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Seattle protesters plan kayak blockade to stop Shell rig departure

Seattle activists opposed to Arctic drilling have vowed to launch a kayak blockade to prevent the departure of Shell’s drilling rig , and said they have hundreds of protesters standing to hit the water as soon as the Polar Pioneer departs. “Our effort is to create as large a flotilla as we can to make it impossible for them to get permission to leave,” Bill Moyer, executive director of the Backbone Campaign, an environmental justice organization, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. Although Shell has not announced a departure date, activists with ShellNo said on its website that the rig could leave for Alaskan waters as early as Wednesday. There it will drill exploratory wells approved by the U.S. government last month. ”Work continues as planned in preparation for the Polar Pioneer’s departure to Alaska,” Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said in an email. “The rig and its crew will depart […]

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Oil Firms Agree to Pay Millions in Compensation for Quebec Train Blast

Oil companies have quietly agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars into a compensation fund for deaths and damage caused by a 2013 oil-train explosion in Quebec, though the energy industry has maintained it wasn’t responsible for the disaster. If U.S. and Canadian courts approve the fund, the companies would be shielded from several lawsuits claiming wrongful death and negligence in connection with the tragedy. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., the small railroad hauling the crude oil, sought bankruptcy protection soon after the accident, in which an unattended train carrying oil from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale formation derailed and erupted into flames, killing 47. A trustee appointed by the bankruptcy court, who has approved the compensation fund, contended in court filings that oil producers were well aware the oil they were selling was dangerously volatile and failed to take action to make transporting it safer. Oil companies, […]

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Energy-Rich States Saw the Strongest Economic Growth in 2014

Energy-rich North Dakota and Texas had the fastest-growing state economies in 2014, but that booming growth could be reversed this year. North Dakota’s gross domestic product expanded 6.3% last year and the Texas economy advanced 5.2%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday as part of its annual accounting of state economies . Those growth rates were more than twice as strong as the nation’s 2.2% expansion. Two other states, West Virginia and Wyoming, topped 5% growth. Colorado ranked fifth with a 4.7% expansion. Each of the top five states was propelled by mining, an industry category that includes oil and natural-gas extraction. Mining “was not a significant contributor” to economic growth for U.S. overall, the Commerce Department said. But “this industry was a large contributor in the five fastest-growing states.” Those states, however, could be challenged to continue that growth pace because oil prices have moderated. A year ago, oil […]

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West Coast of North America to be Slammed by 2016 with 80% As Much Fukushima Radiation As Japan

A professor from Japan’s Fukushima University Institute of Environmental Radioactivity (Michio Aoyama) told Kyodo in April that the West Coast of North America will be hit with around 800 terabecquerels of Cesium- 137 by 2016 . EneNews notes that this is 80% of the cesium-137 deposited in Japan by Fukushima, according to the company which runs Fukushima, Tepco: (a petabequeral or “PBq” equals 1,000 terabecquerels .) This is not news for those who have been paying attention. For example, we noted 2 days after the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami that the West Coast of North America could be slammed with radiation from Fukushima. We pointed out the next year that a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be “pockets” and “streams” of highly-concentrated radiation . The same year, we noted that 15 out of […]

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Gazprom Now Settling All Crude Sales To China In Renminbi

Two topics we’ve deemed critically important to a thorough understanding of both global finance and the shifting geopolitical landscape are the death of the petrodollar and the idea of yuan hegemony. Last November, in “ How The Petrodollar Quietly Died And No One Noticed ,” we said the following about the slow motion demise of the system that has served to perpetuate decades of dollar dominance: Two years ago, in hushed tones at first, then ever louder, the financial world began discussing that which shall never be discussed in polite company – the end of the system that according to many has framed and facilitated the US Dollar’s reserve currency status: the Petrodollar, or the world in which oil export countries would recycle the dollars they received in exchange for their oil exports, by purchasing more USD-denominated assets, boosting the financial strength of the reserve currency, leading to even […]

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Could hemp nanosheets topple graphene for making the ideal supercapacitor?

Enlarge Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) image of graphene on Ir(111). The image size is 15 nm × 15 nm. Credit: ESRF As hemp makes a comeback in the U.S. after a decades-long ban on its cultivation, scientists are reporting that fibers from the plant can pack as much energy and power as graphene, long-touted as the model material for supercapacitors. They’re presenting their research, which a Canadian start-up company is working on scaling up, at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). David Mitlin, Ph.D., explains that supercapacitors are energy storage devices that have huge potential to transform the way future electronics are powered. Unlike today’s rechargeable batteries, which sip up energy over several hours, supercapacitors can charge and discharge within seconds. But they normally can’t store nearly as much energy as batteries, an important property known as energy density. One approach researchers are […]

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Why EIA, IEA, and BP Oil Forecasts are Too High

When forecasting how much oil will be available in future years, a standard approach seems to be the following: Figure out how much GDP growth the researcher hopes to have in the future. “Work backward” to see how much oil is needed, based on how much oil was used for a given level of GDP in the past. Adjust this amount for hoped-for efficiency gains and transfers to other fuel uses. Verify that there is actually enough oil available to support this level of growth in oil consumption. In fact, this seems to be the approach used by most forecasting agencies, including EIA, IEA and BP. It seems to me that this approach has a fundamental flaw. It doesn’t consider the possibility of continued low oil prices and the impact that these low oil prices are likely to have on future oil production. Hoped-for future GDP growth may not […]

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Oil Extends Gains Ahead of U.S. Inventory Data

Oil prices extended gains in Asian trade Wednesday with Nymex futures trading above the $60 mark, as U.S. inventory numbers are expected to signal further slowing of shale oil production. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $60.88 a barrel at 0257 GMT, up $0.74 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.48 to $65.36 a barrel. Both Nymex and Brent oil futures gained nearly 3.5% overnight, and have settled higher for two of the past three trading sessions. Nymex crude is trading around 13% higher year-to-date and Brent around 14% higher year-to-date. The oil price rally since yesterday comes from oil bulls returning to the market, as most of them were probably holding off their trades until the OPEC meeting concluded last week, analyst Daniel Ang at Phillip Futures said. “This accounts […]

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Oil prices rise on hopes for China stimulus

SEOUL Oil prices edged up on Tuesday on hopes of more economic stimulus in China after disappointing data from the world’s No.2 economy. China’s consumer inflation weakened more than expected, to 1.2 percent year-on-year in May, raising concerns about growing deflationary pressures as the economy cools. Its producer prices fell for the 38th straight month. "The weak data continues to point out the sluggish demand in the real economy. The government should roll out more easing measures to lower the real financing costs to boost growth," said Yu Yafang, macro strategist at Huachuang Securities in Beijing. Front month U.S. crude CLc1 climbed 41 cents to $58.55 a barrel by 0655 GMT (0255 ET) , after ending the previous session down 99 cents. Brent for July delivery LCOc1 rose 45 cents to $63.14 a barrel, having settled down 62 cents in the previous session. Chinese oil imports fell about 11 […]

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Short-Term Energy Outlook

Highlights North Sea Brent crude oil prices averaged $64/barrel (b) in May, a $5/b increase from April and the highest monthly average of 2015. Despite estimated global inventories increasing by more than 2 million barrels per day (b/d) for the third consecutive month, several factors contributed to higher prices in May, including continued signals of higher global oil demand growth, expectations for declining U.S. tight oil production in the coming months, and the growing risk of unplanned supply outages in the Middle East and North Africa. EIA forecasts Brent crude oil prices will average $61/b in 2015 and $67/b in 2016. The 2016 price forecast is $3/b lower than in last month’s STEO. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices in both 2015 and 2016 are expected to average $5/b less than the Brent price. The current values of futures and options contracts for December 2015 delivery suggest ( Market Prices […]

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Russia mulls oil sales for Iran

The Kremlin said it’s reviewed selling oil for Iran during talks with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on the sidelines of last week’s OPEC conference in Vienna. File Photo by UPI/Maryam Rahmanian MOSCOW, June 9 (UPI) — Iranian crude oil could make its way to the international market using Russian intermediaries, the Russian energy minister said. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said it’s too early to discuss direct oil imports from Iran, though expansion of bilateral trade may extend to global sales for the Islamic republic . "Our traders will facilitate sale of Iran’s oil on the global market if possible," he said. Novak said he spoke about trade issues with Iranian representatives on the sidelines of last week’s conference of ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. Plans in the works since early 2014 include potential shipments of as much as 500,000 barrels per day […]

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Operational excellence becomes oil industry watchword (again): Kemp

LONDON Cost-cutting is set to remain the main focus for the oil industry for at least the next two years as petroleum producers adjust to an environment of much lower prices. If the boom was characterized by an emphasis on ambitious and complex engineering and technology projects, the downturn has brought a renewed focus on simplification and efficiency. It marks a return to what was called "operational excellence" during the long years of low oil prices in the 1990s. Operational excellence is about more than just short-term expenditure reduction. But not even the free fruit for employees at BP’s giant campus at Sunbury near London has been spared from the search for economies. The fruit is a good symbol of the industry’s approach to cost control: it was also axed during a previous cost-cutting drive in 2008 only to be restored when prices and revenues boomed again. But the […]

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U.S. Embracing a New Approach on Battling ISIS in Iraq

WASHINGTON — In a major shift of focus in the battle against the Islamic State, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province and send 400 American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi. Although a final decision by the White House has yet to be announced, the plan follows months of behind-the-scenes debate about how prominently plans to retake another Iraqi city, Mosul, which fell to the Islamic State last year, should figure in the early phase of the military campaign against the group. The fall of Ramadi last month effectively settled the administration debate, at least for the time being. American officials said Ramadi is now expected to become the focus of a lengthy campaign to regain Mosul at a later stage, possibly not until 2016. The United States Central Command’s emphasis on retaking Mosul depended critically […]

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Syrian rebels seize largest army base in Deraa

The majority of Deraa province is controlled by opposition fighters [Getty] An umbrella group of opposition fighters have seized the largest army base in the southern province of Deraa – the birthplace of Syria’s four-year uprising – after 24 hours of fighting, a rebel spokesman and monitoring group have said. Essam al-Rayes, a spokesman for the Southern Front rebel alliance operating in the province, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that the "fully liberated" base "was one of the main lines of defence for regime forces". "It was a nightmare, because they used it to shell all the areas to the east of the province," he added. He said at least 2,000 rebel forces overran the base, which lies near a major highway running from Damascus to Syria’s southern border with Jordan, in a "short and quick" assault. Diaa al-Hariri, a spokesman for Faylaq al-Awwal, one of the […]

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ISIS Proves Its Persistence With Attacks in Libya and Iraq

CAIRO — Islamic State militants staged attacks near Baghdad and the Libyan city of Surt on Tuesday, underscoring the group’s persistent strength on both fronts despite a monthslong American-led air campaign against it in Syria and Iraq . In Libya, the Islamic State captured a critical power plant along the coastal road westward from its stronghold in Surt toward Misurata, a commercial center whose powerful militias are the backbone of a coalition that controls the capital, Tripoli. The loss was the second significant retreat in less than two weeks by the Misuratan militia that the provisional government in Tripoli had originally sent to expel the Islamic State from Surt. More than 1,500 miles to the east in Iraq, two gunmen wearing suicide vests attacked a local council building in Amiriyat al Falluja, a bold incursion into the center of a city about 37 miles southwest of Baghdad. The city […]

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Kurds Say Iraq’s Oil Payments Coming Up Short

LONDON—Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil minister said Tuesday that the Kurds’ fight against Islamic State militants risks being undermined by delays in oil payments from Baghdad for Kurdish crude. But an official from the Iraqi central government said Baghdad disagreed with the Kurds’ estimates of payments due. Baghdad and Kurdistan reached an agreement in December 2014 , allowing the Kurds to export 550,000 barrels of oil a day under the central government’s supervision in exchange for receiving 17% of the national budget. “The fight against ISIS across several thousand kilometers of front line cannot happen if you don’t have the economic means to do it,” Ashti Hawrami, the minister for natural resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told a conference here. “When we have three months of peshmergas [Kurdish fighters] not being paid, it’s very difficult to see how this can be sustained,” he added. While Islamic State has continued making […]

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London: Iraqi oil and security go hand-in-hand

Iraqi oil conference opens in London amid looming threat from the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State, which now controls Sunni-parts of the country. Photo by Frontpage/Shutterstock LONDON, June 9 (UPI) — Good governance and sweeping national security are integral parts of the investment future in the Iraqi oil sector, the British energy minister said. An Iraqi oil exhibition opened this week in London. British Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom said that although British energy companies are playing an active role in Iraq, security and cooperation across the entire country is needed to improve the investment climate . "In Iraq, lower oil prices in particular have highlighted some weaknesses in economic institutions," she said. "Tackling these, along with some of the political divisions that risk undermining Iraq’s energy potential, is of great importance." British energy companies were among those last year that evacuated non-essential staff from Iraq amid the […]

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Kurdistan Warns Oil Output at Risk of Collapse on Lack of Funds

Oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan will have to close operations if they don’t receive agreed export payments, according to the regional authorities. “We need to stabilize the payment situation,” Ashti Hawrami, natural resources minister for the Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, said Tuesday in London. “We can’t keep saying to oil companies: ‘Give us one more month.’ Eventually this will collapse around us. We need more money.” Kurdish authorities in December resolved months of feuding with Iraq’s central government over who had rights to export crude from the semi-autonomous region. Nevertheless, payments to producers have remained haphazard as the two sides continue to debate terms, while a slump in oil prices and the exorbitant cost of fighting Islamic State militants have reduced available funds. Norwegian producer DNO ASA said Tuesday that it can’t sustain investment and production levels if debts to the company aren’t paid. Genel Energy Plc and […]

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Saudi ministry says higher oil output driven by demand

LONDON Saudi Arabia’s oil ministry said on Tuesday the rise in its oil production over the past three months was a result of increased global demand and the needs of its customers and was not designed to compensate for lower oil prices. An official source at the ministry also said its petroleum policy did not reflect personal views and were formulated by an integrated team of experts and specialists in oil market economics, based at the ministry’s offices in Riyadh. "It is done in coordination with oil-producing countries, especially OPEC countries, so as to serve the Kingdom’s interests in the short and medium terms. It is also reviewed by the country’s senior leadership. The integrated team of experts and advisers supports the decision makers," the official said in a rare statement from the ministry. The source said the statement was issued after the Wall Street Journal published a story […]

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U.S. Oil Production to Peak at 43-Year High Before Trailing Off

U.S. oil output will peak at a 43-year high in 2015 as producers work through a backlog of uncompleted wells before trailing off in the second half of the year. Production will increase to 9.43 million barrels a day this year, the most since 1972, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. That’s 240,000 barrels higher than last month’s estimate. Monthly output will fall in June through early 2016. The U.S. is producing more oil this year even as the number of oil rigs slid to the least since August 2010 in response to last year’s price crash. Prices are still high enough to support drilling in key shale formations in North Dakota, Texas and other states. “Production has increased as producers work through the backlog of uncompleted wells,” the EIA said in the report. “Projected 2015 oil prices remain high enough to support […]

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SOCO Oil Company Paid Large Sums to Officer in Congo, Activists Say

Photo Virunga National Park, the oldest in Africa, has been the center of an intense conflict between the forces of economic development and environmental conservation. Credit Uriel Sinai for The New York Times NAIROBI, Kenya — When a British oil company began prospecting for oil in Africa’s oldest national park , drawing worldwide concern and inspiring an Oscar-nominated documentary last year, the company was adamant in denying any wrongdoing. Though soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo may have engaged in a campaign of intimidation and coercion against nearby residents who are opposed to drilling in the park, the company said it could not be held responsible for their actions. “We can’t tell the army to go and kiss off,” Roger Cagle, the deputy chief executive director of the oil company, SOCO International, told The Telegraph newspaper in Britain. He said that the soldiers had been assigned by the […]

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Overpopulated Egypt Seeks to Reduce Fertility Rate by 2030

CAIRO — Egypt aims to reduce its surging fertility rate over the next 15 years, a government minister said Tuesday, in an effort to address overpopulation concerns in the Arab world’s most populous country. With around 90 million people — a population the United Nations projects to hit 103 million by 2030 — Egypt has struggled for decades to provide its citizens with jobs and services. Most Egyptians live on a tiny sliver of land along the Nile River and the Mediterranean coast, away from the vast desert that makes up most of the country. According to a plan laid out by Minister of State for Population Hala Youssef, the government will provide financial incentives to keep children in school, expand family planning services and boost public awareness — while working closely with non-governmental organizations and local communities. The aim is to get Egyptian women to attain a fertility […]

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Nigerian Fuel Marketers Say They Are Working to Ease Shortages

There are indications that fuel marketers, may have agreed to distribute fuel brought in by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, after talking with the new administration last weekend. This is as many petrol stations in Lagos still sell above the official pump price of N87, as other cities are still suffering from shortages despite the end of a fuel distribution strike. After the negotiation last weekend, fuel is expected to become available not just at NNPC retail stations but those owned by major and independent marketers to reduce the queues of double-parked cars. Nigeria now depends wholly on swapping its crude for fuel imports, Obafemi Olawore, Executive Secretary for Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) said, as those waiting for subsidy payments are unable to secure commercial loans to bring in fresh supplies."At the moment we are unable to import because we don’t have the support from the […]

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Canadian crude in high demand amid shortages

Brisk demand along with supply disruptions due to Alberta’s wildfires have propelled Canadian heavy crude oil prices to their highest this year. Recent prices for Western Canadian Select heavy crude, a blend of bitumen from the oil sands and conventional heavy oil, reflect an unusually narrow discount to North American benchmark oil. The weakened Canadian dollar has also boosted returns for Canadian producers, even as OPEC holds firm on output to keep world prices low in a bid for more market share. Last month, wildfires in the Cold Lake region of northeastern Alberta forced Cenovus Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. to shut down major operations and evacuate staff, cutting bitumen production by a total of 230,000 barrels a day, or about 10 per cent of the province’s oil sands output. “With the forest fires and the shutdown of those projects – though those are starting to come […]

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Disappearing Bakken oil discount adds to output slowdown signs

NEW YORK Oil traders scrambling to secure crude in the U.S. Midwest have pushed North Dakota’s Bakken to a near premium for the first time in two years, a rally stoked by record refinery runs and an unprecedented slump in Canadian imports. Yet some traders say the surprising strength emerging from opaque physical crude markets in the heartland of the fracking boom also points to a more important, lasting factor: declining production of Bakken crude, a long-anticipated but as yet unproven twist in the shale revolution. The buying frenzy pushed Bakken delivered at Clearbrook, Minnesota WTC-BAK, to trade just 35 cents a barrel below the West Texas Intermediate benchmark last week, dealers say, the narrowest discount since July 2013. On Tuesday, it widened slightly to a 75-cent discount. Four months ago, it traded at a $7.50 discount. "The rapid spread contraction may be indicative of a faster-than-anticipated production decline, […]

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US 2015 power-sector coal consumption to hit 1991 low: EIA

US coal consumption for the power sector will total an estimated 792.9 million st in 2015, the lowest amount since 1991, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. Lower natural gas prices are the main reason behind the decline, the agency said in the June edition of its Short Term Energy Outlook. In 2014, coal consumption in the power sector totaled 851.4 million st. Tuesday’s report is another indication of how far the US coal industry has fallen since the shale boom has increased gas supplies and lowered prices. The year-over-year drop comes despite the agency’s forecast for the average US residential electricity costumer to spend 4.8% more during June, July and August, reflecting a 2.6% increase in the average electricity usage and a 2.1% increase in the average retail price of electricity. Article continues below… Platts Coal Trader provides the latest prices for key benchmark coals, as well as: […]

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US EIA lowers Q2 natural gas demand forecast by 1.47 Bcf/d to 64.49 Bcf/d

The US Energy Information Administration Tuesday lowered its estimate for US natural gas consumption in the second quarter by 1.47 Bcf/d to 64.49 Bcf/d. In its June Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA said that demand for US gas for the full year is expected to average 76.73 Bcf/d — 140 MMcf/d below last month’s estimate — compared with 73.47 Bcf/d in 2014. "Consumption growth in 2015 is largely driven by demand in the industrial and electric power sectors," the report said. The agency lowered its Q3 demand estimate by 500 MMcf/d to 65.94 Bcf/d. –Jasmin Melvin, [email protected] –Edited by Valarie Jackson, [email protected]

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Canada’s long-term oil output growth slashed 1.1 million b/d: CAPP

The growth in Canada’s heavy and light oil production by 2030 has been revised down 1.1 million b/d, primarily due to the near 50% drop in global prices in the past several months, a senior official at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Tuesday. "Low prices seem to have taken a toll, and output by 2030 will now be 5.3 million b/d, compared with a forecast of 6.4 million b/d we made last June," said Greg Stringham, CAPP’s vice president for oil sands and markets. "Over the shorter to medium term of five to 15 years, the pace of growth remains consistent. But then we see signs of a slowdown." His comments came after CAPP on Tuesday released its 2015 Crude Oil Forecast, Markets and Transportation annual report. The most hit will be light oil producers in Alberta and Saskatchewan, several of whom have drilled wells but not […]

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Canadian Oil Group Cuts Long-Term Growth Forecast

CALGARY, Alberta—Canada’s long-term crude output will continue to grow, but at a slower pace than previously projected, reflecting a slew of project postponements due to the slump in oil prices, the country’s major energy trade group said Tuesday, The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers expects Canadian crude output—mostly from Alberta’s oil sands—to reach 4.96 million barrels a day by 2025. That is below its previous estimate of 5.6 million barrels a day and the 6.0 million barrels a day it had forecast back in 2013. CAPP projects crude output this year will reach 3.89 million barrels a day on capital spending of 45 billion Canadian dollars ($36.3 billion). That is slightly above last year’s output of 3.74 million barrels a day on a sharp 40% drop in spending. The lower forecast is the latest sign of a global retrenchment in oil and gas investment that has hit the most […]

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Tentative Deal Reached to End Strike at Texas Refinery

A tentative agreement has been reached to end a strike at a large Texas refinery that, if finalized, would mark the conclusion of a broader walkout at refineries across the U.S. that at its height included 15 plants and 6,500 striking workers. Management at Marathon Petroleum Corp. MPC -1.12 % ’s 451,000-barrel-a-day Galveston Bay refinery accepted a contract offer presented by union negotiators late Monday, according to a statement from the United Steelworkers local 13-1. The deal still needs to be ratified by the more than 1,000 rank-and-file workers at the refinery south of Houston who walked off the job Feb. 1. Marathon on Tuesday confirmed the deal to end the work stoppage and finalize a new collective-bargaining agreement at the refinery. It added that if workers ratify the deal, then “we look forward to returning our employees to work.” The Galveston refinery workers were the final holdouts among […]

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Obama Administration Readies Big Push on Climate Change

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is planning several actions this summer to rein in greenhouse-gas emissions from wide swaths of the U.S. economy, including trucks, airplanes, oil and natural-gas operations and power plants, kicking into high gear an ambitious climate agenda that is a top legacy item for the president. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce as soon as this week draft rules to cut carbon emissions from big trucks, and separate plans to regulate carbon emissions from airlines, according to people familiar with the proposals. In the coming weeks, the EPA is expected to propose rules cutting emissions of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—from oil and natural-gas operations. And in August, the agency will complete a suite of three regulations cutting carbon from the nation’s power plants, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s climate-change agenda. The regulations represent the biggest climate push by the Obama administration since 2009, when […]

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Crude oil shipper settles in Lac-Megantic rail disaster

Miami company that sold crude oil tied to Lac-Megantic disaster in 2013 contributes to multi-million dollar settlement for vicitms. Photo by Steven Frame/Shutterstock MIAMI, June 9 (UPI) — A company tied to the sale of the oil on the train that crashed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in 2013 said it agreed to contribute to a settlement for victims. World Fuel Services Corp. said it agreed to contribute about $90 million to a compensation fund for victims of the 2013 derailment as part of a settlement with the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and its bankruptcy trustees. "We believe that participating in the settlement and contributing to the compensation fund is in the best interests of our shareholders and will also aid in providing closure to those affected by this tragic accident," the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, Michael Kasbar, said in a statement. A World Fuel subsidiary sold the […]

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AAA: Gas prices may have peaked

Motor club AAA says prices at the may be stabilizing and at, or near, what may be the peak high for the year. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) — The national average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States is likely near its yearly peak, motor club AAA said. AAA reports a national average price for a gallon of gasoline at around $2.74, a slight decrease from Monday but nearly 3 percent, or roughly 10 cents, more than one month ago. The current national average has held steady for the better part of the week. "The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline has remained steady over the past week and continues to hover near at what many expect to be the highest average of the year," the motor club said in its weekly status report. Drivers in Midwest […]

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Canada Petroleum Producers Cut 2030 Output Forecast

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers cut its 2030 oil production forecast by 17 percent as capital expenditures slipped after crude prices tumbled. The world’s third-biggest holder of crude reserves will produce 5.3 million barrels a day, down from 6.4 million forecast a year ago, CAPP said. The organization cut its forecast after oil dropped to $42 a barrel this year from near $108 in June as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries maintained quotas amid a surge of U.S. shale oil. The drop has curtailed capital expenditure by oil and gas producers to C$45 billion ($36.5 billion) in 2015 from C$73 billion last year, CAPP said. Expenditure in the oil sands fell to C$23 billion this year from C$33 billion. “Companies are reverting to expansion of existing projects,” said Greg Stringham, a vice president at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. “As far as new projects, those are […]

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Heitkamp Urges Repeal of Oil Export Ban

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (ND) Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. Senator from North Dakota is urging lawmakers to repeal a 1970’s era ban on oil exports. Related: Oil Export Ban May Hurt Economy Taking the Senate floor last month, Heitkamp said that the existing restrictions on U.S. oil producers are harming America’s competitiveness. Heitkamp hopes to level the playing field by doing away with restrictions that hinder America’s economic growth and that threaten our long-term goal of becoming energy independent. Not everyone is in favor of lifting the ban, however. Athan Manual, the director of the Lands Protection Program at the Sierra Club, said his biggest concern is how increased oil consumption around the world will impact climate change. “We don’t think we should be exporting global warming, basically, to other countries,” he said. “We think all the countries in the world should do what the U.S. is doing and dramatically […]

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Santa Barbara Rejects Exxon’s Request to Haul Crude in Trucks

A local official in Santa Barbara, Calif., rejected Tuesday an emergency request by Exxon XOM -0.32 % Mobil to use large trucks to haul its crude oil along a scenic highway until a pipeline that recently ruptured and caused a large spill is fixed. “There is not adequate evidence that a defined emergency exists,” said Dianne Black, the county’s assistant director of planning and development. She was enlisted to make the decision after the county’s planning director, Glenn Russell, recused himself since he recently owned stock in Exxon. Exxon was the main customer of a pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline PAA -0.46 % that burst three weeks ago due to corrosion, spilling 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean and on beaches and killing wildlife. Exxon was using the pipeline to haul some 30,000 barrels a day of crude oil, and is being forced to scale […]

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Russian Pause in Dollar Purchases Helps to End Ruble’s Tumble

The Bank of Russia paused foreign-currency purchases for the first time since it started interventions last month, helping to arrest a slump in the ruble. Officials didn’t buy or sell foreign currency on June 5, according to data released Tuesday. The currency gained 0.5 percent to 55.704 against the dollar by 5:44 p.m. in Moscow, strengthening for a third day. Russia has damped this year’s biggest major-currency rally, with the ruble tumbling 15 percent since its interventions. Any further depreciation risks stoking inflation and threatening policy makers’ efforts to reduce borrowing costs. “It seems that the central bank decided that it has done enough, at least for now, in terms of foreign-currency interventions,” Piotr Matys, a London-based foreign-exchange strategist at Rabobank, said by e-mail. “The Bank of Russia is likely to be flexible when it comes to buying hard currencies to rebuild its reserves.” Bank of Russia Governor Elvira […]

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Gazprom Given Six Weeks to Respond to EU Antitrust Charges

The extension gives Gazprom until mid-September to go through the case file and work on disproving some of the EU charges, or propose a settlement. “Gazprom is currently going through the extensive case file, analyzing it thoroughly and preparing the appropriate reply,” the company said. The European Commission, the EU’s antitrust watchdog, confirmed the extension. “Gazprom argued that it would need additional time, including to assess the issues raised and translate documents,” the commission said. The commission filed formal charges against Gazprom in April , claiming it was hindering competition and charging unfair prices in some Central and Eastern European countries. Gazprom has rejected the charges as politically motivated. —Tom Fairless contributed to this article.

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G7 leaders agree to phase out fossil fuels by end of century

‘Binding is a very important term’, said Merkel. (Photo: Bundesregierung/Gottschalk) Leaders of the world’s top economies Monday (8 June) gave a boost to global talks on tackling climate change by saying the global economy should be decarbonised by the end of this century. The high-level backing by G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – increases the likelihood of almost 200 countries agreeing to a long-term goal when they meeting for climate talks in Paris in December. The conclusions after the meeting in Bavaria, southern Germany, said the Paris agreement should have “binding rules at its core to track progress towards achieving targets”. They also call for a “legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force” that would apply to all countries. “Binding is a very important term”, said German chancellor Angela Merkel after the two-day meeting ended. The G7 also endorsed […]

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Oil prices rise on hopes for China stimulus

SEOUL Oil prices edged up on Tuesday on hopes of more economic stimulus in China after disappointing data from the world’s No.2 economy. China’s consumer inflation weakened more than expected, to 1.2 percent year-on-year in May, raising concerns about growing deflationary pressures as the economy cools. Its producer prices fell for the 38th straight month. "The weak data continues to point out the sluggish demand in the real economy. The government should roll out more easing measures to lower the real financing costs to boost growth," said Yu Yafang, macro strategist at Huachuang Securities in Beijing. Front month U.S. crude CLc1 climbed 41 cents to $58.55 a barrel by 0655 GMT (0255 ET) , after ending the previous session down 99 cents. Brent for July delivery LCOc1 rose 45 cents to $63.14 a barrel, having settled down 62 cents in the previous session. Chinese oil imports fell about 11 […]

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Oil Prices Retreat as China Imports Soften

Oil prices fell in Asian trade Monday, after China reported a drop in its oil imports and as the impact of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision to keep its production level unchanged trickled through. Investors are also expected to turn their attention to the June 30 deadline for the Iran nuclear deal that could pave the way for the lifting of Western sanctions and more Iranian oil hitting the oil market. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $58.54 a barrel at 0322 GMT, down $0.59 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.56 to $62.75 a barrel. Oil markets have struggled to sustain a price rally as bearish supply indicators such as Saudi Arabia’s record output have offset signs of a decline in U.S. shale oil production. This bearishness […]

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A New Peak in Conventional Crude Oil Production

Since May 2005, global conventional crude oil + condensate production (C+C) has been constrained to a bumpy plateau of around 73.2 Mbpd. That limit was breached in December 2014 with a new high of 74.28 Mbpd (Figure 1, blue area is conventional C+C). This comes on the back of a prolonged period of record high oil price. It seems likely that the reason for the new high is OPEC abandoning constraint rather than an actual expansion of global conventional C+C production capacity. Figure 1 The EIA report various categories of hydrocarbon liquids production including a category for combined crude oil + condensate. This category includes Canadian syncrude (tar sands) and light tight oil (LTO previously known as shale oil). Conventional C+C production is estimated by deducting the unconventional sources from the C+C total and shows a new peak of 74.28 Mbpd for December 2014. The chart is not zero […]

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G-7 Adds Thrust to UN Climate Talks With Ambitious Target

The Group of Seven large industrialized democracies said the world should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 70%, an agreement that helps lay the groundwork for United Nations climate talks in Paris later this year. The leaders of the seven countries, including the U.S. and meeting host Germany, said in a joint statement at the end of the G-7 summit here that deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions were needed this century. They said countries around the world should hold to the upper end of a U.N. recommendation calling for 40% to 70% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared with 2010. “For the first time ever, G-7 leaders have rallied behind a long-term goal to decarbonize the global economy,” said Jennifer Morgan, director of the global climate program at the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank. The joint statement on climate was one of […]

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Global economic policies may hinge on oil prices

EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 8 (UPI) — Countries that depend heavily on oil for part of their government revenue may see companies’ investment appetite wane without fiscal reforms, analysis finds. The International Monetary Fund in April said low oil prices have led to a subdued outlook for the global economy, with importers and exporters alike feeling the impact. Growth would be uneven, it said, as advanced economies expand while developing economies shrink. Some factors, like the decline in the value of the ruble, the currency in oil-rich Russia, are easily visible, though other factors, like slow capital growth in emerging economies, are less apparent, the IMF said. Graham Kellas, vice president of fiscal research for Wood Mackenzie , said governments across the globe are examining the terms for investing in the exploration and production sector as the weak market for crude oil endures. "For some governments, the impact of the […]

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Delayed gratification for OPEC, more pain for investors

Delayed gratification is said to be a sign of maturity. By that standard OPEC at age 55 demonstrated its maturity this week as it left oil production quotas for its members unchanged . It did so in the face of oil prices that are about 40 percent lower than they were at this time last year , delaying once again a return to the $100-per-barrel prices seen during the past four years. Why OPEC members chose to leave their oil output unchanged is no mystery . The explicit purpose for keeping oil prices depressed is to close down U.S. oil production from deep shale deposits–production that soared when oil hovered around $100 a barrel, but which is largely uneconomic at current prices. That production was starting to threaten OPEC’s market share. If OPEC were to cut its oil production now and drive prices back up, it would only lead […]

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Iran sees oil interest from Europe

Iranian Minister for Oil Bijan Zanganeh says big European energy companies are eager to work in the country’s oil sector. File Photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEHRAN, June 8 (UPI) — While some European companies are eager to work with Iran, the country’s oil minister said there’s been few commitments on oil sales. "I met with the [top executives] of big European oil companies," Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. "They expressed interest in returning [to Iran] for an active presence in Iran’s market." The Iranian government is pressing for more sanctions relief from a framework agreement slated to take effect in mid-2015. Zanganeh said he met with top European executives on the sidelines of last week’s meeting in Vienna of ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. In April, Zanganeh said Iran could return as a dominant force in OPEC once a nuclear deal is formalized with six […]

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Iraqis Progress in Defending Beiji Oil Refinery, U.S. Says

WASHINGTON—The Iraqi government is making progress in its efforts to hold on to the country’s largest oil refinery and to retake a nearby city controlled by Islamic State fighters, the Pentagon said Monday. An Iraqi Shiite fighter battles Islamic State for the city of Beiji. Iraqi security forces, working with Shiite militias, have broken through a defensive line controlled by Islamic State, allowing Baghdad to resupply its forces fighting for the Beiji oil refinery over land, said Col. Steve Warren, the Pentagon spokesman. That has allowed Iraqi security forces to mark progress against Islamic State forces mounting an assault on the refinery. Shiite militias, fighting under the banner of the Popular Mobilization Force and largely controlled by the Iraqi government, also are leading an offensive to retake the nearby city of Beiji, Col. Warren said. Those forces, along with some Iraqi forces, have moved into Beiji and begun to […]

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Egypt: Petroleum Projects Worth U.S.$9.4 Billion Currently Underway in Egypt – Minister

Cairo — The petroleum sector is currently implementing projects worth $9.4 billion, in addition to projects that have been completed, Egypt’s petroleum minister said on Monday. The ministry is seeking to complete projects with an investment value of $3.8 billion before the end of this year, Minister Sherif Ismail said in a statement. These include a major project to produce ethylene and its derivatives. The plant will be based in Alexandria city on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast and production is due to start before the end of 2015. This is said to be the largest petrochemical project in the country. Petrochemical projects are currently a top priority in the ministry’s strategy, the minister said, describing petrochemical projects as a "fundamental pillar" to maximising the value of petroleum wealth. Copyright © 2015 Aswat Masriya. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly […]

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Cyprus emerging as regional gas player

Government of Cyprus gets notification a reserve area off its coast holds commercial quantities of natural gas. File Photo by UPI/Maryam Rahmanian TEL AVIV, Israel, June 8 (UPI) — A group of Israeli energy partners said they were declaring a natural gas reservoir discovered off the coast of Cyprus a commercial prospect. Delek Group, along with its partners at Avner Oil Exploration and Noble Energy, said they submitted a declaration to the Cypriot government that reserves discovered in the Aphrodite prospect were considered of commercial quality . "In addition, the Aphrodite reservoir partners intend to submit a proposed outline of the development plan of the Aphrodite reservoir to the government of Cyprus," they said in a joint statement. Delek offered no indication of the reserve estimates in the Aphrodite reservoir. The Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus is considered frontier energy territory, though the offshore area could hold nearly 12 […]

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