europe take up arms against IS group

AP Photo AP Photo World Video Buy AP Photo Reprints KOEGE, Denmark (AP) — Shaho Pirani says he’s just a phone call away from leaving his quiet life in Denmark and joining Kurdish forces battling against Islamic State militants in Iraq. The 30-year-old Kurd, who fled from Iran with his older brother in 1991, says he feels a moral duty to help the Peshmerga, the armed forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government, to fight the "psychopaths" of the Islamic State group. "I feel so helpless here," Pirani told The Associated Press in an interview in his home in Koege, a tranquil Copenhagen suburb with neatly trimmed lawns and hedges. "I am ready to die for the Kurdish cause." While more than 2,000 Europeans are believed to have joined the Islamic State organization and other jihadist groups as foreign fighters, a smaller number has left Europe in recent months to […]

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Islamic State Funds Push Into Syria and Iraq With Labyrinthine Oil-Smuggling Operation

A group of men transporting diesel fuel from Syria into Turkey last year, an operation also used by jihadists to fund their operations. Reuters The Islamic State is funding its rapid push into Syria and Iraq with a labyrinthine oil-smuggling operation that starts at seized Syrian oil fields, goes through makeshift refineries and can end up in jerrycans carried by mules into the hilly borderland of Turkey. Amid Western pressure to squeeze the group’s finances, Turkey is expanding efforts to crack down on the increasingly organized business, which is now generating an estimated $2 million a day. A major route linking Syrian oil fields with the smuggling enclaves of southern Turkey offers a window onto the complexity of the oil network run by Islamic State, the militant group that controls large swaths of Syria and Iraq . It also demonstrates the challenges of shutting it down. "It clearly won’t […]

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Broad Coalition Vows to Back Fight Against Islamic State

A conference to discuss how to combat the Islamic State is under way in Paris. Made up of 26 countries, including the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia, it aims to show a united front on fighting the militant group. WSJ’s Mark Kelly reports PARIS—Top diplomats vowed Monday to back the Iraqi government’s fight against Islamic State but struggled to agree on concrete action, underscoring divisions among world powers over how to tackle the militant group. A group of 26 countries—including the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia—pledged to support Baghdad’s fight against the jihadist organization "by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance." French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters after an international conference on combating the militant group that discussions focused on ways to cut off funding to the group as well as how to stem the flow of foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq. But the gathering failed […]

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US launches first air strikes to help Iraqi military

Ground crew for U.S. Marine F18’s goes through the final process of arming the aircraft prior to their missions over Iraq March 22, 2003. The United States and Britain unleashed their first daylight air strikes on Baghdad on Saturday after pounding it with a fearsome night blitz. – RTXLUSQ The US has conducted its first air strikes in support of the Iraqi military since President Barack Obama last week launched his expanded fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Isis , in Syria and Iraq. The US Central Command said aircraft attacked Isis positions near Sinjar on Sunday and southwest of Baghdad on Monday. These were the first attacks in support of Iraqi troops as opposed to strikes to protect US personnel, help refugees or secure infrastructure. More On this story On this topic IN Iraq Six Isis vehicles and one of the militants’ firing […]

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Sunni tribes turning on ISIS and Peshmerga

Sunni tribes turning on ISIS and Peshmerga A Peshmerga fighter holds a rocket propelled-grenade (RPG) near an ISIS flag hoisted on the other side of a bridge in Rashad, on the road between Kirkuk and Tikrit, on Sept. 11, 2014. [JM LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images] Iraq’s newest initiative to convince Sunnis to fight alongside the government has combusted into a volatile, multi-sided conflict in northern Diyala province – a strong indication of how difficult it will be to build and maintain a national coalition against extremist militants.The biggest flashpoint has been around Jalula, a town in Diyala along the disputed border between the autonomous Kurdistan region and Arab-dominated southern Iraq.Since Saturday, Sunni Arab tribesmen aligned wi… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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ISIS’ Next Target: The Suez Canal

ISIS’ Next Target: The Suez Canal Following ISIS blitzkrieg in which it took over nearly half of Iraq and a third of Syria in the blink of an eye, at which point it created its own Islamic State Caliphate resulting in Obama’s own personal war against the jihadists, some have wondered what is ISIS’ next step: surely its leadership will not merely stagnatte as one after another US predator drone bomb away the capital Reqqa until ISIS figurehead leader al-Baghdadi is killed or gravely wounded. To be sure, the one thing ISIS, which stunned the world with the speed of its ascent, can not afford is to stand still. So what is next on the strategic timeline for the Islamic State? According to one source, Al Arabiya, which cites Egyptian experts, the answer is none other than the Suez Canal , and the country it is located in: Egypt. […]

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Libya, Iraq Insecurity May Hit Future OPEC Supply Prospects

OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri. EPA VIENNA—Amid a continuing slide in global oil prices, the head of OPEC has said political insecurity in Iraq and Libya could affect the oil-producing cartel’s future output prospects. In an interview at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ headquarters, Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri said that while Iraq has great potential to grow oil production, it needs to solve its security problems. "If there is no security, there will be no investment," he said. "If there is no investment, there will be no additional supply." Iraq has long-held plans to triple its oil production capacity to 9 million barrels a day by 2020, meaning it could expand output at the fastest rate of any of OPEC’s 12 member nations. But the rapid advance of the insurgent Islamic State movement in the West of the country has cast doubt on its target—though the rebels […]

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Nigeria Mulls $20 Billion Offers to Sell Transmission Assets

Nigeria is considering offers of more than $20 billion for the assets of its national electricity transmission company as it struggles to provide adequate power to Africa ’s largest economy, Power Minister Chinedu Nebo said. The sale of state-owned Transmission Co. of Nigeria may start “in a few years,” Nebo said in a Sept. 12 interview with Bloomberg Television Africa in Abuja, the capital. The government will also focus on developing renewable energy projects to diversify its supply of electricity, he said. “The interest now for transmission is over $20 billion,” he said on Sept. 12. “People are coming from everywhere.” Transmission is the only segment of the power industry that the government still controls as it seeks to curb regular blackouts in Africa’s largest oil producer. The country generates about a 10th of the power that South Africa does even though its population of about 170 million is […]

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Vietnam, India to Expand Oil Exploration in Contested South China Sea

Vietnam and India have struck a deal to expand oil and gas exploration and production in the South China Sea, despite previous Chinese claims that it violates China’s sovereignty. European Pressphoto Agency HANOI—Vietnam and India agreed Monday to expand cooperation in oil and gas exploration and production in contested waters of the South China Sea, despite previous objections from China. The agreement between ONGC Videsh Ltd. and Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, was among several signed between the two countries in Hanoi Monday as part of a four-day visit to Vietnam by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. "ONGC has been conducting oil and gas exploration and production in Vietnam for many years, and today’s agreement will pave the way for us to extend our cooperation in other blocks offshore Vietnam," Do Van Hau, PetroVietnam’s chief executive, told The Wall Street Journal. ONGC already has a stake in a […]

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Nigerian oil workers start strike, oil exports at risk

Lagos (Platts)–16Sep2014/524 am EDT/924 GMT Oil workers in Nigeria started an indefinite strike Tuesday that could disrupt oil production and exports from the OPEC member, said officials of the unions and state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. The unions took the action after failing to resolve a dispute over pensions and other issues. "Today, we have called our members out to begin an indefinite strike until management addresses our demand for a complete overhaul of the NNPC pension scheme, which in its present form is depriving our members of their full dues," a spokesman for the NNPC branch of Nupeng and Pengassan oil workers’ unions told Platts. NNPC’s headquarters in Abuja has been shut to workers and visitors, the union official said. Platts could not immediately confirm the situation in other NNPC offices, particularly in the oil-producing Niger Delta region. The union spokesman said that if NNPC management failed to […]

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China Bans Use of Coal With High Ash or Sulfur to Fight Smog

China will ban sales and imports of coal with high ash or sulfur in a move to promote cleaner types of the fuel and improve the nation’s air quality. Coal with ash content of more than 40 percent and sulfur of more than 3 percent is banned from sales and imports into China starting Jan. 1, according to a regulation posted on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission yesterday. Lignite containing ash of more than 30 percent and sulfur of more than 1.5 percent is also prohibited. Other limitations involve coal with chemical content such as mercury and arsenic. China, the world’s largest consumer of coal, is restricting the dirtiest grades to fight pollution. It will encourage imports of higher-quality supplies after smog worsened in Shanghai and Beijing and sparked social unrest in Maoming and Hangzhou. The nation depends on coal for about 65 percent of […]

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China rig finds gas after Vietnam sea standoff

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese exploration rig at the center of a tense maritime standoff with Vietnam earlier this year has made its first deep sea gas discovery in the politically volatile South China Sea, state media announced Tuesday. The discovery by China National Offshore Oil Corp. was made about a month after its rig withdrew in July from Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone to far less-contested waters closer to China. The find by CNOOC’s two-year-old, $1 billion deep sea rig is about 150 kilometers south of China’s southernmost island of Hainan. It’s unclear whether the discovery will become commercially viable, but the announcement represents a significant step in China’s ability to seek resources beneath the South China Sea. Petroleum reserves and fisheries are among the resources at stake in disputes over the sea, which is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and a patchwork of overlapping claims by […]

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Exporting US Oil to Mexico

Exporting US Oil to Mexico Mexico could become a major export destination for surplus US light crude oil, despite being one of the largest oil suppliers to the US, mainly of heavy oil. If structured as an exchange for other barrels, such exports might not require re-writing US oil export regulations, unlike sales to non-neighboring countries. Two of the biggest energy stories of the last twelve months have been the reform of Mexico’s oil sector after 75 years of state monopoly and the US oil industry’s drive to gain approval to export a growing surplus of domestic light crude oil. The prospect of exporting US oil to Mexico connects these developments in a surprising way. It should make sense geographically and economically, though regulatory hurdles remain. Yet it could also increase tension between US oil producers and refiners over the merits of exporting crude versus refined products. At first glance, the idea […]

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The Consequences Of Fracking: Two Clashing Views

The Consequences Of Fracking: Two Clashing Views Two academic studies of the health dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have produced different conclusions. One, conducted by Yale University, said people living near fracking sites report increased health problems . The other, by Penn State University, says fracking water stays underground, far below the groundwater supplies that people use for drinking, and poses no threat . Both studies were conducted in Pennsylvania, part of the Marcellus Shale formation in the sprawling Appalachian Basin in the eastern United States. It holds enormous reserves of gas and has been a focus of fracking activity and protests. In the Yale study, former Yale medical professor Dr. Peter Rabinowitz reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives that residents living near a fracking site in southwestern Pennsylvania were more than twice as likely to report skin problems and respiratory illnesses than those living farther away. […]

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Fixing Climate Change May Add No Costs, Report Says

In decades of public debate about global warming, one assumption has been accepted by virtually all factions: that tackling it would necessarily be costly. But a new report casts doubt on that idea, declaring that the necessary fixes could wind up being effectively free. A global commission will announce its finding on Tuesday that an ambitious series of measures to limit emissions would cost $4 trillion or so over the next 15 years, an increase of roughly 5 percent over the amount that would likely be spent anyway on new power plants, transit systems and other infrastructure. When the secondary benefits of greener policies — like lower fuel costs, fewer premature deaths from air pollution and reduced medical bills — are taken into account, the changes might wind up saving money, according to the findings of the group, the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate . “We are […]

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Canadian Natural Allowed to Resume Production at Troubled Site

CALGARY, Alberta— Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. will be allowed to resume production at an oil-sands site in northern Alberta plagued by unexplained leaks of crude that seeped to the surface, the province’s chief energy regulator said Monday. The decision partially lifts restrictions on the company’s operations that had been in place since mid-2013 after mysterious leaks of crude were detected at four separate locations at the site, which is about 217 miles (350 kilometers) northeast of the provincial capital of Edmonton. It comes a month after Canadian Natural lowered its annual production forecast, citing delays in the resumption of operations at Primrose East, the field where the heavy oil seepages occurred on the grounds of the Canadian armed forces’ Cold Lake Air Weapons Range. The Alberta Energy Regulator approved the company’s application, which was submitted July 29, to restart production using low-pressure steam injections to extract oil embedded in […]

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Study: Leaky Wells, Not Fracking, Taint Water

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says that the drilling procedure called fracking didn’t cause much-publicized cases of tainted water, blaming contamination on leaky natural gas wells instead. The study finds that eight hydraulically fractured wells in the states of Pennsylvania and Texas leaked gas because the piping and cement seals in the wells themselves weren’t working properly. The process of pumping highly pressurized chemicals and water underground to get valuable natural gas trapped in shale has become highly charged as contamination complaints initially surged. Ohio State University geochemist Thomas Darrah and colleagues used certain elements to trace where the leaks came from. He said finding them in the wells rather than the fracking process, means contamination is more preventable and fixable. The study is published in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]

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Uneven effects seen from new Appalachian pipelines

HOUSTON, Sept. 15 09/15/2014 Producers in the Appalachian basin will benefit unevenly from markets opening for natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales , according to a Canaccord Genuity analyst. Pipeline projects due on stream soon will alleviate a surplus in the southwestern part of the basin, wrote Karl Chalabala in a mid-September report on an updated supply-demand model. But the gas price will remain weak in the northeastern Appalachian basin until markets begin opening for supply there in 2016—unless operators ease drilling or curtail production. Chalabala said pipeline capacity will begin to exceed need in the southwestern Appalachian basin at the end of this year. Overall system expansions beneficial to northeastern operators won’t occur until the second half of 2016, according to an analysis that focuses on takeaway capacity by omitting projects that will move gas largely within the region. Most capacity expansions directly benefiting producers in […]

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New petroleum technology revitalizes Powder River Basin oil production

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration and Drillinginfo, Inc. The Powder River Basin, well known for its abundant coal supply, is experiencing a turnaround in oil production. Production has rebounded from a low of 38,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2009 to 78,000 bbl/d during first-quarter 2014. Although U.S. oil production growth is occurring primarily in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Permian Basins , the Powder River Basin is among other regions of the country that have also benefitted from the application of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing . The increase in Powder River Basin oil production is largely attributable to production growth in the Turner, Parkman, and Niobrara-Codell formations, which collectively increased from 4,700 bbl/d in 2009 to 36,300 bbl/d in first-quarter 2014, increasing their share of total Powder River Basin oil production from 12% to 46%. Three other formations—the Shannon, Sussex, and Frontier—also rose from 2009 to 2014, […]

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Study Links Increased Drilling With Earthquakes

The aftermath of an earthquake in Segundo, Colo., in 2011. Scientists have linked the magnitude-5.3 quake with nearby wastewater injection, a process used in drilling. Associated Press A magnitude-5.3 earthquake that hit Colorado in 2011 was likely caused by the injection of wastewater into the ground, a process used in natural-gas drilling, according to new research to be released Tuesday. The new study, published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, adds more detail to a growing body of work seeking to establish and explain the connection between human activity and seismic events, known as induced quakes. Geologists have been intensely focused on the field in the past few years, as some states, including Oklahoma, Ohio, Colorado and New Mexico, have seen a rise in quakes that coincides with an uptick in activities associated with oil and gas extraction, scientists say. According to the American Petroleum Institute, […]

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Homes Near Gas Wells in Texas Face Worsening Water Issues

Homes in a Texas community face worsening water contamination caused by nearby gas production, according to a study released today. The findings from an analysis by independent academics counter statements by driller Range Resources Corp. (RRC) and state regulators, who have said their evidence shows gas drilling wasn’t responsible for the presence of explosive methane in the homeowners’ water wells. Separate testing that found evidence of contamination from drilling at seven areas in Pennsylvania also was included in the study. “People’s water has been harmed by drilling,” Rob Jackson, professor of environmental and earth sciences at Stanford University and Duke University , said in a statement. “In Texas, we even saw two homes go from clean to contaminated after our sampling began.” The case in Weatherford, Texas, has drawn international media scrutiny, intervention by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that was later shelved and lawmakers’ scrutiny of the EPA’s […]

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Shell notes strong ties to Russian energy

MOSCOW, Sept. 15 (UPI) — A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell said Monday the company was reviewing what impact, if any, sanctions would have on its ties to the Russian energy sector. "We are proud of our strong partnership with Russian companies," the spokesperson said. "We will explore the latest sanctions and their possible impact on our business." The European Union last week enacted tighter sanctions on Russia’s energy sector in response to ongoing crises in Ukraine. The measure was enforced in coordination with Washington. Russia’s government relies heavily on oil revenue. A spokesman for Shell told state news agency RIA Novosti the sanctions were under review. The Russian currency was trading at a record low against the U.S. dollar as sanctions started to take their toll on the Russian economy. Shell is working alongside Russian energy company Gazprom on the Sakhalin liquefied natural gas project in the Far […]

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EU, Kiev, Moscow gas talks suspended

MOSCOW, Sept. 15 (UPI) — Talks were scheduled for Saturday. A ministry spokesperson told state news agency RIA Novosti an alternate date depended on Energy Minister Alexander Novak’s schedule. "We told the European Commission that the proposed date is not suitable for us," the spokesperson said. "Another date is being discussed." The European Union last week enforced new sanctions on the Russian energy sector in response to ongoing crises in eastern Ukraine. A government decision in Kiev in November to suspend efforts to join the EU sparked political upheaval in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic. That, in turn, led to intervention by Russia, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula and has supported separatists in eastern Ukraine. On Saturday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk submitted to Parliament the text of an association agreement with the EU. Europe is trying to avert a repeat of an energy crisis that erupted in 2006 […]

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Gazprom Neft marks arctic milestone

MOSCOW, Sept. 15 (UPI) — Russian oil company Gazprom Neft said Monday it reached a milestone with the production of its 1 millionth barrel of oil from the arctic Prirazlomnoye field. Gazprom Neft Board Chairman Alexander Dyukov said his is the first Russian company to pull oil from the Russian arctic shelf . "The production of the millionth barrel of oil at the Prirazlomnoye field is a milestone and further proof of the consistent development of the project and its final transition into full-scale development," he said in a statement. "Gazprom Neft plays a leading role in developing oil deposits on the Arctic shelf and we can build on this experience for new Arctic projects in the future." The company expects 2.2 million barrels worth of production from Prirazlomnoye during the first full year of development. A tanker with 1 million barrels worth of storage capacity is set to […]

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EU Postpones Decision on Granting Russia Gas-Pipeline Access

BRUSSELS-The European Union Monday again postponed a decision on whether to grant Russia full access to its OPAL natural-gas pipeline, frustrating Moscow’s efforts to boost energy exports to the 28-country bloc. The European Commission cited technical reasons for the delay, which coincided with its announcement that planned talks between Russia, Ukraine and the EU to resolve a gas feud were also postponed. The commission had hoped to hold the three-way gas talks in Berlin on Saturday in a bid to break the long-running deadlock between Kiev and Moscow, but said an agenda clash on the Russian side meant the negotiations would have to be held at a later date. Russia suspended gas deliveries to Ukraine in June over a pricing dispute that the EU has been hoping to resolve ahead of winter, fearing energy shortages in several European countries that are heavily dependent on Russian gas imports. No fresh […]

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Russian ruble drops to historic low amid sanctions

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s currency dropped to an all-time low against the dollar on Tuesday as investors fret about long-term economic damage from Western sanctions. The United States and the European Union last week imposed a new round of sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine that consisted in, among other things, blocking off Western financial markets to key Russian companies. The Russian currency fell more than 1 percent to 38.80 rubles against the U.S. dollar by noon Moscow time Tuesday. The ruble has lost over 2.7 percent in just two days. The Russian Central Bank allows the ruble to trade in a range against the dollar and sometimes intervenes in markets to prop it up. It has not been doing so in the past months, however, leaving the ruble to trade only 0.40 rubles away from the minimum level. Economist Alexei Kudrin, who served as finance minister […]

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Tony Hayward: Sanctions against Russia could spur $150 oil

Tony Hayward: Sanctions against Russia could spur $150 oil Western sanctions against Russia, coupled with ongoing political instability in Libya and the advance of ISIS militants in Iraq, could leave the global oil supply exposed and push up oil prices to $150 per barrel, former BP chief Tony Hayward has warned. The former CEO of BP and now chairman of Glencore Xstrata said the recent boom in US shale production has painted an unrealistic image of the world’s global oil supply, and created a false sense in energy security. “The world has been lulled into a false sense of security because of what’s going on in the US,” Hayward said in an interview with the Financial Times . The hydraulic fracturing boom in the US began in 2008 and has increased US crude output by 60 percent, but Hayward warned it could wane. “When US supply peaks, where will […]

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Oil Prices Continue Downtrend

By Cassie Werber The downward trend in Brent and WTI crude showed no sign of slowing Monday, as poor demand and high supply continued to weigh on prices. "The oil market has been in a downtrend since the middle of June," said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM. Struggling global economic growth has slowed oil demand, he said, while political shocks in the Middle East and Ukraine have failed to limit oil supplies. JBC Energy said the weakness is likely to continue for the rest of the year, largely because European and Chinese demand has slumped, and supply continues to ramp up from Libya and Iraq. "Looking at the price developments of the past few months as well as at West African crude differentials, it is evident that something sizable has happened to the Atlantic Basin crude balance," the energy consultancy wrote in a note to clients. "Given our current […]

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Brent Crude Falls to Two-Year Low as China Output Slows

Brent crude declined to its lowest intraday level in more than two years as China ’s industrial output expanded at the weakest pace since the global financial crisis. West Texas Intermediate also fell. Futures slid as much as 0.9 percent in London. Factory production in China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, rose 6.9 percent from a year earlier in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said Sept. 13, compared with 9 percent in July and a median estimate of 8.8 percent in a Bloomberg News survey. Crude output in Libya increased to 870,000 barrels a day, according to state-run National Oil Corp. The Chinese data “is one of the main weak sides of the market,” Andy Sommer, an analyst at Axpo Trading AG in Dietikon, Switzerland , said by phone. “This weak data can mean the certainty, or confidence, in their expected growth is declining more and more. Currently […]

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Speculators Cut Gas Bets to 9-Month Low on Supply Growth

Hedge funds reduced bullish wagers on natural gas to the lowest level in more than nine months as U.S. shale production surges to an all-time high. Speculators lowered their net-long position across four benchmark contracts by 12 percent in the week ended Sept. 9, the third consecutive drop, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Short positions, or bets on falling prices, increased to the most since December. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Plc cut their gas price forecasts for the fourth quarter and next year as the jump in shale production outpaces government estimates. Output from the Marcellus in the eastern U.S. is forecast to top 16 billion cubic feet a day for the first time in October. Futures gained 2.4 percent in the week of the report before tumbling 3.2 percent through Sept. 12. “Last week we had another failed rally because we continue to get […]

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Arab Nations Offer to Fight ISIS From Air

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Sunday that “several” Arab nations had offered to join in airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but any sustained military campaign does not appear imminent, and is likely to require an even more significant commitment from other nations and fighting forces in the region. In interviews and public statements, administration and military officials described a battle plan that would not accelerate in earnest until disparate groups of Iraqi forces, Kurds and Syrian rebels stepped up to provide the fighting forces on the ground. Equipping, training and coordinating that effort is a lengthy process, officials cautioned. American officials have made it clear they do not want the airstrikes to get ahead of the ground action against ISIS, which they said would take time to mass. “This isn’t going to be ‘shock and awe’ with hundreds of airstrikes,” one official said, referring […]

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Airstrikes Have Halted Islamic State, U.S. Says

WASHINGTON—A five-week campaign of U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq has forced them to conceal their movements and blunted their acquisition of territory, U.S. officials said. However, the reaction of the group’s fighters—moving and living in more stealthy ways—also makes them harder to target. As military officials prepare to expand the campaign, initial intelligence reports point to noticeable effects in arresting the progress of the militants, while questions remain about whether airstrikes can ultimately succeed in rolling back the group. The U.S. strikes have prevented Islamic State militants from massing large formations of fighters and have exerted pressure on checkpoints the group has tried to operate. The expanded strikes also make it difficult for the group to operate convoys, forcing them to move ammunition and equipment more surreptitiously, the U.S. officials said. Since the airstrikes began in early August, the group has curbed its open use of […]

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