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Denton Hits Pause On Fracking Ban Repeal

Denton’s ban on hydraulic fracturing within its city limits will stay on the books – at least, for now. The Denton City Council had considered repealing the ban, which passed in November with 59 percent of the vote, in anticipation of legal action . However, after hearing several hours’ worth of testimony in which residents made impassioned pleas for more time to weigh their options, the council demurred and let the agenda item fail without a vote. All of which means that once the council is satisfied it has fully researched the option – or even take another strategy – it can reconsider action. Denton resident Christopher Furman told the council that if they chose to “undermine our fracking ban,” the outcome would make both the city and the council look weak. After seven months, the ban was in play again because the Texas Legislature and governor in recent […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shale Oil: The Sky’s the Limit

Shale Oil As crude prices plunged throughout the fall of 2014, producers tightened their budgets and changed their strategies to wait out the crisis. Not only are these tactics working for individual companies, but the efficiencies and innovations that are occurring may be setting the stage for another season of prosperity. Cutting Costs Producers have slashed costs associated with drilling through greater efficiencies and supplier reductions, including these first quarter results: Sanchez reported Q1 costs at 30 to 40% below fourth quarter 2014 Matador reduced operating costs 30% to 40% for Q1 Continental ’s drilling and completion costs fell by 15% EOG announced it has benefitted greatly from the pull-back in activity and progress is being made to lowering cost in each phase of their operations Innovation Looking for greater efficiency also means innovation. Cutting edge producers are pushing the science and technology to new levels as they work […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Canadian oil exports by rail fall

Canadian crude oil exports by rail down by more than a quarter year-on-year, federal data show. Photo by Steven Frame/Shutterstock CALGARY, Alberta, June 3 (UPI) — Canadian crude oil exports by rail for the three months ending in March declined by more than 25 percent year-on-year, federal data show. The National Energy Board updated data on total crude oil exports by rail , showing an average 119,755 barrels per day were shipped for the three months ending in March. That’s down 24 percent from the three-month period ending in December and 27 percent less than the same period in 2014. Though rail shipments have declined recently, the volume delivered through March 2015 is six times greater than the volume delivered for the three months ending March 2012, data show. North American crude oil production has increased to the point that it’s more than the existing pipeline infrastructure can handle, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Report: LNG could challenge oil as transport fuel

Trucking fleets may be considering natural gas as their fuel of choice, a report from IHS finds. File Photo by UPI/Ezio Petersen PARIS, June 3 (UPI) — China may take the lead, along with the trucking sector, in the transport shift from oil to natural gas and liquefied natural gas, a report from IHS finds. Michael Stoppard, chief gas strategist for the consultant firm, said lower crude oil prices have taken the spotlight off the pursuit for natural gas as an alternative transport fuel. "Nonetheless, the shift to greater use of gas in trucks is set to continue," he said in an emailed statement. "It is widely accepted that power generation is the primary growth market for natural gas demand, but gas as a fuel offers a new market with potentially more value." While passenger vehicles and trucks are comparable in terms of oil consumption, the study finds truck […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Fire threat to oil abates in Alberta

Crews returning to oil installations in Alberta as threat of wildfire subsides. Rain forecast through end of the week in the Canadian province. File Photo by UPI/Al Golub CALGARY, Alberta, June 3 (UPI) — Staff members are returning to Alberta oil installations after emergency service officials cleared the area of major wildfire threats, Cenovus Energy said. Rain is expected through the end of the week in Calgary, the nation’s forecaster said. Hot, dry weather led provincial authorities in May to issue an open-fire ban to curb the spread of wildfires in Alberta. As of Friday, more than 43,000 hectares have burned, though only five of the 41 active fires are considered out of control. Cenovus Energy said its crews were working to restore power to its Foster Creek oil sands operation, which has the capacity to process 135,000 barrels of oil per day. Foster Creek was closed by fire […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Back off, Alaskan energy group tells Shell activists

Alaskan energy coalition says it’s frustrated by non-state activists protesting Shell work planned for its territorial waters. UPI/Brian Kersey ANCHORAGE, Alaska, June 3 (UPI) — With pressure building on Shell’s port activity in Seattle, an Alaskan energy coalition said the state’s economy won’t be held hostage by external activists. "We don’t like our economy being held hostage by activists from another state," Anne Seneca, president of the Consumer Energy Alliance-Alaska, said in a statement. With federal approval in hand, Shell said it may start its drilling campaign in the arctic waters off the coast of Alaska as early as this summer. Shell’s drilling rig, Polar Pioneer, is stationed at the Port of Seattle ahead of the program’s start. In mid-May, a flotilla of kayakers took to the waters off the coast of Seattle to protest Shell. Advocacy group Friends of the Earth launched a legal challenge against the federal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Former PHMSA chief questions need for Keystone XL

Former U.S. pipeline regulator said domestic landscape may longer be suitable for a pipeline like Keystone XL. Photo courtesy of TransCanada HOUSTON, June 3 (UPI) — U.S. crude oil production may be at a point where the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada isn’t needed, a former U.S. pipeline regulator said. President Barack Obama in February made good on his pledge to veto legislation the White House said circumvents the normal vetting procedures for the pipeline planned to cross the U.S.-Canadian border. Cynthia Quaterman, the former administrator for the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, told delegates at a Houston summit sponsored by energy reporting agency Argus the Keystone XL pipeline might not fit in the U.S. oil landscape. "With the amount of crude that’s being produced in this country now, I think it’s quite possible that the president might not approve the project," she said. "I […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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North Dakota orders oil wells shut in on flooding concerns

WILLISTON, N.D. North Dakota oil regulators ordered small, privately held Zavanna LLC to shut in oil wells near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers on Wednesday after more than 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) of rainfall sparked flooding concerns. The state’s Department of Mineral Resources said it is concerned the confluence, located near the state oil capital of Williston, could exceed flood stage levels of 22 feet (6.7 meters) by this weekend after Tuesday’s rainfall, which easily surpassed the record of 0.9 inch (2.3 cm) set in 2002. Denver-based Zavanna, which produces roughly 10,000 barrels of oil per day in North Dakota, typically keeps 15 wells near the confluence shut in during May due to flooding concerns. The state’s order on Wednesday effectively forces the company to keep those wells closed for the foreseeable future. "We’re going to wait until we’re more comfortable starting them up," said Kelsi […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US crude oil exports in April reach record 586,000 bpd

[NEW YORK] US crude oil exports in April reached a record high of 586,000 barrels per day, foreign trade data showed on Wednesday. April’s exports, which were some 169,000 bpd higher than the previous month, were the highest recorded since data was available in 1920 from the US Energy Information Administration. This surpasses a previous 502,000 bpd record in November. Meanwhile, a record 492,000 bpd were exported to Canada, compared with the 378,000 bpd in March, US Census Bureau’s foreign trade data showed. Other exports went to China, South Korea, the Netherlands and Spain, the data showed. A US law dating back to the oil shortages of the 1970s generally bars exports of domestically produced crude, but shipments to Canada are broadly allowed, as are re-exports of foreign oil. The figures combine domestically produced and re-exported crude oil. US Census’s foreign trade oil data is published weeks earlier than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Greece will not pay IMF on Friday without prospect of a deal: lawmaker

ATHENS Greece will not make a June 5 repayment to the International Monetary Fund if there is no prospect of an aid-for-reforms deal with its international creditors soon, the spokesman for the ruling Syriza party said on Wednesday. The payment of 300 million euros ($335 million) is the first of four this month totaling 1.6 billion euros from a country that depends on foreign aid to stay afloat. Greece owes a total of about 320 billion euros, of which about 65 percent to euro zone governments and the IMF, and about 8.7 percent to the European Central Bank. On Tuesday, Greece’s creditors drafted the broad outlines of an agreement to put to the leftist government in Athens in a bid to conclude four months of negotiations and release aid before the country runs out of money. "If there is no prospect of a deal by Friday or Monday, I […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple