Category:

Natural Gas Rallies on Winter Chill

(Adds details and price table.) By Timothy Puko Natural gas rallied to a two-week high Friday as weather forecasts suggested a spreading Arctic chill could both increase heating demand and reduce gas production. The front-month March contract settled up 9.1 cents, or 3.4%, at $2.804 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Four winning sessions out of five put gas up 8.7% for the week, its largest one-week gains since November. Gas had posted losses as large as 2.1% Friday morning but started to reverse around 10 a.m. EST. The rally accelerated around noon. Noon weather updates showed even colder weather than already anticipated, WeatherBELL Analytics LLC said in a note to clients. About half of all U.S. homes use natural gas for home heating, making winter cold one of the biggest drivers for demand. Arctic air is going to cover most of the East […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Fossil-Fuel Limits Emerge as Target for Deal on Warming

A coal-fired power plant in Winfield, West Virginia. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Envoys from some 190 nations are taking more seriously the idea of setting a goal for phasing out the pollution from fossil fuels, lending support to the movement against investments in oil and coal companies. After a week of discussions in Geneva, delegates convened by the United Nations adopted an 86-page draft document with options including the near-elimination of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 or 2100 — or to suck the most destructive fumes out of the atmosphere by 2080. While the text marks only the starting point of discussions, that fossil-fuel limits have been given such prominence in the talks is an indication the envoys are looking to ratchet up ambitions for a deal they wish to conclude in December in Paris. No nation publicly endorsed the text though almost all contributed to it. “It’s hard […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

IEA Names Chief Economist Birol as New Executive Director

(Bloomberg) — The International Energy Agency’s Chief Economist Fatih Birol will replace Maria Van Der Hoeven as Executive Director in September. Birol, 56, who joined the IEA 20 years ago, has responsibility for its annual World Energy Outlook, which makes long-term forecasts on global energy supply, the Paris-based organization said in an e-mailed statement. His prior work at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna gives him a “unique perspective on the producer-consumer relationship,” the IEA said. “An outstanding choice, given his experience, knowledge, and the fact that he is very personable,” Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts said by e-mail. Birol has “a very cordial relation with his counterparts in OPEC.” Birol’s appointment comes at a time of turmoil in energy markets following the near 50 percent slump in crude prices last year, due in part to surging oil supply from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shale gas and tight oil are commercially produced in just four countries

Graph of type of estimated natural gas and crude oil production in four countries in 2014, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration calculations with data from DrillingInfo, Canadian National Energy Board, Cedigaz, Fact Global Energy China Monthly, Chevron, and Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Note: Actual production from Canada through October 2014. November and December 2014 totals estimated. Canadian shale gas production total includes the Montney formation. Republished February 13, 2015, 10:30 a.m. to clarify China and Argentina’s production of shale gas and tight oil, respectively. The United States, Canada, China, and Argentina are currently the only four countries in the world that are producing commercial volumes of either natural gas from shale formations (shale gas) or crude oil from tight formations (tight oil). The United States is by far the dominant producer of both shale gas and tight oil. Canada is the only other country […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Two Libyan Oil Fields Attacked

Two Libyan oil fields were attacked on Friday, Libyan oil officials said, in a fresh wave of violence targeting the North African country’s vital energy sector. The Libyan oil officials said guards repelled gunmen who assaulted the Bahi oil field operated by Waha Oil Co., a joint venture between the state-owned National Oil Co. and U.S. companies ConocoPhillips , Marathon Oil Corp. and Hess Corp. Meanwhile, the neighboring Mabruk oil field, operated by a Libyan joint venture with France’s Total SA, was stormed, officials said. “Smoke is coming out of the Mabruk field,” one official said. No one claimed responsibility for Friday’s attacks. Mabruk was also assaulted on Feb. 3 in what Libyan officials described as a coordinated terrorist attack. Nine guards were killed and three workers were taken hostage, officials said. A group claiming to represent Islamic State took responsibility for that attack on Mabruk. Libya’s oil production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

ISIS Attacks Iraqi Base Used by U.S. Trainers

ENLARGE Iraqi army soldiers on Nov. 11, 2014, at al-Asad airbase. On Friday, Islamic State militants made the most direct attack on a base used by U.S. forces since the current conflict began. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images WASHINGTON—Islamic State militants wearing Iraqi military uniforms and suicide vests attacked an Iraqi air base where U.S. military advisers are training Iraq’s security forces, the most direct attack on a base used by U.S. forces since the current conflict began. The attack came a day after Islamic State militants took control of a town near the base, the first new territorial gain by the group in Iraq in many weeks, officials said. On Friday, a group of 20 to 25 Islamic State militants, many dressed in Iraqi army uniforms, attacked the edge of the huge al-Asad Air Base before being repelled by Iraqi security forces, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Yemen clashes kill 26 as embassy closures continue

SANAA (Reuters) – Clashes between Shi’ite Houthi militiamen and Sunni tribesmen fighting alongside Al Qaeda militants killed 26 people in Yemen, local officials said, as the United Arab Emirates joined Saudi Arabia and Western countries in closing its embassy in the country. Heavy fighting was ongoing in the southern mountainous province of al-Bayda, leading to the death of 16 Houthi rebels along with 10 Sunni tribesmen and militants, security officials and tribal sources told Reuters. The state faces collapse in Yemen two weeks after the Houthi group took formal control of the country and continued an armed push southward. France, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia have closed their missions in the capital Sanaa and withdrawn staff, citing security concerns. The United Arab Emirates announced the closure of its embassy in Sanaa on Saturday, state news agency WAM said. It cited "the increasing deterioration of the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Sudan to Cancel Presidential Election Amid Civil War

(Bloomberg) — South Sudan’s government plans to cancel presidential elections scheduled for June 30 and extend its own term by two years amid efforts to end the conflict in the oil-producing country. “In our quest for peace, the cabinet has decided to call off the elections and extend the lifespan of the elected positions so that we give peace a chance,” Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told reporters today in the capital, Juba. The main opposition party welcomed the move. President Salva Kiir and the legislature’s tenures will be extended until July 9, 2017, Lueth said. Lawmakers will vote next week on a constitutional amendment for the government to continue without elections, he said in a phone interview. South Sudan has been engulfed by conflict since December 2013, when a power struggle within the ruling party turned violent. After Kiir arrested rivals for allegedly plotting a coup and ethnic […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Venezuela Said Weighing Tax Relief for Drillers to Lure Spending

(Bloomberg) — Venezuela is considering a request from oil companies to cut taxes as a way of coping with a crash in prices and encouraging investments, according to an industry association official with direct knowledge on the matter. The proposal is to lower royalties and extraction taxes to 20 percent from 30 percent, said the official from hydrocarbon association AVHI, who attended meetings with authorities last week and asked not to be named in line with AVHI policy. Facing a shortage of dollars for servicing debt after oil fell 46 percent in the past six months, Venezuela is looking at ways to attract more investment from the national oil company’s joint venture partners. Private companies have held back investments amid currency controls, surging inflation and late payments. Oil accounts for 96 percent of Venezuelan exports. Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment on the proposal. The press […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Brazil faces water disaster; scientists warned it was coming

Brazil faces water disaster; scientists warned it was coming thumbnail Brazil’s largest city is facing a water shortage this year unlike it has seen in decades — a potential disaster scientists have warned about as far back as the 1980s. The metropolitan area of Sao Paulo, the world’s 12th-largest metro population at more than 20 million, is served by two main natural water systems — the Cantareira and Alto Tiete reservoir networks, which barely have any water in them, The Guardian reported this week . The Cantareira is only 5 percent full, and the Tiete is at less than 15 percent of capacity. This is an issue that water conservation advocates and scientists have warned about for decades. The Brazilian government has undertaken moderate efforts over the last 25 years to improve the drought conditions but they have had a limited impact. Experts say the drought could be catastrophic, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple