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Oil Tankers Are Filling Up and Raking It In

The oil-tanker market is heating up, a development some analysts say is a warning flare that signals further price declines for crude. The Baltic Dirty Tanker Index, which tracks the rates to hire oil tankers plying 16 routes, has shot up 25% this month, as global oil output continues to grow. The index is now at its highest level since January 2014. But an increasing number of these oil cargoes have nowhere to go. Oil producers and traders are rushing to lease tankers while they scramble to find buyers, effectively turning these ships into floating storage facilities. The oil-supply glut has worsened since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries earlier this month decided to maintain crude-output levels. A recent rebound in oil prices has stalled amid copious supplies world-wide, and many market watchers are bracing for the resumption of a selloff that sent Brent crude, the global benchmark, […]

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EU’s Mogherini says “not impossible” to get Iran nuclear deal

PARIS European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Sunday it was not impossible to get a deal between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program but said tough days lay ahead as a self-imposed June 30 deadline nears. France’s foreign minister said on Saturday an accord remained elusive due to disagreements over fundamental issues, while the U.S. and Iranian top diplomats said hard work was still needed for what could be their final negotiations to bridge significant differences. "If a few days more are needed we will take them," Mogherini told reporters on arrival in Vienna. "It is going to be tough… but not impossible. It is a matter of political will," she said before meeting the U.S., British, German and French foreign ministers. The talks also include Russia and China. The deadline for a deal under which Iran would cut back its nuclear program in […]

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Iran supasses Russia in natural gas reserves

The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) in an announcement said the measured reserves of natural gas in Iran have increased to above 34 trillion cubic meters (tcm) which is about 1.4 tcm more than the reserves of Russia. NIGC reported the figure had been provided by BP in its 2015 Statistical Review of World Energy and puts Iran ahead of Russia whose reserves stand at about 32.6 tcm for a second consecutive year. The report further adds that Iran’s gas production saw an increase of 5.2 percent in 2014 to reach a total of 172.6 bcm.

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Assad Chemical Threat Mounts

Activists say regime forces hit Ibleen, Syria, with chlorine gas in May. U.S. intelligence agencies believe there is a strong possibility the Assad regime will use chemical weapons on a large scale as part of a last-ditch effort to protect key Syrian government strongholds if Islamist fighters and other rebels try to overrun them, U.S. officials said. Analysts and policy makers have been poring over all available intelligence hoping to determine what types of chemical weapons the regime might be able to deploy and what event or events might trigger their use, according to officials briefed on the matter. Last year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad let international inspectors oversee the removal of what President Barack Obama called the regime’s most deadly chemical weapons. The deal averted U.S. airstrikes that would have come in retaliation for an Aug. 21, 2013, sarin-gas attack that killed more than 1,400 people. Since then, […]

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Baghdad-Erbil oil deal crumbling

KRG Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami during a speech at the 2015 Sulaimani Forum on March 11, 2015, as Iraqi Oil Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi looks on. (Source: American University of Iraq – Sulaimani) Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is backing away from its troubled oil export and revenue sharing agreement with Baghdad, by allocating much more of its oil production to autonomous sales and seeking to renegotiate its fiscal relationship with Baghdad.KRG leaders have not formally declared an end to the deal, but they notified Kurdish members of the Iraqi Cabinet that they can no longer guarantee the transfers of oil prescribed in the 2015 national budget law. Deputy Pri… 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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Kurdish Bond Opens New Front in Autonomy Battle With Baghdad

An Iraqi official said the Kurds who govern the north of the country have no right to sell their own bonds, opening a new dispute between the Baghdad government and the breakaway region. The Kurdistan Regional Government says it has hired Goldman Sachs International and Deutsche Bank AG to gauge interest in a sale of dollar bonds, and meetings with international investors are scheduled this week. “How can they issue them? Who will guarantee them?” Muneer Mohammed Omran, director general of the central bank’s investor department in Baghdad, said by phone. “They’re not allowed to issue international bonds, this is a federal measure. Only the federal government can do that.” Iraq’s Kurds, who have largely ruled themselves since the early 1990s, have edged closer to financial independence in recent years. Amid disputes with Baghdad over territory and how to share budget revenues, the Kurds have sought to market their […]

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Why the Saudis Are Going Solar

Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud belongs to the family that rules Saudi Arabia. He wears a white thawb and ghutra , the traditional robe and headdress of Arab men, and he has a cavernous office hung with portraits of three Saudi royals. When I visited him in Riyadh this spring, a waiter poured tea and subordinates took notes as Turki spoke. Everything about the man seemed to suggest Western notions of a complacent functionary in a complacent, oil-rich kingdom. But Turki doesn’t fit the stereotype, and neither does his country. Quietly, the prince is helping Saudi Arabia—the quintessential petrostate—prepare to make what could be one of the world’s biggest investments in solar power. Near Riyadh, the government is preparing to build a commercial-scale solar-panel factory. On the Persian Gulf coast, another factory is about to begin producing large quantities of polysilicon, a material used to make […]

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Syrian media: Mortars fall on central Damascus for 2nd day

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s official news agency says a mortar round has hit a central Damascus square, wounding three people in the second such attack in the Syrian capital in as many days. It is not uncommon for Damascus to be shelled, but Monday’s attack targeted the Ummayad Square, home to the headquarters of Syria’s state TV and radio, and the opera house. It’s also close to the Defense Ministry. The agency says the shell caused damage, but gave no details. On Sunday, two mortar rounds hit a crowded outdoor market and al-Amarra district, also in central Damascus, killing three people and wounding 12, including a child and two women. Armed Islamic factions fighting forces loyal to President Bashar Assad control parts of the Syrian capital and large parts of the city’s suburbs.

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China to launch first crude futures contract no sooner than Sep

China’s first crude futures contract will be launched no sooner than September, based on a statement by regulators that they need three more months to complete the process. The statement by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Friday was its first timing estimate for the contract, which has been in the works for several years. In December, the watchdog approved Shanghai Futures Exchange’s application to host the contract through Shanghai International Energy Exchange, its wholly owned subsidiary in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. CSRC said it needs three months to work with various ministries and organizations to issue supporting guidelines and administrative rules for the contract, to examine and approve trading rules for the host exchange, to recruit members and overseas investors and to educate market players. Article continues below… The Platts Global Energy Awards is a competitive awards program honoring excellence and accomplishments in the global energy industry. […]

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China Struggles to Balance Volatile Markets

BEIJING—As the past trading week drew to a close, the People’s Bank of China was getting increasingly nervous about the money evaporating from Chinese stocks. The central bank decided it was time for an about-face, quickly moving to ease credit. Just a week or so earlier, China’s central bank had quietly drained some funds from the country’s financial system, another step in the dance between the PBOC and investors. Its objective, according to banking executives and officials close to the central bank: to take some heat out of the country’s feverish stock market by preventing banks flush with cash from funneling money into stocks. But the effort had gone awry, sending a signal to investors that Beijing’s recent easing cycle was coming to an end. Chinese equities plunged in the following days, culminating in Friday’s 7.4% decline, their biggest one-day drop in years. Panic selling even spilled over to […]

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Fuel demand stabilises in the United States: Kemp

LONDON The initial consumption stimulus from lower oil prices may be fading, at least in the United States, according to the latest round of official data on traffic volumes and fuel sales. Traffic on California’s highway network was 2.6 percent higher in May than a year earlier, the state transportation department said. Growth was the same as April’s but lower than in March and February, and not much different from the long-term average of 2.5 percent. In Texas, sales of gasoline and diesel were up 2 percent in April and March compared with the same months the prior year, a far smaller increase than at the end of 2014 and start of 2015, according to the state comptroller. Nationwide gasoline consumption is running 300,000 barrels per day higher than last year, data from the Energy Information Administration shows, but the year-on-year gains have stabilized in the last three months. […]

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U.S. Rails Skid Into Bear Market on Triple Whammy Cargo Slump

U.S. railroads, Wall Street favorites for much of the past decade, are slumping into a bear market amid a three-way squeeze from plunging coal, crude-oil and grain shipments. An index of the four largest publicly traded U.S. carriers has dropped 20 percent from its peak in November, paced by Kansas City Southern, as the companies struggle to offset the loss of volumes. They haven’t tumbled this much since 2011. Those difficulties are likely to drag on, leading to the first annual industrywide earnings decline since 2009, as low natural gas prices sap coal demand, U.S. oil drilling slows and harvests return to normal after a record crop. That threatens to crimp a rally that made the group one of the top performers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. “It’s going to be a tough year,” David Vernon, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst, said in a telephone […]

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Greece Weighs on Global Markets

Photo The Nikkei 225 ended 2.9 percent lower on Monday, its weakest close since June 19. Credit Thomas Peter/Reuters PARIS — Stocks fell sharply in Europe and Asia on Monday, and markets in New York appeared headed for a slump at the opening bell, as Greece’s financial difficulties spread worries about possible broader harm to the global financial system, and Chinese investors endured another topsy-turvy session. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chips fell 4.6 percent shortly after the opening and by midmorning was still off 3.5 percent. The FTSE-100 index in London dropped 2.2 percent to start, moving to 1.56 percent lower by midmorning. In Greece, b anks and markets are closed until July 6, after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras interrupted last-ditch debt negotiations early Saturday with the announcement that he was calling a referendum for July 5 on whether to accept the tough terms offered […]

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Greece Orders Banks Closed, Imposes Capital Controls to Stem Deposit Flight

ATHENS—Greece shut down its banking system, ordering lenders to stay closed for six days starting Monday, and its central bank moved to impose controls to prevent money from flooding out of the country. The steps, a fateful climax to five years of debt crisis, put Greece closer than it ever has been to an exit from the euro and pushes the common currency itself into uncharted waters. The decision came after the European Central Bank—meeting in an emergency session Sunday—opted not to expand a lifeline of emergency funds that has been sustaining Greek banks while nervous depositors pulled their money out. In response, European stocks slumped Monday and the euro fell . Greece’s stock market will be closed for as long as banks are not open to the public, the country’s Capital Markets Commission said. On Athens’s rainy streets late Sunday, many ATMs had already been emptied. Prime Minister […]

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Euro sharply down as Greece crisis deepens, default looms

TOKYO/WELLINGTON The euro tumbled in Asian trading on Monday after Greece failed to strike a deal with its lenders, taking it a step closer to a debt default that could force its exit from the euro zone. The Swiss and Japanese currencies, both of which often appreciate during times of uncertainty on their perceived safe-haven status, were broadly higher. The euro EUR=EBS fell to a one-month low of $1.0955 on the EBS trading platform, about 2 U.S. cents from levels around $1.1165 late on Friday. It was last at $1.1018, down 1.3 percent on the day. "Ahead of the weekend, there seemed to be a market consensus that something would get done for Greece, so it was a rare occasion when the market takes position for the optimistic view," said Bart Wakabayashi, head of foreign exchange for State Street Global Markets in Tokyo. But the likelihood of a Greek […]

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Euro, stock futures plunge on Greece default fears

TOKYO (This version of the story was refiled to correct grammar in first paragraph) U.S. stock futures and the euro fell almost 2 percent in early Asian trade on Monday as Greece looks set to default on its debt repayment this week, forcing Athens to impose capital controls to halt bank runs. The euro fell as much as 1.9 percent to $1.0955 EUR= , its lowest level in almost a month. Against the yen, the common currency dropped more than 3 percent to 133.80 yen, a five-week low. U.S. stock futures dived 1.8 percent ESc1, hitting a three-month low, while U.S. Treasuries futures price TYv1 gained almost two points. Asian shares look set to open lower, despite the Chinese central bank’s monetary easing on Saturday, as investors are seen flocking to safer assets on the spectre of an unprecedented debt default by a euro zone country. A cash-strapped Greece […]

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Are We Headed For Global Warming Collapse?

This is the first of several posts I will do on Global Collapse. I am not saying, right here anyway, that civilization as we know it will collapse, but I am asking the question: “Can collapse be avoided?” This post will deal with global warming and the associated climate change. Collapse Post 2 Right now CO2 is higher than it has been in over 20 million years. But it has been higher, a lot higher. The chart below was published in the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2015 and the source of their data was Goddard Institute for Space Studies Collapse Post 11 What this chart clearly shows is that global warming, so far, is primarily a northern hemisphere phenomenon and mostly above 60 degrees latitude. Texas C+C Eight month of flat to down production from the Bakken. Bakken Amplified OPEC 12 Saudi Arabia

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Oil Prices Pare Losses to End Flat

Oil prices bounced back close to unchanged Friday with expectations for summer demand limiting fears connected with Greek bailout talks and Iran’s nuclear deal. Oil has stayed locked in around $60 a barrel since the end of April, bringing at least a pause to big swings that started last year. Friday started with losses connected with fears that Greek’s debt woes could hurt the world economy and that Iran could soon add to the flood of oil on the world market. But prices gravitated back toward $60 with many bulls believing cheap oil will feed rising demand among drivers. Concerns about oversupply have weighed on oil prices. “The tight range we’re in will last at least a few more weeks,” said Ric Navy, senior vice president for energy futures at brokerage R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC. Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled down 7 cents, or 0.1%, to […]

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Crude Oil Ends Below $60 as Volatility Sinks

Crude oil ended below $60 a barrel as near-record U.S. production prolonged an oversupply amid the lowest trading volatility in eight months. U.S. crude stockpiles remain 84 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year. The nation pumped near the fastest pace in more than three decades even as the rig count dropped. A measure of future price fluctuations slipped to the lowest level since October. Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has faltered on signs a global glut will persist as rising prices spur output. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has pumped more than its quota of 30 million barrels a day for the past 12 months as the group seeks to defend market share against higher-cost producers. “We are still pumping at a near-record level and production hasn’t been affected by the rig count yet,” said Gene McGillian, a senior analyst at […]

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Oil prices mixed, all eyes on Greece

SINGAPORE Brent edged up on Friday while U.S. crude eased, but both were stuck in tight ranges as investors focused on talks aimed at averting a Greek debt default. Brent crude for August delivery was up 21 cents at $63.41 a barrel by 0646 GMT (0246 EDT) after ending the previous session down 29 cents, or 0.5 percent. U.S. crude for delivery in August fell 7 cents to $59.63 a barrel after finishing Thursday down 57 cents, or almost 1 percent. "Traders and investors are very much on tenterhooks on the outcome," said Ben Le Brun, a market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney, following another failed round of talks to finalize a cash-for-reform pact for Greece. Euro zone finance ministers are due to meet on Saturday in a last-ditch attempt to clinch a deal with Greece to avoid a debt default by Athens and possibly a Greek exit from […]

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Natural Gas Retreats on Low Demand and Strong Supply

(Adds price table at bottom) By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices gave back nearly all of the prior session’s gains on signs the market may be returning to its chronic oversupply. Prices for the front-month July contract settled down 7.7 cents, or 2.7%, at $2.773 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The July contract expired at close. The more heavily traded August contract settled down 9.6 cents, or 3.4%, at $2.77/mmBtu. Many traders may have been pushing back against strong gains from Thursday. Government data yesterday showed the smallest weekly surplus in more than two months and analysts said a long-oversupplied market had come into balance. But many feel that balance is only temporary. The U.S. Energy Information Administration also said late Thursday that production had grown 1% this week despite pipeline shutdowns for maintenance. Production is back at its near-record pace of 72 […]

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Kurds, Syrian army battle Islamic State in Syria’s Hasaka: monitor

BEIRUT Kurdish forces and the Syrian army fought separate battles with Islamic State around Hasaka city in northeast Syria overnight as the hardline group tried to capture more areas of the major urban center near the Iraqi border, a monitor said on Saturday. Islamic State launched an assault on government-held areas of Hasaka early on Thursday and the United Nations says the violence is estimated to have displaced up to 120,000 people. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict using sources on the ground, said the Kurdish YPG militia fought with Islamic State fighters on the outskirts of the Ghwyran neighborhood in Hasaka’s southeast overnight. Hasaka is divided into areas run separately by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and Kurdish authorities and has a mixed population of Arabs, Kurds and Christians. It is important to all sides fighting in an area that sits between Islamic State-held […]

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Gas flowing from Moroccan shale

Morocco yielding natural gas for early shale pioneers working in onshore basins. File Photo by UPI Photo/Terry Schmitt. LIMERICK, Ireland, June 26 (UPI) — Irish explorer Circle Oil, which focuses on North African reserves, said gas was flowing from its first shale well drilled into a basin in Morocco. The company said it reached a stabilized flow rate of 1.9 million cubic feet per day in its LAM-1 well in the Lalla Mimouna permit area onshore Morocco. "We are delighted that our first well on the Lalla Mimouna block has such positive results, flowing gas at significant rates," Circle Chief Executive Officer Mitch Flegg said in a statement. "The productivity of this first well is very encouraging for the expansion of Circle’s portfolio of Morocco gas fields." Morocco is one of the West African countries that have drawn interest from international energy companies eager to tap into unexploited reserves. […]

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Israel moves to ease offshore gas logjam

The Israeli government has declared development of natural gas to be an issue of national security in a move aimed at easing an antitrust logjam in place since last December. The security cabinet voted unanimously on June 25 to take administrative steps sidestepping a review by Antitrust Commissioner David Gilo into whether holdings in large gas fields offshore Israel by Delek Group and Noble Energy Inc. constitute a “restrictive agreement” under Israeli law. Gilo’s study stymied gas development, most importantly of giant, deepwater Leviathan field. Allocation of future Leviathan supply between domestic and export markets is one of several controversies related to offshore gas development in Israel ( OGJ Online, Feb. 20, 2015 ). The security cabinet move allows the government to consider a compromise agreement under which Delek and Avner Oil Exploration, a subsidiary, would sell their interests in producing Tamar gas field within 6 years as well […]

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Nigeria: Board of State Oil Company Is Dissolved After Corruption Scandal

Nigeria ’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday dissolved the board of the state oil company from which billions of dollars is reported to be missing. A statement from the head of the Civil Service, Danladi Kifasi, announced the presidential directive regarding the Nigerian National Petroleum Co., the government agency in charge of nearly all aspects of the country’s oil industry , the seventh largest in the world. Mr. Buhari took office last month promising to halt corruption, and he said this week that Western governments had promised to help recover looted state money. The president’s action came before he has named a cabinet and amid speculation that he may be planning to take charge himself of the petroleum portfolio. A former Central Bank director last year largely blamed the state petroleum company for missing federal revenues of about $20 billion — an amount that the company disputes.

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U.S. Oil-Rig Count Falls to 628 in Latest Week; Gas Rigs Rise

By Angela Chen The U.S. oil-rig count fell by three to 628 in the latest week, according to Baker Hughes Inc., marking the 29th straight week of declines. The number of U.S. oil-drilling rigs, which is a proxy for activity in the oil industry, has fallen sharply since oil prices headed south last year. There are now about 61% fewer rigs working since a peak of 1,609 in October. Crude-oil futures were recently down by less than 1% to $59.61 a barrel. 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, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That was the eighth straight week of stockpile draws since inventories hit a record high in April, the longest streak of drawdowns since the […]

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Asia oil pricing change to raise trade volumes

SINGAPORE Oil pricing agency Platts is changing how it assesses oil product values in Asian trade from July 1 in a move traders expect to boost volumes and encourage the use of regional oil storage facilities built at a cost of billions of dollars. The change in how fuel oil, diesel, jet fuel and gasoline are assessed for loadings out of Singapore and Malaysia takes a borderless approach similar to that in the world’s largest oil storage hub Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA). The main change is that from July in Platts’ free-on-board (FOB) Singapore price assessments – the basis for most contract and spot deals done in Asia – traders at the time of making a bid or offer for a cargo will no longer specify a loading point in Singapore or southern Malaysia. Daily trade activity will instead be classified as FOB Straits – although price assessments will still be […]

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Guyana Assures Exxon Venezuela Dispute Won’t Slow Oil Exploration

By Kejal Vyas When it comes to Exxon Mobil Corp.’s recent oil discovery off the coast of Guyana, one that Venezuela claims as its own, Guyanese President David Granger has a clear message for the U.S. company: Full speed ahead. Mr. Granger, who took office days before Exxon announced the significant find last month, said that he met with officials from the company–which was contracted by Guyana–and offered assurances that exploration work won’t be interrupted, despite Venezuela’s recent revival of a century-old claim on two-thirds of Guyana’s territory. Guyana, a former British colony of 750,000 people and South America’s only English-speaking nation, is counting on diplomacy and the help of regional allies to resolve the matter. A Paris arbitration tribunal in 1899 had set the internationally recognized boundaries, but Venezuela sixty years later rejected the findings saying it was cheated. "We’re not going to send the navy out there […]

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Argentina and China lead shale development outside North America in first-half 2015

map of Neuquen Basin and Sichuan Basin, as explained in the article text As recently as last year, only four countries in the world were producing commercial volumes of either natural gas from shale formations (shale gas) or crude oil from tight formations (tight oil): the United States and Canada, and more recently, Argentina and China. Beyond these four countries, other countries have started exploring hydrocarbons from shale and other tight resources, but they are still short of reaching commercial production. The 2013 World Shale Gas and Shale Oil Resource Assessment , produced by EIA and Advanced Resources International (ARI), noted large shale deposits in China and Argentina. Exploration and drilling is already underway in these countries. For the last two years, China has drilled more than 200 wells, and Argentina has drilled more than 275 wells. Each country has the potential to significantly increase production of shale gas […]

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EPA’s New Fracking Study: A Close Look at the Numbers Buried in the Fine Print

When EPA’s long-awaited draft assessment on fracking and drinking water supplies was released, the oil and gas industry triumphantly focused on a headline-making sentence: “We did not find evidence of widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.” But for fracking’s backers, a sense of victory may prove to be fleeting. EPA’s draft assessment made one thing clear: fracking has repeatedly contaminated drinking water supplies (a fact that the industry has long aggressively denied). Indeed, the federal government’s recognition that fracking can contaminate drinking water supplies may prove to have opened the floodgates, especially since EPA called attention to major gaps in the official record, due in part to gag orders for landowners who settle contamination claims and in part because there simply hasn’t been enough testing to know how widespread problems have become. And although it’s been less than a month since EPA’s draft assessment […]

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Baker Hughes: US Weekly Oil Rig Count Decline Slows

June 26 (Reuters) – Energy firms pulled three rigs from U.S. oil fields this week, the smallest drop in five weeks, data showed on Friday, a sign the collapse in drilling is coming to an end as crude prices recovered after falling 60 percent from last June to March. It was the 29th straight weekly decline, bringing the total down to 628, the lowest since August 2010, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. In the latest week, drillers removed two rigs in the Permian, the biggest U.S. shale oil play in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, and three in the Bakken centered in North Dakota. Experts expect the rig count to bottom out soon. "We expect the rig count decline to remain lumpy in the coming weeks and expect to see a few weeks with some rig additions, offset by larger declines […]

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BHI: US rig count posts first increase in 29 weeks

Buoyed by respective rises in natural gas-directed and offshore rigs, the US drilling rig count gained 2 units during the week ended June 26 to reach 859 rigs working, marking its first increase in 29 weeks, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. The last rise occurred during the week ended Dec. 5, 2014, and the count has since plunged 1,061 units ( OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014 ). Since this week a year ago, the count is down 1,014 units. During the last 7 weeks, the count has averaged a decline of a mere 5 rigs/week. Analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc. noted in an energy update this week that 1,030 new well permits were issued last week, representing the highest total since the first week of February. During the previous 18 weeks, the average number of permits issued each week was just 852. Utilizing a 4-week […]

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US oil operators make plans to add rigs, but will be disciplined: analysts

A long-awaited trough in the US rig count appears to be settling in after the severe drop in oil prices during late 2014, although analysts widely believe some exploration-and-production companies will selectively add rigs later this year. But experts say the adds will likely amount to a trickle rather than a deluge, as current oil prices around $60/barrel is enough to sustain current levels, but not enough to entice a widespread activity rebound. In fact, the Baker Hughes rig count rose Friday for the first time since early December, although the increase of two appeared to come from natural gas-prone areas outside the big shale plays, where rig counts continued to drop. "We do expect the rig count to rise minimally through the remainder of this year [at an estimated] small 3-5% increase through year-end, so maybe 25-40 incremental rigs," Robert W. Baird analyst Daniel Katzenberg told Platts. Baird […]

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Exxon Mobil, BP Suspend Canadian Arctic Exploratory Drilling Program in Beaufort Sea

The move represents a setback for oil companies active in Canada’s arctic waters and follows a similar decision by Chevron Corp. CVX 0.26 % in December to halt its own exploratory drilling program in the Beaufort Sea . Those projects have been stymied by regulatory hurdles and some of the world’s highest extraction costs. Imperial Oil Ltd. IMO 0.60 % , Exxon Mobil’s Canadian affiliate, informed federal regulators in Canada of its decision to suspend its Beaufort Sea exploratory program on Friday and said it would seek to have its current lease extended retroactively to 16 years. “If approved, the extension would provide sufficient time to undertake the necessary technical studies and develop the technology and processes to support responsible development in the Beaufort Sea,” Imperial Oil said in a letter to Canada’s National Energy Board. The Arctic holds billions of barrels of untapped oil reserves, but offshore-drilling costs […]

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House safety drum sounded for California oil spill

House leaders want answers from Plains All American and federal safety regulators in the wake of the May oil spill off the coast of California. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) — Congressional leaders said they want explanations from the company behind the May oil spill in California, as well as from federal safety regulators. A pipeline system operated by Plains All American, which has headquarters in Houston, leaked as much as 2,500 barrels of oil in Santa Barbara County in mid-May, the worst spill in California in 25 years. About 500 barrels may have reached the waters off the coast of Refugio State Beach and oil migrated more than 100 miles along the coastline. The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration released their preliminary findings of the integrity of the pipeline system. PHMSA said it found "extensive" corrosion, with walls degraded by as much […]

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Canadian oil producers back lower emissions

Canadian oil production group said it has a commitment to lowering emissions. Alberta government expected to raise carbon taxes on industry struggling to navigate weak crude oil market. Photo by Pattie Steib/Shutterstock CALGARY, Alberta, June 26 (UPI) — An industry group in the Canadian oil sands sector said it was committed to playing a greater role in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said that, since 1990, the sector has spent more than $1 billion on technologies needed to produce oil with a lower environmental footprint. With climate action moving to the forefront of the global conversation, the industry group said it was prepared to do more . "We developed the technology to get the oil out of the sand – and we are just as committed to getting our carbon out of the air," CAPP President Tim McMillan said in a […]

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Texas oil production holding steady

Texas oil production holding steady as crude oil markets start to show a degree of stability following last year’s slump. File photo by Gary C. Caskey/UPI AUSTIN, Texas, June 26 (UPI) — Texas oil production in April was up more than 10 percent year-on-year, but relatively unchanged from the previous month, the state’s energy regulator said. The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s energy regulator, reported April crude oil production averaged 2.31 million barrels per day, up from the 2.04 million bpd produced in April 2014. April 2015 production in Texas came from 164,316 oil wells. Data reported in March show crude oil production averaged 2.31 million bpd, down from the 2.34 million bpd reported in February. The data comes as crude oil prices are starting to level off after a late 2014 plummet below the $100 per barrel mark. Crude oil traded below the $50 per barrel mark […]

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California oil spill gushed like hose ‘without a nozzle’

AP Photo LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters investigating a reported petroleum stench at a California beach last month didn’t take long to find a spill – oil was spreading across the sand and into the surf. Tracing the source, they found crude gushing from a bluff like a fire hose "without a nozzle," records show. But critical time would elapse before the operator of a nearby pipeline confirmed that it had ruptured and spewed the oil. An employee at the scene for Plains All American Pipeline initially suggested to firefighters that the spill "was too big to be from their pipeline," according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press. The description of what firefighters found May 19 at Refugio State Beach was detailed in records Santa Barbara County firefighters filed with state officials. It indicates that firefighters who arrived just before noon quickly recognized that "some sort of […]

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Connected Semis Will Make Trucking Way More Efficient

Click to Open Overlay Gallery Zonar products are used in a variety of Daimler Trucks North America vehicles, including trucks made by Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses. Daimler We’re moving into the age of the connected vehicle. And as excited as we might be to have cars that play our ’90s alternative rock Spotify playlists and let us send text messages via voice control, such things are frivolous compared to the safety and efficiency benefits that come when you wire up tractor trailers. Daimler Trucks North America signed a deal Thursday to take a small stake (less than 25 percent) in Zonar, which specializes in connecting truck computers, drivers, and fleet operators who can use all that data to increase efficiency and safety. The tech provider will remain independent, but it’s a sign that Daimler’s committed to using new tools to make trucking as efficient as possible. […]

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Greece’s Tsipras calls referendum to break bailout deadlock

ATHENS/BRUSSELS Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a referendum on austerity demands from foreign creditors on Saturday, rejecting an "ultimatum" from lenders and putting a deal that could determine Greece’s future in Europe to a risky popular vote. The surprise call marked the most dramatic twist yet in five-month negotiations between Greece and its lenders, plunging the cash-strapped nation into uncharted waters and risking a default and capital controls as hopes for an aid agreement faded. After a week of acrimonious talks in Brussels, Tsipras dismissed lenders’ proposals as "blackmail" before flying to Athens to huddle with ministers. After midnight, he appeared on television to announce plans for a referendum on July 5. "Our responsibility is for the future of our country. This responsibility obliges us to respond to the ultimatum through the sovereign will of the Greek people," Tsipras said in a televised address to the nation. The […]

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Rosneft First-Quarter Profit Falls 35% After Oil Prices Drop

OAO Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, said first-quarter profit fell 35 percent, hurt by last year’s decline in crude prices. Net income dropped to 56 billion rubles ($1 billion) from 86 billion rubles a year earlier, the Moscow-based company said in a statement on its website. That topped the 36.5 billion-ruble average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The state-owned company has sought to cut costs while keeping output as it repays debt from the $55 billion 2013 acquisition of Russia’s third-largest oil producer, TNK-BP. U.S. and European sanctions in response to Russia’s support for separatists in Ukraine have complicated Rosneft’s task by curbing its access to debt and equipment. The difficulty compounded by a more than 50 percent slump in the average oil price in the first three months of 2015 compared with the year-earlier period, Rosneft said. Free cash flow, adjusted for supply prepayments, fell to […]

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Gazprom: New lines for Nord Stream by 2019

Russian energy company Gazprom said an expanded Nord Stream gas network through the Baltic Sea may be in service by the end of 2019. Photo by Igor Golovniov/UPI MOSCOW, June 26 (UPI) — New corridors along the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea to European markets should be in service by 2019, Russia’s Gazprom said. Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said new lines along what he said was the shortest link between northern Russia and the European market are less than five years off . "The successful track record on the Baltic Sea will help us to optimize construction costs and timeframe," he said Friday. "Both lines of the Nord Stream-2 will be commissioned by 2019 year-end." The first leg of the pipeline system went into service in 2011. British energy company BP a year after the pipeline went into service said it was considering […]

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Wrench appears in British shale gears

Traffic concerns cause delays for fledgling shale campaign by pioneering company, Cuadrilla Resources. File photo by Gary C. Caskey/UPI PRESTON, England, June 26 (UPI) — A British shale pioneer said it was "disappointed but not surprised" a local council denied its permit to explore for oil and gas using hydraulic fracturing. Lancashire County council members voted to refuse a permit to Cuadrilla Resources to use hydraulic fracturing in the Roseacre Wood site in the region. The members said the work would have "an unacceptable and potentially severe impact" on road infrastructure and traffic itself. Cuadrilla in a statement said it was committed to exploring the area safely, noting it was considering an appeal to the council’s decision. "We are disappointed but not surprised that Lancashire County Council’s development control committee has denied planning consent for our application at Roseacre Wood," the company said. The company said its proposal included […]

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Are We Headed For Global Warming Collapse?

Collapse Post 2 Collapse Post 11 Collapse Post 3 Collapse Post 4 Collapse Post 24 The above is an artist creation of what the pockmarks look like on the seafloor. Collapse Post 18 Collapse Post 20 Collapse Post 25 Collapse Post 21 Collapse Post 26 In an attempt to get an idea of any impact renewables are having on fuel consumption and carbon emissions in my neck of the woods, I have been trying to come up with figures for installed capacity of wind generation and solar. The utility has a virtual monopoly on hydro and there is a web page at the relevant ministry (department for all you yanks) that, has the data for hydro and fossil fuels. There is no data for wind, solar, biomass or any other non-hydro renewables. After being tired of the paucity of information on the total installed capacity of solar PV for […]

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Oil Futures Rangebound; Greek Talks, Iran Nuclear Deal Eyed

By Eric Yep Crude-oil futures were rangebound in Asian trade Friday as the oil markets continue to lack direction and investors keep an eye on Greek’s bailout talks and the deadline for Iran’s nuclear deal next week. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $59.64 a barrel at 0336 GMT, down $0.06 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.19 to $63.39 a barrel. European finance ministers have pushed talks over a Greek bailout deal to this weekend, after failure to reach an agreement this week, with Athens just days away from defaulting on a loan payment. Meanwhile, in Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has taken a harder line over his country’s nuclear program this week, putting at risk negotiations for a final agreement ahead of the June 30 deadline. A final […]

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Oil prices mixed, all eyes on Greece

SINGAPORE Brent edged up on Friday while U.S. crude eased, but both were stuck in tight ranges as investors focused on talks aimed at averting a Greek debt default. Brent crude for August delivery was up 21 cents at $63.41 a barrel by 0646 GMT (0246 EDT) after ending the previous session down 29 cents, or 0.5 percent. U.S. crude for delivery in August fell 7 cents to $59.63 a barrel after finishing Thursday down 57 cents, or almost 1 percent. "Traders and investors are very much on tenterhooks on the outcome," said Ben Le Brun, a market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney, following another failed round of talks to finalize a cash-for-reform pact for Greece. Euro zone finance ministers are due to meet on Saturday in a last-ditch attempt to clinch a deal with Greece to avoid a debt default by Athens and possibly a Greek exit from […]

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Crude down again on oil products weakness; Greece, Iran eyed

NEW YORK Crude oil fell for a second straight day on Thursday, weighed by weaker U.S. refined fuels markets and potential negative impact from Greece’s debt crisis on European energy demand. Worries of a possible glut emerging in U.S. gasoline and diesel supply after large builds in both last week added to concerns that millions of barrels of Nigerian crude were floating around the Atlantic Basin looking for buyers. [EIA/S] Brent crude settled down 29 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $63.20 a barrel. U.S. crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate or WTI, fell 57 cents, or almost 1 percent, to end at $59.70. "It feels like the bulls have thrown in the towel in their pursuit of pushing WTI up to $65," said Scott Shelton, broker with ICAP in Durham, North Carolina. U.S. crude has been trapped between $59 and $61 over the past two weeks while Brent […]

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NYMEX July gas settles at $2.850/MMBtu, up 9.1 cents

The NYMEX July natural gas futures contract jumped 9.1 cents Thursday to settle at $2.850/MMBtu as traders reacted to the US Energy Information Administration’s weekly gas storage report that showed injections slightly below expectations. The prospect of above-average temperatures across both coasts put additional upward pressure on the market. The EIA reported an injection of 75 Bcf for the week ended June 19. With the latest injection, total US gas in storage now stands at 2.508 Tcf, bringing the surplus from the year-ago level to 695 Bcf from 703 Bcf. The surplus to the five-year level fell to 35 Bcf from 46 Bcf. A consensus of analysts surveyed by Platts expected an injection between 76 Bcf and 80 Bcf. The National Weather Service, in its latest eight- to 14-day outlook, calls for an elevated probability of above-average temperatures across both the US East and West coasts, with the highest […]

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Natural Gas Hits One-Week High as Oversupply Evaporates

By Timothy Puko Natural gas made steady gains Thursday on signs of a rare reprieve from chronic oversupply. Gas prices have been resilient all month, defying a near-record number of bets that money managers placed against them in recent weeks. A hot spell spread across the country raised demand for gas-fired power just as production cuts and pipeline outages started to choke back supply. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday storage levels grew by 75 billion cubic feet, 13% below the five-year average, in the week ended June 19. It is the smallest storage addition in more than two months, and suggests the market has come back into balance after a long period of booming supply repeatedly outpacing demand. Prices for the front-month July contract settled up 9.1 cents, or 3.3%, to $2.85 a million British thermal unit on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gains put gas […]

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Big oil options trades revive speculation about producer hedging

NEW YORK Two big trades in oil options worth nearly $60 million last week boosted volatility in that market and revived speculation among traders that U.S. producers are placing hedges to guard against another price rout this fall. Hedging for future production now is prudent, some said, as trading ahead looks to remain rangebound. However, dealers said bearish fears have been revived because supply is due to swell when refineries start fall maintenance just as a slug of imports is due to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast. The two sizeable puts, equivalent to almost 1 million barrels of crude, expire in November next year and give the holder the right to sell at $53 per barrel if prices drop lower than that, according to data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp (DTCC). The identity of the buyers was not known. Traders and bankers said the deals bore the […]

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