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Challenging (Crude) Convention

Co-authored by Mark Lewis and by J. David Hughes Media reports regarding the American crude oil industry have been uniformly positive in the past few months. Oil prices have dropped to their lowest level since 2010 and along with it prices at the pump. According to some reports, the US now produces as much or more oil than either Saudi Arabia or Russia. As the US closes in on energy independence, our reliance on foreign suppliers dwindles. Some suggest we are nearing a time of oil and economic security not seen in decades. If only that were true. The above rendering of events is taken, almost without examination, as gospel truth in the United States. The only subject of debate seems to be ascertaining whether hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") is safe for the environment of if burning the additional hydrocarbons is adding to risks of climate change . We find […]

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Oil at $75 Means Patches of Texas Shale Turn Unprofitable

With crude at $75 a barrel, the price Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says will be the average in the first three months of next year, 19 U.S. shale regions are no longer profitable, according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Those areas, which include parts of the Eaglebine and Eagle Ford in East and South Texas , pumped about 413,000 barrels a day, according to the latest data available from Drillinginfo Inc. and company presentations. That compares with the 1.03 million-barrel gain in daily national output over the past year, government figures show. The expansion of U.S. oil supply to more than 9 million barrels a day is contributing to a global glut, driving down prices by as much as 32 percent since June. The data compiled by BNEF, which take into account the costs of drilling, royalties and transportation, show that certain shale patches fail to […]

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Pace of eurozone recovery slows to 16-month low

The pace of the eurozone’s recovery has slowed to its lowest level in almost a year and a half in November, with a closely watched poll of purchasing managers signalling activity would remain weak in the months ahead. The flash composite purchasing managers’ index for the currency area, compiled by data firm Markit, fell from 52.1 in October to 51.4 this month, just above the crucial 50 level that marks an expansion in activity and the lowest level in 16 months. While there were signs of stronger output from the region’s factories, a separate reading for the dominant services industry slipped to its lowest level in more than a year. A separate reading for new orders – a bellwether for activity in the months ahead – fell below 50 for the first time since last July. Businesses across sectors continued to slash prices, a worrying trend in an economy […]

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Oil Futures Unmoved by Weak China Manufacturing Data

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures traded sideways in Asian trade Thursday as oil markets shrugged off a weak reading of Chinese manufacturing data. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $74.70 a barrel at 0507 GMT, up $0.12 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.20 to $78.30 a barrel. Chinese factory activity fell to its lowest level in six months in November, with the preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing PMI falling to 50.0, compared with a final reading of 50.4 in October. The reading suggests that "manufacturing activity has continued to cool, but it also provided some hope that downward pressure on domestic demand has eased up so far in the fourth quarter," Capital Economics said in a report. Oil prices were also not impressed by a surprise increase in U.S. crude-oil stockpiles […]

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Cold sets new November record in PJM, real-time prices top $100

Houston (Platts)–19Nov2014/436 pm EST/2136 GMT This week’s cold snap has caused peak demand in November in the PJM Interconnection to blow by its previous record, set last November, the independent system organization announced Wednesday. The new record so far for this November, 121,987 MW, occurred at 7 pm EST Tuesday, a media advisory states. The previous November record was 114,699 MW, set November 26. PJM’s overall peak demand record is 165,492 MW, which occurred in July 2011. The record non-summer peak occurred during last winter’s "polar vortex," when demand in PJM peaked at 141,846 MW on January 7, said PJM spokeswoman Paula Dupont-Kid in an email. Article continues below… Sign up to Electricity Alert today. Platts Electricity Alert provides real-time news and market coverage of the North American electric power industry, including spot market transaction reports, end-of-day price assessments, weather reports and production figures. Real-time prices for Baltimore Gas […]

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Texas RRC November Production Report

The Texas RRC Data Base  came out a few days ago. The data is reported through September but of course it is incomplete. The data from the field comes in very slow in Texas and the RRC only reports the data they receive. All data is through September and is in barrels per day. Texas Crude Only Crude only has shown a slight downward trend for the last two months. After revision, when the final data comes in, production will likely still be up slightly but if this is any indication, it will be up less than in months past. Texas Condensate Texas condensate production started a dramatic slowdown in June of 2013. It actually declined three months in a row, June, July and August of 2013 but then started to recover. But production growth has slowed since that date. Texas C+C Adding the two we get what the […]

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Shale Oil vs. Arctic Drilling

4725 Votes Last month, the suits over at Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) put on their sad faces and went to the White House to ask for more time to burn through another billion or two. I tell ya, these guys are gluttons for punishment. After eight years and more than $6 billion, Shell has come up completely empty on its promise to bring a bounty of Arctic crude to market from the Chukchi Sea. The plan to tap this Arctic flow was devised more than a decade ago — before the U.S. was swimming in shale oil and before consumption rates started falling. Certainly I don’t fault management for moving aggressively on black treasure in the Arctic. At the time, it made a lot of sense. But today, with $80 crude, a boom in domestic oil and gas production, and little chance of ever successfully producing anything more than losses in […]

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What It’s Like to Have Fracking in Your Backyard

4725 Votes Ed Wade’s property straddles the Wetzel and Marsh county lines in rural West Virginia and it has a conventional gas well on it. “You could cover the whole [well] pad with three pickups,” said Wade. And West Virginia has lots of conventional wells — more than 50,000 at last count. West Virginians are so well acquainted with gas drilling that when companies began using high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing in 2006 to access areas of the Marcellus Shale that underlie the state, most residents and regulators were unprepared for the massive footprint of the operations and the impact on their communities. When it comes to a conventional well and a Marcellus well, “There is no comparison, none whatsoever,” said Wade, who works with the Wetzel County Action Group . “You live in the country for a reason and it just takes that and turns it upside down. You […]

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50 Ways to Leave The Marcellus—The Race to Increase Natural Gas Take-Away Capacity

4725 Votes The economics of natural gas production in the dry Marcellus, the wet Marcellus and the Utica are so favorable—and the shale gas resource so bountiful—that the only real limit on how much the Marcellus/Utica plays can produce is the capacity of the pipeline network in the Northeast and neighboring regions to take gas to market. And there’s the rub, because the region’s gas transmission infrastructure was designed decades ago to deliver large volumes of gas to the Northeast, not away from it. That’s why the midstream sector has made “a new plan, Stan,” and is now in now in the midst of a major reworking of the pipeline system—not just within and near the Marcellus/Utica but just about everywhere east of the Mississippi. The $30 billion re-plumbing effort and its effects on the gas market as a whole are the subject of RBN’s latest Drill-Down Report, “ 50 […]

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Emissions Pledges From U.S., EU, China Probably Not Enough, UN Scientists Say

ByWilliam Mauldin President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the green community and fossil-fuel industry by unveiling their targets together at a Beijing summit last week. Bloomberg News Nice try, but we’ll probably ask you to cut more carbon next year. That’s the early message of United Nations scientists taking their first look at the brand-new greenhouse-gas targets of the U.S., China and the European Union, billed as a historic step for the leading emitters to cut back carbon dioxide through 2030 in order to limit climate change. The EU announced its emissions targets last month, and President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the green community and fossil-fuel industry by unveiling their targets together at a Beijing summit last week. Environmental groups and policy makers worried about warming applauded the apparent political momentum to cut back on gases blamed for climate change, especially the […]

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Oil Futures Rangebound; WTI Crude Under $75 a Barrel

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures were rangebound in Asian trade Wednesday with investors on the sidelines as attention remains firmly fixed on the OPEC meeting and the Iran nuclear negotiations next week. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $74.09 a barrel at 0459 GMT, down $0.52 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.06 to $78.41 a barrel. Morgan Stanley said oil markets are so obsessed with the upcoming meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that they have shaken off a number of positive developments on several fronts including fundamental, financial and OPEC-related news. For example, Libyan oil production has disappointed of late with more signs of trouble and China’s crude processing volumes were strong in October despite much lower imports, the bank said. Supportive news headlines aren’t the […]

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Oil Near 4-Year Low as OPEC Seen Resisting Cutting Output

West Texas Intermediate crude dropped for a third day as U.S. oil inventories gained unexpectedly. Brent rose in London. Futures fell as much as 1 percent in New York. Ecuador and Venezuela will ask members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce excess output, an Ecuador official said. A car with explosives blew up in Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdish region, the local Rudaw news agency reported, with Al Jazeera television reporting six people killed. U.S. crude inventories expanded by 3.7 million barrels last week, countering forecasts expecting a drop, the American Petroleum Institute said yesterday. The Department of Energy’s stockpile figures will be published later today. Oil has collapsed into a bear market as the U.S. pumps at the fastest pace in more than three decades amid signs of slowing demand. Leading OPEC producers including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are resisting calls to cut output ahead of […]

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Oil Extends Slide As Traders Seek Fresh Leads On OPEC

NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Oil fell for a second straight day on Tuesday as traders looked beyond price defense attempts by Russia and Venezuela and toward Saudi Arabia and OPEC for fresh leads on whether the group will cut output when it meets later this month. Saudi Arabia, the most powerful member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the world’s No. 1 oil exporter, raised crude shipments in September, data showed on Tuesday, despite signs of an oversupplied market. Benchmark Brent crude settled down 84 cents at $78.47 a barrel, after falling as low as $78.21. Brent fell in six of the past seven sessions, touching four-year lows of $76.76 on Friday. Front-month U.S. crude ended down $1.03 at $74.61 after an intraday bottom of $74.23. U.S. crude hit a September 2010 low of $76.30 on Friday. After settlement, U.S. crude slipped about another […]

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Oil Drops as Investors Weigh Likelihood of OPEC Cutback

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crudes dropped as investors weighed the possibility that OPEC will agree to cut oil output next week. Futures retreated 1.4 percent in New York and 1.1 percent in London . OPEC member Venezuela met with Russia to discuss ways to support oil prices, the foreign ministry in Caracas said yesterday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, responsible for about 40 percent of global supply, will discuss output at a Nov. 27 meeting in Vienna. Oil has slumped into a bear market as the U.S. pumps at the fastest pace in more than three decades and growth in demand slows. Japan , the world’s third-biggest consumer, slid into a recession in the third quarter. Traders are also pondering the chances that talks over Iran’s nuclear program could result in an agreement. “We’re all looking at what OPEC will come up with at next week’s meeting,” […]

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Oil benchmarks continue dip into red territory

North American, OPEC decisions may be dragging on oil prices. UPI/Shutterstock/Calin Tatu Members of the U.S. Senate vote Tuesday on a bill that aims to clear a regulatory hurdle for the Keystone XL oil pipeline planned from Canada. The pipeline could clear more oil for refiners on the southern U.S. coast and influence the price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark. Russ Girling, chief executive officer at Keystone XL planner TransCanada, said in a statement Tuesday characterizing the project as an export pipeline is "factually incorrect." WTI for the December contract fell below the $75 mark in early Tuesday trading. Long term contracts show WTI moving out of the $75 per barrel range only by February 2016. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet next week to consider their production guidelines in the shale era. Some OPEC members have already cut their prices in […]

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Natural Gas Pares Gains as Weather Outlook Moderates

By Christian Berthelsen Natural gas futures pared day-earlier gains on Tuesday as weather forecasts for extreme cold in the coming weeks softened, moderating expectations for gas-fired heating demand. Natural gas for December delivery ended the day down 9.7 cents, or 2.2%, at $4.244 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, giving back a fraction of Monday’s nearly 8% gain in its biggest rally since February. The market continued to exhibit outsize volatility, with analysts and traders saying weather outlooks were pitting traders with deeply held bullish and bearish views against each other in a battle for control of the market. "There’s a little bit of tug of war here–do we have enough gas in storage, or is this the beginning of a cold winter," said Tom Saal, a broker at brokerage INTL FCStone. "There’s two extreme views here. It’s going to create volatility." The pullback […]

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Iraq’s Biggest Oil Plant to Reopen After Militants Moved

Iraq ’s biggest oil refinery at Baiji is set to reopen after government troops forced Islamic State militants further from the facility. Iraqi troops will expel the militants from areas near a pipeline supplying the plant 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of Baghdad , Colonel Khalaf al-Jabouri, a member of Iraq’s anti-terror forces, said by phone. It will take about three months to restart the plant because workers have fled to other provinces and refinery units need maintenance, according to Saad al-Azzawi, an engineer at Baiji. “We will secure the pipeline network that feeds oil to the refinery,” al-Jabouri said. “The Iraqi forces are now seeking to clear the path where the pipelines pass through to pump the oil to Baiji and also to export the crude to Turkey .” The Baiji plant has been at the center of repeated attacks since June as Islamic State militants attempted to […]

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Baghdad restarts BP talks for disputed Kirkuk fields

Gas flares burn at the Northern Kirkuk Oil in northern Iraq on January 06, 2010. (MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images) Iraq’s Oil Ministry is beginning new contract talks with BP to develop the Kirkuk oil field – a potential flashpoint for political conflict now that Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region has integrated much of the field into its own, separate oil sector.Representatives from the British super-major held meetings with Iraqi officials in Baghdad on Monday, according to Oil Ministry Spokesman Assem Jihad."The Oil Ministry’s relations with BP regarding Kirkuk are continuing," Jihad said. "Th… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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Iraq Kurdish official: Car bomb hits city of Irbil

BAGHDAD (AP) — A Kurdish official in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil says a suicide car bomber has struck in the heart of the city, inflicting an unknown number of casualties. Wednesday’s bombing in Irbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, took place near the historic citadel. Mayor Nawzad Hadi told the state-run Rudaw TV channel that the number of casualties was not immediately known. Hadi says the suicide bomber tried to enter the citadel but failed, so he detonated his car outside the gates. The mayor says there is significant damage to the property in the area. Irbil is close to the front-lines. Islamic State militants advanced within 30 kilometers of the Irbil last summer, but were eventually repelled by Kurdish forces with the help of U.S. airstrikes.

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Security, crude supply needed for Baiji restart

Oil Minister Adil Abdulmahdi tours the besieged Baiji refinery on Sept. 11, 2014, a day after formally taking office. (Source: Office of Adil Abdulmahdi) Recommend 197 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Government security forces and militia fighters have broken the five-month siege on Iraq’s largest oil refinery, after a week-long campaign to retake the northern Iraqi town of Baiji from militants led by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.Yet the refinery will not be usable for at least several months, according to refinery personnel and officials from Iraq’s state-run North Oil Company (NOC). Not only has the facility sustained damage that needs to be fully assessed, but key pipeline i… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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Eni extends relationship with Turkmenistan

Italian energy company Eni commits long-term to Turkmenistan. (UPI/Shutterstock/smereka) ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Nov. 18 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said Tuesday it signed an extension to a production agreement for operations onshore and offshore Turkmenistan. Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi signed an addendum to the existing contract in Turkmenistan with his counterparts in Turkmenistan. The agreement extends the duration of the contract to 2032 and includes a separate agreement for the potential extension of Eni’s operations into the waters of the Caspian Sea. Eni provided no estimate of the expected reserve benefits of the addendum to its production sharing agreement. The Central Asian country is one of the largest natural gas producers in the world and exports most of its natural gas to China. Last year, the country opened its Galkynysh natural gas field near the border of Afghanistan . It’s one of the largest gas fields in […]

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Nigeria: PENGASSAN Decries Worsening Security Situation

Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the Federal Government and the military to rise up to the task of ending the insurgency and wanton destruction of lives and properties in the country. The oil workers’ union also called on the military to live up to their expectations by duly performing their obligations of defending the country against any attack either internal or external. PENGASSAN, in a statement condemned the level of general insecurity, especially the killings of innocent citizens by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North Eastern part of the country. The body called on President Goodluck Jonathan to step up the political will to deal with the crisis. Condemning the bomb blast that killed 47 school children and injured 79 others in Potiskum, Yobe State recently, PENGASSAN President, Francis Johnson, said the federal government should use all the power within […]

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Oil Diplomacy Takes New Twist as Venezuela Seeks Non-OPEC Help

Venezuela is seeking help from nations outside of OPEC to halt a collapse in global crude prices, adding a new twist to oil-market diplomacy with nine days to go until the group’s next meeting. Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s president, told state television yesterday that he was coordinating with Russia to hold a meeting “very soon” with countries that aren’t members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as those within the group, to defend the price of oil. Venezuela and other Latin American countries have been among the hardest hit by plunging prices in part because the slump has been caused by surging supplies in North America. Combined output from the U.S. and Canada rose last year to the highest since at least 1965 as producers tapped stores locked in shale-rock formations and oil sands, according to BP Plc data. “I don’t see anyone in non-OPEC volunteering to […]

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Indonesia Surprises With Rate Increase as Fuel Plan Draws Protests

By Ben Otto JAKARTA, Indonesia–The central bank raised interest rates to the highest level in five years at a surprise meeting on Tuesday, seeking to contain inflation a day after the government announced a controversial increase in fuel prices in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The decision to raise subsidized fuel prices, which triggered riots in the past, marked President Joko Widodo’s most important move since taking office a month ago. It earned praise from economists as a promising signal of things to come, even as students protested and bus operators threatened to strike, potentially upsetting travel for millions of commuters in Jakarta alone. Indonesia heavily subsidizes fuel prices, making gasoline and diesel some of the cheapest in the region. But but the bill for doing so amid rapid economic growth and growing consumer demand in the net-oil-importing nation has ballooned in recent years. This year, Indonesia will spend about […]

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Putin says United States will never ‘subdue’ Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The United States wants to subdue Moscow, but will never succeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. "They do not want to humiliate us, they want to subdue us, solve their problems at our expense," Putin said at the end of a four-hour meeting with his core support group, the People’s Front. "No one in history ever managed to achieve this with Russia, and no one ever will," he said, triggering a wave of applause. Putin’s tough talk reflected the strain in ties between Moscow and Washington, who are at loggerheads over the crisis in Ukraine, where the West has accused Russia of promoting and arming a separatist rebellion. During the meeting, Putin repeatedly urged Russian firms, including in the agricultural and defense sectors, to boost their sales on domestic markets following tit-for-tat sanctions with West triggered by the row over Ukraine. Putin fielded a […]

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Shale Drillers Keep Output High Despite Oil Price Decline

Shale drillers are planning on production growth with fewer rigs despite a worldwide glut that has sent crude prices to a four-year low. Companies including Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) , Continental Resources Inc. (CLR) and EOG Resources Inc. (EOG) said they expect to pump more from their prime properties while cutting back in their least productive prospects. That puts the onus on OPEC nations, led by Saudi Arabia, to cut output if they want to stem the slide in global oil prices . “There’s a lot more production coming online this year and in the first half of 2015,” said Jason Wangler, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities Inc. in Houston. “This isn’t a machine that you can turn on and off with a switch. It’s going to take months, if not quarters, to turn it around.” Domestic output topped 9 million barrels a day for the first time since […]

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TransCanada: KXL delays make no sense

TransCanada says Keystone XL a means to protect North American oil markets. (courtesy TransCanada) CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 18 (UPI) — The equivalent of eight Keystone XL oil pipelines have been built in the United States since an application was submitted, planner TransCanada said Tuesday. Members of a lame-duck Senate vote Tuesday on a bill that would authorize the construction of the cross-border Keystone XL oil pipeline. A similar bill passed through the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Russ Girling, president and chief executive officer at TransCanada, said he was "very pleased" with the level of support on Capitol Hill for the controversial pipeline. It’s been more than six years since Girling’s company submitted an application to build the pipeline across the U.S.-Canadian border. In a statement Tuesday, Girling said it was disappointing that the equivalent of eight Keystone XL pipelines have been built in the United States since […]

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U.S. holiday commuters to save big on gas

U.S. holiday travelers saving big money because of lower gasoline prices, pump watchers say. UPI/Gary C. Caskey WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) — Low U.S. gasoline prices mean those traveling for Thanksgiving will save more than $650 million collectively over last year, price watcher GasBuddy said. GasBuddy said its survey of more than 81,000 holiday travelers found more than 90 percent plan to drive at least 200 miles for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. GasBuddy reports a national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline of $2.86. Motor club AAA says the national average price for Tuesday is 4 cents lower than one week ago and 32 cents less than this date in 2013. By surveying those who use its price survey application on their cell phones, GasBuddy said the low price at the pump translates to a collective saving of more than $160 million per day on holiday […]

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Texas plant cleared for LNG exports

U.S. federal government clears Texas plant for liquified natural gas exports to countries without a U.S. free-trade agreement. UPI/Stephen Shaver FREEPORT, Texas, Nov. 18 (UPI) — With federal approval in hand, construction should start in December on a liquefied natural gas export facility in Freeport, Texas, the lead company said. Freeport LNG Expansion announced it received final authorization from the Department of Energy to send gas from its planned facility on Quintana Island off the coast of Texas to countries that don’t have a free-trade agreement with the United States. The first two trains — facilities that cool gas to liquid form — should enter into service before the start of the next decade. Freeport LNG will have three trains. Exporting LNG to countries without a free-trade agreement requires special consideration of the public’s interest. Supporters of LNG exports argue it would provide a source of economic stimulus, while […]

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U.S. clears grid connection for first offshore wind farm

U.S. gives right-of-way to company developing what will become the nation’s first ever offshore wind farm. (UPI/Shutterstock/Teun van den Dries) WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) — The U.S. Interior Department said it offered a right-of-way to renewable energy company Deepwater Wind to connect an offshore wind farm to the grid. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the grant gives Rhode Island the chance to develop a sustainable energy future . "This is a major milestone for offshore renewable energy in the United States," she said in a Monday statement. The eight-nautical mile corridor allows Deepwater Wind to connect its planned 30 megawatt Block Island wind farm to the mainland. The wind farm will generate enough power to meet the annual energy demands of more than 17,000 households. Construction begins in full swing next year. The Rhode Island government signed off on environmental permits for what will become the nation’s first […]

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How the Keystone XL Pipeline Would Impact the Bakken

Pipeline Construction | Click to Enlarge The Senate will vote today on a bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, after the House voted to approve it last Friday. The controversial pipeline would carry heavy oil sands crude from Canada and lighter Bakken crude to the Gulf Coast refining market. In 2013, The Congressional Research Service released a report that stated 12% of the Keystone XL Pipeline’s 830,000 b/d ultimate capacity has been set aside for the transport of Bakken Crude. The report further said the Keystone XL pipeline project would include a lateral pipeline, called the Bakken Marketlink, to carry oil from Baker, MT, to the bub in Cushing, OK. Although the Keystone XL Pipeline would play a role in the Bakken, its’ significance in the region has diminished slightly over time. Despite a still lacking midstream infrastructure in the Bakken, several pipeline projects have advanced as the political thunderstorm has […]

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Few in US oil, gas realm very concerned about possible oil price collapse: survey

Houston (Platts)–18Nov2014/407 pm EST/2107 GMT Only about 15% of US oil and natural gas sector survey respondents said in late October they were very or extremely concerned about a possible crude oil price collapse, according to a survey from Deloitte released Tuesday. The results of the survey, titled "2014 Oil & Gas Survey: The Next Chapter of the Energy Renaissance," were released at the 2014 Deloitte Oil & Gas Conference in Houston. John England, vice chairman and oil and gas sector leader for Deloitte, said Tuesday morning that perhaps the respondents who were concerned about an oil price collapse were "the good prognosticators." The overall responses to the survey showed optimism, England said, with 90% of respondents saying they believed the US has enough domestic natural gas to meet demand and 20% believing that the US is or will be self-sufficient in oil within the next five years. About […]

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Keystone XL pipeline bill dies in Senate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bill to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline failed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, sparing President Barack Obama from an expected veto of legislation that several fellow Democrats supported. The measure fell just short of the 60 votes needed for passage, despite frantic last-minute lobbying by supporters, especially Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who faces a runoff election on Dec. 6. She has staked her hopes of winning a fourth Senate term on the Keystone gambit. The tally was 59 to 41 on TransCanada Corp’s $8 billion project, with all 45 Republicans supporting the bill. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who will become Senate Majority Leader in January after his party made big gains in this month’s midterm elections, said after the vote that consideration of a Keystone bill would be "very early up" in the next congress.   Obama opposed the Keystone […]

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Brace for Thanksgiving Traffic as Car-to-Plane Gap Swells

Print Back to story With gasoline prices sinking to under $3 per gallon, Americans traveling by car this holiday season will have plenty of company on the road. Drivers will make up about 89.5 percent of holiday travelers this year, a gain of 0.1 percentage point from 2013, while air passengers will drop by the same amount to 7.5, forecasts prepared by Englewood, Colorado-based IHS Inc. (IHS) show. A 0.1 point increase may not seem like a lot, but based on last year’s estimate that 39.6 million people traveled by car for Thanksgiving, that would roughly equate to at least another 40,000 people piling onto America’s highways. The car-over-plane travel choice is made easier by the fact that airfares aren’t coming down like gasoline pump prices are. While the plunge in oil has driven down wholesale jet fuel prices 17 percent since August, almost matching the 18 percent drop […]

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Russian energy interests tilting heavily toward Asia

Russia says it may court Chinese partners for energy work in the arctic. UPI/Shutterstock/Marco Varro MOSCOW, Nov. 18 (UPI) — Russian oil company Rosneft may focus more on Asia as it looks for new partners for exploration and production work in the arctic, a minister said Tuesday. With U.S. partner Exxon Mobil sitting on the sidelines because of sanctions imposed on the Russian energy sector, Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoy said Rosneft will release new plans for the arctic before the end of the year. "China has announced its interest to the arctic," he said. "I think Rosneft has to independently choose partners out of countries which have not sanctioned Russia, and therefore here will be the final choice." In September, Rosneft estimated a discovery in the Prinovozemelskiy-1 license area in the Kara Sea holds at least 700 million barrels of oil. Russian energy interests have tilted toward […]

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European residential electricity prices increasing faster than prices in United States

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration and Eurostat Note: European Union average consists of 27 member countries in 2006, 28 member countries for all other years. European residential electricity prices have historically exceeded U.S. prices, and the gap has widened in recent years. In 2013, average residential electricity rates in European Union (EU) countries were more than double rates in the United States. Regulatory structures—including taxes and other user fees, investment in renewable energy technologies, and the mix and cost of fuels—all influence electricity prices. In 2013, average EU residential prices were 0.20 euro per kilowatthour (euro/kWh), which translates to about 26.57 cents per kilowatthour (cents/kWh), a 43% increase from the average 2006 price of 18.80 cents/kWh. In that same time, U.S. prices increased only 17%, from 10.40 cents/kWh to 12.12 cents/kWh. These averages mask wide differences across the European Union, ranging from 11.99 cents/kWh (Bulgaria) to 39.42 cents/kWh (Denmark) […]

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Shale Oil: Expensive, Over-hyped, and Short-Lived

Printer-friendly Chapter 21 of the Crash Course is now publicly available and ready for watching below. For the best viewing experience, watch the above video in hi-definition (HD) and in expanded screen mode Transcript:  Okay, by now you’ve heard the prior chapters on the Peak Cheap Oil concept and by now many of you are wondering how any of that could be still be true given all the positive recent stories about shale oil and shale gas, many of which proclaimed “peak oil is dead”. The mainstream press has faithfully repeated every press and PR statement made by the shale producers and if you simply followed the headlines you might even believe this about the US: It is soon going to be energy independent, Its oil production will surpass even Saudi Arabia putting it in the number one spot,and The US will even be exporting oil again like the […]

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Oil Slips, Markets Still Uncertain About OPEC Policy

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures were lower in Asian trade Tuesday with investors largely uncertain about the outcome of the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries next week. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $75.34 a barrel at 0423 GMT, down $0.30 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.35 to $78.96 a barrel. Opinion is divided about the production policy and prices at the OPEC meeting on Nov. 27 and money managers for the time being are reluctant to bet on increasing oil prices, Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodities at BNP Paribas said. He said OPEC’s decision will come on Thanksgiving when U.S. markets are closed and liquidity is low, which means that prices could prove to be highly volatile. Analysis also suggests stronger negative sentiment, which means […]

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Brent, WTI Crudes Advance Before OPEC Meeting as Dollar

Brent crude rose for the second time in three days as investors weighed the likelihood that OPEC will reduce output when it meets next week amid signs of weakening global demand. West Texas Intermediate also climbed in New York, buoyed by a weakening dollar. Futures gained as much as 0.8 percent to a high of $79.95 a barrel in London. Venezuela, one of 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, met with Russia to discuss ways to support oil prices, the foreign ministry in Caracas said yesterday. The dollar traded 0.5 percent lower against the euro. WTI climbed as much as 1 percent in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Rupert Rowling in London at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaric Nightingale at [email protected] Rachel Graham

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Goldman Says OPEC in Dilemma as Output Cut Seen Helping U.S.

A “large” production cut by OPEC to prop up crude prices isn’t in the group’s interest because it’s likely to bolster an expansion of U.S. shale oil, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. While the slide in prices into a bear market increases the chances of a reduction, trimming output by more than 500,000 barrels a day would mean further cuts are needed starting 2016 as higher prices prompt more U.S. drilling, Goldman said in a note yesterday. Some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries including Saudi Arabia have resisted calls to decrease supply while others seek action to support crude. “A large cut would be difficult to implement,” given the financing needs of some OPEC members, said analysts including New York-based Jeffrey Currie , referring to Libya, Iran, Venezuela and Iraq, the group’s second-largest member. Oil has slumped about 30 percent since its June peak amid […]

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Oil Falls as Japan Recession Reduces Fuel Demand Outlook

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crudes dropped after Japan , the world’s third-largest oil consuming country, unexpectedly slipped into a recession. Japan’s economy shrank an annualized 1.6 percent in the third quarter, a second successive drop. Iran ’s oil minister is preparing to visit the United Arab Emirates this week, according to Shana, the Tehran-based ministry’s news service. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet Nov. 27. Brent has declined 31 percent from a June peak as leading OPEC members resisted calls to cut output and instead reduced some export prices while U.S. production climbed to the highest level in more than three decades. Venezuela, Libya and Ecuador have asked for action to support crude as the 12-member group prepares to meet in Vienna. “The new Japanese data certainly doesn’t help the demand perception,” Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. […]

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Natural Gas Futures Surge on Cold Weather

By Christian Berthelsen Natural gas prices on Monday soared to their biggest one-day gain in nearly nine months, as traders and investors braced for below-normal temperatures that are expected to stoke demand for the heating fuel. The arrival of frigid weather early in the season is reviving concerns that another brutal winter could strain the nation’s natural-gas supplies. Last year’s severe cold led to record gas consumption by businesses, households and utilities and a sharp runup in prices. Over the weekend, several weather forecasters revised downward their projections for temperatures in the eastern U.S. during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. That has spurred analysts and traders to draw comparisons with last winter, which also ended up being unexpectedly cold and a drag on economic growth generally. Natural gas for December delivery jumped 8% to $4.341 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the largest one-day […]

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U.S. ‘disappointed’ with Iran’s IAEA cooperation ahead of nuclear talks

VIENNA (Reuters) – The United States is disappointed with Iran’s failure to engage with a U.N. nuclear agency investigation into suspected atomic bomb research, a U.S. envoy said on Monday. Western officials say Iran must improve cooperation with the long-running International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inquiry as part of a broader diplomatic settlement which Tehran and six world powers aim to reach by a self-imposed Nov. 24 deadline. Negotiators from Iran, the United States, France, China, Russia, Britain, Germany and the European Union meet in Vienna from Tuesday to try to end a long impasse over Tehran’s atomic program that has stoked fears of a new war in the Middle East. Potentially complicating those efforts, an IAEA report on Nov. 7 said Iran was failing to address suspicions it may have worked on designing an atomic bomb. Iran says it has no such aim and that its nuclear program […]

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Iran Nuclear Pact Faces an Array of Opposing Forces

WASHINGTON — When President Obama wrote last month to Iran ’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , urging him to overcome a decade of mistrust and negotiate a deal limiting Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, it was perhaps the president’s last effort to reach a reconciliation with Iran that could remake the Middle East. Today, Mr. Obama needs a foreign policy accomplishment more than ever, and he sees time running out on his hope of changing the calculus in a Middle East where Americans are, against his instincts, back on the ground. But the forces arrayed against a deal are formidable — not just Mr. Khamenei and the country’s hard-liners, but newly empowered Republicans, some of his fellow Democrats, and many of the United States’ closest allies. As negotiators head back to Vienna this week for what they hope will be the final round of talks, Mr. Obama’s top national security advisers […]

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Iraqi security forces enter Baiji refinery: police, state TV

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces entered the country’s largest refinery for the first time on Tuesday after months of battling Islamic State militants who had surrounded it, a police colonel and state television said. If confirmed, the recovery of the facility could provide critical momentum for government forces charged with restoring stability in a country facing its worst security crisis since dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. "The first Iraqi force, the anti-terrorism force called Mosul Battalion, entered Baiji refinery for the first time in five months," police colonel Saleh Jaber, of the Baiji refinery protection force, told Reuters. State television flashed news of the advance and broadcast what it said was live footage of the complex from outside its walls. No security forces were visible. "In this area, terrorists were stationed to the left and right. If God is willing, Baiji will be the main key […]

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