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Another Cold Blast On Track For Permian Oil Patch In Texas

URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136651/Another_Cold_Blast_On_Track_For_Permian_Oil_Patch_In_Texas More icy weather is expected this week in the Permian Basin of Texas, on the heels of freezes that disrupted oil and gas work last week. HOUSTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – More icy weather is expected this week in the Permian Basin of Texas, on the heels of freezes that snarled truck traffic, caused power outages and disrupted oil and gas work last week, the National Weather Service said on Wednesday. Parts of North Dakota, the top U.S. oil producing state after Texas, were also forecast to have snow or blizzards on Thursday, the NWS said, as blasts of arctic air moved across much of the country. Apache Corp, a leading producer in the Permian, said on Wednesday it suffered a modest impact from the freezes last week, while Pioneer Natural Resources Co said on Tuesday severe winter weather had disrupted its production and drilling operations in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Lundin’s budget latest oil price victim

Lundin Petroleum cuts more than 30 percent from its 2015 spending plans, following industry trend in response to lower oil prices. (UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr.) STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 7 (UPI) — With oil prices falling, Swedish energy company Lundin Petroleum said Wednesday it cut its 2015 spending plans by 31 percent from last year. Lundin said that, combined, its total spending for development, appraisal and exploration for 2015 would total around $1.45 billion. The bulk of the spending, about $750 million, would target ongoing operations in Norway, though the majority would focus on its Bertram project in Malaysia. Company President Ashley Heppenstall said the major focus would be on Norwegian and Malaysia projects that would combine for an increase in production to 75,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. "We have a strong balance sheet and I expect our 2015 capital program to be fully funded from internally generated cash […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Who wins, who loses as oil prices plummet?

The global benchmark Brent crude oil price index slipped below $50 a barrel on Wednesday for the first time in five years, continuing the dramatic plunge that has seen oil prices halved since last June. Stock markets in oil-rich countries keep tumbling, while some analysts interpret the fall — which has brought a windfall to Americans at the fuel pump — as signaling an imminent financial crisis and potential economic slowdown. While not easily explained by a single cause, the price cut is widely believed to reflect slackening economic growth and weakening demand from major consumers such as China coupled with an increase in supply due to booming U.S. shale production. Analysts expect the downward trend to continue unless the world’s major producers, especially the Gulf state members of OPEC, move to cut their output in order to stabilize prices — an option they’ve avoided for now.  In the […]

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Guest blog: Are low oil prices good or bad for oil traders?

Guest blogger Jonathan Kingsman is the founder of Kingsman SA, which is now a unit of Platts, and he remains a Platts consultant. Are low oil prices good or bad for oil traders? In theory oil traders should not care about the price of oil; as they have reminded us many times recently, the big trading companies trade differentials and spreads, not flat (outright) price. In a trader’s ideal world oil prices would fluctuate in a range, giving traders just enough volatility for risk-free plays on shipment dates and tonnages. On the plus side, low prices have reduced financing costs and capital requirements. The halving of the oil price since June 2014 means that for the same amount of money, trading companies can hold twice as much stock, something that comes in rather handy with the current contango in the oil market. So rather than being bullish or bearish on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Changing Face of Peak Oil

The dawn of agriculture marked a huge turning point for human civilization.  At that point, when we, as a species (for the most part), abandoned the age-old concept of the so-called “Hunter-Gatherer” lifestyle in favor of putting down roots (pun very much intended), there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 million people on Earth.  It then took us around 10,000 years for that number to reach 1 billion around the turn of the 19th Century.  Now, a mere 200 years later, our population has absolutely exploded to the tune of over 7 billion people, and that growth was made possible by one thing: the cheap, plentiful energy provided by fossil fuels, oil chief among them. We’ve talked about Peak Oil Theory many times here on Backwoods Survival Blog ; it remains a future threat, even though the exact nature of that threat has changed over time (more on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Keep your Eyes on the Prize

At the essential center of the framework of the Crash Course is the almost insultingly simple idea that endless growth on a finite planet is an impossibility. It is so simple it could be worked out by a clever 4 year-old. And yet it must not be so simple because the main narrative of every economy in every corner of the globe rests on the idea of endless, infinite growth. Various rationalizations and mental dodges are made in people’s minds to accommodate the principle of endless growth.  Some avoid thinking of it all together.  Some think that perhaps we will escape into space, and continue our growthful ways on some other yet-to-be named planet(s).  Most simply assume that some new wondrous technology will arise that can allow us to avoid pesky limits. Whatever the rationalization, none stand up well to simple math and cold logic. At the very heart […]

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Global Crude Oil Rallies After First Drop Below $50 Since 2009

Brent crude, the global benchmark grade, rallied after its first decline below $50 a barrel since May 2009. The price traded at $51.40 a barrel at 10:43 a.m. on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London , having earlier dropped to $49.66. West Texas Intermediate, the main U.S. grade, also erased an earlier decline. To contact the reporter on this story: Rupert Rowling in London at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaric Nightingale at [email protected] Grant Smith

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Oil Falls Further, With Brent Crude Below $50 a Barrel–Update

By Georgi Kantchev and Tommy Stubbington LONDON–Oil prices extended their relentless slide on Wednesday, with Brent crude falling below $50 a barrel for the first time since 2009. Brent futures dropped by more than 2% to an intraday low of $49.66 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange before recovering some ground to trade around $50.37 a barrel. At last year’s peak in June, Brent traded at more than $115. "We’ve fallen through $50 far quicker than we did through $60 and $70," said Kash Kamal, analyst at Sucden Financial. "This seems driven by sentiment but there is also no fundamental reason to expect a bottom either." On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February recently traded at $47.39 a barrel, down $0.56 from Tuesday’s settlement. Wednesday’s decline is the latest landmark in a six-month-long selloff spurred by booming production in the U.S. […]

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Oil Hits New Lows, Brent Crude Nears $50

As oil prices continue their slump, how is the smart money looking at the declines? WSJ’s Nicole Friedman and Geoff Rogow discuss on the News Hub. Photo: Getty. The collapse in oil intensified Tuesday, with U.S. prices closing below $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly six years amid mounting fears that the market will be awash in crude for the foreseeable future. A six-month-long selloff in the oil market has accelerated in the new year, with U.S. prices down 10% since Dec. 31. Until recently, the declines were driven mainly by unexpectedly strong U.S. output. But many investors are starting to fear that struggling economies in Europe and Asia will consume less crude than expected, worsening a global glut. Oil’s steep drop sent shudders through financial markets. Currencies of oil-producing nations fell against the dollar, and shares of energy companies slid. Many investors sought out Treasury […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent Crude Falls Below $50 a Barrel for First Time Since 2009

LONDON—Oil prices extended their relentless slide on Wednesday, with Brent crude falling below $50 a barrel for the first time since 2009. Brent futures dropped by more than 2% to an intraday low of $49.66 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange before recovering some ground to trade around $50.37 a barrel. At last year’s peak in June, Brent traded at more than $115. “We’ve fallen through $50 far quicker than we did through $60 and $70,” said Kash Kamal, analyst at Sucden Financial. “This seems driven by sentiment but there is also no fundamental reason to expect a bottom either.” On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February recently traded at $47.39 a barrel, down $0.56 from Tuesday’s settlement. Wednesday’s decline is the latest landmark in a six-month-long selloff spurred by booming production in the U.S. and fears that a slowdown in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple