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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 .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple