Category:

Russia’s Putin in Iran for talks set to focus on Syria

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was in Tehran on Monday for talks with Iranian leaders expected to focus on the Syrian crisis and an international peace plan intended to end the conflict. The visit comes as Russia, the United States, France and others are talking about possible joint action against the Islamic State group following the terror attacks in Paris and the downing of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt. Putin’s trip also comes on the heels of agreement on an incomplete peace plan that calls for talks between Assad and his foes. Moscow and Tehran have been the key backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout his nation’s civil war, which has killed over 250,000 people and turned millions into refugees. Russia has shielded Syria from international sanctions, and on Sept. 30 it launched an air campaign against the Islamic State group and other insurgents, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The Oil War Against ISIS: Why Bombs Won’t Cut Off The Flow

Needless to say, the world’s attention is now concentrated on the activities of ISIS and the prescriptions for defeating (as opposed to containing) them. Their finances are a major part of this. The Western powers have had some success curtailing hostile groups by attacking their financial flows, restricting movements of cash from ideological supporters and/or members of an ethnic diaspora. However, ISIS has proved more resilient, partly because of its territorial control but also because as much as half of its money is thought to come from petroleum production. The U.S., in the grand tradition of Confederate General Jones’ 1863 attack on the Burning Springs oil field, attempted to cut the groups’ oil income by bombing first, the large Baiji refinery which they had captured and, recently, scores of tanker trucks in Syria carrying off petroleum for sale. For anybody who watched video of the oil well fires in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The “Syrian Sickness”: What Crude Oil Gives, Crude Oil Can Take Back.

Syria is one of the greatest disasters of recent times. Here, I argue that the origins of the Syrian collapse are to be found in the economic downturn generated by the gradual depletion of the Syrian oil reserves. Crude oil had created modern Syria, crude oil has destroyed it. This phenomenon can be termed the “Syrian Sickness” and the question is: “which country will be affected next?” Crude oil is a great source of wealth for the countries that possess it. But it is also a wealth that comes as a cycle. Normally, the cycle spans several decades, even more than a century, so that those who live through it may completely miss the fact that they are heading to the end of their wealth. The cycle is especially visible in those areas where the amount of oil is modest; then, the cycle goes faster; wealth and misery appear […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Slides as Venezuela Sees Mid-$20 Crude If OPEC Doesn’t Act

Oil fell amid a broader commodity rout while Venezuela predicted prices may tumble to the mid-$20s a barrel unless OPEC tackles the global surplus. West Texas Intermediate futures for January fell as much as 3.3 percent, sliding with industrial metals such as copper, which dropped to the lowest since 2009. Venezuela is urging the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to adopt an “equilibrium price” that covers the cost of new investment in production capacity, Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said Sunday. Oil has slumped about 46 percent over the past year amid speculation a global glut will persist as OPEC continues to pump above its collective quota. The 12-member group meets Dec. 4 in Vienna to discuss the production ceiling as Iran signals its intention to boost output by 1 million barrels a day within five to six months of economic sanctions being removed. “The structure of the oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Deal of the Year: Mexico Set for $6 Billion Windfall

Mexico is set to get a record payout of at least $6 billion from its oil hedges this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Latin American country locks in oil sales as a shield against price declines through a series of financial deals with banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. For 2015, Mexico guaranteed sales at almost $30 a barrel higher than average prices over the past year. The 2015 payment, due next month, is set to surpass the record from 2009, when the Mexican government said it received $5.1 billion after prices plunged with the global financial crisis. The country’s crude has fallen by almost half over the hedging period so far this year. Crude sales historically cover about a third of the government budget. "The windfall is huge," said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd., […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Average U.S. gasoline prices resume slide, hit 10-month low: Lundberg

A Valero Energy Corp gas station is pictured in Pasadena, California October 27, 2015. The average price of gasoline in the United States resumed its slide over the past two weeks, dropping 11 cents to $2.14 a gallon, the lowest since late January, according to a Lundberg survey released on Sunday. The 5 percent decline in gasoline prices came as oil refiners and gasoline wholesalers and retailers passed along lower oil-buying prices to consumers, said survey publisher Trilby Lundberg in emailed comments. Current retail gas prices were 70 cents below the year-ago period and at the lowest level since Jan. 23, when the average price was $2.07 per gallon. Benchmark crude oil prices were under pressure from hefty supplies and a strong U.S. dollar, the report said. "The pump price may well continue dropping during the rest of November and into December," the report said, citing pressure from "abundant" […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Canada’s Energy-Rich Alberta to Cap Oil Sands Emissions

The Suncor oil-sands extraction plant near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada. CALGARY, Alberta—The government of oil-rich Alberta province in western Canada on Sunday pledged to phase out coal emissions by 2030, limit greenhouse gases from oil-sands production and implement an economywide carbon tax. The province unveiled the long-awaited plan one day ahead of a meeting in Ottawa among Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, and the leaders of other Canadian provinces and territories to discuss environment policy. Mr. Trudeau has pledged to develop a framework for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions before a United Nations summit on Nov. 30. The plan comes at a challenging time for coal and oil producers in western Canada that are struggling to cope with low commodity prices. “Our goal is to become one of the world’s most progressive and forward-looking energy producers,” Ms. Notley said at a news conference in Edmonton. “We are […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

How Poland’s Crusade for Energy Autonomy Affects EU and Russia

Poland’s new government seeks to shake up the nation’s power, gas and oil industries in the name of boosting energy security, with consequences for both dominant supplier Russia and the country’s partners in the European Union. While Prime Minister Beata Szydlo vowed last week to exploit coal and lignite deposits in the face of EU attempts to curb carbon emissions, tankers with Saudi and Kurdish crude sailed to Polish refineries reliant on Russian oil. Meanwhile, a Qatari tanker was loading its first liquefied natural gas shipment for a Polish terminal. Q: Will Poland Switch Russian Oil for Saudi? No, but the country of 38 million people, which buys about a 10th of Russian crude exports to the EU, can do more to diversify its supplies. Deliveries from the world’s biggest energy exporter account for more than 90 percent of Poland’s annual imports of 23.6 million tons of oil, according […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russian oil producer adds to global glut

Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft reports an increase in production for the first nine months of the year, adding to global oil glut. Photo courtesy of Gazprom Neft MOSCOW, Nov. 23 (UPI) — Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft added to the oversupplied market, saying its output for the first nine months of the year increased more than 20 percent. Crude oil prices are 45 percent lower than at this time last year in part because the increase in global production is more than a weakened economy can absorb. That’s hurt economies like Russia, whose finances depend in part on export revenue. Gazprom Neft, a division of Russian energy giant Gazprom and the country’s fourth-largest crude oil producer, said production volumes of 436.4 million barrels of oil equivalent represented a 22.2 percent increase year-on-year. The company credited the gains in part to an increase at its arctic Prirazlomnoye field. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Italy’s Eni Set to Begin Arctic Oil Quest, Even as Others Abandon Field

ON GOLIAT OIL RIG IN THE BARENTS SEA—Even as energy companies retreat from exploration in the Arctic, Italy’s Eni SpA will soon open the taps on the northernmost offshore oil platform in the world, offering a glimmer of potential for crude in the region—though at a considerable cost. In a field in the Barents Sea nearly 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Eni is set to begin pumping at its Goliat platform before the end of this year. It would open a flow that will eventually reach 100,000 barrels a day and place Eni among a select group of oil producers in the region. The rig’s imminent launch underscores the continuing appeal of the Arctic, but at the same time highlights the challenges of operating in a frontier region where crude is difficult and expensive to extract. The huge cost of pushing ahead with such projects, amid the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

State of Emergency Declared in Crimea

KIEV—Authorities declared a state of emergency on Sunday in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia last year, after pylons supplying energy to the territory from Ukraine were blown up. Russia’s Energy Ministry said almost two million people had been left without power. The local energy ministry said that between 20% and 30% of the peninsula was supplied with electricity, almost half of that by generators. Russian media outlets reported that pylons in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson had been blown up by pro-Ukrainian activists. The Russian ministry didn’t mention the cause of the outage. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry confirmed that the pylons had been blown up and pledged to help facilitate repair work. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine last year , and the territory still receives 85% of its water and 80% of its electricity from mainland Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe imposed trade sanctions on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Despite Cheap Gas, Coming Back to Peak Oil

Yesterday, in Virginia, I filled up my gas tank for $2.75 a gallon. At that price, even old peak oilers like my wife and I hardly think about poor old King Hubbard’s theory much these days. And though gas has been cheap in the U.S. for the last six months or more, I still think Hubbard was right that global oil production naturally has a point of peak production. I used to think that the peak of world oil production already came in 2006 . But with the rise of fracking and other extreme fossil fuels, now I’m not so sure. Could the oil peak come a decade or more in the future as the optimists mentioned in the infographic below predict? Or could the whole thing be some kind of confusing shell game, with financial markets moving petro dollars around in clever ways to make it look like […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Prices Turn Higher in Volatile Trade

Oil prices turned higher Friday to end a volatile week after a widely watched measure of U.S. drilling activity showed a decline. The latest U.S. oil rig count data from Baker Hughes Inc. BHI 0.28 % showed a decline of 10 rigs in the latest week, a bigger move than seen in recent weeks. While some discount the measure’s usefulness, some in the market do use it as a gauge of how production might rise or fall in the future. Light, sweet crude for December delivery, a contract that expired at settlement, lost 0.4% to $40.39 a barrel. Just before settlement, it briefly dipped to as low as $38.99, the lowest price since August. The more active January contract rose 0.4% to $41.90 a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, gained 1.1% to $44.66 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. oil lost 35 cents, or 0.9%, for the week, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Weakening crude spreads put more strain on U.S. oil’s $40 support

A service truck drives past an oil well on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, November 1, 2014. A surprisingly abrupt breakdown in U.S. crude oil spreads this week has strengthened some traders’ conviction of a decisive move below $40 a barrel, extending the early winter price slump. As traders rushed to dump expiring December West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures on Friday, rather than take delivery in Cushing, Oklahoma, where storage space is dwindling, the spread versus the second month widened to as much as $2.90 a barrel, the most since 2011. The second-third month spread has tumbled more than 30 cents to -$1.35 a barrel, its lowest since April. "The contango will probably provide the fuel for us to get well and below $40," said John McLane, chief investment officer at Mobius Asset Management in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has sold short prompt WTI prices while buying […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil edges lower to near three-month lows on surplus supply

A gas pump is seen hanging from the ceiling at a petrol station in Seoul June 27, 2011. Oil futures gave up early gains to trade near three-month lows on Friday on a persistent supply glut that has cut prices by up to 13 percent since the start of November. U.S. crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped 11 cents to $40.43 a barrel as of 0731 GMT, after edging up in earlier trades. It ended down 21 cents at $40.54 on Thursday, after dipping to $39.89 during the previous session, its lowest since Aug. 27. Front-month Brent futures for January lost 6 cents to $44.12 a barrel, after finishing up just 4 cents on Thursday at $44.18. "Oil markets are really moving range bound … mainly because fundamentals have yet to change," said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures Pte Ltd. "Markets are a bit fearful that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

NYMEX December gas futures settle 13.1 cents lower at $2.145/MMBtu

The NYMEX December natural gas futures contract settled 13.1 cents lower at $2.145/MMBtu Friday as weather forecasts tempered expectations for bullish heating demand. Friday’s session marked the fourth straight lower settlement for the contract, which fell 24 cents, or 10%, between Monday’s and Friday’s close. Friday’s settlement was the lowest so far this month. WSI’s updated 11- to 15-day forecast showed the expansion of below-average temperatures out of the West and into the eastern two-thirds of the US, but the forecast was generally warmer than Thursday’s. "We still see above-average heating demand and robust storage withdrawals as likely, but the cold looks less intense than a day ago, Tim Evans, energy futures specialist with Citi Futures Perspective, said in a market note. Thursday’s US Energy Information Administration storage report, showing a 15-Bcf build to bring inventories to 4 Bcf, also was fresh in traders’ minds. "Despite the lower-than-expected build […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The Case For Peak Oil

JODI World C+C The Texas RRC Production Data is out. There appear to be no big surprises this month. All RRC data is through September but the EIA data is only through August. Note: For all those not familiar with the Texas Railroad Commission data it is always incomplete. That is the reason for the drooping data lines you see in the charts. The EIA data is what they believe the final estimate will be. Texas C+C Final month production was just a little higher in September than August. That usually indicates a small uptick in production. But the data is so incomplete it is hard to tell. Bakken & North Dakota OPEC 12 was down 256,000 bpd in October. BH Total World

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The World’s 3 Billion Barrel Oil Glut

While talk of record backlogs of supertankers and an unprecented 3 billion barrels of crude oil stock-piles sound impressive – and are weighing on crude prices – the following stunning image provides some context for just what this means… If the 3 billion barrels of crude oil gluttiness was put into tankers, the line would reach a stunning 530 kilometers… Source: @JavierBlas * * * As we previously noted, via Bloomberg , Oil stockpiles have swollen to a record of almost 3 billion barrels because of strong production in OPEC and elsewhere, potentially deepening the rout in prices, according to the International Energy Agency. This “massive cushion has inflated” on record supplies from Iraq, Russia and Saudi Arabia, even as world fuel demand grows at the fastest pace in five years, the agency said. Still, the IEA predicts that supplies outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will decline […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Should we worry as oil stocks hit 3 billion barrels?

Storage tanks are seen inside the Exxonmobil Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, November 6, 2015. Nearly 3 billion barrels of crude petroleum and refined products are being stored by oil firms in the advanced economies according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Commentators have seized on the 3 billion figure as a shorthand way to convey how oversupplied the oil market has become. Large round numbers exert a powerful pull on the imagination but shorn of context they are meaningless and apt to confuse rather than illuminate. The statistic is technically accurate but the way in which it is being employed by analysts and journalists is hugely misleading. It would be more helpful to report the change, which is 240 million barrels, or 9 percent, over the last year. GLOBAL OIL INVENTORIES The 3 billion barrels figure being widely quoted is actually for a relatively small subset […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Glencore seals Libyan oil deal in scramble for profits

The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, September 30, 2015. Trading house Glencore has secured a deal to buy as much as half of the oil Libya is currently exporting, market sources said, as it looks to boost trading to help offset flagging profits from mining. For war-torn, cash-strapped Libya it offers steady sales to international buyers and shifts to Glencore the risks associated with loading oil and chartering vessels at ports where operations have become more unpredictable due to the conflict in the north African nation. Under the arrangement with Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp. (NOC), which began in September, Glencore loads and finds buyers for all the Sarir and Messla crude oil exported from the Marsa el-Hariga port near the country’s eastern border with Egypt. While Libyan oil exports peaked at 1.6 million barrels per day, battles […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

West looks for splits in Russia’s alliance with Iran over Syria

Sign up for quick access to a wealth of global business news, including: West looks for splits in Russia’s alliance with Iran over Syria 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 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Soap opera ban is real drama in Venezuela

Sign up for quick access to a wealth of global business news, including: Soap opera ban is real drama in Venezuela 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 no For […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Wood Mac: Expect Argentinean shale boom

Though investments are needed, output from shale basins in Argentina is expected to accelerate, Wood Mackenzie finds. Photo by David Gaylor/Shutterstock HOUSTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) — One of the more lucrative shale basins in the Americas, the Vaca Muerta play in Argentina, could double its output by 2018, analysis finds. Vaca Muerta, located in Neuquen province, is considered one of the best shale basins in Latin America. Analysis emailed from Wood Mackenzie found parts of the basin are producing on average 646 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 53 percent from last year. Petronas, Mexican oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, known also as Pemex, and Argentine oil company YPF signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding on exploration and production in 2013. Russian energy companies have expressed interest in joining the venture . The study from Wood Mackenzie finds production increases will be slow, but year-on-year expansion expected at around […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Afghanistan reviews gas development potential

A stream approaching Jowzjan Province in Afghanistan. Photo by U.S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 20 (UPI) — The Afghan government said it’s closer to finalizing a deal with a consortium of energy companies that could pave the way for gas exploration and production. A consortium of Turkish and Afghan energy companies reached a preliminary agreement with the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum to review the potential for natural gas work in the northwestern provinces of Faryab and Jawzjan. "We have reached a favorable and equitable agreement that will create jobs and revenue for our country, while decreasing our need to import energy," Afghan Minister of Mines and Petroleum Daud. S. Saba said in a statement. According to the Afghan government, most of the country’s gas exploration and infrastructure is in Jawzjan province. As of February 2011, the last full year for which the government has data, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pakistan gets $1.4 billion energy loan from ADB

Crumbling power sector in Pakistan putting pressure on the nation’s economy, Asian Development Bank says. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI MANILA, Nov. 20 (UPI) — The Asian Development Bank said it was providing more than $1 billion in loans to help Pakistan address chronic power issues in the country. Pakistan’s aging infrastructure means the country lacks a reliable power sector. The ADB described the status of the power sector in Pakistan as "crippling." The bank approved combined loans of nearly $1.4 billion covering two programs meant to resolve key power sector issues in Pakistan. Most of the initial funding will support advanced metering infrastructure . "Nearly 20 percent of generated electricity is lost due to high technical and commercial losses and measures like the installation of the AMI system are necessary to counter this," ADB energy specialist Adnan Tareen said in a statement. According to the ADB, Pakistan’s power […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Rout Puts Canada in C$3 Billion Hole as Trudeau Steps Up

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau released forecasts showing he’s inherited a much worse fiscal outlook than expected as the country’s finances take a big hit from the oil price slump. A fiscal update released by the finance department showed Canada on pace for red ink even before newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicks off his plan for deficit spending. The latest projections are for a C$3 billion ($2.3 billion) deficit in the fiscal year that began in March, compared with a C$1.4 billion surplus budgeted by former Finance Minister Joe Oliver. To take into account growing risks to the outlook, Friday’s update — which doesn’t reflect any new measures — includes revenue assumptions that fall C$2 billion short of those used in the previous government’s April budget . It’s a more cautious outlook that suggests Trudeau will need to bring Canada deeper into deficit than he campaigned on, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Federal charges filed for deadly 2012 oil rig blast

Federal charges filed in response to 2012 rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico that left three workers dead. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 20 (UPI) — The U.S. Justice Department said it filed criminal charges in response to a 2012 oil platform incident in the Gulf of Mexico that left three workers dead. Three rig workers were killed following an explosion on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico operated by Black Elk Energy. The company said a third-party investigation found contractors on the rig failed to follow basic safety standards during construction work . The U.S. Interior Department described the incident as one of the worst in terms of the loss of life since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in 2010. Three individuals and companies Black Elk, Grand Isle Shipyard and oil field services company Wood Group now face charges from the Justice Department ranging […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

No drilling in the Atlantic, regional parties say

City officials and business leaders call on Washington to favor the recreation and tourism industry over drilling for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean. Photo by ecadphoto/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) — City officials and business leaders visited Washington, D.C., to pressure the White House to keep Atlantic basins off limits to energy explorers. The U.S. Interior Department in February released a draft proposal for 2017-22 for access to federal waters. Ten leases are planned for the Gulf of Mexico, three for offshore Alaska and one, a debut, for waters in the Atlantic. The National Ocean Industries Association, an industry group lobbying for more offshore work, said about 1.34 million barrels of oil equivalent per day could be produced from the Atlantic basin by 2035. Officials with ocean advocacy group Oceana joined coastal leaders in calling on the White House to keep the area off limits. Billy Keyserling, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

The Powder That Could Be Key for Natural-Gas Cars

Natural gas burns relatively cleanly, and thanks to new extraction technologies, there is plenty of it. But few cars use it; most of the more than 150,000 U.S. vehicles running on natural gas are still trucks and buses. One reason is that natural-gas-powered cars would need a much bigger fuel tank—perhaps filling the entire trunk as well as current gas-tank space—to achieve the range that drivers are accustomed to getting from gasoline. A given volume of gasoline contains more than triple the energy found in an equal volume of compressed natural gas. Now scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and other institutions on both sides of the Atlantic have come up with a new technology to pack more natural gas into a small space without the very high pressure or very low temperatures that are normally required. The result may be smaller and lighter tanks that are better […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US Oil Drillers Cut Rigs For 11th Week in the Last 12

Nov 20 (Reuters) – U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for an 11th week in the last 12 this week, data showed on Friday, a sign drillers were still waiting for higher prices before returning to the well pad en masse. Drillers removed 10 oil rigs in the week ended Nov. 20, bringing the total rig count down to 564, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. That is about a third of the 1,574 oil rigs operating in same week a year ago. After cutting 103 oil rigs over the past two months, drillers added two rigs last week. U.S. oil futures averaged $41 a barrel so far this week, down from $43 last week, as crude inventories rose for the eighth consecutive week and were inching closer to record highs. Crude oil futures on Friday fell below $40 for a third day […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Low Crude Prices Catch Up With the U.S. Oil Patch

The ingenuity and easy money that allowed American oil companies to keep pumping through a year-long price crash appear to be petering out as U.S. crude slides toward $40 a barrel. U.S. companies have stunned global rivals by continuing to produce oil —particularly from shale deposits—ever more cheaply as American crude prices plunged from over $100 a barrel in 2014. But the recent drop toward $40 a barrel and below puts even the most efficient operators in a bind. The worst-case scenario most major producers have discussed in the past six weeks with investors involved a price of $50 a barrel. That is beginning to look optimistic as Saudi Arabia continues to produce near-record volumes and major exporters such as Iraq have increased output. Many oil executives, including BP BP -2.33 % PLC CEO Bob Dudley, expect prices to be “lower for longer.” The U.S. Energy Department is forecasting […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

On eve of Paris climate summit, Britain pulls the plug on renewables

POWER PLAY | Cheap electricity, a changing climate This is part of a series exploring how the world’s hunger for cheap electricity is complicating efforts to combat climate change. Wind turbines sit in the North Sea at the London Array offshore wind farm, a partnership between Dong Energy and Abu Dhabi-based Masdar. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg News) LONDON — After standing dormant for 34 years, the Bankside Power Station was reborn last month. The onetime oil-fired, soot-spewing electric power plant, shut down and then converted into the Tate Modern, the world’s most popular contemporary art museum, is back producing energy again. Its roof has been coated with solar panels, which soak up the sun’s rays even on a cloudy London afternoon and help illuminate the avant-garde works in the galleries below. But rather than a shiny vision of modernity, the solar installation may become a sad remnant of a lost future. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Ruble Rally Fizzles as Attention Turns From Politics to Oil Link

The ruble halted its four-day rally, curbing the best weekly advance in six, as investors turned their attention to the price of oil. Russia’s currency weakened as much as 0.7 percent today before trading 0.3 percent lower at 64.7990 against the dollar by 7:09 p.m. in Moscow, after gaining 3.3 percent during the rest of the week. The price of Urals in rubles is trading below the 2016 budget assumption of 3,165, meaning that the currency is “expensive,” according to Morgan Stanley analysts in a note to clients this week. Aligning political interests in Syria with those of France and the U.S. boosted investor appetite for Russian assets this week, making the ruble the second-best performer in expanded major currencies after Brazil’s real. Yet with oil near a six-year low, analysts say the ruble’s correlation to the price of the nation’s key export will soon reassert its dominance. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia Plays Down Threat of Low-Priced Saudi Oil Sales to Europe

PlayCurrent Time 0:00/Duration Time 0:00Remaining Time -0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%00:00Fullscreen00:00MutePlayback Rate1Subtitles subtitles off Captions captions settings captions off Chapters Chapters No compatible source was found for this video.Foreground—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-OpaqueBackground—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindow—WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan—OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyDefaultMonospace SerifProportional SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional Sans-SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsDefaultsDonexShare & EmbedCopy CodeAdvertisement Oil and Gas Outlook: What’s Ahead in 2016? Russian officials said Saudi Arabia won’t be able to maintain the discounted crude prices offered to refiners in Eastern Europe as the nation toned down its criticism of oil shipments from the biggest OPEC producer. Saudi Arabia has priced its oil at a six-year low for Europe after starting to ship crude to traditional Russian markets such as Poland. The discounted crude “is a temporary situation and it won’t work for a long period,” Nikolay Tokarev, chief executive officer of Russia’s state-run oil pipeline operator, Transneft OJSC, said in an interview on Friday. Oil executives in Russia, which ships almost 70 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil edges lower to near three-month lows on surplus supply

A gas pump is seen hanging from the ceiling at a petrol station in Seoul June 27, 2011. Oil futures gave up early gains to trade near three-month lows on Friday on a persistent supply glut that has cut prices by up to 13 percent since the start of November. U.S. crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped 11 cents to $40.43 a barrel as of 0731 GMT, after edging up in earlier trades. It ended down 21 cents at $40.54 on Thursday, after dipping to $39.89 during the previous session, its lowest since Aug. 27. Front-month Brent futures for January lost 6 cents to $44.12 a barrel, after finishing up just 4 cents on Thursday at $44.18. "Oil markets are really moving range bound … mainly because fundamentals have yet to change," said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures Pte Ltd. "Markets are a bit fearful that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Prices Slip on Bearish Inventory Data

U.S. oil prices dipped below $40 a barrel several times on Thursday, as heavy stockpiles continued to push crude lower. Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell as low as $39.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest intraday level since August. It settled down 21 cents, or 0.5%, at $40.54 a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 4 cents, or 0.1%, to $44.18 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Data provider Genscape Inc. reported Thursday morning that stockpiles have seen strong growth at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for the benchmark U.S. futures contract, according a person who had reviewed the report. They rose 2.1 million barrels in the week ended Tuesday, with 1.8 million of those barrels coming since Friday, according to the data. The addition comes on top of data from Wednesday showing nationwide crude supplies increased by 300,000 barrels last week, according […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil rises slightly as bargain hunters inch into market

Towers and smokestacks are silhouetted at an oil refinery in Melbourne June 21, 2010. Oil prices rose slightly on Thursday with some investors keen to buy at what they perceive to be bargain levels, but persistent gluts of crude and refined fuel kept gains slight. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 23 cents at $44.37 a barrel by 0908 GMT. International benchmark Brent is still down more than 10 percent this month and 22 percent this year, having slumped from as high as $115 in 2014. "People are seeing oil at these very low levels and so they want to step in," said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist at ABN Amro in Amsterdam. "Some have a focus on an outlook for increased demand and a view that at some point the market will balance, but the oversupply is capping gains." Any rise is seen as vulnerable, with Brent […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil pulls back, WTI flirts with sub $40

Crude oil prices reverse course on mixed signals of rebalancing in the global energy market. U.S. benchmark price for crude oil threatening to dip below $40 per barrel in early Thursday trading. File photo by Monika Graff/UPI NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (UPI) — A call for robust production from the Saudi oil minister added negative pressure to crude oil prices in early Thursday trading. Brent crude oil moved back from Wednesday gains supported by U.S. data showing some of the crude oil stockpiles were released into the market. Brent started the trading day relatively unchanged from the previous close, but drifting lower to $44.06 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark price for crude oil, at one point dipped below the $40 mark before recovering. WTI early Thursday, however, was down 1.2 percent from the previous day’s close to $40.23 per barrel. Crude oil prices are moving lower […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil traders prepare for next big price drop in March 2016

A worker fills a tank with subsidized fuel at a fuel station in Jakarta April 18, 2013. Oil traders are preparing for another downward turn in prices by March 2016, market data suggests, as what is expected to be an unusually warm winter dents demand just as Iran’s resurgent crude exports hit global markets after sanctions are ended. Crude futures have already lost around 60 percent of their value since mid-2014 as supply exceeds demand by roughly 0.7 million to 2.5 million barrels per day to create a glut that analysts say will last well into 2016. Goldman Sachs said on Thursday that there was a substantial risk of a "sharp leg lower" in oil prices. "Mild winter weather over the coming months could see weak heating demand in the U.S. and Europe," it said. This "would likely be the trigger for adjustments through the physical market, pushing oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural Gas Tumbles After Stockpiles Hit New Record

Natural gas prices sank Thursday afternoon as record high stockpiles and the chance they’ll keep growing led traders to shrug off a brief rally from a smaller-than-expected weekly surplus. Natural gas storage levels reached an unprecedented 4 trillion cubic feet last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said late Thursday morning. And weather–though it is not as mild as once expected–is warm enough that many analysts are expecting stockpile additions to continue for at least another week, two weeks beyond what is normal, said John Saucer, vice president of research and analysis at Mobius Risk Group in Houston. “The trend is down and people are looking to sell rallies,” said Scott Gettleman, an independent trader in New York. “Mild weather, big inventories, we’re just setting up for lower.” Prices for the front-month December contract settled down 7.1 cents, or 3%, at $2.276 a million British thermal units on the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Large-scale MENA oil investment must continue to sustain industry: Naimi

Arab oil producers will need about $700 billion in financing for petroleum sector projects over the next 10 years to assure the sustainability of the Middle East and North Africa region’s key industrial sector, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said Thursday. Forecasting a continued rising trend in global oil demand to the tune of about 1 million b/d, despite the current market oversupply and sluggish world economic growth, Ali al-Naimi said annual depletion from producing fields was running at about 4 million b/d. He calculated that the petroleum industry would need to add 5 million b/d of new production every year to satisfy future demand. "This needs financial solutions at the Arab and international level. Investment should include all the phases of production and manufacturing," he said during a keynote speech at the Apicorp Energy Forum in Bahrain. In the context of the sustained slump in oil prices since mid-2014, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Crash Means Biggest Boomers Halt Supply Growth in 2016

To understand what the oil price crash will mean for global crude supplies next year, look no further than the two nations that added more barrels to world markets in 2015 than anyone else. The U.S. and Iraq, whose extra crude this year equates to about 80 percent of the global surplus, will fail to boost output in 2016, according to the world’s biggest forecasters. While the U.S. curtailment is mainly because prices are too low to spur fresh supply, the Middle East country’s ability to boost output is also being crimped by a need to fund its battle with Islamic State. Slowing output in the the two fastest-growing producers signals the global glut, which has depressed oil prices to near $40 a barrel, may begin to dissipate next year, according to Barclays Plc. While that would start to fulfill Saudi Arabia’s plan to re-balance world crude markets, Iraq’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran Sanctions Might Be Lifted in January as Atomic Gear Removed

Oil and banking sanctions against Iran might be lifted by mid-January based on the pace at which technicians are removing and mothballing nuclear equipment at the country’s uranium-enrichment facilities. Iran removed 4,530 centrifuges during the 28 days ending Nov. 15, a rate of 162 machines per day, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency report issued late Wednesday. Based on current work rates, Iran may be able to fulfill its part of the nuclear deal agreed with world powers by Jan. 12. “By the time you have this down to a routine, it’s not much more difficult than changing a set of tires,” said Robert Kelley, a nuclear engineer and former IAEA director who has supervised centrifuge disassembly projects. “There’s no reason the Iranians cannot continue at the same pace.” The July 14 deal agreed with world powers requires requires Iran to reduce the number of its installed centrifuges […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Saudi Minister Calls for More Investment in Oil Production

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi at a conference in Riyadh last month. MANAMA, Bahrain—Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi on Thursday called for more investment in petroleum production, warning that new output was needed this decade as global demand grows annually by more than a million barrels a day. Mr. Naimi, one of the most influential figures in the global petroleum industry, said the investments had to be made despite a precipitous drop in the price of crude oil, which is down more than 60% from highs of $114 a barrel in 2014. About $200 billion in new oil and gas projects have been delayed or canceled this year because of the drop in prices, according to Wood Mackenzie, the Scottish consultancy. Mr. Naimi said oil production capacity across the world would drop by about four million barrels a day each year. With demand growing steadily, he said, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya

Libya joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1962, a year after Libya began exporting oil. 1 Libya holds the largest amount of proved crude oil reserves in Africa, the fifth-largest amount of proved natural gas reserves on the continent, and in past years was an important contributor to the global supply of light, sweet (low sulfur) crude oil, which Libya mostly exports to European markets. Libya’s hydrocarbon production and exports have been substantially affected by civil unrest over the past few years. In 2011, Libya’s hydrocarbon exports suffered a near-total disruption during the civil war, and the minimal and sporadic production that occurred was mostly consumed domestically. In response to the loss of Libya’s oil supplies in the summer of 2011, the International Energy Agency (IEA) coordinated a release of 60 million barrels of oil from the emergency stocks of its member countries through the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Fuel Scarcity Grounds Businesses in Kaduna

Business activities have drastically slowed down at the popular Gumi market and other business places in Kaduna over fuel scarcity. Most business owners are witnessing low patronage due to the scarcity as fuel is now sold for between 170 and 200 naira per litre and only at the black market. No filling station was selling fuel at the popular Ahmadu Bello way and Constitution road. A shop owner, who gave his name as Alhaji Umar, said, "In just five days, prices of foodstuff have tripled in Kaduna." "Three times I visited the market this week, price of food stuff has risen drastically. "Example, a tin of milk that I sell here for 90 naira is now N120 all in just five days." A resident, who also is a fuel attendant at the Shema filling station, Tudun Wada, told PREMIUM TIMES that the station had been out of fuel since […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Global Downturn is Rare Opportunity for Israel to Recruit Oil, Gas Talent

Israel has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to recruit the oil and gas talent it needs to exploit its natural gas resources and turn itself into an important oil and gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean. Israel has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to import the skills and knowledge it needs to develop itself into an oil and gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean, according to speakers at this week’s Universal Oil and Gas Conference, which is being held in Tel Aviv. The country must take advantage of a global downturn in the upstream oil and gas industry in order to recruit the engineering specialists it needs to exploit the approximately 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas it found off its coast in 2009 and 2010 , as well the geological and drilling experts it requires as it searches for more hydrocarbons, delegates to UOG 2015 heard. Speaking about the challenges Israel […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iraqi oil selling at $30

Iraq may increase oil output further in 2016, although less dramatically than this year, intensifying a battle for market share between OPEC members and non-OPEC rivals that has forced Baghdad to sell some crude grades for as little as $30 a barrel. Iraq’s output in 2015 has jumped almost 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 13 percent, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). That has made Iraq the world’s fastest source of supply growth and a key driver of surging OPEC production. At most, that growth is likely to give way to a modest rise next year, easing downward pressure on prices that are close to a 2009 low. But a lifting of sanctions on Iran or an easing of violence in Libya could further boost OPEC supplies, without cutbacks by Saudi Arabia or other members. “Stable to limited growth in output from Iraq would give some potential […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Egypt’s Dollar Crunch Siphoning Steam From Renewable Energy Plan

Egypt’s foreign-currency crunch has solar developers concerned about financing new power plants. Cairo Solar has lined up a $51 million loan from the International Finance Corp. for a planned 50-megawatt solar farm. Chairman Hisham Tawfik says he’s worried about paying it back because the government has guaranteed payment for the electricity it will produce — in Egyptian pounds. It’s been more than four years since the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. The political upheaval has scared away outside investors and tourists, and Egypt’s foreign reserves have dwindled to $16.6 billion, less than half 2010 levels. The central bank has imposed restrictions that make Tawfik’s pounds difficult to convert to other currencies. “How can I be happy if I have a lot of Egyptian pounds in the bank and I can’t change them to dollars,” Tawfik, who is also on the board of the Egyptian Renewable Energy Association, said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple