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Helmerich and Payne May Cut 2,000 Jobs as it Idles Rigs

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136998/Helmerich_and_Payne_May_Cut_2000_Jobs_as_it_Idles_Rigs Jan 29 (Reuters) – Driller Helmerich & Payne Inc said it may cut 2,000 jobs as it begins to idle rigs amid a slide in crude oil prices, following similar cost cuts by top oilfield services providers Schlumberger NV and Baker Hughes Inc . Helmerich, which had about 11,901 employees as of Sept. 30, also said it would now build only 2 high-tech FlexRigs per month this year, down from the 4 rigs it had planned. The company’s shares fell as much as 10 percent to $54 on Thursday as weak forecast for 2015 margins and revenue overshadowed a better-than-expected quarterly profit. The 2015 forecast "reflects a severe opening blow from the global downturn", FBR Capital Markets analysts wrote in a note. Helmerich has benefited so far from robust shale drilling activity in the United States. The gains extended into the first quarter Dec. 31, but are […]

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US Production and Imports, and a Guest Essay

Even before the shale revolution got underway, US net imports were falling. The data below is from the Weekly Petroleum Status Report  and is in thousand barrels per day. Net Imports This chart shows net crude oil and petroleum products imports. Net imports peaked in 2006 and started to fall in earnest in 2008. They continued to fall until 2010 when the three month average increased sharply and the annual average leveled out for about a year. Then as the Light Tight Oil revolution got underway in 2011, net imports started to fall again. The chart above shows net imports bottom out in late spring, March and April and heads back down again in June. Below is the last year of that chart amplified. Weekly Net Imports But in December of 2014 net imports broke their trend and headed sharply up, about four months earlier than normal.  Much of […]

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US crude oil exports up to record 502,000 b/d in November: EIA

New York (Platts)–29Jan2015/305 pm EST/2005 GMT US crude exports rose 126,000 b/d to a record 502,000 b/d in November, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday. The prior record high of 455,000 b/d was set in March of 1957. EIA data goes back to 1920. This time last year, EIA data shows, US exports were just 253,000 b/d. The bulk of the November volume went to Canada, where US barrels rose 104,000 b/d to 455,000 b/d. This echoes Statistics Canada data released at the beginning of the month, which showed Canadian imports from the US were around 487,000 b/d in November. The bulk of the exports — 212,000 b/d — left the US from the Gulf Coast. However, 140,000 b/d was from the Atlantic Coast and 128,000 b/d was from the Midwest. Article continues below… Every Monday, Capitol Hill newshounds Herman Wang and Brian Scheid analyze, dissect and debate […]

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ConocoPhillips and Shell outline billions of dollars in cuts

Two of the world’s largest energy groups, Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips , have set out plans for billions of dollars worth of cuts in their investment programmes in response to the plunge in crude prices . The cuts are part of a wave of reductions in capital spending announced by oil companies worldwide as they move to shore up their finances and protect dividends as cash flows are squeezed. The cuts have increased expectations that prices will rebound in the future as supply growth slows. More On this story On this topic IN Oil & Gas BP has said it will cut 300 staff and contractor jobs from its 3,500-strong North Sea business and freeze salaries across the company in an attempt to cut costs. It has also sold down its equity interests in two massive Gulf of Mexico oilfields and relinquished its position as operator. French major […]

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Cheap Oil Sours Big-Budget Energy Projects

Chevron CEO John Watson says the energy giant will align costs and spending to market conditions amid a sharp drop in crude oil prices. Photo: Houston Chronicle/Associated Press As Chevron Corp. closes in on its long-elusive goal of pumping more oil, another target is slipping away: Boosting profits. Chevron’s drive to increase its oil-and-gas production, the most ambitious among the world’s giant energy companies, is beginning to show results, with two major deep-water projects in the Gulf of Mexico starting up late last year. But the newest barrels are flowing just as oil prices have crashed more than 60% since last summer; U.S. crude prices dipped below $44 a barrel on Thursday, the lowest in almost six years, and closed at $44.53. Rising production isn’t likely to make up for the bite of sharply lower prices when Chevron reports quarterly profits. On Friday, analysts expect it to report fourth […]

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U.S. labor numbers lift oil prices

Strong numbers in the U.S. labor sector help give modest lift to struggling oil markets. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI NEW YORK, Jan. 29 (UPI) — Growth in the U.S. labor sector gave oil prices a lift in Thursday trading despite a string of dismal fourth quarter reports from leading energy companies. The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, gained about a half percent from the previous close to trade for $44.70 for the March contract. Oil prices are struggling to erase last year’s second half decline, trading down about 14 percent since the beginning of the year. Oil prices tumbled in Wednesday trading after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in a weekly status update that U.S. crude oil inventories were at their highest levels since the early 1980s. Oil markets are tilted heavily toward the supply side in part because of increasing production in […]

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Keystone XL bill passes in Senate, faces Obama veto

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Thursday to approve the long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite the White House saying earlier in the day that President Barack Obama would veto the measure. The Republican-led Senate passed the bill that would approve TransCanada Corp’s ( TRP.TO ) project to carry 800,000 barrels per day of heavy Canadian crude to Nebraska on the way to Gulf Coast refineries and ports. The House has passed its own pipeline bill and will work with the Senate to send the bill to the Obama’s desk. After the potential veto, Obama is expected to make his own decision on the pipeline after the State Department finishes a review in coming weeks. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Susan Cornwell ; Editing by Sandra Maler )

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Pennsylvania Governor Bars New Oil and Gas Drilling in State Parks, Forests

By Kris Maher The natural gas industry sharply criticized Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision Thursday to reinstate a moratorium on future drilling in state parks and forests, which includes cases where private landowners own the mineral rights beneath parks. Mr. Wolf, a Democrat who took office two weeks ago, signed an executive order barring new leases for oil and gas development on those public lands. Unlike with state forests, Pennsylvania doesn’t own the mineral rights for the vast majority of land beneath state parks. At a public signing, Mr. Wolf noted that the parks in the state are visited by 38 million people annually, support more than 13,000 jobs and bring in $1.2 billion to the state’s economy. "Natural gas development is vital to Pennsylvania’s economy, but so is the economic and environmental viability of our parks and forests," Mr. Wolf said. Dave Spigelmyer, head of the Marcellus Shale […]

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As gasoline prices drop, Americans swing to favor oil exports: Poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans are more likely than ever to favor easing a ban on exporting crude oil, so long as it does not lead to higher gasoline prices that have recently sunk to near $2 a gallon, according to a new Reuters-IPSOS poll. In questions posed to more than 2,000 voting-age Americans earlier this month, around 45 percent generally agreed that oil drillers should be allowed to export domestic crude abroad, while just over 30 percent broadly disagreed. In September, supporters and opponents were both at around 40 percent. It was the first meaningful shift in opinion since Reuters-IPSOS began polling on the issue in October 2013. In the previous three surveys, respondents were generally split 50:50. The poll does not explain why U.S. public sentiment has shifted. However, several events in recent months may have moved the needle on one of the nation’s most pressing, if […]

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Keystone XL need mulled in shale era

Energy scholar from the University of Calgary says Canadian oil sector needs new pipelines, but not necessarily Keystone XL. (UPI/Shutterstock/smereka) Pipelines to the Canadian coasts, not necessarily Keystone XL, will diversify an export economy dependent on U.S. markets, a Canadian energy scholar said. Canada exports nearly all of its oil to the United States, which is relying less on foreign oil because of the increase in shale oil output. Data from the U.S. government show oil imports from Canada were down about 6 percent for the week ending Jan. 23. Dan McFadyen, program director of the extractive resource governance program at the University of Calgary, said in a Wednesday interview with the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association pipeline access to the East and West Coasts would help diversify the nation’s export economy . "We are mostly limited to the U.S. market, and it’s not clear in that market, whether they […]

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Gazprom Profit Falls on Ruble, Ukraine

ENLARGE Russian gas giant Gazprom has reported a sharp drop in third-quarter profit, hit by the slide in the ruble and a lack of deliveries to Ukraine. Photo: Reuters MOSCOW—Russian state-controlled gas group OAO Gazprom said net profit plunged 62% in the third quarter of 2014 compared with same period the previous year, hit by the slide in the ruble and a lack of deliveries to key customer Ukraine. Net profit fell to 105.7 billion rubles ($1.56 billion) from 276.1 billion rubles in the third quarter of 2013. Revenue dropped 6% to 1.13 trillion rubles, the company said on Thursday. Shares in Gazprom, which reports its earnings well after other listed Russian companies, were up 0.6% in early trading in Moscow after the results were released, broadly in line with the market. Write to James Marson at [email protected]

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Russian Coffers, and Sway, Fall Along With Gas Prices

ENLARGE Lower gas prices have made it harder for Gazprom to dictate terms to European consumers. Above, Chairman Alexei Miller in June 2014. Photo: European Pressphoto Agency The collapse of oil prices—added to the weight of Western financial sanctions—has hammered Russia’s economy. But Moscow is also suffering from the fall in prices of another important energy export: natural gas. Gas represented 14% of Russia’s export revenues in 2013, compared with 54% for crude oil and oil products. But its gas is more important to Europe and Ukraine. Gas is more than a commodity for Moscow: It has been a political tool that has helped it assert its influence in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Because of pipeline architecture, some European Union countries have had few alternatives to buying gas from Russia. But its grip over Europe’s gas markets is weakening. As natural-gas prices have fallen in the European […]

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EU fails to agree Russia sanctions as cracks in unity appear

On guard: a pro-Russian rebel patrols the road near the airport of Donetsk, with Ukrainian military vehicles in the background Increasingly divided EU ministers failed to issue a specific threat of further economic sanctions against Russia on Thursday, despite fears that the conflict in eastern Ukraine was entering a dangerous new phase. European foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Brussels to determine how to respond to the collapse of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, fearing that this weekend’s bombardment of the port city of Mariupol marked a dramatic escalation of the fighting. More On this topic IN Europe However, diplomats in Brussels said it was increasingly difficult to preserve a united front among the 28 members of the EU, partly because of the recent election of a leftwing government in Greece which has vowed to act as a bridge between Europe and Russia . In a weak final […]

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Ruble Extends Rout as Ukraine Sanctions Loom, Central Bank Meets

(Bloomberg) — The ruble fell, extending its worst start to the year since 2009, as the escalating conflict in Ukraine boosted the likelihood of further sanctions against Russia. The currency is headed for a 12 percent drop in January, the worst performance in emerging markets this month. With oil trading near the lowest level since 2009 and violence spreading in eastern Ukraine, only one of 32 economists in a Bloomberg survey expects the central bank to pare back December’s emergency 6.5 percentage point rate increase at a meeting today. Pressure on the ruble “will escalate” and the currency will weaken 16 percent to 82 rubles per dollar in the next three months, according to Credit Suisse AG. Russia’s economy is set for a 5.6 percent contraction this year and the world’s biggest energy exporter won’t repeat 2009’s V-shaped rebound “particularly given the rising risk of further sanctions,” Morgan Stanley […]

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EU Foreign Ministers Extend Targeted Sanctions on Russia Over Ukraine

ENLARGE Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin addresses the media following a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images BRUSSELS—European Union foreign ministers agreed on Thursday to extend targeted sanctions against separatist leaders in Ukraine and their Russian backers by six months and hit additional people with sanctions but showed no appetite for broader economic measures against Russia in the immediate future. The extension of the sanctions suggested that Greece’s new government, while openly skeptical of sanctions on Russia, wouldn’t break European Union unity on the issue. The statement foreign ministers agreed maintained a tough tone on Russia, saying Moscow had given the rebels “continued and growing” support and held “responsibility” for the latest violence. However, a tougher test for the bloc’s unity will come if there is a fresh surge in violence in eastern Ukraine and the pressure builds to seriously consider fresh economics […]

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Leaked Document Could Shatter UK Shale Dreams

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s hopes for a British-style shale gas revolution recently took a major hit. Cameron has promised that his government will be “going all out” to develop Britain’s shale gas resources, which he argues will create new jobs and cut dependence on imported gas. But a committee made up of members of parliament (MPs) from several political parties issued a damning new report on the state of “fracking” in the United Kingdom. The Environmental Audit Committee published a report that called for a 30-month moratorium on fracking, citing “huge uncertainties” regarding the environmental fallout from widespread drilling. On top of the usual controversies over water supplies, the report says that allowing fracking will upend British climate change goals. “Ultimately fracking cannot be compatible with our long-term commitments to cut climate-changing emissions unless full-scale carbon capture and storage technology is rolled out rapidly, which currently looks unlikely,” […]

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Shell to Cut Spending Amid Lower Oil Prices

Royal Dutch Shell reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit despite weaker oil prices. ENLARGE Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images LONDON—Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday it would curb its planned spending over the next three years by some $15 billion, freeze dividends at current levels and scale back shale investments to cope with weaker oil prices. Shell, the first of the four giant, integrated oil companies to announce quarterly results, posted an improved profit compared with the year-earlier quarter. But earnings were below some analysts’ forecasts, driving shares down nearly 5% in London trading. “The macro environment has moved against us,” Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said during a Thursday news conference. He and Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said Shell is cutting costs but continuing some big investments—including a potential $1 billion exploration project in Alaska’s Arctic this year. Shell forecasts rebounding oil prices in coming years, and […]

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Shell preaches resiliency despite spending cut

Don’t panic, Shell’s top boss says as low oil prices curb spending forecasts for Dutch supermajor. UPI/Shutterstock/tcly While spending is taking a dramatic hit, Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive said Thursday there’s no reason to overreact to the bear market for crude oil. Shell followed precedent set by its supermajor rivals by announcing a spending cut of about $15 billion as low oil prices crimp the company’s momentum. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, however, warned against panicking as oil prices continue trading below the $50 per barrel mark, less than half the June price. "We are taking a prudent approach here and we must be careful not to over-react to the recent fall in oil prices," he said in a statement. "Shell is taking structured decisions to balance growth and returns." The company, he said, is delivering where it counts . Upstream, or production, income fell 30 percent year-on-year […]

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Scotland enacts fracking moratorium

Scottish government places moratorium on fracking, citing need for more research. Photo by Steve Oehlenschlager/Shutterstock EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 29 (UPI) — The Scottish government will take a cautious look at shale oil and gas extraction during a moratorium period, the energy minister said Thursday. "I am announcing a moratorium on the granting of planning consents for all unconventional oil and gas developments, including fracking," Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said in a statement. The ban comes as those in the British government press ahead with its shale ambitions despite frustration surrounding the frontier natural gas sector. Authorities in Lancashire County in England, said to hold vast shale natural gas deposits, are reviewing drilling applications submitted by Cuadrilla Resources. Ewing said the moratorium was enacted so Scottish legislators could take time to review public health or other concerns associated with hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking. "We recognize that local […]

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Crude-Oil Futures Volatile

An oil refinery in Singapore on Jan. 13. ENLARGE Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images LONDON—Oil futures were volatile on Thursday with U.S. oil prices hovering near six-year lows as the global oil glut that has pummeled prices since midsummer showed no signs of abating. The U.S. reported record high oil supplies and the dollar continued to strengthen after the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday, further weighing on dollar-denominated commodities such as oil. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March-dated WTI, the U.S. price benchmark, traded down 0.1% at $44.40 a barrel after settling at its lowest level since March 2009 on Wednesday. On London’s ICE Futures Exchange, Brent, the global marker, rose 0.3% to $48.65 a barrel Data from the U.S. Energy Department showed the country’s oil stockpiles rose by a more-than-expected 8.9 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 23. The stockpiles are now near 407 million barrels, an […]

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Oil Trades Near Six-Year Low With U.S. Supply Highest Since 1982

(Bloomberg) — Oil traded near the lowest price in almost six years in New York after U.S. crude stockpiles climbed to the highest level since at least 1982. West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed following Wednesday’s 3.9 percent drop. Crude inventories in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, expanded by 8.87 million barrels to 406.7 million last week, the Energy Information Administration reported. Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it will cut $15 billion of spending over the next three years. “The huge build in U.S. crude-oil stocks reported by the EIA yesterday brought stockpiles to an all-time high and weighed on prices,” Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. in Middelfart, Denmark, said by e-mail. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery was at $44.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 8 cents, at 11:02 a.m. London time. The contract […]

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Natural Gas Prices Decline on Growing Supply

By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices are falling back as production appears to be edging higher. Natural gas for February delivery is down 11.4 cents, or 3.8%, at $2.867 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The front-month contract hasn’t had back-to-back sessions of gains or losses in more than a week. The more actively traded March contract is down 10.4 cents, or 3.5%, at $2.831/mmBtu. Options expired at Tuesday’s close and the February contract expires Wednesday at close. "There is ample … gas in inventory to meet the demand of the remaining winter season even it is colder than normal," Dominick Chirichella, analyst at the Energy Management Institute, said in a note to clients. Half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heat, making winter cold typically the biggest driver for demand. But prices have plummeted 36% since November because record production has been […]

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U.S.: Iran’s oil production capacity curbed

Sen, Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and fellow Democrats say they’ll hold off on Iranian sanctions as U.S. Treasury Department officials weigh the damage to Tehran’s oil sector. UPI/Molly Riley Iran under the terms of a November 2013 agreement is allowed some oil exports in exchange for commitments to curb some of its nuclear research activity. In mid-January, Mohsen Rezaei , secretary of the influential Expediency Council, said exports have since dropped by 1.5 million barrels per day and inflicted more than $100 billion in revenue losses. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen testified before members of the Senate Banking Committee on the effectiveness of existing sanctions, saying Iran is exporting less than half of the oil it was in 2012 and only to six countries. "Because Iran cannot access Western technology and services, and because it has been forced to sharply cut its oil exports, we […]

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Officials confirm Baghdad airplane shooting

An Iraqi Airways plane lands at Baghdad International Airport Jan.27, 2015. Airlines from at least three countries suspended flights to Baghdad on Tuesday after bullets hit an airplane operated by Fly Dubai as it was landing on Jan. 26. Company officials said Iraqi Airways and Iran’s Caspian Airlines were operating flights to Baghdad on a normal schedule. (THAIER AL-SUDANI/Reuters) One child was injured in a surface-to-air machine gun shooting of a Fly Dubai flight as it descended toward Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) late Jan. 26, the Transportation Ministry said on Tuesday. The acting head of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) denied the incident altogether both Monday and Tuesday, despite the confirmation by the Transportation Ministry, to which ICAA belongs, and BIAP officials and workers. "Yesterday evening, an aircraft of Fly Dubai was hit while …

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Total Wins Stake in Abu Dhabi’s Top Onshore Oil Fields

(Bloomberg) — Total SA won bidding to develop the biggest onshore oil deposits in the United Arab Emirates, making the French energy company the first to be chosen by Abu Dhabi to pump more crude amid a global supply glut. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. awarded Total 10 percent of the main land-based concession in the U.A.E.’s largest sheikhdom, for 40 years starting Jan. 1, 2015, the Paris-based company said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. Adnoc, as the government-owned producer is known, confirmed the award and said it will name other partners “soon.” Total’s stake would account for oil output generating $2.83 billion a year based on yesterday’s closing Brent price of $48.47 a barrel. Middle Eastern energy suppliers including the U.A.E. are expanding their capacity to produce crude for export as well as to boost output of natural gas, which they burn as fuel in local power […]

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China to Keep 200 Million-Barrel Crude Hoard Even If Oil Rallies

(Bloomberg) — China is poised to maintain its commercial hoard of more than 200 million barrels of crude within three years even if oil rallies toward $130 a barrel. Refiners have been asked to hold inventories equal to at least 15 days of the volumes they can process, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. Stockpiles shouldn’t fall below 10 days’ equivalent even if international crude prices rise above $130 a barrel, it said in a document published on its website on Jan. 28. Brent futures, a global benchmark grade, last traded at that price in July 2008. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, has benefited from crude’s slide to below $50 a barrel, the weakest in almost six years. It already has 33.37 million metric tons of commercial crude stockpiles at the end of last year, or about 244.6 million barrels, according to Bloomberg calculations using data […]

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China’s Coal Consumption Fell in 2014

For the first time this century China’s coal consumption has fallen, according to preliminary data from both the Chinese Coal Industry Association and the National Energy Administration. The amount by which coal use declined last year remains an open question, with the Coal Industry Association reporting a reduction of around 3.5% but NEA data showing a fall of only 0.4%. Applying the two growth rates to corresponding official statistics for 2013 yields very similar numbers for absolute coal consumption in 2014, however, which may suggest that the NEA’s small reduction is likely due to under-reporting of consumption in previous years. China’s implied coal demand Climate impact News of the coal fall represents a major step-change on two fronts: China’s war on air pollution, and global efforts to peak CO2 emissions. China burns half of world’s coal and has been responsible for well over half of total CO2 growth globally for […]

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Planning for peak oil and Detroit’s future

According to Time Magazine, in an interview with Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas, “Global Food prices have risen 25% this last year and many nations are starting to hoard commodities” (corn, wheat, rice etc.). Whatever the reasons for this, and I don’t understand many of them, this trend is not going to get better. One of these reason alone will sky rocket food prices in the next 10-20 years and that is described in “ Peak Oil” graphs. In very over-simplified terms, “peak Oil” means that world-wide we have reached our highest production level of oil and that from here on the availability of oil will decrease rapidly and consequently the price of oil will increase sharply. By 2030 we will have as much oil available as we had in 1970 with double the demand. Increased oil prices have already caused us to look […]

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Early signs of the Bakken oil slow-down

Overview The state of North Dakota—home of the Bakken shale oil boom—reported recently that oil production there had held steady, despite that the number of new producing wells had dropped drastically. But as I found from digging into the data, the drop-off in well completions was not nearly as steep as North Dakota had said—and that the apparent “silver lining” in the data is not there. It’s free to read because it was shared by the author. Back Mason Inman, and your funding directly supports his future work — You can impact the stories that get told. In mid-January, when the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources released its latest update on the Bakken oil boom—the “Director’s Cut,” a summary compiled by the Department’s Director, petroleum engineer Lynn Helms—I was surprised by the data. But I wasn’t the only one surprised. In presenting the latest data, through November 2014, […]

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Shale oil production will level off and we will have a peak in the oil production in 2015

(Photo: Oil pump east Eagle Frod, K Aleklett) Lower 48 production The US Energy Information Administration, EIA, has now made a first forecast of the production of oil from the lower 48 states, the states with fracking. As the decline for individuate wells are very steep the rig count will be a very important factor for the future and the number of new wells each rig will drill per quarter. In the figure you can see that the number of rigs will drop down to 1300 and not came back to the level it had in the 4th quarter of 2014. We have seen peak rig count for shale oil in the US. EIA indicate a peak production in 2015 but hope the production will come back. This is just guesses and the price of oil will determine this. The decline in the existing wells might be so large […]

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How Nebraskans are winning the fight against Keystone XL

Resilience Published on Resilience (http://www.resilience.org) Published by Waging Nonviolence on 2015-01-28 Art Tanderup and his wife speaking at Harvest the Hope in September 2014. (Flickr / Hear Nebraska / Chris Dinan) Senate Democrats filibustered a measure yesterday that would speed up the vote on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which could take the decision on Keystone out of the hands of both the White House and the State Department. Known as cloture, the move — pushed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — would have effectively quashed 12 amendments to the bill brought by Democrats, including one to close the “Haliburton loophole” and mandate that gas drilling companies comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, and another to require that oil companies contribute money to government clean-up efforts in the event of spills or leakage. In the wake of the 50,000 gallon crude oil spill into Montana’s […]

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California County Declares Fiscal Emergency Due To Oil Price Plunge

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136974/California_County_Declares_Fiscal_Emergency_Due_To_Oil_Price_Plunge LOS ANGELES, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Plunging oil prices led California’s Kern County to declare a fiscal emergency on Tuesday, a move that allows officials to tap into a reserve fund as tax revenue faces a big decline due to the lower oil prices. A roughly 50 percent drop in crude prices since the summer is hitting budgets in U.S. oil regions. Kern County, in central California, is at the heart of the state’s oil production. Officials in Kern County, with a population of about 900,000, say the plunge in oil prices has cut projected property tax revenue for the 2015/16 fiscal year budget by $61 million. Oil companies account for about 30 percent of the county’s property tax revenues, said Lee Smith, an assistant county assessor. Roughly two-thirds of the county’s revenue is gleaned from property tax. Overall, the projected drop in property tax revenues, combined […]

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Fracking Moratorium Voted Down in Colorado Town

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136975/Fracking_Moratorium_Voted_Down_in_Colorado_Town The Board of Trustees of Erie, Colorado voted against imposing a moratorium on fracking in the Front Range town Tuesday evening. In the video-streamed event, the seven-member board consisting of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro-Tem and five trustees cast four votes against the one-year moratorium. Representatives from Encana Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. were present for the meeting, as were industry groups and a number of local residents who were for and against the moratorium. Memorandums of understanding (MOU) agreements between the two drillers and the township of Erie will continue. The agreements “contain best management practices the operators agree to use and are included as part of their state drilling permits,” according to a Jan. 27 story in the Denver Post. The moratorium was said by the Board of Trustees not to be seen as a vote against drilling in the area, but rather as a […]

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Transit Agencies Brace for Low Gas Prices to Siphon Away Riders

ENLARGE High gasoline prices in recent years helped give public-transit agencies across the U.S. their best ridership numbers in half a century. Now, falling prices run the risk of putting those gains in reverse. The swift drop in gas prices, to less than $2 a gallon in much of the nation, already appears to be encouraging Americans to drive more. Miles driven increased 3% in October from a year earlier,the largest year-over-year gain since 2006,and advanced 1.1% in November, according to the U. S. Federal Highway Administration. It is too soon to say whether those Americans who are driving more are forgoing public transit, but an extended run of low gas prices could change the cost calculus for transit riders. And a lasting shift could boost pressure on governments from Seattle to Salt Lake City to Cleveland to re-evaluate their expansion plans for buses, subways and trains amid limited […]

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Canada’s Imperial Oil Considering Sale of Esso-Branded Fuel Stations

Exxon Mobil Corp. ’s Canadian subsidiary said Wednesday that it was considering the sale of its remaining company-owned Esso-branded retail fuel stations to independent third-party operators. Calgary-based Imperial Oil Ltd. said most of its 1,700 Esso sites in Canada already operate under that model, which sees the company supply fuel to third parties who own and/or operate the sites under the Esso banner. The move announced Wednesday covers the remaining 500 company-owned sites, and will involve a nonbinding bid process, it said. The integrated energy company also said it would look at options for the On the Run convenience-store brand in Canada. Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. acquired about 450 of Exxon’s On the Run convenience stores in the U.S. in 2009. “Esso has a long, successful history as a leading retailer of high-quality fuels,” said Brad Merkel, vice president of fuels and lubricants at Imperial Oil. “This evaluation will […]

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Scrapped: Oil Prices Shelve an $11 Billion Gulf Coast Project

A rendering for one of Sasol’s projects near Lake Charles, La. ENLARGE Photo: C.H. Fenstermaker & Associates, LLC South African energy giant Sasol Ltd. said Wednesday it was shelving an $11 billion project on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, imperiling one of the largest foreign investments on U.S. soil because of the plunge in oil prices. Sasol has spent years planning to expand its chemical factory outside Lake Charles, La., into a sprawling facility to turn natural gas into industrial compounds and diesel fuel. In October, the company committed $8 billion for equipment that produces ethylene, which is used to make plastics and other products. That plant is still going forward, but Sasol said on Wednesday that a bigger project, to use natural gas rather than crude to make diesel, is on hold. Plummeting oil prices have forced it to push back its own 2016 deadline for deciding whether to build […]

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Oil Will Recover Once Producers Quit Spending, Hamm Says

(Bloomberg) — Oil prices will recover as early as the first half of this year as producers cut back, Continental Resources Inc. founder and CEO Harold Hamm said Wednesday. Hamm said Continental, the largest leaseholder and producer in the Bakken shale play of North Dakota and Montana, can weather low crude prices “forever” as it idles wells. He expects other drillers to cut spending by 50 to 75 percent, in line with Continental’s announced reductions. “A lot of people think, well, if you start drilling, you’ve got about a six-month process before you can slow down,” Hamm said in an interview at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston. “Wrong. Because after all, you drill that well, it takes about a month to drill it, or 25 days. You don’t have to complete it.” Spending at Oklahoma City-based Continental will fall by 41 percent to $2.7 billion in 2015 […]

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Kinder Eyes Pipeline to Export Ultra Light Oil From West

(Bloomberg) — Kinder Morgan Inc., the world’s largest pipeline company by market value, is proposing a link that would give the ultra light oil from Texas fields a second path out of the country. The Houston-based company is marketing a pipeline that would be capable of carrying 200,000 barrels a day of oil and 100,000 of ultra light crude known as condensate to central California from Texas, Tom Martin, president of Kinder Morgan’s gas pipelines, said in a presentation on Wednesday. From there the condensate could move to Asia, where petrochemical plants are boosting demand for lighter oil. Condensate has emerged as one of the few exceptions to a four-decade ban that keeps most crude from leaving the country. Federal regulators have been issuing rulings since last year allowing companies to send the processed oil abroad from the Gulf Coast. The proposal is a resurrection of Kinder’s previous plan […]

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Top Canadian oil producer cuts spending

One of Canada’s top oil producer, Cenovus, cutting spending plans as national energy sector slows. (UPI/Shutterstock/ekina) CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 28 (UPI) — Canada’s second-largest oil producer, Cenovus Energy, said Wednesday it was cutting its capital expenditures for 2015 deeper than originally planned. The company in December said it was trimming its capital spending plan by 15 percent to $2 billion. With oil prices off roughly 30 percent since then, the company said it was cutting the projected spending again to around $1.5 billion. Cenovus President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Ferguson said the company has the flexibility to make further cuts without compromising growth objectives . "Our plan is to continue to pursue our long-term growth strategy, but at a pace we believe is more in line with the current pricing environment," he said in a statement. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said last week oil production nation-wide […]

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North Dakota: oil producers aim to cut radioactive waste bills

WILLISTON, N.D. (Reuters) – North Dakota’s oil industry is pushing to change the state’s radioactive waste disposal laws as part of a broad effort to conserve cash as oil prices tumble. The waste, which becomes slightly radioactive as part of the hydraulic fracturing process that churns up isotopes locked underground, must be trucked out of state. That’s because rules prohibit North Dakota landfills from accepting anything but miniscule amounts of radiation. The most common form of radioactive waste is a filter sock, a mesh tube resembling a sandbag through which fracking water is pumped before it’s injected back into the earth. Tank and pipeline sludge are also radioactive. It’s not clear how much of this waste is generated, as North Dakota officials only began requiring tracking last year; final 2014 reports aren’t due until next month. Some put the number at 70 tons per day; others say 27 tons. […]

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Advocates irked by British shale momentum

British advocacy group calls for refusal of a shale gas drilling permit, saying company behind the plans is manipulating local leaders. UPI/Kevin Dietsch Members of the Lancashire County Council agreed to hold off a final decision on planning applications for hydraulic fracturing submitted by shale gas pioneer Cuadrilla Resources. Cuadrilla asked for a delay after the council last week suggested it would deny the permit because of noise pollution concerns. Helen Rimmer, a campaigner with the British Friends of the Earth, said the council should listen to the chorus of voices expressing opposition to fracking. "Lancashire council must resist Cuadrilla’s ploys to push fracking through and listen to the tens of thousands of voices of opposition and reject these plans," she said in a statement. "Failure to do so will leave Lancashire as the UK’s guinea pig for this unnecessary and polluting technology." Cuadrilla, which estimates the region may […]

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Shell Chief Pledges Everything to Maintain Its ‘Iconic’ Dividend

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden pledged to do all he can to maintain payments to shareholders of Europe’s largest oil company after crude prices fell by more than half in the past six months. “We have a very long-term dividend policy and I’m not minded to change that,” Van Beurden said in an interview today with Bloomberg Television. “The dividend is an iconic item at Shell and I will do everything to protect it.” Shell, which missed analysts’ expectations for fourth-quarter earnings today, plans to pay a first-quarter dividend of 47 cents a share, unchanged from the previous two quarters, the Hague-based company said in a statement. The company is cutting its capital spending by $15 billion over three years to help it weather the collapse in oil prices and keep paying shareholders. The industry is scurrying to protect returns for investors […]

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BG Group, KBR align in low price era

BG Group, KBR, form alliance to streamline operations in low oil price environment. (UPI Photo/Gary C. Caskey) Both companies signed a deal to form a single-partner alliance that extends through at least 2021. KBR under the terms of the deal provides technical support and management expertise to front end engineering and design work for BG’s portfolio in the exploration and production sector. "In a lower oil price environment, this is an important aspect of the alliance which enables BG Group to help minimize its fixed costs whilst retaining access to high value technical expertise and support," the company statement read. Energy companies, and those in secondary industries like steel, are cutting back on spending as oil continues to trade in a bear market. BP, which cut staff from its North Sea division and enacted a pay freeze to cope with the low price environment, this week announced it was […]

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Shell earnings slide on plunging crude price

Royal Dutch Shell is to cut more than $15bn in spending in an effort to plug dwindling revenues from oil sales, as it reported a sharp slide in quarterly earnings due to the plunge in crude prices . The Anglo-Dutch energy group, the first of the world’s big oil companies to report full-year results for 2014, on Thursday signalled that a period of adjustment lay ahead for much of the industry following a near 60 per cent slide in crude prices since last summer to less than $50 a barrel. More On this topic IN Oil & Gas Excluding exceptionals such as tax adjustments from the sale of certain assets, profits for the fourth quarter of last year were $3.26bn, lower than analysts’ estimates of about $4.1bn and down from $5.85bn in the third quarter. But earnings were up 12 per cent from a year ago. Shares in the […]

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Gazprom Profit Falls on Ruble, Ukraine

ENLARGE Russian gas giant Gazprom has reported a sharp drop in third-quarter profit, hit by the slide in the ruble and a lack of deliveries to Ukraine. Photo: Reuters MOSCOW—Russian state-controlled gas group OAO Gazprom said net profit plunged 62% in the third quarter of 2014 compared with same period the previous year, hit by the slide in the ruble and a lack of deliveries to key customer Ukraine. Net profit fell to 105.7 billion rubles ($1.56 billion) from 276.1 billion rubles in the third quarter of 2013. Revenue dropped 6% to 1.13 trillion rubles, the company said on Thursday. Shares in Gazprom, which reports its earnings well after other listed Russian companies, were up 0.6% in early trading in Moscow after the results were released, broadly in line with the market. Write to James Marson at [email protected]

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Kremlin: Ukraine gas networks idled by 2019

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov says Europe remains an important trading partner in the energy sector. UPI/David Silpa Europe gets about a quarter of its natural gas needs met by Russian suppliers, though the majority of that runs through a Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Simmering conflict, and gas contract issues reaching back to at least 2006, exposes that artery to risk. The Kremlin has worked to advance transit networks that avoid Ukrainian territory, most recently with Turkish Stream, a revamped project that replaces the now-scrapped South Stream pipeline. By 2019, Ukrainian networks will be idle and Gazprom Chairman Viktor Zubkov said Europe needs to be ready . "Considering the decision made on re-directing supplies from 2019, European partners do not have so much time [for infrastructure preparation]," he said from a European gas conference in Vienna. Gazprom officials met earlier this week in Ankara to discuss […]

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Have we reached ‘peak food’? Shortages loom as global production rates slow

Have we reached ‘peak food’? Shortages loom as global production rates slow thumbnail The world has entered an era of “peak food” production with an array of staples from corn and rice to wheat and chicken slowing in growth – with potentially disastrous consequences for feeding the planet. New research finds that the supply of 21 staples, such as eggs, meat, vegetables and soybeans is already beginning to run out of momentum, while the global population continues to soar. Peak chicken was in 2006, while milk and wheat both peaked in 2004 and rice peaked way back in 1988, according to new research from Yale University, Michigan State University and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany. What makes the report particularly alarming is that so many crucial sources of food have peaked in a relatively short period of history, the researchers said. “People often talk of substitution. […]

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They Really Do Want To Reduce The Population

They Really Do Want To Reduce The Population thumbnail Most Americans have absolutely no idea, but a very dark philosophy is spreading like wildfire among the global elite.  This philosophy is an obsessive belief that humanity has become a cancer that is destroying the earth.  There are now large numbers of global leaders that are convinced that the exploding population of the world has become like a virus or a plague, and that it must be combated as such.  In fact, it would be very difficult to understate just how obsessed many members of the global elite are with population control.  The United Nations puts out position papers about it, universities have entire courses dedicated to it, radical population control advocates have been appointed to some of the highest political positions in the world, and some of the wealthiest people on the planet get together just to talk about it .  Those who believe in this philosophy are constantly talking about […]

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Oil Resumes Slide as U.S. Supply Seen Rising Again

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures resumed their fall in Asian trade Wednesday with another surge in weekly U.S. oil supply expected to keep oil prices under pressure. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $45.47 a barrel at 0425 GMT, down $0.76 in the Globex electronic session. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, for March delivery fell $0.62 to $48.98 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. Oil production in the U.S. is surging on the back of its shale boom that has added to much of the global oil oversupply and pushed oil prices to their lowest in more than 5 1/2 years. Market watchers track several key indicators to gauge oil supply levels, including weekly U.S. oil inventory data, oil inventories at the Nymex delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma, developed country oil stockpiles and most recently, the number […]

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Natural Gas Bounces as Weather Forecasts Grow Colder

By Timothy Puko Natural gas closed with strong gains on Tuesday, briefly cracking the $3 mark for the first time in more than a week on colder weather and options expiration. The front-month February contract settled up 10 cents, or 3.5%, at $2.981 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading went as high as $3.005/mmBtu, highest in intraday trading since Jan. 16. The more actively traded March contract settled up 8.7 cents, or 3%, at $2.935/mmBtu. Options expired at close and the February contract expires Wednesday at close. Many options traders sold puts with a $3 strike price, and they had an incentive to bid up the futures contract Tuesday to avoid paying out on their options deal, said Aaron Calder, senior market analyst at energy-consulting firm Gelber & Associates in Houston. Colder weather helped, too. The blizzard that hit the Northeast is part […]

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