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KRG exports rise, but pipeline problems loom

The final welded section of the KRG’s Khurmala – Feyshkabour pipeline lies by trenching immediately south of oil storage tanks at DNO International’s pumping station, 3km from the Turkey border. August 17, 2013. (PATRICK OSGOOD/Iraq Oil Report) Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reported oil sales of 492,273 barrels per day (bpd) in July – steeply increasing its independent exports despite more than four days of pipeline outages.As exports rise, the KRG is also promising to make long-delayed, partial payments to international oil companies (IOCs), though the amount and timing of the prospective payments remains unclear."From September 2015 onwards, the KRG will on a monthly basis allocate a portion of the r… 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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Protests, and Some Surrenders, as Sun Does Battle With Iraq

Photo The ruins of an old building served as a platform for children to jump into the Tigris River in Baghdad and cool off last month. Credit Hadi Mizban/Associated Press BAGHDAD — At noon, the light bouncing off the hot concrete seems to bleach everything, like an overexposed photograph. Standing for more than a minute in the sun sets off a full-body sweat. Even after sunset, as the temperature coasts down from 122 degrees Fahrenheit, or 50 degrees Celsius, to perhaps 108 , Baghdad’s heat can seem like a living thing. It clings to every contour of the body, squeezing tight. Iraq has been hot even by its own standards. Taking all conditions into account, the Weather Channel calculated that the peak day in Baghdad this summer felt like 159 degrees. It was a data point most likely of little use to outsiders unable to imagine even 122 degrees, […]

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July exports dip despite rising Basra output

An Iraqi oil worker at the al-Basra Oil Terminal waits for a tanker to dock on Feb. 21, 2010. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report) Iraq maintained near-record export levels in July due to rising output from Basra, which helped offset disruptions to northern oil sales caused by political disputes and pipeline outages.The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) reported an average 3.105 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports in July (a total of 96.245 million barrels), which is down from 3.187 million bpd in June and 3.145 million bpd in May, though more than in April.Almost all of those exports flowed through Basra… 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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Libya’s New Oil Chief Considering Ending Force Majeure at Ports

Libya’s new head of the state oil company for the eastern region is considering ending force majeure at the North African nation’s two largest ports and will seek to boost crude output. “Among my priorities will be lifting force majeure at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf,” Nagi Elmagrabi , chairman of the National Oil Corp. for the eastern region, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I will also seek to increase oil production.” Libya produced about 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. It’s today the smallest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, with output of about 400,000 barrels. It has failed to restore production as militias fight for the control of export terminals while tribes and workers block operations at fields and pipelines to seek jobs and better pay. Libya in December stopped crude exports from the two […]

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Venezuela’s Giant Lake of Endless Oil Is a Filthy, Lawless Mess

Lake Maracaibo, a 5,097 square mile body of water, is a graveyard for everything from abandoned pipeline to tires. Photographer: Pietro Pitts/Bloomberg From the moment the diver in red nylon coveralls and blue Chuck Taylor sneakers resurfaces after replacing rusted pipeline on the bed of South America’s largest lake, it’s a race against time. Coated head to toe in dark-black oil, he clambers aboard the service boat, rips off his makeshift uniform and scrambles to hose himself down with a special compound to wash away the contaminants. For nearly a century, the petroleum deposits beneath giant Lake Maracaibo served as a cash cow for successive Venezuelan governments. In return, especially in the years since the company’s energy industry was nationalized by former President Hugo Chavez, it has received little back but neglect. The Maracaibo basin is where Venezuela’s enormous energy bounty, including oil reserves that dwarf even those of […]

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EIA Capitulates Under Cover Of Darkness

Many investors know that when a company wants to mitigate media coverage of bad news, they typically release data on a Friday after the close. Well last Friday, that is exactly what the EIA did, admitting the very thing I and Cornerstone Analytics have been arguing all year: EIA was and still is overstating U.S. production. The amount that they admitted to so far, as of Friday afternoon, was 254,000 barrels per day (b/d) or 1,778,000 barrels per week, 7,112,000 per month or 14,224,000 for June and July alone. This is the most incredible cover up I have ever witnessed in my decade-long investment career and I have not seen one major media outlet even mention it so far. Instead China demand & Iran output are front and center as per prior posts in an attempt to divert attention (I call it moving the goal posts) away from the […]

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Tesla Executive Calls for Stricter Auto-Efficiency Rules

A Tesla Motors Inc. executive called on rival automakers to put more compelling electric vehicles on the road and said fuel-efficiency standards should be far more stringent. Most competitors “are focused on minimum compliance, lowest common-denominator behavior, and the vehicles reflect that,” Diarmuid O’Connell, vice president of business development, said Tuesday at an auto-industry conference in northern Michigan. He cited Tesla, Nissan Motor Co. and BMW AG as exceptions. Automakers are under a U.S. mandate to boost average fuel economy to 54.5 miles (87.7 kilometers) per gallon by 2025. Those rules come under mid-term review in 2017. Tesla would like them strengthened, a move that would benefit the electric-car maker while pressuring traditional auto manufacturers. Forrest McConnell, president of a Honda dealership in Montgomery, Alabama, and a former chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, countered O’Connell’s remarks by holding up a donut and broccoli as symbols of consumer […]

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Obama’s Power Plan May Be Historic But It Won’t Save the World

President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce carbon pollution — acclaimed by supporters, reviled by opponents — won’t be enough to save the planet. That’s the view of scientists, including European researchers who study climate policies. It’s a numbers game: Even if the U.S., China, Europe and other nations meet their commitments on cutting carbon, world temperatures will rise by 3.1 degrees Celsius (5.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on average by 2100, too much to avoid calamity, they say. The latest and toughest version of Obama’s Clean Power Plan and measures already announced by other world leaders aren’t sufficient to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius this century. That’s what’s needed to prevent dangerous changes to the environment, including rising seas, deadly heat waves and disruptions to world food supplies, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , a United Nations-organized panel of thousands of scientists. “It’s worth pointing that […]

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Cheap natural gas cuts Nipsco coal use in second quarter

Low natural gas prices continued to depress Northern Indiana Public Service’s coal burn in the second quarter, causing consumption to fall 36% and inventory levels to rise sharply, the utility said in a new regulatory filing. Nipsco’s coal prices increased by $1.10/short ton from the first quarter of 2015, however, largely because of a change in the mix of coals received by the NiSource subsidiary, Nipsco told the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission this week. "Low natural gas prices continue to depress coal burn, and consequently inventory stocks are growing well above customer targets," Dennis Rackers, Nipsco director of fuel supply, said in testimony filed with the commission. "Coal unit retirements under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule are also reducing demand for coal and spot market prices across all coal regions remained relatively soft." The Supreme Court recently placed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s MATS rule on hold, […]

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Ruble Recovers With Oil as Citigroup Says Selloff Went Too Far

The sun sets beyond an oil pumping unit at a drilling site operated by Tatneft OAO near Almetyevsk, Russia. The ruble climbed from the weakest level since February as oil rebounded and Citigroup Inc. raised its recommendation on Russia’s currency, saying the slump was “excessive.” The ruble strengthened 0.5 percent to 63.1770 against the dollar by 5:26 p.m. in Moscow after slipping 10 percent in July, the biggest drop among major global currencies. Crude oil, which tumbled into a bear market last month, rose 1.3 percent to $50.17 a barrel in London. The Bank of Russia was forced last week to halt its daily dollar purchases after the ruble retreated with oil to the lowest levels in six months. There are signs the drop may have gone too far: the ruble’s 14-day relative strength index fell to 21.1 yesterday, the lowest since Dec. 16 and below the level of […]

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Russia Seen Turning to Crisis Playbook to Prevent Ruble Rout

Elvira Nabiullina, governor of Russia’s central bank. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg Russia’s central bank may pick up where it left off earlier this year to avert another run on the ruble. To take the pressure off the currency, the Bank of Russia will restart one-year foreign-exchange repurchase operations that were halted June 1, according to 14 of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Other support measures may include “targeted” currency interventions and a delay of further interest-rate cuts, according to BNP Paribas SA. Policy makers will start verbal intervention with the oil price below $50 a barrel, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc said. The central bank may be forced to take a page from the playbook used to fight Russia’s worst currency crisis since 1998 as companies face growing repayments of external debt and last week’s suspension of foreign-exchange purchases fails to arrest a plunge in the ruble. It made […]

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Russia Stakes New Claim to Expanse in the Arctic

MOSCOW — Russia formally staked a claim on Tuesday to a vast area of the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole. If the United Nations committee that arbitrates sea boundaries accepts Russia’s claim, the waters will be subject to Moscow’s oversight on economic matters, including fishing and oil and gas drilling, though Russia will not have full sovereignty. Under a 1982 United Nations convention, the Law of the Sea , a nation may claim an exclusive economic zone over the continental shelf abutting its shores. If the shelf extends far out to sea, so can the boundaries of the zone. The claim Russia lodged on Tuesday contends that the shelf extends far north of the Eurasian land mass, out under the planet’s northern ice cap. Russia submitted a similar claim in 2002, but the United Nations rejected it for lack of scientific support. So this time, the Kremlin has […]

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July exports dip despite rising Basra output

An Iraqi oil worker at the al-Basra Oil Terminal waits for a tanker to dock on Feb. 21, 2010. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report) Iraq maintained near-record export levels in July due to rising output from Basra, which helped offset disruptions to northern oil sales caused by political disputes and pipeline outages.The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) reported an average 3.105 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports in July (a total of 96.245 million barrels), which is down from 3.187 million bpd in June and 3.145 million bpd in May, though more than in April.Almost all of those exports flowed through Basra… 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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As oil falls below $50, analysts eye ‘mid-price’ era

A worker fills a tank with subsidized fuel at a fuel station in Jakarta April 18, 2013. . A slump in oil below $50 a barrel – a level it has held above for most of the past decade – has raised the prospect of a new era of lower prices, although a return to super-cheap oil seems unlikely. Prices below $50 for the two crude oil benchmarks, North Sea Brent LCOc1 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1, were the norm prior to 2005. Brent averaged just $18.37 a barrel in the 1990s, WTI $19.70 a barrel, and both only broke above $50 for the first time in late 2004. China’s explosive economic growth over the past decade, coupled with flatlining global output, saw Brent soar above $140 in 2008 and it has spent more than 90 percent of the past decade above the $50 mark. But producers […]

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Oil prices edge up after 5 percent fall, but outlook weak

A customer holds a nozzle to fill up his tank in a gasoline station in Nice December 5, 2014. Oil prices edged up on Tuesday, following a 5 percent drop in the previous session, as high global production and a weakening economic outlook in Asia prompted analysts to warn of further falls. Oil output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached the highest monthly level in recent history in July, and production could rise further if Iran achieves a plan to raise output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) as soon as sanctions are lifted. With U.S. production also near records and China’s economy showing further signs of slowing, prices on Monday were pulled down close to the six-year lows touched at the start of 2015 and Brent LCOc1 fell below $50 per barrel for the first time since January. It has spent over 90 percent […]

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Asian shares edge down, oil stabilizes after rout

An employee looks at monitors at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo June 29, 2015. Asian shares edged lower on Tuesday after downbeat economic data pressured Wall Street ahead of key U.S. jobs data later this week that could provide a key clue to the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate increase. Crude oil prices stabilized after plunging overnight, with U.S. crude CLc1 adding about 0.6 percent to $45.42 a barrel. Brent LCOc1 gained 0.4 percent to $49.73 after skidding 5 percent to six-month lows. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.2 percent in early trading, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index .N225 slipped 0.5 percent, after breaking a three-day winning streak in the previous session. U.S. equities markets logged solid losses on Monday, after manufacturing data from China and U.S. figures released on Monday both disappointed. The Institute for Supply Management’s […]

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Oil Prices Drop to Four-Month Low on Supply Glut Concerns

HONG KONG–Oil prices slid to fresh four-month lows Monday as a rise in the number of U.S. oil rigs fueled supply glut concerns even as weak China manufacturing activity weighed on the demand outlook. The oil-rig count in the U.S. rose by five to 664 in the latest week, according to Baker Hughes Inc. BHI -0.92 % This offset the positive impact of signs that the country’s oil production might have peaked and has begun to decline in the past two months. The supply-side concerns also rose as Iran’s oil minister said the country can increase oil production in one week after international sanctions are lifted, ANZ said in a report. In China, the Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, fell to a two-year low of 47.8 in July, compared with 49.4 in June. Though Chinese oil imports have held steady despite a stream […]

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Oil sinks to six-month low amid weak data, slump in gasoline

Oil sank to six-month lows on Monday with Brent crude falling below $50 a barrel on sluggish U.S. and Chinese economic data and bets for weaker gasoline consumption in the United States after tearaway demand earlier in the summer. Evidence of growing global oversupply and a stock market collapse in China, the world’s largest energy consumer, have weighed on oil for weeks, leading in July to U.S. crude futures’ largest monthly decline since the 2008 financial crisis. With August trading in its first session, the rout accelerated as gasoline prices fell more than that of crude. Supply worries aside, traders pinned the latest losses on sluggish U.S. and Chinese data. U.S. consumer spending advanced at its slowest pace in four months in June as demand for automobiles softened. Growth in Chinese manufacturing activity, meanwhile, unexpectedly stalled in July as demand at home and abroad weakened. "Economic weakness has set […]

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Natural Gas Prices Rise on Warming Weather, Falling Production

By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices made small gains Monday as warming weather and falling supply helped the market bounce back from Friday’s three-week low. The front-month September contract gained 2.9 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.745 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The boost sent gas back to the middle of the 31 cent trading range it has settled in every session for nearly two months. Part of the gain comes from weather forecasts that are now retreating from predictions of widespread below-normal temperatures for this week. In the summer, hot weather can lead to stronger demand for gas-fired power to run air conditioners. A hot spring has already led power plants to consume their second-highest amount of natural gas ever for the month of May, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said late Friday. It reported that gas deliveries to power plants hit 23.7 […]

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Kemp: Caught In The Cross-Fire – Non-OPEC, Non-Shale Producers

John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – The biggest losers from the current price war between OPEC and the shale producers seem set to be producers outside the Middle East and North America caught in the cross-fire. Expensive production from the North Sea, Canada’s oil sands, offshore megaprojects, weaker African and Latin American members of OPEC, and frontier exploration areas around the world are all being squeezed hard by the price slump. According to oilfield services company Baker Hughes, the number of rigs drilling for oil outside North America has fallen by over 200, or about 19 percent, since July 2014 ( http://link.reuters.com/ser35w ). Rig counts have fallen in every region, with 28 fewer active rigs in Europe, 47 fewer in the Middle East, 33 in Africa, 66 in Latin America and 34 in Asia Pacific. Proportionately, the […]

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Kurds announce oil payment mechanism

Kurdish forces draw on oil revenue for support. Semiautonomous Kurdish government extends financial hand to oil companies working in northern oil fields. File Photo by Mohammed al Jumaily/UPI ERBIL, Iraq, Aug. 3 (UPI) — The Kurdish government in Iraq said Monday it would allocate some of its revenue to international oil companies on a monthly basis to help cover their expenses. British energy company Gulf Keystone Petroleum, one of the key players in the Kurdish oil sector, in early 2015 suspended crude oil exports through Turkey and directed sales to the local market briefly because of a lack of payment from the Kurdish government. The Kurdish north hosts some of the larger oil fields in Iraq. The Ministry of Natural Resources for the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government said that, while crude oil exports are its principle source of revenue, energy companies operating in the region face difficulties moving forward […]

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Gulf Arab States Voice Support for Iran Nuclear Deal

DOHA, Qatar—Gulf Arab states cautiously backed the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran , giving the White House a potentially important diplomatic win as it seeks to build support for its signature foreign-policy initiative. The positive response from the Gulf Cooperation Council—which is composed of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain—followed months of intense lobbying by the White House that included offers of increased arms sales, intelligence-sharing and military training. Secretary of State John Kerry held a daylong summit on Monday with the council’s foreign ministers to explain the terms of the nuclear agreement and the need for increased cooperation between Washington and the GCC to guard against Iran expanding its influence in the region. “This was the best option amongst other options in order to try to come up with a solution for the nuclear weapons of Iran though dialogue, and this came […]

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Nigeria to Lose Billions Without Oil Sales Reforms, Report Says

Nigeria must urgently reform the way it sells oil to prevent Africa’s biggest crude producer losing billions of dollars of revenue, according to a new report. The approach of the national oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., “suffers from high corruption risks and fails to maximize returns for the nation,” the New York-based National Resource Governance Institute said in a 73-page report published on Tuesday. The NNPC should end the practice of allocating about 445,000 barrels of oil a day to Nigeria’s four domestic refineries, which process less than a quarter of that total. The allocation has become the “main nexus of waste and revenue loss from NNPC oil sales,” according to the report. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said last month the U.S. will help trace and recover funds from the sale of about 250,000 barrels of oil that are stolen each day in the country. The oil industry, […]

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China’s Response to Stock Rout Exposes Regulatory Disarray

BEIJING—As China’s summer stock slide deepened, threatening a key plank of Beijing’s plan to overhaul the world’s No. 2 economy, the country’s premier pounded the table and demanded that regulators get their act together. Meeting with senior financial and economic officials in Beijing on July 4, Li Keqiang criticized them for failing to anticipate the severe market plunge, officials with knowledge of the gathering said. Then he urged them to act in a coordinated way to stanch the bleeding, these officials said. “I want strong measures to rescue the market,” ordered the usually mild-mannered premier, according to the officials. At the meeting were those in charge of China’s central bank, the country’s securities and banking regulatory agencies and the Finance Ministry. The regulators, who had previously acted in isolation and sometimes at cross-purposes, responded. China’s central bank unleashed a flood of money aimed at a state agency tasked with […]

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Natural Gas Pipeline from Iran to Iraq could be Ready in 20 Days

Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company says pipeline could be ready before the end of August Managing Director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company Alireza Gharibi said the company finished testing 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) of pipeline that will run from Iran to neighboring Iraq. Gharibi said the company hopes to export natural gas to Iraq in 20 days, reports Iran’s PressTV . “At present, we are discharging water from the pipeline and after a few final tests, which will take to the end of this month, the pipeline will be ready for exports,” Gharibi was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s official SHANA news agency. Gharibi said that the first phase of the projects operations will have a capacity of 5 million cubic meters (Mcf/d) of gas to Iraq and the figure will rise after the completion of the Sixth Iranian Gas Trunkline (IGAT-6). […]

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Saudi energy consumption is highest in MENA

The widely reported fall in Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in May — the first time in five months — led many to assume that this may counter the fall in crude oil prices. This is not the case. To start with, the fall in Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports was reported by Saudi Arabia itself to the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI), a global organisation that includes Opec, IEA and many other energy organisations and individual nations. The fall in crude exports hides the rise in domestic refining and product exports in addition to the seasonal rise in direct crude oil burn for power generation. While Saudi Arabia’s production in May stood at 10.333 million barrels a day (mbd) slightly higher than April’s, its exports were 6.935 mbd, down from 7.737 mbd a month earlier, domestic refineries ran 2.4 mbd, up from 2.2 mbd in April and 20 […]

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Russia-Iran-Iraq: The Emerging Natural Gas Mini-OPEC

Iran’s natural gas stands in the mind of many as a question mark in the post-sanctions global ties with Tehran. President Obama said in mid-July that Moscow was very helpful in getting the negotiations with Iran to a fruitful conclusion. “I was not sure given the strong differences we are having with Russia right now around Ukraine, whether this (Russia’s role) would sustain itself. Putin and the Russian government compartmentalized on this in a way that surprised me, and we would have not achieved this agreement had it not been for Russia’s willingness to stick with us and the other P5-Plus members in insisting on a strong deal.”, the President said. But why would Russia do that? If Moscow supplies the EU with almost one third of its natural gas requirements, wouldn’t it be self-damaging to Moscow to introduce another seller to its preferred client in the West? Iran’s […]

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Nigeria: Country Lost Over N6.4 Trillion to Corruption-Ridden NNPC Oil Sales – NRGI Report

Nigerian would have been buoyant enough to finance its 2015 budget of N4.36 trillion and still pay off its external debts of N2.03 trillion if it had not lost more than that amount — $32 billion (N6.4 trillion at N200/$1) — to massive corruption that characterized oil sales by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation during the last administration, a new report has said. An independent investigative analysis by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) has revealed that over $32 billion oil revenue was lost to NNPC’s mismanagement of Domestic Crude Allocation (DCA), opaque revenue retention practices and corruption-ridden oil-for-product swap agreements. The report offered a deep, independent analysis of how NNPC sells its oil, and found that the national oil company’s discretionary spending from domestic crude oil sale revenues has skyrocketed, exceeding $6 billion a year for the 2011 to 2013 period (i.e. over $18 billion in three years). […]

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Oil-and-Gas Debt Deals Sting Investors

It is shaping up as a cruel summer for debt investors wagering on a rebound in the oil-and-gas business. The investments may still hold advantages for the funds, despite the sharp declines in oil-related securities in July. The deals generally were struck at terms advantageous to the funds, including giving some preferred treatment in any restructuring, reflecting the intense cash squeeze on many oil producers late last year. The investments appeared well timed earlier this year, when oil prices rebounded as much as 30% after a deep decline in 2014. July’s commodity tumble—front-month crude futures fell 21% last month and another 4.1% Monday, to $45.17 a barrel—has extended the pain already felt around the sector. Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM -1.45 % and Chevron Corp. CVX -3.25 % said Friday they are both slashing stock-buyback programs, while Linn Energy LINE -18.81 % LLC said last week it planned to stop […]

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US Oil Production Finally Starting to Decline

There has been very little data to post about recently and as everyone should know by now, I post primarily about data. So if there is no data there is not much to post about. Also I have been very busy for the a week now and have checked in only a couple of times. A few days ago a very racist post was posted on this blog. I completely overlooked it as I seldom scan the posts because I get an email for every post so I just read the posts in the emails. But when there is a guest post, as the one last week was, I get no emails, the guest poster gets them instead. Anyway I deleted the post and banned the poster. I also banned another poster because he accused me of deliberately letting the post stay up. That outraged me. It was the […]

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EPA releases final Clean Power Plan; 32% reduction in CO2 from power plants by 2030

« MINI Connected app relaunches with greater focus on driving-related functions | Main | DOT releases Connected Vehicle Reference Implementation Architecture v2.0 » The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the final Clean Power Plan (CPP). The rules establish the first national standards to limit CO 2 emissions from fossil-fuel-fired power plants, with a target of a 32% reduction against a 2005 baseline by 2030. The 32% reduction target is 9% more aggressive than in the draft proposal of the CPP released in 2014. ( Earlier post .) The 2030 target is in alignment with the Administration’s earlier economy-wide emissions targets, including the goal of reducing emissions to 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and to 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. Under the Clean Power Plan, by 2030, renewables will account for 28% of national capacity, up from 22% in the proposed rule. Carbon dioxide is the […]

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Clean Power Plan ignores gas’s potential role, industry groups say

The Obama administration’s final rule to curb US power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions did not acknowledge natural gas’s potential contributions, officials from two national oil and gas associations initially said in separate statements following the regulation’s Aug. 3 release. “America is leading the world in reducing emissions thanks to a revolution in the production and use of gas,” said Howard J. Feldman, senior director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. “We can continue that progress without costly new regulations that could hurt consumers and stifle economic growth.” America’s Natural Gas Alliance Pres. Martin J. Durbin said while ANGA intends to examine the administration’s plan more closely, initial indications are that the White House discounted gas’s ability to reduce GHG emissions quickly and reliably while contributing to growth and helping consumers. “With the reported shift in the plan, we believe the White House is perpetuating the […]

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Cracking Open Re-fracking: A Flush Rush or Idle Probing?

Squirting fluid that made hydraulic fracturing work two years ago down the same old fractured well may not be the surest way to make a buck in an industry eager to turn a profit. Then again, the folks in the lab and in the field might be onto something. The desire to charm hydrocarbons from the ground without the expense of additional drilling is strong and has lingered for decades. Re-fracking has been in practice, with mixed results, on vertical wells for years. It’s only in the last few years that engineers have started returning to the source of all those hydraulically fractured wells with re-fracking. Most estimates indicate it costs $8 million to drill and complete a new well. Re-fracking a well costs about 25 percent of that figure, which is enticing some of the largest oilfield services companies into the lab. But exactly what “best practices” might […]

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U.S. Natural Gas Exports to Mexico Taking Off

Just as Space X rockets may be taking off from the beaches at Boca Chica near Brownsville, natural gas exports to Mexico look to also sky rocket in the coming years. Due to changes in Mexican law in 2013 opening the electricity market to private investment, billions of dollars in contracts have been let to build power plants, electrical distribution facilities and natural gas pipelines. In turn U.S. pipeline companies and gas producers have moved to capture the lion’s share of that market. Given the fact that Texas and Gulf Coast producers have been rapidly losing their old Northeast and Midwest markets to Marcellus producers this has proven to be a timely and vital new market. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates that natural gas exports to Mexico were 3% of production in April 2015 and are expected to grow to 5% by 2030. While not nearly as important […]

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North Dakota oil activity stable

Rig data show slump endures in North Dakota, though energy companies starting to improve operational efficiency. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/ekina BISMARCK, N.D., Aug. 3 (UPI) — The number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil in North Dakota is holding steady, though data show overall production is rebounding slightly. State data show 74 rigs in active service as of Monday , relatively unchanged from one month ago. North Dakota is the second largest oil producer in the nation and, while diversified, its economy depends in part on the surge of oil taken from shale basins in the state. The North Dakota Industrial Commission reported oil production in May, the last full month for which government data are published, at 1.2 million barrels per day, just shy of the all-time record posted in December 2014. More than 90 percent of the oil produced in North Dakota comes from the […]

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Obama says no challenge greater threat to U.S. future than climate change

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the Clean Power Plan at the White House in Washington August 3, 2015. President Barack Obama on Monday formally unveiled his administration’s ramped-up plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants and declared climate change the greatest threat facing the world. Speaking to a friendly crowd at the White House a few months before international climate talks in Paris, Obama said the world may not be able to reverse global warming if aggressive action to stop it is not taken. Obama rejected criticism that his plan would increase energy bills for Americans, hurt the poor, and cost jobs. "This is the right thing to do," he said.

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EPA power act target of potential court action

EPA measure aimed at curbing power plant emissions draws early threats of legal action. Photo by Reinhard Tiburzy/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UPI) — The U.S. mining industry said Monday it was considering legal action in response to tighter greenhouse gas rules unveiled by the Obama administration. The final version of the Clean Power Plan, envisioned last year, sets a goal of cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, by 32 percent of their 2005 baseline by 2030, 9 percent more than in the original proposal. The Environmental Protection Agency said the measure will enhance public health in a way to stimulates the economy and leads to a 30 percent increase in renewable energy generation by 2030. For consumers, the EPA said the average family will save about $85 annually once the all reforms are in place. The Clean Power Plan would require states to meet specific emission […]

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Big U.S. coal miner Alpha Natural files for bankruptcy

Alpha Natural Resources Inc, one of the largest U.S. coal companies, became the latest in the hard-hit industry to seek bankruptcy on Monday. The move comes as President Barack Obama is expected to unveil tough new measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. Alpha blamed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy on tougher regulatory standards and policies that favor renewable energy, as well tumbling prices for its coal. Alpha is the world’s third-largest supplier of metallurgical coal used in making steel and has also been hit by a slowdown in China. Walter Energy Inc and Patriot Coal Corp also filed for bankruptcy protection this year. Energy Future Holdings Corp, a power company that also has a large coal mining business, has been in bankruptcy since 2014. Alpha Natural, with total liabilities of $7.11 billion, has reported adjusted losses for the past 14 quarters. The company said on Monday […]

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‘Perfect Storm’ Engulfing Canada’s Economy Perfectly Predictable

That’s one dark perfect storm. Oil rig photo via Shutterstock. Economists, an irrational tribe of short-sighted mathematicians, are now calling Canada’s declining economic fortunes "a perfect storm." It seems to be the only weather that complex market economies generate these days, or maybe such things are just another face of globalization. In any case, economists now lament that low oil prices have upended the nation’s trade balance: "Canada has posted trade deficits every month this year, and the cumulative 2015 total of $13.6 billion is a record, exceeding the next highest, in 2009, of $2.95 billion." But this unique perfect storm gets darker. China, which Harperites eagerly embraced as the globe’s autocratic growth locomotive , has run out of steam. As the country’s notorious industrial revolution unwinds, China’s stock market has imploded. Communist party cadres are now putting their money in foreign housing markets in places like Vancouver. Throughout […]

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Kremlin official not surprised by sanctions

U.S. sanctions dig deeper into Russian energy sector as fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Kremlin fighters remain active. UPI/Ivan Vakolenko MOSCOW, Aug. 3 (UPI) — U.S. sanctions extending deeper into the Russian energy sector prompted legal threats from Kremlin-backed entities but come as no surprise, an official said. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted Ukrainian and Russian business leaders, including Russia gas trader Gennady Timchenko and Boris Rotenberg, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. OFAC Director John Smith said the sanctions are aimed at encouraging Russia to honor peace-keeping commitments signed earlier this year regarding conflict in eastern Ukraine. Sanctions, he said, are part of the Western-backed effort to keep pressure on Russia for violating international laws and "fueling the conflict in eastern Ukraine." Russia’s energy sector, a key source of government revenue, has been the target of Western sanctions since conflict […]

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IMF Says Sanctions Take Toll On Russia

MOSCOW—Russia’s economy faces the loss of as much as 9% of the inflation-adjusted value of the goods and services it produces if Western sanctions and Moscow’s retaliatory measures remain in place in the medium term, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. The West imposed the sanctions last year in response to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its support of rebels in eastern Ukraine. The IMF said their impact on Russia’s oil-dependent economy suggests a recovery could be slower than the Kremlin’s forecast. This year, the U.S. and European Union extended sanctions against Moscow, restricting access to global capital markets for Russian banks and companies. In response, Moscow prolonged its ban on food imports from states that sanctioned Russia. “The external shocks, added to pre-existing structural weaknesses, are certainly weighing on Russia’s growth prospects,” Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, IMF mission chief for Russia, said in a report. The IMF kept […]

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Russian oil sector slowly adapting to new tax regime

Seven months after Russia made the latest changes to its oil tax regime, the industry seems to have been able to adapt more easily to the new landscape than had been expected at the turn of the year. However, market experts have warned that the government must consider more fiscal reforms as the current system is continuing to distort the sector. The so-called tax maneuver, which includes a phased reduction in export duty for crude and oil products over 2015-2017 and an increase in oil extraction tax, was introduced in January. It significantly reduced refining margins at a time when oil prices were already falling sharply, limiting the financial leverage of refiners that were already suffering from the dual impact of international sanctions and a weak economy. Refining throughput slipped by 4% year on year in March, the first drop following four years of steady growth, prompting oil companies […]

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Oil Prices Drop to Four-Month Low on Supply Glut Concerns

HONG KONG–Oil prices slid to fresh four-month lows Monday as a rise in the number of U.S. oil rigs fueled supply glut concerns even as weak China manufacturing activity weighed on the demand outlook. The oil-rig count in the U.S. rose by five to 664 in the latest week, according to Baker Hughes Inc. BHI -0.92 % This offset the positive impact of signs that the country’s oil production might have peaked and has begun to decline in the past two months. The supply-side concerns also rose as Iran’s oil minister said the country can increase oil production in one week after international sanctions are lifted, ANZ said in a report. In China, the Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, fell to a two-year low of 47.8 in July, compared with 49.4 in June. Though Chinese oil imports have held steady despite a stream […]

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Oil Slumps to Six-Month Low on Iran Supply Plan, China Slowdown

Oil fell to a six-month low in London as Iran vowed to boost production immediately after sanctions are lifted and manufacturing in China slowed. Futures declined as much as 2.6 percent in London after capping a 18 percent drop in July, the biggest since December. Iran can raise output by 500,000 barrels a day within a week of sanctions ending, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. A Chinese private factory gauge released on Monday fell to a two-year low in July, while an official index on Saturday slipped to the lowest in five months. Crude slid into a bear market last month as expanding supplies and concern demand in China may falter with slower economic growth sparked losses in raw materials. Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers has fueled speculation about when and by how much it will lift output. Sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation should be […]

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Oil CEOs’ Grim Outlook Rubs Off on Speculators Fleeing Market

The world’s biggest oil companies are painting a grim picture of the future and speculators are listening. Hedge funds reduced bullish bets to the lowest level in five years as oil capped the worst month since the financial crisis. The net-long position in West Texas Intermediate contracted 7 percent in the seven days ended July 28, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. BP Plc said oil prices will be lower for longer and Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it’s preparing for a prolonged downturn. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. reported their worst earnings in years. Supply will outpace demand by 1 million barrels a day through 2016, according to Bank of America Corp. Prices need to stay below $40 a barrel for months for U.S. output to fall enough to erode the global surplus, IHS Inc. said. “The speculators are looking at the bad earnings and the […]

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Oil to hit low $30s by the end of 2015: Kilduff

The prospect of oil prices falling below $40 receded earlier this year amid a crude rally, but with futures sliding again, investors shouldn’t rule out a three-handle, Again Capital founding partner John Kilduff said Thursday. "Christmas time we’ll probably be rebounding off new lows off of the mid to low 30s," he told CNBC’s "Squawk Box." "We have a lot to go. We’re going to take out the March lows of $43 and trade down to the 30s in my view." U.S. crude was trading around $49 Thursday morning. The benchmark touched a four-month low this week. A growing global glut of diesel fuel could be the next catalyst, he said, noting that Saudi Arabia and China have ramped up their refining capacity and are now flooding the Asian market with diesel. "You hear analysts come on all the time talking about this golden era for refiners," he said. […]

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Iran’s President Says Nuclear Deal Will Help Revive Domestic Economy

TEHRAN—Iran’s landmark nuclear deal will revive a domestic economy that has struggled under a decade of sanctions and help ease political tensions in a volatile region, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a nationally televised speech Sunday. “We must create jobs and seek economic improvement” on the back of the deal, Mr. Rouhani said in the speech, delivered on the eve of the two-year anniversary of his inauguration in 2013. “Economic growth must reach 8%.” “Our principles remain the same on regional issues, but this deal will certainly create a new climate for quicker political settlement of these issues,” he added. The speech appeared to show Mr. Rouhani laying out his administration’s political accomplishment in the deal, reached July 14 in Vienna between Iran and six world powers including the U.S. Mending ties with the West and removing sanctions have been central priorities for Mr. Rouhani, a moderate within […]

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Saudis to raise September oil price, but wary of losing market share

Oil pumps are seen at a MAX oil station in Yangon April 21, 2014. Saudi Arabia is expected to raise prices for crude it sells to Asia in September due to a stronger Dubai benchmark, traders and analysts said on Monday, adding that the top oil exporter will be wary of a hike so big it would threaten its market share. OPEC’s efforts to discourage growth from rival supply sources are bearing fruit as the group continued to pump at record levels in July. Still, raising prices when Asian refiners are cutting runs because of weak margins could hurt demand for Saudi oil, the traders and analysts said. "It’s an awkward decision," a Singapore-based trader said. "They have to follow their formula to ensure price continuity, but at the same time they have to keep their prices competitive when compared with other grades in the market." State oil giant […]

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China July factory growth unexpectedly stalls: official PMI survey

Workers install the chassis along a production line at a truck factory of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd (JAC Motors) in Hefei, Anhui province May 5, 2014. Growth at China’s big manufacturing companies unexpectedly stalled in July as demand at home and abroad weakened, an official survey showed on Saturday, reinforcing views that the economy needs more stimulus as it faces fresh risks from a stock market slump. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 50.0 in July, compared to the previous month’s 50.2. The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted another tepid reading of 50.2, pointing to expansion, albeit a sluggish one. However, both export and domestic orders shrank for the large firms covered by the survey, and in response they continued to cut jobs. It did not mention any impact from a savage 30 percent drop […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple