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Libyan oil tanker struck off Singapore’s coast

Singapore released oil spill response resources after two tankers collided near busy port. UPI/A.J. Sisco.. SINGAPORE, Jan. 2 (UPI) — Maritime authorities in Singapore said Friday they deployed air surveillance teams to investigate oil spilled after two tankers collided off its coast. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said the Libyan-registered Alyarmouk collided with the Singapore carrier Sinar Kapuas in its territorial waters. "Alyarmouk reported that one of her cargo tanks sustained damage, resulting in spillage of crude oil," the port authority said in a statement. "Upon notification, MPA deployed a helicopter to assess the situation." Latest maritime traffic data show the Libyan crude oil tanker was slated to arrive in China to unload its cargo by early next week. No information was immediately available regarding the amount of oil loaded on the tanker. Maritime authorities said resources designated to respond to an oil spill have been deployed […]

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BG Group keeps Egyptian energy sector on radar

Liquefied natural gas giant BG Group says that, while operations are dwindling, it remains committed to exploring its options in Egypt. (Photo: BG Group) LONDON, Jan. 2 (UPI) — While operations there are fading, British energy company BG Group said Friday it would continue investigating options in Egypt after receiving a debt payment. BG Group said it received $350 million in debt payments from the Egyptian government, reducing its balances to around $920 million. "While the group has been impacted by the reduction of LNG exports from Egypt, the company continues to investigate options for increasing the supply of gas and is working with the government on resolving the outstanding receivable balance," the company said in a statement. A similar payment was disclosed by the company in October. In January 2014, the company said the Egyptian government wasn’t honoring agreements regarding its share of natural gas from Egyptian fields, […]

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King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Is Hospitalized With Pneumonia

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has pneumonia and needs temporary help from a breathing tube, the royal court said Friday. The king, who is 90, has a history of medical problems, and his health is scrutinized for any hint of a leadership change in Saudi Arabia , an absolute monarchy and regional American ally that is one of the world’s most important oil producers. In a statement quoted by news agencies, the royal court said the king was in stable condition at a military hospital. He was transferred there on Thursday after having been admitted to King Abdulaziz Medical City Hospital in Riyadh, the capital, on Wednesday for unspecified tests. The statement said an examination “revealed pneumonia, which required the provisional insertion of a tube on Friday evening.” It added that “that step was crowned with stability and success,” but it left unclear how long the king would remain […]

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Pemex Bondholders Bemoan $3.4 Billion Cash Grab

The Mexican government’s surprise decision to strip state-owned oil producer Petroleos Mexicanos of $3.4 billion is raising alarms for bondholders LM Capital Group LLC and Investment Placement Group. The Finance Ministry said Dec. 26 that it took the money, reducing cash holdings at the company known as Pemex to a 12-year low of 48 billion pesos ($3.3 billion). Returns on Pemex’s benchmark bonds due 2022 beat the emerging-market average last year, delivering 6.6 percent to investors on speculation that the country’s effort to lure private investment to the energy industry will reduce the company’s tax burden. To LM Capital and Investment Placement Group, the move is a cash grab by the government to offset a drop in revenue from the company amid a plunge in oil prices and the 10th straight year of declining output. During the first 11 months of 2014, taxes paid by Mexico City-based Pemex declined […]

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Failure to stop Petrobras scandal could haunt Brazil’s Rousseff

RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA (Reuters) – When federal investigators first identified signs of corruption at Petrobras in 2009, Dilma Rousseff insisted Brazil’s state-run oil company had nothing to hide. "Petrobras has one of the most accurate accounting standards in the world," said Rousseff, who was then chairwoman of its board and is now Brazil’s president. "If it wasn’t the case, investors would not be seeking out the company as one of the great investment targets." Today, it’s clear her confidence was misplaced. Petrobras now acknowledges it overpaid on contracts for years. Prosecutors say engineering firms paid bribes to win Petrobras contracts, systematically overcharged it to the tune of billions of dollars and funneled a cut of the money to corrupt executives, vendors and political parties, including Rousseff’s ruling Workers’ Party. A Reuters review of a 2009 federal investigation of Petrobras, and interviews with those who conducted it, indicates Rousseff missed […]

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Chinese data leaves oil markets bruised

Short-term decline in Chinese manufacturing activity pushed oil prices lower in the first full trading day of 2015. UPI/Stephen Shaver NEW YORK, Jan. 2 (UPI) — Crude oil prices opened 2015 down on word Chinese factory activity was slowing, while U.S. data show few signs of a slowdown in the shale oil boom. The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was down more than 1.4 percent in early trading Friday, the first full trading day of 2015. Oil has been trading in a bear market since June as markets swing to the supply side because of a weak global economy. WTI prices are at the point where some companies working in the shale oil sector of the United States may have trouble generating a profit. In a New Year’s Eve report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found production declined only in Alaska for the week ending Dec. […]

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China utilizing coal mine emissions for power

Chinese coal mine utilizing emitted methane gas as a source of electricity. UPI/Stephen Shaver BEIJING, Jan. 2 (UPI) — The world’s largest facility meant to turn methane gas from coal mines into electricity is running in China’s Shanxi province, the project leader said Friday. China’s Lu’an Group, owner of the Gaohe coal mine in the eastern province, said a 30-megawatt generator was now working to utilize 99 percent of the methane gas emitted from the mine . China gets more than half of its energy needs met by coal power, though the country has started an ambitious effort to advance a low-carbon economy. Coal mines in China emit more than 350 billion cubic feet of methane gas, a harmful greenhouse gas, every year. Mines are under pressure to curb their emissions as part of government reforms. Chinese President Xi Jinping joined U.S. President Barack Obama in late 2014 to […]

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US Expected To Increase Oil Production In 2015 Despite Declining Oil Prices

US Expected To Increase Oil Production In 2015 Despite Declining Oil Prices thumbnail Oil prices continue to fall, but don’t expect the U.S. to curtail its production in 2015. In fact, a recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration suggests that U.S. oil production will grow in 2015. Through an analysis of oil permits, rig movement and the groundbreaking of new drilling projects, known as spudding, in North Dakota, a state that is home to some of the most active production fields in the country, the EIA’s “Drilling Productivity Report” found that U.S. oil production should continue to increase in 2015. The agency is expecting U.S. crude oil production to average 9.3 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2015, which would be an increase of 0.7 million bbl/d from 2014, but down from expected growth of 0.9 million bbl/d in last month’s Short-Term Energy Outlook . The survey […]

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Falling Crude Prices Force Ethanol Makers to Take It on the Chin

ENLARGE Falling profit margins for the $40 billion U.S. ethanol industry may cause some companies to scale back production in 2015. Bloomberg News Tumbling oil prices are bringing unwelcome tidings to one of the U.S. Farm Belt’s hottest industries. Ethanol makers are bracing for a drop in earnings as cheap crude pushes down the prices they fetch from refiners to blend the corn-based fuel additive into gasoline. Ethanol producers also face a recent jump in the price of corn, their main raw material. Falling profit margins for the $40 billion U.S. ethanol industry may cause some companies to scale back production in 2015, analysts and industry executives say. Still, many observers think ethanol demand may remain steady or even rise if cheap gasoline spurs U.S. motorists to drive more, tempering the hit to ethanol earnings. Crude-oil prices slid 20% in December to about $53 a barrel and fell 46% […]

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Why Gas Feels Cheap—and Why It’s Not, Historically Speaking

ENLARGE U.S. gasoline prices are the lowest they’ve been in five years. And they feel even cheaper because they come on the heels of the highest gas prices consumers have paid in three decades. In 2012, the national annual average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas—the yardstick for gauging prices—hit a high of $3.77, capping a series of years in which the average exceeded $3 a gallon. Before that, the last time the average was so high was in the early 1980s when, adjusted for inflation, it topped $3.60. That’s why today’s prices feel so affordable. On New Year’s Day, the national daily average was $2.23 a gallon, according to Gas Buddy , a website that publishes real-time prices, and in many places the cost was substantially lower. Nearly 30% of the 130,000 vendors tracked by Gas Buddy across the country, or about 38,200 stations, were selling gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple