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Baker Hughes: US Oil Drillers Cut Rigs For 4th Week On Weak Crude

Sept 25 (Reuters) – U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a fourth week in a row this week, data showed on Friday, a sign the continued weak prices were causing energy firms to reduce drilling plans. Drillers removed four oil rigs in the week ended Sept. 25, bringing the total rig count down to 640, the lowest since July, after cutting a total of 31 rigs over the three prior weeks, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. That compared with 1,592 oil rigs in the same week a year ago and an all-time high of 1,609 in October 2014. Combined with the reduction in natural gas rigs, total U.S. rigs were at a 12-year low. Natural gas rigs were down one this week to 197, up just one from its lowest level since at least 1987, according to the Baker Hughes data. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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California Restores Rule to Cut Carbon in Fuel by 10%

By Alejandro Lazo SAN FRANCISCO–California regulators on Friday voted to reinstate a rule to require a 10% cut in the carbon content of transportation fuels sold in the state by 2020, despite oil industry objections that it would raise gasoline prices. The California Air Resources Board voted 9-0 to move forward with the state’s low-carbon fuel standard, which was the first regulation of its kind in the U.S. when it was established in a 2007 executive order by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It had been frozen since 2013, as the state made revisions to the law following a court challenge. Oregon adopted its own carbon fuel standard in 2009. The California regulation further tightens the state’s emissions regulations, already the most stringent in the U.S. It requires fuel makers to reduce emissions by developing cleaner fuels or adopting greater use of biofuels. It also requires fuel producers to take into […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine, Russia Reach Preliminary Deal on Gas Supplies Through March

BRUSSELS—Ukraine and Russia on Friday reached a preliminary deal on natural-gas supplies to the conflict-torn country until the end of March that, if implemented, will avoid potential cutoffs and shortages for Ukraine and the rest of Europe this winter. The agreement, which still needs to be approved by the government in Kiev, brings down the cost of Russian gas for Ukraine to the same price that is paid by neighboring European Union countries until March. In return, Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn promised to ensure Russia can ship gas to the EU without interruptions and to pump 2 billion cubic meters of gas into underground storage facilities over the next month. “This is an important factor for a secure time for the winter period,” said Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister. The European Commission, the EU’s executive, has been working for much of the year to get the two sides […]

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White House: Sanctions, oil leave Russia damaged

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to hear U.S. concerns about eastern Ukrainian rebels. The White House says Russian isolation and low crude oil prices creating major economic problems. File photo by David Silpa/UPI WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) — Though low crude oil prices are playing a part, the White House said Russia’s refusal to meet international expectations is leading to economic decline. U.S. President Barack Obama is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the United Nations next week. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Russian intervention in Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels continue their operations, will top the agenda. "Russia’s international isolation and their continued refusal to abide by basic international norms, particularly when it comes to these combined Russian separatist forces, has taken a significant toll on their economy," Earnest said during his regular press briefing Thursday. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control […]

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Expense forecast for Norwegian oil field cut

Norwegian energy company det Norske says spending forecast for giant Johan Sverdrup oil field lowered. Photo courtesy of det Norske. OSLO, Norway, Sept. 25 (UPI) — A partner in giant Johan Svedrup oil field off the coast of Norway said the initial estimate of expense for the first phase of operations was cut by $1 billion. An initial development plan submitted in February to the Norwegian government called for first-phase capital expenditures of $14.7 billion. Det Norske, a project partner, said lead developer Statoil lowered the estimate by about $1 billion. "The updated estimate is showing reduced capital expenditures as a result of positive market response in contracts and purchase orders," the company said in a statement. The Norwegian government signed off on Statoil’s initial development plans for the giant Johan Sverdrup oil field in August. First oil is expected late 2019. The first phase of operations should yield […]

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Ruble’s Three-Week Rally Has Sberbank Predicting Longer Advance

The ruble strengthened in a third week of gains, heading toward a resistance level that Sberbank CIB said could be surpassed as crude prices stabilize and companies convert export earning to pay taxes. Russia’s currency climbed 0.8 percent to 65.5670 per dollar by 4:32 p.m. in Moscow. That’s closing in on an “important multi-month” range of 65.30-65.50, Tom Levinson, chief currency and interest rates strategist at Sberbank CIB in Moscow, said in e-mailed comments. "Although it is too soon to signal the all clear for the ruble, it is currently well supported by an oil price that looks more upwardly mobile and the regular end of the monthly tax period," Levinson said. If oil gets “traction” above $50 a barrel, the ruble can keep its gains even without the support from tax payments, he said. The ruble has recovered 8.1 percent from a record-low close a month ago as […]

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Europe’s gasoline-heavy refiners see profit in VW scandal

A lone bird sits atop of the Volkswagen power plant in Wolfsburg September 22, 2015. Some of Europe’s struggling refineries could get an unexpected boost from Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal if once-dominant gasoline regains its popularity. Europe’s refineries, many of which were built in the 1950s to support booming petrol demand, have been hit over the past 20 years by shrinking fuel demand and government incentives that skewed car sales toward diesel engines, which were seen as more efficient and emitted less carbon dioxide. The rise of the diesel car, which accounted for 50 percent of car sales last year, has forced Europe to rely on diesel imports while its refineries struggled to find overseas markets for excess gasoline, which has put heavy pressure on profits and prompted a wave of plant closures in recent years. Volkswagen’s diesel emissions rigging scandal in the United States could reverse the fortunes […]

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As Russian oil profits hold up, Goldman says ‘buy’; taxman says ‘tax’

When the head of the Kremlin’s oil major Rosneft, Igor Sechin, went to see Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev last month to report on his achievements, he proudly boasted about a bullish report from the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs. Goldman’s analysts said they had spotted a buying opportunity in the Russian oil sector. While energy companies around the world had been hit hard by a global fall in prices, Russia’s oil companies had been spared some of the damage thanks to a collapse in the rouble which lowered their costs. In fact, Goldman said, Russia’s oil industry, the world’s biggest by volume, was also its most profitable. A month later, investors don’t yet seem to have heeded Goldman’s advice to buy in. Most are still spooked away from Russia by international financial sanctions imposed by the United States and EU over the conflict in Ukraine. But the taxman has […]

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Oil Prices Gain on Falling U.S. Supply

Oil prices rose Thursday as traders focused on falling U.S. oil supplies. Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled up 43 cents, or 1%, at $44.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after wavering between gains and losses throughout the session. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 42 cents, or 0.9%, to $48.17 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. On Thursday, data provider Genscape Inc. told clients that crude supplies in Cushing, Okla., fell by more than 500,000 barrels in the week ended Tuesday, according to a market participant who viewed the data. The report came one day after the Energy Information Administration said that crude-oil stockpiles in the U.S. fell more than expected last week. Investors have been focused on signs that the glut of oil in the U.S. is shrinking. Oil companies sharply cut back on new drilling in the past year in response to the […]

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Oil edges up after tumble on buildup in U.S. gasoline stocks

A pump jack is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. Oil prices pared some losses on Thursday after sharp falls overnight on an unexpectedly large buildup in U.S. gasoline stocks and seasonally tepid demand. The global benchmark November Brent contract LCOc1 had climbed 44 cents to $48.19 a barrel as of 0151 GMT, after ending the previous session down $1.33 at $47.75 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 rose 47 cents to $44.95 a barrel, having slumped $1.88 on Wednesday to settle at $44.48. "A combination of a slightly better supply-side scenario in terms of prices and a bit of an improvement in industrial sentiment globally has brought in some support," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Australia. Data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed that U.S. crude oil stocks USOILC=ECI fell 1.9 million barrels in the week to Sept. 18, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple