Category:

Nigeria Plans Budget Cuts as Oil Price Drop Erodes Revenue

Nigeria is planning spending cutbacks next year as falling oil prices eat into the government’s revenue, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. The minister will propose to lower expenditure by 6 percent to 4.66 trillion naira ($27 billion) in the 2015 budget by tightening rules on foreign travel and raising taxes on private jets and luxury cars, Okonjo-Iweala told reporters yesterday in the capital, Abuja. Those plans are based on a benchmark oil price of $73 a barrel, down from $77.5 in this year’s budget, she said. The government of Africa ’s biggest oil producer, which is preparing to hold elections on Feb. 14, earns about 70 percent of its income from crude oil, the price of which has slumped to a four-year low this month. The naira weakened to a record low last week, prompting the central bank to run down reserves in a bid to defend the currency. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Kabul, Islamabad pursue gas pipeline connections

Islamabad agrees with Kabul to put renewed focus on multilateral natural gas pipeline. UPI/Hamid Forotan ISLAMABAD, Nov. 17 (UPI) — Islamabad thanks the leadership in Kabul for putting renewed emphasis behind a multilateral gas pipeline from Turkmenistan, the Pakistani prime minister said. Representatives from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan , Pakistan and India met last year in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, to sign a transaction advisory services agreement. That cleared the way for the Asian Development Bank to look for a consortium to find the money needed to build the $7.8 billion pipeline. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met Saturday with visiting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to discuss regional energy and trade initiatives, including TAPI. "We reaffirmed our resolve to forge a robust economic partnership – by expanding trade, promoting investment, improving infrastructure, building road and rail links and enhancing energy collaboration," he said. Pakistan and India would each get 1.3 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bakken Shale Rig Stays Flat at 192

Drone Image, Courtesy CSIRO The  Bakken-Three Forks rig count  stayed flat at 192 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 184 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 14 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up. In recent Bakken news, the Federal Aviation Administration and six other states, including Texas, home of the Eagle Ford Shale , have recently been selected as test sites for integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAV) or drones into the general population, according to the  Bismarck Tribune . With the green light from the FAA for testing in North Dakota, which for now is limited to agricultural applications, the next step could be in the Bakken oil patch. Read more : Drones Coming to the Bakken Oil Patch? The U.S. rig count increased by three to 1,928 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 350 rigs […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Toyota aims to replicate Prius success with fuel cell Mirai

NEWPORT BEACH California/TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) will introduce its first mass-market fuel cell car next month, hoping to replicate the success of its Prius hybrid with a vehicle that runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline. The four-seater sedan, named Mirai, the Japanese word for "future", will first go on sale in four cities in Japan on Dec. 15. Sales in the United States and Europe will follow in the fourth quarter of 2015, the world’s biggest automaker said, unveiling the car simultaneously in California and Tokyo. The ultimate "green car", fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) run on electricity made by mixing hydrogen fuel and oxygen in the air – a technology first used in the Apollo moon project in the 1960s. Its only by-product is heat and water – water so pure the Apollo astronauts drank it. "This technology is going to change our world," […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Indonesia Raises Fuel Price as Jokowi Fulfills Key Pledge

Print Back to story Indonesian President Joko Widodo raised fuel prices to reduce state energy subsidies, moving on an election pledge less than a month after taking office to free funds for development plans. The price of subsidized gasoline was increased to 8,500 rupiah ($0.70) a liter from 6,500 rupiah effective today, and diesel has been raised to 7,500 rupiah a liter from 5,500 rupiah, after an announcement by Widodo in Jakarta late yesterday. The central bank will hold an unscheduled monetary policy review today, spokesman Peter Jacobs said. The rupiah and local stocks rallied today on optimism that Widodo, known as Jokowi, is taking steps to overhaul Southeast Asia ’s largest economy. While falling oil costs gave the president room to limit the fuel price increase, his government has yet to say if it will revamp or scrap the decades-old subsidy system beyond changing prices. “This was a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Indonesia’s Fuel Price Hike a ‘Solid’ Sign of Reform, Say Economists

ByBen Otto and I Made Sentana A worker at a state-owned Pertamina petrol station waits for a traditional Baja vehicle with a picture of Indonesian President Joko Widodo on it to pull up in Jakarta on Nov. 17. Reuters JAKARTA, Indonesia–Economists have welcomed President Joko Widodo’s move to increase the price of subsidized fuel by roughly a third, calling it a sign of his reform-minded leadership. DBS economist Gundy Cahyadi referred to it as a “positive signal of the government’s commitment to push for tough economic reforms” in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. OCBC economist Wellian Wiranto called it “a good balance” between playing safe and acting decisively. More In Subsidies IMF Takes Aim at Thailand’s Costly Rice Subsidies Thai Corn Farmers Join Clamor for Hand-Outs Thailand Likely Will Struggle to Get Back to No. 1 in Rice Exports Thai Government, Farmers Take First Step to Reach Accord on Rice Thai Farmers Signal Willingness […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Proposed US EPA rule to have significant impact on power grid: ERCOT analysis

Houston (Platts)–17Nov2014/457 pm EST/2157 GMT The Electric Reliability Council of Texas anticipates that implementation of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule for reducing greenhouse gas emissions will result in the retirement of up half of ERCOT’s coal generation capacity, raise retail energy bills up to 20% and lead to a greater likelihood of rotating outages. ERCOT Monday released its analysis of the impact of the Clean Power Plan, saying it "is evident that implementation … will have a significant impact on the planning and operation of the ERCOT grid." "ERCOT’s primary concern with the Clean Power Plan is that, given the ERCOT region’s market design and existing transmission infrastructure, the timing and scale of the expected changes needed to reach the CO2 emission goals could have a harmful impact on reliability," according to the report. " … it is unknown, based on the information currently available, whether compliance […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Offshore Drilling: Gulf of Mexico Heading for a New Record Despite Oil Price Plunge

A lot has happened since the Gulf of Mexico hit peak oil production in 2009. Around that time oil prices had plunged as the world hit the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The Gulf then was besieged with a crisis of its own as the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the spring of 2010 put the Gulf’s oil production growth on hold. That hold lasted a lot longer than expected as the shale revolution in the U.S. took a lot of capital and attention away from the Gulf. However, the Gulf of Mexico is about to make its way back in a big way as several new projects are about to push the Gulf past its previous production peak as its on pace to set a new record in 2016. The question that remains is if it can keep up its momentum this time, or if it production will […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Crude oil and lease condensate production at highest volume since 1986

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, DrillingInfo, Inc., Illinois State Geological Survey, Indiana Geological Survey Note: Click to enlarge. Crude oil and lease condensate production in the United States exceeded 8.6 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in August, a production volume not observed since July 1986, according to EIA’s latest Petroleum Supply Monthly . More than half of total U.S. production was accounted for by record production from three basins in three states. Production from the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico accounted for 1.66 million bbl/d, while the Eagle Ford Shale in the Western Gulf Basin, also located in Texas, produced 1.57 million bbl/d. The Bakken Shale in North Dakota’s Williston Basin accounted for 1.13 million bbl/d. Domestic production has increased dramatically over the past four years, increasing from 5.4 million bbl/d in January 2010 to its current level, driven by increasing production from shale and other tight […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

$100 Billion Deal Day Evokes 1998’s Exxon-Mobil: Real M&A

The last time two mergers this huge were announced on the same day, Exxon was targeting Mobil and Bill Clinton was still in the White House. Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Actavis Plc this morning announced a combined $100 billion in takeovers. It’s rare to see two deals of $20 billion or more hit the tape at once — so rare, it hasn’t happened in 16 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s when energy giant Exxon Corp. agreed to buy Mobil Corp. and two European drugmakers struck the merger that created Aventis SA. The two takeovers added to what has already been the busiest year for deal making since the record in 2007. “There’s a little bit of coincidence involved in this, but the broader stroke that I would paint is confidence is getting stronger,” said Scott Rostan, founder of Training The Street, an educational firm that teaches […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The peak oil theater

4721 Votes The peak oil theater I am a little late for the talk at the peak oil conference. Fortunately, it seems that I didn’t lose much: the speaker must have started just a few minutes before I arrived and I only missed the introduction by the chairman. So, I relax in my seat as the speaker goes on with his presentation.(*) The first thing I note is his the way he is dressed; not the standard one in this conference. Most speakers, so far, have been physicists and they have a typical way of dressing: they look like physicists even when they wear a tie; and they usually don’t. This speaker, instead, not only wears a tie, but even wears a double breasted suit (or so it seems to me – even if it is not a double-breasted suit, he wears it as if it were one). And […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Kunstler: The Instability Express

4721 Votes T he mentally-challenged kibitzers “out there” — in the hills and hollows of the commentary universe, cable news, the blogosphere, and the pathetic vestige of newspaperdom — are all jumping up and down in a rapture over cheap gasoline prices. Overlay on this picture the fairy tale of coming US energy independence, stir in the approach of winter in the North Dakota shale oil fields, put an early November polar vortex cherry on top, and you have quite a recipe for smashed expectations. Plummeting oil prices are a symptom of terrible mounting instabilities in the world. After years of stagnation, complacency, and official pretense, the linked matrix of systems we depend on for running our techno-industrial society is shaking itself to pieces. American officials either don’t understand what they’re seeing, or don’t want you to know what they see. The tensions between energy, money, and economy have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The Cost of Fossil Fuels to an Economy Is Not Reduced by Subsidies; It Is Just Redistributed

4721 Votes Countries around the globe have committed to reducing subsidies for fossil fuels, primarily oil and gas. But that commitment is not being put into practice quickly enough for cleaner energy solutions to gain a competitive edge in some regions, according to the 2014 World Energy Outlook from the International Energy Agency. Global subsidies for fossil fuels totaled nearly $550 billion in 2013. That figure is $25 billion lower than that of the previous year, but the IEA notes that is still not enough of a shift to make renewable energy competitive in the countries with the highest subsidies. More than half of the world’s fossil-fuel subsidies go to oil, and many of the subsidies are concentrated in oil- and gas-producing countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The subsidies that go to fossil fuels dwarf the subsidies for renewable energies, which the IEA put at $120 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Mounting Pressure on OPEC Spurs More Wagers on Oil Rally

Speculators got more bullish on oil for the first time in three weeks, judging that a slump in prices to a four-year low will force OPEC to act. The net-long position in West Texas Intermediate rose 8.7 percent in the week ended Nov. 11, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Long holdings rebounded from the lowest level in 17 months while short bets contracted. WTI tumbled 30 percent since June as U.S. output climbed to three-decade high, adding to a global supply glut at a time when the International Energy Agency says demand growth is slowing. Ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries accelerated diplomatic visits last week, potentially seeking a consensus before the group’s Nov. 27 meeting in Vienna. “The market is under incredible pressure and it will stay that way until OPEC takes decisive action,” Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist in Seattle at U.S. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

ISIS 7x Bigger Than West Believes

ISIS 7x Bigger Than West Believes The Islamic State (Isis) has recruited an army hundreds of thousands strong, far larger than previous estimates by the CIA, according to a senior Kurdish leader. He said the ability of Isis to attack on many widely separated fronts in Iraq and Syria at the same time shows that the number of militant fighters is at least 200,000, seven or eight times bigger than foreign in intelligence estimates of up to 31,500 men. Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of the Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said in an exclusive interview with The Independent on Sunday that “I am talking about hundreds of thousands of fighters because they are able to mobilise Arab young men in the territory they have taken.” He estimates that Isis rules a third of Iraq and a third of Syria with a population of between 10 and 12 million […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Car bombings in Baghdad kill 14 people

BAGHDAD (AP) — A pair of car bombs targeted busy commercial areas in the Iraqi capital on Monday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 31, officials said. In the first attack, a car detonated on a commercial street in the Meshtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, killing at least eight people and wounding 15, police officials said. The second car bombing took place in Baghdad’s western Amiriya district, also hitting a commercial street and killing at least six people and wounding 16 there. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media. The Iraqi capital is seeing near-daily attacks but nothing compared to the rampage in northern and western Iraq by the Islamic State group. Recent bombings have frequently targeted Shiite-majority areas in Baghdad, but the violence has been considerably subdued from the darkest days of sectarian […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Defying Expectations, Japan’s Economy Falls Into Recession

TOKYO — Japan ’s economy unexpectedly fell into recession in the third quarter, a painful slump that called into question efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to pull the country out of nearly two decades of deflation. The second consecutive quarterly decline in gross domestic product could upend Japan ’s political landscape. Mr. Abe is considering dissolving Parliament and calling fresh elections, people close to him say, and Monday’s economic report is seen as critical to his decision, which is widely expected to come this week. Rising sales taxes have been blamed for triggering the downturn by deterring consumer spending, and with Japan having now slipped into a technical recession, the chances that Mr. Abe will seek a new mandate from voters to alter the government’s tax program appear to have increased significantly. The preliminary economic report, issued by the Cabinet Office, showed that gross domestic product fell at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China Trade Pact Set to Deliver Relief for Australian Coal Mines

Print Back to story A free trade agreement with China, the world’s biggest coal consumer, is set to bring some relief to struggling producers in Australia . China is expected to exempt the miners from import tariffs as part of the new trade accord, according to HSBC Holdings Plc. Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to address Australia’s parliament in Canberra today when the agreement is scheduled to be announced. The removal of the tariffs, designed to protect struggling Chinese mines, will help bolster margins of producers in Australia, the biggest coal exporting nation. A global glut and slowing demand growth have depressed prices, forcing companies from BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) to Glencore Plc to cut costs. “For the coal space, there’s a good chance it will mean that the tariffs recently announced by the Chinese won’t apply to Australian exports of thermal coal,” Paul Bloxham, chief Australia economist […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Brent Crude Drops as Japanese Recession May Curb Demand

Brent crude dropped, extending eight weeks of declines, amid concern about demand after Japan unexpectedly sank into a recession. West Texas Intermediate also fell. Futures slid as much as 1.9 percent in London as 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 about 32 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. “After Friday’s brief rally it looks like normal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Australia, China deepen ties with landmark free trade deal

CANBERRA (Reuters) – China and Australia on Monday sealed a landmark free trade agreement more than a decade in the making, significantly expanding ties between the world’s second largest economy and one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia. The deal, which Australia called the best ever between Beijing and a Western country, will open up Chinese markets to Australian farm exporters and the services sector while easing curbs on Chinese investment in resource-rich Australia. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a memorandum of understanding clinching the agreement during a ceremony in parliament in Canberra. "This has been a 10-year journey, but we have finally made it," Abbott said. Xi praised the deal in an address to parliament, pledging to deepen cooperation with Australia while reaffirming China’s willingness to resolve territorial disputes with its neighbors through diplomatic means. "As long as we have our long-term […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Tokyo shares skid as Japan slips into recession

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese stocks skidded on Monday, helping the yen rebound from a fresh seven-year low against the dollar touched after news Japan unexpectedly fell into recession in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Shanghai .SSEC and Hong Kong .HSI opened around 1 percent higher but quickly erased gains on suspected profit-taking by traders who had positioned for the launch of the Stock Connect scheme that will let Hong Kong and Shanghai investors buy and sell shares on each other’s bourses. "The market had already responded to the stock link," Andy Wong, senior investment analyst at Harris Fraser (International) Ltd in Hong Kong said, referring to the Hong Kong market. "Short-term investors are taking profits from the market." Much of the cash flow is expected to be northbound at first, as foreign investors on the Hong Kong Exchange ( 0388.HK ) target mainland shares under a daily quota of 13 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Gulf of Mexico Crude Oil and Gas Production

This is a guest post by Jean Laherrere BOEM  and  BSEE have published in 2014 the GOM oil & gas reserves at end 2010 few months ago and at end 2011 lately. The big change is that they now report proved and probable reserves = 2P (in contrary to SEC rules for operators reporting at the US Stock Exchange, forbidding to report probable reserves), when before they reported only proved reserves = 1P They argue: In order to more closely align BOEM GOM reserves definitions with the Petroleum Resources Management System definitions (SPE/AAPG/WPC/SPEE 2007), this report clarifies that Proved Reserves in this and previous reports are Proved plus Probable (2P) estimates. The difference between original reserves estimates from previous year found little difference for discoveries before 1995 The difference between 2P 2011 and 2P 2010 is a very large decrease for Thunder Horse (-488 Mb or 573 Mboe) and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Did Russia and China just sign a death warrant for U.S. LNG exports?

Printer-friendly Russia and China have signed  two large natural gas deals  in the last six months as Russia turns its attention eastward in reaction to sanctions and souring relations with Europe, currently Russia’s largest energy export market. But the move has implications beyond Europe. In the department of everything is connected, U.S. natural gas producers may be seeing their dream of substantial liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports suffer fatal injury because of Russian exports to the Chinese market, a market that was expected to be the largest and most profitable for LNG exporters. Petroleum geologist and consultant  Art Berman –who has been consistently skeptical of the viability of U.S. LNG exports–communicated in an email that Russian supply will force the price of LNG delivered to Asia down to between $10 and $11, too low for American LNG exports to be profitable. Now, let’s back up a little. U.S. natural […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US Oil Dependency on Middle East has Hardly Changed Since 2007

Printer-friendly This is part 2 of a series of articles on how US tight oil has impacted on oil markets. Read Part 1 . The following graph shows US petroleum imports from OPEC countries starting in 1960. This includes both crude oil and petroleum products. Fig 1: US crude oil and product imports from OPEC Note: Indonesia left OPEC in 2008 but it is included here because most of US imports happened before that year. Indonesia’s oil available for export peaked in 1977, US oil imports from Indonesia peaked one year later in 1978 and Indonesian oil consumption exceeded production since 2004. Data are from the EIA’s Energy Review page (petroleum section): http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/#petroleum After the US peak in 1970 US imports from OPEC increased sharply until 1977 when Iranian oil production peaked and started to decline Fig 2: Iranian oil production peaked in the mid-70s under the Shah The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

How Much Oil is Left?

4719 Votes [ This is a complex question, because the quality of the oil matters.  We’ve gotten the good stuff, the light, easy oil. Much of the remaining oil is deep, nasty-gunky stuff, in arctic and other remote areas, and will take a lot more energy to produce and refine ] Ron Patterson. July 14, 2014. World Crude Oil Production by Geographical Area . Peakoilbarrel.com Check out the graph “World Less North America” at Peak Oil Barrel which shows world oil production minus North American production is down by 2 million barrels.  Are we starting to see the petticoats of the net energy cliff?  As David Hughes wrote in Drilling Deeper. A reality check on U.S. government forecasts for a lasting tight oil & Shale gas boom , both peak tight (fracked) oil and gas are likely to happen before 2020 in North America.  Powers has also documented this […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Putin Readies Aid as Rosneft’s $21 Billion of Debt Looms

Russia ’s financial crisis has become so severe that President Vladimir Putin found himself reassuring investors late last week that the government would provide the support needed to the world’s largest oil company. With OAO Rosneft facing $21 billion of mostly foreign-currency debt maturities before April, Putin said the government will “definitely” help the company if necessary, according to an interview on the Kremlin’s website Nov. 14. After yields on Rosneft’s benchmark dollar bonds due in 2022 surged to a record 7.34 percent that day as oil sank to a four-year low, the statements may help restore investor confidence in the company, according to Commerzbank AG. “Putin’s comments tried to reassure investors about Rosneft’s strategic importance,” Apostolos Bantis, a credit analyst at the German lender, said in a telephone interview from Dubai. “This should alleviate investor concerns of a default-risk scenario.” Rosneft, which has more short-term debt than any […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Putin leaves G20 early over Ukraine

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is seated for the "welcome country" ceremony for the G20 Summit at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Center in Brisbane on November 15, 2014. Australia is hosting the leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies for the G20 Summit in Brisbane on November 15 and 16. AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGAN ©AFP Vladimir Putin walked out early from the G20 summit on Sunday after two days of tensions with fellow leaders over the crisis in Ukraine . The Russian president faced a barrage of criticism from western leaders at the meeting in Brisbane who warned that his country’s fragile economy would be hit by new sanctions unless he stops backing separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. More On this story Putin berates Kiev for cutting services Cameron warns Putin to pull back in Ukraine Russia army build-up sparks guessing game Russia braced for ‘catastrophic’ oil plunge […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia and China’s new gas agreement will starve EU of natural gas

4719 Votes Russia and China’s new gas agreement will starve EU of natural gas China continues to siphon cheap Russian gas that once went to Europe. Without a plentiful supply of affordable natural gas, Europe faces a looming crisis Russia inked a second blockbuster deal with China that will starve Europe for natural gas in just a few short years. It’s now increasingly clear that 2018 will mark the beginning of the end for any hopes Europe had of returning to robust economic growth. It was by far the biggest news of the day. While it did make headlines, you might have missed it because not much was made of the affair beyond the announcement. The story came and went as if Russia has oodles of natural gas (NG) to send to China. It doesn’t. And the supplies it has now contracted to send to China will be pulled […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Rises as Price Plunge Puts Pressure on OPEC to Act

Brent advanced on speculation that the drop in prices below $80 a barrel for the first time in four years increases the likelihood that OPEC will curb output. West Texas Intermediate rose the most in more than two months. Futures gained 2.5 percent in London and 2.2 percent in New York. OPEC ministers have stepped up their diplomatic visits before the group’s Nov. 27 meeting, potentially seeking a consensus on how to react to oil prices that have plunged to a four-year low. Prices may slide further in the coming months as the market enters a period of weaker demand, the International Energy Agency said today. Oil has collapsed into a bear market after leading members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut production and the U.S. shale boom lifted output to the highest level in three decades. Brent posted its eighth weekly decline, the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI, Brent end week on a high note

Things look up for oil indices after a week of steady declines. UPI/John Angelillo The Paris-based IEA issued its November monthly market report, saying its global demand estimate for 2014 and 2015 was unchanged from the previous report at 92.4 million barrels per day and 93.6 million bpd, respectively. Reports of a slow economic recovery in Europe dragged on oil prices already under pressure because of shifting supply and demand dynamics. The European Central Bank this week said growth would be slow in the eurozone. Nevertheless, signs of enough life elsewhere in the global economy pushed the IEA estimate of projected growth in oil demand from a five-year low of 680,000 bpd to 1.1 million bpd next year "as the macroeconomic backdrop is expected to improve." Brent crude oil prices rallied in early Friday trading more than $1.50 per barrel, but were unable to break through the $80 barrier […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

IEA forecasts further oil price weakness

A return to previous oil price highs may not be on the horizon, the wealthy nation’s energy watchdog said on Friday, forecasting a new era in crude markets. “Supply and demand balances suggest that the price rout has yet to run its course,” said the International Energy Agency in its closely followed monthly oil report . “Barring any new supply disruption, downward price pressures could build further in the first half of 2015.” More On this topic The A-List The changing geopolitics of energy Iraq eyes return to Opec quota system Comment Opec faces up to new challenges Opec big hitters weather US oil discount IN Commodities Trafigura raises stake in Nyrstar Oil’s dive set to transform LNG market US set to export more oil condensate Indian buying a bright spot in gold market “It is increasingly clear that we have begun a new chapter in the history of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Rebounds Ahead of Inventory Data

By Nicole Friedman NEW YORK–Natural gas gained Friday, snapping a four-day losing streak, on forecasts for colder-than-average weather in the next week and expectations that inventory levels will still be lower than normal headed into the winter. Natural gas for December delivery rose 4.3 cents, or 1.1%, to $4.020 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A frigid winter last year depleted natural-gas stockpiles amid record demand for gas-powered heating in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. Supplies have rebuilt rapidly this year as production exceeded expectations, but supplies are still below the five-year average level for this time of year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is set to release inventory data for the week ended Nov. 7 at 10:30 a.m. EST. Analysts and traders expect the agency to report that 38 billion cubic feet […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Cutting Islamic State oil wealth difficult, RAND scholar says

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (UPI) — It’s unclear how well non-military means in Iraq and Syria will diminish the revenue base for the Islamic State, a scholar from RAND Corp. testified. Members of the House Committee on Financial Services heard testimony on oil revenue for the Sunni-led terrorism group in control over parts of Iraq and Syria. At the height of its campaign , IS controlled as many as seven oil fields and was said to be generating as much as $2 million per day in oil revenue. David S. Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Department of the Treasury, testified the group is "probably now earning several million dollars per week" from smuggled oil. Patrick Johnson , a counter-terrorism specialist at RAND Corp., testified it was difficult to understand the full complexity of the IS smuggling ring in the region. "Although some information exists on the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.N.: Iraqi, Kurdish oil deal good first step

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomes initial steps in resolving simmering Iraqi oil row. UPI/Ismael Mohamad ERBIL, Iraq, Nov. 14 (UPI) — An interim agreement to settle internal oil issues in Iraq was met with widespread praise, though the Kurdish government said it wasn’t ceding control. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki -moon congratulated the Iraqi central and semiautonomous Kurdish governments for finding an interim solution to oil budget and export stalemates brewing for roughly a decade. Federal and regional authorities are called on "to build on this important first step and to solve all remaining outstanding issues within the framework of the constitution," he said in a Thursday statement. A constitution implemented in 2006 says the federal State Oil Marketing Organization has exclusive control over petroleum exports, with the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government taking 17 percent of all oil revenues. There are disagreements, however, over what level of control KRG […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Baghdad, Kurds strike temporary oil deal

Iraqi Oil Minister Adil Abdulmahdi (left), KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani (center), and KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani (right), in Erbil on Nov. 13, reach a deal on restarting revenue sharing payments and exports. (Source: Kurdistan Regional Government) of Iraq Oil Report Recommend 1,039 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Leaders from Baghdad and Erbil announced an agreement Thursday that could lead to negotiations over intractable disputes concerning oil, money, and territory. Iraq’s central government will send $500 million to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and the Kurdish side will transfer 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to the central government. "We feel this is the first step toward a lasting agreement. Want to start simply," said Qubad Talabani, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

KRG-Genel deal secures gas supply, but not prices

A rig at the Miran field site. (Source: Genel Energy) The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has reached a landmark gas development deal with its largest independent oil operator, Anglo-Turkish Genel Energy, which should allow the region to meet its massive commitments to feed Turkey’s growing energy demand.The deal doesn’t set a price for natural gas, which other companies were eager to see. Instead, the KRG and Genel negotiated a new contract, governing both the Miran and Bina Bawi fields, which ties the company’s commercial interests to the… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Falling Oil Prices – Expect Impact From This Month, Okonjo-Iweala Warns

Abuja–The Federal Government, yesterday, warned that Nigeria, will from this November, begin to feel the impact of the declining price of crude oil in the global market. Speaking at the Institute for International Finance’s 2014 Africa Financial Summit in Lagos, hosted by Access Bank Plc, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy disclosed that event unfolding over the last couple of weeks have cast a shadow over the global economy, especially Nigeria and other African countries. She reiterated the fact that commodity prices are declining globally in the last couple of days, with the Bonny Light, Nigeria’s reference crude, trading at about $83 per barrel. This, she said, is assuming a disturbing dimension, especially as crude oil export accounts for about 83 per cent of Nigeria’s total export, as well as the fact that the country has to grapple with falling quantity. She said, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shell challenges Amnesty International oil spill report

Shell responds to scathing report from Amnesty International on oil spills in the Niger Delta. (File/UPI/Brian Kersey) Responding to an Amnesty International report, a Shell spokesman said Friday the company aims to compensate all Nigerians "genuinely affected" by oil spills. Amnesty in a report published Thursday said there is "irrefutable evidence" that Shell Petroleum Co. of Nigeria underestimated the amount of oil spilled in the Niger Delta in 2008 . Around 11,000 villagers from the Bodo community in the oil-rich Niger Delta filed suit in a London court against Shell last year, saying oil spills in the region devastated the regional fisheries industry . "Amnesty International firmly believes Shell knew the Bodo data were wrong," Amnesty’s director for global issues Audrey Gaughran said in a statement. "If it did not it was scandalously negligent — we repeatedly gave them evidence showing they had dramatically underestimated the spills." Shell had […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fukushima radiation found in California

4712 Votes Fukushima radiation found in California Very small amounts of radiation from the 2011 meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant have been detected off the California coast, a scientist who has been monitoring the fallout said this week. Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said trace amounts of telltale radioactive compounds were found 100 miles west of the northern California town of Eureka. Buesseler’s crowd-funded monitoring project has been taking ocean samples along the coast of California, Alaska and Canada. The blast and collapse of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant as a result of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 released cesium-134 at unprecedented levels. This and other radioactive elements have been slowly making their way across the Pacific Ocean, becoming diluted as they go. The meltdown of three core reactors at the Fukushima plant amounted to the largest nuclear […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fracking Unbound

4712 Votes The Energy Department has once again lowered its prediction for the price of gas next year. For 2015, the price will remain in the range of $2.94, a full 44 cents lower than the department’s most recent prediction last month. This is one of those rare developments that has no downside – unless you’re an Iranian mullah or a bark-shoed Green fanatic. While still high by historic standards, this price will inject over $60 billion into the economy, acting as a massive tax cut for drivers. Like all tax cuts, it will have ancillary effects on the rest of the economy, freeing money that can be spent elsewhere and lowering overall costs for production and transport. The reason for the windfall can be expressed in a single word: fracking. Alomng with boosting the economy, the technical revolution that swept through the American energy industry over the past […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

Bakken September Production Data

North Dakota just released the Bakken September Production Data as well as the September Production data for all North Dakota . There was a suprisingly hefty increase in Bakken production in September, up 52,568 bpd to 1,120,031 bpd. North Dakota production was up slightly less, 52,394 bpd to 1,184,693 bpd. This means production outside the Bakken was down slightly. Bakken Barrels Per Day Increase These big increases happen ever so often and are usually followed by a not so large increase for a few months. I think there is some kind of reporting anomaly here. But as you can see the 12 month average increase gives a better indication of what is really going on. From the Director’s Cut : Aug Producing Wells = 11,565 Sep Producing Wells = 11,741 (preliminary)(NEW all-time high) 8,238 wells or 70% are now unconventional Bakken – Three forks wells 3,503 wells or 30% […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US House passes Keystone XL bill, Senate vote expected next week

Home | News & Analysis | Latest News Headlines | US House passes Keystone XL bill, Senate vote expected next week Washington (Platts)–14Nov2014/143 pm EST/1843 GMT The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the latest bill to approve the stalled Keystone XL pipeline, setting up a much-anticipated vote in the Senate next week. The House passed the bill, HR 4682, by a 252-161 vote, a widely expected result which follows eight previous votes in the House to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The Senate is expected to vote on a companion bill as soon as Tuesday, but it remains unclear if that bill has the 60 votes to overcome a filibuster or the 67 votes to overturn a likely veto by President Barack Obama. The bills, which would immediately approve a presidential permit for Keystone XL, were introduced by Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, and Representative Bill […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple