Energy Boom Can Withstand Steeper Oil-Price Drop
Oil prices would need to fall at least another $20 a barrel to choke off the U.S. energy boom, industry experts say, though some smaller American producers would face serious Continue Reading
Effect of Increased Levels of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports on U.S. Energy Markets
Introduction This report responds to a May 29, 2014 request from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE) for an update of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) January 2012 study of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export scenarios. This updated study, like the prior one, is intended to serve as an input to be considered in the evaluation of applications to export LNG from the United States under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act, which requires DOE to grant a permit to export domestically produced natural gas unless it finds that such action is not consistent with the public interest. Appendix A provides a copy of the DOE/FE request letter. DOE/FE asked EIA to assess how specified scenarios of increased exports of LNG from the Lower 48 states could affect domestic energy markets, focusing on consumption, production, and prices. The DOE/FE scenarios posit total LNG exports […]
Oil industry says US EPA’s refinery emissions rule would cost $20 billion
Washington (Platts)–29Oct2014/359 pm EDT/1959 GMT The US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulations on toxic air emissions from oil refineries would cost the industry $20 billion, according to trade groups representing oil producers and refiners. In comments filed with the EPA Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute and and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said the proposed rule would be too onerous and could actually lead to higher greenhouse-gas emissions. "EPA’s proposed regulations could drive up costs and roll back environmental progress, forcing refineries to increase emissions by installing hundreds of costly new flare systems at a time when industry has been working with EPA to reduce flaring," API Director of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Howard Feldman said in a statement. Tuesday was the deadline for public comments on the regulations. The proposed rule, which would update the EPA’s almost two-decades-old toxic emissions standards for refineries, would for the first time […]
Texas RRC Issues New Regulations on Fracking Disposal Wells
New regulations covering disposal wells from fracking operations go into effect in Texas beginning in November 2014. The new regulations by the Texas Railroad Commission (Texas RRC, or Commission), the state’s regulating entity for oil and gas, are centered on the possible linkage between seismic activity and disposing wells. There are four main components of the new regulations: Applicants for disposal wells must conduct a search on the U.S. Geological Survey seismic database to determine if there is a history of earthquakes within a 100-square-mile area around the site of the proposed disposal well Clarify that the Commission will have the authority to suspend or terminate a disposal well permit if there is any indication from scientific data that seismic activity in the area could occur due to the disposal well Under the new regulations, disposal well operators will have to disclose annual reported volumes and pressures more frequently […]
Bakken Production Surge Boosts Hess Quarterly Profit
Oct 29 (Reuters) – Oil and gas producer Hess Corp posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday as production jumped and costs fell in North Dakota’s booming Bakken shale formation. The company, which also produces oil in Norway, Ohio and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, said it was watching oil prices closely and may change its operations if prices fall further, though no decision has been made. The price of Brent crude has fallen about 21 percent in recent months, prompting concern that drilling could slow. Hess bases its budget on Brent prices around $100 per barrel, though the commodity traded at about $87 on Wednesday. If prices fall too low, oil companies tend to stop drilling new wells and slow existing production in an effort to cut costs. Hess didn’t announce any steps like that on Wednesday, but said it is watching the situation closely. "We are reviewing […]
Volkswagen’s New 300 MPG Car Not Allowed In America Because It Is Too Efficient
4666 Votes You won’t find the 300 MPG Volkswagen XL1 in an American showroom, in fact it has even been denied a tour of America because it is too efficient for the American public to be made widely aware of, and oil profits are too high in America with the status quo in place. No tour has been allowed for this car because the myth that 50 mpg is virtually impossible to obtain from even a stripped down econobox is too profitable to let go of, and when it comes to corporate oil profits, ignorance is bliss. Years ago I had calculated that it should be possible to get a small car to exceed 100 mpg by putting parallel direct to cylinder water injectors side by side with the fuel injectors, and using the exhaust manifold to preheat the water so it would enter the cylinders as dry steam, […]
The ‘Russification’ of Oil Exploration
MOSCOW — The American and European sanctions against the Russian oil industry have dashed, at least for now, the Western oil majors’ ambitions to drill in the Arctic Ocean. But drilling will continue all the same, Russian government and state oil company officials have been taking pains to point out, ever since the sanctions took effect over the summer. “We will do it on our own,” Igor I. Sechin, the president of Russia’s state-controlled oil company, Rosneft, told journalists in October. “We’ll continue drilling here next year and the years after that.” Rather than throw in the towel in the face of Western sanctions intended to halt Russia’s Arctic oil ambitions by stopping technology transfers, the Russians have responded with plans to “Russify” the technology to be deployed in the world’s largest effort to date to extract oil from the thawing Arctic Ocean. The solution to tapping the Arctic, […]
Ukraine, Russia to Resume Gas Talks Thursday
By Vanessa Mock BRUSSELS–Ukraine and Russia are set to resume talks on Thursday to resolve their natural-gas dispute, after late-night negotiations yielded no breakthrough. Ukraine still needs to secure funding to pay upfront for Russian gas deliveries before a deal can be concluded, two people familiar with the situation said. Kiev still needs to raise enough money to pay $1.6 billion in advance for November and December deliveries, according to the terms of a deal agreed on Oct. 21. Talks broke up at around 4 a.m. local time without this issue being resolved, the people said. The talks under way in Brussels, the latest in a months-long series of high-level meetings, come amid fears of possible gas shortages in parts of Europe if the flow from Russia to Ukraine isn’t restored. "We have agreed to continue to work and continue the talks on October 30," Russian Energy Minister, Alexander […]
Rosneft defiant amid sanctions pressure
Spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin denies report oil company Rosneft is preparing action to counter Western sanctions pressure. (File/UPI/David Silpa) MOSCOW, Oct. 29 (UPI) — A Russian government spokesman said Wednesday there was no truth about clams oil company Rosneft was looking for protection against Western sanctions. State-controlled Rosneft said it would work to protect its reputation after a report in Russian business daily Kommersant said it sent proposals to President Vladimir Putin to restrict some of its operations in an effort to protect itself from sanctions. "This is completely untrue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Rosneft said the claims were aimed at provoking more action from Western governments frustrated with the Kremlin’s stance on upheavals in post-Soviet Ukraine. The company threatened to file suit against Kommersant for their publication. Rosneft is the target of Western economic sanctions imposed in response to Russian policies in eastern Ukraine. Igor […]
Shell hurt by oil price drop, names new chairman
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, reported Thursday a small fall in third quarter net profit against a backdrop of sliding oil prices, and named former DuPont Chief Executive Charles Holliday to become chairman of the board in 2015. Net profit was $4.46 billion, down 4.5 percent from $4.67 billion in the same period a year earlier. The 2014 figure includes a one-time $350 million provision for future tax liabilities in Australia. Royal Dutch Shell PLC said that when stripping out the impact of fluctuations in the price of oil, earnings rose 24 percent to $5.27 billion. That measure of earnings, called "current cost of supplies", or CCS, is favored by the industry to gauge underlying profitability of operations. "The recent decline in oil prices is part of the volatility in our industry," said Chief Executive Ben van Beurden in a statement. He said the company is […]