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EU Leaders Urge China to Adopt Tough Climate-Change Goals

BRUSSELS—European Union leaders Monday urged China to adopt tough climate-change goals as they and other nations head toward a critical climate conference in Paris at year’s end. “Our intention is to cut emission by 40% compared with 1990, and I would strongly welcome China to take on its shoulders commitments to have the same ambition” or something similar, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said at an EU-China summit. He spoke as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stood beside him at a rare joint news conference. “Climate change is an important matter for the entire humankind, and both China and Europe have to bear particular responsibility in that respect,” Mr. Juncker said. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said the world’s goal should be to keep the Earth’s average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial levels, an aspiration reaffirmed earlier this month by the Group […]

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China’s Slowing Gas Demand Raises Supply Concern in Australia

China’s weakening appetite for super-cooled natural gas is raising concerns that the industry is facing a glut as global supply grows. “Downside risks appear to be growing,” according to a report Tuesday by the Office of the Chief Economist in Australia, which is predicted to become the world’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas later this decade with the start of six new projects. Lower demand for gas in China and more supply moving into the country from Russia and Central Asia, on top of a downturn in the oil market, are weighing on LNG prices. The weaker-than-expected outlook hurts suppliers in countries such as Australia and Papua New Guinea. Chinese LNG buyers will probably struggle to digest all the fuel that they have agreed to purchase, according to a Citigroup Inc. report Monday. Proposed LNG export developments face the risk of delays, the analysts wrote. China’s imports in […]

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« A Year of Lower Oil Prices: Crossing A Boundary

Figure 1. Daily crude oil prices, June 2014-June 2015. Source: EIA. (Click image to enlarge) OPEC-Non-OPEC-US & Canada_World Liquids Production Since 2008 U.S. + Canada and OPEC Liquids Production Since January 2014 Figure 4. U.S. + Canada & OPEC Liquids Production Growth, 2011-2015. Source: EIA and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Figure 5. World Liquids Demand Growth. Source: BP, EIA and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. (Click image to enlarge) CPI WTI GT $90 26 March 2015 Figure 7. Federal funds interest rates January 2000-June 2015 and Brent crude oil price. Figure 8. World liquids production surplus or deficit and Brent crude oil price. Source: EIA and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Figure 9. World liquids relative production surplus or deficit and Brent price in 2015 dollars, 2003-2015. Figure 10. Oil production from tight oil plays in the U.S. Source: Drilling Info and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. Figure 11. Capital available to […]

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Is Arctic oil a losing gamble?

Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of International Law and the Arctic , which was awarded the Donner Prize in 2014. Eighty-three billion barrels: That’s how much oil could be present in the Arctic, according to a high-profile U.S. geological survey report released in 2008. But the wave of excitement from the report is now receding, as some harsh realities sink in. First, 83 billion barrels is not actually that much. It would provide enough oil to satisfy world demand for just three years at our current level of consumption. Second, the report was an estimate of undiscovered reserves, based on some broad geological assumptions, since most of the Arctic has not yet been subject to exploratory drilling. Third, 83 billion includes reserves that are technically, but not necessarily economically, recoverable. This […]

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U.S. light oil exports double in May, mostly to Europe

NEW YORK U.S. exports of ultra-light crude, also known as condensate, have doubled since the start of the year, with most shipments headed to Europe, according to traders familiar with the deals and data from an energy consultant. The United States exported between 120,000 and 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate last month, according to traders and ClipperData, which tracks ships and terminal loadings, up from about 60,000 bpd at the start of the year. The condensate is lightly processed through stabilizers due to rules banning crude exports in the United States, now the world’s third-largest oil producer. The rise comes as more companies look to take advantage of the ability to ship the oil overseas, including to places like the Netherlands, France, South Korea and Brazil. "One of the main surprises is that the majority of the exports have been to Europe rather than anywhere else, when […]

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Green group’s unconventional fight against fracking

The residents of Grant Township, Pennsylvania, were worried about Little Mahoning Creek, a picturesque trout stream best fished in the spring when the water runs fast. The Pennsylvania General Energy Company had acquired a federal permit to drill an injection well down 7,000 feet about seven miles from the creek to dispose of wastewater from its natural gas hydraulic fracturing operations. Fearing the operation would harm the Little Mahoning watershed, the town’s supervisors last year passed a "community bill of rights" that blocked the well, stripped the company of its right to inject wastewater underground, and declared that the state had no jurisdiction in the matter. The ordinance, they openly acknowledged, was likely to be challenged, and defending its legality would be difficult. Driven largely by opposition to hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, communities across the United States have passed or are considering measures to assert their right […]

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Cheniere moving ahead with condensate export terminal in Texas

HOUSTON Cheniere Energy Inc is moving ahead with a $550 million export terminal in Texas that will ship processed condensate to international markets, a top executive said on Monday. In addition, the terminal will be able to export any type of domestic oil if the decades-old U.S. crude export ban is ever lifted, said Nelson Lee, director of crude trading and origination at Cheniere. "The reason why we’re going ahead with that project is we think that we will have unfettered crude oil exports in U.S at some point, and there aren’t the sort of logistics for the crude to exit the United States," Lee said at an energy conference in Houston. Lee recently joined Cheniere from BHP Billiton Ltd, where he headed condensate exports. BHP was the first company to export condensate without waiting for approval from U.S. regulators. Speaking at American Business Conferences’ North American Crude Markets […]

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New York formalizes ban on fracking, ending 7-year review

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York formalized its ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on Monday, concluding a seven-year environmental and health review that drew a record number of public comments. "After years of exhaustive research and examination of the science and facts, prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the only reasonable alternative," Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens said in announcing the decision. "High-volume hydraulic fracturing poses significant adverse impacts to land, air, water, natural resources and potential significant public health impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated." In its decision, the DEC noted that more than 260,000 public comments were submitted on its environmental impact study and proposed regulations, an unprecedented number. The agency said most of the comments urged it to severely restrict or prohibit fracking. New York is the only state with significant natural gas resources to ban fracking, which has allowed other states […]

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Activists deploy against Shell’s arctic plans

MUKILTEO, Wash., June 29 (UPI) — Activists said Monday they took to the water off the Washington state coast in kayaks to try to slow progress of a Shell drilling rig bound for arctic waters. "We know we can’t stop them," Carlo Voli, a campaigner from advocacy group 350 Seattle, said in an emailed statement. "But we can’t just watch them go; we have to do all we can to slow them down, and get people to focus on what a disaster Arctic drilling would be." Voli and others pushed off from the Washington state coast to protest against the Noble Discoverer drilling rig as it leaves for the arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. Voli and several others were arrested in early June for similar action against the rig, Polar Pioneer. Noble Discoverer suffered setbacks during a 2012 campaign off the coast of Alaska and activists said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple