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British North Sea workers to vote on strikes

Shift issues for oil and gas workers in the North Sea prompt vote for labor stoppage from unions. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock LONDON, May 21 (UPI) — British North Sea oil and gas workers said they’ll vote on a labor stoppage after talks broke down with the industry over working conditions. Trade unions Unite and GMB said talks broke down with industry group Offshore Contracts Association on changes to working conditions in the North Sea. Union officials had said there were safety concerns about shift lengths. GMB National Officer David Hulse said in a statement Thursday some progress was made in recent talks with industry representatives, but not enough to resolve the dispute . "We remain available for talks should the employers want to pull back from going ahead with the unilateral changes to working practices that has provoked this dispute," he said. In March, Hulse said there […]

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5 scenarios for oil prices, including ‘meltdown’

The past year’s drop in crude oil prices will be fundamentally different from previous downturns. What started in June 2014 with a growing imbalance between soft demand in Asia and robust North American shale-oil production seemed typical: Brent crude prices started to fall from $105 per barrel, the market went in contango in October, and expectations were high in anticipation of the late-November OPEC meeting as oil was hitting $75 per barrel. The expectation was that things would revert quickly with a reduction of production quotas. The story went off script when OPEC announced it would not act, sending oil prices crashing below $50 per barrel. Subsequent announcements by influential members of the cartel confirmed that pricing for crude oil would be based on free-market economics. That marked a fundamental shift from over 100 years of price-setting from the Seven Sisters and OPEC, which had governed periods of stability […]

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Oil Edges Higher After Stronger Chinese Manufacturing Data

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures erased early losses and moved higher in Asian trade Thursday as markets weighed stronger Chinese manufacturing data and a further decline in U.S. oil storage levels. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $59.14 a barrel at 0240 GMT, up $0.16 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.24 to $65.27 a barrel. The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, edged up to 49.1 in May, compared with a final reading of 48.9 in April, HSBC Holdings PLC said. The PMI was however weaker than the expected forecast of 49.3, according to a Reuters poll. "Today’s PMI reading suggests that downward pressure on growth may now be starting to ease," Julian Evans-Pritchard, economist at Capital Economics said. He said the recovery […]

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Oil edges further above $65 on U.S. inventory drop, Iraq

LONDON Oil rose further above $65 a barrel on Thursday, gaining for a second day, supported by expectations that a global supply glut is starting to ease and by fighting in Iraq. The U.S. government’s supply report on Wednesday showed crude inventories declined for a third week. Stockpiles had been at record levels due to excess supply, raising concern that storage capacity was getting tight. [EIA/S] Brent crude LCOc1 was up 23 cents at $65.26 as of 0828 GMT, after earlier falling as low as $64.83. U.S. crude CLc1 was up 22 cents at $59.20. "Brent is getting a bit of impetus from the threat Islamic State is posing in Iraq," said Christopher Bellew, senior broker at Jefferies Bache. "I can see prices moving up further from here on geopolitics towards $70." In Iraq, the city of Ramadi fell to Islamic State on Sunday in the most significant setback […]

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Japanese growth lifts oil prices

Japanese economic momentum helps erase early week slump in crude oil prices, with key indices rising more than 1 percent. Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI NEW YORK, May 20 (UPI) — Strong growth in the Japanese economy helped crude oil prices recover from an early-week slump with major indices gaining more than 1 percent early Wednesday. Japan’s Cabinet Office reported real gross domestic product grew by 2.4 percent from January through March, an improvement over the revised 1.1 percent reported from October through December. Japan, the world’s third largest economy, announced in February it exited two quarters of consecutive recession. Gross domestic product during fourth quarter grew by 2.2 percent, but the pace was subdued by a decrease in consumer spending. The price for Brent crude oil, which suffered heavy losses in Tuesday trading, gained 1.3 percent from the previous close to fetch $64.87 per barrel early in the Wednesday […]

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U.S. crude stockpiles fall for third week; refiners rev up

NEW YORK U.S. crude oil stocks last week fell for a third consecutive week as refineries hiked output, while gasoline and distillate inventories both declined, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Wednesday. Crude inventories fell 2.7 million barrels to 482.2 million in the week to May 15, compared with analysts’ expectations for an decrease of 1 million barrels. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell 241,000 barrels, a fourth consecutive weekly draw at the delivery point for the U.S. light sweet crude futures contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the data showed. "It’s a fairly neutral report at the best as the weekly change is mildly bullish within a bearish overall stock situation," said James L. Williams, energy economist at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas. Crude futures pared gains slightly after the EIA report. At 11:03 a.m. EDT (1503 GMT), U.S. July […]

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Oil prices rise on U.S. stock draw, strong Japan data

LONDON Crude oil prices bounced back on Wednesday from steep falls in the previous session as industry data showed that U.S. crude stocks fell more than expected last week and strong Japanese economic growth surprised markets, stoking producer hopes of increased demand. Brent futures LCOc1 rose 79 cents to $64.81 a barrel by 0840 GMT. U.S. crude prices CLc1 rose 58 cents to $58.57 a barrel. The price rises came after a session on Tuesday that saw oil slide over 3 percent on a dollar rally and concerns of a building glut, which Goldman Sachs said would lead to a return towards 2015 lows. "The market came under a lot of pressure yesterday and it’s not unusual to see a bit of a correction the day after," said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist with Netherlands-based ABN Amro. U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.2 million barrels last week, said […]

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Natural Gas Falls for Third Session

By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices retreated for a third straight session Wednesday as traders locked in profits ahead of a weekly storage report. Natural gas for June delivery settled down 3.3 cents, or 1.1% lower, at $2.915 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The bull run that the market has been on since April 27 appears to be over, traders said. Many traders who made big gains in recent weeks wanted to sell out and lock in those profits before the U.S. Energy Information Administration releases its inventory update on Thursday morning, said John Woods, president of JJ Woods Associates and a Nymex trader. "In short term, it’s just jockeying," he said. The EIA is likely to report that gas storage levels grew by 97 billion cubic feet during the week ended May 15, according to the average forecast of 16 analysts surveyed […]

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Oil volatility fades as risks become more balanced: Kemp

LONDON Oil prices have become much less volatile in recent weeks as the record short position previously established by hedge funds has been squared up and prices return to a level at which many U.S. shale wells are profitable. Realized volatility, a technical measure of the day to day variability in prices, has fallen to an annualized rate of just 24 percent, down by more than half from its peak of 60 percent in late February. Volatility in front-month Brent futures has dropped to its lowest level for almost five months and is now roughly in line with the very long-run average of about 27 percent. After displaying its wild side, the oil market has reverted to a milder state, to use terms employed by Benoit Mandelbrot to describe erratic volatility in commodity markets (“The (mis)behavior of markets” 2004). The reduction in volatility reflects a number of factors of […]

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How do you lose 100 million barrels of oil? Kemp

LONDON Oil-market watchers are struggling to reconcile the large estimated oversupply in the market with the much smaller buildup of reported inventories and narrowing contango in futures prices. Some blame the barrel counters who compile official statistics on supply, demand and stocks. But the truth is that information on the world oil market is incomplete and it is easy for hundreds of millions of barrels of oil to disappear from the supply chain without being counted. According to the three main statistical agencies, the global market has been oversupplied by between 1.5 million and 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) since the start of the year. Stockpiles should have increased by between 200 million and 350 million barrels, according to the International Energy Agency, OPEC and the U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S. crude stocks have indeed increased by around 100 million barrels since the start of the year while […]

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Rules Out Broad Nuclear Inspections

TEHRAN — Iran ’s supreme leader on Wednesday ruled out allowing international inspectors to interview Iranian nuclear scientists as part of any potential deal on its nuclear program , and reiterated that the country would not allow the inspection of military sites. In a graduation speech at the Imam Hussein Military University in Tehran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , widely believed to have the final say on whether Iran accepts a deal if one is reached next month, denounced what he said were escalating demands by the United States and five other world powers as they accelerate the pace of the negotiations with Iran. “They say new things in the negotiations,” Ayatollah Khamenei told the military graduates. “Regarding inspections, we have said that we will not let foreigners inspect any military center.” Like last summer, when he vowed that Iran would ultimately build an industrial-scale uranium enrichment […]

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Saudi Arabia’s crude export record could be near-term peak

Saudi Arabia’s recent push to maintain international oil market share saw its oil exports surging in March, but the kingdom may find itself unable to maintain much upward momentum in the coming months. The latest official data from the Riyadh-headquartered Joint Organizations Data Initiative or JODI, published Monday, May 18 showed that Saudi crude exports rose by 548,000 b/d in March to 7.898 million — their highest level in over a decade. However, March is the last month of the Arabian Peninsula’s cooler season, with maximum daytime temperatures in Riyadh still averaging below 30 degrees Celsius. Temperatures start to rise rapidly thereafter, with the daytime maximum typically averaging 45 degrees Celsius by July, the hottest month of the year. As the mercury rises and demand for air conditioning soars, so does Saudi Arabia’s domestic oil consumption, as the kingdom burns significant volumes of fuel oil and crude for power […]

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U.S. Shifts Iraq Focus to Western Province

ENLARGE Iraqi forces defend their headquarters against attacks by Islamic State extremists during a sand storm in the eastern part of Ramadi on Thursday, May 14. Photo: Associated Press WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is turning its focus in Iraq away from the northern city of Mosul toward the province west of Baghdad, where Islamic State captured the key city of Ramadi over the weekend. U.S. officials conceded on Wednesday that any hope of seizing military momentum in Iraq has been stalled by the Sunni militants’ takeover of the capital of Sunni-dominated Anbar Province. That has forced American officials to shift their plans . “Everybody is focused like a laser on Anbar right now,” said a senior State Department official. For months, U.S. officials had hoped to mount an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest. But officials in Washington and elsewhere on Wednesday said that plan would […]

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Islamic State seizes ancient city from Syrian forces

BEIRUT Islamic State militants stormed the Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday, seizing it from government forces in fierce fighting as civilians were evacuated and Syria’s antiquities chief called on the world to save its ancient monuments. The capture of Palmyra is the first time the al Qaeda offshoot has taken control of a city directly from the Syrian army and allied forces, which have already lost ground in the northwest and south to other insurgent groups in recent weeks. The central city, also known as Tadmur, is built alongside the remains of a oasis civilization whose colonnaded streets, temple and theater have stood for 2,000 years. It is home to modern military installations, and sits on a desert highway linking the capital Damascus with Syria’s eastern provinces, mostly under rebel control. "Praise God, (Palmyra) has been liberated," said an Islamic State fighter speaking by Internet from the area. […]

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Iraqi violence no concern for Gulf Keystone Petroleum

Security is not a concern for operations in the Kurdish north of Iraq, Gulf Keystone Petroleum CEO says. Photo courtesy: Gulf Keystone Petroleum. LONDON, May 20 (UPI) — Security in the northern Iraqi oil fields is not a concern for British energy company Gulf Keystone Petroleum, its chief executive officer said. "Security right now is not a concern for us," CEO John Gerstenlauer said in an operational update. "Everything is going along quite smoothly." Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave his approval during the weekend for a military assault on the western Iraqi city of Ramadi after the Sunni-dominated region was overrun by the group calling itself the Islamic State. "The loss of Ramadi does not mean the tide of the campaign has turned, and we have long said that there would be ebbs and flows on the battlefield," U.S. Defense Department spokeswoman Elissa Smith said. The Islamic group […]

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Saudi Arabia, partners turn down Chinese requests for extra oil

BEIJING/SINGAPORE Saudi Arabia and its main Middle East OPEC partners are turning down Chinese requests for extra oil as they hold back fuel for their own refineries just as demand from the world’s biggest crude importer hits new records. While the Saudi and other refusals for additional crude supplies may not be part of a new pricing strategy, the rejections to their biggest client help explain a 40 percent rise in oil prices this year as Chinese importers have had to seek more oil from other suppliers in what analysts say is still an oversupplied market. Senior Chinese oil traders told Reuters the Saudis have turned down requests from Chinaoil and Unipec – the respective trading arms of PetroChina and Sinopec – for extra cargoes of crude for May and June loadings, forcing them to seek supplies from producers in West Africa, Oman and Russia. Saudi Arabia "used to […]

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Saudi Arabia, OPEC partners turn down Chinese requests for extra oil

Saudi Arabia and its main Middle East OPEC partners are turning down Chinese requests for extra oil as they hold back fuel for their own refineries just as demand from the world’s biggest crude importer hits new records. While the Saudi and other refusals for additional crude supplies may not be part of a new pricing strategy, the rejections to their biggest client help explain a 40 percent rise in oil prices this year as Chinese importers have had to seek more oil from other suppliers in what analysts say is still an oversupplied market. Senior Chinese oil traders told Reuters the Saudis have turned down requests from Chinaoil and Unipec – the respective trading arms of PetroChina and Sinopec – for extra cargoes of crude for May and June loadings, forcing them to seek supplies from producers in West Africa, Oman and Russia. Saudi Arabia "used to provide […]

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China’s Frugal Oil Companies

Oil rigs are seen off China’s coast in this 2005 file photo. Reuters With the oil price dropping as much as it has over the past nine months, one would expect China’s state-run oil giants to go on a shopping spree abroad. China’s so-called big three oil companies — China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) — have been big buyers of international oil assets in previous years, driven by China’s swelling hunger for energy. Now they’ve suddenly put away their wallets, falling in line with an industry that has produced few noteworthy mergers and acquisitions since prices started plummeting in 2014, aside from BG Group PLC’s $70-billion merger with Royal Dutch Shell PLC in April. Why is Chinese big oil staying silent? To find out, China Real Time interviewed Chen Weidong, the chief energy researcher of the […]

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Environmental groups seize on California oil spill

Crews responding to a sheen from a spill of about 500 barrels from California oil pipeline. Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard LOS ANGELES, May 20 (UPI) — After 500 barrels of oil spilled from a California pipeline, environmental groups said the regional quality of life was under threat. "This incident is all the more reason to ban fracking both offshore and onshore to help prevent future spills and protect Santa Barbara’s beautiful beaches and coastal environment," Becca Claassen, a Santa Barbara County organizer with Food & Water Watch, said in an emailed statement. Sheen reported off the Santa Barbara coast stretches for about 4 miles from a leak of about 500 barrels, or 21,000 gallons, of crude oil from a 24-inch pipeline operated by Plains All American Pipeline, which has headquarters in Texas. Bob Deans, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said big oil comes with big […]

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Extent of California Oil Spill Being Assessed — 2ndUpdate

By Tamara Audi in Santa Barbara County, Calif., and Alison Sider in Houston The oil spill in Santa Barbara County, Calif., could be as large as 2,500 barrels, or 105,000 gallons, in a worst-case scenario outlined Wednesday by the burst pipeline’s operator, which estimated 500 barrels may have reached the water. As an investigation and cleanup efforts began in the aftermath of Tuesday’s spill near the shore, federal officials said the oil had spread into two large patches in the Pacific Ocean, covering an area 9 miles long by midday. Wednesday night, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the county, which frees up emergency state funding and resources to help in the cleanup. It was uncertain how much oil seeped from the pipeline operated by Plains All American Pipeline LP. Initial estimates had put the leak at 500 barrels, or 21,000 gallons, of oil. Cleanup crews […]

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US weekly coal carloads drop to lowest total in 120 weeks: AAR

US railroads originated a new year-low volume of coal carloads for the week ending May 16, marking the lowest total in 120 weeks, according to data released Wednesday by the Association of American Railroads. The AAR reported a total of 93,664 coal carloads, down 27 carloads week over week from the previous year-low of 93,691. It was the lowest reported coal volume since 87,371 carloads in the final week of 2012 and sixth time in only 19 weeks this year that volumes fell below 100,000. The last year weekly coal carloads last fell below 100,000 more than six times was 1989 when it happened seven times, including in back-to-back intervals in the 51st and 52nd weeks of the year. Volumes did not fall below 100,000 in any week of 2014 and were sub- 100,000 in only three weeks in 2013. Weekly coal carload totals were below 100,000 five times […]

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Senate likely to vote on allowing crude exports in 2015, Hoeven says

WASHINGTON, DC, May 20 Ending the US crude oil export ban will produce such significant energy, economic, and geopolitical benefits that it appears likely to come to a Senate vote during 2015, Energy and Commerce Committee member John Hoeven (D-ND) predicted. “Low prices or high prices, we’ll be in a better place economically if US producers can compete globally,” he said in keynote remarks at a May 20 forum sponsored by the American Council for Capital Formation. “We’ll need the right mix of pipelines, rails, and roads, but it will be a net win for the country and for consumers.” Other speakers at the event, where ACCF released a new report, “ Crude Oil Exports: Economic and Geopolitical Impacts ,” said it’s difficult to determine the White House’s actual stand on the idea of repealing the crude export ban which was imposed 2 years after the 1973 Arab oil […]

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Oregon to test pay-per-mile

Oregon is about to embark on a first-in-the-nation program that aims to charge car owners not for the fuel they use, but for the miles they drive. The program is meant to help the state raise more revenue to pay for road and bridge projects at a time when money generated from gasoline taxes are declining across the country, in part, because of greater fuel efficiency and the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient, hybrid and electric cars. Starting July 1, up to 5,000 volunteers in Oregon can sign up to drive with devices that collect data on how much they have driven and where. The volunteers will agree to pay 1.5 cents for each mile traveled on public roads within Oregon, instead of the tax now added when filling up at the pump. Some electric and hybrid car owners, however, say the new tax would be unfair to them and […]

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Bakken, Eagle Ford Not Past Prime

Bakken production will keep growing, albeit at a slower pace, and the Eagle Ford still has running room within high-return portions of the play, according to a recent analysis by Wood Mackenzie. The Bakken and Eagle Ford together produce just over 2.5 million barrels per day of oil, or nearly two-thirds of U.S. tight oil production. Higher oil prices in the 2013 to 2014 timeframe spurred operators to drill not only in the core of the Williston Basin, but in the fringe and speculative areas. This included areas along the Montana-North Dakota border, the northern most part of the play near the Canadian border, and the southern portion of the Williston Basin. Operators have responded to the decline in global oil prices from over $100/bbl last year to around $60/bbl today by reducing rig counts and retrenching drilling activity to the core Bakken area, Jonathan Garrett, principal analyst for […]

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Peak Resource Constraints Threaten Product Supply

We have for years been hearing about the potential for ‘peak oil’ and more recently about ‘peak metals’ but for the first time, several peer reviewed articles are warning us other peak resource constraints are threatening several key areas of product supply, including food. Peak oil has been discussed for a number of years, but its timing has been pushed out into the future by the emergence of high environmental impact mining techniques like shale oil, oil sands and fracking of natural gas (also used as an oil substitute) across the world. This change in timing is particularly notable in the US, where for the first time in many decades the nation is not dependent on imported supplies of fossil fuels. Coming at a time when OPEC is trying to retain some control of world markets, this has resulted in a massive price drop that is not truly related […]

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The IMF Tells a Half-Truth

Air pollution image via shutterstock. Reproduced at Resilience.org with permission. On May 18 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report titled “ How Large are Global Energy Subsidies? ” The question is a bit misleading: most readers, when they see the word subsidy, probably tend tothink of tax breaks or cash gifts to specific industries. The report, however, uses the term mostly to refer to environmental externalities—and not ones tied to all energy use, but ones related to fossil fuel combustion in particular. An economic externality is an impact of a commercial activity that is not reflected in the prices of goods or services traded. There can be positive externalities: if I buy organic, responsibly farmed food, I usually expect to pay more—thus the beneficial impact of my food choice upon the environment isn’t reflected in a price that would reinforce my behavior; just the opposite is true. […]

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Hijacking the Anthropocene

How the anti-green ‘Breakthrough Institute’ misrepresents science to advance a technocratic agenda and undermine grassroots environmentalism. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” —Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass — What can lobbyists do when science contradicts their political messages? Some simply deny the science, as many conservatives do with climate change. Others pretend to embrace the science, while ignoring or purging the disagreeable content. That’s what the Breakthrough Institute (BTI) is doing with one of the most widely discussed issues in 21st century science, the proposal to define a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. BTI has been described as “the leading big money, anti-green, pro-nuclear think tank in the United States, dedicated to propagandizing capitalist technological-investment ‘solutions’ to climate change.”[1] Founded in 2003 by lobbyist Michael Shellenberger and […]

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Oil prices rise on U.S. stock draw, strong Japan data

LONDON Crude oil prices bounced back on Wednesday from steep falls in the previous session as industry data showed that U.S. crude stocks fell more than expected last week and strong Japanese economic growth surprised markets, stoking producer hopes of increased demand. Brent futures LCOc1 rose 79 cents to $64.81 a barrel by 0840 GMT. U.S. crude prices CLc1 rose 58 cents to $58.57 a barrel. The price rises came after a session on Tuesday that saw oil slide over 3 percent on a dollar rally and concerns of a building glut, which Goldman Sachs said would lead to a return towards 2015 lows. "The market came under a lot of pressure yesterday and it’s not unusual to see a bit of a correction the day after," said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist with Netherlands-based ABN Amro. U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.2 million barrels last week, said […]

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Commodities Rally Hit by Stronger Dollar

ENLARGE An oil refinery in California. U.S. oil prices were among the hardest-hit commodities Tuesday, hurt as the dollar reversed course and surged the first two days of this week. Photo: LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS Commodity prices tumbled on Tuesday, as a resurgent dollar and concerns about weakness in China’s economy pushed investors out of everything from crude oil to copper and corn. The S&P GSCI index, which tracks prices of 24 commodities, recorded its biggest one-day drop in more than a month and ended at its lowest since April 28. Before that, commodities markets, led by a recent rebound in crude oil, staged a surprising two-month rally that had pushed the index to its highs for the year. Driving the gains was a faltering greenback, which many short-term investors took as a signal to scoop up raw materials. But the dollar has abruptly reversed course in the past two days, […]

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MARKET WATCH: Crude prices slide on strengthening dollar, abundant world supply

Crude oil prices on the New York and London markets declined May 18 and early May 19 as the US dollar gained 1% vs. a basket of major currencies and reports indicated that oil exports from Saudi Arabia in March reached their highest level since 2005. The kingdom exported 7.898 million b/d during the month compared with 7.35 million b/d in February, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative. News of ample supply from the Middle East offset concerns about turmoil in Iraq and Yemen ( OGJ Online, May 18, 2015 ). Analysts, meanwhile, cautioned that the recent rebound in crude prices may be short-lived because of oversupply from the Middle East as well as the US, where the rig count is shrinking and production remains at record levels ( OGJ Online, May 15, 2015 ). According to a report from Reuters, Goldman Sachs reduced its Brent […]

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Oil Prices Extend Longest Decline Since March

ENLARGE A crude oil storage tank in Oklahoma, U.S., in March. The American Petroleum Institute will report U.S. crude inventories for the latest week later Tuesday. Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News Oil prices slumped Tuesday in the latest sign that the recent rally in crude prices may have peaked. The U.S. oil benchmark has slid for five straight sessions, the longest losing streak since mid-March. Though prices are still up more than 30% from a near six-year low reached in March, the benchmark has fallen 5.7% in the last five sessions. Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled down $2.17, or 3.7%, to $57.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June contract expired at settlement Tuesday. The more actively traded July contract settled down $2.25, or 3.7%, at $57.99 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled down $2.25, or 3.4%, at $64.02 a barrel on the […]

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Oil prices drop as weak fundamentals weigh on market

SINGAPORE Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday as slow economic growth and high supplies meant that markets remain oversupplied, although U.S. prices received some support from rising demand ahead of the summer driving season. Brent futures LCOc1 were down 60 cents at $65.67 a barrel by 2.12 a.m. ET, after an almost 1 percent fall on Monday on near-record Saudi exports. Goldman Sachs said Brent crude prices were due for a downward correction after a recent rally that saw prices of the North Sea benchmark jump 50 percent since its mid-January lows. "We find that the global market imbalances are in fact not solved and believe that the rally will prove self-defeating as it undermines the nascent rebalancing," the bank said in an overnight report that reiterated its downward revision of long-term oil prices on Monday. It said the ongoing oversupply, upside to U.S. production at current prices and […]

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Macroeconomic concerns drag on oil

International Labor Organization said any major growth in jobs is largely uneven and centered largely around part-time work. Photo by KieferPix/Shutterstock NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) — Crude oil prices retreated heavily in early Tuesday trading on signs of a slowdown in the British economy and worries over the pace of global jobs growth. Brent crude oil prices fell more than 1.5 percent from the previous close to $65.15 to start the trading day Tuesday. Brent started the month just above $66 per barrel. Crude oil prices have recovered from early 2015 lows below the $50 per barrel mark on signs the global marketplace was starting to take up some of the excess supply. A weak recovery in the United States, however, has overshadowed some of the stability seen in Asia. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, dropped 1.8 percent to $58.33, down about $1 per barrel from May […]

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OMV unsure about Yemen, Libya

Austrian energy company OMV said it’s unsure about future operations in Libya and Yemen. File Photo By Dona_Bozzi/Shutterstock. VIENNA, May 19 (UPI) — Production of natural reserves in Libya and Yemen may be shuttered for the rest of the year because of ongoing violence, Austrian energy company OMV said. The end of the regime of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya divided the country along ethnic and tribal lines. Libyan oil production has been about half of the peak capacity above 1 million barrels per day. For Yemen, a pan-Arab offensive led by Saudi Arabia was meant to restore order in a restive country under pressure from the Houthi movement, a Shiite group. While not a major oil producer, the country hosts one of the busiest oil shipping lanes in the world. OMV in a financial report said first quarter production was down nearly 5 percent from the previous quarter to […]

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Rocket attack hits Ajil field

Smoke rises from the Ajil oil field as Shia militiamen gather in al-Hadidiya, south of Tikrit, on March 6, 2015. (THAIER AL-SUDANI/Reuters) Recommend Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. The Islamic State (IS) militant group has destroyed a crucial flow tank at the Ajil oil field near Tikrit, rendering the entire field offline for at least a year."Ajil produces oil from the wells and gathers it into one flow tank from which we used to pump the crude to Kirkuk," said a senior official from the state-run North Oil Company (NOC), which operates the field. "That flow tank does not exist anymore."The tank was hit during a rocket attack by IS militants late Monday and early Tu… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial . […]

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Iraq approves $526 million drilling deal for West Qurna oilfield

BAGHDAD Iraq’s cabinet has approved a $526.6 million drilling deal with China’s Zhongman for the West Qurna Two oilfield, the government said in a statement on Tuesday. Under the 28-month contract, Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas will drill 66 production oil wells at West Qurna Two, operated by Russia’s Lukoil, the statement said. Current production capacity at West Qurna Two is over 400,000 bpd but actual output is less than 350,000 bpd. Ranked as one of the largest oil fields in the world, West Qurna Two, where Lukoil holds a 75-percent stake, is one of several big fields under development which are set to boost Iraq’s economy. (Reporting by Baghdad bureau)

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Libya’s State Oil Company Reassures West of Its Independence

LONDON—Libyan National Oil Co. officials have launched a charm offensive to reassure foreign companies that are increasingly nervous over the use of oil payments and security arrangements in the war-torn country. The state-run oil company has been caught in the middle of a conflict playing out since the ouster and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, dividing the country between an internationally recognized government in the city of Bayda and an Islamist militia, Libya Dawn, that controls the country’s capital of Tripoli. The industry has also been rattled by attacks by the radical Islamic State, worker strikes and sabotage of oil facilities. Amid the mounting chaos, National Oil Co. and Libyan Central Bank officials have met with international energy companies to assure them that their oil payments are being managed transparently and independently, the company’s chairman, Mustafa Sanallah, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday. “We […]

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With Fall of Ramadi, Plight of Iraq Sunnis Worsens

Photo Sunni volunteers for the fight against the Islamic State during their first training session at a military base in Amiriyat Falluja, one of the last cities of Anbar Province in government hands. Credit Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images AMIRIYAT FALLUJA, Iraq — More than a thousand Iraqi Sunni fighters stood at attention, dressed in camouflage but holding no weapons, as the tribal leader began exhorting them to fiercely battle the militants of the Islamic State, taking up rhetoric tinged with Arab notions of vengeance. “It is now time for revenge for our martyrs,” said the sheikh, Falih al-Essawi, who was dressed in a military uniform. He checked off the destruction wrought in their lands by the Islamic State, or, as he called them, “the rats of ISIS ”: 25,000 homes leveled, he said, bridges burned, the economy devastated. He and other speakers made an explicit plea to […]

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Is Iran creating its own state within Iraq?

Shia pilgrims carry a symbolic coffin at the holy shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kazim shrine to commemorate his death in the Shia district of Kazimiyah, Baghdad, Iraq, 14 May 2015. Photograph: Karim Kadim/AP Iraq and its security occupy a central part in the debate about a possible nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. The Gulf Arab states fear that Tehran, boosted by the relaxation of economic sanctions, will try to expand and consolidate its “hegemonic” grip over the Middle East. According to this argument, Iranian hegemony will above all affect Iraq, where Tehran seeks to install a government in thrall to it, hindering the formation of a viable democratic system in its western neighbour. The domestic and foreign exponents of this view point to the growing power of Tehran-backed Shia groups fighting the so-called Islamic State (Isis) as proof of attempts to plant an Iranian “deep state” in […]

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What about Iraq, right now?

Two sets of highly regarded experts warn we are losing our fight against the Islamic State in Iraq. Meanwhile, the Islamic state’s grip on Libya hardens . So naturally the press wants to talk about 2003. Kim and Fred Kagan,  who were instrument in the successful Iraq surge write, “The seizure of Ramadi on Sunday leaves President Obama’s strategy against the Islamic State in ruins not only in Iraq but also throughout the Muslim world. It means that the Iraqi security forces will almost certainly not be able to recapture Mosul this year and, therefore, that the Islamic State will retain its largest city in Iraq. Worse, it gives the group momentum again in Iraq even as it gains ground in Syria and expands in the Sinai, Yemen, Afghanistan and elsewhere. This defeat was avoidable.” They argue, “Neither the Islamic State nor any other al-Qaeda offshoot has ever taken […]

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Libya’s NOC chief sees higher oil prices, not relying on OPEC

LONDON The head of Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) sees higher oil prices and said the company is working to boost output and regain market share taken by other producers. Speaking on a visit to London, NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said he saw signs of oil demand increasing across the globe and a fall in the supply of shale oil in the United States. "There is a general consensus that oil prices will recover. The worst of the market is behind us now," he said on Tuesday at the Platts Global Crude Oil Summit. "It is expected that the oil price will start to rise by the beginning of the second half of this year and continue to rise in 2016." Brent crude was trading at around $65 a barrel, up from a low near $45 seen in January but still nearly half the level set in June 2014 […]

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Support for renewables lacking, global reports find

Global reports find support for low-carbon economies not advancing as well as expected. Photo by akiyoko/Shutterstock. PARIS, May 19 (UPI) — A report from the International Energy Agency in Paris finds the pace at which renewable energy is advancing is lagging far behind global goals for 2030. A joint IEA-World Bank report on a U.N. initiative, Sustainable Energy for All, finds the share of renewable energy on the global grid grew from 17.8 percent in 2010 to 18.1 percent two years later. The initiative calls for at least twice that by 2030. Substantial investments beyond the $400 billion rate in renewables, to at least $1 trillion, are needed to achieve the goals. The lack of investments, the report found, was one of the main drivers behind the slow pace of progress. A survey from the International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, finds subsidies for the energy industry amounted to $492 billion […]

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Shell-BG deal may be end point rather than harbinger: Russell

KUALA LUMPUR May 19 (Clyde Russell is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own). There is a widespread assumption that weak commodity prices are likely to spark a wave of merger and acquisition activity as stronger companies seek to buy assets on the cheap. The $70 billion buyout of BG Plc by larger rival Royal Dutch Shell is generally viewed by investors and analysts as the first big deal in a likely series of major mergers and acquisitions in the resource sector. After all, the last time commodity prices fell sharply, around 15 years ago, there was a rash of mega-mergers, such as Exxon with Mobil and Conoco with Phillips in the energy space, and BHP with Billiton and Rio Tinto’s purchase of Alcan. Notwithstanding the Shell-BG deal, it appears executives may be more cautious this time around, eschewing mega-mergers in favor of smaller acquisitions and in-house […]

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Asian refiners forced to get creative to stay competitive

KUALA LUMPUR Faced with competition from mammoth new refineries in the Middle East and soft fuel demand in key markets, Asian refiners are trying a variety of tactics to cope from investing in refineries in emerging markets to using cheaper energy sources. Less complex and older refineries in Asia, however, might be forced to cut run rates or shut, industry executives said at an energy conference. "We have to explore ways and means to survive the decline in demand and try to maintain refining capacity," vice-president Michio Ikeda of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp said on the sidelines of the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Japan’s largest refiner is considering investments in markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia and also increasing petrochemical production. It is also using lower cost energy sources such as bitumen and petroleum coke, and alternative feedstocks such as naphtha, reformate and […]

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Flood of new cash sustains U.S. oil firms; energy dealmakers gripe

HOUSTON U.S. oil companies, still smarting from the crude price rout, are attracting a wave of new investment from unlikely sources – hedge funds and private equity firms flocking to the energy market for the first time to bet on a rebound. By pouring billions of dollars into energy shares and bonds in the past few months these newcomers, dubbed "energy tourists" by Houston’s seasoned dealmakers, have thrown a lifeline to scores of companies that a few months ago looked like potential targets for bigger rivals or distressed debt and restructuring specialists. "You’ve got generalist funds that have never invested in energy coming out of the woodwork," Michael Ames, an energy investment banker at Raymond James, told a meeting of oil and gas executives this month. So far this year, 40 oil and gas companies raised $18.7 billion in new share sales, while 35 firms issued $26.4 billion in […]

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EIA launches redesigned International Energy Portal

image of International Energy Portal, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Portal On May 18, EIA launched a beta version of a redesigned International Energy Portal designed to help users access international energy data and to provide new and expanded tools and capabilities to examine trends in global energy markets. Increased access to data. The International Energy Portal includes a powerful data browser that provides country-level energy data; many countries have at least 30 years of historical data. The data browser provides users the ability to view and download complete datasets for consumption, production, trade, reserves, and carbon dioxide emissions for different fuels and energy sources. New user-driven customization. The portal’s data browser, as one example, provides users with the ability to convert between U.S. and European common units of measurement for energy. Users can also compare data across different energy sources […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple