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Rig maker Lamprell expects tough year

Rig company Lamprell says low oil prices may mean fewer customers in 2015. (UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr.) SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 12 (UPI) — Emirati rig builder Lamprell said Monday it expects the weak market for crude oil will impact its ability to land new contracts in 2015. The oil services company said it had a strong year in 2014, but didn’t anticipate a replication of that success . "With the recent slump in the oil price, winning work in 2015 is going to be a challenge as the industry adjusts to the new realities," Chief Executive Officer Jim Moffat said in a statement. Oil prices have lost roughly half of their value since June as markets tilt toward the supply side in a weakened global economy. The price is forcing some industry leaders to cut back on capital spending plans for 2015, which is spilling over into secondary […]

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Iraqi forces repel IS attacks on key locations

A soldier stands guard over the Baiji refinery. (AYMAN OGHANNA/Iraq Oil Report) Militants from the so-called Islamic State (IS) group attempted surprise offensives on key, hard-won locations in northern Iraq, to no avail.Federal government forces repelled attacks on the Baiji refinery and the Samarra dam, while Kurdish forces weathered offensives targeting Kirkuk and the city of Gwer, near Erbil.The Baiji attack began on Sunday morning, when IS militants sent a car laden with explosives to the outer ring of security at the Baiji refinery, according to a senior offi…

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Winston Churchill’s map of Iraq ready to unravel over oil

Winston Churchill, at the time Britain’s colonial secretary, is front and centre at the 1921 Cairo conference that set Iraq’s borders. Also in the picture are the Arabist Gertrude Bell (second from left, second row) and Lawrence of Arabia (fourth from right, second row). Getty Images Related Topics: Oil Winston Churchill understood the significance of the black stuff seeping to the surface in the Kurdish plains of Mesopotamia when he included the region within Iraq as the British forged the country in the 1920s. In doing so, Churchill, the colonial secretary at the time, set in train almost a century of bickering between the Iraqi government and its Kurdish enclave over the area’s estimated 45 billion barrels of crude. While their latest dispute was temporarily resolved last month to help finance the struggle against ISIL, the accord has not addressed differences between administrations in Baghdad and Erbil that include […]

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Venezuela Woos Qatar as Oil Rout Exacerbates Cash Crunch

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is seeking several billion dollars from Qatari lenders to help plug a budget gap after oil lost more than half its value. “We’re finalizing a financial alliance with important banks from Qatar that will give us sufficient oxygen to help cover the fall in oil prices and give us the resources we need for the national foreign currency budget,” he said on state television. Maduro, Hugo Chavez ’s hand-picked successor, is turning to Asia and the Middle East for relief as crude’s nosedive of more than 50 percent erodes international reserves and funding options. Boasting the world’s biggest oil reserves, the Latin American nation has seen its crude output slump since 2008 and imports of refined products surge as state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA revenue is diverted to social programs and fuel subsidies. The financing would be for “various” billions of dollars for 2015 and […]

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India gets $4 billion solar energy promise

India gets $4 billion solar energy pledge on sidelines of major investment conference. UPI/Stephen Shaver AHMEDABAD, India, Jan. 12 (UPI) — With New Delhi praised for its renewable energy role, Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises said it signed a $4 billion solar agreement with a U.S. company. Adani signed a memorandum of understanding with solar energy services company SunEdison to produce enough solar panels to develop a sustainable green power sector in India. "India has embarked on an ambitious program to become a world leader in power generation from renewable technologies, and sees solar as a key part in realizing that goal," Vneet S Jaain, chief executive officer of subsidiary Adani Power Ltd., said in a statement Saturday. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of an Indian investment conference, attended by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry . From auto giant Ford Motor Co., to companies like SunEdison, the […]

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China December trade more robust than expected, but concerns linger

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s December trade data beat expectations, as demand from a stronger U.S. economy helped offset weakness in Europe and Japan while Chinese bargain-shopping in commodities markets put a floor under sliding imports. But while exports grew faster and imports shrank less than forecast, trade officials warned of more headwinds to come in the first quarter. Policymakers are trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy through a soft patch as it confronts weak demand and a slowdown in its property market. Exports in December rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier in dollar-denominated terms, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday, handily beating a Reuters poll by nearly three full percentage points. Imports dropped by only 2.4 percent, where analysts’ consensus was for a far steeper decline of 7.4 percent. Officials were cautious when discussing how much positive momentum trade will deliver. "We think […]

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China Wins From Commodity Slump as Collapse Spurs Imports

China is emerging a winner from the collapse in commodities prices to the lowest in 12 years as the world’s second-largest economy buys a record amount of raw materials. Imports of crude, copper, iron ore and soybeans climbed to records in 2014 as prices tumbled, customs data showed today. The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 energy, agriculture and metal products slid to the lowest level since November 2002 yesterday after dropping 17 percent last year. A rout in energy prices is leading commodities lower amid speculation supplies of raw materials from crude to copper are outpacing demand and as a stronger dollar diminishes their allure. China’s seeking to benefit by boosting purchases and filling its stockpiles even as economic growth slows. “China is taking advantage of an extensive slump in raw material prices to purchase from overseas, which is especially reflected in oil and iron ore,” Guo Chaohui, a […]

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Canadian Natural Slashes Spending, Production Targets

CALGARY— Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. , one of Canada’s largest oil and gas producers, cut its full-year capital spending plans and production forecast on Monday, citing the rapid drop in crude oil prices since setting its initial 2015 budget in early November. The Calgary-based company said it would spend 6.2 billion Canadian dollars ($5.25 billion) on growth projects, down from an earlier target of C$8.6 billion, and increase production of crude oil and natural gas liquids about 7% over 2014 levels, down from an earlier projection of around 11% growth. The moves come after the Canadian unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Friday said it would cut up to 10% of its oil sands mining workforce due to lower crude prices. The slump in global oil prices is expected to trim profit and slow growth at many energy producers, especially those with higher cost operations. Canadian Natural said […]

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Halcón Resources Reduces 2015 Budget

Halcón Operations in Bakken In a press release on January 8th, Halcón Resources executives announced that they will slash their drilling and production budget almost in half for 2015. The Houston-based company affirmed it will reduc eoperations in the Bakken to two rigs in the Fort Berthold area of North Dakota. Read here for more about Halcón in the Bakken This is the second round of cuts for the Bakken producer in less than two months due to the continued decline in oil prices. Projected spending for the company is set at between $375 – 425 million, which represent a steep decline from 2014 numbers of $950 million. Even with decreased spending for 2015, production is expected to increase to an average 40,000-45,000 barrels per day this year, compared to 43,554 b/d in the third quarter of 2014. Halcon CEO Floyd Wilson says that, “Our plan is to deploy capital to […]

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North Dakota Rig Count Drops Sharply As Oil Price Tumbles

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136715/North_Dakota_Rig_Count_Drops_Sharply_As_Oil_Price_Tumbles WILLISTON, N.D., Jan 12 (Reuters) – The number of drilling rigs operating in North Dakota’s oil fields fell to 159 on Monday, the lowest level since November 2010 and the latest reaction to falling crude oil prices, according to state data. Overnight the state lost eight rigs, a steep one-day drop not seen for years in the No. 2 U.S. oil producer. Rigs are typically contracted by oil producers to bore through the earth and create horizontal wells. The rigs then move on, and the wells are hydraulically fractured, or "fracked." The number, which is tracked closely throughout North Dakota, comes after Continental Resources Inc, Oasis Petroleum Inc and other companies slashed planned spending for 2015, openly admitting they planned to use few rigs this year. The rig count is widely seen as a key barometer of an oil field’s health and longevity. More rigs means more […]

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