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Kemp: The Saudi Oil Enigma

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) – "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma," Winston Churchill told his listeners in a radio broadcast in October 1939. Much the same can be said about Saudi Arabia – one of the most compulsively secretive countries in the world at the start of the 21st century. Almost nothing is known about how the kingdom’s rulers reach decisions on political and economic reform, foreign policy and oil market strategy (or indeed about anything else). Outsiders are strongly discouraged from enquiring into matters of long-term policy and how decisions are made. The kingdom’s rulers have a communications strategy, reaching out privately to friendly journalists, analysts and other opinion formers. But for the most part it is deployed to shut down discussion and speculation they consider unhelpful rather than to convey or explain the […]

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Iran denies mirroring Saudi oil price move

No lines drawn in OPEC sand, Iranian trade representative says. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (UPI) — Iran isn’t following the Saudi example of cutting oil prices in an effort to maintain any sort of market presence, a senior oil manager said from Tehran. Mohsen Qamsari, director of international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Co., said Iranian oil prices aren’t falling because of any rivalry with the Saudis . "Economic conditions, the market supply and demand and the price of petroleum products in the market are some factors behind the price slide," he said Saturday. Signs of a Chinese economic slowdown and decreased North American demands given the glut of oil there means members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are sparring for market shares. Industry insiders told The Wall Street Journal the Saudis were making an "aggressive" market move by slashing the price at which it […]

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Kuwait Joins Saudi View of No Immediate OPEC Supply Cuts

Two of OPEC’s biggest members say they won’t immediately reduce oil production to offset tumbling prices, a signal the group is unlikely to heed Venezuelan calls for an emergency meeting. While producing nations would like higher prices, there’s “no room” for them to achieve that by lowering supply, Kuwait ’s oil minister told the official Kuwait News Agency yesterday. Saudi Arabia, which pumped almost one-third of the group’s output last month, won’t alter its supplies much between now and the end of the year, a person familiar with its policy said Oct. 3. “Saudi action is what matters most and we have yet to see anything,” Katherine Spector, a commodities strategist at CIBC World Markets Inc. in New York , said yesterday by phone. “There’s not a lot the Venezuelans can do, either by action or rhetoric, that will change things.” OPEC’s largest Persian Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia, […]

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Facing new oil glut, Saudis avoid 1980s mistakes to halt price slide

DUBAI (Reuters) – Still haunted by its failed attempt to prevent a steep drop in oil prices by slashing production by almost three quarters in the 1980s, the world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is determined not to make the same mistake again. The oil glut of the 1980s, the early days of the modern crude market and a distant memory for most traders, has resurfaced recently in conversations with Saudi officials and veteran analysts who see it as the defining moment behind the kingdom’s new strategy to protect medium-term market share. While the latest 25 percent slide in oil prices to below $90 a barrel is so far modest compared with the 1980s slump that took crude from $35 to below $10, many observers see similarities in a global market that is on the brink of a pivotal turn from an era of scarcity to one of abundance. […]

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China Focus: Beijing to adopt strict air quality plan for APEC

 • Smog-prone Beijing will adopt a special air pollution control plan for next month’s APEC meetings.  • Enterprises on black list of polluters will be ordered to suspend operations or reduce production.  • Beijing has tightened air pollution controls this year with more severe punishment for violations. BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — Smog-prone Beijing will adopt a special air pollution control plan for next month’s APEC meetings, which features temporary closure of factories in the event of a pollution warning, local authorities said Tuesday. Enterprises and coal-consuming furnaces on the capital’s black list of polluters will be ordered to suspend operations or reduce production to cut emissions during the meetings, Li Lixin, an air pollution treatment official with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, told Xinhua on Tuesday. The plan also includes mandatory construction site closures. In the worst-case situation, neighboring Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province will join in the emergency actions […]

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Bakken Shale Rig Count Decreases by Four to 193

Occidental Bakken Acreage|Click to Enlarge The  Bakken-Three Forks rig count  decreased by four to 193 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 190 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 18 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up. In recent Bakken news,  Occidental Petroleum  (NYSE: OXY) appears to be on the verge of divesting its acreage in the Williston Basin, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited “people with knowledge of the matter.” Currently, OXY has ~500,000 gross acres (~335,000 net) in the Williston Basin, and is working with investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. to sell the assets. Read more : Occidental’s Bakken Assets on the Table The U.S. rig count increased by eight to 1,930 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 320 rigs were targeting natural gas (ten less than  the previous week) and 1,609 were […]

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Kiev agrees to pay some Russian gas debt

Ukraine ready to settle some of its gas debt obligations, Russia says. (UPI Photo/Sergey Starostenko) MOSCOW, Oct. 13 (UPI) — Kiev is ready to settle a little less than half of its gas debt obligations to Russian energy company Gazprom by year’s end, the Kremlin said Monday. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Ukraine was ready to pay $1.45 billion of the $3.1 billion owed by the end of the year. The rest of the debt would be settled by March 2015. Novak said the repayment was among the conditions for new gas deliveries to Ukraine. Gazprom this year disrupted gas supplies to Ukraine because of lingering debt issues. Similar rows in 2006 and 2009 left downstream consumers in Europe in the cold for weeks as most of the Russian gas bound for western markets runs through the Soviet-era pipeline network in Ukraine. European, Russian and Ukrainian leaders are […]

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World War III: It’s here and energy is largely behind it

Printer-friendly I’ve been advancing a thesis for several months with friends that World War III is now underway. It’s just that it’s not the war we thought it would be, that is, a confrontation between major powers with the possibility of a nuclear exchange. Instead, we are getting a set of low-intensity, on-again, off-again conflicts involving non-state actors (ISIS, Ukrainian rebels, Libyan insurgents) with confusing and in some cases nonexistent battle lines and rapidly shifting alliances such as the shift from fighting the Syrian regime to helping it indirectly by fighting ISIS, the regime’s new foe. There is at least one prominent person who seems to agree with me, the Pope. During a visit to a World War I memorial in Italy last month Pope Francis said: "Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with […]

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Speculators Push Oil Into Bear Market as Supply Rises

Money managers reduced bets on rising oil prices by the most in five weeks, helping push U.S.- traded futures into a bear market . Hedge funds and other large speculators lowered net-long positions in West Texas Intermediate crude by 4.8 percent in the seven days ended Oct. 7, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Short positions climbed 8 percent, the most in almost a month. WTI joined Brent, the European benchmark, in falling more than 20 percent from its June peak, meeting a common definition of a bear market. U.S. oil inventories rose the most since April in the week ended Oct. 3 as domestic production rose to a 28-year high and refineries shut units for maintenance. Demand nationwide will slip this year to the lowest since 2012, the government predicted Oct. 7. “The extended decline is compounded mainly by supply-driven concerns,” Harry Tchilinguirian , BNP Paribas SA’s […]

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Iran warns Opec indecision will hit oil prices as crude slumps

Iranian energy adviser Mehran Amirmoeini says failure of Opec to act could send oil tumbling Photo: Alamy Oil prices will slump further if the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) repeats its mistakes of the 1990s and fails to cuts its production fast enough to cope with a glut of crude now flooding the international market, Iran’s Oil Ministry has warned. "In 1998 inadequate reaction by Opec sent oil prices to as low as $6 to $8 per barrel," said Mehran Amirmoeini, a top energy adviser, quoted by the official Iranian Oil Ministry news service. “When the market is faced with falling demand and simultaneously rising supply, naturally some countries try to absorb customers by offering discounts.” Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two dominant forces within Opec, have both slashed their contract prices for crude shipped to Asia in the last few weeks amid a price war escalating amongst […]

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Why Iran, U.S. aren’t on quite the same side in fight against Islamic State

Iran | isis | islamic state | Kobani | Shi’ism Iraqi women walk past a poster depicting images of Shi’ite Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at al-Firdous Square in Baghdad It might seem counter-intuitive to think that attacking the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, would damage Iran or Shi’ite interests in the Middle East. After all, Iran shares the West’s concerns about the radical Sunni group and is in a tacit alliance with the United States when it comes to defeating their common enemy. And yet, Iran fears it might end up being the loser in this battle. The 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq opened a new political vista in favor of Iran — and Shi’ism — by replacing Sunni leaders, like Saddam Hussein, with Shi’ite politicians previously in exile in Iran, like Nouri al-Maliki. This shift in the balance of power between Shi’ites and […]

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US to use Turkish bases in fight against Isis

US soldiers stand near a Patriot missile system at a Turkish military base in Gaziantep on February 5, 2013. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands committed to send two missile batteries each and up to 400 soldiers to operate them after Ankara asked for help to bolster its air defences against possible missile attack from Syria. AFP PHOTO / BULENT KILIC ©AFP Turkey will allow the US-led coalition to use military bases on its territory to launch operations into Iraq and Syria and to train Syrian rebel forces, US officials said on Sunday. The decision represents a significant increase in Turkey’s involvement in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Isis, following several days of intense diplomatic lobbying by Washington of its Nato ally. The Obama administration has been particularly keen to conduct air strikes from the Incirlik base in […]

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U.S. Troops to Use Bases in Turkey

WASHINGTON — Turkey will allow American and coalition troops to use its bases, including a key installation within 100 miles of the Syrian border, for operations against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, Defense Department officials said Sunday. Obama administration officials have urged the Turkish government to play a more significant role in fighting the extremists who have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and driven refugees into Turkey. An American military team will arrive in Turkey this week to work out details of the training program and discuss what kind of missions can be flown from the Turkish bases, administration officials said. The basing and training agreement follows two days of talks in Ankara, the Turkish capital, between the authorities there and John R. Allen, the retired American general who is coordinating the coalition’s response to the Islamic State. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who has been […]

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Obama’s Top Military Adviser Warns of Possible ISIS Attacks in Baghdad

WASHINGTON — Fighters for the Islamic State were managing to blend in with disenfranchised Sunni populations in some Iraqi towns and villages near the capital, raising the chances of militant attacks against targets in Baghdad, President Obama’s top military adviser said on Sunday. “I have no doubt there will be days when they use indirect fire into Baghdad,” the adviser, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey , said in an interview with “This Week” on ABC. Indirect fire refers to the use of mortar, rockets or artillery. General Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said American military officers still think that an outright assault on Baghdad remains unlikely, but that strikes from a distance by militants infiltrating areas near the capital could greatly heighten the sense of insecurity in Iraq’s most important city. Iraqi and American officials believe the Islamic State has already carried out some car-bomb and […]

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Once a Symbol of Power, Farming Now an Economic Drag in China

YANGLING, China — For about 4,000 years, farming in this region has been a touchstone of Chinese civilization. It was here that the mythic hero Hou Ji is said to have taught Chinese how to grow grain, and the area’s rich harvests underpinned China’s first dynasties, feeding officials and soldiers in the nearby imperial capital. But nowadays, Yangling’s fields are in disarray. Frustrated by how little they earn, the ablest farmers have migrated to cities, hollowing out this rural district in the Chinese heartland. Left behind are people like Hui Zongchang, 74, who grows wheat and corn on a half-acre plot while his son works as a day laborer in the metropolis of Xi’an to the east. Mr. Hui, still vigorous despite a stoop, said he makes next to no money from farming. He tills the earth as a kind of insurance. “What land will they farm if I […]

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Oil Drops Despite Positive China Trade Data

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures were sharply lower in Asian trade Monday, extending their slide from last week as positive Chinese trade data and an increase in September crude imports failed to bolster global oil prices. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at $84.46 a barrel at 0428 GMT, down $1.36 in the Globex electronic session. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $1.43 to $88.78 a barrel. Nymex WTI crude lost 4.37% last week and has fallen for two consecutive weeks, while Brent crude has fallen for three consecutive weeks and lost 2.27% last week. Official customs data showed that China’s overall exports and imports in September rose from a year earlier, and topped market expectations, indicating an improvement in the country’s economy. China, the world’s second-largest consumer of oil, also posted a 7.4% increase in September […]

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Race is on to build world’s first driverless car

Who will build the self-driving car of the future? Fired-up by Google ’s driverless prototype , carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are already testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. Advanced driver assistance systems More On this topic Autopilots needed for tweeting drivers Tim Harford Pity robot drivers Insurers worry driverless cars are ‘existential threat’ Will driverless car see off cyber war? IN Automobiles India car sales fall in September Fiat and Chrysler seal radical conversion Elon Musk launches high-end Tesla car Thai car and truck sales plummet But the advanced sensors and electronics that form the building blocks of self-driving cars are often made by suppliers, not the car manufacturer. Some fear that, in the long term, carmakers that lag behind in autonomous vehicle technology face a future akin to today’s PC assemblers – with the big profits accruing to the companies behind the software and electronic content […]

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As Putin Talks Near, Both Sides Take Steps to Defuse Ukraine Tension

DONETSK, Ukraine — Russian and Ukrainian officials on Sunday continued a series of measured steps aimed at decreasing tensions before the countries’ presidents meet this week to discuss the six-month conflict in Ukraine ’s east. Despite the continuing fighting over disputed territories, President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine said he believed that a full cease-fire could soon be achieved under a peace plan that he and Russia ’s president, Vladimir V. Putin , had endorsed. On Sunday, Russian news agencies reported that Mr. Putin had ordered troops deployed on the Ukrainian border to return to their bases. It was the second time this year that Mr. Putin had announced that military exercises along the Ukrainian border had been completed and that 17,600 soldiers would be withdrawn to their usual bases. Mr. Putin ordered the pullback from the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine, in a meeting with his defense minister, […]

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I.M.F. Warns of Global Financial Risk From Fiscal Policies

WASHINGTON — As global leaders sounded the alarm about a slowing world economy, a more immediate concern drew the attention of policy makers at the International Monetary Fund ’s semiannual meetings last week: inflated asset prices and increasing levels of debt overseas. Bond markets in the eurozone are booming, debt in China is at historic highs and the United States stock market, even with its sharp fall last week, has been on a tear. As economists and politicians heap pressure on global central banks to continue, and even escalate, their unusually loose monetary policies in order to spur global demand, the fear that these measures could provoke another market convulsion is spreading. “A major lesson of the last crisis is that accommodative monetary policy contributed to financial excesses,” said Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank . “We are pursuing a similar policy for good […]

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Peak Travel: Envisioning a post-air-travel age

4576 Votes One of the more disruptive consequences of peak oil is likely to be peak air travel . What does peak air travel mean? Why is it likely? Why haven’t you already heard more about it? And what business and investment opportunities does this coming disruption create? I’ve been writing about the unsustainability of air travel for more than 20 years, and I’m pleased that this year it’s on the SXSW Eco conference agenda . But let me make one thing perfectly clear from the start: I am not here to tell you that you shouldn’t fly. Some people do make that argument , and it’s a legitimate question , but that’s not what I’m saying. I came to Austin by plane, and I think very few people who can afford to fly will choose to fly significantly less for reasons of ethics or sustainability. People like me […]

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NYMEX November gas settles slightly higher as market seeks direction

Knoxville, Tennessee (Platts)–10Oct2014/516 pm EDT/2116 GMT NYMEX November natural gas futures settled 1.4 cents higher at $3.859/MMBtu Friday as the market sought direction amid mild weather forecasts and the aftermath of another strong storage injection. The prompt month traded in a tight, 5.5-cent range as the after-effects of a second triple-digit injection reported Thursday continued to weigh on the market, and some forecasts for late October turned warmer. "We expect prices to rise in the next few days, but to be tempered by the warmer weather forecasts," said Gelber & Associates analyst Evans Finger. "Weather models are forecasting warmer than normal temperatures for the rest of the month after a blast of cold in the next couple days," Finger said. "These warmer temperatures will help increase the total amount of gas in storage, with possibly two more triple digit injections expected in the coming weeks." Article continues below… Request […]

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WTI, Brent Post Weekly Declines as Global Supplies Rise

West Texas Intermediate crude pared the biggest weekly drop since January amid signs of a global glut. Brent, the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, gained after reaching a four-year low in intraday trading. WTI closed yesterday more than 20 percent below its June peak, a common definition of a bear market . Brent is down 22 percent from the June high. Both crudes settled higher for the first time in four days after falling more than 2 percent during trading today. The world’s two most-traded crude futures are collapsing because demand growth is slowing at a time when output is expanding from countries including the U.S. and Russia , the largest suppliers outside OPEC. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased oil production by the most in almost three years last month as Libyan output surged. “The market is catching its breath after a week of […]

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Options Traders Raise Bets on $77.50 U.S. Oil by December

Trading in options contracts shows a 25 percent chance that West Texas Intermediate crude futures will settle below $77.50 a barrel in mid-December, up from 3 percent at the end of September. Implied volatility for January WTI options at that level shows a 25 delta, indicating a 25 percent chance that a $77.50 put contract will be in the money at the Dec. 16 expiration. January WTI futures fell $5.03 since Sept. 30 to $84.73 a barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November contracts, which are nearest to expiration, settled at $85.82. Front-month WTI futures have slumped 20 percent from their June high amid slower global demand growth and rising oil production in the U.S. and elsewhere. The International Monetary Fund said on Oct. 7 that the global economy will expand by 3.8 percent in 2015, down from a July projection of 4 percent. U.S. oil output […]

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Natural Gas Rebounds on Winter Fears

By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices rose slightly Friday as buyers positioned themselves for the coming peak winter demand season. Natural gas for November delivery gained 1.4 cents, or 0.4%, at $3.859 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading stayed within an 5.5-cent range. The contract lost 4.5% for the week, with weather too comfortable for any spike in heating or cooling demand to absorb record supply. Gas has largely stayed within $3.80 to $4/mmBtu since mid-July, and is now trading back in the middle of that range. Record supply from the domestic oil and gas boom has capped prices, but days like Friday have kept them from falling too far. Many traders are anticipating demand spikes from the peak winter heating season and will buy back in as prices fall toward $3.80/mmBtu. Friday’s gains followed two days of losses. "The market is just […]

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Oil’s Fall Engineers More Pain for Oil-Field Services

Offshore pipelay vessel Deep Energy, operated by Technip SA, sits moored to the dockside in Invergordon, Scotland, alongside an oil drill rig. A reduction in spending by the oil majors has meant lean times for the oil-field services sector. Bloomberg News Call it involuntary servitude. Europe’s oil-field services sector has underperformed the continent’s largest oil and gas producers over the past year by about 30 percentage points, as the majors have pulled back spending on big projects. A weaker oil price should only further that trend. Oil’s latest tumble puts pressure on the majors. Brent is down 19% this year , breaking $90 a barrel. That, if sustained, will dent cash flows at companies like BP , Royal Dutch Shell and Total at a time when investors are focused on the sector’s ability to pay its own way , funding investment and dividends from operating cash flow. A $10 […]

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Iran Matches Saudi Oil Discounts in Bear Market for Crude

Iran will sell its oil to Asia in November at the biggest discount in almost six years, matching cuts by Saudi Arabia as global crude benchmarks slide deeper into a bear market. State-run National Iranian Oil Co. cut official selling prices of its crude to buyers in Asia for November, two people with knowledge of the pricing decision said yesterday. The decrease came a week after Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, reduced the price of Arab Light crude for Asia to the lowest since December 2008. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell to the lowest in almost four years today. “The timing of Iran’s price cuts makes the price war more and more probable,” Eugen Weinberg , head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt , said by phone yesterday. “Iran is fully aware of the direction of and the mood in the market. Given that […]

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Libya: Fighting Displaces Thousands

About 100,000 people have fled fighting near the capital, Tripoli, in the past three weeks, adding to a growing problem of internal displacement, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday. “With fighting among rival armed groups intensifying in a number of areas of Libya, we are seeing growing displacement, now estimated at 287,000 people in 29 cities and towns countrywide,” the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement. The main area of recent displacement is around Warshefana, a suburb of Tripoli, and about 15,000 have fled from fighting around the Benina area outside Benghazi, it said. Most displaced people are living with local families but others are sleeping in schools, parks and nonresidential buildings converted into emergency shelters.

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OPEC Oil Price Lowest Since 2010

By Benoit Faucon The average price of OPEC oil prices has fallen to its lowest level since December 2010, just before a string of Arab uprisings pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel. The news underscores the pain faced by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, most of whom need higher prices to balance their budgets. The organization said Friday that the average price of its members’ crudes basket stood at $88.27 a barrel, compared with $88.32 the previous day. Those levels hadn’t been touched since Dec. 13, 2010. OPEC’s basket price has now fallen lower than the Brent international benchmark, though the latter also fell Thursday below $90 a barrel for the first time since 2012. Write to Benoit Faucon at [email protected]

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Saudi Arabia Tells OPEC It Pumped 107,000 B/D More Oil in September

By Sarah Kent LONDON–Saudi Arabia told the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that it increased its oil production by 107,000 barrels a day last month, defying market hopes that the OPEC kingpin might cut its output in the face of free falling prices. The information published in OPEC’s monthly oil market report Friday contrasts with data provided by secondary sources, which in the same report said the Kingdom’s output fell by 50,000 barrels a day last month to 9.6 million barrels a day. That is 100,000 barrels a day less than the number Saudi Arabia said it pumped. It is not uncommon for the information provided by OPEC members and secondary sources in the organization’s monthly report to show discrepancies, but the fact that Saudi Arabia is publicly saying it is pumping more oil at a time when many member countries are hoping it will cut back to […]

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Saudis boost output as oil price slumps; Venezuela wants emergency OPEC meeting to discuss

London (Platts)–10Oct2014/556 pm EDT/2156 GMT – Caracas has contacted OPEC ministers – Saudi September output at 30.474 million b/d – Cartel under pressure to cut output Venezuela on Friday called for an emergency OPEC meeting, saying action was needed to stop the fall in oil prices, even as Saudi Arabia told the oil producer group it had boosted its crude production in September by more than 100,000 b/d. Saudi Arabia and several other key OPEC member countries have so far shown little sign of panic over the price slide that has seen Brent crude prices slide from around $115/barrel in mid-June to as little as $88.10/b earlier last Thursday, dismissing the need for a meeting before the November 27 scheduled conference. Venezuela’s foreign minister and former oil minister Rafael Ramirez said Caracas was calling for an extraordinary meeting to coordinate action to stop the fall in oil prices and […]

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OPEC October MOMR and other news

The OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report  has just came out with OPEC production data for September 2014. All production numbers are in thousand barrels per day with the last data point September 2014. The August production numbers were revised down 275,000 bpd from 30,347 kbd to 30,054 kbd. Current OPEC 12 production stands at 30,474 kbd, up 402 from the revised numbers. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s August production numbers were revised down 202 kbd. With that revision they are down another 50 kbd in Septemer to 9,605 kbd. By far the largest change in OPEC production came from Libya, up 251 kbd to 787 kbd. The other big gainer was Iraq, up 135 kbd to 3,164 kbd. Iraq et al. The four OPEC nations that have increased production over twice as much as total OPEC appears to have topped out at around 18.5 million barrels per day. Algria et […]

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Why Oil Is Plunging: The Other Part Of The “Secret Deal” Between The US And Saudi Arabia

4569 Votes Two weeks ago, we revealed one part of the “Secret Deal” between the US and Saudi Arabia: namely what the US ‘brought to the table’ as part of its grand alliance strategy in the middle east, which proudly revealed Saudi Arabia to be “aligned” with the US against ISIS, when in reality John Kerry was merely doing Saudi Arabia’s will when the WSJ reported that “the process gave the Saudis leverage to extract a fresh U.S. commitment to beef up training for rebels fighting Mr. Assad, whose demise the Saudis still see as a top priority.” What was not clear is what was the other part : what did the Saudis bring to the table, or said otherwise, how exactly it was that Saudi Arabia would compensate the US for bombing the Assad infrastructure until the hated Syrian leader was toppled, creating a power vacuum in his […]

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West African oil prospects bright, Tullow says

Poor results do nothing to ding oil optimism over prospects off the coast of Gabon. (File/UPI/Maryam Rahmanian) LONDON, Oct. 10 (UPI) — Though reserves encountered so far off the coast of Gabon are non-commercial, Tullow Oil said Friday it was encouraged by the West African results. Tullow said its drilling partner, Perenco, ran into a 980-foot column of hydrocarbons while drilling into the Arouwe block off the coast of Gabon, but the reserve potential was considered too low to exploit commercially. Nevertheless, Tullow Exploration Direction Angus McCoss said the data taken from the well was useful for future plans . "This is an encouraging result from the pre-salt play, offshore Gabon," he said in a statement. Reserves off the coast of Gabon are similar to those in Brazil in that they’re located beneath a thick layer of submarine salt. Gabon’s geological similarities to Brazil raised hopes for oil production […]

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Venezuela claims win against Exxon Mobil

Caracas claims win in court case involving seizure of Exxon assets. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) — The government of Venezuela declared victory following a ruling by an international court regarding Exxon Mobil claims on the country’s offshore oil. The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which receives funding from the World Bank, ruled Venezuela must pay Exxon Mobil $1.6 billion for taking over assets in 2007. That’s far less than the $16.6 billion Exxon wanted, giving the government in Caracas a claim to victory. "Once again, Venezuela, its government, institutions and workers have confronted and [have] been able to defeat the aggressions of the powerful transnational interests," a statement published Thursday read. The court, in its 138-page ruling , said the compensation is owed "for the expropriation of [Exxon Mobil’s] investments in the Cerro Negro project [in the Orinoco belt]." Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved […]

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Pemex Optimistic for Ultra-Deep Water Find in Gulf of Mexico

Print Back to story Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico ’s state-run oil producer, is optimistic of a crude discovery at the Vasto-1 ultra-deep water exploratory well by year-end, said Exploration and Production Director Gustavo Hernandez. Pemex, as the Mexico City-based producer is known, has found “evidence of hydrocarbon content” at the Vasto-1 well and hopes to announce an ultra-deep water find by year-end, Hernandez said today in a phone interview from Mexico City. If confirmed the discovery would be the latest in the Perdido area, where the company estimates that as much as 10 billion barrels of potential reserves can be pumped. “We are working on the well and if it turns out to be as satisfactory as we hoped, I think we will be making another announcement in the near future,” Hernandez said of the Vasto-1 well. “It has shown good results that are going to allow us to determine […]

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Freezing out Fukushima’s radioactive water

TEPCO is preparing to freeze the soil around the damaged reactor buildings to prevent water contamination [TEPCO] Tokyo, Japan – It’s been more than three-and-a-half years since the earthquake and tsunami that rocked northern Japan in March 2011, crippling the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a disaster that continues to unfold to this day. Engineers at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which owns the plant, still have a mammoth task in front of them: How to deal with millions of litres of water full of radiation resulting from the catastrophe. The plant site, badly damaged by hydrogen explosions and reactor core meltdowns after the earthquake and tsunami, is glutted with steel storage tanks filled to capacity with contaminated water pumped out of the reactor facilities. More than 1,000 tanks clog the site, and empty ones are being filled daily. As of September 23, the total volume of water […]

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Cold spell expected to clear Beijing smog

BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — The Beijing Meteorological Bureau forecast that gales brought by a cold spell would end the persistent haze and fog in the Chinese capital on Saturday night. The Saturday forecast, issued on the bureau’s official microblog, said the cold air is expected to arrive in Beijing at around 5 p.m. and the wind will gain strength during the night and significantly improve visibility. At around 11 a.m., the bureau lifted an "orange" alert on fog, saying that visibility in most parts of the city is more than 1 km, but warned that moderate or heavy smog would linger in the afternoon. The cold spell will also help dissipate the haze and fog that has shrouded neighboring Tianjin City and Hebei Province for days, according to the forecast. Heavy air pollution is a thorny problem for the government ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ […]

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$3 Gas in Sight for U.S. Holiday Drivers as Oil Tumbles

U.S. drivers are closer to seeing $3 gasoline over the holiday season than they’ve been in four years as New York-traded futures are selling for $1 a gallon below retail prices, signaling further declines at the pump. Gasoline for November delivery settled at $2.2575 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, 98.25 cents below the pump price, according to Heathrow, Florida-based motoring club AAA. That’s the biggest gap since October 2012, which was the last time the discount topped $1. The futures, which help dictate retail costs, have dropped about 40 cents in the past two weeks while prices at the pump are down 10 cents. The widening spread indicates that filling stations have yet to match declines in futures, according to Michael Green, an AAA spokesman in Washington. The group has projected that retail prices will fall below $3.10 a gallon and may reach $3 by […]

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OPEC: U.S. oil imports at historic low

Shale production in the United States keeping oil imports low, OPEC says UPI/Gary C. Caskey VIENNA, Oct. 10 (UPI) — U.S. imports into the Gulf Coast region are at six-year lows because shale output is suppressing the need for foreign oil, OPEC said in a Friday report. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries published its monthly market report, saying that despite signs of economic stagnation , its growth outlook remained static and with it are stable expectations of global oil demand. For the United States, OPEC said the market there was becoming more self-reliant because of oil production from inland shale deposits. "U.S. imports to the Gulf Coast have touched six-year lows in recent months as domestic shale production reduced the need for foreign crude, particularly from West Africa," the monthly market report for October read. For the U.S. economy, OPEC said it expected acceleration in 2015. The U.S. […]

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Baker Hughes: Oklahoma well count surging

Oil services company Baker Hughes finds boost in the number of wells in U.S. shale basins (Photo: Daniel J. Graeber) HOUSTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) — Oil services company Baker Hughes said Friday shale basins in Oklahoma and Colorado saw the biggest gains in wells started during the third quarter. Baker Hughes published well data for the third quarter, finding a 5 percent increase year-on-year for wells started onshore United States. Compared with the second quarter, the total well count increased 1 percent. The Cana Woodford shale, located dominantly in Oklahoma, had the biggest gain with 28 percent, followed by the Niobrara shale in Colorado with 10 percent and the Williston basin in North Dakota with 7 percent. Since 2007, Oklahoma has produced more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from shale and production should increase with the emergence of the Cana Woodford play . Niobrara was included […]

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EPA Trends on EVs and PHEVs; beginning of a “measurable and meaningful impact” on new vehicle fuel economy and emissions

« California Energy Commission to award up to $2.25M for R&D on advanced ignition systems for Class 3-8 natural gas engines | Main | 3 MIT-led teams win DOE NEUP funding for next-gen nuclear technologies » Print this post The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual report “Light-Duty Automotive Technology, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, and Fuel Economy Trends” ( earlier post ) has, in its past editions since its inception in 1975, treated alternative fuel vehicles—electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles—separately from gasoline and diesel vehicles, with the vast majority of its analysis limited to gasoline and diesel vehicles only. The agency’s reasoning was that since alternative fuel vehicle production has generally been less than 0.1% of total vehicle production until very recently, the impact of excluding alternative fuel vehicles was negligible. With alternative fuel vehicles now approaching 1% of new vehicle production, […]

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US Rig Count Up 8 To 1,930

HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by eight this week to 1,930. The Houston firm said Friday in its weekly report that 1,609 rigs were exploring for oil and 320 for gas. One was listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,743 active rigs. Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, New Mexico gained three rigs, Ohio, West Virginia and Wyoming each increased by two and Kansas, Texas and Utah each gained one. North Dakota lost seven rigs, Louisiana and Pennsylvania each decreased by two and Arkansas, California and Oklahoma each lost one. Alaska and Colorado were unchanged. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999. Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. […]

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Fracking Setback in Poland Dims Hope for Less Russian Gas

Poland’s ambition to achieve energy independence from Russia is being undermined by drillers giving up on the nation’s shale wells after disappointing results. The highest test flows during the country’s five-year search for unconventional gas were just 30 percent of what’s needed for commercial production, said Pawel Poprawa, a geologist at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The number of active shale permits has fallen 43 percent from a high in January 2013 and explorers probably won’t extend all those expiring this year, according to Slawomir Brodzinski , the nation’s deputy environment minister. 3Legs Resources Plc, the Isle of Man-based company that was the first foreign explorer to buy a license in the East European nation, said last month it’s leaving after poor results at Poland’s biggest fracking operation in the northeastern Baltic Basin. The “poorly understood” formation may hold more gas than Texas’s Barnett Shale, […]

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Kremlin agrees to trilateral gas talk schedule

Russia agrees to Oct. 21 date to talk with EU and Ukrainian leaders about gas issues. (File/UPI Photo/Sergey Starostenko) MOSCOW, Oct. 10 (UPI) — The Kremlin said Friday it agreed on a date for the next round of talks aimed at resolving a Ukrainian gas issue endangering European energy security. "The Russian side has agreed to the proposed date of three-party talks in the Russia-Ukraine-EU format to discuss uninterrupted transit of gas via the territory of Ukraine," the Russian Energy Ministry said. "The new round of talks will take place Oct. 21 in Berlin." Ukraine under an interim deal would pay the $3.1 billion it owes Russian energy Gazprom. Ukraine, in return, would get a price discount and assurances of adequate winter natural gas supplies. Russia sends most of its gas for European consumers through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Contractual disputes in 2006 and 2009 between Kiev […]

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Low gas for Statoil big win for Greenpeace

Greenpeace says it’s vindicated after Statoil turns up low gas volumes in frontier arctic drilling campaign. (Photo: Greenpeace) OSLO, Norway, Oct. 10 (UPI) — A small natural gas discovery in the arctic Barents Sea waters by Norway’s Statoil shows the risky campaign isn’t worth it, Greenpeace said Friday. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate characterized a discovery in a wildcat well in the Johan Castberg area of the Barents Sea as a small find for the Norwegian energy company . A wildcat well is one drilled into an area not known previously to contain oil or gas reserves. Erlend Tellnes, a Greenpeace campaigner, said the announcement of low gas volumes was a victory for the environment. "Statoil unsuccessful drilling campaign in the Barents Sea shows that the strategy to be more aggressive in the Arctic has been unsuccessful," the campaigner said in a statement emailed to United Press International. More than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple