Has U.S. oil production started to turn down?
The plunge in oil prices last year led many to say that a decline in U.S. oil production wouldn’t be far behind. This was because almost all the growth in U.S. production in recent years had come from high-cost tight oil deposits which could not be profitable at these new lower oil prices. These wells were also known to have production declines that averaged 40 percent per year. Overall U.S. production, however, confounded the conventional logic and continued to rise– until early June when it stalled and then dropped slightly . Anyone who understood that U.S. drillers in shale plays had large inventories of drilled, but not yet completed wells, knew that production would probably rise for some time into 2015– even as the number of rigs operating plummeted . Shale drillers who are in debt–and most of the independents are heavily in debt–simply must get some revenue out […]
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For G.O.P., Pope Francis’s Visit to Congress Comes With Tensions
Photo Speaker John A. Boehner at a news conference this month. The pope’s visit will fulfill a long-held dream of Mr. Boehner, who has extended offers to popes for the last 20 years. Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times WASHINGTON — In the Reading, Ohio, neighborhood where Speaker John A. Boehner grew up, nearly every house had two things on the wall: a crucifix and a photo of the pope. “You never ever expected to meet the pope,” said Jerry Vanden Eynden, a lifelong friend of Mr. Boehner’s. “In all of our minds, the pope was the closest thing to meeting God in person here on earth.” When Pope Francis comes to Capitol Hill in September, he will be the first pontiff to address a joint meeting of Congress, where more than 30 percent of the members are Catholic. The visit will fulfill a long-held dream of Mr. Boehner, […]
California drought makes quest for water a consuming grind
PORTERVILLE, Calif. — Their two peach trees had turned brittle in the heat, their neighborhood pond had vanished into cracked dirt and now their stainless-steel faucet was spitting out hot air. “That’s it. We’re dry,” Miguel Gamboa said during the second week of July, and so he went off to look for water. He had a container in the bed of his truck from the dairy where he worked, a 275-gallon tank that had been used to treat milk with chemical preservatives. Now he rinsed it with bleach and drove out of the suburbs, passing rows of tract houses with yellowed front lawns. He went to see a friend who still had a little water left in his well, and the friend offered Gamboa his hose. They stood together and watched the tank begin to fill with water that looked hazy and light brown. “You really want this?” the […]
Alberta pipeline breach causes massive spill
China-subsidiary company apologizes, says cleanup underway for one of North America’s largest-ever oil spills on land Nexen Energy apologized Friday for an oil sands pipeline leak in the Canadian province of Alberta that is one of North America’s largest-ever oil-related spills on land, and said its cleanup crews were working around the clock. The pipeline leaked 31,500 barrels of emulsion — a mixture of bitumen, water and sand, the equivalent of 5 million liters of tar sands oil, or 1.3 million gallons. Nexen, a subsidiary of China’s CNOOC Ltd., said it is still trying to find the root cause of the leak in the new pipeline, which was installed last year. The company has found a visible breach about the size of a hand. The incident is another blow for the environmental record of the oil sands industry, already under fire from activists for its carbon-intensive production process. Ron […]
Route of Migrants Into Europe Shifts Toward Balkans
Photo At play in Budapest. While crossings by water to Italy have been the main route to Europe for migrants from Africa and the Mideast, Hungary is quickly becoming a common destination. Credit Mauricio Lima for The New York Times BUDAPEST — The surge of migrants into Europe from war-ravaged and impoverished parts of the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa has shifted in recent months. Migrants are now pushing by land across the western Balkans, in numbers roughly equal to those entering the Continent through Italy. Much of Europe is reeling from the flow of people seeking safety, jobs and a better life — but who have strained resources, heightened ethnic and religious tensions, and rewired politics in individual nations and throughout the Continent. The new pathway is also causing a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment in the Balkans and neighboring central Europes, bolstering nationalist parties and inspiring protests […]
Greek banks reopen as Tsipras eyes return to normal
A National Bank official opens the door of a bank branch while people wait to enter in Athens, Greece July 20, 2015. Greeks queued outside banks on Monday as they reopened three weeks after closing to stop the system collapsing, the first cautious sign of a return to normal after a deal to start talks on a new package of bailout reforms. However limits on withdrawals will remain and payments and wire transfers abroad will still not be possible – a situation which German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday was "not a normal life" and warranted swift negotiations on a new bailout, expected to be worth up to 86 billion euros. The stock market will also remain closed until further notice. Increases in value added tax agreed under the bailout terms have also taken effect with VAT on food and public transport jumping to 23 percent from 13 […]
Russian scientists squeezed by sanctions, Kremlin policies
Associated Press AP Photo/Alexander Lukin Latest News Daughter of slain Russian opposition leader moves to Germany Russian bloggers gauging attitudes toward gays find violence Russia lashes out at leaks of MH17 draft report Putin’s spokesman, Olympic ice dancing champ to tie the knot Russian bomber crashes in the Far East, kills 2 var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; King pigeon pose ahead? Putin tells Indian PM: I’ll try yoga var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia (AP) — Artur Bilsky’s Institute of Thermophysics recently sought to buy equipment from a Japanese company that was a routine purchase a few years ago. The request was turned down "categorically," said Bilsky, a researcher at the institute. Hundreds of other Russian scientists are reporting similar experiences of […]
Russian Town Near Ukraine, Once Quiet, Now Buzzes With Military Activity
Photo Russian military vehicles in a field about six miles from the Ukranian border in August 2014. Credit Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press GOLOVINKA, Russia — The southern Russian steppe in summertime typically offers a soul-lifting panorama of wheat fields and sunflowers, swaying in the breezes, and vast empty spaces. It is Russia ’s big sky country, rural and calm. Normally, that is. One morning this spring, the serenity in this village deep in the Russian countryside near the Ukrainian border was broken by a loud, rumbling explosion intense enough to send out window-shattering shock waves. Soon, residents said, Russian soldiers appeared running through the wheat fields, some in their underwear, waving their arms wildly and yelling, “Save yourselves however you can!” The panicked soldiers were not under attack, as it turns out, but were fleeing a fire in a well-stocked ammunition depot at a nearby Russian military base, recalled a […]
Energy Lower With Oil Prices on Oversupply Fears — Energy Roundup
Shares of oil-and-gas companies fell alongside oil futures as oversupply fears persisted. Light, sweet crude for August delivery traded two cents lower at $50.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, near three-month lows. ConocoPhillips said it would shift capital-expenditure priorities, boosting its dividend at the expense of spending on deepwater drilling, to reflect lower oil prices. By Rob Curran, [email protected]