Output per miner-hour rises as smaller coal mines close
graph of coal productivity and number of U.S. coal mines, as explained in the article text Coal mining productivity increased in 2013, averaging 5.5 short tons per miner hour, reversing a trend of declining productivity since at least 2000. Preliminary data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration indicate a further increase in 2014. Improved productivity at the largest mines, as well as the shrinking number of smaller coal mines, contributed to the rise in overall productivity. U.S. coal producers improved mining productivity by 6.7% in 2013, reaching 5.5 short tons per miner hour. Nine out of the 14 U.S. coal supply regions , representing 79% of 2013 coal production, showed productivity gains in 2013, the most recent year with detailed productivity statistics. While some productivity gains result from improved mining technology, most of the productivity improvement is attributable to the closing of less-efficient mines with lower labor productivity. […]
Oil Servicers Say ‘Fat Trimming’ Will Become New Norm
Oil Servicers Say Fat Trimming Will Become New Norm ABERDEEN, Scotland, Sept 11 (Reuters) – A slump in oil prices is forcing the oil and gas services industry for the first time in 15 years to trim costs in a way that executives say will create a lasting change away from their usual lavish way of doing business. Navigating a new environment in which oil prices have halved in a year and their customers are slashing investments, oil service firms face a rough ride. "The industry has been quite lazy in changing because oil prices have been helping us a lot," Samir Brikho, chief executive of oil service engineering company Amec Foster Wheeler, told Reuters. "At a time like this, you need to take a look at how you can take out the fat. Once we have done this we will never go back, this will become the new […]
Ruble Extends Losses as Russia Seen Resuming Monetary Easing
The ruble declined as oil dropped and the Bank of Russia’s economic outlook bolstered speculation for more interest-rate cuts this year. The exchange rate weakened 0.6 percent to 68.043 per dollar by 2:14 p.m. in Moscow. Brent crude, the nation’s main export earner, declined 2.1 percent to $47.86. The central bank forecasts the economy will shrink by 3.9 percent to 4.4 percent in 2015, it said in a statement after keeping borrowing costs unchanged at 11 percent following five reductions since January. The decision was expected by all but three of 36 economists polled by Bloomberg. “It’s clear that the central bank hasn’t made a U-turn in its policy, but temporarily halted its easing cycle,” Tatiana Orlova, a Russia & CIS economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London, said by e-mail. “We continue to believe that the next policy move will be a cut.” The central […]
Bank of Russia keeps key rate unchanged
The Central Bank of Russia keeps interest rate unchanged, but frets over trajectory of energy prices. Photo by DyMax/Shutterstock MOSCOW, Sept. 11 (UPI) — The Bank of Russia said Friday it would keep key interest rates unchanged, but said future momentum may depend on global energy prices. The bank’s Board of Directors said it was keeping the key rate at 11 percent annually because of higher inflationary risks and "persistent risks of considerable economy cooling." The Russian economy teetered on the brink of recession when entering fiscal year 2015. The Russian currency, the ruble, has been pressured by a weak economy in general and sanctions targeting the Russian energy sector. "The depreciated ruble will continue to put pressure on prices in the next few months," the bank said. Russian oil company Rosneft reported second-quarter profits at $1.99 billion, about 22 percent lower than the same period last year. The […]
Statoil: Johan Sverdrup development in full swing
Norwegian energy company Statoil installs equipment needed to start production at giant Johan Sverdrup oil field. Photo courtesy of Statoil STAVANGER, Norway, Sept. 11 (UPI) — With the doling out of a new drilling platform contract, Norwegian energy company Statoil said development for the giant Johan Sverdrup field is moving swiftly. For an undisclosed sum, Statoil, acting on behalf of the project consortium, awarded a contract to engineering and construction company Kvaerner Verdal to deliver steel infrastructure needed for the drilling platform at the Johan Sverdrup field. A Norwegian metal worker in late June started cutting steel for the jacket, the tower support structure, for a riser platform used for Johan Sverdrup. Delivery and installation for the jacket for the drilling platform is slated for early 2018. "The Johan Sverdrup project activity will rise considerably in the time ahead as we take new steps in the development," Kjetel Digre, […]
Oil Extends Weekly Drop on Glut as Goldman Cuts Price Forecasts
Oil deepened its weekly decline amid the global glut as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its price forecasts on signs the surplus will persist. Futures slid as much as 2 percent in New York, paring Thursday’s 4 percent gain. U.S. crude inventories climbed a second week through Sept. 4 to keep supplies about 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, according to the Energy Information Administration. The world’s oversupply is even bigger than Goldman thought and that could drive prices as low as $20 a barrel, the bank said in an e-mailed report Friday. Oil has fluctuated since slumping below $40 a barrel almost three weeks ago as concern over growth in China fueled volatility in global markets. A Senate vote paved the way for President Barack Obama to ease financial penalties for doing business with Iran, which may allow an increase in oil exports. U.S. stockpiles continue […]
Oil Could Drop as Low as $20, Goldman Says
The global surplus of oil is even bigger than Goldman Sachs Group Inc. thought and that could drive prices as low as $20 a barrel. While it’s not the base-case scenario, a failure to reduce production fast enough may require prices near that level to clear the oversupply, Goldman said in a report e-mailed Friday. The bank cut its forecast for Brent and WTI crude through 2016 on the expectation that the glut will persist on OPEC production growth, resilient supply from outside the group and slowing demand expansion. “The oil market is even more oversupplied than we had expected and we now forecast this surplus to persist in 2016,” Goldman analysts including Damien Courvalin wrote in the report. “We continue to view U.S. shale as the likely near-term source of supply adjustment.” Goldman trimmed its 2016 estimate for West Texas Intermediate to $45 a barrel from a May […]
Oil weakens as Saudi sees no need for oil summit to defend prices
A customer prepares to fill up his tank in a gasoline station in Nice December 5, 2014. Crude oil prices dipped on Friday and were poised for a weekly fall after news that top oil exporter Saudi Arabia sees no need for a producer summit to defend prices, partly offsetting a strong rally in the previous session. The front-month October contract for Brent, the global oil benchmark, shed 5 cents to $48.84 a barrel as of 0217 GMT after it settled up $1.31, or 2.8 percent, on Thursday at $48.89 a barrel. The U.S. crude October contract also lost 14 cents to $45.78 a barrel after it settled up $1.77, or 4 percent, at $45.92 a barrel. Saudi believes a summit of oil producing countries’ heads of states would fail to produce concrete action toward defending oil prices, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The comments followed […]
Oil prices fall as Asia’s leading economies slow further
An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, July 21, 2014. Oil prices fell on Thursday as weak Japanese and Chinese economic data fueled concerns that low levels of investment could further erode already slowing global growth. Japan’s core machinery orders fell 3.6 percent in July, official data showed, much worse than a 3.7 percent increase expected by economists, and followed a 7.9 percent month-on-month decline in June. In Asia’s biggest economy China, the producer price index fell 5.9 percent in August from the same period last year, its 42nd consecutive month of decline and the biggest drop since the depths of the global financial crisis in late 2009, data showed on Thursday. With many economies facing headwinds, ANZ bank said global growth for 2016 and 2017 would hold around 3.5 percent, revised down from the 4 percent it had previously forecast. ANZ added that […]