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Nigerian Oil Dispute Exposes Dysfunction Ahead of Power Shift

By Drew Hinshaw And Patrick McGroarty LAGOS, Nigeria–The most oil-rich nation in Africa nearly ran out of gas this week. Airlines grounded flights because they couldn’t find jet fuel in recent days, and gas stations nearly all closed down. The companies licensed to restock Nigeria’s fuel depots refused to do so, saying the government here–defeated in an election in March–owed them more than $1 billion. The result was the worst fuel shortage here since a 1993 military coup, one that could echo for weeks in Africa’s top economy. Television stations, banks, and cellphone towers all went offline. Doctors worried their emergency rooms would go dark, and several soldiers in the north said they considered halting their pursuit of Boko Haram and the women the Islamist terrorist group has kidnapped. Late Monday, the shortage ended, when Nigeria’s government agreed to look into the debts it owed. On Tuesday, gas stations […]

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China’s CNPC makes first tight oil find over 100 million tonnes

BEIJING Chinese state-owned energy giant China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has discovered more than 100 million tonnes of tight oil geological reserves in its Changqing field, a company-run newspaper said on Tuesday. The discovery, located in the western province of Shaanxi, is the first Chinese tight oil find to surpass 100 million tonnes, the China Petroleum Daily said. Technically recoverable reserves may be considerably lower. Tight oil production capacity in the Ordos basin, where Changqing is located, is more than 1 million tonnes, the paper said. CNPC is Asia’s largest oil producer and the parent of PetroChina Co Ltd.. In the first quarter of 2015, Changqing produced 6 million tonnes of crude oil, or 487,600 barrels per day, according to the official Xinhua News Agency’s China Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals (OGP) newsletter. (Reporting by Adam Rose; Editing by Alan Raybould )

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Bakken Well Completions Spike

Bakken Well Completions Spike Bakken well completions rose sharply last month, according to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). The DMR reports a preliminary completion count for March was 189, up 350% from 42 the previous month. Related:  Bakken Rigs Decrease to 77 Many oil and gas companies who have been hard hit by low crude prices are postponing well completions as a temporary measure in order to wait out the crisis with plans to resume production when oil prices rebound. But oil prices remain unstable, why would North Dakota experience a spike? Director of DMR Lynn Helms speculates that the increase is likely due to state-mandated time limits and major tax incentives, which forced companies to bring 125 wells online by June to comply with time limits. Nathan Conway, CEO of Fortis Energy Services, told OAG360 that “In the state of North Dakota, a well can only […]

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Driving is making a comeback in the U.S.: Kemp

LONDON California motorists consumed an extra 34,500 barrels of gasoline every day in February compared with the same month last year, state tax records show. The state is just part of a nationwide surge in driving that has pushed U.S. gasoline consumption up by more than 300,000 barrels per day compared with last year. California drivers filled their cars with 1.148 billion gallons of gasoline in February, about 40.5 million gallons more than in February 2014, an increase of almost 3.7 percent. The Golden State has the most expensive gasoline in the country owing to its relative isolation, special fuel formulations and high level of tax. The state collects 66 cents per gallon in state and federal gasoline taxes, second only to Pennsylvania on 70 cents, and far above the national average of 49 cents, according to the American Petroleum Institute. But thanks to the plunge in crude oil […]

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U.S. rig activity leveling out

BISMARCK, N.D., May 26 (UPI) — The number of rigs actively exploring or producing oil and natural gas in North Dakota was 82 as of Tuesday, relatively stable from a week ago, state data show. The state government reported 82 rigs in active service as of Tuesday, down one from May 18. The rig count, a reflection of the health of the exploration and production side of the sector, is at its lowest level since January 2010, but holding steady for North Dakota. Rig counts in the state fell from 93 at the middle of April to 84 by the end of that month. Low oil prices means less cash for energy companies to spend on exploration and production. Oil field services company Baker Hughes reported 885 rigs in active service in the United States in its weekly count last week, down three from the previous week. North Dakota […]

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California Oil-Spill Estimate Revised Down

ENLARGE Animal-care experts at SeaWorld San Diego attend to an oiled sea lion found Friday at Refugio State Beach near Goleta, Calif. Photo: Associated Press The amount of oil believed spilled from a ruptured pipeline off the Santa Barbara County, Calif., coast last week has been revised downward, as cleanup crews worked through the Memorial Day weekend mopping up crude off of eight miles of affected beaches. The pipeline’s owner, Plains All American Pipeline PAA -1.34 % LP, now estimates that the maximum amount spilled when the rupture was detected May 19 is 101,000 gallons, or 4,200 gallons lower than previous estimates officials of a state-federal joint unified command have announced. As of noon Monday, a total of 10,060 gallons of an oil-water mix created by the crude that reached the Pacific Ocean had been skimmed off of coastal waters and beaches, said Tom McKenzie, a U.S. Coast Guard […]

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Hundreds more oil sands staff evacuated on Alberta fire threat

CALGARY, Alberta Statoil ASA, MEG Energy Corp and Cenovus Energy Inc evacuated hundreds of workers from three oil sands projects in northeastern Alberta on Tuesday as wildfires raged through the key crude-producing region. The latest evacuations are in addition to project shutdowns by Cenovus and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd over the weekend, as companies rushed to remove staff from potential danger. At least 233,000 barrels per day of oil sands production, 9 percent of Alberta’s total oil sands output, have been suspended because of the fire risk, though none of the projects have been damaged. The Alberta government said there are 70 forest fires now burning in the province, with 20 considered out of control. Lightning storms are forecast for Tuesday evening, increasing the risk of more fires, a government spokesman said. Cenovus evacuated all 90 staff from its Narrows Lake oil sands project on Tuesday, which is not […]

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How the ‘Paddle in Seattle’ Plans to Beat Shell

Kayak-tivists gathered in Elliott Bay on Saturday, May 16, where the Polar Pioneer drilling rig is docked. (Flickr / Backbone Campaign) Kayak-tivists gathered in Elliott Bay on Saturday, May 16, where the Polar Pioneer drilling rig is docked. (Flickr / Backbone Campaign) Seattle has become a hub of anti-extraction activism. Protests began on May 14, when Royal Dutch Shell — bucking city residents and officials — docked its Polar Pioneer off the Emerald City coast. The towering 400-by-355-foot oil rig is en route to the Arctic, where it is scheduled to begin drilling operations this summer. The largest demonstration yet happened May 16, as hundreds of “kayak-tivists” swarmed Seattle’s Terminal 5, where the Polar Pioneer is docked. Since then, protests against the rig have been ongoing, and show few signs of letting up. This week, I spoke with Puget Sound resident John Sellers, a global justice movement veteran and […]

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Oil prices steady but indications rally running out of steam

SINGAPORE Crude oil prices were broadly unchanged in early trading on Tuesday, as firm demand supported and ample supply dragged, but analysts said there were signs that a recent rally was running out of steam. Robust demand in Asia as well as due to the driving season in the United States is being met by near record output, especially from the Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), although U.S. production seems to have been peaked, at least temporarily. Front-month Brent crude prices were up 6 cents to $65.58 per barrel by 0120 GMT. U.S. crude prices were up 16 cents at $59.88 a barrel. Analysts said that big price spikes away from current levels were unlikely. "Crude oil markets were supported by a reported decline in U.S. production and crude oil inventories last week but prices failed to re-test the highs set earlier in the month," ANZ bank said […]

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Oil prices dip below $65 as dollar strengthens

LONDON Crude oil futures dipped below $65 a barrel as the dollar strengthened on Monday, with a public holiday in the United States and much of Europe keeping oil trading volumes muted. Front-month Brent crude fell 62 cents to $64.75 a barrel by 0828 GMT. U.S. crude was down 46 cents at $59.26 a barrel. The dollar rose to its highest against the euro and yen in nearly two months and reached a one-month high against a basket of currencies. A strong dollar makes crude oil less attractive for holders of other currencies. "The overall fundamentals still point to a well-supplied market, a fact that should continue to put a ceiling on prices," Barclays said. However, the market drew support from strong demand figures across Asia and the United States. "Global oil demand continues to surprise to the upside, with April data showing no signs of slowdown despite a […]

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OPEC according to the EIA

OPEC publishes monthly production data for all OPEC nations in their Monthly Oil Market Report . The data crude oil production only and does not include condensate. I have found the data to be highly accurate and any errors are corrected in the next month’s report or the month following that. The OPEC data is from OPEC’s “Secondary Sources”. The EIA also publishes OPEC production data in their  International Energy Statistics . However the EIA does not publish crude only data. Their data includes condensate. All data is in thousand barrels per day. The last EIA data point is December 2014 and the last OPEC data point is April 2015. O v E Algeria Almost 20% of Algeria’s production is condensate if the EIA is correct. Algeria does produce a lot of condensate but I have serious doubts about the accuracy of the EIA data. As you can see […]

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Islamic State faces battle in Iraq, bombs in Syria

BAGHDAD/BEIRUT Islamic State poured more fighters into Ramadi as security forces and Shi’ite paramilitaries prepared to retake the Iraqi city that fell to the Islamists a week ago in a major setback for the government. In Palmyra, the Syrian air force struck at buildings captured by the Sunni militant group, whose arrival has raised fears that the city’s famed Roman ruins will be destroyed. The air force leveled Islamic State "hideouts" and killed a large number of its members around Palmyra’s military air base, Syrian state media said. Islamic State has killed at least 217 people execution-style, including children, since it moved into the Palmyra area 10 days ago, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Another 300 soldiers were killed before the Syrian city was captured, the monitoring group said. The insurgents reinforced Ramadi on Monday, deploying fighters in preparation for battle against security forces and […]

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Iran to raise oil output by 170,000 bpd from new fields by March 2016: IRNA

DUBAI Iran plans to raise its oil output by 170,000 barrels per day by end of the current Iranian year, which ends on March 20, 2016, the official IRNA news agency cited an Iranian oil official as saying on Monday. Soltan Kamali, managing director of Arvandan Oil and Gas Company, a subsidiary of the state’s National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said the "additional output will be available once the initial phases of North Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields come into operations," IRNA reported. The OPEC producer aims to boost crude exports by up to 1 million bpd if Tehran and six major powers finalize a nuclear agreement by a June 30 deadline. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal, editing by David Evans)

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Islamic State’s Gains Reveal New Prowess on Battlefield

ENLARGE Islamic State identified six men, including a man it named as Abu Adam al-Lubnani, of Lebanon, as among the suicide bombers who helped the group’s victorious battle surge in Ramadi. Photo: no credit In late April, a commander for Islamic State said his forces were ready to launch an offensive to take Ramadi, and the group called for fighters to redeploy to Iraq from Syria. Three weeks later, the jihadist group seized the capital of Anbar province after relentless waves of suicide bombings. U.S. defense chief Ash Carter has blamed Ramadi’s fall mainly on Iraqi forces’ lack of will to fight. But Islamic State’s battlefield performance suggests the terrorist group’s tactical sophistication is growing—a development the Iraqis and the U.S.-led coalition have so far failed to counter, said Iraqi officials, former U.S. officials and military analysts studying the organization. An examination of how Ramadi fell indicates that Islamic […]

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Only Iran is confronting Islamic State, paramilitary chief says

DUBAI The general in charge of Iran’s paramilitary activities in the Middle East said the United States and other powers were failing to confront Islamic State, and only Iran was committed to the task, a news agency on Monday reported. Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force responsible for protecting the Islamic Republic’s interests abroad, has become a familiar face on the battlefields of Iraq, where he often outranks local commanders. "Today, in the fight against this dangerous phenomenon, nobody is present except Iran," the Tasnim news agency quoted Soleimani as saying on Sunday in reference to Islamic State. Iran should help countries suffering at the hands of Islamic State, said Soleimani, whose force is part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Mehr news agency reported. The Sunni militant group has taken key cities in Iraq and Syria in the past week, routing regular forces […]

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Thousands flock to mass funeral for Saudi attack victims

Latest News Buy AP Photo Reprints DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets of eastern Saudi Arabia on Monday to attend a mass funeral for victims of last week’s suicide bombing attack at a Shiite mosque that was claimed by the Islamic State group, attendees said. Chanting religious slogans and carrying banners denouncing sectarianism, the mourners made their way with the victims’ bodies along a route to a cemetery in the village of al-Qudeeh, in the oil-rich eastern Qatif region. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack and warned of more "black days" to come for Saudi Shiites. Saudi officials have confirmed the group was behind the blast, which officials said killed 21 people. It was the country’s deadliest terrorist attack since 2004. King Salman has vowed to punish those responsible. Like many ultraconservative Sunnis in Saudi Arabia, the […]

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U.S. shale oil producers to ramp up drilling at current price: Goldman Sachs

SINGAPORE Shale oil producers, benefiting from lower costs, are expected to ramp up drilling activity if the price of U.S. oil stays near $60 a barrel, Goldman Sachs said. "We believe that should West Texas Intermediate prices remain near $60 a barrel, U.S. producers will ramp up activity, given improved returns, with costs down by at least 20 percent," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a report. U.S. drillers cut the number of rigs by just one last week, data from oil services firm Baker Hughes Inc showed, signaling that higher crude prices may be starting to steady the sector after 24 straight weeks of drill rig declines. "Last week’s rig count is a first sign of this response and suggests that producers are increasingly comfortable," the Goldman Sachs analysts said. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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Nigeria: Fuel Crisis – Oil Workers Reach Agreement With Govt, Lifting Begins

The senate has intervened in the ongoing fuel crisis in the country leading to a commitment from all critical stakeholders to pave way for the lifting of fuel in the next six hours. This resolution was reached at the Senate inquest into the fuel crisis organised by the Senate Joint Committee on Petroleum Upstream and Downstream. LEADERSHIP recalls that sequel to a resolution of the Senate last week mandating its committees on petroleum resources (Upstream and Downstream) to investigate the persistent fuel scarcity in the country, the committees summoned the coordinating minister for the economy and finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and her petroleum ministry counterpart, Diezani Alison-Madueke, over the scarcity. Also invited by the joint committee, the group managing director of the NNPC, managing director, PPMC, director DPR, PPPRA, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) , Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and National Association of Road […]

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Nigeria’s Cocoa Industry Fears Shutdown Due to Fuel Shortage

By Obafemi Oredein Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES IBADAN, Nigeria–A severe shortage of petroleum products in Nigeria could shutdown the country’s cocoa industry, officials, traders and exporters said Monday. The nationwide shortage, now entering its fourth week, has affected the operations of commercial banks, telecommunication companies and the other key sectors of the economy. Commercial banks in Nigeria normally close at 4 pm local time, but a shortage of gasoline and diesel used to run generators is forcing them to shut earlier than normal. "If banks close down now, cocoa business is off," Monday Awulu, a senior official at Saro Agro Allied Ltd., a major cocoa exporting company in Nigeria, told Dow Jones Newswires. He said the severe petrol shortage didn’t have a major impact on the movement of cocoa, "but if diesel becomes difficult then cocoa movement becomes difficult as most of the vehicles we use are diesel-powered." […]

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China Nuclear Firm Plans Biggest Domestic IPO in 5 Years

ENLARGE A model of a nuclear power plant by China National Nuclear Corporation on show at the 18th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo in Beijing, China, 13 May 2015. Photo: European Pressphoto Agency China National Nuclear Power Corp., one of the top two state nuclear-power giants, will raise as much as $2.16 billion in what is set to be the country’s largest domestic initial public offering in five years. CNNPC plans to sell up to 3.89 billion new shares, or a quarter of its total, in the sale, according to its IPO prospectus, filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday. The offering’s expected launch date is June 2. China National Nuclear Group holds a 97% stake in CNNPC. About 40% of China’s total nuclear energy is generated by operators controlled by CNNPC. Excluding issuance-related fees, the firm will raise 13.4 billion yuan ($2.16 billion), according to the prospectus. […]

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Oil prices hit struggling oil companies

(Photo: Thinkstock) Low oil prices are endangering an increasing number of exploration and production companies. According to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service, the oil and gas industry could see the rate of defaults rise over the next year. The companies in danger of going belly up, not surprisingly, are the ones that already have low credit ratings. Moody’s finds that the default rate for oil drillers with a credit rating of B2 or lower could jump from 2.7% to 7.4% by March 2016. Moreover, distressed oil companies make up a rising share of overall firms with a poor credit rating – roughly 14.8% of the companies with a B3 credit rating or worse covered by Moody’s are in oil and gas. That is up sharply from the 8% share that oil firms accounted for in 2014. The credit ratings agency also said that even if oil prices […]

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After a Political Reversal in Alberta, ‘Anything Seems Possible’

Photo Rachel Notley, leader of the New Democratic Party in the Canadian province of Alberta, at the ceremony in Edmonton on Sunday in which she was sworn in as the province’s premier. Credit Topher Seguin/Reuters EDMONTON, Alberta — This is the Canadian province known for oil, cowboys and rodeos, and as the adopted home of Prime Minister Stephen Harper , whose Conservative Party has long dominated politics. So it seemed especially jarring when a boisterous crowd in this bastion of conservative voting known as Canada ’s Texas celebrated its new premier this weekend: a woman regarded by much of the country as a leftist who vows to take on big oil and champion the poor. The 51 newly elected New Democratic Party members who sat behind the premier, Rachel Notley, their leader, in the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday did not resemble typical revolutionaries. Largely political novices, they dressed like […]

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With Money Drying Up, Greece Is All but Bankrupt

Photo A street in central Thebes, northwest of Athens. While the trash is being collected, budget cuts of 50 percent leave room for little else. Credit Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times ATHENS — Bulldozers lie abandoned on city streets. Exhausted surgeons operate through the night. And the wealthy bail out broke police departments. A nearly bankrupt Greece is taking desperate measures to preserve cash. Absent a last-minute deal with its creditors, the nation will run out of money early next month. Two weeks ago, Greece nearly defaulted on a debt payment of 750 million euros, or about $825 million, to the International Monetary Fund . For the rest of this month, Greece should be able to cover daily cash deficits of around 100 million euros, government ministers say. Starting June 5, however, these shortfalls will rise sharply, to around 400 million euros as another I.M.F. obligation comes […]

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Russia Carries On With Turkish Stream Pipeline

A worker carries out a routine check at a natural gas control center in Turkey.(ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Russian energy company Gazprom has made it clear that it intends to move forward with the construction of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline as quickly as possible, whether or not the project can overcome political obstacles in Europe. Earlier in May, Gazprom notified a subsidiary of Italian energy firm Saipem that it could begin laying pipes for the planned 63 billion-cubic-meter pipeline in the Black Sea and also resumed a contract with Germany’s Europipe for 150,000 metric tons of pipe for the project. Russia said it plans to start constructing the underwater portion of the pipeline in June. Gazprom has already told Europe that it plans to cease using its current export route through Ukraine in 2019 and shift those natural gas supplies to the Turkish Stream pipeline. But the […]

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China data: Apr crude imports from Mideast rise to record 4 million b/d

China’s April imports of crude oil from Middle East suppliers rose 10% year on year to a record high of 16.61 million mt or 4.06 million b/d, led by Saudi Arabian supply, according to detailed data released Saturday by the General Administration of Customs. The country’s monthly crude imports from the Middle East were last higher in April 2014 at 3.69 million b/d. Crude imports from OPEC producers also hit a record high in April of 4.54 million b/d, up 8% year on year. China’s overall April crude imports rose 8.6% year on year to 7.4 million b/d, preliminary customs data showed earlier this month. It was the first time for China to surpass the US as the world’s biggest importer of crude oil. Russia moved up to China’s second-largest supplier in April, with deliveries up 26.4% year on year to 770,447 b/d. Iran rose to third place with […]

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Oil prices dip below $65 as dollar strengthens

LONDON Crude oil futures dipped below $65 a barrel as the dollar strengthened on Monday, with a public holiday in the United States and much of Europe keeping oil trading volumes muted. Front-month Brent crude fell 62 cents to $64.75 a barrel by 0828 GMT. U.S. crude was down 46 cents at $59.26 a barrel. The dollar rose to its highest against the euro and yen in nearly two months and reached a one-month high against a basket of currencies. A strong dollar makes crude oil less attractive for holders of other currencies. "The overall fundamentals still point to a well-supplied market, a fact that should continue to put a ceiling on prices," Barclays said. However, the market drew support from strong demand figures across Asia and the United States. "Global oil demand continues to surprise to the upside, with April data showing no signs of slowdown despite a […]

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Oil Trades Sideways as Markets Weigh Demand, Supply Metrics

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures traded sideways in early Asian trade Monday as investors weighed signals of global oil demand growth and U.S. oil supply, and amid caution ahead OPEC’s next meeting in early-June. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $59.86 a barrel at 0252 GMT, up $0.14 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.05 to $65.42 a barrel. U.S. oil prices lost 1.4% last week, snapping a three week winning streak and ending the week below the $60 mark. Brent crude in London lost 2.2% last week and has been down for two of the past three weeks. The number of oil rigs in the U.S. fell by only one last week, according to data from oil services company Baker Hughes, raising concerns that U.S. shale production could rebound quickly […]

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World Exports versus Consumption, The ELM

The EIA has updated their International Energy Statistics  with annual production numbers through 2014 and export data through 2012. Sometimes these stats can be confusing as they include several types of production and exports. But for production I use only “Crude plus Condensate” and for exports I used “Crude Oil Exports” which I assume includes condensate as well. Also the export data is not exact, just close, because some importers are also exporters. For instance in 2001 the US exported 59,000 barrels per day. In 2012 the US exported 629,000 barrels per day. The exporting of condensate is allowed in the US and since the Shale boom condensate exports have increased quite dramatically because Light Tight Oil is rather top heavy with condensate. To get exports versus consumption for exporting nations I simply subtracted their exports from their production. The difference was what they consumed. Similar data can be […]

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Defense Secretary Opens Possibility to Strategy Shift on Iraq

ENLARGE Iraqi security forces and tribal fighters in Ramadi in April, before the city was seized by Islamic State last week. U.S. Defense Secretary signaled the possibility of a shift in the country’s strategy in Iraq on Sunday. Photo: Associated Press Defense Secretary Ash Carter held open the possibility of a strategy shift by the White House on Iraq, a few days after recent setbacks in Iraq and Syria revived sharp criticism of the Obama administration’s approach in combating extremist groups there. Islamic State forces last week captured the key Iraqi city of Ramadi and also expanded their reach in Syria. Critics and even allies of the administration took to Sunday television talk shows to call for a strategy change by the administration to stem the advance of Islamic State forces. Among the calls: More aggressively arming Sunni tribes and Peshmerga forces who oppose Islamic State, also known as […]

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Iraq regains ground from Islamic State; mass deaths reported in Palmyra

BAGHDAD/BEIRUT Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra. The fall of Ramadi and Palmyra, on opposite ends of the vast territory controlled by Islamic State fighters, were the militant group’s biggest successes since a U.S.-led coalition launched an air war to stop them last year. The near simultaneous victories against the Iraqi and Syrian armies have forced Washington to examine its strategy, which involves bombing from the air but leaving fighting on the ground to local forces in both countries. In a sharp criticism of Washington’s ally, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter accused Iraq’s army of abandoning Ramadi, a provincial capital west of Baghdad, to a much smaller enemy force. "The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight," he […]

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Iran adviser says US has ‘no will’ to fight Islamic State

AP Photo/Undredited TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The chief of an elite unit in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has accused the U.S. of having "no will" to stop the Islamic State group after the fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi, an Iranian newspaper reported Monday. The comments by Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Guard’s elite Quds unit, come just after U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter accused Iraqi forces of lacking the "will to fight" in an interview aired the day before. It wasn’t clear whether Soleimani’s remarks came as a direct response to Carter’s, though tensions remain high between the two countries amid negotiations over Iran’s contested nuclear program. The report in the daily newspaper Javan, which is seen as close to the Guard, quoted Soleimani as saying the U.S. didn’t do a "damn thing" to stop the extremists’ advance on Ramadi. "Does it mean anything else than […]

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Iran set to overhaul fuel pricing and set a single rate: official

DUBAI Iran will abolish a motorists’ allowance for heavily subsidized fuel and set a price, the deputy oil minister said on Sunday, as the government moves cautiously to cut back costly handouts. "We have decided that petrol will be sold at a single rate of 1,000 tomans ($0.35) per liter," Abbas Kazemi was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency, using a common measure of currency equal to 10 rials. President Hassan Rouhani, elected in 2013 on a platform of better economic management, has championed efforts to rationalize pricing and pushed through a modest increase in fuel prices last year. The government is trying to curb subsidies that have led to profligate energy consumption and put a strain on public finances, already squeezed by international sanctions and last year’s drop in oil prices. An Oil Ministry advisor on Saturday suggested that fuel subsidies could be lifted altogether, but […]

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Syrian air force targets captured Palmyra city – monitor

BEIRUT Syria’s air force carried out at least 15 strikes in and around the central city of Palmyra early on Monday, targeting buildings captured by Islamic State, a group monitoring the war said. Fighters from the militant group overran the ancient city, the site of some of the world’s best preserved Roman ruins, last week. They have killed at least 217 people execution-style in the area since May 16 including children, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. This was in addition to at least 300 soldiers killed by Islamic State in fighting leading up to the city’s capture, according to the Observatory’s toll. It said the hardline group had detained around 600 soldiers, pro-government fighters and those accused of being loyalists in and around the city, also a key military gain as it stands on a crossroads to the cities of Damascus and Homs. The air force […]

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Defense chief’s criticism of Iraqis raises policy questions

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta WASHINGTON (AP) — The Islamic State group’s takeover of the Iraqi provincial capital Ramadi has prompted criticism from Defense Secretary Ash Carter and raised new questions about the Obama administration’s strategy to defeat the extremist group. The Islamic State group, which had already seized a strategically important swath of the Middle East, seized Ramadi in central Iraq a week ago, which has revived concerns about U.S. efforts to fight the group. The Obama administration’s approach in Iraq is a blend of retraining and rebuilding the Iraqi army, prodding the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad to reconcile with the nation’s Sunnis and bombing Islamic State group targets from the air without committing American ground combat troops. President Barack Obama’s strategy is predicated on Baghdad granting political concessions to the country’s alienated Sunnis, who are a source of personnel and money for the Islamic State group. But there […]

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Army chiefs plan for proposed joint Arab force in Mideast

CAIRO (AP) — Arab army chiefs of staff have drawn up a plan for a new Arab joint force to intervene in the Mideast to combat terrorism, amid differences between them on where to put the force’s headquarters. The plan, drafted Sunday by the army chiefs of staff in Cairo, says membership in the force is "voluntary" and it will be governed by defense ministers of member states. It says if only three countries sign up, it is enough to put the plan into action. However, there was dissention over the idea of the body convening in Egypt, the home of the Arab League. Officials say that idea was met with Qatari and Algerian objections. The officials spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

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Yemeni politicians say UN peace talks indefinitely postponed

AP Photo/Shohdi Alsofi Latest News Buy AP Photo Reprints SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A United Nations-sponsored peace conference that was to take place at the end of the month has been indefinitely postponed, senior Yemeni politicians said. The latest setback came as jets from the Saudi-led coalition on Monday pounded Shiite rebel positions in the capital and across the country. The talks were to take place in Geneva on May 28 and aimed at a political settlement to end the armed conflict between Shiite rebels known as Houthis and the internationally recognized government now exiled in Saudi Arabia. Three officials from the Houthi, socialist and unionist parties said late Sunday they were notified the talks had been postponed and that no new date had been set. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists Houthis backed the talks and said […]

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Islamic State crisis: Iraq will take back Ramadi ‘in days’ – PM Abadi

Islamic State The Iraqi city of Ramadi could be taken back from Islamic State (IS) militants "in days", Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has told the BBC. But he said more support was needed from international coalition partners. Iraqi forces have suffered a number of defeats at the hands of IS over the past year, and fled from a smaller militant force in Ramadi last week. On Sunday, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said that the rout showed Iraqi troops lacked the will to fight. Mr Carter told CNN that the Iraqis had chosen to withdraw despite the fact that they "vastly outnumbered" IS forces. Meanwhile, the leader of the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, said the world faced an unprecedented danger from IS and other Sunni militant groups fighting in Syria. Some observers say IS now controls 50% of Syria’s entire territory – as well as a third […]

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U.S. Defense Secretary Blames Iraqi Forces for ISIS Victory in Ramadi

Photo Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter at a news conference in Washington this month. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said Sunday that Iraqi forces had demonstrated “no will to fight” against the Islamic State, blaming them for a retreat that led to the terrorist group’s victory in capturing the Iraqi city of Ramadi. While that critical assessment of Iraqi security forces has been voiced in Congress and by policy research institutes, Mr. Carter’s remarks on CNN’s “State of the Union” were some of the administration’s strongest language to date about Iraq ’s repeated inability to hold and take back territory from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. “They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force and yet they failed to fight and withdrew from the site,” he said. “That says to me and, I […]

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Fate of Kurdish presidency divides Iraqi Kurds

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (R) addresses the media during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Erbil, April 6, 2015. (photo by REUTERS/Azad Lashkari) ERBIL, Iraq — As the tenure of Iraqi Kurdistan’s President Massoud Barzani is coming to an end soon, the question of transfer of power has divided Kurdish political factions and threatens to destabilize the Kurdistan Region of Iraq amid an ongoing war against the Islamic State (IS). Barzani has been president for 10 years. When his term was about to end in June 2013, his Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and then-ally Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — led by former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani — agreed to extend his term via a parliamentary motion for two years. The legal provisions introduced in June 2013 to extend Barzani’s term explicitly state that the president’s tenure will not be prolonged for more than […]

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Saudi Arabia rewrites its oil game with refining might

LONDON Saudi Arabia’s rapid transition into one of the world’s largest oil refiners adds an extra dimension to the oil exporter’s role as the driver of OPEC policy. When it attends OPEC’s next meeting in two weeks, it does so with major new state-of-the-art oil refineries that can profit from cheaper crude and reviving world fuel demand – exactly as international oil firms have over the past six months. The kingdom now has stakes in more than 5 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity, at home and abroard, landing it a place among the global leaders in making oil products. Its own target of 8-10 million bpd of refining firepower would eclipse even ExxonMobil.   "Saudi have moved into the product business in a big way," said Fereidun Fesharaki, chairman of FGE energy. Its oil trading arm, Aramco Trading, could soon find at least two thirds of its […]

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Tanker-Driver Strike Worsens Nigeria Fuel Crisis: Flights Cancelled, Airwaves Go Quiet

A man carries jerrycans to search for fuel in Lagos, Nigeria, on May 21. ENLARGE Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images LAGOS, Nigeria—Nigerian airlines grounded flights on Saturday and radio stations were silenced, as a monthslong fuel shortage aggravated by striking oil-tanker drivers worsened in Africa’s biggest oil producer. Vehicles also were grounded. Normally bustling roads in Lagos, a metropolis of 20 million, were half-empty and gas stations closed on Saturday. One station owner said he had fuel, but strikers were threatening to set fire to any stations selling it. He insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals. Police were arresting black marketers selling fuel at roadsides at four times the regulated 87 naira (40 cents) a liter. Meanwhile, radio stations went dead on Saturday night, including Classic FM, The Beat and City FM, hit by frequent power outages and out of diesel fuel for generators. Confusion reigned at bus stations […]

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Nigeria: Oil Workers’ Strike Cripples Activities Nationwide

Nigerians are sitting in long lines to purchase fuel for their cars and generators at high prices as the energy crisis in the country worsens. By Benrard Tolani Dada, Isaiah Benjamin, Juliet Alohan, Nnamdi Mbawike, Osa Okhomina The strike embarked upon by workers in the oil sector under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over federal government’s transfer of the operatorship of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 to indigenous firms have resulted in a near collapse of business and commercial activities nationwide. The development is further compounded by the ongoing industrial action also embarked upon by the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) who have refused to lift petroleum products from the coastal depots in protest of the huge amounts owed them by […]

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Oil Companies Look to Join Climate Debate

ENLARGE Environmental activists have focused much of their effort on trying to rein in the use of oil companies’ bread and butter: carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Photo: Getty Images Oil companies are ratcheting up their involvement in the debate over climate change as governments, activists, churches and some big investors gear up for a global summit on the issue at the end of the year in Paris. The stated goal of the summit is to keep man-made warming limited to two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, but governments remain far apart on how to achieve it. Meeting such a goal will require far-reaching changes in energy-consumption patterns and likely efforts to put a cost on carbon use, many experts believe. Activists have long focused much of their effort on trying to rein in the use of these resource companies’ bread and butter: carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Pope Francis is also planning […]

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Coal-Fired Power Plant Loses Steam

ENLARGE Southern Co.’s $6.2 billion coal-fired power plant near Meridian, Miss., lost a utility partner, raising the stakes for the project and resulting in a request for higher power rates to help pay for the project. Photo: GARY TRAMONTINA/BLOOMBERG NEWS The future of the most expensive fossil-fuel power plant built in the U.S. is facing new pressures after a Mississippi utility backed out of its commitment to the clean-coal project. South Mississippi Electric Power Association, which furnishes power to smaller utilities in the state, dropped its plan to buy a $600 million, 15% stake in the project spearheaded by Atlanta-based Southern Co. SO -0.35 % , citing construction delays. Southern, in turn, notified state regulators that it may have to raise electricity rates for Mississippi power customers by 41%, or $37 a month for the typical household, to pay for the project. South Mississippi Electric Power’s move deals a […]

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« Hope Fades: U.S. Storage Withdrawals About Price, Not Supply & Rig Count Drop Stalls

Storage withdrawals and falling rig count have been the main sources of hope that U.S. tight oil production will fall and that oil prices will rebound. That hope is fading as it is now clear that recent withdrawals from U.S. crude oil storage are because of price, not falling supply, and that the drop in rig count has stalled. Figure 1 below shows the relationship between U.S. crude oil storage inventory and WTI price. The recent inventory build correlates almost perfectly with the fall in oil prices and the withdrawals from storage over that last 3 weeks correlate with the 35% increase in oil prices since late March. Figure 1. Monthly change in U.S. crude oil inventory and WTI oil price (3-month moving average of inventory volumes). Source: EIA and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Previous builds and withdrawals from inventory also correlate with price but generally price followed changes in inventory. In […]

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Exclusive: Prosecutors probe possible criminal case in California oil spill

SANTA BARBARA Government prosecutors are investigating the company at the center of the California oil spill for possible criminal sanctions, according to the district attorney of Santa Barbara – a city that helped spawn the modern environmental movement. Perhaps one of the worst places on Earth for a crude oil leak, Santa Barbara is a beautiful sun-kissed coastal city rich with wildlife, environmental lawyers and wealthy liberal activists. This week it is also crawling with federal, state and local investigators and attorneys searching for grounds for a possible criminal prosecution against the Texas company whose ruptured pipe fouled beaches and offshore waters. "I am working with the federal government and the attorney general’s office to look into potential criminal, and/or civil prosecution," said Joyce Dudley, Santa Barbara’s district attorney. In an email sent to Reuters on Friday, Tami Kelly, a spokeswoman for Plains All American Pipeline, the Texas-based company […]

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Is the slowdown in productivity growth a result of energy costs?

Slowing productivity growth in the United States has been in the news in recent months. It has become a concern to policymakers because they believe it is one of the primary contributors to a middle-class economic squeeze  according to the annual report of the White House Council of Economic Advisors . Simply put, productivity growth refers to the growth in economic output per worker or more precisely, per hour of work. When this growth slows, the potential for real wage increases diminishes since the growth in wages typically reflects the ability of workers to create more output per unit of time. To the obstensibly naive observer the following idea may seem a plausible explanation: Higher-cost energy inputs into the production of goods and services reduce productivity growth because the economic output per dollar of energy consumed declines. And, though energy inputs aren’t the only thing to consider, they are […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple