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Quakes in Gas Fields Ignored for Years, Dutch Agency Finds

Dutch gas fields The Groningen field lies under a 900 square-kilometre area in the northern part of the Netherlands. Gas field image via shutterstock . Reproduced on Resilience.org with permission. A report from the Dutch Safety Board has accused the oil and gas industry and Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs of willfully downplaying the risk of earthquakes caused by the rapid depletion of Europe’s largest gas field. The board’s conclusions offer lessons for other regions coping with earthquakes caused by fluid injection and hydraulic fracturing. Ever since the shale gas industry changed the seismic record of states and provinces like Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and British Columbia, many industry lobbyists and regulators have been quick to deny and dismiss citizen’s concerns about the seismic hazards. The Groningen field, which lies under a 900 square-kilometre area in the northern part of the Netherlands, has been drained by a consortium — Nederlandse […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Year the Dam of Denial Breaks on Climate Change

Flood water image via shutterstock. Reproduced at Resilience.org iwth permission. This is the year the “dam of denial” will break and the momentum for climate action will become an unstoppable flood. It will be messy, confusing and endlessly debated but with historical hindsight, 2015 will be the year. The year the world turned, primarily because the market woke up to the economic threat posed by climate change and the economic opportunity in the inevitable decline of fossil fuels. That shift will in turn unlock government policy and public opinion because the previous resistance to action argued on economic grounds, will reverse to  favour  action on economic grounds. Before I argue for this conclusion, let me explain what I mean by the “dam of denial” and why the concept is so important to understanding what’s underway. Anyone who “gets” the urgency of the climate issue and the scale of economic […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil prices dip as worries over U.S. oversupply drag

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices dipped on Monday on worries about oversupply in North America, with Brent futures testing support around $60 a barrel and U.S. contracts hovering around $50.70. After an initial rise on Monday along with global markets on optimism that another euro zone crisis over Greek debt had been averted for now, prices began dipping as analysts said crude markets remained oversupplied, especially in the United States, where inventories are at record highs. Benchmark U.S. WTI crude futures were trading down 9 cents at $50.72 a barrel by 0745 GMT. Brent crude was trading 5 cents lower at $60.17. Several banks on Monday said they expected prices to keep falling. "We expect prices to head back below $50/bbl in the coming weeks, with a target of $43/bbl over the next 2-3 months," ANZ said. Barclays also said the market would weaken again in the near future. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Crude Prices Start Week in the Red

NEW YORK—Oil prices slid Monday on concerns about rising crude inventories, while diesel prices jumped as cold weather in the Northeast boosted demand. Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled down $1.36, or 2.7%, to $49.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, fell $1.32, or 2.2%, to $58.90 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. A rally in crude-oil prices halted last week after U.S. data showed that domestic crude inventories are at their highest in about 80 years. “Troubles continue to grow for the U.S. crude market,” Morgan Stanley said in a weekly report, adding that U.S. data on supply and drilling are “likely to appear ominous” in the coming weeks. Prices briefly spiked Monday afternoon on a Financial Times report that the president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could call an emergency meeting of the cartel if oil prices […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Diesel Jumps to Two-Month High as Weather Affects Supply

(Bloomberg) — Diesel jumped to a two-month high in New York as cold weather reduced supply from area refineries and boosted heating demand. Futures gained as much as 6.2 percent as below-normal temperatures curtailed operations at plants including Phillips 66’s Bayway site in New Jersey. Ice also delayed fuel shipments to New York Harbor, according to the Coast Guard. Front-month futures’ premium over the second-month contract jumped to a record. New York is the delivery point for U.S. diesel and gasoline futures and the hub for supplies delivered into the northeast. The increase in prices has made it profitable to ship diesel and heating oil from Europe to the East Coast, according to Energy Aspects Ltd., KBC Energy Economics and FGE. “The weather is impacting both refinery operations and the ability to deliver imported diesel cargoes,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC, an energy consulting firm […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Slips as Supplies Remain Ample

By Nicole Friedman NEW YORK–Natural-gas futures declined Monday as traders weighed the currently oversupplied market against expectations that frigid weather has boosted demand for the heating fuel. March futures fell 7.2 cents, or 2.4%, to settle at $2.879 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose as high as $3.039/mmBtu in overnight trading. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, and cold weather can cause price spikes as utilities and other buyers compete for supplies. This winter, robust production and moderate temperatures have kept prices subdued. Unusually cold weather settling in across the Midwest and East Coast in recent weeks has boosted prices somewhat. Weather forecasts released Monday showed a colder outlook for the next six to 10 days, and below-normal temperatures are expected to persist in the next 11 to 15 days, said Gaithersburg, Md.-based forecaster MDA […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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NYMEX March gas futures settle at $2.879/MMBtu, down 7.2 cents

Houston (Platts)–23Feb2015/338 pm EST/2038 GMT The NYMEX March natural gas futures contract settled at $2.879/MMBtu Monday, down 7.2 cents, as traders continued to show concern about oversupply, despite current heavy weather-driven demand. "Traders will assume that oversupplied conditions persist until they are proved incorrect," said Aaron Calder, Gelber & Associates analyst. "The last five withdrawals have indicated oversupply, a powerful trend. Even though there is evidence to suggest freeze-offs and fuel-switching will lead to undersupplied withdrawals in the coming weeks, the burden of proof is on the disruption of the status quo." WSI’s 11- to 15-day forecast calls for below-normal temperatures over most of the US from the central Rockies to the East Coast, except for the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast. The National Weather Service’s six- to 10-day forecast calls for strong chances for below-normal temperatures across almost all of the US except for the Gulf Coast and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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OPEC Said Not to Plan Emergency Meeting Amid Falling Oil Prices

(Bloomberg) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has no plans to hold an emergency meeting amid falling oil prices, according to a delegate from the group. Crude prices have dropped almost 50 percent from a June peak as OPEC refused to cut production and U.S. output reached a three-decade high. There have been no concrete discussions about holding an emergency meeting, said the delegate, who asked not to be identified because the group’s talks are private. OPEC’s next regular meeting is on June 5. Brent futures dropped $1.32 to $58.90 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices rebounded to gain 45 cents in intraday trading after OPEC President Diezani Alison-Madueke said in an interview with the Financial Times that she will call a meeting if prices keep declining. “An emergency meeting would suggest that they are going to do something to support the market,” said Bill O’Grady, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil slide could trigger Opec emergency meeting

Diezani Alison-Madueke Members of Opec have discussed holding an emergency meeting if crude continues to slide , according to Nigeria’s oil minister, in a sign of their growing alarm over the impact of a lower oil price on their economies. The comments by Diezani Alison-Madueke come three months after the cartel’s decision to hold production at 30m barrels a day, even as the oil price has plunged since mid-June. That move, driven by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, marked a sharp deviation from Opec’s traditional strategy of adjusting production to keep prices high. The group’s main objective is now to defend market share, despite dramatically reduced revenues. The price plunge has forced energy companies all over the world to rewrite their investment plans , and caused a major slowdown in the US shale oil industry. But it has also thrown the fiscal balances of big oil producers such […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran Nuclear Talks Make Progress, Says U.S. Official

GENEVA—A nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers would keep Tehran 12 months away from amassing enough nuclear material for a bomb for a minimum of 10 years, a senior U.S. official said Monday. After a weekend of nuclear talks in Geneva between senior Iranian and U.S. diplomats, the official said progress had been made, including on some of the toughest issues. However the person said “there are very tough issues still. As I said, we still have a long way to go.” Iran and the six powers have until late March to agree the framework of a deal. A full, comprehensive accord must be signed by June 30. At the center of the talks is an effort to push back Iran’s nuclear activities so that they are at least a year away from amassing enough nuclear fuel for a bomb. In return, tight international sanctions on Iran […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple