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Natural gas is the dominant heating fuel in colder parts of the country

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Natural gas consumption varies widely by region of the country. The majority of households that heat with natural gas are located in the Midwest and Northeast. In the upcoming winter months, homes in the East North Central Census division are expected to consume the most natural gas, but not as much as last winter. Extreme cold weather in natural gas-intensive regions caused unexpectedly high consumption during the winter of 2013-14. Residential and commercial consumers use natural gas primarily for space heating . The East North Central Census division (Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio) is the largest residential and commercial natural gas-consuming division in the country, making up 28% of all residential consumption and 24% of commercial consumption in 2013. Because the East North Central Census division has the largest number of households heating […]

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Wood Mac: Gulf of Mexico oil production fades

Gulf of Mexico oil production could start slow decline after 2016, analysis from Wood Mackenzie finds. UPI/A.J. Sisco. Wood Mackenzie said it expects U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil production to enter a period of decline after peak output is reached in 2016. New fields — Heidelberg and Jack/St. Malo — should boost output from the Gulf of Mexico with 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent in new production by 2016. Overall production, including the expansion of older fields, means output from the Gulf of Mexico will pass a peak first set in 2009. "We expect production from 2014 to 2016 to grow 18 percent annually," analyst Imran Khan said in a Thursday statement. After that, the analyst group said a steady level of investment will be needed to sustain production from the gulf basin. Several new discoveries have been made in deeper waters, where development can cost as much as […]

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Obama Rejects Argument Keystone Will Add Jobs, Cut Fuel Cost

Print Back to story President Barack Obama offered his clearest critique of the case for the Keystone XL pipeline, signaling a confrontation with Republicans as they try to force approval of the project starting today. “Understand what this project is: It is providing the ability of Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land down to the Gulf where it will be sold everywhere else,” the president said today during a visit to Yangon, Myanmar. “It doesn’t have an impact on U.S. gas prices.” The statement repeats a main point used by opponents of the project, including former hedge fund manager and now Democratic fundraiser Tom Steyer. He and other critics have argued the heavy crude from Alberta ’s oil sands that will be carried by Keystone is destined for overseas markets. Related: House Passes Bill to Approve Keystone Over Objections From Obama Keystone Left Behind as […]

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Rigs Drilling U.S. Oil Rebound on Gains in Permian, Utica

The number of rigs targeting oil in the U.S. rebounded from a three-month low as drillers homed in on the most profitable fields as they faced the lowest crude prices in four years. Rigs targeting oil jumped by 10 to 1,578 after sliding to the lowest level since August last week, Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said on its website today. Those drilling for natural gas declined by six, the Houston-based field services company’s website. While oil rigs fell in Texas ’s Eagle Ford formation and the Cana Woodford of Oklahoma, they picked up in the Utica in the eastern U.S. and the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico . “The Permian is a tried and tested formula,” Matthew Jurecky, head of oil and gas research for the London-based research company GlobalData Ltd., said by telephone from New York . “The stuff that’d be more at risk is in […]

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U.S. Drillers Shift Oil Rigs to Tap Most Reliable Fields

U.S. oil drillers put rigs back to work this week, lifting the number in operation from a three-month low in a push to home in on their most profitable fields after crude prices sank to the lowest since 2010. Rigs targeting oil jumped by 10 to 1,578 after sliding to the lowest level since August last week, Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said on its website today. Those drilling for natural gas declined by six, the Houston-based field services company’s website. While oil rigs fell in Texas ’s Eagle Ford formation and the Cana Woodford of Oklahoma, they picked up in the Utica in the eastern U.S. and the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico . “The Permian is a tried and tested formula,” Matthew Jurecky, head of oil and gas research for the London-based research company GlobalData Ltd., said by telephone from New York . “The stuff that’d […]

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Putin: No problems for oil company Rosneft

Russian President Vladimir Putin sees economic support from pivot toward China. UPI/Lan Hongguang/Pool "We inspected the financial status of Rosneft recently and didn’t find any problems there whatsoever," he told Russian news agency ITAR-Tass. "[There are] simply no financial problems." Western sanctions imposed in response to the Kremlin’s position on crises in Ukraine have damaged the Russian economy. An annual report from the European Commission said the Russian economy was entering a period of stagflation and Russia’s currency is trading a historic lows against the U.S. dollar. Low oil prices for a Russian economy dependent on exports are exacerbating an already problematic situation. Putin said oil company Rosneft is moving closer to its Chinese counterparts . For Russia as a whole, the president said he was making arrangements to sell oil using the Chinese currency. In turn, Chinese partners may issue loans to support bilateral activity. Rosneft is the […]

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Russia Shuns Dollar as Putin Strengthens Ties with China

By Chiara Albanese Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated on Friday that he wants to strengthen ties with China, and avoid using the dollar for bilateral trade. Data from China’s central bank suggest that companies are already starting to shun the U.S. currency. In an interview with the Russian news agency Tass, Mr. Putin said that oil giant Rosneft is working with a major Chinese corporation to receive renminbi as a payments for a significant flow of oil. "We’re moving away from the diktat of the market that denominates all the commercial oil flows in U.S. dollars," Mr. Putin said. Russian companies are increasingly shifting to direct renminbi-ruble trading to settle their imports and exports with Asia. Turnover in direct transactions in the two currencies soared to $1.2 billion over the course of October, from $307 million in September and as low as $52 million in July, according to data […]

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The biggest oil dividend of all

A worker descends an access ladder outside an oil storage tank at the custody transfer facility in the Salym Petroleum Development oil fields near the Bazhenov shale formation in Salym, Russia, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014. Salym Petroleum Development, the venture between Shell and Gazprom Neft, has started drilling the first of five horizontal wells over the next two years that will employ multi-fracturing technology, according to a statement today. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg ©Bloomberg Not much is heard these days of “ peak oil ”. This is the argument, widely advanced less than 10 years ago, that the world had already passed the peak of sustainable oil production and that new discoveries – which would increasingly be small and incremental – could at best only slow the rate of decline. As supply continued its seemingly inexorable decline, demand was growing strongly, especially in developing countries. Between 2001 and 2007, […]

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Oil Prices Subdued in Asian Trade After Overnight Selloff

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures traded near multiyear lows in Asian trade Friday after sharp overnight losses that traders say has reinforced bearish market sentiment and potentially set the stage for further declines. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $74.28 a barrel at 0345 GMT, up $0.07 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.56 to $78.05 a barrel. Both oil benchmarks–Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude and Brent crude–are trading near their lowest level since September 2010. "The further price drop is certainly a reflection of an entrenched bearish market sentiment that is rooted in doubts about OPEC’s willingness to respond to rising non-OPEC supply and weaker-than-anticipated demand growth by reducing output," said analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures. While a production cut at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ meeting […]

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WTI Heads for Longest Weekly Drop Since ’86 on Glut Signs

WTI headed for the longest run of weekly declines in almost three decades and Brent was set for a record losing streak amid speculation that OPEC will refrain from cutting production to ease concern of a supply glut. Futures fell as much as 1.3 percent in New York and were poised for a seventh weekly drop, the longest stretch of decreases since March 1986. Slumping prices reflect a widening consensus that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will maintain output, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma , the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate contracts, rose to the highest level since May, a U.S. government report showed. Oil has collapsed into a bear market as leading OPEC members resisted calls to cut production and instead reduced export prices to the U.S., where output has climbed to the highest level in 31 years amid a […]

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EIA forecasts push oil price indices to new low

EIA forecast puts cloud over oil futures markets in early Thursday trading. UPI/Dennis Van Tine NEW YORK, Nov. 13 (UPI) — Crude oil prices continued their steady decline in Thursday trading after a U.S. administrator said total domestic oil production should increase short-term. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, shed more than $1 early Thursday to trade at $76.18 for the December contract . Crude oil prices have lost more than 20 percent of their value since June. Higher oil production in the United States means one of the world’s leading economy is relying less on the foreign market to meet its energy demands. In an October address on the nation’s economy, President Barack Obama said the country is producing more than it imports for the first time in nearly two decades. A report from the International Energy Agency said U.S. oil production gains should level off at some […]

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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 […]

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Oil-Price Rout Seen Deepening by IEA as Pressure on OPEC Mounts

Print Back to story Oil prices could slide from a four-year low in the coming months as the market enters a period of weaker demand, increasing pressure on OPEC to reduce production, the International Energy Agency said. Consumption will slide by about 1 percent to 92.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter from the current three-month period, the Paris-based adviser to 29 nations said in a monthly market report today. Barring new supply disruptions, the seasonal demand slump will push prices lower, it said. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meet in Vienna to review their production target on Nov. 27. “Supply-demand balances suggest that the price rout has yet to run its course,” the IEA said. “Downward price pressures could build further in the first half of 2015. Pressure on OPEC to reduce production is building.” Oil collapsed into a bear market last month […]

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Natural Gas Continues Slide as Weather Outlook Warms

By Nicole Friedman and Timothy Puko NEW YORK–Natural gas dropped below $4 a million British thermal units Thursday, down from nearly $4.50 at the beginning of the week, as milder weather forecasts lowered demand expectations. Natural gas for December delivery settled down 20.8 cents, or 5%, at $3.977 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas rallied in recent weeks on expectations that an early winter cold snap would lift demand, as people turned up the heat in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. But the cold spell is likely to dissipate within two weeks, according to recent weather forecasts. "While next week still shows powerhouse widespread strong early season cold for the Midwest, East, and South…the end of next week starts the process of unraveling the cold pattern," said forecaster Commodity Weather Group […]

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Car Bombs Explode Near Egyptian and U.A.E. Embassies in Libya

BAGHDAD — Car bombs exploded outside the embassies of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in Tripoli, Libya , early on Thursday, apparently in a backlash against the two countries for their role in a regional proxy war playing out in Libya. No one was wounded in the blasts, according to officials. The embassies were closed months ago, and the bombs exploded early in the morning. A day earlier, bombs in the eastern Libyan cities of Tobruk and Baida killed at least five people and wounded at least 20. All four blasts appeared to be part of the same civil conflict and regional tug of war. Three years after the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , Libya has collapsed into a violent struggle for power between two rival coalitions of militias and tribes. The side that controls Tripoli includes hard-line and more moderate Islamists, as well as non-Islamist regional […]

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BP Egypt, partners to invest $240 million in Egyptian blocks

By OGJ editors BP Egypt and its partners have committed to investing $240 million in two exploration blocks awarded by Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (Egas) in its 2013 bid round ( OGJ Online, Sept. 25, 2014 ). Block 3, North El Mataria, which marks BP’s entry into the onshore Nile Delta, lies in the northeastern section of the Nile Delta cone, 57 km west of Port Said. BP will operate the block with 50% equity and Dana Gas of Abu Dhabi will hold the remainder ( OGJ Online, Sept. 30, 2014 ). BP holds 50% interest in the Denise-Karawan (Deka) natural gas development offshore the Nile Delta, which started production in August ( OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2014 ). Block 8, Karawan Offshore, lies in the Mediterranean Sea on the northeastern part of Egypt’s economic waters. The block is 220 km northeast and 170 km the northwest of […]

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OPEC Diplomacy Picks Up With Iraq-to-Libya Chiefs

OPEC producers are stepping up their diplomatic visits before the group’s meeting in two weeks, potentially seeking a consensus on how to react to oil prices that have plunged to a four-year low. Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani flew to Riyadh yesterday just as Iraqi President Fouad Masoum left the kingdom after a two-day visit where he met with King Abdullah , the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela ’s foreign minister and representative to OPEC, held talks in Algeria and Qatar. Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi toured Latin America. “The Saudis will not walk the road alone, they want to see everyone share the burden with them,” Kuwait-based analyst Kamel al-Harami said by phone. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is trying to build consensus among fellow members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries before they meet Nov. 27 in Vienna, he said. […]

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Kurds Reach Partial Oil-Export Deal With Iraq Government

Iraq ’s Kurds announced a partial agreement on oil exports with the country’s federal government, in which the semi-autonomous region’s oil will be exchanged for revenues from the administration in Baghdad. The Kurdistan Regional Government placed 150,000 barrels a day of crude at the disposal of the central government, according to a statement on the KRG’s website today. In return, the Federal government will transfer $500 million to the KRG. Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani will lead a delegation to Baghdad in the coming days for further talks, it said. “We hope that the next meeting will bring positive results to both sides,” Safeen Dizayee, a Kurdistan government spokesman, said by phone. The oil “will be made available to Baghdad and as far as sale, marketing and how the funds will be handled will be Baghdad’s responsibility.” The Kurds’ efforts to sell crude separately from the central government have […]

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Kurds Gain Economic Freedom From Baghdad as Oil Exports Rise

Iraqi Kurdistan is gaining financial independence from Baghdad as it exports enough oil to pay its own way. The Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, is shipping directly to Turkey in defiance of the central government, which started withholding its share of state revenue in January in retaliation. Despite that, growing export earnings mean the Kurds last week promised regular payments to producers including Genel Energy Plc (GENL) and Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (GKP) , providing a boost to the local oil industry. “We now have demonstrable evidence that exports from the KRG through Ceyhan is creating a sales channel, which is robust and working well for all parties,” Genel’s Chief Financial Officer Julian Metherell said over the phone today, referring to the Turkish port where Kurdish oil is loaded onto tankers. “We’ve now had almost 30 cargoes sold and that money is being repatriated to the KRG and is […]

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Islamic State leader urges attacks in Saudi Arabia: speech

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called for attacks against the rulers of Saudi Arabia in a speech purported to be in his name on Thursday, saying his self-declared caliphate was expanding there and in four other Arab countries. Baghdadi also said a U.S.-led military campaign against his group in Syria and Iraq was failing and he called for "volcanoes of jihad" the world over. Reuters could not independently confirm the authenticity of the speech – an audio recording carried on Islamic State-run social media. The voice sounded similar to a previous speech delivered by Baghdadi in July in a mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the last time he spoke in public. The speech followed contradictory accounts out of Iraq after U.S. air strikes last Friday about whether he was wounded in a raid. U.S. officials said on Tuesday they could not confirm whether […]

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How Oil’s Tumble Continues to Hurt Nigeria

ByJosie Cox The Naira is being hit but it’s not alone, with the currencies of other major oil economies including Norway and Russia feeling the pain. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Here’s one oil economy that’s having a particularly rough ride. Nigeria, which is dependent on oil and natural gas for 96% of export revenues and 80% of government revenues, has been slammed hard by a slump prices over the last weeks and on Thursday hit yet another all-time low against the dollar – a veritable kick in the teeth for the central bank after it just last week intervened by selling dollars and buying the Naira after the dollar soared above 172 naira. The intervention initially triggered some respite, but today the dollar climbed above the previous peak, to above 173, traders said. The Naira’s drop puts Nigeria among the worst hit of the word’s oil producers, but the ruble, […]

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Nigeria: How Shell Short-Changed Nigerian Oil Communities By Underestimating Oil Spills

Abuja — Court documents presented by Amnesty International (AI) have exposed the fact that Shell repeatedly made false claims about the size and impact of two major oil spills at Bodo in the Niger Delta, allegedly in an attempt to minimise its compensation payments. AI said in a report yesterday that evidence that Shell underestimated the Bodo spills emerged in a United Kingdom (UK) legal action brought by 15,000 people whose livelihoods were devastated by oil pollution in 2008. The court action has forced Shell to finally admit the company had underplayed the true magnitude of at least two spills and the extent of damage caused. According to AI, the documents also showed that Shell had known for years that its pipelines in the Niger Delta were old and faulty. "The potential repercussions are that hundreds of thousands of people may have been denied or underpaid compensation based on […]

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With goods scarce in Caracas’s stores, street sales boom and officials glower

Milagro Alvarez holds her 5-month-old daughter, Annabeth, as she waits in line inside a Farmatodo pharmacy in hopes of buying more disposable diapers in downtown Caracas, Venezuela. The store refused to sell her diapers because of a government rationing system that allows her to buy only two packages of 20 diapers per week. (Ariana Cubillos/AP) CARACAS, Venezuela — The sprawling street market that radiates outward from the metro station in Petare, Caracas’s largest slum, is the retail equivalent of an anti-Target. There’s no organization to it. Tube socks and school supplies are sold beside giant pyramids of pineapple and piled yucca. Leopard-print hot pants stretch over mannequin buttocks next to the stinky stalls of fishmongers. The bazaar was known until this month as one of the city’s biggest open-air black markets, the place to find all the scarce items that shoppers must queue up for hours to get in […]

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Premier Oil Reduces Falklands Sea Lion Project Size on Costs

Premier Oil Plc (PMO) , a British oil explorer, said it will develop a smaller portion of its Sea Lion project in the Falklands as it seeks to cut costs. The initial phase will yield 160 million barrels of oil with costs for first output estimated at less than $2 billion, the London-based company said today without specifying earlier estimates for the project. Premier plans to sink a well in March and one in April and will continue to seek a partner, Chief Executive Officer Tony Durrant said in a phone interview. “Following a project review, Sea Lion will now progress initially as a smaller development,” it said in the statement. “The new lower oil price environment and our commitment to maintaining a strong financial position has caused Premier to re-examine the scheme with a view to reducing” the spend prior to first cash flows from the field, it said. […]

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Oil Tankers Stream Toward China as Price Drop Sparks Boom

Print Back to story Add oil shippers to the list of winners from this year’s collapse in crude. The price plunge has spurred China, the world’s second-biggest importer after the U.S., to accelerate bookings of oil cargoes. It will also shave almost $20 billion a year in fuel costs across the maritime industry if prices that dropped 18 percent since last November hold around current levels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While the oil slide is hurting nations from Saudi Arabia to Iran that depend on energy for revenues, companies including airlines and cement makers are benefiting as their fuel costs decline. Ship owners serving the industry’s benchmark Middle East-to-Asia trade routes are reaping the best returns from charters in years as the slump drives down the industry’s single biggest expense. Oil Prices “We’ve seen the Chinese buying a lot from the Middle East and that’s really let […]

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U.S. Shale Boom Masks Threats to World Oil Supply

4711 Votes U.S. Shale Boom Masks Threats to World Oil Supply The U.S. shale boom masks threats to global oil supply including Middle East turmoil, conflict in Ukraine and the difficulty of unconventional oil production beyond North America , the International Energy Agency said. “The global energy system is in danger of falling short of the hopes and expectations placed upon it,” the IEA said today in its annual World Energy Outlook. “The short-term picture of a well-supplied oil market should not disguise the challenges that lie ahead as reliance grows on a relatively small number of producers.” Global oil consumption will rise to 104 million barrels a day in 2040 from 90 million barrels a day in 2013, driven by demand for transport fuel and petrochemicals in developing countries , the report said. To meet that growth and replace exhausted fields will require about $900 billion a year […]

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With oil prices low, early signs of a pullback in drilling activity

« Toshiba to partner with Kawasaki City on 5-year demo of independent energy supply system utilizing solar power and hydrogen | Main | DSM wins SPE Automotive Innovation Award for bio-based EcoPaXX integrated crankshaft cover for Volkswagen Group diesels » Print this post by Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com With oil prices low and showing no sign of an immediate rebound, the industry is beginning to pull back on spending. Oil prices have dropped around 30 percent since summer highs, raising fears among producers across the globe. Yet, many oil majors are relatively diversified, with large holdings downstream. For example, ExxonMobil and Chevron have been insulated in the third quarter because of their large holdings in refining. Steep declines in oil prices may hurt their production sectors, but with lower priced oil as an input, big oil’s refining assets become more profitable. For the third quarter, ExxonMobil reported a 3 […]

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Keystone Left Behind as Canadian Oil Pours Into U.S.

Print Back to story Delays of the Keystone XL pipeline are providing little obstacle to Western Canadian oil producers getting their crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast, with shipments set to more than double next year. The volume of Canadian crude processed at Gulf Coast refineries could climb to more than 400,000 barrels a day in 2015 from 208,000 in August, according to Jackie Forrest , vice president of Calgary-based ARC Financial Corp. The increase comes as Enbridge Inc.’s Flanagan South and an expanded Seaway pipeline raise their capacity to ship oil by as much as 450,000 barrels a day. Canadian exports to the Gulf rose 83 percent in the past four years. The expansion shows Canadians are finding alternative entry points into the U.S. while the Keystone saga drags on. In the latest chapter, a Democratic senator and a Republican representative are seeking votes in their chambers to […]

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Sub-$2-a-Gallon Gasoline Futures Hand U.S. Motorists Gift

U.S. drivers will have some extra money in their pockets this holiday season as gasoline futures tumbling below $2 a gallon mean lower prices at the pump. “The drop in futures is eventually going to translate into further declines at the pump,” Tim Evans , an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York , said by phone yesterday. “There will be a little extra discretionary spending that consumers can use somewhere else this holiday season.” The nation’s largest motoring club says retail prices “have a very good chance” of being the lowest for the Nov. 28 Thanksgiving holiday in five years. Motorists are already paying the least since 2010 after crude oil tumbled more than 20 percent in the past four months. Gasoline futures added 0.7 cent, or 0.3 percent, to $2.0085 a gallon in electronic trading at 12:12 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday the contract closed at […]

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Letter From North Dakota: The Oil Party Rocks On

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/135905/Letter_From_North_Dakota_The_Oil_Party_Rocks_On Hess To Form MLP For North Dakota Oil, Gas Transport Assets Falling oil prices have spooked Wall Street and even parts of Texas. But in North Dakota’s booming oil patch, the crude-fueled party carries on. WILLISTON, N.D., Nov 13 (Reuters) – Falling oil prices have spooked Wall Street and even parts of Texas. But in North Dakota’s booming oil patch, the crude-fueled party carries on. Since June, the price of crude oil has fallen 30 percent to about $75 a barrel, raising fears that oil production would slow across the United States. But you wouldn’t know it here. The state’s economy remains the fastest growing in the nation, thanks to more than 1 million barrels of oil produced each day. Billions of investment dollars continue to flow to new wells, apartments and shopping centers, a bet that development of the state’s prolific Bakken shale formation, which the […]

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Deepwater Gulf Production to Set New Record in 2016

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/135906/Deepwater_Gulf_Production_to_Set_New_Record_in_2016 Hess To Form MLP For North Dakota Oil, Gas Transport Assets Deepwater Gulf of Mexico production is expected to reach a new peak of 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016, according to Wood Mackenzie’s latest outlook. New developments and the expansion of older oil fields are expected to lift deepwater Gulf of Mexico production of 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2016, the first new production peak seen since 2009. However, production is expected to plateau for the remainder of the decade following the 2016 peak due to the depletion of legacy fields and a limited number of new projects coming onstream, according to Wood Mackenzie’s latest outlook on the deepwater Gulf. Wood Mackenzie expects deepwater Gulf production to rise 18 percent per year from 2014 to 2016. Next year, production is expected to rise 21 percent from 2014’s […]

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Rail shipments of oil and petroleum products through October up 13% over year-ago period

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Association of American Railroads Note: These carloadings do not include intermodal traffic. U.S. rail traffic, including carloadings of all commodity types, has increased 4.5% through October 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Crude oil and petroleum products had the second-biggest increase in carloadings through the first 10 months of this year, with these shipments occurring in parts of the country where there is also strong demand to move coal and grain by rail. In response to shipper concerns over the slow movement of crude oil, coal, grain, ethanol, and propane, federal regulators are closely tracking service among the major U.S. freight railroad companies. Rail carloadings of oil and petroleum products totaled 672,118 tank cars during January-October 2014, 13.4% higher compared to the same period last year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Rising U.S. crude oil production, particularly […]

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Lower Oil Prices Give a Lift to the American Economy

American consumers are going to enjoy a more bountiful Christmas this year, thanks in part to a most unlikely source: Saudi Arabia. The steepening drop in gasoline prices in recent weeks — spurred by soaring domestic energy production and Saudi discounts for crude oil at a time of faltering global demand — is set to provide the United States economy with a multibillion-dollar boost through the holiday season and beyond. The windfall, experts say, comes at a critical moment, with the American economy on the upswing but facing headwinds from other quarters, including weaker exports because of slow growth overseas. Gas prices recently dropped below $3 a gallon for the first time since 2010, while crude oil prices have fallen by more than $25 a barrel since midsummer, now closing in on $75 a barrel after a further sharp drop in the past two days. “If oil prices stay […]

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Drones Coming to the Bakken Oil Patch?

Drone Image, Courtesy CSIRO Could drones be coming to the Bakken oil patch? It’s not such a far fetched idea. According to the Bismarck Tribune , 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. Modern drone technology can trace its origins back to the U.S. military in the late 1950s, but the concept of drones has been around since the 1800s. The commercial use of drones has been met largely with resistance from the FAA, however, the agency did grant ConocoPhillips permission to use drones in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay oilfield, and in June of this year, granted a similar permission to British Petroleum. How Drone Technology Could Be Used in the Oil Patch With the green light from the FAA for testing in North Dakota, which for now is limited to agricultural applications, the […]

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Shale gas a top British priority, minister says

British government gets behind fledgling shale natural gas industry for the sake of energy security. UPI/Gary C. Caskey LONDON, Nov. 13 (UPI) — Putting full support behind the fledgling shale natural gas industry is the top priority for the British government, the British energy minister said Thursday. "Shale gas has great potential," British Energy Minister Matthew Hancock told delegates gathered for a regional energy conference. "It’s an opportunity we cannot afford to miss." A report this week from the University of Glasgow said existing regulations that mandate a halt to hydraulic fracturing operations if minor tremors are recorded are too stringent. The British government enacted restrictions in 2012 after minor tremors were recorded near a hydraulic fracturing site. University of Glasgow researchers said the measure kicks in for tremors on par with the seismic activity triggered by a passing truck. For Hancock, supporting the emerging shale industry in the […]

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Bakken behind rise in oil-by-rail shipments

Bakken crude oil output responsible for increase in rail deliveries, U.S. report finds. (Photo: Daniel J. Graeber) Crude oil production from North Dakota is more than the U.S. pipeline network can handle, forcing refiners to use rail, a federal report said Thursday. The Energy Information Administration said in a daily briefing the amount of oil and petroleum products shipped on the U.S. rail system increased more than 10 percent year-on-year. "Rising U.S. crude oil production, particularly in North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation, where pipeline takeaway capacity is limited in moving the state’s growing oil volumes to market, is one of the main reasons for this increase in rail shipments of petroleum and petroleum products," EIA said in a daily briefing. North Dakota’s government said oil production in August , the last full month for which data are available, was 1.13 million barrels per day, an all-time high. More than […]

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Fracking accident kills 1, injures 2 in Colorado

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — An accident at a hydraulic fracturing site in northern Colorado killed one worker and seriously injured two others Thursday, authorities said. The three men were trying to heat a frozen high-pressure water line at the oil or gas well site when it ruptured, Weld County sheriff’s Sgt. Sean Standridge said. One man was hit by a stream of water or fracking fluid and died from the impact. The accident happened near Mead, about 35 miles north of Denver, on the fourth straight day of frigid weather in the region. "The pipe was frozen and they were trying to heat it up to get it flowing again," Standridge said. The injured men were flown to hospitals, he said. The temperature in the area was about zero at the time of the accident, National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Kleyla said. Overnight, the temperature had dropped to minus […]

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Condensate Exports Without U.S. Approval Seen as Norm

No government approval for U.S. condensate exports? No problem, says the lawyer who has been instrumental in poking a hole in the 39-year-old ban on most crude oil shipments. By early next year, most companies will be following the lead of BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and exporting processed condensate without explicit approval from the Bureau of Industry and Security, said Jacob Dweck, a lawyer with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. That would allow a larger chunk of the 650,000 barrels a day of U.S. condensate to be exported. The U.S. banned most crude exports in 1975, with a few exceptions including shipments to Canada . Exports of refined products such as gasoline and diesel fuel are unrestricted. U.S. policy makers are under pressure to lift the export ban as companies pull record volumes of oil and gas out of shale formations from North Dakota to Texas , boosting domestic […]

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Halliburton Said to Be in Talks to Acquire Baker Hughes

Halliburton Co. (HAL) , the world’s second biggest provider of oilfield services, is in talks to buy No. 3 Baker Hughes Inc. in what would be one of the largest takeovers of a U.S. energy company in years, said people with knowledge of the matter. Baker Hughes rose 15 percent to close in New York at $58.75 a share, giving the company a market value of more than $25 billion. Halliburton rose 1.1 percent to $53.79, giving it a market value of about $46 billion. A combination of Halliburton with third-largest Baker Hughes would be a little more than half the size of larger rival Schlumberger Ltd. With Baker Hughes (BHI) , Halliburton fills a gap in its portfolio of oilfield services: technology to boost production in aging oilfields. Halliburton also gets Baker Hughes’ prized oil tools business, renowned especially for its array of best-in-class drill bits. A deal […]

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Moldova may be next front in EU gas war

Russian energy company Gazprom plants flag in Moldova during tilt toward the European Union. (UPI/Shutterstock/Igor Golovniov) The European government ratified its association agreement with Moldova . European Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said from Brussels the Moldavan people long for the same freedom and stability enjoyed by other members of the European Union. "Focus on the Republic of Moldova is important," he said. "The Republic of Moldova is showing determination to bring its European agenda forward." The European Union has brought several former Soviet republics into its sphere. That has implications for energy security, as Eastern Europe serves as a bridge for Russian gas deliveries to the European market. Ukraine’s tilt toward the EU in November in particular had profound effects on the region . Russia sends most of its gas to Europe through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. On Wednesday, Russian energy company Gazprom signed gas supply and […]

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Putin Says Russia Preparing for ‘Catastrophic’ Oil Slump

Russia is preparing for a “catastrophic” slump in oil prices, which it can weather thanks to a cushion of more than $400 billion in reserves, President Vladimir Putin said. “We’re considering all the scenarios, including the so-called catastrophic fall of prices for energy resources, which is entirely possible, and we admit it,” Putin said in an interview with the state-run Tass news service before attending this weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Brisbane , Australia , according to a transcript e-mailed by the Kremlin today. Russia, whose economy is forecast by the central bank to run zero growth next year, is struggling under the weight of a plummeting ruble and sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine. Brent crude , the grade that underpins prices for Urals, Russia’s main export blend, is set for a record losing streak amid speculation that OPEC will refrain from cutting production to ease […]

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NATO Says Russian Forces in Ukraine as Putin Goes to G-20

NATO’s chief said Russia is sending troops and heavy weapons into Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin heads to a Group of 20 summit in Australia that’s overshadowed by the crisis. “We have observed in the past days that Russia has again brought arms, equipment, artillery, tanks and rockets over the border into Ukraine,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Germany ’s Bild newspaper. Ukraine is threatened with a return to open warfare, as seen before the Sept. 5 truce that’s being violated on an almost daily basis. More than 4,000 people have died in fighting, according to United Nations estimates. It’s the worst standoff between Russia and its former Cold War foes since the Iron Curtain fell 25 years ago. Waging Financial War “President Putin has clearly broken the truce agreement and has violated Ukraine’s integrity,” Stoltenberg said, according to Bild. Russia, […]

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Watching the Watchdogs: 10 Years of the IEA World Energy Outlook

4711 Votes The International Energy Agency (IEA) is the energy watchdog of the industrial world. The developed nations of the world were caught off guard by the oil crisis of 1973. They then realized energy resources are so fundamental to all of civilization, and recognized how vulnerable we are to supply disruptions. Forty years ago in 1974, the International Energy Agency was formed, tasked with keeping an eye on these precious resources, and providing policy makers around the world with information to make better informed planning decisions. The primary deliverable from the IEA is the massive World Energy Outlook (WEO) report that is released annually in November. Concerned about peak oil, I began reading the Executive Summary to this report 10 years ago. Five years ago I wrote a summary of what the report has been telling us from 2005 – 2009, concerning issues related to peak oil: The […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Watching the Watchdogs: 10 Years of the IEA World Energy Outlook

Printer-friendly The International Energy Agency (IEA) is the energy watchdog of the industrial world. The developed nations of the world were caught off guard by the oil crisis of 1973. They then realized energy resources are so fundamental to all of civilization, and recognized how vulnerable we are to supply disruptions. Forty years ago in 1974, the International Energy Agency was formed, tasked with keeping an eye on these precious resources, and providing policy makers around the world with information to make better informed planning decisions. The primary deliverable from the IEA is the massive World Energy Outlook (WEO) report that is released annually in November. Concerned about peak oil, I began reading the Executive Summary to this report 10 years ago. Five years ago I wrote a summary of what the report has been telling us from 2005 – 2009, concerning issues related to peak oil: The IEA […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Brent Crude Tests $80/barrel Price Level on Saudi Comments

By Eric Yep Brent crude recouped early losses to trade around the $80 a barrel mark in Asian trade Thursday, after dropping below the key psychological price level earlier in the session. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $77.04 a barrel at 0445 GMT, down $0.14 in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.36 to $80.02 a barrel. Oil markets were reacting to Wednesday’s comments from Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, the largest producing member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and weaker oil market forecasts by energy agencies. The comments of the oil minister, the first in nearly two months came even as oil prices swung wildly on speculation about the country’s market strategy. The international oil market and Saudi oil policy have been subject to a great deal […]

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Brent Drop From Four-Year Low as OPEC Seen Resisting Cuts

Brent crude extended losses from a four-year low, trading near $80 a barrel amid signs that OPEC remains unwilling to reduce output to ease concern of a global supply glut. West Texas Intermediate was steady in New York . Futures slid as much as 0.7 percent in London, declining from the lowest close since September 2010. Saudi Arabia is committed to a stable market and speculation of a price war within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries “has no basis in reality,” Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said yesterday in Acapulco, Mexico . Crude stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, probably rose for a sixth week, a Bloomberg News survey shows before government data today. Oil has collapsed into a bear market as leading OPEC members resisted calls to cut production and instead reduced export prices to the U.S., where output has climbed to the highest level […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple