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Oil Shipments by Rail Take Slow Track

Some oil companies have turned to trains to move crude to refineries. ENLARGE Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News The growth in oil-train shipments fueled by the U.S. energy boom has stalled in recent months, dampened by safety problems and low crude prices . The number of train cars carrying crude and other petroleum products peaked last fall, according to data from the Association of American Railroads, and began edging down. In March, oil-train traffic was down 7% on a year-over-year basis. Railroads have been a major beneficiary of the U.S. energy boom, as oil companies turned to trains to move crude to refineries from remote oil fields in North Dakota and other areas not served by pipelines. Rail shipments of oil have expanded from 20 million barrels in 2010 to just under 374 million barrels last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. About 1.38 million barrels a […]

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Technical options for processing additional light tight oil volumes within the United States

Preface U.S. oil production has grown rapidly in recent years. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, which reflect combined production of crude oil and lease condensate, show a rise from 5.6 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2011 to 8.7 million bbl/d in 2014. Increasing production of light crude oil from low-porosity, or tight, resource formations in regions like the Bakken, Permian Basin, and Eagle Ford, often referred to as light tight oil (LTO), accounts for nearly all the net growth in U.S. crude oil production. EIA’s March 2015 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts U.S. crude oil production averaging 9.3 million bbl/d in 2015 and 9.5 million bbl/d in 2016, well above the 2014 average level but only moderately above production during December 2014. EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) projects further production growth, but its pace and duration remain uncertain, as shown by the significant differences in both the […]

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Swaps may be a way around US crude export impasse, CSIS forum told

WASHINGTON, DC, Apr. 6 Crude oil swaps may be a realistic short-term alternative to outright repeal of the US crude export ban for US refiners as well as producers, a speaker suggested at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum. Federal approval for swaps with Canada and Mexico are easier to obtain because they are immediately adjacent countries, said Martin Tallett, president and founder of EnSys Energy in Lexington, Mass. Mexico’s government recently announced it would seek a second swap of its heavy Mayan crude for light tight US oil, he noted. “Getting rid of that light crude enables medium and heavy crudes to come in—a sort of swap trade without major refining investments,” Tallett said. US refiners might be more ready to make long-term investments in light tight crude processing capacity if they could get at least 20-year discounts from US producers, he added. While Europe also […]

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Cheap Oil Is Squeezing Property Owners in Energy Hubs

More than $1 trillion in U.S. real estate debt from the last decade’s property boom is starting to come due as oil prices stagnate, squeezing property owners in cities and towns centered around the energy business. The 50 percent plunge in crude values since June is already dragging down property prices in Texas, according to Green Street Advisors LLC. Real estate investors are adjusting their underwriting across the state as they gird for contraction at energy companies, demanding higher yields on their investments, the property-research firm said. “It is going to be harder and more costly for borrowers in energy hubs to refinance loans in today’s environment, versus when oil was $100 a barrel,” Andy McCulloch, an analyst at Newport Beach, California-based Green Street, said in an e-mail. “Just how much harder or costly will depend.” Even as U.S. commercial real estate values surge past records set in 2007, […]

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Study Forecasts 70% Loss of West Canada’s Glaciers

The glaciers of the Canadian West could shrink by 70 percent by 2100, according to new research that has implications for predicting glacier loss around the world. The loss of mountain glaciers contributes to the rise in sea levels. As glaciers dwindle there could be also be pronounced effects on availability of water for aquatic creatures and for agriculture as well as water quality issues. The report, published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, combines scientific disciplines to develop an unusually powerful method of predicting glacier loss, including high-resolution regional models of current glaciers and the physics of ice flow. The researchers then applied their findings to the range of predictions of warming over time from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Under the calculations in the paper, glaciers in Western Canada will shrink to less than 10 percent of the area they covered in 2005, and glaciers in […]

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Ukrainian Leader Is Open to a Vote on Regional Power

Photo A man collected debris on the roof of a burned house after shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Monday. Credit Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images MOSCOW — President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine on Monday denounced calls for “federalization” of the country, which Russia has endorsed as a way of granting political autonomy to the areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Establishing greater local autonomy and governmental authority is widely viewed as crucial to settling the nearly yearlong war in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and it was a central plank in a cease-fire accord signed in February. But there are fierce disagreements over how to shape those powers, and how far they would extend. Speaking at the first meeting of a commission charged with developing amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution, Mr. Poroshenko described federalization as tantamount to breaking apart the country, and said […]

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The BP Oil Spill 5 Years After: How Has It Affected You?

The BP Oil Spill 5 Years After: How Has It Affected You? thumbnail On April 20, 2010, a blowout at the Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico sank the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, operated by BP. Eleven people died. And the wellhead, protruding from the seafloor, spewed millions of gallons of crude into the ocean. That oil spread far and wide, killing microorganisms and larger animals, marring coastlines and damaging the economies of communities along the shore. Debate arose over whether the large volume of chemicals dispersed to break down the oil was doing its own harm or good. Some effects from the spill continue to linger. Just last week the National Wildlife Federation released a report indicating that in 2014 many more dead dolphins than usual were still being found along the Louisiana coast. Another sign that things aren’t back to normal is the decline in […]

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Oil up more than $1 after Saudi’s Asia price hike

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil futures climbed more than $1 a barrel on Monday, after Saudi Arabia raised prices for crude sales to Asia for a second month, signaling better demand in the region. International benchmark Brent regained ground after tumbling as much as 5 percent on Thursday, when a preliminary nuclear deal was finally reached between world powers and Iran. More Iranian oil could enter global markets if that is followed by a comprehensive deal by June. But analysts warned a ramp-up in exports could take months and would likely not happen before 2016. "While clearly a bearish headline, a final deal and full lifting of sanctions still faces a number of obstacles," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note. "Even if a final deal is reached, we do not expect any physical market impact before 2016," the analysts said. Brent crude for May delivery LCOc1 touched a high […]

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Oil Rises as Saudis Increase Prices Amid Iran Export Uncertainty

Oil rose after Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers left the timing of increased crude supplies from the OPEC member uncertain and as Saudi Arabia raised prices for shipments to Asia. Futures climbed as much as 2.7 percent in New York. Physical oil markets won’t be affected by Iran before 2016 as the potential lifting of sanctions, which could allow the Persian Gulf nation to boost production, still faces obstacles, according to Morgan Stanley. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, narrowed the discount on its main Arab Light grade for next month’s sales to Asia. Oil has advanced the past three weeks amid speculation that Iran won’t be able to boost its crude exports immediately and add to a global supply glut that drove oil almost 50 percent lower in 2014. Global demand is improving, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on March 23. “There isn’t going […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple