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BP lets Thunder Horse expansion contract

BP Exploration & Production Inc. has let a contract to Technip covering pipeline systems for a southern expansion of ultradeepwater Thunder Horse oil and gas field on Mississippi Canyon Blocks 778 and 822 in the Gulf of Mexico. The project includes a new drill center 2 miles from the Thunder Horse semisubmersible production, drilling, and quarters platform in 6,050 ft of water, 150 miles southeast of New Orleans. Four wells will tie in to the drill center. BP expects production from the project to start in 2017 and peak at 42,000 boe/d. Under a lump-sum contract, Technip will handle design, engineering, fabrication, installation, precommissioning, and other services for two rigid production flowlines with four pipeline end terminations. Production from the Thunder Horse platform, which has capacity to handle 250,000 b/d of oil and 200 MMscfd of natural gas, began in June 2008. The field produces from Upper Miocene turbidite […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bakken Data + Short Term Energy Outlook

North Dakota has published their Bakken Production Data as well as North Dakota Production Data . Bakken Production North Dakota production was up 12,501 bpd above February but still stands 37,531 bpd below the December high and is still 789 bpd below the January production numbers. Bakken BPD Per Well Barrels per day per well is dropping, 12o for Bakken wells, 99 forN.D. Total and 23 for Conventional wells. Bakken Wells Producing According to the NDIC stats the number of wells actually producing in the Bakken increased by 250 in March and total North Dakota wells increased by 236. Which means some non-Bakken wells were shut down. Lynn Helms said, in the Director’s cut, that the increase was 240 producing wells though his totals were different. Feb Producing Wells = 12,199 Mar Producing Wells = 12,439 (preliminary)(NEW all-time high) 9,397 wells or 76% are now unconventional Bakken – Three forks […]

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Two Illinois Municipalities Challenge New Oil-Train Rules

In the latest legal challenge to the federal government’s new crude-by-rail rules, two Illinois municipalities on Wednesday filed a petition asking a Chicago-based federal appeals court to review the rules, saying regulators didn’t go far enough. The village of Barrington and the city of Aurora jointly filed the petition, asking for the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside and remand parts of the rules. The municipalities are specifically challenging an exemption that allows some trains to continue using dangerous older tank cars, as well as a phaseout schedule for certain tank cars hauling flammable liquids that they deem to be “unreasonably long.” They also want the rules to require railroads to provide electronic documentation of the contents of the train to emergency workers when an accident occurs. The Transportation Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Federal Railroad Administration doesn’t comment on pending […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shale-Oil Producers Ready to Raise Production

ENLARGE A Pioneer Natural Resources oil rig in the Eagle Ford shale region of Texas. The company said last week it hopes to increase drilling and add two new rigs per month from July if oil prices continue to rise. Photo: PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES/BLOOMBERG NEWS After slashing production for months, U.S. shale-oil companies say they are ready to bring rigs back into service, setting up the first big test of their ability to quickly react to rising crude prices. Last week, EOG Resources Inc. EOG -1.94 % said it would ramp up output if U.S. prices hold at recent levels, while Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY -0.67 % boosted planned production for the year. Other drillers said they would open the taps if U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate reaches $70 a barrel. WTI settled at $60.50 Wednesday, while global benchmark Brent settled at $66.81. An increase in U.S. production, coupled […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Has the Bakken Peaked?

U.S. Shale Production |Energy Information Administration The Energy Information Administration ( EIA) is predicting that oil production in the Bakken will begin to decline in June. Shale producers have been reducing rigs, cutting budgets and laying off workers for months to compensate for low crude prices. Over the past year, the Bakken rig count has dropped by more than half, but until now production has remained at record levels, with the EIA reported 1.2 million barrels a day in February. Related: Record Production for Bakken In the EIA’s monthly productivity report for May, the agency reports that oil and gas production has probably peaked and they expect a 31,000 Mbbl/d drop in oil and 30,000 MMcf/d f drop for natural gas throughout June. The Bakken had 80 oil rigs running last week zero gas rigs. WTI oil prices continued to climb trading at $59.39/bbl on Friday afternoon, a $.63 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Battered U.S. oil firms scramble to delay looming retirement wave

NEW YORK After 20 years in the oil business, Craig Reed, 62, is thinking about winding down his career just as a second downturn in six years rocks the industry. Reed is part of the baby boomer generation that forms the backbone of the U.S. oil workforce and now weighs retirement as energy firms cut spending and shelve projects. That is a worrying prospect for company executives keen to keep their most experienced workers while they ride out the oil market slump. "Between the politics and uncertainty and cost cutting, a lot of people of my age are saying that it isn’t worth it anymore," says Reed who draws up engineering and construction contracts for major energy projects worldwide. "Many of us could handle the downturn in 2008, but when the volatility comes back so quickly, and in a different form, it is difficult to take." For him, it […]

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LNG slated for U.S. exports

Texas plant cleared to send LNG to countries that don’t have a free-trade deal with the United States. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) — A plant in Texas is authorized to send liquefied natural gas to countries that don’t have a free-trade deal with the United States, the federal government said. The Energy Department gave authorization to the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project to export LNG sourced from domestic reserves to countries that don’t have free-trade deals. The plant is approved to export as much as 2.1 billion cubic feet of gas per day for the next 20 years. "The development of U.S. natural gas resources is having a transformative impact on the U.S. energy landscape, helping to improve our energy security while spurring economic development and job creation around the country," the Energy Department said. The U.S. Energy Information Administration in a November report said the […]

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U.S. oil execs see little hope for crude price bounce this year: survey

NEW YORK Nearly half of U.S. oil and gas company executives expect Brent crude oil prices to remain below $60 a barrel this year, and a third believe price volatility will extend into 2016, according to a KPMG survey released Wednesday. The survey, which canvassed nearly 200 senior U.S. energy executives, comes amid an oil industry slowdown caused by oversupply and spiraling prices, and as the oil market mulls whether prices and activity will rebound in the coming months. The survey showed that 45 percent of respondents expect an average Brent price of between $50 and $59 a barrel this year. Brent has averaged $57.59 a barrel so far this year and traded at around $67 on Wednesday, according to Reuters data. The outlook represented a major change from last year, when 94 percent of executives expected the oil price would be $100 or higher. Brent crude averaged around […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. set to get more accurate oil production data: Kemp

LONDON "The data must be wrong," according to veteran oil analyst Phil Verleger, who wrote in a blistering note that the Energy Information Administration is probably overestimating U.S. oil production by 1.6 million barrels per day. Verleger argues substantially lower U.S. production is the most likely explanation for why global stocks are not rising as fast as predicted and discounts for storing barrels are narrowing ("Notes at the margin" May 11). Other reasons why the stock build is smaller and the forward price structure is firmer could be stronger demand and/or more oil stockpiling in developing countries. But if Verleger is correct, U.S. production would be only 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) compared with the 9.3 million bpd reported in the agency’s most recent weekly and monthly statistics. The global oil market would be nearly balanced, since most estimates put the global supply surplus at between 1.5 and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. oil stockpiles slide again, but refiners ease up: EIA

NEW YORK U.S. crude oil stocks fell for a second consecutive week following four months of steady gains, even though refiners pared back record seasonal rates and imports jumped, U.S. data showed on Wednesday. Oil prices initially extended gains after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, but then quickly pulled off highs, with U.S. crude futures briefly trading in negative territory as analysts struggled to explain a report that seemed to have few bearish qualities. Crude inventories fell 2.2 million barrels in the week to May 8, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 386,000 barrels. Gasoline and distillate inventories also declined. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell 990,000 barrels, EIA said. "The only bearish element may be the down tick in refinery utilization which may allow crude oil inventories to resume building in future reports," said John Kilduff, partner, Again Capital LLC in New […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple