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US House Panel Passes Bill To Repeal Oil Export Ban

A US House of Representatives subcommittee passes a bill to repeal the US ban on oil exports, providing momentum in the chamber for overturning the 40-year old trade restriction. WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) – A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee passed a bill on Thursday to repeal the U.S. ban on oil exports, providing momentum in the chamber for overturning the 40-year old trade restriction. The House Energy and Power subcommittee passed the bill by a voice count. The legislation, sponsored by Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas, is expected to be voted on by the full Energy and Commerce committee next week. Passage by the full panel would set it up for a wider vote by the Republican-led House, where it is expected to pass. The measure, however, still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate. Barton said the energy landscape has changed since 1975 and repealing […]

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US oil producers thirsty for cash eye wastewater unit spin-offs

Some U.S. oil producers are trying to sell parts of their lucrative saltwater disposal businesses in a sign that cheap crude is already forcing cash-starved companies to sell assets so oil can keep flowing. Many oil companies rely on outside contractors, which tend to be small, privately-held companies, to inject the briny byproduct of crude production hundreds or thousands feet deep into the earth, well below the water table. But for producers which own such facilities, the high-margin business has served as a source of cost savings and steady revenue, factors that also make them appealing to yield-seeking investors in master limited partnerships (MLPs) and private equity funds. SandRidge Energy Inc and Oasis Petroleum Inc are two publicly traded oil producers openly marketing their saltwater divisions. SandRidge is planning to raise cash by listing it as an MLP and Oasis is seeking at least a partial sale. "The psychology […]

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Mounting distillate stocks spur US Atlantic Coast tank changes

US distillate stocks rose yet again in the week ended September 4 to the highest level since 2011, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday, marking the latest move in an upward trend that has pushed some East Coast storage operators to switch gasoline tanks to distillate service in recent weeks. The stocks were up 952,000 barrels to 150.90 million barrels, marking the 11th consecutive week in which the number rose and the strongest level since October 7, 2011, when they were 154 million barrels, according to the data. The ULSD stocks have built on a strong contango in the market throughout most of the summer, leading companies to buy and store product to capture cheaper prices and the carry in the market. "I don’t think we’ve had the structure [in past years] that we’ve had in the market for most of the summer," one distillate source said. "I […]

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Ontario refineries shove foreign oil aside

Enbridge pipelines credited for shifting eastern Canadian refineries away from foreign crude oil. Photo by Heather Snow/Shutterstock CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 10 (UPI) — Refineries in Ontario have shifted from foreign to domestic supplies of crude oil in the 14 years ending in 2014, the national energy regulator said. The National Energy Board attributed pipeline developments from Enbridge for the turnaround beginning in 2000, when 46 percent of the crude oil refined in Ontario came from foreign supplies. By 2014, foreign supplies were nearly eliminated from the provincial downstream sector as more domestic crude oil moved east. In the five years ending in 2010, Enbridge expanded a pipeline system to move more western Canadian crude oil to Ontario and U.S. refineries so that, by 2010, domestic crude accounted for 79 percent of Ontario feedstock. Since 2013, Enbridge completed further pipeline expansions and overhauls. "By 2014, almost all of the crude […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brooklyn Plans to Avoid Blackouts With Utility-Disrupting ‘Microgrids’

If you want to see how U.S. utilities could lose control of the electricity industry, keep an eye on Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood, which spent a week in the dark after Hurricane Sandy hit New York in 2012. Red Hook is planning to use a mix of solar panels, battery storage and small wind turbines to create a “microgrid” that can power local apartment buildings, businesses and a community center, as well as ensure the neighborhood can successfully endure another big storm. New York state has approved preliminary plans for 83 such microgrids . While most, including Red Hook’s, remain in the planning stages, some have drawn support from companies that include General Electric Co., NRG Energy Inc., Siemens AG and Hitachi Ltd. It’s an effort that may help erode the hold big utilities have had over U.S. power generation for more than a century. “The time for pilots […]

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Russia: Global Shale Output Decline Will Stabilize Oil Market

MOSCOW, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Russia’s energy minister expects that cuts in global shale oil production, which has been hard hit by lower oil prices, will help stabilize the fragile oil market. Alexander Novak also reaffirmed that Russia, one of the world’s top oil producers, would not cut its own production as it would lead only to a short-term recovery with risks of subsequent slumps in prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for around a third of global oil output, changed its policy in 2014 to defend market share and discourage competing supply sources, rather than cut its own output in the face of lower prices. "Shale oil has been leaving the market bit by bit. This is a good and positive signal, which allows one to say that the market will stabilize in mid-term," Novak told Rossiya-24 TV in an interview aired on Thursday. […]

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Why Vladimir Putin Won’t Be Helping OPEC to Cut Oil Production

Few things have more potential to spook the oil market than the prospect of Russia joining forces with OPEC. Speculation that such a move was afoot last month drove crude to its biggest three-day gain in 25 years. Despite the market buzz, there are sound economic and technical reasons why this is unlikely to happen. “Russia and OPEC have talked about cooperation in cutting production many times in the past, but the results of that were always dismal and disappointing,” said Nordine Ait-Laoussine, president of Geneva-based consultant Nalcosa and former energy minister of Algeria. “Russia has assumed that when oil prices go down, OPEC countries are in a weaker position and are more likely to be the first to cut its production, and they always did.” Russia vies with Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for the title of world’s largest oil producer. When Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said last […]

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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 […]

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Oil Prices Edge Higher Ahead of Data

LONDON—Oil prices were up slightly on Monday, as traders positioned themselves ahead of the release of key U.S. supply data. Late Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, reported that U.S. oil inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week— a bearish sign of the continuing oversupply of crude. But market participants are awaiting data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which are typically seen as more definitive, later on Thursday. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect inventories to have increased by 1 million barrels last week. The EIA said on Wednesday that U.S. oil production fell to a nearly one-year low in August and was likely to keep falling well into 2016, an indication that the year-old price rout is affecting the country’s booming oil industry. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.2% to $47.68 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the […]

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Oil Prices Sell in Face of Lower U.S. Output

Government forecasters lowered their estimates for oil prices and oil traders sold off Wednesday despite further signs that the collapse of crude prices is putting long-term pressure on the U.S. oil boom. The country’s oil production fell to a nearly one-year low and is likely to keep falling for months longer than expected, until next September, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its monthly short-term forecast. Drilling has become unprofitable now that crude prices have fallen by more than half since 2014’s peak, the agency said. But for any cut coming from the U.S. and many other nations around the world, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will fill the void, EIA said. It raised its expectations for OPEC production, keeping world production virtually unchanged through next year. It is the latest sign that there is no end for a year-long battle to keep customers by flooding […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple