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Angola’s Credit Outlook Cut to Negative by S&P on Oil Price Drop

Angola’s credit-rating outlook was cut to negative by Standard & Poor’s, which predicted the country’s fiscal deficit will widen in the face of lower oil prices. S&P affirmed Angola’s B+ rating, four steps below investment grade, the company said in a statement on Friday. “The negative outlook indicates that we could lower our long-term rating on Angola if the country’s external or fiscal positions continue to deteriorate over the next year,” S&P said. Angola, Africa’s largest crude producer after Nigeria, relies on the fuel to generate about 70 percent of taxes and 95 percent of export income. As the price of oil plunged more than 50 percent in the past 12 months, the government slashed this year’s budget by a quarter, cut fuel subsidies and froze hiring. Government spending accounted for more than a third of Angola’s $129 billion gross domestic product in 2014.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela’s food shortage keeps getting worse

People queue to buy staple items outside a state-run Bicentenario supermarket in Caracas, August 4, 2015. See Also As dawn breaks over the scorching Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, smugglers, young mothers, and a handful of kids stir outside a supermarket where they spent the night, hoping to be first in line for scarce rice, milk, or whatever may be available. Some of the people in line are half-asleep on flattened cardboard boxes; others are drinking coffee. Almost all are bemoaning their situation. With shortages of basic goods and looting on the rise, more Venezuelans say they are resorting to nighttime waits in front of closed stores. "I can’t get milk for my child. What are we going to do?" said Leida Silva, 54, breaking into tears outside the Latino supermarket in northern Maracaibo, where she arrived at 3 a.m. on a recent day. The food shortages in Venezuela, a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Exclusive: U.S. approves landmark crude oil export swaps with Mexico

Oil pump jacks are seen next to a strawberry field in Oxnard, California February 24, 2015. The Obama administration will allow limited sales of U.S. crude to Mexico for the first time, a senior administration official told Reuters, marking another milestone in loosening a contentious ban on exporting domestic oil. The Commerce Department is "acting favorably on a number of applications" to export U.S. crude in exchange for imported Mexican oil, the official said. Such oil swaps are one of several possible exemptions allowed in the four-decade-old law that otherwise bans most overseas shipments. The approvals come eight months after Mexico formally sought permission for a swap, a historic step for a nation where oil self-sufficiency has long been a source of pride. The shipments, likely to be lighter, high-quality shale oil, will help Mexico’s aging refineries produce more premium fuels. U.S. refiners will continue to get Mexican heavy […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BP Refinery Outage Could Push Down Oil Prices

The outlook for Canada’s oil sands is pretty grim, but it just got hit with an unexpected blow. An outage at a Midwest refinery could lead to deeper discounts for Canadian oil for several months. BP’s Whiting refinery in Indiana was forced offline for unexpected repairs. Without going into too much detail, BP said that it “shut down the largest of its three crude distillation units for unscheduled repair work.” It also said that production has been cut back at the refinery, which has the capacity to process 413,000 barrels per day, or 19 million gallons of refined fuel each day. The disruption of the Indiana-based Whiting refinery could lead to a spike in gasoline prices in the Midwest as the region suddenly encounters shortages of fuel supplies. Gas prices in Chicago are above $3 per gallon, while the national average is $2.61. The impacts could reverberate beyond the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Lowly Lightbulb Outshines Solar and Wind on U.S. Power Grids

Utility and power grid managers in the U.S. are learning that the best way to cut carbon emissions and improve efficiency is the easiest: Just change your lightbulbs. The nation’s largest grid, serving more than 61 million customers from Washington to Chicago, is revising its demand forecasts after recognizing that better lighting has undercut its projections. Swapping all of Thomas Edison’s incandescent lightbulbs with lamps containing light emitting diodes, or LEDs, would save enough electricity to power 20 million American homes, according to the Energy Department. In February, the Super Bowl became the first National Football League championship played under LEDs Americans’ energy-conservation efforts, from switching bulbs to upgrading washing machines and air conditioners, have done more to reduce carbon emissions than the increased use of solar, wind and natural gas, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Efficiency can help meet half of the emissions cuts sought under President […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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AAA: BP refinery outage means several weeks of expensive gas

Gasoline prices in the Great Lakes states surging far above national average after BP reported an outage at its Whiting refinery. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) — It could be the end of September before gas prices in the Great Lakes region move lower, though BP is likely losing big after a major refinery issue, AAA said. BP reported one of the largest of three crude oil distillation units at its refinery in Whiting, Ind., was shut down Saturday . A spokesperson said the outage has reduced production at the refinery, the sixth largest in the nation and a key gasoline supplier to the regional market. Gasoline prices in the region increased dramatically as a result of the outage, skewing the national average price upward. AAA reports a state average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Indiana at $2.89, up 48 cents […]

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Rig company Hercules Offshore files for bankruptcy

Hercules Offshore files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to navigate weak crude oil market. Company in 2013 spent more than $3 million after part of its rig, Hercules 265, collapsed in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. HOUSTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Rig company Hercules Offshore announced it filed for bankruptcy as part of a financial restructuring effort in an era of lower crude oil prices. "We are working toward a new capital structure which will provide a better foundation for Hercules to meet the challenges in the global offshore drilling market due to the down cycle in crude oil prices," Hercules President and Chief Executive Officer John T. Rynd said in a statement. In its quarterly report filed last month , Hercules said its net operating days in the United States declined by more than half year-on-year […]

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TransCanada: Study shows pipeline safer than rail

TransCanada points to study that says using pipelines to transport oil and natural gas is safer than rail. Photo courtesy of TransCanada. CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Pipeline company TransCanada pointed to a study that suggests the increase in the rail transport of crude oil is a risky option for the industry. TransCanada spokesperson Mark Cooper in an emailed statement said a report from The Fraser Institute shows transport of crude oil and natural gas in Canada by pipelines is 4.5 times safer than rail. For its long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline through the United States, the company said pipelines are also substantially less carbon intensive than other modes of transit. "Federally regulated pipelines in Canada currently move just under 15 times more hydrocarbons than do the railroads," Kenneth P. Green, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. "But with increased production and continued opposition to new pipeline […]

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Bakken Production Data and STEO Predictions

The Bakken Production Statistics and the ND Production Statistics with June production numbers has been published. Bakken & ND BPD Bakken production was up by 10,887 barrels per day to 1,152,455 BPD while all North Dakota production was up by 8,565 barrels per day to 1,211,180 BPD. Bakken production is still 11,068 bpd below their December high while all North Dakota production is still 17,240 bpd below their December high. Bakken BPD Per Well Bakken barrels per day per well dropped by 2 to 116 and all North Dakota barrels per day per well dropped by 1 to 97. From the Director’s Cut , bold mine. May Producing Wells = 12,679 June Producing Wells = 12,864 (preliminary)(NEW all-time high) May Permitting: 150 drilling and 0 seismic June Permitting: 192 drilling and 0 seismic July Permitting: 233 drilling and 1 seismic (all time high was 370 in 10/2012) May Sweet […]

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U.S. Oil Rig Count Rises for Fourth Consecutive Week

The number of U.S. oil-drilling rigs, a proxy for activity in the oil industry, had fallen sharply amid a 14-month tailspin in oil prices as surging U.S. production and an unwillingness by the world’s cartel to reduce production led to a global glut. U.S. oil prices set a six-year low Thursday as concerns about global economic growth, a stronger U.S. dollar and a major U.S. refinery outage weighed on the market. Total U.S. rigs are down 1,029 from a year ago, with oil rigs down 917, gas rigs down 110 and other rigs down by two, Baker Hughes said, though the pace of declines has slowed. Meanwhile, two gas rigs were taken off service in the latest week, bringing the total down to 211. The U.S. offshore rig count was 35 in the latest week, down three rigs from the previous week and 27 from the year-ago period.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple