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Gazprom Neft surveying Kurdish oil potential

Russian oil company Gazprom Neft ready for surveys in Kurdish north of Iraq. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian Gazprom Neft said it was surveying the reserve potential in the Kurdish north of Iraq. The Middle East subsidiary of Gazprom Neft said it was ready to survey the reserve potential in the Halabja block of the Kurdish north of Iraq. "The Halabja block has until now undergone very little geological study," Chief Executive Officer Mikhail Kholodov said in a statement. "Conducting seismological surveys is the first step towards identifying the optimal location for an exploration well and these provide a significant amount of new information on the structure of the block." Lukoil, Russia’s largest private oil company, signed a contract revision last year to build two 75-mile long pipelines and associated infrastructure for the West Qurna oil field in southern Iraq. The company this week said it was committed to Iraqi oil developments […]

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Exclusive: Saudi Arabia building up military near Yemen border – U.S. officials

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is moving heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, raising the risk that the Middle East’s top oil power will be drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict. The buildup follows a southward advance by Iranian-backed Houthi Shi’ite militants who took control of the capital Sanaa in September and seized the central city of Taiz at the weekend as they move closer to the new southern base of U.S.-supported President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The slide toward war in Yemen has made the country a crucial front in Saudi Arabia’s region-wide rivalry with Iran, which Riyadh accuses of sowing sectarian strife through its support for the Houthis. The conflict risks spiraling into a proxy war with Shi’ite Iran backing the Houthis, whose leaders adhere to the Zaydi sect of Shi’ite Islam, and Saudi Arabia and the […]

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Nigeria’s Daily Oil Exports Hit 2.05 Million Barrels in 2014

Despite United States’ refusal to import crude oil from Nigeria due to its shale boom, the country exported 2.05 million bpd of crude oil and condensate to Europe and India in 2014. The United States traditionally had been the largest importer of Nigerian oil until the last few years. It changed from being the largest importer of Nigerian oil in 2012 to the 10th largest in 2014. India is now the largest importer of Nigeria’s oil, purchasing about 370,000 bpd or 18 per cent of Nigeria’s total crude exports in 2014. The International Energy Information Administration (IEA), in its 2015 report on Nigeria oil and gas sector, stated that Europe continued to be the largest-regional importer of Nigerian oil, importing slightly more than 900,000 bblpd or 45 per cent of the exports in 2014. According to the report, the United States typically imported between nine per cent and 11 […]

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In Nigeria, Oil Price’s Slide Deters Theft

ENLARGE Fuel drums in Lagos, Nigeria, in an area where illegally refined oil is traded, seen in a 2013 photo. Photo: Benoit Faucon/The Wall Street Journal THE NIGER DELTA, Nigeria—Oil is so cheap these days that for people around here, it isn’t even worth stealing anymore. Just months ago, villagers regularly took hacksaws to pipelines, transforming their homeland of rivulets winding through bayou forests into a calamity for global oil giants and environmentalists. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude spurted daily into buckets, jerrycans and drums that were loaded into canoes. Some got cooked in makeshift refineries fashioned from metal cylinders built along riverbanks. But now, with prices low, the risk of getting busted by Nigeria’s navy now outweighs the get-rich rewards of sabotaging pipelines, stealing oil and smuggling vast quantities of it onto international markets. Indeed, some of these thieves have reverted to plunking fish traps in […]

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Upstream capital expenditure declined 12% year-over-year in fourth-quarter 2014

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Thomson Reuters and Evaluate Energy Note: Q1 2015 prices are through March 16. Based on financial statements from selected international oil and natural gas companies, spending on upstream investments was 12% lower in fourth-quarter 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Upstream spending on exploration and development typically accounts for the bulk of these companies’ investment expenditures. Aggregating the reports of 23 global oil- and natural gas-producing companies, upstream capital expenditure totaled $77 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, which was $10 billion, or 12%, less than in fourth-quarter 2013. Three of the four quarters in 2014 had year-over-year declines in spending, bringing full-year 2014 upstream capital expenditure to $297 billion, 6% less than full-year 2013 spending for these companies. Much more so than midstream and downstream investments dealing with the refining, distribution, and sale of oil and natural gas, […]

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US enters undulating crude oil production plateau in 2015

This is a post on the EIA Short Term Energy Outlook March 2015 (STEO). The following graph shows total US crude production according to EIA statistics until Feb 2015 and then a forecast until Dec 2016. A clear kink in the production curve can be seen in the 2 nd  quarter of 2015. An increase of production is only expected by the end of 2016 following a recovery of oil prices to a $70 range. Fig 1 US crude oil production by area Jan 2011 – Feb 2015 and forecast to Dec 2016 All data from here: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/outlook.cfm We see a 10 month time delay between the sharp drop in oil prices and the peaking of US crude oil production expected by EIA in May 2015. The main battle is fought in the tight oil fields of the lower 48 States (brown line) because Alaska (dark blue) and the […]

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Chinese demand for Russian oil holds steady

"New normal" for Chinese economy not expected to lead to less demand for Russian oil, Chinese trader said from Beijing. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI. Chinese officials are describing a "new normal" in an economy slowing from a long period of double-digit growth. For Russia, sanctions pressure in response to crises in Ukraine and the decline in crude oil prices is pushing the country toward recession. Chen Bo, head of the oil trading subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., said from a bilateral energy forum in Beijing both countries would remain strong energy partners . "Compared with 2014, Russian oil exports to China will be approximately the same in 2015 or slightly higher," he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the 2010 launch of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline as a strategic victory for a Russian energy sector looking to capitalize on Asian economy success. The Chinese […]

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China’s crude storage nearly full, says Sinopec exec

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s commercial and strategic oil storage is almost full, a Sinopec trading executive said on Wednesday, leaving little room for Asia’s top oil consumer to keep up its soaring import growth and adding downward pressure to an already oversupplied market. China’s purchases to fill its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) was one of the main drivers of Asian demand since August of last year, with the nation’s importers buying cheap crude to fill oil tanks despite slowing economic growth. But with storage capacities approaching their limits, China’s crude imports will likely stay flat or rise only slightly this year, said the executive, who requested not to be named despite speaking to reporters at an industry event. China’s crude oil imports grew 4.5 percent in the first two months of the year compared to the same period a year ago, according to official customs data. [O/CNTRADE] But daily […]

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Durable Goods Orders in U.S. Unexpectedly Fell in February

A factory worker fills out paperwork amongst a stack of assembled aluminum ladders at a factory in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 17, 2015. (Bloomberg) — Orders for durable goods unexpectedly dropped in February, a sign the slowdown in global growth may be weighing on American manufacturers. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years declined 1.4 percent after a 2 percent gain in January that was smaller than previously estimated, data from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday in Washington. The median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated durable goods orders would rise 0.2 percent. Demand for American-made products may be softening as economies abroad struggle to accelerate and a stronger dollar makes it more attractive for foreign customers to buy from elsewhere. Increased business spending will be needed to provide a boost to the economy following what some economists are projecting as lackluster growth in […]

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Feds irked by industry stance on oil-train safety

American Petroleum Institute calls for a holistic approach to address the safe transport of crude oil by rail. Photo by Steven Frame/Shutterstock Suzanne Emmerling, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement the administration was frustrated with statements made by the American Petroleum Institute on efforts to improve rail safety . "It’s disappointing that API continues to look for reasons not to engage in improving safety," she said in a statement Tuesday. "While the rail industry has taken many steps to improve safety, we will always demand more and expect more from them. We continue to hope the energy industry will join in those efforts." API, which represents the business interests of the oil and gas sector, said its review of a federal report on rail found kinetic energy built up during a derailment may play a greater role than cargo in any detonations. "The Department of Energy […]

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