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Apache’s 2015 capital budget less than half of last year’s $8.5 billion

HOUSTON, Feb. 12 02/12/2015 Apache Corp. , Houston, plans a capital budget of $3.6-4 billion in 2015, with $2.1-2.3 billion directed toward onshore North America and $1.5-1.7 billion for international and offshore. The new budget is down significantly from last year’s $8.5 billion. The company lost $5.4 billion on the year, compared with earnings of $2.2 billion in 2013. In the fourth quarter, the company reported a net loss of $4.8 billion, compared with earnings of $174 million in fourth-quarter 2013. After reducing its rig count from an average of 91 in last year’s third quarter to an estimated 27 by the end of February, Apache plans to run an average of 17 rigs onshore North America in 2015. The company is also reducing its frac crews by 50% during the same time period and delaying some well completions until service costs decrease materially. “In 2015, Apache will run […]

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US House vote sends Keystone XL approval bill to Obama’s desk

WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 12 02/12/2015 The US House of Representatives voted by 270 to 152 to pass S. 1 , which would deem the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline approved more than 6 years after sponsor TransCanada Corp. applied for its presidential crossborder permit. The Feb. 11 action sends the measure to US President Barack Obama’s desk, where it is likely to be vetoed. GOP energy leaders on both side of the Capitol nevertheless urged Obama to approve the bill. “Now that Congress has spoken overwhelmingly in favor of closer energy ties with Canada, it’s time for President Obama to make a decision,” Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) said. She said, “To me, this is a pretty simple choice between job creation and greater energy security on one hand or more of the status quo on the other.” House Energy and Commerce Committee […]

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U.S. retail sales weak, consumer spending gauge barely rises

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer spending barely rose in January as households cut back on purchases of a range of goods, suggesting the economy started the first quarter on a softer note. The Commerce Department said on Thursday retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services edged up 0.1 percent last month after a 0.3 percent drop in December. The so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product. "Overall, the tone of this report was disappointing as it points to a weak start to spending activity this year, despite the significant boost to disposable income from lower gasoline prices," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York. Wall Street had expected core retail sales to increase 0.4 percent last month. The soft reading could see economists trim their forecasts for first-quarter GDP growth. The economy […]

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As U.S. oil tanks swell at record rate, traders ask: for how long?

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil is flooding into U.S. storage tanks at an unprecedented rate, leading traders to wonder how long the hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, can keep absorbing its share of the global supply glut. About half the surplus crude accumulating in tanks across the United States is flowing into Cushing. If the build-up continues at the same rate, some industry officials and sources said, the tanks could reach maximum capacity by early April. Others suggest the flow might continue until July before it tests the limits of the dozens of steel-hulled storage tanks clustered in mid-Oklahoma. Traders have been scrambling to secure space at Cushing so they can store oil purchased at current low prices and sell it in a year at a profit exceeding $11 a barrel because the oil market has been in a structure known as contango. In January, crude oil arriving by pipeline […]

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TransCanada Plans to Seek U.S. Approval for New Pipeline Project

ENLARGE Despite the yearslong fight over Keystone XL, TransCanada plans to ask the U.S. government to permit a new and different pipeline project. Photo: Reuters The company behind the Keystone XL pipeline plans to ask the U.S. government to permit a new and different pipeline project. Despite the yearslong fight over Keystone XL, TransCanada Corp. will apply to the U.S. State Department to build a 200-mile pipeline from North Dakota’s booming oil fields across the border into Canada to connect to another proposed pipeline, according to a person briefed on the plan. In its earnings report Friday, the company will announce it is proposing the $600 million Upland Pipeline Project, which aims to transport up to 300,000 barrels a day of North Dakota crude to a connection in Saskatchewan, according to the person briefed on the plan. From there, the oil can flow on TransCanada’s planned Energy East pipeline, […]

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Today’s drought in the West is nothing compared to what may be coming

NASA forecasts megadroughts in U.S.(2:39) NASA forecasts megadroughts in U.S. (2:39) NASA scientists studied past droughts and climate models incorporating soil moisture data to estimate future drought risk. According to NASA’s study, "droughts in the U.S. Southwest and Central Plains during the last half of this century could be drier and longer than drought conditions seen in those regions in the last 1,000 years." (NASA Goddard via YouTube) The long and severe drought in the U.S. Southwest pales in comparison with what’s coming: a “megadrought” that will grip that region and the central plains later this century and probably stay there for decades, a new study says. Thirty-five years from now, if the current pace of climate change continues unabated, those areas of the country will experience a weather shift that will linger for as long as three decades, according to the study, released Thursday. Researchers from NASA and […]

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US ‘at risk of mega-drought future’

American society would need to find strategies to cope with droughts that lasted decades Related Stories The American south-west and central plains could be on course for super-droughts the like of which they have not witnessed in over a 1,000 years. Places like California are already facing very dry conditions, but these are quite gentle compared with some periods in the 12th and 13th Centuries. Scientists have now compared these earlier droughts with climate simulations for the coming decades. The study suggests events unprecedented in the last millennium may lie ahead. "These mega-droughts during the 1100s and 1200s persisted for 20, 30, 40, 50 years at a time, and they were droughts that no-one in the history of the United States has ever experienced," said Ben Cook from Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "The droughts that people do know about like the 1930s ‘dustbowl’ or the 1950s drought […]

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Mitsubishi introduces Concept GC-PHEV SUV to North America

« Porsche names GKN Driveline “Technology Partner” for eAxle system in 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid supercar | Main | Study: stopping at red lights exposes drivers to high levels of particulates » Concept GC-PHEV. Click to enlarge. Mitsubishi staged the North American debut of its Concept GC-PHEV (“Grand Cruiser”)—a next-generation full-size crossover plug-in hybrid. ( Earlier post .) The Concept GC-PHEV features a supercharged 3.0-liter V-6 gasoline engine paired with a high-output electric motor; 12 kWh lithium-ion battery; 8-speed automatic transmission; and Mitsubishi Motors’ advanced full-time Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) all-wheel drive. The PHEV drivetrain offers high performance (335 bhp/250 kW) combined with excellent fuel economy. For additional power optimization with reduced exhaust emissions, the 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 engine benefits from the latest iteration of Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control (MIVEC) variable valve timing. The system’s high-capacity main drive lithium-ion battery pack can also act as a mobile […]

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Gazprom seeks Ukrainian gas payments

With cease-fire deal, and IMF package in hand, Russian energy company Gazprom says it’s time Ukraine settle its debt. UPI/Ivan Vakolenko MOSCOW, Feb. 12 (UPI) — With a $17.5 billion agreement from the International Monetary Fund in hand, Russian gas company Gazprom said Thursday it was time Ukraine settled its debt. "The economic reform program focuses on immediate macroeconomic stabilization as well as broad and deep structural reforms to provide the basis for strong and sustainable economic growth over the medium term," IMF Mission Chief for Ukraine Nikolay Gueorguiev said in a statement. Political upheaval that followed Kiev’s pivot toward the European Union in November 2013 left an already-battered Ukrainian economy in shambles. The IMF said Ukraine’s economy contracted by about 7 percent in gross domestic product last year as conflict drags on in the east of the country. This, in turn, has taken its toll on industries and […]

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Ukraine Peace Talks Yield Cease-Fire Deal

After 17 hours of negotiations, the leaders of France and Germany brokered a renewed cease-fire deal to end Ukraine’s 10-month conflict with pro-Russia separatists. MINSK, Belarus—Germany and France brokered a deal with Russia on Thursday to end nearly a year of fighting in Ukraine, but warned there was still much to do to ensure that it doesn’t fall apart the way the last one did. The revived cease-fire—to start Sunday—offers new hope for peace between Kiev and Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, although many questions remained following more than 16 hours of overnight negotiations. The rebels appeared to have won significant gains, including control over much of the ground they have taken in recent months and over the border with Russia, at least through the end of this year. For Kiev, the deal offers a chance to end a costly and bloody conflict in which Moscow has shown it […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple