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Russia building nuclear reactors – and influence – around the globe

Tags: energy | european union | jordan | nuclear energy | nuclear reactor | rosatom | | vladimir putin Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd L), his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (2nd R) and Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) meet onboard a guided missile cruiser at the port of Sochi, August 12, 2014. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin Russia has been notoriously brazen in using state-owned companies as instruments of national power. President Vladimir Putin’s natural-gas wars with Belarus and Ukraine made headlines and sometimes left substantial parts of Europe in the cold . But Moscow’s exploits in other energy-related areas have been less noticed. Recent revelations about the concerted Russian effort to buy up uranium resources across the globe may change that. For Moscow’s state-owned nuclear-energy company, Rosatom, has made successful inroads into markets around the world. It is Rosatom — not France’s Areva or the United States’ Westinghouse […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BP signals start of new North Sea campaign

British energy company BP starts drilling in deep waters west of Shetland Islands, part of a seven-year commitment to regional developments. (UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr.) LONDON, April 29 (UPI) — British energy company BP said Wednesday it was marking the start of a campaign west of the Shetland Islands with deepwater drilling in the Loyal oil field. BP is working as the operator at the Loyal field on behalf of its partners at Royal Dutch Shell and Austrian energy company OMV using the Deepsea Aberdeen rig. BP President for North Sea operations Trevor Garlick said the start of drilling marks an "important milestone" for regional operations . The British company said five wells are planned in the area. First oil is expected by the end of 2016 and will be moved to a new floating, production, storage and offload vessel. BP, which has been the focus of potential takeover rumors […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil dips on oversupply after Saudi reshuffle

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices dipped on Wednesday on oversupply after news King Salman of Saudi Arabia had altered the line of royal succession in the kingdom in a dramatic reshuffle. King Salman bin Abdulaziz sacked his younger half-brother as crown prince and appointed his nephew, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as the new heir apparent. He also appointed his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as deputy crown prince, and replaced veteran foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal with the kingdom’s Washington ambassador Adel al-Jubeir as well as appointing several other ministers. Saudi reshuffles often move oil prices as stability in the world’s biggest oil exporting country is key to global supplies. Traders and analysts said it was not clear how Saudi oil policy might be affected by the changes at a time when the oil market was oversupplied and facing a seasonal dip in demand. "I don’t think […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Oil Prices Inch Higher

NEW YORK—U.S. oil prices ended Tuesday with a modest gain, after a brief spike following the news that Iran seized a Western cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $57.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $64.64 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The oil market was roiled by a report on the maritime confrontation, sending U.S. crude prices to as high as $57.73 a barrel. Later, the U.S. Department of Defense clarified that the cargo ship that was taken over by the Iranian forces bore a Marshall Islands flag, and there were no U.S. citizens on board. The Pentagon also said the incident took place in Iranian waters, instead of international waters. “When we first saw the report, it was unclear […]

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Oil falls more than 1 pct, U.S. crude stockpiles set for another high

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday ahead of weekly U.S. crude inventory data that is expected to hit another high and as Saudi Arabia pledged to supply more oil to China if needed. U.S. commercial crude stockpiles were expected to have risen last week for the 16th straight week, up from a record 489 million barrels, even though drilling activity fell, a preliminary survey by Reuters showed on Monday. Comments from top Saudi oil officials on Monday reiterated the country’s position of keeping production high to meet demand as it maintains its market share. Brent June crude futures had dropped 84 cents to $63.99 a barrel by 0702 GMT. U.S. June crude fell 84 cents to $56.14 a barrel. The fall in prices "reflects the major gains that have been made in the last few weeks and a little bit of concern over what […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Oil Rally Looks Doomed, in Five Charts

Oil has surged 20 percent this month to $57 a barrel as expanding violence in Yemen stoked concern that supplies could be disrupted. The rally follows the biggest drop since 2008, with crude falling as low as $43.46 a barrel in March, as a price war broke out between OPEC producers and U.S. shale drillers. West Texas Intermediate oil, the U.S. benchmark, is now back up at close to a four-month high. Prices gained in each of the last six weeks, the longest stretch in more than a year. Before deciding prices will race back to $100, here are five charts worth keeping in mind. "The cart is moving ahead of the horse," Barclays Plc analysts said in an April 27 report. Long-dated futures are falling Even as prices rise for oil contracts that will be settled in the next few months, the price of oil is actually falling […]

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Year in Review: Crude Oil Prices 2014

Background In 2014, Brent front month crude oil futures prices fell from $108 per barrel on January 2 to $57 per barrel on December 31. This report gives an overview of the primary drivers of crude oil price movements in 2014, in particular the substantial price decline that took place during the second half of the year. Factors such as increased global supply of crude oil, lower crude oil supply disruptions, lower economic growth expectations, and currency exchange rate movements are explored in the report. In addition, links are provided to several other published EIA articles with further in-depth discussion of topics related to the oil price decline. After trading in a relatively narrow $10 per barrel range for the first six months of the year and reaching its peak of $115.06 per barrel on June 19, the Brent front month futures price fell sharply and settled at $57.33 […]

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Natural Gas Climbs as Contract Expires

By Timothy Puko and Carolyn Cui Natural gas futures rose Tuesday as the front-month contract headed toward expiration, pushing a rebound amid a raft of bearish bets. Bets on falling prices have been outnumbering wagers on rising prices by more than 3 to 2 in recent weeks, a scenario that can cause a rally on expiration day. Many of those bears will have to close out their bets or roll them over to the next month, and to do that they must buy back into a contract they once sold. "Some traders would wait until the last minute to get out of their positions," said Phil Flynn, a futures account executive at the Price Futures Group in Chicago. Unlike many other commodities, the first notice day comes after the expiration in the energy markets, allowing traders to hold their positions until the last trading day. Prices for the front-month […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple