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King Salman Upends Status Quo in Region and the Royal Family

Photo Workers preparing an image of King Salman, Saudi Arabia’s new monarch of several months, to put up in a building in Riyadh. Credit Tomas Munita for The New York Times RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — For much of the past decade, change has come slowly to Saudi Arabia , if at all. The oil-rich kingdom was led by an ailing monarch who worked quietly behind the scenes to preserve the status quo, propping up friendly dictators around the Middle East and depending on a leadership of aging princes at home. But in the few months since the death of King Abdullah in January, the new king, Salman, has moved fast to reshape foreign and domestic policies. He has rattled alliances with the United States and regional powers that for decades have been the bedrock of stability for his kingdom, and he has also shaken up the Saudi royal family. […]

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Houthi Rebels Agree to 5-Day Cease-Fire in Yemen

Photo People fleeing in Sana on Sunday after airstrikes hit the home of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s former president. Credit Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Reuters SANA, Yemen — Houthi rebels here said on Sunday that they had agreed to a five-day cease-fire proposed by Saudi Arabia that would allow humanitarian relief supplies to be delivered to the country, according to statements carried by a Houthi news agency. Yet as the Houthis accepted the limited truce, the Saudi-led military coalition bombed the residential compound of Ali Abdullah Saleh , Yemen ’s former president and the Houthis’ most important ally in the war. The residence, in Sana, the Yemeni capital, was struck at least seven times early Sunday, witnesses said. Mr. Saleh, who survived, made a defiant statement on television afterward, standing amid the rubble of his compound. The cease-fire would begin at 11 p.m. Tuesday. Since proposing a halt in the hostilities last […]

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China Cuts Interest Rates as Economic Growth Slows

ENLARGE BEIJING—China cut interest rates for the third time in six months amid a worse-than-expected economic slowdown, as authorities scramble to ease the heavy debt burdens of companies and governments. The People’s Bank of China said Sunday it would shave a quarter of a percentage point off benchmark lending and deposit rates, effective Monday. The move comes as senior Chinese officials are growing more fearful that the mountain of debt from the rapid expansion of credit over the past few years is weighing on efforts to pick up the world’s second-largest economy. In one of the starkest official warnings about China’s growing debt woes, the PBOC said in its monetary-policy report Friday that the “rising debt size is forcing China to use a lot of resources in repaying and rolling over debt” while limiting the room for further fiscal expansion. The central bank is also considering a credit-easing tool […]

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Doctors Group Recounts Migrant Rescue as E.U. Plans Crackdown on Smuggling Rings

Photo Migrants waited to exit the Phoenix after arriving in Sicily. The ship rescued them from dinghies stranded in the Mediterranean. Credit Francesco Malavolta/Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — Loaded with life jackets, medics and search-and-rescue teams, the ship sailed from port in Malta early last Thursday morning in search of migrants stranded at sea. The first dinghy was found by midday, a wooden fishing boat, piled with 118 people, including 25 children, said Will Turner, head of a Doctors Without Borders team on board. The sea was rough. The wind swept the boat from side to side in six-foot swells, he recalled. The toughest part was ensuring that the babies — there were nine children under 5 — could be handed over safely, not dropped into the water or crushed between the boats. Mr. Turner told this story on Friday in a Skype interview from the ship, the Phoenix, […]

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The Nigerian military is so broken, its soldiers are refusing to fight

LAGOS, Nigeria — As the Nigerian military battled Boko Haram over the past year, scores of soldiers made a decision that would put their lives in grave danger — they refused to fight. It wasn’t for lack of bravery, they said. It was for lack of weapons. At least 66 of the soldiers have been found guilty of mutiny and sentenced to death by firing squad. Dozens more remain in detention, awaiting trial. The Nigerian government describes them as cowards. Their supporters say they are scapegoats. “They joined the army to fight, not to commit suicide,” said Femi Falana, an attorney for 59 of the soldiers. The cases have opened a rare window into the Nigerian military, once one of the strongest in Africa but now struggling to combat an insurgency of several thousand fighters. Rebuilding the army is a major challenge for Muhammadu Buhari, who assumes the presidency […]

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China cuts interest rates for third time in six months as economy sputters

BEIJING China cut interest rates for the third time in six months on Sunday in a bid to lower companies’ borrowing costs and stoke a sputtering economy that is headed for its worst year in a quarter of a century. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website it was lowering its benchmark, one-year lending rate by 25 basis points to 5.1 percent from May 11. It cut the benchmark deposit rate by the same amount to 2.25 percent. "China’s economy is still facing relatively big downward pressure," the central bank said in a separate statement. "At the same time, the overall level of domestic prices remains low, and real interest rates are still higher than the historical average," it said. Sunday’s rate cut came just days after weaker-than-expected April trade and inflation data, highlighting that the world’s second-largest economy is under persistent pressure from softness in […]

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China becomes world’s top crude buyer despite economy stuttering

SINGAPORE China overtook the United States as the world’s top importer of crude oil for the first time in April, and its purchases are expected to remain strong despite a slowing economy, with far-reaching consequences for global oil and commodities markets. The soaring imports came as a surprise as growth in the world’s second-largest economy was sputtering and its oil demand was expected to ease. However, low oil prices and China’s series of interest rate cuts – including one over the weekend – in a bid to stoke growth are factors boosting demand. China’s crude oil imports hit a record of almost 7.4 million barrels a day (bpd) last month, putting it ahead of the United States’ estimated imports of 7.2 million bpd for April, Reuters data show. While China may drop back to second place in some months ahead, it is clearly headed towards overtaking the United States […]

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Obama’s quiet nuclear deal with China raises proliferation concerns

It seemed like a typical day for President Obama. He taped a TV interview on trade, hosted the champion NASCAR team on the South Lawn and met with the defense secretary in the Oval Office. Not so typical was something that didn’t appear that day on the president’s public schedule: notification to Congress that he intends to renew a nuclear cooperation agreement with China . The deal would allow Beijing to buy more U.S.-designed reactors and pursue a facility or the technology to reprocess plutonium from spent fuel. China would also be able to buy reactor coolant technology that experts say could be adapted to make its submarines quieter and harder to detect. The formal notice initially didn’t draw any headlines. Its unheralded release on April 21 reflected the administration’s anxiety that it might alarm members of Congress and nonproliferation experts who fear China’s growing naval power — and […]

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Could drought slow America’s most vibrant economy?

It is a tantalizing question facing the future of the American West: What would happen if the Colorado River dried up? The scenario, though unlikely anytime soon, is a stark way to consider the growing effects of climate change and drought on the region. And when researchers at Arizona State looked into it this year, they found a story of economic disaster. The seven states that rely on the Colorado for at least some of their water supply — from Wyoming down to Southern California — would lose 16 million jobs, many in health care, high technology and arts and recreation. The fewest job losses would come in agriculture. Nonetheless, in the West, it’s agriculture that still gets the lion’s share of the water. That’s the great tension for Western states — and the U.S. economy — as global temperatures rise and drought intensifies in coming years. This region […]

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Oil’s Spoils Slow to Flow

Pumpjacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field, in Bakersfield, Calif. ENLARGE Photo: Associated Press The drop in oil prices was supposed to help the economy this year. So far, it seems to have mostly hurt. The theory of why lower oil costs should boost U.S. growth is simple. Despite gains in domestic production from the shale boom, the country is a still a net importer of crude. So when oil prices fall, American consumers and businesses spend less money on stuff produced abroad, leaving them with more to spend on stuff produced at home. And gross domestic product goes up. Yet GDP expanded at an annual rate of just 0.2% in the first quarter-a figure likely to be revised lower. And while some weakness was due to severe weather and West Coast port problems, growth this quarter is looking muted. Forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers expects GDP to grow […]

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Union, BP agree terms for workers’ return to Whiting oil refinery

HOUSTON BP Plc and the union representing striking workers at the British firm’s Whiting, Indiana, oil refinery have reached an agreement setting the terms for them to return to work as soon as May 18 following a three-month strike. Union officials said a ratification vote is scheduled for Monday on the tentative four-year contract, agreed on May 1 by negotiators for BP and the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-1. Striking workers have been walking the picket lines since Feb. 8. Workers at the Whiting refinery went on strike as part of the largest work stoppage by refinery and chemical plant workers in 35 years, involving 15 plants which included 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of U.S. capacity. The national strike began after talks broke down between negotiators for the USW International union and U.S. refinery owners over tighter standards to prevent worker fatigue and the use of contractors in […]

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Einhorn’s Fracking Concerns Are Nothing New, But They Matter For Investors (Part 1)

Summary Many objections to the science and economics of shale production have been raised for years. These objections have serious implications for investors in securities that are related in any way to the energy industry. This series attempts to summarize what I see as important risks as well as potential rewards. Instead of fighting against the critics of shale production, investors can simply attempt to profit instead. Part 2 of this article will highlight several ways for investors to potentially profit with or without any bursting of a "shale bubble". As most investors are aware, David Einhorn recently presented his concerns about the poor economics of U.S. shale production at the Sohn conference. Specifically, he went after shale producers Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD ), Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO ), Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL ), Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR ), and EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG ). While I think […]

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The Death of the Green Energy Movement

The green energy movement in America is dead. May it rest in peace. No, a majority of American energy over the next 20 years is not going to come from windmills and solar panels. One important lesson to be learned from the green energy fad’s rapid and expensive demise is that central planning doesn’t work. What crushed green energy was the boom in shale oil and gas along with the steep decline in the price of fossil fuel that few saw coming just a few years ago. A new International Energy Agency report concedes that green energy is in fast retreat and is getting crushed by “the recent drop in fossil fuel prices.” It finds that the huge price advantage for oil and natural gas means “fossil plants still dominate recent (electric power) capacity additions.” This wasn’t supposed to happen. Most of the government experts–and many private investors too–bought […]

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Special Report: Russian soldiers quit over Ukraine

MOSCOW/DONETSK Some Russian soldiers are quitting the army because of the conflict in Ukraine, several soldiers and human rights activists have told Reuters. Their accounts call into question the Kremlin’s continued assertions that no Russian soldiers have been sent to Ukraine, and that any Russians fighting alongside rebels there are volunteers. Evidence for Russians fighting in Ukraine – Russian army equipment found in the country, testimony from soldiers’ families and from Ukrainians who say they were captured by Russian paratroopers – is abundant. Associates of Boris Nemtsov, a prominent Kremlin critic killed in February, will soon publish a report which they say will contain new evidence of the Russian military presence in Ukraine. Until now, however, it has been extremely rare to find Russian soldiers who have fought there and are willing to talk. It is even rarer to find soldiers who have quit the army. Five soldiers who […]

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I.M.F. and Central Bank Loom Large Over Greece’s Debt Talks

Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, right, at a session of the Greek Parliament. Finance officials from Greece and other European nations will meet Monday on its debt. Credit Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters Greek leaders have fought fiercely in recent months with politicians from other European countries over relief on Greece ’s vast debt load. Yet the power to decide the fate of Greece lies not just in the hands of these national governments, but also with unelected officials at two powerful institutions: the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund . Each is a creditor to Greece, and each is expecting the country to repay it billions of dollars of debt in the coming weeks. The influence of the E.C.B. and the I.M.F. will be felt behind the scenes on Monday, when finance ministers from Greece and other European nations meet in their latest effort to break an impasse that […]

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Russia saved Europe from Hitler, and it wants you to remember

MOSCOW — Russia’s vast celebrations Saturday to mark the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany had nearly everything: 16,000 goose-stepping soldiers, medal-bedecked veterans and families carrying photographs of those who died long ago. But one group was conspicuously absent from the memorial of the Soviet Union’s joint victory with West: the leaders of those wartime allied nations. A year into a conflict in Ukraine that the West says is fueled by the Kremlin, the tribunes in Red Square on Saturday were stocked with officials from nations that had little to do with the Soviet Union’s painful wartime sacrifices. Even some Kremlin critics said they were disappointed by the snub. A decade ago, President George W. Bush sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin on stands in front of Lenin’s Tomb to observe the 60th anniversary. A decade before that, President Bill Clinton also came to Moscow in […]

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Population; the elephant in the green room

A monstrous and ever expanding elephant sits in the green crusaders’ room. Amidst all the liberal internationalist angst about greenhouse gases and pollution generally, the greatest and most obvious cause of both is ignored by mainstream politicians: the already great and rapidly rising population of the world. The world population is estimated to be over 7 billion now. Extrapolations to 2050 go as high as 9.5 billion. The vast majority living now come from the underdeveloped world and their proportion of the world population will increase in the coming decades because the populations of underdeveloped countries have much younger populations than those of the developed world. One of every six people on earth is an adolescent. In the developing world, more than 40 percent of the population is under age 20. The decisions these young people make will shape our world and the prospects of future generations. Let us […]

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Oil Prices Diverge in Week

By Nicole Friedman U.S. oil prices rose Friday as traders weighed expectations of growing demand against concerns that the market remains oversupplied. Light, sweet crude settled up 45 cents, or 0.8%, to $59.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $65.39 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The U.S. contract posted a 0.4% gain this week while Brent fell 1.6%. Prices rose early in the session after the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a seasonally adjusted 223,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4% from 5.5% the prior month. Higher employment can put more commuters on the road, a positive indicator for oil demand. "A favorable employment figure conjures up images of some increased gasoline demand, and that’s helping out" the market, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch […]

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Oil prices fall on oversupply fears, ignore record China imports

SINGAPORE Oil fell on Friday, erasing gains earlier in the session, as concerns over oversupply outweighed strong Chinese import figures. Benchmark Brent crude was at $65.31 per barrel at 0650 GMT, down 23 cents after hitting a session high of $65.75. U.S. crude was 33 cents lower at $58.61 a barrel. Oil prices already tumbled 3 percent on Thursday as a resurgent dollar erased gains from the past two sessions, and after some U.S. producers said they would ramp up drilling after months of falling activity if prices continued to rise. Analysts said that Brent seemed capped around $70 a barrel, and may be overvalued already as there was still an oversupply in crude and U.S. producers, which have sharply reduced drilling in recent months of low prices, could increase production. "U.S. producers… indicated they would ramp up drilling activity if prices continued to rise," ANZ bank said in […]

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Crude oil markets search for traction

U.S. Labor Department data show employers in the energy sector continue to shed jobs in a weak crude oil market. File photo by Gary C. Caskey/UPI NEW YORK, May 8 (UPI) — Crude oil markets recovered from midweek losses Friday to post modest gains as U.S. employment data masks a downturn in parts of the energy sector. The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for oil, recovered about three-quarters of a percent to $59.41 in early Friday trading. WTI prices lost more than 2.2 percent during Thursday’s session, erasing much of a rally that pushed U.S. crude above the $60 mark to start the week. WTI started the month at $59.19. Brent crude oil prices, which started the month around $66.16 per barrel, were relatively flat early in the Friday session to trade at $65.59. Brent started Thursday around $67 per barrel. Oil markets are searching for […]

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World Bank: Stop flaring gas

World Bank notes capturing gas normally burned off at the wellhead could provide more energy than some world regions consume. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) — Natural gas is a bridge fuel to a low-carbon economy so it’s unfortunate companies are burning it off at the wellhead, a World Bank spokesman said Friday. Lawmakers in Washington this week called on Interior Secretary Sally Jewel to review federal policies on so-called flared gas, pointing to a report from the Government Accountability Office finding federal standards are behind the curve . U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki -moon, the World Bank Group and European energy leaders, from Royal Dutch Shell to Norwegian company Statoil, endorsed a plan to eliminate routine flaring no later than 2030. Some energy companies burn off, or flare, natural gas associated with other deposits because of the lack of infrastructure needed to utilize the resource. […]

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Natural Gas Bounces Off a One-Week Low

By Nicole Friedman Natural-gas prices jumped Friday in a rally that analysts attributed to technical trading after a bearish inventory report had sent prices to one-week lows the day before. Futures for June delivery settled up 14.6 cents, or 5.3%, at $2.880 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since March 18. Prices rose 3.7% this week. Prices had fallen to the lowest level since April 29 on Thursday after weekly stockpile data showed a larger-than-expected injection of gas into storage, suggesting that either production was more robust or demand was weaker than expected. Traders reversed those losses Friday. "The market seems keen to embrace a bullish turn when given the opportunity," said Breanne Dougherty, analyst at Societe Generale SA, in a note. "With so little interest in the [natural gas] contract these days, even small levels of engagement can move the […]

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Report: 2.2 million Iraqis displaced by ISIS

FILE – In this Sunday, April 19, 2015, file photo, a woman displaced from Ramadi settles in a mosque with children, in the al-Shurta neighborhood in west Baghdad, Iraq. A Norwegian humanitarian group report says a record 38 million people have been internally displaced in their countries worldwide, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone fleeing in 2014 after the Islamic State group seized their areas. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File) The Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Conflicts and violence worldwide displaced a record 38 million people in 2014, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone forced to flee the Islamic State group, a Norwegian humanitarian group report released Wednesday revealed. The findings of the study carried out by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Center are endorsed by the United Nations refugee agency. In a joint statement, they said 11 million were newly displaced last year — mostly because of conflicts in […]

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Shia militias skirmish with presidential guards

Shia militiamen brandish their weapons in the town of Tuz Khurmatu on Aug. 31, 2014. (STRINGER/Reuters) Recommend 115 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Shia militiamen clashed with a detachment of Iraqi President Fuad Masum’s bodyguards Thursday in Salahaddin province, denying them passage and confiscating their weapons and vehicles.The conflict threatens to further aggravate long-standing tensions between Shia militias and Kurdish security forces in the disputed territories of northern Iraq, which are subject to competing claims by Kurds, Arabs, Turkomen, and others. Armed Kurdish protesters have subsequently blocked roads and scuffled wit…

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U.S. Accuses Syria of New Uses of Chemical Arms

ENLARGE Children react after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Wednesday. A U.S. diplomat termed chemical weapons use allegations against Syria ‘credible.’ Photo: Bassam Khabieh /Reuters Three U.S. diplomats stepped up pressure against the Syrian government on Friday by accusing it of continuing to use chemical arms against its opponents in the country’s four-year civil war. The American ambassador to The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Robert Mikulak, cited a “steady stream” of accounts that the government is using chlorine as a chemical weapon, as recently as this month. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that accounts by people in Syria over such chemical attacks are “strong and credible.” And Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said evidence makes clear that Syria is killing people by dropping chlorine-filled barrels from helicopters […]

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Power Outages Mar South Africa’s Economic Expansion

ENLARGE DRDGOLD sends 60,000 tons of sludge through its machinery every day to extract traces of gold at its processing plant in Brakpan, South Africa. Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg News BRAKPAN, South Africa—It takes a lot of power to extract traces of gold from the 60,000 tons of sludge DRDGOLD Ltd. DRD -4.05 % sends through its machinery here each day. That is something that the Johannesburg-based company hasn’t been able to count on recently. “It’s a worrying thing that you’ve got to watch all the time,” said Niël Pretorius, DRDGOLD’s chief executive. South Africa used to be one of the few countries on the continent where most people had reliable access to electricity. But a lack of maintenance and investment has pushed state-run power provider Eskom Holdings Ltd. into a daily crisis as it struggles to meet demand. Blackouts are threatening to drive Africa’s second-largest economy off a cliff, […]

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Saudis Splurge in Asia to Win Loyal Oil Customers for Decades

Saudia Arabi’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi led a meeting with Aramco officials and South Korean refinery executives in Seoul last month and visited S-Oil Corp.’s Ulsan refinery, in which the Middle East producer holds about 63 percent. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is spending generously now on Asian refiners to lock in its position as the region’s biggest supplier of oil for decades to come. The Saudi national oil company is part of a group that’s building a processing plant in China and it teamed with Asia’s biggest refiner on another in Fujian province. Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi traveled to Beijing last month, highlighting the importance of the world’s second-biggest crude consumer to his country’s future. He also visited a South Korean refinery in which his country has a majority interest. Pressure is rising on Saudi Arabia to hold on to market share in Asia as competitors including Iraq, […]

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Saudi-led forces conduct airstrikes in Yemen’s Saada

CAIRO Saudi-led forces conducted several airstrikes on Thursday against the Yemeni province of Saada, a stronghold of the Iranian-allied Houthi movement, the state news agency SPA said on Friday. The strikes targeted two Houthi control centers in Bani Maaz, destroyed a mine factory in the old quarter of the city of Saada and a communications center in the Mothalath area, the agency said. Two Houthi command centers in the province were also destroyed. Residents of Saada said the strikes had damaged the tomb of the founder of the Houthi movement, Hussein al-Houthi. There was also heavy shelling in the west of the province, on the border area between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and 13 villagers were killed in strikes on Hajja province, also near the border, locals said. The figures could not be independently verified. A Saudi-led coalition began strikes against the Houthis on March 26, aimed at pushing […]

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Nigeria subsidy fears threaten worse fuel shortage

* Queues for petrol worsen across the country * Importers hold back over subsidy fears * Buhari government faces backlog of payments By Libby George and Julia Payne LONDON/ABUJA, May 8 (Reuters) – Fuel shortages are set to worsen in Nigeria as international traders and local marketers back away from imports over fears that the cash-strapped new government will halt costly subsidy payments. Already, lines at petrol stations in the major cities are blocking traffic as Africa’s largest crude oil exporter runs out of domestic fuels. The shortage in some rural areas is even more acute due to a payment battle between independent retailers and the government. "We have exhausted our stocks," said Stanley Yakubu, a worker at the Forte Filling Station in the Maitama neighborhood of Abuja. "We thought government and marketers have resolved their issues but supply is very slow in coming." Traders said new bookings for […]

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China’s crude oil imports hit record, coal shipments slump

BEIJING China’s crude oil imports hit a record high in April as falling prices encouraged stockpiling, but coal imports plunged and shipments of other commodities generally eased on a year earlier amid a sluggish economy. China’s exports unexpectedly fell 6.4 percent for the month, while imports tumbled by a deeper-than-forecast 16.2 percent, fueling expectations that Beijing will quickly roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper economic slowdown. China, the world’s second-largest crude oil buyer, imported a higher-than-expected 7.4 million barrels per day in April, up 8.6 percent on a year ago, as oil firms built up stocks despite tepid underlying refined fuel demand, especially for diesel. With oil prices down 40 percent from last June’s highs, China has been adding to its strategic reserves, although some analysts say imports may now pull back as the country starts to run out of storage space. Coal imports by the world’s […]

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Why Cheap Oil Is Bad News for U.S. Gas-Export Hopes

For the past year, many in the United States have been rubbing their hands at the prospect of a huge natural-gas export boom, raising hopes of a flood of cheap and clean fuel being shipped to friends in Europe and Asia. But the long-awaited gas boom has yet to materialize — and with oil prices well below last year’s highs, it might never. At the peak of enthusiasm over U.S. gas exports, more than 30 proposed projects jumped on the bandwagon, with grandiose visions of dispatching tankers full of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the East Coast, the Gulf Coast, and the Pacific Coast to thirsty markets all around the world. Leading U.S. politicians, from President Barack Obama to House Speaker John Boehner , R-Ohio, all have touted the prospects of Washington turning its energy wealth into geopolitical coin, especially now that Europe is redoubling efforts to reduce its […]

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Managing earthquake risks in oil and gas production:

LONDON Underground disposal of waste water produced from oil and natural gas wells has been blamed for triggering thousands of small earthquakes in Oklahoma and a number of other U.S. states since 2009. Heightened seismic activity corresponds closely with the timeframe and location of increased drilling and hydraulic fracturing across the southwest United States, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (“Incorporating induced seismicity in the 2014 United States national seismic hazard model”, 2015). Most tremors have been barely perceptible to humans, but one at Prague in Oklahoma was recorded at magnitude 5.6, enough to cause severe shaking and damage to buildings. The quake swarms have sparked a debate about safety and economic opportunity in states and communities that depend heavily on oil and natural gas production for jobs and income. WASTE WATER INJECTION Most tremors seem to have been caused by re-injection of waste water brought to the surface […]

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Permian basin sees first rig increase since oil rout: Baker Hughes

After weeks of idling rigs on slumping crude prices, U.S. oil drillers added rigs to the Permian Basin for the first time this year, industry data showed on Friday. Energy companies increased by one each the number of oil rigs in the Permian basin of West Texas and eastern New Mexico – the biggest and fastest growing U.S. shale oil field – and in the Barnett in Texas. That was the first increase in the Permian since December and the first in the Barnett since March, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday. Overall, the number of active oil rigs declined for the 22nd week in a row, but the rate of that decline has slowed in recent weeks, suggesting the collapse in drilling may be coming to an end as prices recover after falling 60 percent from June to March. The number of rigs drilling for […]

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Exclusive: Oil on fiery North Dakota train less volatile than limit

WILLISTON, N.D. Crude oil aboard a BNSF train that derailed in North Dakota on Wednesday caught fire even though it was less flammable than required by a state law that took effect last month. Test results sent to federal investigators and seen by Reuters show the state’s new rule may not be stringent enough to significantly reduce the risks of fireballs after derailments of trains carrying crude. In this crash, the crude on board contained about 20 percent fewer volatile gases than regulations mandate. The oil, transported in tank cars owned by Hess Corp, had a vapor pressure of 10.83 psi, according to test results. This pressure is less than the new threshold of 13.7 psi. State regulators have used vapor pressure as a proxy for measuring the amount of flammable gases known as light-ends that are present in crude. Samples of the crude oil involved in this latest […]

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Tesla’s Battery Grabbed $800 Million in Its First Week

Photographer: Tim Rue Tesla is already building a 5-million-square-foot battery factory. It’s not big enough. That was the message from Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk this week while discussing, for the first time, the early response to his new product line of storage batteries designed for use in homes and businesses. The numbers are impressive. In the first few days of reservations since the battery announcement on April 30 , Tesla took orders worth roughly $800 million in potential revenue, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg Business.  If those numbers were realized, it would be almost as much as the company took in from car sales in the entire first quarter of 2015. "It’s like crazy off-the-hook," Musk said during an earnings presentation on Wednesday. "The sheer volume of demand here is just staggering." Before anyone gets too excited, it’s important to note the biggest caveat: reservations don’t necessarily convert to sales. That’s especially true for the […]

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America’s Oil Drilling Boom Is Sputtering Back to Life

The oil boom isn’t dead after all. For the first time in five months, a rig in the Williston Basin, where North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation lies, sputtered back to life and started drilling for crude once again. And then one returned to the Permian Basin, the nation’s biggest oil play, field services contractor Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday. Shale explorers including EOG Resources Inc. and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. say they’re preparing to bounce back from the deepest and most prolonged slowdown in U.S. oil drilling on record. The country has lost more than half its rigs since October, casualties of a 49 percent slide in crude prices during the last half of 2014. Futures rallied above $60 a barrel earlier this week, and a sudden return to oil fields would threaten to end this fragile recovery. “You’re inviting a lot of pent-up supply to come back into […]

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Rail traffic to resume through N.D. town

Rail traffic set to resume through small North Dakota town where cars carrying Bakken oil derailed. File Photo by Steven Frame/Shutterstock. HEIMDAL, N.D., May 8 (UPI) — Rail traffic is expected to continue through a small North Dakota town at the center of latest oil train debate before the weekend, rail company BSNF said. Six of the 107 cars carrying Bakken crude oil through Heimdal, N.D. caught fire after derailing Wednesday. BNSF said most of the oil still in the derailed cars was removed and rail traffic should continue through the area before the weekend. "BNSF crews are currently working to clean up the area, remove the derailed cars, and repair the damaged track at that location," the company said in a late Thursday statement. Fires associated with the derailment were extinguished Thursday afternoon. The 40 or so residents of Heimdal who were evacuated after the incident were cleared […]

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Murkowski wants clarity on condensates

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduces bill that would clarify federal definition of condensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil cleared at times for exports from the domestic market. File Photo by UPI/Molly Riley. WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) — Federal law lacks a clear definition of condensate, a light form of oil found in shale and cleared for exports, a bill tabled by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski read. Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, introduced 17 separate energy measures. Among them, S. 1224 seeks to standardize the federal definition and policies regarding condensate . "Many federal agencies have conflicting definitions of what qualifies as ‘condensate’ and how it differs from ‘crude oil,’" a background on the so-called Condensate Act reads. "In common parlance, one man’s ‘heavy condensate’ is another man’s ‘light crude.’" When last year the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, a division of the Commerce Department, […]

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U.S. Oil Rigs Fall to 668 in Latest Week

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 about 58% fewer rigs working since a peak of 1,609 in October. That hasn’t yet translated into a drop in actual output, even though it has squelched production capacity. Crude-oil futures were recently up about 0.51% to $59.24 a barrel. According to Baker Hughes, gas rigs were down one to 221 this week. The U.S. offshore rig count is at 34, unchanged from last week and down 25 from last year. For all rigs, including natural gas, the week’s drop was 11 to 894.

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Oil Jobs Fall To the Lowest Level in More Than a Year

Employment in the oil and gas extraction sector has decreased from a year earlier. One of the areas most affected is North Dakota, where Scott Berreth, a derrick hand for Raven Drilling, works on an oil rig drilling into the Bakken shale formation. ANDREW BURTON/GETTY IMAGES The number of Americans working on oil and gas wells has dried up to its lowest level in more than a year. Employment in in oil-and-gas extraction fell by 3,300 in April to a seasonally adjusted 194,400, t he Labor Department said Friday. That’s the fewest since March 2014 and represents a year-over-year decline for an industry that until recently had been a growth engine for the labor market. The decrease comes while the broader economy added 223,000 jobs to payrolls last month . Employment in the energy-extraction sector reached 201,500 in October. The recent peak, driven by the expansion of hydraulic fracturing, […]

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Gasoline Prices Rev Up for Summer

While gas prices have risen in recent weeks, they’re much lower than a year ago, resulting in summer vacations still on the calendar. WSJ’s Nicole Friedman explains on MoneyBeat. Just in time for the beginning of summer, gasoline prices have revved up. Prices at the pump have soared 31% since hitting a nearly six-year low in late January. Much of the increase has been spurred by a rebound in crude oil, but prices are also climbing in anticipation of strong demand ahead of the summer-driving season, which typically lasts from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Despite the recent jump, gasoline remains cheaper than in recent years. A gallon averaged $2.66 nationwide on Friday, according to motor club AAA. Prices at the pump are still more than $1 a gallon below the levels of a year ago, and many analysts forecast that gasoline will remain below $3 a gallon for […]

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Average size of new commercial buildings in United States continues to grow

graph of average commercial building size, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) Increases in the size of commercial buildings have outpaced increases in the number of those buildings over the past decade, according to EIA’s Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) . EIA’s CBECS is the only nationally representative data collection for building characteristics and energy use in commercial buildings. Information about the commercial building stock in 2012 is now being released, and energy-use information is expected later this year. CBECS estimates that there were 5.6 million commercial buildings in the United States in 2012, totaling 87 billion square feet of floorspace. This level represents a 14% increase in the number of buildings and a 21% increase in floorspace since 2003, the last year for which CBECS results are available. Newer buildings tend to be larger than older […]

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BHI: US rig count posts smallest decline in 22 weeks

HOUSTON, May 8 OGJ Staff Writer During a week in which much of the oil and gas industry was either preoccupied with the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston or company earnings reports, the US drilling rig count snuck down just 11 more units to settle at 894 rigs working, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. The decline during the week ended May 8 represents the smallest during the 22 consecutive weeks in which the count has plunged. Over that period since Dec. 5, 1,026 units have gone offline ( OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014 ). The total of 894 is the lowest since June 12, 2009, and 961 fewer units compared with this week a year ago. The count’s nadir during the 2008-09 downturn was 876 units on June 12, 2009. The average US rig count for April was 976, down 134 from March and 859 from April […]

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Study shows proposed Pennsylvania gas severance tax would be costly

HOUSTON, May 7 A proposed natural gas severance tax in Pennsylvania would have negative economic consecutives for the state, according to a Natural Resource Economics Inc. study released May 7 by the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania (API-PA). “Higher energy taxes could put a damper on energy activity, and the commonwealth could be worse off with a new severance tax,” said Stephanie Wissman, API-PA executive director. “Natural gas development supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania, contributes $34.7 billion annually to the state economy.” The report, “The Economic Impacts of the Proposed Natural Gas Severance Tax in Pennsylvania,” analyzed the impact of Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal to implement an additional gas severance tax. Proposals include adding 5% on the gross market value of production plus a fixed fee of 4.7¢/Mcf produced and establishing an artificial floor of $2.97/Mcf regardless of the actual gas price ( OGJ Online, Mar. […]

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US DOE sanctions LNG exports from Cove Point

The US Department of Energy reported that that it has issued a final authorization for Dominion Cove Point LNG LP to export US-produced LNG to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement with the US from its Cove Point LNG terminal in Calvert County, Md. The terminal is authorized to export LNG up to the equivalent of 770 MMscfd of natural gas for a period of 20 years. “The development of US natural gas resources is having a transformative impact on the US energy landscape, helping to improve our energy security while spurring economic development and job creation around the country,” DOE said. This increase in gas production is expected to continue, DOE said, adding that the US Energy Information Administration forecasts a record average production rate this year of 72.4 bcfd. Dominion Cove Point began construction on the export project in the fall after receiving authorization from […]

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U.S. Urges Greece to Reject Russian Energy Project

Photo Amos Hochstein, left, a State Department envoy, met with Nikos Kotzia, the foreign minister of Greece, in Athens on Friday to discuss a proposed pipeline that would carry Russian natural gas. Credit Yorgos Karahalis/Associated Press ATHENS — The United States, wading into the international efforts to shape Greece’s economic and geopolitical orientation, is pushing the leftist government in Athens to resist Russia’s energy overtures. A State Department envoy in Athens urged Greece on Friday to embrace a Western-backed project that would link Europe to natural gas supplies in Azerbaijan, rather than agree to a gas pipeline project pushed by Moscow. The dueling sales pitches, reminiscent of a Cold War struggle, come as debt-burdened Greece is desperate for new sources of revenue of the sort that a gas pipeline could bring. In an interview in Athens on Friday, before meeting with Greek officials, the State Department envoy, Amos J. […]

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The “Upside Down” Peak Oil Story

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article called, Glut of Capital and Labor Challenge Policy Makers: Global oversupply extends beyond commodities , elevating deflation risk. To me, this is a very serious issue, quite likely signaling that we are reaching what has been called Limits to Growth , a situation modeled in 1972 in a book by that name. What happens is that economic growth eventually runs into limits. Many people have assumed that these limits would be marked by high prices and excessive demand for goods. In my view, the issue is precisely the opposite one: Limits to growth are instead marked by low prices and inadequate demand . Common workers can no longer afford to buy the goods and services that the economy produces, because of inadequate wage growth. The price of all commodities drops, because of lower demand by workers. Furthermore, investors can no longer […]

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Gazprom: Russia, Iran natural energy partners

Gazprom official in Tehran says interests in Russian and Iranian energy sectors are closely aligned. Photo by Igor Golovniov/Shutterstock TEHRAN, May 8 (UPI) — Iran and Russia are natural energy partners as both countries work to advance their objectives under sanctions pressure, a Gazprom official said in Tehran. Sergei Lasutenko, a representative from Russian energy company Gazprom, was in Tehran to attend an international energy exhibition. Iran said it expects foreign investors to flock to the country as sanctions pressures ease, though the Gazprom delegate said Iranian and Russian ties are aligned in part because of Western economic measures. "Russia is sanctioned too, so we have some joint interests to discuss," he said. "I look over the Iranian market and we know Iran has great experiences in working in these sanctions conditions." Iran is limited to about 1 million barrels of oil exports under a sanctions regime enacted in […]

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BG Group joins peers with profit fall

BG Group’s QCLNG terminal, Curtis Island, Queensland, Australia. Company posts production gains from Australia and Brazil, but still keen on acquisition bid from Shell. Photo courtesy: BG Group LONDON, May 8 (UPI) — BG Group said Friday it mirrored its peers by posting a drop in core earning but an increase in production, though it was still keen on Shell’s acquisition. British energy company BG Group said earnings for the first quarter were down 41 percent to $1.6 billion. Oil prices fell by about half from the June highs above the $100 per barrel market during the first quarter, squeezing profits for most energy companies. Revenue from upstream operations, the exploration and production side of the energy sector, was hardest hit for BG Group , though the company said actual production increased during the first quarter. Total production for the British company increased by 1 percent, though from its […]

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Russia, China Sign New Economic Deals–Update

Updated May 8, 2015 11:51 a.m. ET By Andrey Ostroukh MOSCOW–Russia and China signed economic deals and a financing agreement for up to $25 billion for Russian companies from Chinese banks, as Moscow looks to seal closer ties with its southeastern neighbor given its standoff with the West. President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping oversaw the signing of an agreement here allowing domestic companies to raise funding from Chinese banks against guarantees provided by Moscow, which is cut off from global capital markets by Western sanctions. The two countries also signed a preliminary deal for Russia to supply gas via a pipeline to China, although key details remain to be resolved, as well as agreements in aviation and farming. "Today, China is our key strategic partner," Mr. Putin said, seated alongside Mr. Xi as the deals were signed. Mr. Xi is the highest-profile foreign leader in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple