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Russia eyes Argentinian energy role

President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on hand for signing of memorandum of cooperation with Russian energy company Gazprom on April 23, 2015. Photo by UPI/Andrew Harrer. MOSCOW, April 24 (UPI) — Russian energy company Gazprom said it signed a memorandum of cooperation in Moscow to work alongside its counterparts on Argentina. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner met in Moscow with her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to discuss bilateral relations . Gazprom said its management team signed the memorandum with Argentinian energy company YPF on the sidelines of the meeting. Russia expressed interest in Argentina’s energy market in 2012 following the nationalization of YPF. The following year, Gazprom won a tender to supply Argentina with 15 shipments of liquefied natural gas with a total of 1 million tons through 2015. In the Latin American market, both sides have focused on development the Vaca Muerta shale site in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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These U.S. Companies Are Hurting From Venezuela’s Hyperinflation

Every time Venezuela introduces a new, weaker currency exchange rate, some of the world’s largest companies face the decision of whether or not to adopt it. If they eventually do switch to the less favorable rate, it can result in multimillion-dollar charges that drag down balance sheets and earnings statements. At least 46 S&P 500 companies, about 10 percent of the total index, have told investors about potential exposure to Venezuela’s currency in the past year, according to a search of company filings compiled by Bloomberg. Venezuela currently has three legal  exchange rates  that are pre-set by the government, and companies that operate there have to decide which one they should use to value net monetary assets and report sales. The rates are currently at 6.3, 12 and 196.95 bolivars per dollar. The first two rates (called the Cencoex rate and the Sicad rate) are allowed for transacting government-authorized priority goods including food, medicine and car parts. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU sees need for LNG in energy plan

European Commissioner for Energy Miguel Arias Canete says pipelines aren’t the only solution to European energy diversification schemes. Photo courtesy European Commission DUBLIN, Ireland, April 24 (UPI) — Liquefied natural gas needs to re-emerge as a central component of European energy security strategies, the European commissioner for energy said. The European Commission this week filed statements of concern against Russian natural gas company Gazprom, saying it was violating antitrust measures in Eastern and Central Europe. The European market gets about 20 percent of its gas needs met by Russia, though most of that supply runs through a Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine, where lingering political and national security issues present risks to European energy security. Miguel Arias Canete, the European commissioner for energy, told delegates at a gas infrastructure conference in Dublin the situation in Ukraine has sharpened the sense of risks to the European energy market. "We need […]

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CNOOC revenue off nearly 40 percent

Chinese oil company CNOOC latest major energy company to announce a decline in revenue because of a weak crude oil market. Photo by tcly/Shutterstock BEIJING, April 24 (UPI) — China National Offshore Oil Corp. said Friday a "harsh" climate for global oil prices in part led to a 39.9 percent decline in revenue for the first quarter. The company, China’s top offshore oil producer, said oil and gas sales revenue for the first quarter of the year dropped off substantially in part because of slumping global crude oil prices during the period. The price for Brent, the global crude oil benchmark, dipped below the $50 per barrel mark in early January, a value that was less than half its June 2014 high. Peer companies, from BP to oil services company Schlumberger, have cut spending or staff numbers in order to cope with the weak crude oil market. CNOOC said […]

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China’s Cnooc to Curb Spending as Oil’s Slide Cuts Into Revenue

ENLARGE A CNOOC logo is seen at the entrance of China National Offshore Oil Corp office tower in Beijing on March 20, 2013. Cnooc has pledged to cut spending by roughly one-third compared with a year ago. Photo: PETAR KUJUNDZIC/REUTERS BEIJING— Cnooc Ltd. is likely to slash spending further after low oil prices led to a sharp drop in the Chinese state-controlled oil giant’s first-quarter revenue. The partial results released on Friday by the listed unit of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. indicate further pain ahead for the Chinese oil industry as it grapples with a price slump that is challenging energy companies around the globe, as well as softer demand at home. Cnooc has pledged to cut spending by roughly one-third compared with a year ago, but its figures indicate it has more cutting to do to reach that goal. “Capital expenditure was reduced significantly,” said Neil […]

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EIA report highlights top 100 U.S. oil and natural gas fields

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Form EIA-23L and DrillingInfo Note: The top 100 largest oil and natural gas field locations are plotted using latitude-longitude of the approximate center of the field. Dot diameter is relative to its 2013 proved reserves. The top 100 oil fields in the United States accounted for 20.6 billion barrels of crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves, or 56% of the U.S. total in 2013. The top 100 natural gas fields accounted for 239.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas proved reserves, 68% of the U.S. total. Proved reserves are defined as estimated quantities of oil and natural gas that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Form EIA-23L and DrillingInfo Note: The top 100 largest oil and natural gas field locations are plotted […]

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BHI: US rig count drops 22 units in 20th straight week of losses

HOUSTON, Apr. 24 OGJ Staff Writer The US drilling rig count fell 22 units to 932 rigs working during the week ended Apr. 24, marking the 20 th consecutive week of declines, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. The count has now plunged 988 units since the week ended Dec. 5 ( OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014 ). The total of 932 is the lowest since July 17, 2009, and 929 fewer units compared with this week a year ago. Analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc., however, have predicted an impending trough in the count as well permitting activity picks up ( OGJ Online, Apr. 17, 2015 ). “All things considered, we believe that we are close to a bottom in the rig count, which is likely to be seen in the next couple of months,” they said earlier this week in an energy update. RJA tracks […]

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Oil at $65 Seen Freeing 500,000 Barrels From Shale Fracklog

Oil needs to recover to $65 a barrel for U.S. drillers to tap a pent-up supply of oil locked in shale wells and unleash more crude on markets than is produced by Libya. Dipping into this “fracklog” would add an extra 500,000 barrels a day of oil into the market by the end of next year, Bloomberg Intelligence said in an analysis on Thursday. Producers in oil and gas fields from Texas to Pennsylvania have 4,731 idled wells at their disposal. Prices are rebounding from a six-year low after drillers idled half the nation’s oil rigs, slowing the shale boom that boosted production to the highest in four decades. The number of wells waiting to be hydraulically fractured, known as the fracklog, has ballooned as companies wait for costs to drop. That could slow the recovery as firms quickly finish wells at the first sign of higher prices. “Once […]

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Peak Oil: Still The Problem And Not The Answer

General Ideas While all the buzz surrounds oil prices, the global demand side remains on solid footing: up. Supplying 33% of all energy, oil is the world’s primary fuel. Oil is so important that global demand is ever-growing: 67 million b/d in 1990, 77 million b/d in 2000, and 91 million b/d in 2014. I’ll never understand the animosity of some Westerners toward critical fuels that they depend on everyday, making their lives easier in ways their great grandparents only dreamed of. [1] “Animosity” directed to fossil fuels? Has a nice right-wing playbook buzz to it, but those of us concerned with facts have an annoying habit of insisting that all of them be considered, and that consequences must also find a place at the table where overly-broad statements otherwise prefer being alone. And how exactly does one direct animus toward an energy source which has indeed made it […]

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British shale decisions delayed

Local council in United Kingdom delays decisions on fledgling shale gas campaign until June. File Photo by UPI/Gary C. Caskey. PRESTON, England, April 24 (UPI) — A local council at the center of a fledgling shale natural gas program in the United Kingdom said it needed more time to review planning applications. Cuadrilla Resources estimates there may be as much as 200 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas in Lancashire. The Lancashire County Council recommended rejecting the companies’ drilling applications, though Caudrilla in January was given more time to address concerns about noise pollution and traffic in the area. The county council said it opted to move the decision on operations at two sites in the region to June 30. "The extension follows a request by Cuadrilla to consider additional information about the applications," the council said in a Thursday statement. An initial decision was expected by April […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple