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Greece No Closer to a Deal as Debt Deadline Nears

Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece leaving a meeting in Brussels. The country and its creditors failed again to reach an agreement on revising the terms of a bailout package. Credit Yves Herman/Reuters BRUSSELS — With Greece ’s bailout set to expire at the end of the month, it is becoming clear that negotiators mean to go down to the wire. The brinkmanship brings with it the risks of reaching no agreement at all, or a last-minute deal that might do little to solve Greece’s underlying economic problems. “It looks like both sides are going to walk this to the precipice,” said Mujtaba Rahman, who heads the Europe practice for the Eurasia Group, a political-risk consultant firm. “But any deal that comes out of that is of course going to be more political and even more economically suboptimal.” On Thursday, for the fourth time in a week, a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Northern England County Rejects Fracking Site

An English county government rejected one of two applications for hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on Thursday, setting the stage for a decisive vote on the drilling technique next week. The Lancashire County Council voted against allowing privately held Caudrilla Resources Ltd. to use horizontal drilling and fracking at the company’s Roseacre Wood site in northwest England over worries about the increase in traffic. County planning officials had recommended the application be rejected. The council’s planning committee now is set to decide whether to give the go-ahead for a second site, also in Lancashire, on Monday. That site had been recommended for approval by planning officials and was supposed to have been voted on Wednesday, but councilors decided to wait until Monday to consider legal advice. If approved, it would be the first site to be fracked in western Europe since 2011. Cuadrilla said it was disappointed but not […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Scotland expects North Sea production gains

Scottish government sees production of oil and natural gas increasing in North Sea basins. File photo by A.J. Sisco/UPI EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 25 (UPI) — Though the industry is in a downturn, the Scottish government said Thursday it expected production from the North Sea to increase by more than 10 percent. Data published by the Scottish government said the North Sea remains the largest oil producer and second largest natural gas producer in Europe. Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney said there’s "no disputing" the industry is depressed, but production is expected to increase by as much as 17 percent by 2019. "These figures show that considerable opportunities to extend production remain in the UKCS and that, properly supported, the industry can boost production over the next five years," Swinney said. A January report from analysis firm Wood Mackenzie said exploration activity in 2014 was off 18 percent from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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How Pope Francis’s climate encyclical is liberating the world

Pope Encyclical Quote In my life there are two things that have the effect of at least somewhat isolating me from others. The first is being a writer on climate change, peak oil, and the economic crises bound up with those modern predicaments. The other is being a Christian environmentalist. In the first case, my essays, as well as my social media presence, fairly well run counter to the whole of my society and culture, even when a few outliers add concurring thoughts to the mix. But in the end, by writing a write a blog about what people shouldn’t do, about the things we should give up and forsake for a concept of the greater good, about the ways our habits imperil the world and especially our children and future generations, I can kind of come off like a scold even in my most mild iteration. Even when […]

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Why are the government’s energy forecasts so bad?

In 2009, the federal government’s Energy Information Administration made a forecast for the next two decades: U.S. wind power would grow modestly, reaching 44 gigawatts of generating capacity in 2030, while solar power would remain scarce, inching up to 12 GW. Just six years later, U.S. wind capacity is already up to 66 GW, and solar has shot up to 21 GW. There’s now enough installed wind and solar to power 25 million American homes— more than three times what the EIA expected before President Obama took office. Oops. As Yogi Berra recognized, predictions are hard, especially about the future. But the EIA isn’t just some random pundit. Its Annual Energy Outlook, the nation’s most comprehensive analysis of energy data, has tremendous influence in Washington and state capitals, providing the numbers that shape policies like Obama’s Clean Power Plan to regulate carbon emissions at power plants. So it really […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil rises towards $65 on signs glut easing, Iran doubts

LONDON Oil rose towards $65 a barrel on Wednesday before a U.S. government report expected to show domestic crude inventories fell for an eighth week, a sign that a supply glut is easing. The industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a drop in U.S. crude stocks, ahead of Wednesday’s official data. Doubts over the likelihood of a deal next week on Iran’s nuclear work also supported prices. Brent crude LCOc1 rose 30 cents to $64.75 a barrel by 0836 GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 gained 39 cents to $61.40. Both contracts made gains on Tuesday. "There could be some support from the APIs," said Tony Machacek, an oil broker at Jefferies Bache in London. "We’re probably going to be testing $66 to the upside," he added, referring to Brent. A steady decline in U.S. crude stockpiles from a record high earlier this year has been supporting prices […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Prices Fall After Inventory Data

Oil prices declined Wednesday after data showed that crude-oil supplies shrank last week but inventories of refined products rose. Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled down 74 cents, or 1.2%, to $60.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, fell 96 cents, or 1.5%, to $63.49 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. oil prices have gained 13% this year on expectations that the global glut of crude oil is due to shrink. U.S. commercial crude-oil supplies fell by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended June 19, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. That was the eighth straight week of stockpile draws since inventories hit a record high in April, the longest streak of drawdowns since the eight weeks ended Jan. 4, 2008. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a draw of 2.3 million barrels. “It was a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil’s Week Hides Weakness

For most of us, Wednesday is hump day. For oil traders, it is frequently jump or slump day. That is because it is usually when the Energy Information Administration drops its weekly statistics on U.S. oil inventories, production and consumption. The latest set, for the week ending June 19, had something for both bulls and bears—but the latter edged it. Commercial crude oil stocks fell by 4.9 million barrels, so bulls got that. But a little delving paints a different picture. For one, some oil was just transferred to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, leaving a net reduction of 4.6 million barrels. Meanwhile, imports of crude oil fell by 2.1 million barrels last week. This explains almost half the net draw in domestic crude stocks, leaving 2.5 million barrels. Now, look at two big refined products: gasoline and distillate (the latter includes diesel). Stocks of these rose by a combined […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple