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Texas oil and gas outlook negative

Dallas Federal Reserve expects weak momentum in oil and gas sector for the rest of the year as crude oil prices remain low. (UPI/Shutterstock/Lilac Mountain) DALLAS, June 4 (UPI) — The outlook in the Texas oil and gas sector remains negative as most companies expect low capital spending in 2016, the Dallas Federal Reserve said. Texas is the No. 1 oil producer in the nation. A weak market for crude oil, however, is throttling the state’s overall energy trajectory. In its latest data release, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s energy regulator, said preliminary data from March show crude oil production averaged 2.31 million barrels per day, down from the 2.34 million bpd reported in February. The Dallas Federal Reserve in its so-called Beige Book said demand for oil field services , as well as the number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and natural gas, […]

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Alaska adds oil to U.S. total

U.S. federal data show Alaska accounted for all of the growth in total weekly crude oil production. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowksi, R-Alaska, has led efforts to put state back on the top of the U.S. energy map. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) — Alaska accounted for all of the growth in U.S. oil production from the week ending May 29, data released from the Energy Department show. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly petroleum status report total U.S. crude oil production for the week ending May 29 was 9.6 million barrels per day. Output from the Lower 48 states was unchanged from the previous week and production from Alaska increased by 4.1 percent to 507,000 bpd. The U.S. Interior Department in January released a draft proposal for access to federal waters for exploration and drilling. While an Atlantic Ocean area […]

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Woodside, Sempra mull Texas LNG project

Australian energy company Woodside exploring options for liquified natural gas export facility in Texas. Photo courtesy of Woodside. PERTH, Australia, June 4 (UPI) — Australian energy company Woodside said Thursday it was in preliminary discussions to explore options for liquefied natural gas development in Texas. The Australian company said affiliate Woodside Energy signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with energy company Sempra LNG. "[Both sides] will commence preliminary discussions and assessments pertaining to the potential development of a natural gas liquefaction facility at Port Arthur, Texas," Woodside said in a statement. The potential project could have a total export capacity of 10 million tons of LNG per year once permitted. In March, Sempra started the filing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to export LNG sourced from U.S. reserve basins to countries that have, or will have, a free-trade deal with the United States. A special permit is […]

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Glencore May Cut Coal Output Further to Combat Glut

Coal prices have fallen sharply since Glencore closed its purchase of Xstrata two years ago. In a rare public presentation, Glencore’s Australia-based head of global coal assets, Peter Freyberg, insisted coal was “a very, very important part” of the company, and that executives were considering options to acquire new assets or tie up with other producers with an eye to the long-term. When Glencore closed its purchase of fellow miner Xstrata PLC two years ago, Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said the blockbuster deal was “a big play on coal.” Since then, coal prices have fallen sharply, while Glencore’s market value has dropped close to its lowest level since it floated in London and Hong Kong in 2011. Both thermal coal, burned to generate electricity, and coking coal, used to make steel, are languishing due to oversupply caused by too many new projects coming on stream amid slowing demand, particularly […]

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Fracking Has Had No ‘Widespread’ Impact on Drinking Water, EPA Finds

Fracking isn’t causing widespread damage to the nation’s drinking water, the Obama administration said in a long-awaited report released Thursday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—after a four-year study that is the U.S. government’s most comprehensive examination of the issue to date—concluded that hydraulic fracturing, as being carried out by industry and regulated by states, isn’t having “widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water.” However, the EPA said there were a small number of contaminated drinking wells and highlighted potential vulnerabilities, including the disposal of wastewater and construction of durable wells. The report was issued nearly a decade since fracking began helping unlock vast reserves of oil and natural gas across the U.S. It also bolsters the position staked out by the energy industry and its supporters: that fracking can be carried out safely. “Hydraulic fracturing activities in the U.S. are carried out in a way that have not led to […]

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Weekly US coal production estimates fall to five-year low: EIA

Weekly US coal production totaled an estimated 15.1 million st in the week ended May 30, the lowest level in the last five years, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday. The estimate was down 6.1% from the prior week and down 20.7% from the year-ago week. It marks the 15th straight week of declining coal production estimates when compared with year-ago levels. The EIA does not comment on its production estimates, but low natural gas prices and increasing coal stockpiles are largely behind the drop in production. Platts unit Bentek Energy estimated coal stockpiles stood at 168.7 million st as of May 28, roughly 24% higher than the same time last year, and up 1% from the five-year average for the week. Article continues below… Platts Global Coal Alert brings real-time coal industry information to those who can’t afford to wait until tomorrow to get market coverage and […]

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Hardening of Positions Undercuts Ukraine Peace Accord

Photo President Petro Poroshenko, in Parliament in Kiev on Thursday, demanded that Russia withdraw all troops from Ukraine. Credit Sergey Dolzhenko/European Pressphoto Agency SHYROKYNE, Ukraine — The trenches near this battered town in southeastern Ukraine slice surreally for miles across fields of sunflowers, in places running in three lines separated by a mile or two of mined ground, Ukrainian commanders say. A feature not just of this bitterly contested ground, the trenches extend in varying degrees of completeness all the way to the northern limits of the line separating Ukraine from the separatist regions in the east. To some extent, they reflect a military necessity, with daily skirmishes along the barrier and occasional flare-ups, like one near Donetsk on Wednesday in which at least 21 people were killed. There is a political subtext as well, a hardening of positions on both sides that is steadily undermining a peace accord […]

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Greece Defers IMF Payment as Merkel Says Resolution Far Away

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at his office in Athens after returning from Brussels meetings on June 4, 2015. Photographer: Kostas Tsironis/Bloomberg Greece became the first country to defer a payment to the International Monetary Fund since the 1980s as its game of brinkmanship with creditors goes down to the wire. With Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras getting ready to address parliament on Friday after receiving a list of creditors’ demands, the step underscores the state of the country’s shriveling finances. While international officials have reported some progress in recent days, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “we’re still far from reaching a conclusion.” The current phase of Greece’s crisis is nearing its conclusion as the country runs out of money after four months of deadlock. Stocks and bonds have whipsawed this week amid a flurry of political activity starting with a late-night meeting in Berlin between European leaders and […]

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Greece delays IMF payment, PM to brief angry parliament

ATHENS/BRUSSELS Greece delayed a key debt payment to the International Monetary Fund due on Friday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, facing fury among his leftist supporters, demanded changes to tough terms from international creditors for aid to stave off bankruptcy. The IMF said Athens had informed the global lender that it plans to bundle four payments due in June into a single 1.6 billion euro lump sum, which is now due on June 30. "Under an Executive Board decision adopted in the late 1970s, country members can ask to bundle together multiple principal payments falling due in a calendar month," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement. It was the first time in five years of crisis that Greece has postponed a repayment on its 240 billion euro bailouts from euro zone governments and the IMF, and it came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said talks on a […]

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Oil prices fall as crude glut overshadows strong fuel demand

SINGAPORE Oil prices fell on Thursday as a large crude glut overshadowed strong global fuel demand ahead of a meeting on Friday in which OPEC looks to be unlikely to change its production quota. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is expected to continue to produce about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) above demand, adding to a glut that has left millions of barrels stored on tankers without a buyer. Front-month Brent futures LCOc1 were down 30 cents at $63.50 per barrel by 0717 GMT. U.S. crude futures CLc1 dropped 40 cents to $59.24. Energy advisory Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday it was unlikely OPEC would agree to cut output at its June 5 meeting and that it expected the group’s crude output to remain just above its 30 million bpd production ceiling through 2016. The company said it forecast Brent to average $60 a barrel […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple