Category:

Alaska seeks balanced energy agenda

Alaska facing a mutlimillion dollar deficit as most oil pipelines running far below peak capacity. Photo by Heather Snow/Shutterstock ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sept. 1 (UPI) — Alaska needs to exploit its vast natural resources, but do so in a way that heeds the growing threats of climate changes, the state’s lieutenant governor said. President Barack Obama is in Alaska touting the dual agenda of taking the steps needed to slow the impacts of climate change while ensuring state revenue from the oil and gas industry remains durable. Obama’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time signing off on arctic drilling permits for Royal Dutch Shell has earned both praise and condemnation. Speaking at an Alaskan arctic conference in Anchorage, Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott said the state needs to exploit the oil and gas resources it has, but in a way that recognizes the industry’s impact on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Texas regulator clears oil and gas company of causing quakes

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The regulatory agency overseeing Texas’ oil and gas industry has determined that a series of small earthquakes in North Texas likely wasn’t caused by drilling operations by an Exxon Mobil subsidiary. The preliminary findings mark the first decision by the Texas Railroad Commission since it was authorized last year to consider whether seismological activity was caused by injection wells, which store briny wastewater from hydraulic fracturing. The commission ordered hearings after a university study suggested two companies’ wells were responsible for quakes that shook Reno, Texas, in 2013 and 2014. Commission investigators concluded that a well where Exxon Mobil subsidiary XTO Energy pumps millions of gallons of the wastewater likely didn’t cause the quakes, but also said there wasn’t enough evidence to demonstrate the earthquakes were naturally occurring. Parties have 15 days to respond. The report was released Monday, a day before a new law […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia says oil output could decline if prices stay low

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich speaks during an interview with Reuters journalists in Moscow September 25, 2012. Russia will not deliberately cut oil production to prop up prices, however its output may decline if prices remain low, local news agencies quoted Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as saying on Tuesday. He also said that Russia was ready to discuss measures aimed at oil price stabilization with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other key producers, TASS news agency reported. "It’s quite possible that if oil prices remain at the low levels for long, oil production could decline, as had been the case before. Anyway, we don’t expect any significant cuts," Dvorkovich said according to TASS. Oil prices almost halved from last year mainly due to oversupply. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, in a strategy designed to squeeze out rivals, such as U.S. shale oil firms, has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia Says It Won’t Cut Oil Production to Support Prices

By James Marson MOSCOW–Russia won’t cut crude-oil production in order to support prices, although output may fall if prices remain low for a sustained period, Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as saying Tuesday. Russia’s position has come into focus in recent weeks as a renewed oil-price plunge has battered its economy and those of members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, such as Russian ally Venezuela. Russia has repeatedly said it had no plans to cut oil production to prop up prices, but a Kremlin aide said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would discuss "possible mutual steps" to stabilize the global price for oil at a meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday, without elaborating what those steps could be. Mr. Dvorkovich said Tuesday that Russia, which vies with Saudi Arabia as the top global oil producer, is prepared to discuss […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Opinion: OPEC Divorce And Self-Destruction Thanks To Saudi Oil Strategy?

by Dalan McEndree for Oilprice.com “If you are the world’s leading energy economy, you produce energy, that’s what you do.” The first quote modifies a GEICO commercial describing a free-range chicken (If you’re a free range chicken, you roam free, that’s what you do), the second, the famous John Maynard Keynes quote about markets (The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent), the third, another famous Keynes quote (In the long run, we’re all dead). Together, the three quotes provide a framework for analyzing Saudi options heading into the December 4 OPEC meeting in Vienna and its choices vis-à-vis the OPEC outsiders (all members but Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar): reconciliation, separation, or divorce . If You’re a Free Range Oil Producer… Despite low oil prices, Saudi Arabia is maintaining its investment in its oil industry. Saudi Aramco Chairman Khalid Al-Falih […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil falls 3 percent on weak China factory data

A customer prepares to fill the tank of her car at a fuel station in Sint Pieters Leeuw December 5, 2014. Oil prices fell more than 3 percent on Tuesday after official data showed China’s giant manufacturing sector, the engine powering the world’s biggest energy consumer, contracted at the fastest pace in three years. China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49.7 in August from 50.0 in July, reinforcing concerns over the world’s second-largest economy. The figures helped spur a retreat in oil prices after three days of hefty gains. Investors took profits after Brent and U.S. crude both soared more than 8 percent on Monday, traders said. "It was primarily the China fear factor," Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, told Reuters Global Oil Forum. Benchmark Brent crude dropped $2.13 to a low of $52.02 a barrel, and was trading around $52.15 by 0815 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Prices Pull Back After Breathless Rally

Oil prices fell in Asian trade Tuesday as weak Chinese manufacturing data and profit-taking pared some of crude’s 25%-plus gains of the previous three trading sessions. U.S. oil prices had surged by around 27.5% in the past three days , the largest such rally since Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Much of Monday’s gains came after reports that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may consider cutting output to boost oil prices, and on signs of a decline in U.S. oil production. Despite hitting multiyear lows toward the end of August, Nymex crude prices rebounded sharply in recent days to finish up 4.4% for the month, while Brent crude gained 3.7% over the same period. But soft Chinese economic data helped to weaken oil prices in early Asian hours Tuesday. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 49.7 in August from 50.0 a month ago, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.K. Stocks Fall as Investors Weigh Data Showing China Slowdown

U.K. stocks declined as investors considered further indications that the Chinese economy is slowing down. Bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc dropped 1.5 percent after its takeover battle took another twist with a revised proposal from 888 Holdings Plc. BP Plc slid 1 percent as oil’s biggest three-day rally in 25 years stalled before U.S. government data forecast to show crude stockpiles expanded. British American Tobacco Plc weighed heaviest on the FTSE 100 Index, falling 2 percent. Drugmakers were also a drag, with AstraZeneca Plc and GlaxoSmithKline Plc losing at least 2 percent. Shire Plc posted the biggest drop, falling 3.1 percent. The FTSE 100 retreated 1.5 percent to 6,154.38 at 8:32 a.m. in London. The equity benchmark slid 6.7 percent in August, its worst month in more than three years, amid investor concern about global growth as China’s economy shows signs of weakening just as the Federal Reserve prepares to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

World’s Top Oil Trader Vitol Sees Price Stuck at $40-$60 to 2016

Oil prices will remain stuck at $40 to $60 a barrel into 2016 as rising crude supplies overwhelm demand, according to the world’s largest independent oil trader. The oil-production surplus means stockpiles will keep expanding for “the next few quarters” and excess inventories won’t clear until 2017 at the earliest, Vitol Group BV Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor said in an interview. The forecast, if realized, would mean oil-producing countries and the energy industry would need to weather a longer downturn than occurred after the financial crisis of 2008-2009, when prices fell as low as $36 a barrel, but recovered to almost $80 within a year. “Oil prices will be stuck between $40 and $60 a barrel this year and in 2016,” Taylor said. “I don’t see much reason to go higher, and we can go lower” because the physical crude oil market is “quite weak” right now. Vitol […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

NYMEX October gas futures settle at $2.689/MMBtu, down 2.6 cents

The NYMEX October natural gas futures contract fell 2.6 cents Monday to settle at $2.689/MMBtu as traders focused on weather forecasts calling for more moderate temperatures by mid-September. In its six- to 10-day forecast, WSI called for above-average temperatures across the US Northeast, Upper Midwest and large portions of Texas. Below-average temperatures are expected across portions of the Northwest. Further into September, WSI’s 11-15 day forecast calls for unseasonable warmth over a smaller portion of the US, extending from eastern New York through New England, as well as west Texas and portions of the West Coast. "The natural gas market is on the defensive in Monday trade, with a lack of more intense late summer air-conditioning demand pointing to above-average storage injections in the weeks ahead," Citi analyst Tim Evans said. Article continues below… Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple