Category:

Russian currency crashes

Value of Russian currency collapses under pressure from sanctions targeting energy sector. (FileUPI/Dennis Van Tine) By midday in Moscow, the currency hit bottom with trade at 42 rubles to the U.S. dollar. The Russian economy is burdened by Western sanctions targeting Russian energy companies. With oil trading below the $100 mark, sanctions were blamed for record inflation and a struggling ruble. Igor Sechin , the head of Russian oil company Rosneft, said Thursday a lawsuit was filed in Luxembourg against the European Union in retaliation against sanctions . "Our aim is to protect the interests of our shareholders," he said. "We will always protect their interests at any cost." Sechin in August asked the Kremlin to use a national welfare fund to support its growing debt. The company’s total production, meanwhile, is down to its lowest level in more than a year. Sechin and the oil company he leads […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

British frack plans delayed by county council

British shale pioneer Cuadrilla Resources waiting for decision from country council in drilling proposals. UPI/Gary C. Caskey PRESTON, England, Oct. 24 (UPI) — Planners in the British county of Lancashire said they needed more time to consider drilling plans from shale pioneer Cuadrilla Resources. Cuadrilla in June deposited 21 chapters of environmental studies with the Lancashire County Council associated with plans for up to four shale gas exploration wells. The council said initially it would make a determination by early November, but said they now needed more time to make a decision . "The council has now written to Cuadrilla asking for further time to receive, organize, assess, and present all the relevant information for the application to be determined by the committee," it said in a Thursday statement. Cuadrilla said there may be as much as 200 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas in the Bowland basin […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Peak Oil is still the reality of the future

4599 Votes Peak Oil is still the reality of the future In a reply to my previous contribution, “The falling oil price may presage a future recession”, Civil Economist Magnus Grill ( 19 October in Swedish ) says that I assert, “that Peak Oil does not mean that oil will run out rather than that demand for oil will disappear. Thus it is no longer a question of Peak Oil from a production standpoint rather than now it is from a demand standpoint. This means that Aleklett has completely altered his early reasoning.” I must disappoint Magnus Grill. Peak Oil is still related to production of oil from oilfields. When we discuss Peak Oil we do this based on the fact that oil production in an area or group of areas reaches a maximum and then declines. There are several factors that determine the production profile when production begins […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Peter Thiel: Peak oil lives!

Peter Thiel last August Photo: Art Streiber for Fortune The famed investor says the fracking revolution, fuel efficiency standards, and slowing demand have only bought us time in the search for a true technological breakthrough Peter Thiel, whom we profiled in September in the cover story “ Peter Thiel Disagrees With You ,” is the founder of two billion-dollar companies (PayPal EBAY 0.46% and Palantir), a venture capitalist (his flagship Founders Fund now manages $2 billion in assets), a hedge fund manager, the first outside investor in Facebook FB -0.15% , and the author of the recently released book about launching startups, Zero to One . When his hedge fund, Clarium Capital, launched in 2002, Thiel followed a peak-oil thesis, which paid off splendidly as oil prices rose from about $40 to $140. But prices fell off a cliff in 2008, the fund got clobbered, and institutional investors fled. […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Technology has blindsided oil states

Technology has blindsided oil states “The price of oil will hit its floor and it will rise again,” President Nicolas Maduro assured Venezuelans, whose shaky economy depends critically on a high oil price. “Venezuela will continue with its social plans. Venezuela will move forward.” No it won’t, and neither will Russia, Iran or Nigeria. The only major oil exporters that are not in deep trouble are the Arab countries, whose governments have some room to manoeuvre because of low production costs, relatively small populations and big foreign currency reserves. Since June, the cost of a barrel of Brent crude, the benchmark for world oil prices, has fallen by almost a quarter, from around $110 a barrel (where it was stuck for the past four years) to just above $80 a barrel. Last month, for the first time in decades, Nigeria exported no oil at all to the United States. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Lower as Market Struggles With Oversupply

By Cassie Werber Oil was trading lower on both sides of the Atlantic Friday morning, retreating after a bounce the previous day and still hovering close to multiyear lows. Oil is now trading at such a low level that it’s started to stimulate some demand, said analysts at Energy Aspects. "The drop in prices has started to support oil demand to a certain extent, with Asian demand showing some signs of life," they said. However, further falls on Friday morning indicate that any stimulus is weak, and the market is still struggling with oversupply and the prospect that the glut of oil will only increase in the new year. Energy Aspects said "even with the improvement in demand, supplies remain well ahead of demand growth, partly due to the end of seasonal maintenance but primarily as OPEC production continues to increase." The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Heads for Weekly Drop as Saudi Policy Seen Unchanged

Print Back to story West Texas Intermediate retreated from the biggest gain since September amid speculation a drop in Saudi Arabian oil supplies isn’t a signal that OPEC’s largest producer has decided to cut production. Brent slid in London . Futures fell as much as 1 percent in New York and are poised for a fourth weekly decline. Saudi Arabia’s crude supplies to the market declined last month even as production increased, a person familiar with the kingdom’s oil policy said yesterday. A New York City doctor tested positive for Ebola after returning from aid work in West Africa, spurring demand for haven assets including U.S. Treasuries. The market’s reaction to the fall in Saudi supply underscores the focus on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries before the group’s meeting next month. The highest U.S. crude output in almost 30 years helped drive oil futures into a bear market […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Futures Climb After Saudi Arabia Supply Said to Fall

Brent gained the most in four months and West Texas Intermediate rebounded from a two-year low after market supplies from Saudi Arabia , the world’s biggest crude exporter, were said to have dropped. Saudi Arabia supplied 9.36 million barrels a day in September, down 328,000 from the previous month, according to a person familiar with the country’s policy. Oil, which has collapsed into a bear market on concerns over rising production, also advanced on improved economic reports ranging from manufacturing in Germany and China to U.S. jobs. “The Saudis are limiting the amount of crude oil available to the market,” said Gene McGillian , an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford , Connecticut . “The market is using that as a bullish reason. Whether or not there will be a significant production cut from Saudi Arabia remains to be seen.” Brent for December settlement rose $2.12, or […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US natural gas storage volume rises 94 Bcf to 3.393 Tcf: EIA

Home | News & Analysis | Latest News Headlines | US natural gas storage volume rises 94 Bcf to 3.393 Tcf: EIA Knoxville, Tennessee (Platts)–23Oct2014/429 pm EDT/2029 GMT US natural gas storage inventories rose by 94 Bcf to a total of 3.393 Tcf for the week that ended Friday, the US Energy Information Administration reported Thursday. The injection came in at the low end of a range from 94 Bcf to 98 Bcf that a consensus of analysts predicted. The build was above the 86 Bcf reported a year ago, as well as the 70-Bcf five-year average, according to EIA data. As a result, the 344 Bcf deficit to last year fell to 336 Bcf, while the 362-Bcf deficit to the five-year average of 3.731 Tcf fell to 338 Bcf. The EIA reported a build of 47 Bcf in the East, boosting inventories to 1.872 Tcf, compared with 1.94 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Slides as Weather Forecasts Turn Warmer, Stockpiles Rise

By Matt Day Natural-gas futures fell to new 11-month lows on Thursday after weather forecasts pointed to limited demand for the heating fuel and government data showed a large increase in stockpiles. The front-month November contract fell 3.7 cents, or 1%, to settle at $3.622 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is the lowest settlement since Nov. 19. Midday weather forecasting models showed a burst of cold air expected to arrive in early November will be milder than previously thought, likely leaving more natural-gas-fired heaters idle. The forecasts came in a lot warmer, said Aaron Calder, a senior analyst with energy consulting firm Gelber & Associates. Futures had traded higher earlier in the day, after the Energy Information Administration reported stockpiles of the fuel rose by slightly less than traders were expecting. Producers added 94 billion cubic feet of gas to storage for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US negotiator: Some want talks with Iran to fail

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s chief nuclear negotiator believes that some U.S. allies and members of Congress don’t want diplomacy with Iran to succeed. The undersecretary of state for political affairs, Wendy Sherman, concedes the nuclear talks are controversial. She says some fear they’ll collapse while others fear they’ll succeed. Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sherman says the administration has sought to allay fears in Congress and among allies including Israel and Arab Gulf states. She says the conversations reinforce her government’s conviction that diplomacy is worth the risk. Negotiators want a deal by Nov. 24. World powers are seeking limits on Iran’s program so it can’t produce nuclear weapons. Iran says it wants to generate nuclear energy and is asking for sanctions relief.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil not only Islamic State target, advocacy group says

Military targeting of oil installations controlled by Islamic State may not be enough, advocacy group says. (UPI/Shutterstock/ekina) Action beyond hitting the Islamic State’s oil revenues with bombs in Syria is needed if the campaign is to succeed, a peace advocacy group said. In September, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a military campaign to take out militants from the Sunni-led terrorist group in control of parts of Iraq and Syria. Now dubbed Operation Inherent Resolve , the campaign has focused on Syrian oil installations controlled by the group calling itself the Islamic State. Paul Kawika Martin, director of advocacy group Peace Action, said the military campaign has so far failed to contain IS. "Instead of methods that are likely to cause more extremism like air strikes to reduce oil revenues, other options include freezing bank accounts of ISIS supporters, negotiating with local villages where oil pipelines are being used and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Isis sells smuggled oil to Turkey and Iraqi Kurds says US Treasury

A makeshift oil refinery in the Syrian province of Hasakah ©Reuters The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) is earning as much as $1m a day through the sale of oil to some of its biggest enemies: middlemen from Turkey, Iraq’s Kurdish community and the regime of Bashar al-Assad, according to the US Treasury. The remarks – made in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Thursday by undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen – are likely to raise eyebrows in a region where questions are already being asked over Ankara’s commitment to fighting Isis and Kurdish fighters are battling to avoid being over-run by the jihadis in the Syrian city of Kobani . More On this story Battle revives Kurds’ nationalist ambitions Analysis Fuelling Isis Inc Video Turkey backed into corner over Kobani US urges Turkey to act against Isis Global […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Saudi Oil Supply Drop Unlikely to Herald New Policy

A drop in Saudi Arabian oil supply last month doesn’t necessarily signal that the biggest producer in OPEC is cutting exports to bolster prices. Brent crude jumped after a person familiar with the country’s oil policies said the amount it supplied to markets fell in September by 328,000 barrels a day. The drop came after domestic demand increased to the most in at least 12 years. The market’s reaction underscores the focus on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries before the group’s meeting next month after a global glut of oil drove crude futures down into a bear market . OPEC increased output to the highest in almost three years and the Saudis pumped 100,000 barrels a day more than in August. “This is not yet a signal that Saudi Arabia has taken a step forward in markedly reducing oil supply with an objective to shore up prices,” Harry […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China Scores Cheap Oil 14,000 Miles Away as Glut Deepens

China is finding oil supplies 14,000 miles away, aided by the global rout in prices that’s left producers vying for new markets. PetroChina Co. said it bought Colombian crude for a northern refinery for the first time because it was good value. The transaction underscores how the world’s second-biggest oil consumer is benefiting as producers from the Middle East to Latin America vie for customers in Asia. Brent oil futures tumbled to the lowest level since 2010 as the highest U.S. output in almost 30 years cuts its consumption of foreign crude. OPEC’s biggest producers are reducing prices to defend their market share. China consumed the second-biggest amount of crude on record in September and imported the largest volume ever for that time of year, customs data show. “China will just look to get the cheapest crude possible from whatever source it can,” Virendra Chauhan, a London-based analyst at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Energy Exports to Top Imports by 2025, WoodMac Says

U.S. companies will export more energy than they import by 2025 as shale oil and gas production keeps climbing and the transportation sector becomes more efficient, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. said in a note today. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in hydrocarbon-rich layers of shale rock have boosted U.S. oil and gas production by 42 percent in the past seven years. The U.S. vehicle fleet will become 40 percent more energy-efficient by 2030, said James Brick, a senior analyst at the Edinburgh-based research firm. “A country can achieve energy independence through two channels,” Brick said in the note. “It can either produce more or consume less, and the U.S. is doing both.” Crude production in the U.S. has risen to 8.9 million barrels a day, the highest level since 1985, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Natural gas output is 2.3 trillion cubic feet a day, the highest […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Texas shale lifts Oxy output

Oxy gets production lift from Texas shale, but blames oil prices on poor financial performance. (File/UPI/Gary C. Caskey) Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Thursday its quarterly production was boosted by Texas shale, but income was down for the third quarter. Occidental, known commonly by its ticker symbol Oxy, said reported income for the third quarter was $1.2 billion, compared with $1.6 billion for third quarter 2013. The company blamed the decline in part on the drop in oil prices since the second quarter. In terms of production, the company said output increased 20,000 barrels per day year-on-year. "For the fifth consecutive quarter, we have delivered strong year-over-year domestic oil production growth, bolstered by strong results from Permian [shale] resources, which grew by over 26 percent," President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Chazen said in a statement. Aggregate production from the Permian basin increased 58 percent from 2007 to reach 1.35 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Continental Resources declares win in Oklahoma basin

Continental Resources declaring success in Oklahoma shale basin. (Photo: Daniel J. Graeber) The Springer reserve area in Oklahoma is emerging as one of the premier oil basins in the region, Continental Resources said Thursday. Continental, which has headquarters in Oklahoma City, said four wells in the Springer play inside the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province, known by its initials SCOOP, should yield as much as 940,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent for the company. "The Springer adds another significant oil resource driver to Continental’s strategic growth outlook," Continental Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm said in a statement. "It’s distinguishing itself as the most productive play in Oklahoma, and it’s right in our back yard." Oil services company Baker Hughes said shale basins in Oklahoma were among those witnessing the biggest gains in wells started during the third quarter. SCOOP lies in part of the Woodford shale that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. oil exports at highest level since 1957

More crude oil exported from United States than at any other time since the 1950s, government data show. (UPI/Shutterstock/tcly) EIA in its weekly petroleum status report said the United States exported 401,000 barrels of oil per day in July, the latest full month for which data are available. U.S. crude oil exports are restricted under legislation enacted in response to the embargo from Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in the 1970s. Some exports are permitted from Alaska’s Cook Inlet, to Canada for domestic consumption there and in other case-by-case scenarios. EIA said some of the oil exports include Canadian crude oil exported to the United States and then re-exported. "Typically, crude exports are sourced domestically and are sent only to Canada," the Wednesday report from EIA found. "However, since April, crude exports have included modest amounts of Canadian-produced barrels that were moved through the United […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bakken Study Analyzes Impact of Oil Prices on Development

Bakken Well Recovery Costs Graph|Click to Enlarge Bismarck, ND-based KLJ Engineering recently completed a study commissioned by the North Dakota legislature to provide decision makers with data about the Bakken’s potential economic impact on the state through 2019. The full KLJ report , released in September of 2014, focused on 19 oil & gas producing counties in North Dakota, and incorporated three approaches to forecast the sustainability of oil and gas production: Economic analysis of the Bakken and Three Forks formation Projections of population, employment and housing needs Potential for CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) Of particular interest to industry is the impact of falling oil prices on future development. Earlier this month, Lynn Helms, the Dir. of North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), said two things could hurt production: low oil prices and new flaring regulations. Read more : Bakken Development Threats on the Horizon The KLJ study provided some interesting […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Why Gas Stations Are Cleaning Up Even As Prices Plummet

ByNicole Friedman Getty Images Prices at the pump have tumbled to multiyear lows, but don’t worry about your local gas station. When oil prices spike, so do gasoline prices, as retailers pass along the higher cost to consumers. But when prices fall, gas stations can keep retail prices higher for longer. Gasoline futures, which roughly track wholesale prices before taxes and transportation costs, have fallen 31% from mid-June to settle Wednesday at $2.1556 a gallon, near four-year lows. In the same period, the national retail average cost of gasoline fell 16% to $3.094 a gallon, according to the Oil Price Information Service. Between the wholesale and retail price sit the retailers. The difference between retailers’ net gasoline costs, including taxes and transportation, and the cost they charge at the pump rose to 36.9 cents a gallon on average last week, from 25.6 cents a gallon a month before, OPIS […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. Oil Seen as Buffer for Global Prices and Supply

U.S. oil output is buffering global crude prices and critical to the world’s supply balance amid the threat of disruptions, even as a ban on domestic exports remains in place, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. A surge in the nation’s oil output comes as markets are faced with near-historic highs of unanticipated outages, Moniz, 69, said at a talk organized by the public-affairs forum Commonwealth Club in San Francisco yesterday. He agreed with a government report finding U.S. gasoline prices may drop should the prohibition on crude exports be lifted. Moniz is leading the Energy Department through an unprecedented boom in U.S. fuel production. The nation’s oil output has jumped to a 28-year high and natural gas supplies have increased by so much companies are building terminals to send the fuel overseas. The surge has prompted his agency to review everything from the country’s four-decade ban on crude exports […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Chevron Announces Oil Discovery in Deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico

4598 Votes Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) today announced a new oil discovery at the Guadalupe prospect in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Keathley Canyon Block 10 Well No. 1 encountered significant oil pay in the Lower Tertiary Wilcox Sands. The well is located approximately 180 miles off the Louisiana coast in 3,992 feet of water and was drilled to a depth of 30,173 feet. “The discovery further demonstrates Chevron’s exploration capabilities,” said George Kirkland, vice chairman and executive vice president, Upstream, Chevron Corporation. “Guadalupe builds on our already strong position in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a core focus area where we expect significant production growth over the next two years.” Image: Discoverer India The Guadalupe well was drilled by Transocean’s Discoverer India deepwater drillship. “The Guadalupe discovery adds momentum to our growing business in North America,” said Jay Johnson, senior vice president, Upstream, Chevron Corporation. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Increasing Oil Reserves and Peak Oil

In public lectures that I give about global energy, I often note that since the writing of A Cubic Mile of Oil the global reserves of oil have increased, not decreased, despite the fact that in the intervening time (i.e., between 2007 and 2013) the world has consumed about 7.5 cmo. In this post I want to dig deeper and look at the changes that have brought about this paradox, and what it means for Peak Oil. As I explain in the book, reserves have a special meaning refer to those geologic accumulations that can be economically extracted with the current technology. With the development of technology and/or changes in the price of oil, geologic accumulations that were once only part of the larger resource base may get transferred to the reserves. Focusing only on the reservesis apt to give a wrong impression about the total availability of oil. […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

BP, GDF Suez make North Sea oil find

BP, GDF Suez declare significant oil find in British waters of the North Sea. (UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr.) GDF Suez and British counterpart BP said Thursday they made a significant new oil discovery in the central waters of the North Sea. "As BP marks its 50th year in the North Sea and as the industry looks to maximize economic recovery from the basin, increasing exploration activity and finding new ways to collaborate will be critical to realizing remaining potential," Trevor Garlick, BP’s regional president, said in a statement. "This discovery is a great example of both." The discovery, which straddles two license areas operated separately by the companies, tested at an initial flow rate of 5,350 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Garlick said the discovery shows how more oil can come from North Sea basins if regional players join forces to capitalize on what he said was a considerable […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia may go it alone on arctic exploration

Russian gas company Gazprom may join forces with oil company Rosneft for arctic exploration. (UPI/Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov) U.S. energy company Exxon Mobil has a partnership with Russian oil company Rosneft for work in the arctic waters of Russia. With Western sanctions impeding developments, the Russian government has placed a greater emphasis on domestic exploitation of arctic reserves . "Where the Arctic is concerned, we will probably grant the last licenses on the arctic shelf [exploration] to Rosneft and Gazprom," Orest Kasparov, deputy director of the Russian Federal Agency for Subsoil Use said. Western governments blacklisted Rosneft and other Russian energy companies in response to the Kremlin’s stance on the separatist campaign in eastern Ukraine. In mid-September, the European Union took additional steps by barring Russian oil company Rosneft and its counterparts Transneft and Gazprom Neft from working in European capital markets. Sanctions have hit a Russian economy that depends heavily […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Futures Subdued as China Data Fails to Lift Market

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures were in negative territory in Asian hours Thursday as a positive reading of Chinese manufacturing for October failed to prop up oil prices, or offset the impact of a large build-up in U.S. oil inventories. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $80.44 a barrel at 0421 GMT, down $0.08 in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.08 to $84.63 a barrel. The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, a key gauge of activity in the manufacturing sector, rose to 50.4 in October, compared with a final reading of 50.2 in September. This was the third positive data point from China this week, after the GDP and industrial production numbers that pointed to stabilizing economic growth in the world’s No. 2 economy. But oil prices, which are […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Trades Near 2-Year Low as U.S. Stockpiles Gain

West Texas Intermediate traded near the lowest closing price in two years after government data showed crude stockpiles gained more than forecast in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent fell in London . Futures slid as much as 0.6 percent in New York , extending a 2.4 percent decline yesterday. Crude stockpiles expanded 7.1 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration reported yesterday, compared with a 3 million increase predicted in a Bloomberg News survey. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries needs to reduce output by 500,000 barrels a day because the market is oversupplied, said Samir Kamal, Libya ’s governor to the 12-member group. Crude has collapsed into a bear market as producers including Saudi Arabia cut export prices. Global supplies are rising as the U.S. pumps the most oil in almost three decades and Russia ’s output nears a post-Soviet record. “Oil’s getting a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Falls as U.S. Inventories Increase More Than Expected

West Texas Intermediate crude fell after an Energy Information Administration report showed U.S. inventories increased more than expected last week. Stockpiles climbed 7.11 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 17, the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, said in a weekly report. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a gain of 3 million. Supply at Cushing, Oklahoma , the delivery point for WTI futures, rose to 20.6 million. WTI for December delivery slid 71 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $81.78 a barrel at 10:32 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The November contract expired yesterday. The volume of all futures traded was about 20 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day. Brent for December settlement fell 20 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $86.02 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 23 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Plunging oil prices challenge geopolitical, energy industry assumptions

International KAREN BLEIER / AFP / GETTY IMAGE KAREN BLEIER / AFP / GETTY IMAGE Cheaper petroleum spells bad news for oil producers and is challenging received industry wisdom Global oil prices have fallen 25 percent since June, marking the return of oil-price fluctuation as a geopolitical wild card. Although oil prices have been relatively stable — about $100 a barrel — for the past five years, the historical pattern has seen high oil prices boost the strategic clout of producing countries by boosting government coffers, and falling prices have had the opposite effect. The lower prices of the 1980s and ’90s, for example, weakened Russia’s geopolitical position, while the more recent increases have boosted Moscow’s ability to exert influence over former Soviet republics. Higher prices have enabled Venezuela’s leadership to strengthen opposition to U.S. influence throughout Latin America.  Fluctuations have had significant effects on economic growth. The fourfold […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Airstrikes target oil field in eastern Syria

AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say the U.S.-led coalition has launched airstrikes on an oil field in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition launched four airstrikes on oil wells in the Jafra field late Wednesday. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, also reported the airstrikes on Thursday. The U.S.-led coalition has aggressively targeted IS-held oil facilities in Syria, which provide a key source of income for the militants. But such strikes also endanger civilians, which could undermine long-term efforts to destroy the militant group. The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists around the country, said that since the airstrikes on Syria began a month ago, 553 people have been killed including 32 civilians. The rest were mostly jihadis.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. providing backup in push to retake Baiji, Anbar

A U.S. soldier stands guard at the Baiji refinery in August 2010. (AYMAN OGHANNA/Iraq Oil Report) The U.S. military is significantly expanding its area of operations in Iraq, providing air support, intelligence, and on-the-ground assistance to Iraqi security forces trying to reassert control over Baiji and Anbar – two areas where they have recently suffered major setbacks.In Baiji, insurgents led by the so-called Islamic State (IS) organization have used anti-aircraft weapons to shoot down at least two Iraqi helicopters in recent weeks. Pro-government forces guarding the country’s lar… 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 .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya OPEC Governor Calls for Output Cut Amid Oil Plunge

Print Back to story Libya’s OPEC governor called for the group to reduce oil output by at least 500,000 barrels a day as its biggest members discount supplies to defend market share rather than cut production to boost prices. The market is oversupplied by about 1 million barrels a day, Libya’s Samir Kamal said by e-mail yesterday. His comments reflected personal views, not the official Libyan position, he said. They mark the first time a member nation representative is suggesting how much production needs to be reduced after prices entered a bear market . Brent crude , a benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, has tumbled about 25 percent since June, as producers including Saudi Arabia cut export prices to stimulate demand amid the highest U.S. output in almost 30 years. Banks including BNP Paribas SA and Bank of America Corp. predict the price rout may […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Saudis at War With Islamic State Confront Echo of Kingdom’s Past

When Saudi rulers send warplanes on missions against Islamic State, they’re targeting a group whose theocratic ideology and roots in desert warfare overlap at least partly with the kingdom’s own present and past. The world’s largest oil exporter has evolved into a mostly urban society in its eight decades of statehood, yet nomadic fighters erupting from the desert in a blaze of religious zeal are still part of its foundation narrative. Today in Saudi Arabia , as in the territory controlled by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq , women must wear black abayas, shops all close during prayer times, religious police enforce Islamic laws and criminals face violent punishment. Saudi Arabia, like its longtime U.S. ally, sees Islamic State as a terrorist group and has joined the war against it. Yet the jihadists share some common ground with their Saudi opponents, even if that’s outweighed by their differences, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Exxon Partner Oil Search to Decide on LNG Expansion by End 2016

Oil Search Ltd. (OSH) plans to decide on adding new liquefied natural gas processing plants by the end of 2016, as the Papua New Guinea-focused company outlined plans that may double output by early next decade. Oil Search also will return as much as half of its profit to shareholders in dividends after the start earlier this year of a $19 billion LNG project in Papua New Guinea , the Port Moresby-based company said today in a statement. The Exxon Mobil Corp.-led LNG project will also allow Oil Search to fund expansion, the company said following a review of its strategy. Oil Search said it expects two or three more LNG production units to be built in the country with the development of InterOil Corp. (IOC) ’s Elk and Antelope discoveries. “New LNG development in PNG will be among the most competitive in the region,” Neil Beveridge , a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shell finds gas off the coast of Gabon

Shell, Chinese partners, declare natural gas find off the coast of Gabon. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 22 (UPI) — Shell announced Wednesday it made a substantial discovery of natural gas in the deep waters off the coast of the West African nation of Gabon. The company said it ran into a 656-net foot column of natural gas in its Leapord-1 frontier exploration well off the Gabonese coast. The well was drilled in water more than a mile deep into a basin trapped beneath a deep layer of submarine salt. "Shell and partners [at China National Offshore Oil Corp.] are planning to undertake an appraisal program to further determine the resource volumes," the company said in a statement. Gabon’s geological similarities to Brazil raised hopes for oil production among energy explorers, but so far the region has turned up mostly natural gas. Italian energy company Eni and Australian […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Coal Miners Fired in Appalachia Getting Hired in Wyoming

It’s boom times in Wyoming for embattled U.S. coal companies, where the mining industry is hiring workers while shedding them in Appalachia. Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR) , the second-largest U.S. producer, hasn’t posted a profit in three years and is closing money-losing mines in West Virginia amid plans to increase production out West by as much as 30 percent. Miner Steven King is going along for the ride. After losing his job last month at the company’s Black Castle operation, King, 42, is getting ready to move his family 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) to a state he’s never visited to work at an Alpha site in Wyoming. With the U.S. coal industry in its worst decline in decades, companies including Alpha and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) , the biggest producer, are pivoting toward pockets of future profit. No prospect is bigger than the Powder River Basin, a high, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. emissions up after last year’s brutal winter

U.S. emissions increased in part because of last season’s brutal winter, Energy Department says. (File/UPI/John Angelillo) WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) — The amount of carbon dioxide emitted from energy use in the United States increased last year because of the brutal winter, the Energy Department said. The department’s Energy Information Administration said energy-related CO2 emissions increased 2.5 percent from 2012 levels. "The 2013 increase was largely the result of colder weather leading to an increase in energy intensity," EIA said in a Tuesday report. PJM Interconnection, a company operating the electric grid for more than a dozen Midwest and mid-Atlantic states, twice broke records for seasonal use early this year during the brutal cold snap brought on by a weather phenomenon known as a polar vortex. The company had called for conservation measures as most states east of the Mississippi River endured temperatures well below the freezing mark for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Report: Fracking in California dirty business

Advocacy group finds Californians at risk from oil and gas industry. UPI/Kevin Dietsch LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 (UPI) — More than 30 percent of Californians living near oil and gas wells reside in areas already heavily polluted, the Natural Resources Defense Council said. A Wednesday report from the NRDC looked at state records to determine what portion of the state’s population are, or could be, impacted by hydraulic fracturing operations . It found about 14 percent of the state’s population live within a mile of an oil or natural gas well and more than 30 percent of those live near industrial facilities or other environmental dangers. The advocacy group found that percentage of the population may be at risk should the state’s oil and natural gas sector expand. It said it found a link between hydraulic fracturing operations and respiratory and neurological problems. "Fracking is moving next door to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. mulls oil, gas lease offshore Alaska

U.S. to prepare impact statement on possible lease sale for energy work off the coast of Alaska. (UPI Photo/U.S. Coast Guard). WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) — The U.S. federal government said it plans to prepare an impact statement in support of a possible oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet, off the Alaskan coast. "We need to hear from residents of the communities along Cook Inlet on how the proposed leasing area is currently being used and what specific areas need extra attention," Walter Cruickshank, acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said in a statement. The BOEM said its planned environmental impact statement will focus on what impact, if any, leasing, exploration, development and production of oil or natural gas in the region would have on the regional ecosystem. The agency said Tuesday the potential lease sale avoids areas designated as critical habitat of sea […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Low Oil Prices Hurting U.S. Shale Operations

Benefit From the Latest Energy Trends and Investment Opportunities before the mainstream media and investing public are aware they even exist. The Free Oilprice.com Energy Intelligence Report gives you this and much more. Click here to find out more. Slumping oil prices are putting pressure on U.S. drillers. The number of active rigs drilling for oil and gas fell by their most in two months, according to the latest data from oil services firm Baker Hughes . There were 19 oil rigs that were removed from operation as of Oct. 17, compared to the prior week. There are now 1,590 active oil rigs, the lowest level in six weeks . Select the reports you are interested in:Who Will be the Big Winners in the Coming LNG BonanzaHow to Play the Coming Boom in Advanced Fracking TechnologyWhy the Subsea Processing Sector will See Huge Gains in the Near FutureInvestment Opportunities […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shale Activity Creating Need for Updated Data Management Systems

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/135558/Shale_Activity_Creating_Need_for_Updated_Data_Management_Systems Hess To Form MLP For North Dakota Oil, Gas Transport Assets Oil and gas companies should truly understand the scope of their operations before investing in technology solutions to address the complexity and volumes of data in shale operations. The current boom in shale activity in the United States is creating changes in business processes that are causing companies to react and analyze their information differently, according to oil and gas industry experts with Deloitte. Oil and gas industry drilling practices have been based on premises established a century ago, when companies drilled vertical wells and relatively straightforward operations. However, shale oil and gas wells are more complex, with multiple laterals, directions and zones. As a result in the shift in technology and drilling practices such as pad drilling, the doubling of lateral well lengths since 2008 from 5,000 feet to over 10,000 feet, and sheer number […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Leave it to $80 crude to shake up US petrochemicals

There’s something about $80/barrel crude that gets petrochemical markets in the US all riled up. As the energy complex slowly emerges from its latest dip, let’s take a look at how some of these key markets fared over the past two weeks. We’ll start with the usual suspects — aromatics — and move our way down to more “decoupled” markets — i.e., those closer to natural gas. Benzene US prices had been tanking for a while, in essence since early August as demand eroded and imports from Asia picked up. But things got serious in recent weeks. The market saw prices shed nearly 12% in a matter of days, culminating with last week’s prompt pricing hitting a 34-month low of 375 cents/gal ($1,121.25/mt) FOB USG on Oct. 15, before recovering some so far week. As a whole, benzene prices have fallen some 27% since late July. There’s no doubt slower demand […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russian inflation spikes on sanctions pressure

Pressure from sanctions on Russia’s energy sector dragging Russian economy down, Russian Central Bank says.(UPI/Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said sanctions imposed on Russian energy companies Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and others in response to the crisis in Ukraine were taking their toll on the Russian economy . The Russian Central Bank earlier this year said it expected inflation to stay around 7 percent. Central Bank First Deputy Director Kseniya Yudaeva said a weekly gauge on the inflation rate showed an increase. "It’s already at 8.3 percent," the director said. Russian state-backed media RIA Novosti reported slumping oil prices were putting additional strains on the Russian economy. Russia’s credit rating was downgraded last week by international ratings agency Moody’s. The agency downgraded the credit rating for St. Petersburg and Moscow this week because of market risks.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

West out of step on Ukraine, Kremlin says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Western powers encroaching on Kremlin’s turf with stance on Ukraine. UPI Geopolitical tensions over Ukraine are a result of Western efforts to preserve long-standing regional divisions, the Russian foreign minister said Wednesday. Western powers enacted tough economic sanctions on Russian energy companies in response to the Kremlin’s policies regarding the former Soviet republic of Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was the West that was out of step with the region . "The Ukrainian crisis is a direct consequence of the attempts of our Western colleagues again to preserve and move to the east the dividing lines in the Euro-Atlantic area," he said. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine in the aftermath of political upheaval that follows Ukraine’s pivot toward the European Union. Pro-Russian separatists have jockeyed for more autonomy in eastern Ukraine since then. The crisis has spilled over […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Eight Pieces of Our Oil Price Predicament

A person might think that oil prices would be fairly stable. Prices would set themselves at a level that would be high enough for the majority of producers, so that in total producers would provide enough–but not too much–oil for the world economy. The prices would be fairly affordable for consumers. And economies around the world would grow robustly with these oil supplies, plus other energy supplies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work that way recently. Let me explain at least a few of the issues involved. 1. Oil prices are set by our networked economy. As I have explained previously , we have a networked economy that is made up of businesses, governments, and consumers. It has grown up over time. It includes such things as laws and our international trade system. It continually re-optimizes itself, given the changing rules that we give it. In some ways, it […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple