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U.S. Oil Rig Count Falls for 18th Straight Week

The U.S. oil rig count has declined for 18 straight weeks. ENLARGE Photo: Getty Images The U.S. oil-rig count fell by 42 to 760 in the latest week, according to Baker Hughes Inc., a decline that accelerated from recent weeks. The number of U.S. oil drilling rigs—a proxy for activity in the oil industry—has fallen sharply since prices headed south last year. There are now 53% fewer rigs compared with a peak of 1,609 in October. The count has declined for 18 straight weeks and is at a level last seen in December 2010. Oil production in the U.S. has remained resilient, despite the squelched production capacity. U.S crude-oil futures were recently up 2% at $51.79, holding their gains after the data’s release. According to Baker Hughes, gas rigs were down three at 225 this week. The U.S. offshore rig count is at 33, up two from last week […]

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BHI: US rig count falls under 1,000 for first time since 2009

HOUSTON, Apr. 10 By Matt Zborowski OGJ Staff Writer After noticeably slowed declines over the previous 2 weeks, the US drilling rig count fell 40 units to 988 rigs working during the week ended Apr. 10, settling under 1,000 for the first time since Sept. 11, 2009, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. Forty-one units went offline during the previous 2 weeks ( OGJ Online, Apr. 2, 2015 ). The count has fallen in 18 consecutive weeks, during which time it has plunged 932 units ( OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014 ). The total of 988 is the lowest since Aug. 21, 2009, and 843 fewer units compared with this week a year ago. The average US rig count for March was 1,110, down 238 from February’s average, and down 693 from the average in March 2014. During the week, virtually all of the declines in the US […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US Oil Rig Slide Picks Up Again After False Bottom

April 10 (Reuters) – The fall in U.S. rigs drilling for oil quickened this week, data showed on Friday, suggesting that a recent slowdown was temporary, after slumping oil prices caused half of the country’s rigs to be closed since November. The oil rig count fell by 42 this week to 760, the biggest drop in a month after the loss of 11 and 12 rigs in the prior two weeks respectively, according to data from oil services firm Baker Hughes. U.S. natural gas rigs, meanwhile, rose by three to 225. The slowing decline in March had caused some analysts to wonder whether oil drillers had finished making deep cuts for now, with U.S. crude prices stabilizing at around $50 a barrel or so. But after Friday’s data, prices rose 2 percent on the day and 5 percent on the week, to above $51 a barrel, partly on signs […]

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Baker Hughes suspends key well count report

Oil services company Baker Hughes suspends publication of quarterly data on U.S. onshore sector. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/ekina. HOUSTON, April 10 (UPI) — Oil services company Baker Hughes announced it was suspending the publication of a quarterly barometer of the strength of the U.S. onshore energy sector. The company said that, as of Thursday, it was suspending the quarterly publication of U.S. onshore well data. "In response to the recent market downturn and internal initiatives to reduce costs, the company has prioritized its resources to support the ongoing publication of the weekly North America and monthly International rig counts, which continue to provide a timely and relevant snapshot of evolving market conditions," the company said in a statement. As of April 2, Baker Hughes said there were 1,028 rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and natural gas in the United States, down nearly 2 percent from the previous […]

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California’s New Era of Heat Destroys All Previous Records

The California heat of the past 12 months is like nothing ever seen in records going back to 1895. The 12 months before that were similarly without precedent. And the 12 months before that? A freakishly hot year, too.  What’s happening in California right now is shattering modern temperature measurements—as well as  tree-ring records  that stretch back more than 1,000 years. It’s no longer just a record-hot month or a record-hot year that California faces. It’s a stack of broken records leading to the worst drought that’s ever beset the Golden State.   The chart below shows average temperatures for the 12 months through March 31, for each year going back to 1895. The orange line shows the trend rising roughly 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, just a bit faster than the warming trend observed worldwide. 12-Month Average Temperature (°F), April-March. Source: NOAA / Bloomberg The last 12 months were a full 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 Celsius) above the 20th century average. Doesn’t sound […]

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U.S. household gasoline expenditures expected to fall in 2015

The average U.S. household expenditure on motor gasoline in 2015 is expected to be about $1,817, the lowest level in more than a decade. This level is about $700 less than average household gasoline expenditures in 2014. Actual spending can vary based on driving-related factors (number of vehicles, annual distance driven), some of which depend on demographic considerations (location, income, size of household). As one might expect, households with more people tend to spend more on gasoline in a year. Through its Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveys spending of American consumer units , a term essentially equivalent to a household (i.e., people who live together and make joint expenditure decisions). Two-person households represent the highest portion of all households (about one-third in 2013) and have motor gasoline expenditures close to the average of all households. Historical data from this survey show that households […]

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Southern Mid-Atlantic US senators petition for OCS revenue sharing

US senators from four southern Mid-Atlantic coastal states asked Energy and Natural Resources Committee leaders to consider comparable federal Outer Continental Shelf revenue sharing for oil and gas activity off their shores to what four US Gulf Coast states now receive. The US Department of the Interior included a Mid-Atlantic lease sale in its draft proposed 2017-22 OCS management program, the senators said in their Apr. 7 letter to committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) and ranking minority member Maria E. Cantwell (D-Wash.). “We strongly believe that offshore energy and revenue sharing go hand-in-hand, and that any legislation considered by the committee should reflect that view,” the two Democrats and six Republicans said. They said energy exploration and development can diversify their states’ economies and create jobs while reducing US reliance on foreign suppliers. The 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act authorized federal OCS oil and gas revenue shares […]

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New Sea Drilling Rule Planned, 5 Years After BP Oil Spill

Photo A new rule will be used to make the case that a disaster like the 2010 BP spill can be prevented. Credit U.S. Coast Guard WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is planning to impose a major new regulation on offshore oil and gas drilling to try to prevent the kind of explosions that caused the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, administration officials said Friday. The announcement of the Interior Department regulation, which could be made as soon as Monday, is timed to coincide with the five-year anniversary of the disaster, which killed 11 men and sent millions of barrels of oil spewing into the gulf. The regulation is being introduced as the Obama administration is taking steps to open up vast new areas of federal waters off the southeast Atlantic Coast to drilling, a decision that has infuriated environmentalists. The rule is expected to […]

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Putin’s Surprising New Ruble Problem Threatens Russian Coffers

Downside of ruble rally: Price of Brent crude at four-year lows impinges on Russia’s potential budget revenue Vladimir Putin is facing a problem few could have anticipated: The ruble is becoming too strong. Last year’s worst-performing major currency is this year’s best and while that’s buoying the nation’s bonds, driving yields to the lowest in four months, it’s also crimping Russia’s export revenue. Even though oil is little changed in dollars this year, the price when converted to rubles has plunged to the lowest since 2011. The currency rout in 2014 helped Russia to keep its budget deficit within 1 percent of gross domestic product as the ruble weakened in lockstep with a 50 percent slump in oil. Now, with the cease-fire in Ukraine and the allure of higher-yielding assets attracting investors to ruble debt, the government is seeing the opposite effect. “The current ruble level is already uncomfortable […]

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Russia Wasting Millions of Tonnes of Oil From Leaking Pipes

Russia Wasting Millions of Tonnes of Oil From Leaking Pipes thumbnail Russia’s ageing and leaking pipelines are wasting millions of tonnes of oil a year, causing widespread environmental damage that largely goes unreported, according to Greenpeace Russia. The pressure group says the problem is getting worse as Russia battles against falling oil prices and continued Western sanctions at a time when its pipelines need urgent repairs or replacing altogether. “Oil extraction and oil spills are now synonymous in Russia,” says Evgenia Belyakova, Greenpeace Russia’s Arctic project coordinator. “Spills often happen as soon as a well is opened but most of them occur because of the bad conditions of the pipelines.” Belyakova says that across Russia’s “hundreds of thousands of miles” of oil pipelines, many segments are still in use many years after their recommended lifespan has expired. To compound the problem, Russian oil companies are not obliged to record […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple