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OPEC oil output in August falls from record on Iraq disruption: survey

A man fills up his 1976 Chevy Nova with gasoline at a PDVSA gas station in Caracas January 12, 2015. OPEC oil output fell in August from the highest monthly level in recent history, a Reuters survey found on Wednesday, as disruptions to flows on Iraq’s northern pipeline halted supply growth from the group’s second-largest producer. Largely stable output from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries indicated they are not wavering in their focus on defending market share instead of prices. OPEC supply fell in August to 31.71 million barrels per day (bpd) from a revised 31.88 million bpd in July, according to the survey, based on shipping data and information from sources at oil companies, OPEC and consultants. Oil has weakened due to surging output and is trading below $50, not far from a more than six-year low close to […]

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Iran puts figure on 2016 oil production goals

Iran could be producing more than 4 million barrels of oil per day by the end of next year, oil minister says. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEHRAN, Sept. 2 (UPI) — Iranian oil production by the end of 2016 will be in excess of 4 million barrels per day, more than in the pre-sanctions era, the nation’s oil minister said. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said the country will increase net oil production by more than 1.5 million barrels per day, bringing total production for the Islamic republic to just over 4 million bpd. "Around the end of next year, we will be close to this figure," he said in an interview broadcast by CNN . Zangeneh said his country could become the second largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, after Saudi Arabia, within seven or eight months of sanctions relief. Production during the pre-sanctions […]

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New North Oil Company chief appointed

Flares burn at the Baba Dome of the Kirkuk oil field on Aug. 3, 2009. (AKO RASHEED/Reuters) Akram Fouad Ahmed, a 25-year veteran of the North Oil Company (NOC), has been named by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as the state-run company’s new director general.He takes over from Safa Abdulrahman Ahmed, the deputy director general of NOC who was temporarily put in charge following the removal of Sameer Salman al-Taie on July 27.Taie has been demoted to engineer and is under investigation for corruption, three senior NOC officials said. One of those officials said Taie is eff… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Israeli Officials Concerned About Gas Discovery in Egypt

A worker from the Israeli gas-drilling Tamar platform in July. Israeli officials expressed concern that the discovery of an extensive gas field off the coast of Egypt could upend Israeli development of its energy resources. The Italian energy company Eni E 0.92 % SpA on Sunday announced the discovery of the largest gas field in the Mediterranean, threatening a deal between the Israeli government and developers that was based on expectations of substantial gas exports to Egypt. That deal already was bogged down in disagreements about regulation, pricing and profit-sharing that have delayed the start of production. “The discovery of the Egyptian gas field is a painful reminder that while Israel has been asleep at the wheel and delaying final approval of the gas deal and additional exploration, the world is changing before our very eyes with implications for export possibilities,” Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said after Sunday’s […]

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LNG Export

The Sabine Pass LNG export terminal. From a mile away, at the distant end of a flat, two-lane road, the Sabine Pass Liquefied Natural Gas terminal materializes like an alien city from the haze of the Louisiana bayou. Five white cylinders with domed tops, each 140 feet tall and 225 feet in diameter, rise from the empty horizon. Set on the Texas border 4 miles from the mouth of the Sabine River on the Gulf Coast, the terminal is one of the largest industrial energy facilities under construction in North America. The domes, made of nickel alloy and wrapped in a layer of carbon steel, are essentially giant freezers, each capable of holding 81,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at -260F. Cheniere Energy, based in Houston, has spent more than a decade, and upwards of $20 billion, turning 1,000 acres of swamp into the first LNG export terminal […]

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Canadian oil sector edging forward

More Canadian oil projects despite slumping oil-based economy. Photo courtesy of Husky Energy CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 2 (UPI) — Despite working in a weak market, two companies — Husky Energy and ConocoPhillips — announced the start of new oil operations in Canadian oil sands. Husky announced the start of operations at its Sunrise energy project in Alberta. Production began in April and the new phase of development should put the project closer to full capacity of 60,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of next year. Data from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers show oil sand deposits, centered largely in Alberta province, hold an estimated 167 billion barrels of oil, the third largest reserves in the world. Canada depends heavily on oil and natural gas for government revenue. With crude oil prices more than 50 percent below mid-2014 levels, the nation has teetered on the brink […]

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Germany’s E.ON eyes U.S. solar market

German energy company E.ON said it aims to expand its development across the U.S. solar power sector. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI DUSSELDORF, Germany, Sept. 2 (UPI) — German energy company E.ON said it was working to expand its footprint in the U.S. utility sector through its activity in large-scale solar projects. The German company said it started construction on the 20-megawatt Maricopa West solar project in southern California. With 89,000 panels, the company said it’s the second such large-scale project built by E.ON in California. In May, the state became the first in the nation with more than 5 percent of its total annual utility-scale electricity generation coming from solar power. California’s full-year 2014 solar power generation of 9.9 million megawatt hours was more than all other states combined , according to data from the federal Energy Information Administration. The German company’s first California project, the 20-megawatt Alamo […]

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Former Bakken Operator Pleads Not-Guilty

Saltwater Waste A Southlake, Texas man charged with illegally injecting saltwater into a disposal well in North Dakota pled not guilty to federal charges last week in federal court. Jason Halek, a former operator of a saltwater well in southwest North Dakota, was indicted on 13 federal counts and fined a record $1.5 million in 2013 for putting drinking water at risk by illegally dumping more than 800,000 gallons of salty, oilfield wastewater into a former oil well in Stark County. He entered not guilty pleas to all charges including violating the Safe Drinking Water Act, making false statements and obstructing grand jury proceedings. The indictment claims Halik conspired to hinder by “craft, trickery, deceit, and dishonest means the lawful and legitimate functions of the EPA, in enforcing federal laws relating to the requirements of the North Dakota underground injection control program.” Saltwater is considered an environmental hazard that […]

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Effects of removing U.S. crude export restrictions depend on price, resource assumptions

graph of propject U.S. crude oil production, as explained in the article text A new study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the potential implications of allowing more crude oil exports finds that effects on domestic crude oil production are key to determining the other effects of a policy change. Gasoline prices would be either unchanged or slightly reduced. Trade in crude oil and petroleum products would also be affected. The recent rise in domestic crude oil production from 5.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2009 to 8.7 million b/d in 2014 and the prospect of continued supply growth have sparked interest in the question of how the relaxation or removal of current policies, which restrict but do not ban exports of crude oil produced in the United States, might affect markets for both crude oil and petroleum products over the next decade. EIA’s new report, […]

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EIA: Benefits of lifting US crude export ban most evident if output rises

A study released Sept. 1 by the US Energy Information Administration was apparent cause for celebration for several oil and gas industry groups, which took its findings as confirmation that lifting restrictions on US crude oil exports would be a net positive for the industry as well as consumers. EIA developed several analyses that examine the implications of removing the restrictions for the price of US and global marker crude streams, gasoline prices, crude production , refining activity, and trade in crude and petroleum products. The study, Effects of Removing Restrictions on US Crude Oil Exports , was conducted in response to requests from US Sen. and current Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) and former chairman and Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), ( OGJ Online, Apr. 14, 2014 ), as well as current members Ronald L. Wyden (D-Ore.) and Maria E. Cantwell (D-Wash.). Murkowski […]

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