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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple