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US oil rig count falls while production climbs

New York (Platts)–13Mar2015/544 pm EDT/2144 GMT The US land oil fields continued to shed rigs this week while production kept climbing. The land oil rig count fell by 56 to 866, Baker Hughes said in its weekly report. Analysts expect the rig count to keep falling until at least the second quarter unless oil prices recover sufficiently enough to encourage more drilling before then. In the big three onshore basins — the Permian, Eagle Ford and Williston — rig counts fell 23 to 305 for the week ending Friday, two to 127 and four to 104, the Baker Hughes data showed. Article continues below… Every Monday, Capitol Hill newshounds Herman Wang and Brian Scheid analyze, dissect and debate the key US oil policy issues affecting the industry. We’re going to need a bigger boat: climbing crude production, stagnant demand, politics and more prove that trouble can come from anywhere […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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NASA Scientist Warns “California Has One Year Of Water Left”

Given the historic low temperatures and snowfalls that pummeled the eastern U.S. this winter, it might be easy to overlook how devastating California’s winter was as well. As our “wet” season draws to a close, it is clear that the paltry rain and snowfall have done almost nothing to alleviate epic drought conditions. January was the driest in California since record-keeping began in 1895. Groundwater and snowpack levels are at all-time lows. We’re not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we’re losing the creek too. Snow Drought Bad News For California  Data from NASA satellites show that the total amount of water stored in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins — that is, all of the snow, river and reservoir water, water in soils and groundwater combined — was 34 million acre-feet below normal in 2014. That loss is nearly 1.5 times the capacity of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tax Per Mile Cometh!

Oregon – home of things uber trendy – has become the first state to begin dunning motorists by the mile rather than by the gallon. The “pilot” program begins July 1 — and will be implemented by the Oregon DOT in partnership with something called Sanef ITS Technologies America and Intelligent Mechatronic Systems. Sounds a lot like Cyberdyne Systems from the Terminator movies, doesn’t it? And the similarities run a lot deeper than that. To make this work (for Uncle) your car must be fitted with some type of real-time monitoring device that keeps track of your mileage and reports it to Uncle (well, his helpers) who will then either send you a bill or perhaps automatically debit your account. Kind of like federal tax withholding on wheels. In Oregon, this means a little widget like the one you may have seen the white-coated Progressive Insurance Lady hawking. It […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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North Dakota’s Job Landscape Shifting (For Now) Away From Big Oil

Instead of roustabouts, North Dakotas’s oil industry wants pump technicians, gas-processing plant operators and truck drivers to help sustain existing production. WILLISTON, N.D., March 12 (Reuters) – Halliburton Co , Schlumberger NV and other large energy companies were conspicuously absent from a major North Dakota job fair this week, a telling sign as employers in the No. 2 U.S. oil-producing state grapple with sliding crude prices . Instead of roustabouts, the state’s oil industry wants pump technicians, gas-processing plant operators and truck drivers to help sustain existing production of 1.2 million barrels of oil per day – not to necessarily grow production. "When a well is out, you still have to service it," said Cindy Sanford of Job Service North Dakota, which helped organize the two-day job fair in Williston, capital of the state’s oil boom. (There are almost 13,000 active wells in the state.) The change in job […]

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Hazard seen behind North American rig upturn

HOUSTON, Mar. 13 03/13/2015 Wells not completed while oil prices are low might foreshorten recovery of North American drilling, even if the upturn arrives sooner than expected, analysts warn. A drilling slump outrunning most forecasts has evoked predictions of a prompt production decline able to help correct an oversupplied oil market ( OGJ Online, Mar. 12, 2015 ). But James Crandall and Mar Bianchi of Cowen & Co. , acknowledging in a research note that the first-quarter US rig count is “falling even more quickly than our forecast had assumed,” think recovery might be short-lived. They expect the rig count by the quarter’s end to fall below 1,100, of which about 1,050 will be land units. Predicting that drilling will reach bottom at 950-1,000 for all rigs by early in the third quarter, they say recovery could begin by the fourth quarter, lifting the rig count by perhaps 150. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Producers Ready New Oil Wave

Pumpjacks outside Williston, N.D. ENLARGE Photo: Bloomberg News The ocean of oil from U.S. shale drove crude prices back toward six-year lows Friday, and American energy companies say they are poised to unleash a further flood that would keep prices from returning to lofty levels for a long time. The International Energy Agency reinforced the prospect of a prolonged slump in energy prices Friday, saying U.S. oil output was surprisingly strong in February and rapidly filling all available storage tanks. The Paris-based energy watchdog said this could lead to another sharp drop in crude prices, which fell by about 50% late last year. The report sent oil prices tumbling around the world, with the global benchmark Brent crude falling $2.41 to $54.67 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate lost $2.21 to settle at $44.84, less than 40 cents above a six-year low it reached in late January. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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North Dakota rig count near five-year low

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Rig activity in North Dakota is near a five-year low as oil prices reign in operations in the shale-rich state. Photo by David Gaylor/Shutterstock BISMARCK, N.D., March 13 (UPI) — The number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil or natural gas in North Dakota is down to its lowest level in nearly five years, data show Friday. State data show 111 active rigs in the state as of Friday, down from the 191 reported on this date in 2014 and a historic low. Rig counts, a barometer for the upstream sector in the state, have been on a steady decline for much of the year, down 7.5 percent from the end of February. The North Dakota Industrial Commission in its latest monthly report said oil production in January, the last full month for which data are available, was 1.19 million […]

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Exxon: Exploit U.S. energy abundance

Exxon Mobil CEO and Chairman Rex Tillerson leads drive to persuade Washington to take advantage of era of energy abundance. UPI/Kevin Dietsch U.S. policymakers are called on to adopt the energy policies necessary to take advantage of the new era of abundance, the chairman of Exxon Mobil said. Some energy companies with a focus on exploration and production are advocating for a repeal of a ban on the export of some domestically-produced crude oil. The ban was enacted in the 1970s in response to an export embargo from Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Exxon Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson led the drive , telling an audience at The Economic Club in Washington D.C. current policies are out of step with the energy landscape in the shale era. "It is time to build policies that reflect our newfound abundance, that view the future with optimism, that […]

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Shell lays out welcome mat to USW

Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Tentative agreement reached between Shell and United Steelworkers union, bringing a possible end to a work stoppage that began Feb. 1. Photo by Oskari Porkka/Shutterstock PITTSBURGH, March 13 (UPI) — Shell said it’s time to welcome striking workers back into the fray after finding "common ground" with negotiators from the United Steelworkers union. USW initiated labor strikes at U.S. refineries Feb. 1, a walkout that eventually spread to impact about 20 percent of the nation’s refining capacity. Several refineries continued normal operations under emergency stop-gap measures, though the union said the work stoppage would be in place until the agreement with Shell is ratified. Aamir Farid, vice president for manufacturing at Shell, said union members are expected to vote on the agreement in a matter of days. "We are glad to have found common ground and get an agreement in place," he […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple