Iran Prepares To Export LNG To Boost Trade Relations
Iran could ship its first export-bound cargo of LNG at the end of 2018, BMI Research said , after a JV between Iran’s Kharg Gas Refining Co. and Helma Vantage Continue Reading
U.S. Seeks to Bolster Saudi Arabia in Face of Expanding Iranian Threat
The Trump administration is looking at ways to quickly strengthen Saudi Arabia’s missile defenses and disrupt the flow of advanced Iranian-made weapons across the Middle East as concerns grow over Continue Reading
Iraq Struggles To Keep Oil Exports Elevated
Since the Kurdish referendum in late September, when Iraqi Kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence from Iraq, there has been a drop in crude flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, as tension Continue Reading
Venezuela opposition leader Ledezma flees to Spain
Veteran Venezuelan opposition leader Antonio Ledezma, under house arrest since 2015 for alleged coup plotting, escaped across the border to Colombia on Friday and later flew to Spain. With a Continue Reading
Venezuela Officially In Default
After rating agencies declared Venezuela in selective default and after a meeting with creditors on debt restructuring failed earlier this week, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA)—a finance industry Continue Reading
Exodus the only answer for thousands of Venezuelans
Diomira Becerra knew it was time to leave Venezuela when she took her four-year old daughter to the local park in Caracas and they saw a man shot dead in Continue Reading
Venezuelan Opposition Figure Flees House Arrest, Says He’ll Fight From Abroad
Antonio Ledezma, a top opposition figure who led protests against President Nicolás Maduro’s government, fled house arrest in Caracas on Friday and crossed the border into neighboring Colombia, officials said. Continue Reading
Venezuela’s crude sales to the U.S. rose in October but remained low
Venezuela’s crude exports to the United States recovered in October from the previous month but were still the third lowest in 2017, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data. The Continue Reading
Despite Big Push From Beijing, Electric Cars Struggle in China
Electric vehicles aren’t yet living up to the hype, automakers in China are finding, as they churn out more EVs than they can sell to satisfy government directives. Beijing tempts Continue Reading
U.S. oil drilling rig count holds steady this week: Baker Hughes
U.S. energy companies kept the oil rig count unchanged this week, General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said on Friday, as some analysts expect a gradual decline in Continue Reading
Pipeline leak raises questions over fate of Keystone XL
A leak from the existing Keystone oil pipeline running from Canadian oil fields shows why an expansion shouldn’t be built, environmental groups said. Pipeline company TransCanada said it took about Continue Reading
More Trans Mountain hearings scheduled in Canada
Detailed route hearings for plans to expand the Trans Mountain crude oil pipeline in Canada are scheduled in British Columbia in early 2018, a regulator said. The National Energy Board Continue Reading
U.S. wants input on Alaskan oil production proposal
The U.S. government said it was seeking additional public input on plans by an oil company to build artificial islands to drill in the Beaufort Sea. The federal Bureau of Continue Reading
Texas jobs, shale production increasing
Shale oil production in Texas has increased steadily for more than a year and gains have spilled over into the broader economy, a federal reserve bank said. The Federal Reserve Continue Reading
Markets Shrug On Flat Oil Rig Count
The number of oil and gas rigs in the United States rose again this week, this time by 8, according to Baker Hughes, ending a short-lived downward trend in weeks Continue Reading
$1.6 Billion Canadian-US Hydropower Project Approved
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved on Thursday a US$1.6-billion Canada-New Hampshire transmission line project that has been languishing in regulatory purgatory since 2010. The line will deliver up Continue Reading
Canadian heavy crude prices fall after TransCanada shuts Keystone pipeline
Canadian heavy crude benchmark Western Canadian Select at Hardisty fell sharply Friday after TransCanada shut its 600,000 b/d Keystone pipeline Thursday following a leak. Sources said WCS traded Friday at Continue Reading
UC Santa Barbara team develops catalytic molten metals for direct conversion of methane to hydrogen without forming CO2
Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara have developed catalytic molten metals to pyrolize methane to release hydrogen and to form solid carbon. The insoluble carbon floats to the Continue Reading
Higher Oil Prices Reduce North American Oil Bankruptcies
Haynes and Boone. This year, only 20 companies on the continent have declared bankruptcy—there were three times more than that last year. So far, the oil price crash of 2014 Continue Reading
API: US petroleum demand last month highest for October since 2007; 19.9 mbpd
Total petroleum deliveries in October moved up by 1.1% from October 2016 to average 19.9 million barrels per day, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API). These were Continue Reading
Tesla Plays the Long Game With Semi Truck
Tesla’s Elon Musk says the Semi will be able to travel 500 miles on a single charge. Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk is taking on the commercial truck market Continue Reading
Tesla’s Electric Semi Truck Gets Orders From Wal-Mart and J.B. Hunt
Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk introduced the Semi electric truck Thursday. Some of the country’s biggest trucking fleets are among Tesla Inc.’s first customers for its all-electric big rig. J.B. Continue Reading
Tesla Truck Could Threaten Big Chunk of Oil Demand, If It Works
Freight vehicles account for about 20% of world fuel use Future demand growth is dominated by medium and heavy trucks Tesla Inc. ’s unveiling on Thursday of a new electric Continue Reading
South Dakota pipeline spill will take months to clean up
The crude oil spill on the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota will take months to clean up, a state official said on Friday, just days before Nebraska was due to Continue Reading
Statoil To Boost Exploration Drilling Offshore Norway In 2018
Norway’s oil major Statoil plans to significantly step up its exploration drilling for oil and gas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 2018, a spokesman told Reuters on Friday. “We Continue Reading
World’s Biggest Wealth Fund Wants Out of Oil and Gas
Fund wants to protect Norway’s economy from oil price risk Government says will conclude assessment in ‘fall of 2018’ The $1 trillion fund that Norway has amassed pumping oil and Continue Reading
Volkswagen Group to spend >$40B over next 5 years to develop electric mobility, autonomous driving, new mobility services and digitalization
The Volkswagen Group will spend more than €34 billion (US$40 billion) by the end of 2022 on the development of electric mobility, autonomous driving, new mobility services and digitalization. Most Continue Reading
Oil giants unlikely to share coal’s fate, for now
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund’s proposal to ditch its oil and gas shares, though hugely symbolic in the battle against climate change, is unlikely to cause a rush to the Continue Reading
Oil steady, but set for first weekly fall in six on lingering oversupply
Oil prices were steady on Friday but on track for the first weekly fall in six weeks, under pressure from surging U.S. supplies and creeping doubts over Russian support for Continue Reading
Production enthusiasm drags oil prices lower
The potential for more oil production from several basins, and a call from Norway’s central bank to divest from energy stocks, pulled oil prices lower Thursday. Crude oil prices are Continue Reading
Oil extends losing streak on U.S. oversupply worries
Oil prices ended lower again on Thursday on increased concerns about growth in U.S. production and inventories, despite expectations that major world producers will extend a supply-cut deal later this Continue Reading
Oil Prices Could Double If Middle East Conflict Escalates
Scarcity doesn’t really justify the upward price movement. There isn’t a shortage of oil in the world. But there could be, in the worst case, if missiles start flying between Continue Reading
At least 15 states join global alliance to phase out coal by 2030
At least 15 countries have joined an international alliance to phase out coal from power generation before 2030, delegates at U.N. climate talks in Bonn said on Thursday. Britain, Canada, Continue Reading
Saudi energy minister: market to remain oversupplied by March 2018
The world will still have a surplus of oil by end-March next year, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said on Thursday, signaling a willingness to extend output cuts when OPEC meets Continue Reading
Saudi Arabia’s Risky Market Share Sacrifice
The 600,000 barrels per day Port Arthur refinery has exclusively processed Saudi Arabian crude since 1988, when Saudi Aramco first bought a stake in the facility—the largest of its kind Continue Reading
Saudi Sheikdown: Arrested Royals Offered A Deal – Your Money For Your Freedom
As we noted shortly after the Crown Prince’s purge of potential rivals within Saudi Arabia’s sprawling ruling family, while the dozens of arrests were made under the pretext of an Continue Reading
Saudi authorities offer freedom deals to princes and businessmen
Saudi authorities are negotiating settlements with princes and businessmen held over allegations of corruption, offering deals for the detainees to pay for their freedom, say people briefed on the discussions. Continue Reading
Middle East, US crude oil curbs Indian appetite for African supplies
India’s imports of African crude oil in October plunged to their lowest in over four years, with the world’s No.3 oil consumer increasingly turning to cheaper supplies from the United Continue Reading
Akkas secure, but dangers remain
Gas field facilities have been ravaged and booby-trapped by IS militants, and tensions are mounting between rival security forces. Iraqi federal forces have secured the Akkas gas field and its Continue Reading
Nigeria: Militant Group Threatens Attack On SPDC Facilities
Supreme Egbesu Tigers of Africa, a militant group in the Niger Delta region, yesterday, threatened to attack oil and gas facilities belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, in Ekeremor Continue Reading
Nigeria: Crude Oil Suffers Setback As More Traders Opt for U.S. Blend
Nigeria’s crude oil is under serious pressure at the international market, as Asian refiners have increasingly been moving away from their usual favourite, frequently opting for United State (U.S) crude Continue Reading
Venezuela chooses Dutch-based firm for Orinoco oil JV
Venezuela has selected a little-known, Dutch-registered company for a new joint venture at the Junin 10 oil block in its Orinoco Belt region, according to a decree published on Thursday. Continue Reading
Ecuador Won’t Ask Exemption From OPEC Oil Production Cuts
Ecuador has temporarily shelved its idea to ask from OPEC later this month to be exempt from its share of the production cuts, because the cartel’s supply restrictions are successfully Continue Reading
Dan Yergin on why Venezuela could cause a ‘big shock’ to the markets
If the global oil market suddenly loses Venezuela’s 2 million barrels of daily oil production, it would be “a big shock to the system,” according to Dan Yergin, vice chairman Continue Reading
Venezuela ruled in default by trade group after bond payment delays
Venezuela’s cash-strapped leftist government has defaulted on sovereign debt and bonds issued by state oil firm PDVSA after failing to make timely payments, a New York-based derivatives group ruled on Continue Reading
China’s crude oil stocks fall for first time in a year
China’s crude oil stocks fell for the first time in 12 months in October — by 27.41 million barrels from the month before — as crude imports hit a one-year Continue Reading
China ready to deliver promises in full: top climate envoy
China’s special representative on climate change affairs Xie Zhenhua delivers a speech during a high-level meeting of UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany , on Nov. 16, 2017. China’s special Continue Reading
The IEA Is Grossly Overestimating Shale Growth
This week, the IEA said that U.S. shale would dominate the oil and gas markets over the next decade, rising to “a level 50 percent higher than any other country Continue Reading
Musk unveils Tesla Semi; 500-mile range at highway speed with 80,000 lbs GVW; next-gen Roadster appears
Emphasizing “BAMF” performance, Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the Tesla Semi in an evening event. The sleek electric truck, with a 0.36 coefficient of drag (supported by intelligent flaps that Continue Reading
China Oil Demand to Peak in 2040
Oil demand from China’s transportation sector will peak in 2030 and flatten thereafter, mainly due to falling gasoline demand for passenger vehicles that become more efficient and increasingly electricity-driven, the Continue Reading