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Oil refiners aim for trader mentality to survive

Europe’s oil refiners are adopting the wily and flexible ways of traders to ensure survival as the sector faces further shrinkage, delegates at an industry conference said. Hard times have pushed them to pick and choose from a wider range of crudes, ferry feedstock between their own refineries to get the optimal mix of products and seek out deeper discounts from suppliers. "Commercial operations need to be totally, fully integrated with the technical aspects," Dario Scaffardi, general manager of Italian refiner Saras ( SRS.MI ) told the Platts refining summit. "It’s been the single most important thing that we’ve concentrated on. You have to look for the most challenging crudes." Scaffardi said his refinery processed 30-35 different types of crude oil in 2015 – double the previous year. The U.S. shale oil revolution changed flows of oil worldwide and pushed some crudes, such as Nigeria’s light sweet oil, out […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The 800 Ways Taxpayer Money Supports Fossil Fuel Industries

Emissions rise from stacks at a power plant in Indiana. Photographer: Luke Sharett/Bloomberg Measures for oil, gas and coal worth $167 billion last year As world leaders converge on New York for a United Nations gathering that’s expected to have a strong emphasis on climate change, the OECD is pointing out 800 ways rich industrial nations support fossil fuels with taxpayer money, along with a handful of countries that are catching up quickly. The measures were worth $167 billion last year for the oil, natural gas and coal industries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based institution that advises 34 industrial nations. While that number has fallen from almost $200 billion in 2012, it easily exceeds the value of subsidies for renewables such as wind and solar. The findings released Monday are designed to stimulate debate on what constitutes fair support for energy technologies. World […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Texas RRC Oil & Gas Production

The Texas RRC Oil & Gas Production numbers are out. They came out on a weekend this month. All RRC data is through July. The EIA data is through June. Keep in mind that the RRC data is incomplete, that is why the chart lines droop on the end. However the EIA data is from the EIA’s Petroleum Supply Monthly , the data of which the EIA says now comes directly from the states, and reflects the complete best estimate of oil production. Texas C+C According to the EIA data, Texas crude + condensate peaked, so far, in March and declined in April, May and June. However the incomplete data from the RRC shows production likely dropping sharply in April, up in May then flat for June and July. Dean C+C Dr. Dean Fantazzini has an algorithm that uses past and present RRC data and predicts what the final […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Dragon Ships Are Coming

Something exciting is happening and it involves dragon ships that will transport Marcellus Shale gas to European markets as an alternative to Russian gas. Range Resources and INEOS have partnered to export Ethane from Marcellus Shale across the Atlantic Ocean, to European Countries, via ship. At 2:43 in the video following they show the Markwest cracker plant, here in Houston, Pennsylvania (Washington County), where they will be supplying Ethane for this. The Ethane is being shipped via the Mariner East I Pipeline , which recently opened, to the Marcus Hook facility in Philadelphia, where “dragon ships” will be loaded for transport to Europe. INEOS also partnered with Danish Shipping Company Evergas in 2013 to transport it to the European Countries who need Ethane to keep their chemical plants in operation. This project is employing ten’s of thousands of workers, in several countries to build the ships. some four ships […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pavilion Predicts Micex Drop as Russian Stocks Resume Oil Link

The rally in Russian stocks traded in Moscow probably won’t last much longer as the benchmark index re-establishes its correlation with oil, which has plunged to less than half its five-year average price, according to Pavilion Global Markets Ltd. The ruble-denominated Micex Index has gained 22 percent this year, compared with a 13 percent drop in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. In dollar terms, the Russian gauge is up 3.5 percent in 2015. The equity rally comes as Brent crude, the benchmark used to price the country’s exports, sells for less than $50 a barrel, about 30 percent below this year’s high. Slumping oil prices and sanctions linked to the Ukraine conflict have pushed the world’s largest energy exporter into its first recession since 2009. While the depreciation of the ruble, which has weakened 19 percent in the past three months, might explain some of the resilience in locally […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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European Union Said to Ramp Up Two-Year-Old Oil-Benchmarks Probe

Major oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and price publisher Platts were told by regulators to redact business secrets from documents obtained during antitrust raids in a sign the European Union may be moving ahead with a two-year-old probe, according to four people familiar with the investigation. The redaction request may be a precursor to the European Commission’s sending a formal complaint, or statement of objections, to some of the firms, said the people, who asked not to be named because the investigation into fuel-benchmark rigging isn’t public. Amid a climate of distrust toward global price benchmarks, EU antitrust officials turned their attention to market data for crude oil and biofuels in May 2013. The EU must share all evidence collected in a case with any company that gets a formal complaint — which is usually a precursor to antitrust fines. For more, click here. Compliance Action Next […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EPRI-NRDC report finds widespread vehicle electrification and a cleaner grid could lead to substantial cuts in GHG by 2050

Widespread adoption of electric transportation, including electrification in the off-road sector, could lead to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and could modestly improve air quality, according to a new analysis released by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The report, “ Environmental Assessment of a Full Electric Transportation Portfolio ”, is based on a projection that by 2050 electricity replaces traditional fuels for approximately half of light- and medium-duty transportation and a significant portion of non-road equipment. This study builds on the 2007 Environmental Assessment of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles by EPRI and NRDC ( earlier post ), which showed that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could contribute to reductions in national greenhouse gas emissions, while also leading to improved air quality. As with the earlier assessment, this study consists of two separate, but related, analyses: greenhouse gas emissions from 2015-2050, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil prices weak on economic concerns, OPEC target on market share

A service truck drives past an oil well on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, November 1, 2014. Oil markets were weak on Friday as fresh signs that OPEC will continue to value market share over prices outweighed expectations of a lift when the United States kept interest rates at historic lows. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $46.74 per barrel at 0535 GMT, down 16 cents from their last settlement. Brent prices were at $49.12 per barrel, up 4 cents. Kuwait, a key producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Thursday the oil market would balance itself but that this would take time, indicating support for the group’s policy of defending market share despite falling prices. Other sources at OPEC backed this view saying they expected oil prices to rise by no more than $5 a barrel […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Syria peak oil weakened government’s finances ahead of Arab Spring in 2011

Fig 1: Refugees walking on Hungarian motorway towards Austria in Sep 2015. [Image via Wikipedia, Creative .20 license.] In May 2013 the Guardian had an article “Peak oil, climate change and pipeline geopolitics driving Syrian conflict” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/may/13/1 In March 2015, a group of researchers led by climatologist Colin Kelley (University of California) published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with the title “Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought” “Between 2006 and 2009, the people of Syria suffered during the most severe drought that country has experienced since the beginning of its instrumental record. As water became scarce, crops failed and cattle died on a huge scale. As many as 1.5 million Syrians, out of a population of just over 20 million, moved from the countryside to the outskirts of already overflowing cities” In this article we analyse […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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U.S. Agrees to Begin Military Talks With Russia on Syria

LONDON — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that the United States was prepared to engage in military-to-military talks with Russia concerning Syria , even as Russia continued its military buildup there by deploying fighter jets. “The president believes that a mil-to-mil conversation is an important next step,” Mr. Kerry said, “and I think, hopefully, will take place very shortly.” Shortly after Mr. Kerry spoke, the Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter had spoken by telephone with Sergei K. Shoigu, the Russian minister of defense. It was Mr. Carter’s first discussion with his Russian counterpart since he took office seven months ago. The two men agreed to continue discussions on “mechanisms for deconfliction” in Syria, Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement. Russia has been stepping up its support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in recent weeks. It has developed an […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple