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New Studies Link Earthquakes With Oil, Gas Drilling

ENLARGE In this file photo from Nov. 19, 2014, Scott Passmore, director of public works, checks on a solar powered seismic monitor that records earthquakes in the area around Reno, Texas. With real-time monitors, scientists have linked a swarm of small earthquakes west of Fort Worth, Texas, to nearby natural gas wells and wastewater injection. Photo: Associated Press New scientific findings released Tuesday linked earthquakes to the practice of injecting wastewater from oil and gas operations deep underground, adding to a growing consensus among researchers that energy development is probably causing seismic activity in Oklahoma, Texas and other parts of the U.S. The Oklahoma Geological Survey released a statement Tuesday saying that it now “considers it very likely” that most of the hundreds of earthquakes in the state’s center in recent years were “triggered by the injection of produced water in disposal wells.” Produced water is salty fluid that […]

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Crude Demand Continues to be Strong on Price Slump

ENLARGE An oil pump-jack in the oil town of Gonzales, Texas. Oil prices are seen staying above the lows seen earlier this year as demand for crude remains strong. Photo: Getty Images LAUSANNE, Switzerland—Oil prices are unlikely to sink to fresh lows this year, major commodities traders said Tuesday, though they stopped short of predicting any significant rebound. “The low price is now behind us,” Torbjorn Tornqvist, CEO of Gunvor Group, told the FT Global Commodities Summit in Lausanne, noting that the current oversupply in the market isn’t large and oil prices may have overreacted to the downside. Though predicting oil prices is notoriously difficult, with hardly any in the industry forecasting the current slump, there are signs that the market could get some support. For one thing, strong oil demand in the first few months of the year is pointing to an uptick in consumption. Vitol, the world’s […]

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Oil States See Slumping Employment as Texas Loses 25,000 Jobs in March

While the U.S. economy continued to add jobs last month, states that rely heavily on the oil industry experienced significant cuts. Job losses hit particularly hard in Texas (down 25,400 jobs) and Oklahoma (down 12,900), leading the nation in losses. North Dakota lost 3,000 jobs, a significant cut in such a small state. The decline in oil prices has provided a windfall for consumers who are paying less at the pump. But the plunge is now hurting the states that had benefited from the domestic oil-production boom in recent years. All told, 31 states and Washington, D.C., saw a drop in employment in March, and only 18 states saw employment rising. The broad deterioration was a reversal from February, a month in which only 13 states saw decreases and 36 states and D.C. saw an increase. Michael Feroli , the chief U.S. economist for J.P. Morgan Chase , said Monday […]

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US EPA climate rule could drive significant growth in gas power: NERC

An Environmental Protection Agency rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the existing power fleet could bring almost 100 GW of new natural gas-fired generation to the US fleet by 2030, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said in an assessment released Tuesday. The assessment at the same time found significant retirements of coal-fired generation by 2030 as well as an erosion of the economics supporting remaining coal power as the resource shifts from acting as baseload to becoming a peaking asset. NERC is an industry-backed organization tasked by Congress and FERC to ensure bulk power system reliability In light of these and other changes to the system, the assessment noted concerns that the necessary infrastructure may not be in place by the rule’s deadlines, creating the need for a mechanism to ensure reliability should unforeseen issues or timing challenges arise. Article continues below… At the same time, NERC […]

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LNG export limits violate US free trade tradition, ExxonMobil executive says

WASHINGTON, DC, Apr. 21 The US should remove the national interest demonstration requirement for LNG exports to countries with which it does not have a free-trade agreement before it loses one of its biggest energy and economic opportunities in its history, an ExxonMobil Corp. executive said. The requirement, which originally was imposed as part of the 1938 Natural Gas Act, is more than an archaic relic that does not recognize the dramatically improved US oil and gas outlook, ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing Co. Pres. Rob Franklin said. It also flies in the face of the country’s free-trade heritage and potentially could lead to international legal actions under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Franklin said during an Apr. 20 address at Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies. Asked which Washington policymakers specifically need to act on this, Franklin said, “The responsibility lies with Congress, although […]

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Statoil lets carbon dioxide service contract for Bakken

Statoil has let a major carbon dioxide supply and service agreement to Ferus LP of Denver to supply liquid CO 2 to be used in a test well to evaluate potential production uplift and partially replace water in a large multistage hydraulic fracturing operation in a horizontal oil well. In addition to supplying the CO 2 , Ferus will provide transportation, logistics, storage, and onsite supervision. The service agreement also includes the deployment of a membrane technology that separates the CO 2 from the produced gas to reduce flaring. Statoil and other oil companies are working to flaring to comply with a series of targets established by the state of North Dakota. Oil companies also can save money by capturing gas and using it to economically fuel their own operations instead of flaring it. This CO 2 stimulation test is one of several projects under Powering Collaboration –a collaboration […]

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Increasing domestic production of crude oil reduces net petroleum imports

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (interactive table viewer) Note: Product supplied is used as a proxy for consumption. In its recently released Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015) Reference case, EIA expects U.S. crude oil production to rise through 2020 as oil prices recover from their steep decline, reducing net petroleum (crude oil and petroleum products) imports. AEO 2015 explores the effects of domestic crude oil production under various assumptions about world oil prices and domestic resource availability. In all AEO2015 scenarios, the United States remains a net importer of crude oil (despite increased domestic production) and a net exporter of petroleum products. As always with EIA base-case outlooks, AEO2015 assumes no changes in current laws and regulations. Thus, all cases in the AEO2015 assume that current restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports remain in place. Increasing levels of domestic crude oil production through 2020 have […]

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CERA 2015: US Permian Basin in ‘second or third inning’ of development: Pioneer CEO

The US’ Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico is probably only in the "second or third inning" of its full development potential, the CEO of one of the largest Permian operators said Tuesday. Two prolific Permian horizons — the Spraberry and Wolfcamp in the eastern part of the basin — contain about 75 billion barrels of equivalent recoverable oil, while the western part of the basin holds another 25 billion barrels recoverable, Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield said during an upstream panel at IHS CERAWeek. Pioneer released the 75 billion boe figure in May 2014, up from its previous estimate of 50 billion boe in May 2013. "The Permian is probably in its second or third inning [of development]," Sheffield said. Article continues below… Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation […]

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CERAWeek: Executives emphasize innovation during oil-price downturn

HOUSTON, Apr. 21 ConocoPhillips Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance told IHS CERAWeek that ConocoPhillips is prepared for oil-price swings going forward, and it has positioned itself to ramp up its core US unconventional investments when it appears feasible. “If $80-90/bbl oil is coming back, there is a good chance that $50-60/bbl is coming back as well,” Lance said during a news conference after his Apr. 20 speech. “We’re planning to ramp up” once ConocoPhillips executives believe oil prices are back into the $60-70/bbl range for a sustainable period, Lance said. IHS Inc. Vice-Chairman Daniel Yergin and other oil company executives attending the annual energy conference in downtown Houston also forecast continued price volatility. “This is a market that’s far from settled down, and it’s a market that’s going to be a lot more volatile,” Yergin said. “What kind of prices do you need to keep it going? […]

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Exxon CEO: Feds, Industry Must Work Together in New World of Energy

Exxon CEO: Feds, Industry Must Work Together in New World of Energy thumbnail It’s a new world taking shape in the energy industry, Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO, told a crowd during the second day of IHS CERAWeek in Houston. And while the full picture of this new paradigm has yet to take shape, it’s clear that the industry needs to come together with the public and policy makers to pioneer these opportunities in a way that will erase the old lines between the conventional and the unconventional. With this cooperation, the United States could be a net energy exporter by the end of the next decade, he said, despite the new pressures, low prices and anemic economic growth. “The highly technical, innovative nature of energy offers the greatest hope for us to meet our shared aspirations,” Tillerson said. Lifting the ban on U.S. crude oil exports was […]

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