Anticipating the Collapse of Venezuela
The question for businessmen and governments with a stake in the deteriorating situation in Venezuela is no longer if the regime of Nicholas Maduro will come to a premature end, Continue Reading
Venezuela’s power struggle a race against time
Venezuela’s oil industry is at risk of grinding to a halt, along with the rest of the nation, as El Guri, Venezuela’s largest hydroelectric power facility, could see a drop Continue Reading
China moves to contain technology bubble
China’s securities regulator is barring companies from selling new shares to fund investments in non-core businesses such as internet finance, online gaming and virtual reality, in a bid to head Continue Reading
Canada Gas Price Plunges as Wildfires Shut Oil-Sands Output
A bad start to the year for Canadian natural gas producers is getting worse after wildfires in northern Alberta knocked out oil-sands operations that represent a key source of demand. Continue Reading
Oil companies in Alberta weighing options
Canadian energy company Nexen said it was reviewing the fire situation in Alberta, but keeping its facilities shut down until it was able to reach its oil facilities. More than Continue Reading
Big Oil Unexpectedly Backs Newest Non-Fossil Fuels
Big oil is dipping a few more toes into clean energy. Exxon Mobile Corp. is partnering with a company to capture carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants. Total SA, the French Continue Reading
Oceana sees imminent end to Arctic drilling
With energy companies relinquishing their holdings, advocacy group Oceana said the end may be near for drilling in the Arctic waters offshore Alaska. Oceana said it’s found through a Freedom Continue Reading
Canada Oil Sands Operators to Resume Production in ‘Coming Days and Weeks’
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said she expects oil-sands companies that suspended output of crude oil by up to one million barrels a day due to wildfires that ravaged the Fort Continue Reading
Chaparral Energy Has Stored Cash for Bankruptcy Turnaround
Oklahoma oil and gas producer Chaparral Energy Inc. is claiming a key advantage as it launches a bankruptcy turnaround effort: $152 million in bank accounts beyond the reach of secured Continue Reading
US banks face more pain despite crude’s rally
The recent rally in the price of oil is doing little to improve the prospects of overstretched borrowers in the oil patch, say banks and their advisers, raising the prospect Continue Reading
Path for US shale oil supply finds disagreement at Platts summit
Roughly 4,200 miles from the heart of the Bakken Shale, the future of US shale oil became the focus of the Platts Global Crude Oil Summit in London Tuesday. There Continue Reading
Groundwater Contamination from Fracking Changes over Time: Study
A new Texas study has found that horizontal oil wells fractured by the injection of high volumes of chemicals, sand, and water contaminate nearby water wells with a variety of Continue Reading
Global Warming Cited as Wildfires Increase in Fragile Boreal Forest
Climate change is a prime suspect in a rise of wildfires in the boreal forest. Scientists have been warning for decades that climate change is a threat to the immense Continue Reading
How Suncor Has Become The King Of Canadian Oil Sands
Suncor: King of Canada’s Oil Sands Canada’s oil sands are the third largest oil deposit in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The largest oil sands producer in Canada, Continue Reading
Difference between Trump and Clinton as president: One million barrels of oil a day
U.S. oil production is bound for a significant shake up after the presidential election in November, says a senior editor at energy-information provider Platts. “This election is going to have Continue Reading
Total’s Peculiar Power Play
Despite what you might think, Big Oil knows its batteries. The first rechargeable lithium-ion battery to hit the market in the late 1970s came out of Exxon, of all places. Continue Reading
Maersk Oil announcing more layoffs
Danish energy company Maersk Oil announced it was trimming its payroll in an effort to cut costs in response to the pressure from lower oil prices. Crude oil prices in Continue Reading
Norway Increases Oil Wealth Spending to Ward Off Recession
Norway’s government boosted the amount of oil money it will spend this year, dipping deeper into its sovereign wealth fund to ward off a recession. The government in its revised Continue Reading
France Discusses Ban Of Imported U.S. Shale Gas
LNG Imports After French media accuses government of hypocrisy, French Energy Minister Segolene Royal is discussing with French parliament a potential ban on the import of U.S. shale gas. The Continue Reading
Speculative Investors Cut Bullish Crude Oil Price Bets
Speculative investors in oil cut their bullish bets on the price of crude for the first time in a month last week as doubts grew about the sustainability of this Continue Reading
Specter of gasoline, diesel glut reverses oil’s gains
A growing overhang of gasoline and diesel fueled a sharp sell-off in oil futures on Monday that reversed a recent rally over the wildfires in the heart of Canada’s oil Continue Reading
Global Rig Count Continues To Fall
Oil Rigs Sunset Baker Hughes recently published its International Rig Count . This rig count is at the end of April. It does not include the U.S., Canada, any of Continue Reading
Iran cuts crude prices vs Saudis, Iraq in market share fight
Iran has set its June official selling prices (OSPs) for heavier crude grades it sells to Asia at the biggest discounts to Saudi and Iraqi oil since 2007-2008, raising the Continue Reading
Iran says it will ship more oil to Italy
Iran’s deputy oil minister claimed a deal was made with an Italian refining company for the delivery of around 65,000 barrels of oil per day. Rokneddin Javadi, chief of the Continue Reading
New Dhi Qar oil firm gets $42 million kick-start
The Iraqi Finance Ministry has approved $42 million in start-up capital and authorized a transfer of employees and equipment for the new state-run Dhi Qar Oil Company (DQOC), a crucial Continue Reading
Saudi Aramco prepares for global expansion as IPO looms
Oil tanks seen at the Saudi Aramco headquarters during a media tour at Damam city in this file photo dated November 11, 2007. Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco is Continue Reading
Bets for Saudi Devaluation Jump Most in 4 Months on New Governor
Contracts used to bet whether Saudi Arabia will allow its currency to weaken rose the most in four months after the kingdom replaced its central bank governor. Twelve-month contracts for Continue Reading
Saudi Aramco CEO Sees `Significant Growth’ in Oil Output in 2016
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, plans “significant growth” in output in 2016 and further international expansion, the head of the country’s state-run producer said, even as global oversupply Continue Reading
Saudi Aramco Likely to Step Up Production
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company is likely to increase its production to meet rising demand this year, its chief executive said Tuesday, potentially adding a new flood of Continue Reading
Saudi Aramco to press ahead with oil expansion
Saudi Arabia will continue to meet rising demand for its oil and press ahead with global expansion plans in spite of the “challenging” backdrop for the industry. In some of the Continue Reading
What OPEC Has To Fear From The New Saudi Oil Minister
Khalid Al Falih, Saudi Arabia In a surprise move, Saudi Arabia sacked its long-time oil minister over the weekend, an event that illustrates the near-total control that the new young Continue Reading
A Glimpse Into What Saudi Arabia’s New Oil Policy Will Look Like
Saudi Oil Minister Following the biggest news of this weekend, the (anticipated) resignation/termination of Saudi Arabia’s longstanding oil minister Ali al-Naimi, everyone has been wondering about what comes next and Continue Reading
EIA: Nigerian oil sector plagued by risk
Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, though it’s plagued with risks as much of the industry is in the conflict-prone Niger Delta, analysis finds. The U.S. Energy Information Continue Reading
Report: Shell evacuates Nigerian facility
Royal Dutch Shell latest to come under attack in Nigeria from a militant group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI ABUJA, Nigeria, May 9 (UPI) Continue Reading
Shell Evacuates Non-Essential Staff From Nigeria Field
Royal Dutch Shell PLC has evacuated nonessential staff from one of its Nigerian oil fields amid mounting militancy in the country’s oil-rich Niger Delta region. The company has reduced staff Continue Reading
Anger Overflows in Nigeria as Economy Dives
Young men became entangled in a swirl of flying fists. Gas station workers swatted away boys hoping to fill their plastic cans. A mother with a sleeping baby in her Continue Reading
The World’s Most Extreme Speculative Mania Unravels in China
From the Dutch tulip craze of 1637 to America’s dot-com bubble at the turn of the century, history is littered with speculative frenzies that ended badly for investors. But rarely Continue Reading
Producers, refiners see prolonged shutdown from Canadian wildfire
Oil producers and refiners braced on Monday for a prolonged shutdown and possible supply constraints from Canada’s vast oil sands region as a destructive wildfire raged for a second week. Continue Reading
Canada Oil-Sands Industry Adds Diluent Supply to Wildfire Woes
A raging wildfire in Northern Alberta has dealt oil-sands operators another complication: local shortages of diluent, the light oil needed to get Canada’s heavy crude flowing. Statoil ASA said Monday Continue Reading
Alberta Oil Town at Heart of Wildfires Remains Almost 90% Intact
The massive wildfires that swept through Canada’s energy hub of Fort McMurray left almost 90 percent of the city intact, including most of the downtown core, while completely leveling some Continue Reading
U.S. gasoline prices hold steady
Retail gasoline prices in the United States remain relatively stable as markets tilt toward balance, though motor club AAA said that could end come summer. AAA reports a national average Continue Reading
North Dakota loses two rigs
The number of rigs operating in North Dakota was down two from the previous week and nearly 70 percent below this time last year, state data show. North Dakota state Continue Reading
Chaparral Energy Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Oil and gas company Chaparral Energy Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, the latest victim of low oil prices that continue to devastate the industry. The Oklahoma City-based Continue Reading
Canada’s Oil Output Spared Fire Damage Seen Able to Rebound
Canada oil-sands producers including Suncor Energy Inc. could resume production within a week after the threat subsides from wildfires that cut as much as 40 percent of the region’s output. Continue Reading
Russian oil chief Sechin: OPEC unity effectively extinct
OPEC is effectively extinct as a united organization and the time when it could determine global oil market conditions should be forgotten, Igor Sechin, head of Russia’s biggest oil firm Continue Reading
Russian Oil Executives Not Optimistic About Oil Prices
In late April, Russia was left standing at the alter in Doha, as Saudi Arabia walked away from a production freeze deal, leading the negotiations to collapse with no result. Continue Reading
New Record Set for World’s Cheapest Solar Power
10 years ago making solar power cheaper than coal seemed like a very long term goal. Now it is reality. I wonder if the dudes at Google who gave up Continue Reading
Oil Prices Jump on Strong China Crude Imports
Crude-oil prices climbed in early Asian trade Monday as the market honed in on China’s strong crude imports last month, despite Saudi Arabia’s unexpected removal of its long-serving oil minister Continue Reading
WTI Oil Flirts With Premium to Brent as Canada Fires Cut Supply
Oil in New York erased its discount to international prices amid speculation reduced supply from Canada because of wildfires will accelerate the seasonal drop in U.S. crude stockpiles. West Texas Continue Reading
Oil up 2 percent as wildfires threaten Canada supply, Saudi moves eyed
Oil prices rose about 2 percent in early Asian trading on Monday as supply outages persisted over the weekend from Canada’s wildfires that have shut half the country’s vast oil Continue Reading