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New European gas pipeline progressing

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Planning consortium invites bidders for construction of new gas pipeline for the European market. (UPI/Shutterstock/tcly) ZUG, Switzerland, March 3 (UPI) — Planners behind a new natural gas pipeline for the European market said contractors are invited to bid on offshore construction work in the Adriatic Sea. "I am delighted to invite companies, including those from TAP’s host countries, to submit expressions of interest [for offshore work]," Knut Steinar Kvindesland, procurement director for the Trans Adriatic pipeline, said in a Tuesday statement. The TAP project consortium said it’s inviting companies to bid on the construction and supply of 65 miles of pipeline through the Adriatic Sea. The greatest depth of the planned pipeline section between the coasts of Albania and southern Italy is about one half mile. British energy company BP leads a project consortium tapping into natural gas off the coast of […]

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Rosneft Posts Sharply Lower Net

MOSCOW—Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft’s net profit in 2014 fell by more than a quarter, the company said Wednesday, citing lower oil prices, a weaker ruble and slowing growth at home. Its net income dropped 28.5% to $9.3 billion, although revenue declined just 0.1% to $146.7 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, were down 1.7% at $29 billion. Rosneft didn’t provide fourth-quarter figures. The company said its hydrocarbon production climbed 4.8% to 5.12 million barrels of oil equivalent per day last year. It said it modernized production facilities, allowing it to pump more oil at older “brownfields.” Rosneft said it has begun drilling in the Universitetskaya-1 field in Russia’s Arctic Kara Sea, despite U.S. sanctions that bar American companies from providing services, goods and technology for Arctic drilling projects in Russia. Rosneft and Exxon Mobil Corp. ’s joint venture found major amounts of oil […]

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Russia’s economy isn’t in tatters

Western politicians and pundits should be more careful with their predictions for the Russian economy: Reports of its demise may prove to be premature. Bashing the Russian economy has lately become a popular pastime. In his state of the nation address last month, U.S. President Barack Obama said it was “in tatters.” And last week, Anders Aslund of the Peterson Institute for International Economics published an article predicting a 10 percent drop in gross domestic product this year — more or less in line with the apocalyptic predictions that prevailed when the oil price reached its nadir late last year and the ruble was in free fall. Aslund’s forecast focuses on Russia’s shrinking currency reserves, some of which have been earmarked for supporting government spending in difficult times. At $364.6 billion, they are down 26 percent from a year ago and $21.6 billion from the beginning of this year. […]

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Norway’s Oil Sector Confirms Spending Cuts

By Kjetil Malkenes Hovland OSLO–Norway’s oil and gas companies expect spending to drop 12% this year after reaching an all-time high in 2014, an official survey showed Thursday, as plunging oil prices compound an expected slowdown after years of double-digit growth. In 2015, oil companies operating in Norway, the world’s 10th-largest oil exporter, expect to invest 189.05 billion Norwegian kroner ($24.34 billion) in the industry, according to Statistics Norway’s first-quarter survey. Oil companies said they planned to spend less than previously expected on exploration and the operation of existing fields, likely due to the plunge in oil prices since last June, the statistics agency said. The survey was roughly in line with expectations. Spending last year reached at an all-time high at 214.31 billion kroner, but was up only 1% from the previous year, compared with double-digit percentage growth in each of the preceding three years. Industry association Norwegian […]

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Industry response to peak oil not enough long term

By Robert and Sonia Vogl President and Vice President, Illinois Renewable Energy Association We were asked recently if peak oil remains an issue. Just as cold weather stimulates doubt regarding climate change the current low price of oil stimulates doubt about peak conventional oil. Such short-term anomalies confuse the public and bring out a new round of denials regarding the existence of these long-term trends. Researchers documenting peak conventional oil provide data indicating it occurred around 2005. Since then the production of conventional oil has been virtually flat. The dramatic increase in the production of oil shale in the United States obscured recognition of the long term implications of the drop in conventional oil supplies. As major independent oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Shell spent more money on developing new sources of oil the actual amount of oil secured per capital expenditure declined. In response, oil companies […]

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So Much for Hubbert’s Peak Oil Theory: $20 Per Barrel Oil Soon?

All right, the headline might be a tad hasty. Nevertheless, geologist M. King Hubbert famously (and so far) correctly predicted in 1956 that U.S. domestic oil production in the lower 48 states would peak around 1970 and begin to decline. In 1969 Hubbert predicted that world oil production would peak around 2000. Hubbert argued that oil production grows until half the recoverable resources in a field have been extracted, after which production falls off at essentially the same rate at which it expanded. This theory suggests a bell-shaped curve rising from first discovery to peak and descending to depletion. In fact, daily U.S. oil production did “peak” at an average 9.6 million barrels in 1971. In January, U.S. production averaged about 9.2 million barrels per day. If Hubbert were right this should not be happening. The problem with Hubbert’s analysis and that of his many peak oilist devotees is […]

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Brent dips, holds above $60 after Saudi price increases

LONDON (Reuters) – Brent dipped on Wednesday but held above $60 a barrel, supported by a rise in Saudi crude prices and air strikes and militant raids on oil facilities in Libya. In a move widely seen as showing Saudi Arabia’s confidence in a demand recovery, the OPEC kingpin raised official selling prices (OSPs) for its oil deliveries to Asia and the United States on Tuesday. "This is a sign that prices have bottomed out because it means Saudi is confident in raising prices without being afraid of losing market share," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo. In the past seven weeks, Brent crude LCOc1 has risen from a six-year low near $45 to hold above $60 a barrel, despite continued concern about global oversupply. The April Brent contract was down 49 cents at $60.53 by 0405 ET, after rising 2.5 percent on Tuesday. […]

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Oil Futures Rangebound Ahead U.S. Stockpiling Data

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures moved in a narrow price range in Asian trade Wednesday ahead of U.S. inventory numbers, with Brent crude slightly lower after posting gains in the previous session. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $50.62 a barrel at 0416 GMT, up $0.10 in the Globex electronic session. Brent crude for April delivery on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.27 to $60.75 a barrel. Both oil benchmarks had settled higher on Monday. Oil market participants remain divided on whether the latest rally in prices, especially for Brent crude, can be sustained. "The main question is whether oil prices have started to bottom out, or whether it is too soon to make this call. We believe the latter," ABN Amro said in a report. It said the recent price recovery is driven partly by speculation and nothing […]

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Natural Gas Prices Edge Up, Boosted by Strong Winter Demand

By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices inched higher Tuesday, boosted by strong winter demand and dwindling stockpiles. Natural gas for April delivery settled up 1.4 cents, or 0.5%, at $2.712 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded within a 7-cent range, part of a trend of declining volatility. "We’re stuck in a little bit of a no-man’s land," said Frank Clements, co-owner of Meridian Energy Brokers Inc. Private weather forecasts are showing normal and above-normal temperatures for nearly the entire country starting in the second half of March. It could be the end of an arctic chill across the eastern half of the country that led to the coldest February in about 30 years. Half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heat, making winter cold one of the market’s biggest drivers for demand. Winter demand is still strong. Sub-zero temperatures could hit […]

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Oil Prices Settle Higher

Oil prices rose Tuesday after Saudi Arabia raised the official prices for its oil, suggesting that demand is firm. U.S. oil for April delivery settled up 93 cents, or 1.9%, at $50.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global price benchmark, rose $1.48, or 2.5%, to $61.02 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. Saudi Arabia raised the price of its light oil for April delivery by $1 a barrel in the U.S. and $1.40 a barrel in Asia. In recent months, Saudi prices have been closely watched as an indicator of the country’s strategy. Saudi Arabia opted not to reduce production as prices plunged in recent months, fueling perceptions that the country is trying to force U.S. shale-oil producers to cut back instead. The kingdom also cut its prices to the U.S. last year and has lowered its prices for Asian buyers for months. […]

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Oil prices recover from Monday’s loss

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Oil markets still favoring the supply side, though prices recovering somewhat from late January lows. Photo by Kyle Waters/Shutterstock NEW YORK, March 3 (UPI) — Geopolitical issues helped oil prices recover ground lost during the previous session, with Brent crude oil moving Tuesday back above $60 per barrel. Brent entered March on a down note as the rally that began in early February lost steam. Markets rebounded Tuesday, however, as talks continue on Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Iran’s crude oil production is curtailed by sanctions. Ukraine, meanwhile, avoided a short-term natural gas crisis after debt talks with Russian and European negotiators. Brent, the global benchmark, moved up 2.4 percent from the previous close to $61 per barrel early in the Tuesday session. The Bank of England, meanwhile, warned investors should be wary of long-term bets in fossil fuels as major economies embrace […]

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Egypt to Pay Back Its Oil-Company Debt by Mid-2016 – Minister

By Summer Said Egypt plans to repay its $3.1 billion debt to international energy companies operating in the country by mid-2016, almost a year later than initially planned, the country’s oil minister said. "We have already reduced the debt from $6.3 billion at the start of 2013 to $3.1 billion at the end of last year," Oil Minister Sherif Ismail told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. "We have no certain timetable for the next payments but we plan to pay back the entire amount by mid next year." Since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and the turmoil that ensued, Egypt has struggled to pay foreign energy companies that provide oil and gas for its domestic market, including: BP PLC (BP), Apache Corp. (APA), BG Group (BG.LN) and Dana Gas PJSC (DANA.AD), an energy company based in the United Arab Emirates. Egyptian officials hope the […]

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KRG receives first 2015 budget payment

A worker walks on an oil pipeline at the Khurmala Dome formation of the Kirkuk oil field on Dec. 13, 2013. (STRINGER/Reuters) The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has received its first 2015 budget payment from Iraq’s federal treasury.Ahmed Abdulrahman, spokesman for KRG Minister of Finance Rebaz Hamlan, confirmed that 250 billion Iraqi dinars ($208.3 million) was received on Thursday, and went toward making overdue payments to public sector employees."We used the money to complete December payments of six ministries, the three presidencies and retired civil servants," Abdulrahman said.Under Iraq’s 20…

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Netanyahu Speech Raises Burden for Obama on Iran Nuclear Talks

WASHINGTON — President Obama ’s task of selling a potential nuclear agreement with Iran to a skeptical Congress became far harder on Tuesday after an impassioned speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to lawmakers already nervous about the deal. “The president has a very heavy burden of persuasion here,” said former Representative Lee H. Hamilton, a Democrat and the onetime chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who now directs Indiana University’s Center on Congress. “That task is made much more difficult when a powerful case is stated against the emerging deal, as the prime minister has done.” Although Mr. Hamilton said he doubted many minds were changed by Mr. Netanyahu’s words, he said that “what a speech like this does is reinforces and intensifies the opposition at a critical point.” To be sure, others argued that Mr. Netanyahu’s address would have an effect opposite to the […]

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Iraqi Campaign to Drive ISIS From Tikrit Reveals Tensions With U.S.

BAGHDAD — Tensions between Iraq and the United States over how to battle the Islamic State broke into the open on Tuesday, as Iraqi officials declared that they would fight on their own timetable with or without American help, and as United States warplanes conspicuously sat out the biggest Iraqi counteroffensive yet amid concerns over Iran’s prominent role. On Monday, Iraq launched a politically sensitive operation to oust Islamic State militants from Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, without seeking American approval, officials said. Even as Iraq was taking a first step into a bigger battle to oust the Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, it was also signaling that its alliance with the United States might be more fraught than officials had let on. American officials, for their part, voiced unease with the prominent role of Iran and its allied Shiite militias in the Tikrit operation. […]

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Saudi Arabia ups official oil prices amid signs of stronger demand

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia raised the official selling prices (OSPs) for its oil deliveries to Asia and the United States on Tuesday, in the latest signal OPEC’s largest exporter is seeing signs of stronger demand. The Kingdom raised all U.S.-bound crude prices by $1 a barrel and hiked extra-light crude oil to Asia by $1.40 a barrel, in a vote of confidence oil demand is growing in two of its biggest markets following the price crash since June. While the increase was largely anticipated by traders amid other signs of robust demand, it bolsters the impression Saudi Arabia is comfortable with the rebound in Brent crude to around $60 a barrel after hitting a six-year low of $45 in January. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members sharply cut OSPs in 2014 as the group decided to fight fast-growing U.S. shale producers for market share, abandoning its policy […]

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Iraq Troops Enter Tikrit, Drive Islamic State From Oilfields

(Bloomberg) — Iraqi forces entered the central city of Tikrit in an attempt to drive out Islamic State militants, and regained control of two oilfields in the region, a local official said. Iraqi forces entered Tikrit from the north and south, and took control of several sites including the police academy and hospital, Khalid al-Khazraji, deputy chief of security in Salahuddin province, said by phone. Another three or four days may be needed to gain full control of the city, he said. The Ajeel and Hamrin-Alas oilfields in Salahuddin were recaptured on Tuesday and are under the control of soldiers backed by local militias and tribes,al-Khazraji said. Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, fell to Islamic State during its initial surge of conquest in northern Iraq in June last year. Iraq’s government this week announced a major military offensive to recapture it, with army units backed by pro-Iranian Shiite militias. While […]

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Iraq seeks bond revenue to make delayed IOC payments

Iraqi Minister of Oil Adil Abd al-Mahdi (R) takes a tour of Basra Gulf export platforms on Sept. 21, 2014, (HAIDAR MOHAMMED ALI/AFP/Getty Images) Iraq is planning to borrow billions of dollars to make payments to international oil companies, which have been delayed due to a severe financial crisis."The Oil Ministry has the right to ask his excellency the prime minister and the minister of finance to issue treasury bonds worth $12 billion," said Oil Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi at a press conference Sunday. "We have started this process, in order to cover the payments to the companies."Some oil companies have not received payments th…

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Nigeria: Govt Reassures Nigerians On Availability of Fuel

Abuja — THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has assured Nigerians that the queues at filling stations across the country will disappear before the end of this week. Group Executive Director Commercial and Investment, Aisha Abdulrahman, who stated this Tuesay in Abuja when the Supervising Minister of Information, Chief Edem Duke led a team of reporters for on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the filling stations, said the glitch that disrupted fuel supply in the last few days had been addressed, adding that the NNPC now had adequate stock that could last between twenty and thirty days. Abdulrahman encouraged filling stations to complement NNPC retail outlets by selling petrol for 24 hours in order to clear the fuel queues across the country. She discouraged speculation, panic buying and hoarding because the NNPC had flooded the country with petroleum products. In his remarks, the Supervising Minister of Information, Chief Edem […]

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Nigeria: Fuel Scarcity Gets Worse Nationwide

Petrol Station in Nigeria Photo: Daily Trust Abuja — As fuel scarcity bites harder nationwide, fresh facts emerged, yesterday, indicating that a combination of policies from Nigeria’s Central Bank and the high level of indebtedness of product marketers to some banks led to the low supply of Premium Motor Spirit PMS (petrol). Because of the high level of indebtedness of marketers to banks, most of the banks have refused to issue Letters of Credit to them. A competent source at the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, disclosed that "the National Consumption level is predicated at 40 million litres daily and this is shared at ratio 50:50 between NNPC and other petroleum products marketers. "Against the foregoing, available record shows that at the moment, NNPC is meeting its allocated ratio while other marketers have blatantly refused to contribute a drop of their own quota". The Federal Government, in a […]

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Nigeria: Ruling Party Blamed for Fuel Shortages

Abuja — THE ongoing fuel scarcity across Nigeria is a result of the looting of the $12 billion domestic gas fund under President Goodluck Jonathan’s watch and the administration’s failure to the pay fuel subsidy, the main opposition has alleged. The All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the People’s Democratic Party and the Jonathan administration decided to divert attention from those problems by accusing the opposition of being responsible for the scarcity, "a most laughable and irresponsible statement by a sitting government that is always so eager to blame everyone but itself for the nation’s woes." The party said Coordinating Minister of Economy and Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had, in February, promised to pay all subsidies owed to the marketers then in the sum of N264 billion, along with the accrued interest. It added that the failure to meet this […]

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Fuel shortages hit Nigeria as currency woes hurt importers

ABUJA/LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) – Oil-rich Nigeria’s main cities are facing acute gasoline shortages as importers feel the pinch of a plummeting local currency, tighter credit lines and unpaid government subsidies, oil traders and local industry sources said. As queues of double-parked cars stretch outside filling stations in the capital Abuja, empty tanks elsewhere are forcing consumers onto the black market just weeks before presidential elections on March 28 in Africa’s biggest economy. "I have spent 12 hours here," taxi driver Bartholomew Odey Akpa told Reuters on Monday. "I work at the airport as a car hire … and there is no fuel for me to go." Nigeria exports around two million barrels per day of crude oil but is almost wholly reliant on imports for the 40 million litres per day of gasoline it consumes. The picture is an unwelcome one for President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces former […]

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China hopes novice environment chief will be breath of fresh air

BEIJING (Reuters) – One year after "declaring war" on pollution, China has appointed an inexperienced outsider as its new environment minister tasked with breathing life into a massive clean-up campaign that even optimists say will take decades to complete. Beijing has vowed to reverse the damage done to its skies, rivers and soil during China’s three-decade dash for growth, putting its under-resourced environment ministry under pressure to deliver results. Leading that drive will be Chen Jining, 51, an environmental scientist and president of China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, who was appointed the country’s Minister of Environmental Protection on Friday. As China’s annual parliament opens this week, Chen will need to show an increasingly angry public that the environment remains one of the top priorities, while reassuring thousands of regional delegates that there is still room for economic growth. Academic colleagues describe him as determined and well-organized, and said his expertise […]

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China Plans to Enact Its First Laws to Curb Soil Pollution

(Bloomberg) — China plans to enact its first legislation to curb soil pollution as policy makers ready new laws amid ballooning interest in environmentalism. The nation will also amend laws to curb air and water pollution, Fu Ying, National People’s Congress spokeswoman, said at a briefing on the National People’s Congress meetings that start tomorrow. China continues to tighten legislation to limit smog and tainted oil after the biggest changes to its environmental protection laws in 25 years became effective on Jan. 1. Government reports and recent official comments about pollution have showed the extent of damage to China’s environment. Though environmental protection laws are comprehensive, they aren’t enough, Fu said, calling soil pollution a problem that is taking on more importance. China needs to cut emissions of major pollutants by half to achieve the clear skies seen in Beijing after factories were closed and traffic limited ahead of […]

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If solar has gotten so cheap, why isn’t there more of it?

Why don’t more homes have this sign? Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr. Some people who worry about peak oil like to point out that renewable energy won’t save us. That is, given the amount of fossil fuels that the world uses today, it would take an unrealistically large increase in the amount of renewables available now to make up the difference as oil, natural gas and coal start to deplete. So we might as well resign ourselves now to a future of shivering in the dark. Those same peak oil doomers share what they seem to think is news to the rest of us — namely, that solar panels require oil. Petroleum-based plastics and chemicals go into solar panel components. And of course energy, mostly fossil fuels, is required to make, ship and even install solar panels. This is somehow supposed to mean that solar power is bogus and […]

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US FERC approves pipeline to boost deliveries of gas to New England

Washington (Platts)–4Mar2015/431 am EST/931 GMT The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday approved a key natural gas pipeline aiming to boost deliveries into supply-strapped New England. Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental Market project would expand Algonquin Gas Transmission’s pipeline system from an interconnection at Ramapo, New York, to supply up to 342,000 Dt/d of gas to local utilities in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The project is expected to be in service in November 2016. Proposed last year, the project would include 37.4 miles of gas pipeline and other facilities in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. In addition, Algonquin would modify six compressor stations to add a total of 81,620 horsepower in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and the company would abandon four compressor units with a total of 10,800 horsepower at a compressor station in New York. In February, FERC staff issued its final environmental impact statement […]

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Shell Unveils Plan to Replace Union Labor Days Before Talks

(Bloomberg) — Two days before contract talks were scheduled to resume between Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the United Steelworkers’ oil union, the company announced plans to run its second-largest U.S. refinery without union labor. Shell will have trained and deployed enough “relief workers” by mid-summer to keep the 327,000-barrel-a-day Deer Park refinery in Texas fully staffed, The Hague, Netherlands-based company said late Monday on its website. Lee Medley, president of the USW local covering workers that went on strike at Deer Park Feb. 1, described Shell’s statement on Tuesday as a “scare tactic” designed to get USW members to return to work. The announcement comes amid national strike action that’s widened to 12 refineries accounting for almost 20 percent of the capacity in the U.S.. Shell is leading the negotiations with the 30,000-strong United Steelworkers on behalf of companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. Shell said […]

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More Steelworkers Cross Picket Lines as Refinery Strike Drags on

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc said more than 20 percent of about 800 union workers at its Deer Park refinery in Texas have crossed picket lines, undermining a strike that has entered its second month. Workers also have begun returning to their jobs at refineries owned by Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said Kelly Op De Weegh, a Motiva spokeswoman. LyondellBasell Industries NV and Tesoro Corp., two other refinery owners affected by the strike, are seeing a growing number of employees coming back to work, according to spokespersons for the companies who wouldn’t provide a specific estimate. “We have had workers return at all three of our sites,” said Destin Singleton, a spokeswoman for Tesoro Corp. The Steelworkers said only a small fraction of the 6,600 workers joining the strike since Feb. 1 have been crossing the picket lines. The […]

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US Rig Count by Location

Baker Hughes publishes a weekly oil and gas rig count by producing basin. I have created charts of all the most productive basins in order that we can see where oil and gas rigs are increasing or decreasing. Their historic rig count, by basin, goes back 4 years. It needs to be noted that Baker Hugs does not count rigs that are not actively drilling. Rigs that are “Moving In, Rigging Up” are not counted in the Baker Hughes count though they are counted by some others including the North Dakota Industrial Commission. All rig counts are of Friday, February 27, 2015. Rig Count Total US But first, total US weekly rig count. The oil rig count stands at 986, down 623 from a high of 1,609 in October. The gas rig count stands at 280, down 656 rigs from the high of 935 in October of 2011. However […]

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Oil production in federal Gulf of Mexico expected to continue increasing

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Note: Production data have not yet been reported for four of the eight fields (Cardamom Deep, Jack, St. Malo, and Tubular Bells). Because of the long timelines associated with Gulf of Mexico (GOM) projects, the recent downturn in oil prices is expected to have minimal direct impact on GOM crude oil production through 2016. EIA projects GOM production to reach 1.52 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2015 and 1.61 million bbl/d in 2016, or about 16% and 17% of total U.S. crude oil production in those two years, respectively. The forecasted production growth is driven both by new projects and the redevelopment and expansion of older producing fields. Five deepwater projects began in the last three months of 2014: Stone Energy-operated Cardamom Deep and Cardona projects, Chevron-operated Jack/St. Malo fields, Murphy Oil-operated Dalmatian, and Hess-operated Tubular Bells. Also occurring at the end of […]

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Pain at the pump to continue, AAA says

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Gas prices have increased for more than a month for one of the longest streaks in years. UPI/Bill Greenblatt WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) — While U.S. gasoline prices remain relatively low, the recent trend in increases is the longest in more than two years, motor club AAA reports. The national average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded for Tuesday is $2.44, up two cents from the previous day. Prices have increased for 36 straight days, the longest streak since February 2013. AAA spokesman Avery Ash said gasoline prices are still historically low , but the price trend is a growing source of frustration for motorists. Prices are up because of refinery issues and AAA expects increases to continue. "Gas prices likely will rise higher in March as refineries conduct seasonal maintenance," he said in a Monday briefing. "The good news […]

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California survey finds Sierra snowpack far below normal

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s latest snow survey found on Tuesday that the Sierra Nevada snowpack is far below normal and could end up being the lowest on record in nearly 25 years. Snow supplies about a third of the water needed by state residents, agriculture and industry, and a higher winter snowpack translates to more water for California reservoirs to meet demand in summer and fall. Last weekend’s Sierra Nevada snowfall pleased skiers and snowboarders, but wasn’t enough to offset previous weeks in which no snow fell. The latest survey makes it likely that California’s drought will run through a fourth consecutive year. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Jan. 17, 2014, and his office continues to underline the need for sustained water conservation. Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program, said there were 6.7 inches of snow on the ground at the […]

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U.S. shale producers get no relief from rising Brent: Kemp

LONDON (Reuters) – More than ever before, U.S. shale producers are becoming the victims of outdated restrictions on the export of crude oil from the United States. Export controls have ensured the most oversupplied part of the global oil market is at home in the United States. The main beneficiaries are rival producers in the Middle East and elsewhere able to obtain higher international prices thanks to the export ban. U.S. shale producers have received almost no benefit from the improvement in international oil prices since the middle of January. Benchmark Brent prices have risen around $16 per barrel since hitting their recent low on Jan 13. But prices for shale producers are tied to the domestic marker WTI which has risen by only $4 per barrel over the same period ( link.reuters.com/buv24w ). In the middle of January, posted prices for shale producers in Texas and North Dakota […]

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Clock ticks toward North Dakota producers reaping up to $5.3 billion oil tax break

WILLISTON, N.D. (Reuters) – The clock is still ticking on a potential $5.3 billion, two-year tax break for North Dakota’s oil industry after a state-calculated average of February’s crude price fell below $52.59 per barrel last month. The state waives its 6.5 percent oil extraction tax if the monthly price of benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude at the Cushing, Oklahoma, transport hub falls below an inflation-adjusted limit, set at $52.59 per barrel for 2015, for five consecutive months. For February, the average calculated price was $50.86 per barrel, according to North Dakota Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger. The average was an increase from the January average of $47.98 per barrel. The tax break kicks in if the average monthly price is below that $52.59 level for each of the next three months. If it is off even one month, the clock resets. The tax returns if the average price […]

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Whiting to Reduce Bakken Rig Count

Whiting Bakken Acreage Map | Click to Enlarge In its fourth quarter earning report, Whiting Petroleum announced a record 2014 and revealed a 2015 spending plan that includes reducing Bakken rig count. In spite of low crude prices, Whiting ended the year with a Q4 profit of $58 million with cash flows totalling $419 million. Oil production was at record numbers for both the quarter (up 13%) and the entire year, which averaged 41.8 MMBOE and was up 22% over 2013. Related: Whiting Bakken Production Hits Record Levels in Second Quarter In July of 2014, Whiting Petroleum announced plans to acquire Kodiak Oil & Gas for $3.8 billion. The deal made the combined company the largest Bakken/Three Forks producer, unseating Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources from the top spot. Read more: Whiting Petroleum Acquires Kodiak Oil & Gas – $3.8 Billion James J. Volker, Whiting’s Chairman, President and CEO, commented, […]

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The Best Way to Prevent Exploding Trains? Higher Oil Prices

Wreckage from the latest oil train explosion hadn’t yet been cleared from the crash site in West Virginia last week when President Obama vetoed legislation that would have  approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline . The timing of the two events crystallizes one of the puzzles at the heart of the U.S. oil boom: How do we move all this new crude around the country? As production in the U.S. has soared to more than 9 million barrels a day—up from just 5 million back in 2008—the pipeline industry has scrambled to reorient itself around new oilfields in North Dakota and Texas. But railroads have proven more nimble and in many cases beat pipelines to the punch . The amount of crude being moved by trains jumped by almost 5,000 percent since 2009, even though trains are less efficient and typically more expensive than pipelines. Trains offer traders and energy companies something that pipelines don’t: flexibility.  With about 80 percent […]

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Modern Life Is Probably Screwed by Peak Oil, But It’s Not Too Late to Avoid Mass Starvation

Modern Life Is Probably Screwed by Peak Oil, But It’s Not Too Late to Avoid Mass Starvation thumbnail The challenge of feeding 7 or 8 billion people while oil supplies are falling is stupefying. It’ll be even greater if governments keep pretending that it isn’t going to happen. I don’t know when global oil supplies will start to decline. I do know that another resource has already peaked and gone into freefall: the credibility of the body that’s meant to assess them. Last week two whistleblowers from the International Energy Agency alleged that it has deliberately upgraded its estimate of the world’s oil supplies in order not to frighten the markets. Three days later, a paper published by researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden showed that the IEA’s forecasts must be wrong, because it assumes a rate of extraction that appears to be impossible. The agency’s assessment of the […]

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Brent crude up $1 to over $60.50 as global markets firm

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude oil prices rose more than a dollar to above $60.50 a barrel on Tuesday, tracking firmer Asian markets, but analysts warned the market remained oversupplied. Most Asian stock markets edged up on Tuesday, bolstered by a record day on Wall Street, while a resurgent yen helped knock the U.S. dollar index off an 11-year high, making commodities priced in the greenback slightly cheaper for holders of other currencies. [MKTS/GLOB] Data showing China’s January crude oil throughput climbed 0.6 percent on year to 39.35 million tonnes, or 9.27 million barrels per day, also supported the oil market. Front-month Brent futures LCOc1 were trading up $1 at $60.54 a barrel by 0632 GMT, just off the day’s high of $60.74. U.S. WTI futures CLc1 were up 42 cents to at $50.01 a barrel. A drop in U.S. rig counts is also boosting oil prices, analysts said. […]

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U.S. Oil Prices Fall

U.S. oil prices fell Monday on concerns about a continued oversupply of crude, paring earlier gains. Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled down 17 cents, or 0.3%, to $49.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures rose above $51 a barrel earlier in the session after a widely watched forecaster said crude supplies in a key storage hub grew by a smaller-than-expected amount last week. Data service Genscape Inc. reported that oil inventories in Cushing, Okla., grew by 1.39 million barrels in the week. Oil equipment stands in Texas. U.S. oil futures prices on Monday gained. Supplies in Cushing have grown for 12 straight weeks, often by more than two million barrels in a week, according to the Energy Information Administration. Cushing is the delivery point for the benchmark U.S. oil-futures contract, so U.S. oil prices are sensitive to supply levels at the storage hub. In […]

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Oil falls more than 1 percent on dollar, supply concerns

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil dropped more than 1 percent on Monday, with Brent slipping to around $62 a barrel, depressed by a stronger dollar and a rise in Libyan crude output. The U.S. dollar hit an 11-year high against a basket of currencies after a rate cut in China dented the Chinese yuan and also hit emerging Asian currencies. [FRX/] Brent crude hit a low of $61.78 a barrel and was at $62.08 by 0910 GMT (4.10 a.m. EST), down 50 cents. Front-month Brent jumped 18 percent in February, the largest monthly rise since May 2009. U.S. crude was down 55 cents to $49.21 a barrel. Disruption to oil supplies from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has helped support crude with lower output from Libya and Iraq in the first couple of months of this year. But output from several OPEC countries may be […]

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Natural Gas Futures Slip as Warmer Weather Appears in Forecast

Natural gas futures edged down Monday as above-normal temperatures began appearing in extended weather forecasts, rolling back expectations of demand for gas-fired heating demand as winter weather fades. Natural gas for the front-month April contract fell 3.6 cents, or 1.3%, to $2.698 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The session opened in the red and turned briefly positive midmorning but sold off through the rest of the day. After a frigid January and February, a growing number of forecasters are calling for a warming for much of the U.S. in mid-March. Energy data firm Genscape Inc. on Monday called for a "huge" turnaround by mid-March and warmer-than-normal temperatures in the Northeast. "Domestic forecasts are calling for warm temperatures across the eastern seaboard during mid-March, effectively heralding the end of winter," research firm Gelber & Associates said in a note. If the forecasts prove accurate, […]

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It’s no JK: Oil spread blow-out portends new price slump

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Another sharp dive in oil prices may be nearer than you think, according to traders who see the market flashing warning signs that vital Oklahoma storage tanks will fill up even sooner than expected. While benchmark U.S. crude oil futures still appear to be holding firm after trading at around $50 a barrel for the past month or so, the spread between first- and second-month oil futures collapsed last week, with prompt prices diving by more than $1 to their deepest discount in four years. Shorthanded as "JK" in market jargon, U.S. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery (known as "J") were $2.38 a barrel cheaper than those for May ("K") on Friday, a gap that likely signals the early onset of another milestone in the great oil supply glut, running out of space in Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange […]

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L-Shaped Oil Recovery Flattens V-Shaped Market Optimists

An employee works at the base of drill pipes on an oil drilling derrick in the Salym Petroleum Development oil fields near the Bazhenov shale formation in Salym, Russia. Some producers are still counting on oil rebounding above $60 by the end of the year, and then to continue rising. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Get ready for an L-shaped oil recovery. A growing consensus is emerging from the likes of BP Plc, the International Energy Agency, shale wildcatters and even the Saudis that a near-term recovery to $100-a-barrel crude isn’t in the cards. Instead, expect a range of $50 to $60 for at least the next few years. When oil prices plunged sharply in 2008, they rebounded almost as quickly. Several months ago, industry and government touted the same U or V-shaped recovery this time out. On closer examination, a new factor in the marketplace — shale oil […]

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Could Oil Prices Plummet A Second Time?

Are oil prices heading for a double dip? The surge in shale production has produced a temporary glut in supplies causing oil prices to experience a massive bust. After tanking to a low of $44 per barrel in January, falling rig counts and enormous reductions in exploration budgets have fueled speculation that the market will correct sometime later this year. However, there is a possibility that the recent rise to $51 for WTI and $60 for Brent may only be temporary. In fact, several trends are conspiring to force prices down for a second time. Drillers are consciously deciding to delay the completion of their wells, holding off in hopes that oil prices will rebound, according to E&E’s EnergyWire. The decision to put well completions on hold could provide a critical boost to the ultimate profitability of many projects. Higher oil prices in the months ahead will provide companies […]

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Glencore Paints Weak Outlook for Global Commodity Prices in 2015

(Bloomberg) — Glencore, the world’s largest publicly traded commodities house, painted a weak outlook for raw materials prices this year, saying supply of iron ore, oil and food commodities is likely to run above demand. Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg said global economic growth — traditionally the main driver of commodities consumption — remains lackluster. “The gradual process of normalization following the financial crisis has continued, but at a slower pace than many expected,” Glasenberg said in an earnings statement on Tuesday. “Some of the most important legacies of the crisis continue to drag on, including those relating to Europe.” The views of Glencore are closely watched in the commodities market as the company operates one of the largest trading operations in the world, spanning raw materials from copper to soybeans, oil and sugar. The Baar, Switzerland-based company was particularly bearish about iron ore, saying the market for the […]

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Exports, revenues increase in February

Iraqi workers tend to the Tuba oil field in Basra on Feb. 19, 2015. (ESSAM AL-SUDANI/Reuters) Iraq’s oil exports increased in February, despite poor weather in the south, giving the country a needed boost in revenues.Oil exports from southern Iraq actually slipped compared to January, according to Oil Ministry data, but that decrease was offset by higher sales through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, of oil exported in collaboration with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).A turnaround in oil prices also helped relieve some pressure on Iraq’s budget.Iraqi crude of …

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Iraq Begins Offensive to Recapture Tikrit From ISIS

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi military, alongside thousands of Shiite militia fighters, began a large-scale offensive on Monday to retake the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State, a battle that could either become a pivotal fight in the campaign to reclaim north and west Iraq or deepen the country’s bloody sectarian divide. Iraqi state television announced the beginning of the offensive Monday morning, a day after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the forces massed on Tikrit’s outskirts and delivered a speech in which he said “zero hour” for the liberation of Tikrit was at hand. While visiting Samarra, a town near Tikrit, on Sunday, Mr. Abadi promised amnesty to local residents who had been forced to join the Islamic State. But he said it was the last chance for them to lay down their arms and assist the security forces in pushing out the militants. It is not the […]

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U.S. Steers Clear of Tikrit, Cites Iran Role in Support of Iraqis

ENLARGE Iraqi forces and allied militias take position in the northern part of Diyala province as they take part in an assault to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamic State jihadists Monday. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images WASHINGTON—Iraq’s latest push to retake the Sunni city of Tikrit from Islamic State extremists has thrown a new spotlight on the role being assumed by Iran in assisting Baghdad in its fight to regain control of the country. U.S. officials said Iran is supporting the offensive to retake Tikrit , supplying artillery, rocket fire and aerial drones. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, fighters were on the ground with Iraqi units, mostly operating artillery and rocket batteries, according to a U.S. military official. At the Pentagon on Monday, Col. Steve Warren, a Defense Department spokesman, said the U.S. wasn’t providing assistance in the fight to retake Tikrit. The U.S. hasn’t conducted airstrikes […]

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Turkey eyes oil in northern Iraq

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Turkish government says it has deals in hand to conduct oil exploration in the Kurdish north of Iraq. Photo courtesy by: Gulf Keystone Petroleum. ANKARA, Turkey, March 2 (UPI) — Agreements with Iraqi administrations open the door for Turkish oil exploration in the Kurdish north, the Turkish energy minister said Monday. "We have agreements with Baghdad and [the government in] northern Iraq," Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz said. "In the frame of these agreements, we will explore for oil there." The minister offered no estimate of the reserve potential in targeted fields in the Kurdish north of Iraq, nor did he outline which companies would carry out the work. Though suspended in response to payment rows with the Kurdistan Regional Government, British energy company Gulf Keystone Petroleum has shipped tens of thousands of barrels of oil across the border to Turkey. Yildiz […]

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U.N. meets rivals in oil-rich Libya

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter German energy company Wintershall said it’s using Libyan staff to get operations going again at oil fields. Photo courtesy: Wintershall TRIPOLI, Libya, March 2 (UPI) — Though some oil operations in the country have resumed, the U.N. Support Mission in Libya said it was calling for a peaceful solution to divisive crises. Disputes between rival Libya governments, coupled with increased violence attributed to Islamic State militants, have spilled over into the oil sector. British energy company BP said in a much-watched annual report published last month that long-term production issues may result from the lingering violence. The U.N. Support Mission in Libya said it met with rival leaders to discuss ways to advance political dialogue and cease-fire proposals . "The participants agreed on the principle of a ceasefire and underlined the need to end the bloodshed in Libya and engage in dialogue," […]

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