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Saudi Arabia crude exports dip to 7.276 million bpd in July: JODI

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria, June 5, 2015. Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports dipped by 89,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, while volumes used by local refineries and the country’s refined products shipments rose from a month earlier, official data showed on Sunday. The world’s biggest crude exporter trimmed its production by around 200,000 bpd in July pumping 10.361 million bpd, but Riyadh shows no signs of wavering on its strategy of defending market share and feeding a growth in global as well as domestic demand. The OPEC heavyweight shipped 7.276 million bpd in July down from 7.365 million bpd in June, figures published by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) showed. Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to JODI, which […]

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Nigeria gets financial lift from Chevron

Nigeria gets financial support for onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration campaigns from Chevron subsidiary. File photo by A.J. Sisco/UPI LONDON, Sept. 21 (UPI) — Nigeria’s national oil company said it secured more than $1 billion in financing for onshore and offshore drilling operations from a Chevron subsidiary. An agreement signed during the weekend in London envisions $1.2 billion for the development for 23 onshore and 13 offshore wells in Nigeria. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. said the funding is an integral part of an exploration and production financing program meant to address "the perennial challenge" on the part of the government’s support for upstream activities. The company said the projects could combine for between $2 billion and $5 billion in revenue for the federal government. Stage one, consisting of 19 wells, could deliver up to 21,000 barrels of oil and 120 million cubic feet of natural gas […]

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China steel, iron ore futures slip further on weak demand

A labourer welds steel bars at the construction site of a residential area in Taiyuan, Shanxi province March 15, 2010. Chinese steel rebar and iron ore futures both lost ground on Tuesday as traders worried about market prospects in coming months, with domestic demand still showing few signs of any seasonal improvement. Steel mills and iron ore miners are gathering in the coastal city of Qingdao this week for their annual China conference. The event is usually an opportunity for traders to make deals, but pessimism is expected to dominate this year’s proceedings. "There has just been no pick-up in demand at all recently and the market is still very cold," said a sales manager with a steel mill based in the city of Tangshan in Hebei province. "Our sales volume so far this season is pretty much the same as it was in the summer off-season – there […]

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China’s rising output, price rout deepen aluminum industry gloom

Aluminum ingots are piled up at a bonded storage area at the Dagang Terminal of Qingdao Port, in Qingdao, Shandong province June 7, 2014. Sinking aluminum prices and a ballooning surplus of the metal have deepened the industry’s worst crisis in years, intensifying pressure on high-cost smelters to embark on another round of production cuts to revive prices from their malaise. The 25 percent drop since last September has pushed benchmark London Metal Exchange prices to six-year lows, and the unprecedented plunge this year in premiums, surcharges paid for physical delivery, to their lowest in 3-1/2 years are the biggest test for producers’ margins since the 2008 financial crisis. More than 10 percent of smelting capacity outside of China, or 3.5 million tonnes of production, is running in the red with a combined LME and U.S. premium of $1,800 per ton, according to Wood Mackenzie data from second-quarter results. […]

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North Dakota rig count continues decline

The number of rigs engaged in exploration and production in North Dakota was down more than half from last year. Photo by David Gaylor/Shutterstock BISMARCK, N.D., Sept. 21 (UPI) — The number of rigs engaged in exploration and production in North Dakota, the No. 2 oil producer in the nation, is on a steady decline, state data show. Data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission show 67 rigs employed across the state, down about 3 percent from last week and 65 percent less than this date in 2014. The 196 rigs engaged in exploration and production activity on Sept. 21, 2014, was the highest in three years . Oil field services company Baker Hughes reported last week the number of rigs deployed across the United States fell 1.2 percent to 644 for the third-straight week of declines. Low crude oil prices mean energy companies have less capital to invest […]

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U.S. propane inventories are at an all-time high

graph of weekly propane and propylene inventories, as explained in the article text U.S. inventories of propane and propylene reached 97.7 million barrels as of September 11, the highest level in the 22 years that EIA has collected weekly propane inventory statistics. In the first six months of 2015, U.S. propane and propylene inventories were 24.3 million barrels higher on average compared to the same period in 2014. In the past year, nearly all of the increase in inventories occurred in the Gulf Coast region (PADD3). As production of propane and other hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) has grown, the ability to transport, store, and export these commodities has expanded . During the first six months of 2015, production of propane at natural gas plants was 31.3 million barrels, or 172,000 barrels per day (b/d), higher than during the first half of 2014. Exports increased by 33.3 million barrels (182,000 […]

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Suncor’s Fort Hills Deal Shows Slump Hitting Oil-Sands Assets

Suncor Energy Inc.’s bargain on a further 10 percent stake in its Fort Hills oil-sands project shows how the energy market crash is reducing asset values in one of the most expensive places on Earth to extract crude. Canada’s largest energy producer will pay Total SA C$310 million ($234 million) for an additional 10 percent share in the C$15 billion oil sands mine being built in northern Alberta, the companies said Monday. That’s less than a third of the value Teck Resources Ltd., another partner in the project, ascribes to its stake. Teck said its 20 percent is worth C$2.3 billion in a July release. The deal is also 31 percent less than the C$450 million Desjardins Capital Markets assumes a 10 percent stake in Fort Hills is worth. Desjardins based its estimate on a reduced long-term U.S. oil price of $80 a barrel starting in 2017, Justin Bouchard, […]

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The Surprisingly Big Market for Sand Just Collapsed

In New Auburn , Wisconsin, a desolate, little outpost carved from the rolling pine-tree forests that run into Lake Superior, the collapse in oil is wreaking havoc on every aspect of the economy. It’s not that there’s any oil here. None in fact for hundreds of miles around. What they’ve got is sand. Real good sand, piled high in giant mounds. And in what is a little-known offshoot of the shale oil revolution that swept across America over the past decade, the market for sand — the grit that props open the rocks and makes fracking possible — exploded too, transforming almost overnight what had been a sleepy industry that sold primarily to the likes of glass makers and golf courses. So when the shale boom went bust, it took down the sand industry with it. Prices have sunk almost a third to under $40 per ton. A winter […]

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Senate Democrats to Unveil Aggressive Climate Change Bill

Photo The Rosebud coal mine in Colstrip, Mont. A measure that Senate Democratic leaders plan to unveil on Tuesday would establish a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 2 percent each year through 2025. Credit Kristina Barker for The New York Times WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders on Tuesday plan to unveil a measure intended to signal their full-throated support of President Obama ’s aggressive climate change agenda to 2016 voters and to the rest of the world. The Democrats hope that the bill, sponsored by Senator Maria Cantwell, of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee, will demonstrate a new unity for the party on energy and climate change, and define Democrats’ approach to global warming policy in the coming years. The measure would establish as United States policy a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent each year through 2025 — a cut even […]

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Russian Government Readies for Prospect of $30 Oil

MOSCOW, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Russia’s government has been discussing ways to tackle the tough economic environment if oil falls to as low as $30 per barrel next year, RBC daily reported on Monday, citing government sources. That scenario was discussed at a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier this month, the newspaper cited two unnamed government sources as saying. The price of oil is crucial for the Russian budget, which normally generates half of its revenues from oil and gas sales. The Russian Economy Ministry forecasts that oil prices will average $52 per barrel in 2015 and $55 in 2016. On Friday, a deputy energy minister said if crude falls below $40 a barrel from around $50 currently, Russian oil production may drop. Oil prices rose by around one percent on Monday as U.S. drilling slowed and analysts estimated that $1.5 trillion worth of planned […]

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Volkswagen Emissions Investigations Should Widen to Entire Auto Industry, Officials Say

BERLIN–Investigations into Volkswagen AG’s alleged manipulation of U.S. emissions tests should widen to include the entire auto industry, German and French officials said Tuesday, as regulators begin to ponder whether such trickery is more widespread. Concerns that the scandal could lead to broader damage for the industry hit the shares of car companies across Europe on Tuesday, with Volkswagen’s stock down another 5% after dropping as much as 20% on Monday. The state of Lower Saxony, a major Volkswagen shareholder with 20% of the car maker’s voting stock, said the emissions allegations raised doubts about tailpipe data published by all car makers. The French government also called for a broader probe, suggesting a European-wide examination of the auto industry. "We need to do it at the European level," French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Tuesday. In Germany, Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony’s economy minister and a member of the Volkswagen’s […]

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Gazprom Attempts to Settle EU Antitrust Case

BRUSSELS—OAO Gazprom on Monday said it has submitted proposals to the European Commission to settle accusations that the Russian energy giant hindered competition and charged unfair prices in several Eastern European countries. If accepted, a settlement could help the company avoid billion-dollar fines, but would likely require it to fundamentally change the way it has done business in its former backyard since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The commission in April filed formal charges against Gazprom , saying the state-controlled company broke European Union antitrust law in eight countries where it is the dominant gas supplier—Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. The commission, which acts as the European Union’s antitrust watchdog, said restrictive terms in Gazprom contracts forced territorial constraints on customers, for instance by prohibiting them from re-exporting gas to another country. It also objected to Gazprom’s practice of tying the price of […]

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Volkswagen Denied Deception to E.P.A. for Nearly a Year

Photo Volkswagen said it would halt sales in the United States of 2015 and 2016 Volkswagen and Audi models equipped with 4-cylinder turbo diesel engines. Credit Friso Gentsch/European Pressphoto Agency FRANKFURT — For more than a year, Volkswagen executives told the Environmental Protection Agency that discrepancies between the formal air-quality tests on its diesel cars and the much higher pollution levels out on the road were the result of technical issues, not a deliberate attempt to deceive Washington officials. But early this month, Volkswagen executives finally made a startling admission: The diesels it sold in the United States used software deliberately designed to cheat on the tests. The company was evidently concerned that actually meeting the federal emissions standards would degrade the power of the diesels, which it marketed as comparable in performance to gasoline engines. Meeting the standard would also undercut the fuel efficiency that is one of […]

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New European gas pipeline closer to launch

Trans-Adriatic Pipeline procurement process puts new European gas pipeline one step closer to completion. Photo courtesy of Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG BAAR, Switzerland, Sept. 21 (UPI) — An invitation for bids for data control mechanisms on the planned Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline puts it one step closer to completion, developers said. The pipeline consortium developing the planned natural gas pipeline said it was inviting companies to pre-qualify for the supply and delivery of a centralized monitoring system as well as a fiber optic cable network meant to feed back to a supervisory control center. "With the launch of these final pre-qualification notices, TAP reaches another important milestone in its procurement process," TAP Project Director Norman Ingram said in a statement. TAP is slated to transport natural gas from the second phase of the Shah Deniz natural gas field off the coast of Azerbaijan as early as 2019. BP, leading Azeri […]

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Pacific Islanders Plead for Urgent Climate Action as Seas Rise

The village where Anote Tong attended school some 40 years ago is no longer there. As the Pacific Ocean encroached on the settlement, the villagers left for higher ground. “There is a church building and a meeting house, but nobody can go there because during high tide they’re sitting out in the middle of the water,” said Tong, now president of the atoll nation of Kiribati. Flooded homes in the village of Taborio on the island of Tarawa. Nowhere are the risks of climate change more evident than in the tiny island nations of the Pacific, where countless communities face inundation. Tuvalu has lost four islands since 2000. Islets have slipped beneath the waves in the Marshall Islands and Papua New Guinea. And in Palau, some houses — still occupied — flood daily. The islanders’ plight gives them a powerful moral voice at a December meeting in Paris sponsored […]

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Oil prices edge up as U.S. drilling declines

Oil pumps are seen at a MAX oil station in Yangon April 21, 2014. Oil prices edged up in early trading in Asia on Monday as U.S. drilling slowed and analysts estimated that $1.5 trillion worth of planned American production was uneconomical at prices of $50 per barrel or lower. Crude oil prices have plunged almost 60 percent since June 2014, when soaring global production started to clash with slowing demand. This includes losses of more than a quarter since June this year as a sharp slowdown in China has sparked concerns over the health of the world economy. Analysts said the low prices were beginning to impact production as drillers slow down new projects, especially in cost-sensitive North America where drillers react fast to changing prices. U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a third week in a row last week, a sign that the latest crude market […]

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Oil Prices Edge Higher As U.S. Rig Count Falls

By Jenny W. Hsu Crude-oil futures edged higher in Asian trade Monday, after data released over the weekend showed a further decline in the number of oil rigs operating in the U.S., a sign producers are making some effort to cut back supply amid low prices. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at $45.05 a barrel at 0359 GMT on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $0.36 in the Globex electronic session. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.38 to $47.85 a barrel. Over the weekend, a Baker Hughes report indicated the U.S. oil-rig count fell by eight to 644 in the last reporting week, the third-straight weekly decline. The rig count is seen as an indicator of future oil production, and is closely watched by market participants given the importance of U.S. supply to global oil balances. Last week, data from the […]

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Oil Speculators Most Bullish in Two Months as OPEC Calls for $80

Hedge funds slashed their bets on falling oil prices, leaving them the most bullish in two months as OPEC called for a return to $80 crude. Money managers’ net-long position in West Texas Intermediate rose by 14,821 contracts to 147,678 futures and options in the week ended Sept. 15, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That’s the highest level since July 7. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expects crude prices to rise to $80 by 2020 as output falls elsewhere. U.S. production could sink by the most in 27 years in 2016 as the price rout extends a slump in drilling. Speculators closed out short positions two days before the Federal Reserve decided not to raise key U.S. interest rates. “The market’s not as oversupplied as we think it is,” David Pursell, a managing director at investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. in Houston, […]

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Opinion: This Is What Needs To Happen For Oil Prices To Stabilize

« Volkswagen Group orders external investigation of emissions testing violations, pledges full support to EPA and ARB | Main | SEMPEED (Simulation of Electrical Machines, Power Electronics and Electrical Drives) Consortium launches » by Dan Doyle for Oilprice.com Dan Doyle is president of Reliance Well Services, a hydraulic fracturing company based in Pennsylvania. On September 10 th , the EIA reported a production decline in the Lower 48—essentially shale production—of 208,000 BOPD (barrels of oil per day). That is a staggeringly enormous number, approximately 10 percent of the estimated global over-supply. Additionally, it was a week-over-week number which makes it all the more impressive. Yet it received little attention through the week. Rather, Goldman Sachs was grabbing all the headlines with its $20 call on oil. This week, I was looking for a possible correction in that number with a zero decline or possibly even a gain (remember, the […]

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Plunging oil prices put question mark over $1.5tn of projects

Sign up for quick access to a wealth of global business news, including: Plunging oil prices put question mark over $1.5tn of projects Newspaper + Premium online Newspaper + Premium online Premium Full FT.com subscription Premium Full FT.com subscription Standard Full news & archive Standard Full news & archive Trial Try Premium online Trial Try Premium online Price Monthly Annual $66.30 $11.77 per week $53.00 $9.25 per week $36.00 $6.45 per week $1.00 for 4 weeks $1.00 for 4 weeks FT Alphaville plus selected FT blogs yes yes yes yes Unlimited FT.com article access yes yes yes yes Unlimited mobile and tablet access yes yes yes yes Unlimited fast FT yes yes yes yes 5 year company financials archive yes yes yes yes The LEX column yes yes no yes ePaper access yes yes no yes Three exclusive weekly emails yes yes no yes Daily newspaper delivery yes no […]

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Oil Price Rout Seen as Threat to $1.5 Trillion of New Projects

About $1.5 trillion of potential investment in new oil projects isn’t viable with crude prices at $50 a barrel, highlighting the need to reduce costs, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. The proposed projects, including spending on North American shale, are “now out of the money, or in starker terms, uneconomic at $50 oil,” James Webb, upstream research manager at Wood Mackenzie, said in a statement Monday. “This spend is very much at risk.” While operators want to cut costs by 20 percent to 30 percent on new projects, supply-chain savings will only achieve cuts of 10 percent to 15 percent on average, according to Wood Mackenzie. A drop of about 50 percent in crude prices over the past year has forced oil companies to cut spending and defer new projects. Brent, the benchmark for half the world’s oil, was trading at $47.78 a barrel, up 31 cents, at […]

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Done deal for Iran nuke pact, but debate still in Congress

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Latest News Russian opposition draws thousands to anti-Putin protest Kerry: Russian fighter jets in Syria raise serious questions Russian governor arrested in high-profile corruption case Putin moves to establish Russian military base in Belarus Russians with Western ties increasingly branded ‘traitors’ var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; Putin gives Roy Jones Jr. Russian citizenship var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a done deal, yet opponents of the Iran nuclear agreement won’t go quietly. The 60-day congressional review period has expired, and last week the State Department outlined its plan to put in place an accord that aims to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear-armed. Congress is poised to start cranking out legislation to reinstate sanctions or shore up what […]

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U.N. Atomic Inspectors Visit Iran’s Parchin Site

The head of the United Nations atomic agency and a senior official from the organization have visited Iran’s controversial Parchin military site, ending a period of almost a decade during which officials were banned from the site. In a statement Sunday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that its director-general, Yukiya Amano, and its head of safeguards, Tero Varjoranta, were at Parchin as part of the probe into Iran’s past nuclear work. Mr. Amano also met during his weekend trip to Tehran with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, the head of Iran’s atomic agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Iranian lawmakers. “Discussions with high-level Iranian officials focused on the continued implementation of the road map to resolve all past and present outstanding issues,” the IAEA said in a statement, referring to Iran’s past and present nuclear work. The IAEA has long been denied access to Parchin, a […]

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Saudi Stocks Drop Most in Mideast as Fed Stirs Growth Concerns

Saudi Arabian equities fell the most in the Arab world after the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged sparked concern over global growth and the price of oil capped its third week of losses. The Tadawul All Share Index fell 1.4 percent to 7,365.98 at the close in Riyadh to the lowest in almost a month, marking a seventh day of losses. Banks made up four out of the top five contributors to the decline. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index advanced 0.6 percent. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, made up of the biggest and most liquid shares in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, slipped 0.6 percent. That sent the premium it commands over MSCI Inc.’s emerging markets index on a future price-to-earnings basis to the lowest in almost five months. The spread between forward 12-month P/E for the BGCC 200 Index and MSCI EM Index is the […]

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Saudi Arabia’s Crude Stockpiles at Record High as Exports Fall

Saudi Arabia’s crude stockpiles rose to a record in July after exports by the world’s biggest oil shipper declined for the third time in four months. Commercial petroleum stockpiles increased to 320 million barrels, the highest since at least 2002, from 319.5 million barrels in June, according to data Sunday on the website of the Riyadh-based Joint Organisations Data Initiative. Crude exports slumped 1.2 percent to 7.28 million barrels a day after hitting a record 7.9 million barrels in March. Overseas shipments declined every month since then except in June. Brent crude oil prices have slumped 17 percent this year as Saudi Arabia led the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in boosting production to keep market share amid a global supply glut. The failure of producers to cut output fast enough may require prices to fall near $20 a barrel to clear the surplus, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates. […]

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Nigerian Oil Group Secures $1.2 Billion to Develop Wells

IBADAN, Nigeria–The state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has secured $1.2 billion to drill wells offshore and onshore under a joint venture with Chevron Nigeria, the NNPC said Sunday. Nigeria has been criticized for failing to meet obligations to its oil JV partners, which has affected efforts to reach production targets of over 4 million barrels a day and reserves to 40 billion barrels. The $1.2 billion package will finance the development of 23 onshore and 13 offshore wells. The NNPC/CNL Joint Venture is the third largest oil producer in Nigeria, the statement said. Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, relies on crude exports for over 90% of its foreign exchange earnings and 70% of government revenue, according to the International Monetary Fund.

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Another Contender Emerges in Battle for China Oil Market Spoils

The race among the top sellers of crude to the world’s biggest energy-consuming nation got a little tighter last month. Iraq overtook Russia to become the third-largest supplier to China, while Oman edged past Iran in sales of oil to Asia’s biggest economy. Saudi Arabia kept the lead in the race even as its shipments slipped, data from General Administration of Customs in Beijing on Monday show. Cargoes from Angola rose, helping the African producer hold onto the No. 2 spot. China remains the main safeguard against a further price meltdown as a drive to boost its strategic petroleum reserve helps alleviate a market glut. As a shale boom in the U.S. shrinks America’s need for overseas crude, producers are competing to supply the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, which is forecast by the International Energy Agency to account for about a quarter of growth in global demand next year. […]

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Peak Oil Has More To Do With Oil Prices Than You May Think

The Origins of Peak Oil Awareness The scientific study of peak oil began in the 1950′s, when Shell geophysicist M. King Hubbert reported on the evolution of production rates in oil and gas fields. In a 1956 paper Hubbert suggested that oil production in a particular region would approximate a bell curve, increasing exponentially during the early stages of production before eventually slowing, reaching a peak when approximately half of a field had been extracted, and then going into terminal production decline. Hubbert applied his methodology to oil production for the Lower 48 US states and offshore areas. He estimated that the ultimate potential reserve of the Lower 48 US states and offshore areas was 150 billion barrels of oil. Based on that reserve estimate, the 6.6 million barrels per day (bpd) extraction rate in 1955, and the 52.5 billion barrels of oil that had been previously produced in […]

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Volkswagen Chief Apologizes for Breach of Trust After Recall

Photo Martin Winterkorn, the chief executive of Volkswagen, speaking before the start of the International Motor Show in Frankfurt. Credit Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images FRANKFURT — The chief executive of Volkswagen apologized on Sunday for what he said was a breach of trust that resulted in the company’s being accused by the United States authorities of illegally installing software in its diesel-power cars to evade standards for reducing smog. “I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public,” Martin Winterkorn, the chief executive of the German automaker, said in a statement . The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Volkswagen to recall nearly half a million vehicles, and the company could face billions of dollars in fines. Mr. Winterkorn said the company would “cooperate fully” with the authorities and order its own independent investigation into the accusations. In his statement, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Russia sends jets to Syria, resumes US military talks – officials

A man rides a motorcycle near damaged buildings in Maarat Al-Nouman, south of Idlib September 17, 2015. Picture taken September 17, 2015. Russia has sent fighter jets to Syria, U.S. officials said, raising the stakes in a military buildup that has put Washington on edge and led Friday to the first talks between U.S. and Russian defense chiefs in over a year. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, eyeing the possibility of rival U.S. and Russian air operations in Syria’s limited airspace, agreed in a call with his Russian counterpart to explore ways to avoid accidental military interactions. The coordination necessary to avoid such encounters is known in military parlance as "deconfliction." "They agreed to further discuss mechanisms for deconfliction in Syria and the counter-ISIL campaign," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said after the call, referring to the campaign by the U.S. and its allies against Islamic State militants. The former […]

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Nigeria Plans to Renegotiate Existing Oil-Production Contracts

IBADAN, Nigeria–Nigeria will seek to renegotiate the fiscal terms of existing production-sharing contracts with some international oil and gas companies to seek more favorable terms, the new head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. said. “In the weeks and months ahead, the corporation will be renegotiating the contracts to extract as much benefits as possible for Nigeria,” said NNPC chief Ibe Kachikwu, according to a statement. Speaking in Paris ahead of the state visit of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Kachikwu said: “The NNPC is allowed to make use of the window which creates space for renegotiation.” The major African oil exporter is facing hefty budget pressures after international oil prices plunged and as the Buhari administration looks for funds to execute an ambitious reform program. The new government had been expected to seek to renegotiate some contracts. Since assuming office in May, Buhari has sought to overhaul the NNPC […]

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New Libyan Oil Company Stalls

MALTA—A host of energy firms have so far refused to do business with the U.N.-backed Libyan government until a peace treaty is signed, another blow to the institution’s bid to build a new National Oil Co. and tap into the country’s petroleum reserves. The government, based in Libya’s eastern city of Baida, gathered more than 30 energy firms and traders at an upmarket hotel in Malta on Wednesday. It was another bid to lure business away from the country’s long-established National Oil Co. in Tripoli, where a coalition of militias known as Libya Dawn holds power. The old National Oil Co. says it is an independent company, a view the United Nations endorses. The Dawn-led government has appointed its own oil minister, but has kept the company’s pre-war management in place. But no oil companies or traders signed on with the eastern government’s new firm, also called National Oil […]

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IMF: Egypt’s gas good for growth

A natural gas find off the Egyptian coast will help stimulate the nation’s economy, the International Monetary Fund said. File photo by Ahmed Jomaa/UPI WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) — The discovery of a major deposit of natural gas off the Egyptian coast should help ensure positive economic growth, the International Monetary Fund said. Members of the IMF met in Cairo with Egyptian Central Bank Gov. Hisham Ramez, Finance Minister Hany Dimian and other representatives to discuss planned economic policies and developments. The issuance of a $1.5 billion bond helped lead to 4.2 percent growth in the Egyptian economy. Chris Jarvis, head of mission for the IMF, said the major gas find made by Italian energy company Eni will help stimulate the Egyptian economy in the medium term. Eni announced a discovery of gas in a deepwater prospect off the Egyptian coast last month. With an estimated 30 trillion cubic […]

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U.S. accuses Volkswagen of clean air violations

A volkswagen automobile sits for sale on a car lot in Carlsbad, California August 28, 2015. U.S. and California environmental regulators on Friday accused Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ) of deliberately circumventing clean air rules on nearly 500,000 diesel cars and the company could face penalties of up to $18 billion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleged that Volkswagen used software in four-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars from model years 2009 to 2015 to circumvent emissions testing of certain air pollutants. "Put simply, these cars contained software that turns off emissions controls when driving normally and turns them on when the car is undergoing an emissions test," Cynthia Giles, an enforcement officer at the EPA, told reporters in a teleconference. The feature, known as a "defeat device," results in the cars emitting as much as 40 times emissions allowed under clean air rules meant to ensure public health […]

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As U.S. lawmakers press to end oil export ban, traders say no hurry

Oil barrels sit empty at a recycling yard in Longmont, Colorado February 2, 2015. U.S. lawmakers may now be only months away from lifting a four-decade-old ban on most oil exports, relieving a trade constraint that as recently as a year ago seemed at risk of choking off a domestic drilling boom. At the same time, the outlook for oil prices in 2016 and beyond suggest it may be years before traders care. U.S. benchmark crude oil futures for March have strengthened swiftly this week to their firmest versus global benchmark Brent since the early days of the U.S. shale oil boom, all but eliminating the price gap that would have made exports profitable. The momentum for change in Washington is at odds with the shifting outlook for global oil markets. A key House of Representatives committee on Thursday easily passed a bill to repeal the ban, setting up […]

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Iran to unveil new oil contracts in coming weeks: Shana

Iran will unveil new oil development contracts in the coming weeks aiming to attract foreign investors and oil buyers once sanctions on its energy sector are lifted, the Oil Ministry’s website Shana reported on Friday. Under a deal reached with six major powers in July, the OPEC producer agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for an end to economic sanctions imposed on the country over its disputed nuclear work. The sanctions imposed on Iran in 2012 have choked Tehran’s oil production. Output is down a million barrels per day (bpd) since the start of 2012 at 2.7 million bpd, depriving it of billions of dollars in oil revenue. Now they are widely expected to be lifted in 2016, Iran needs Western oil companies to help to revive its giant, aging oilfields and develop new oil and gas projects and the new oil contracts are part of its […]

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Samson bankruptcy highlights M&A plans in offshore oil industry

The most significant bankruptcy of the current oil downturn has shone a spotlight on what is perhaps the most oversupplied corner of the energy world: the market for offshore rig services. Samson Resources Corp, an independent oil producer bought just four years ago for $7.2 billion, said in its late Wednesday filing for creditor protection that a 60 percent crude price slide CLc1 LCOc1 had upended its business. In the offshore space, restructurings and asset sales are widely seen as likely and some chief executive officers are now openly talking about acquisitions. Paragon Offshore Plc ( PGN.N ), which has an outdated fleet, said on Thursday it has hired Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a well-known restructuring firm, and the investment bank Lazard. And Vantage Drilling Co, which has a hefty debt load, has also said it retained financial adviser Lazard to explore options. Vantage did not provide additional comment. […]

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U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for third week on weak crude prices: Baker Hughes

Stacked rigs are seen along with other idled oil drilling equipment at a depot in Dickinson, North Dakota June 26, 2015. U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a third week in a row this week, data showed on Friday, a sign that the latest crude price weakness was causing drillers to put on hold plans announced several months ago to return to the well pad. Drillers removed eight rigs in the week ended Sept. 18, bringing the total rig count down to 644, after cutting 23 rigs over the prior two weeks, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. That was the biggest three-week decline since May. Those reductions cut into the 47 oil rigs energy firms added in July and August after some drillers followed through on plans to add rigs announced in May and June when U.S. crude futures averaged $60 […]

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Exxon Said to Be on the Hunt for West Texas Shale Bargains

Exxon Mobil Corp. is adjusting the way it structures shale acquisitions as the global energy giant expands in West Texas, the largest U.S. oil-producing region. Executives with Exxon’s shale-drilling unit, XTO Energy, are meeting with small, closely held producers in the Permian Basin to negotiate possible purchases and joint ventures, according to three people familiar with the talks. The company is expanding its use of a new strategy first deployed in the region last year that offers operators a cut of future proceeds rather than big upfront stock or cash payouts, say the people, who asked not to be named because the meetings were private. Stung by the 58 percent plunge in U.S. oil prices since June 2014, many drillers face stark choices: shut down rigs to conserve capital and wait out the bust, or surrender some independence to a deep-pocketed savior in exchange for a shot at a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple