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US shale boom causing slowdown in LNG industry

Asian buyers’ reluctance to sign the long-term contracts that have traditionally underpinned big liquefied natural gas projects is causing a sharp slowdown in the LNG industry worldwide. A key reason for the standstill is the North American shale gas boom , which promises a cheaper alternative to existing supplies. Amid the uncertainty, LNG developments from east Africa to Canada are being held up, raising fears of a future shortage that could push up global gas prices. Philippe Sauquet, director of gas and power at Total , says buyers and sellers cannot agree on price. “A lot of projects today are still on the shelf because they have not succeeded in interesting long-term buyers,” he told the Financial Times. “Clearly there is a risk [they] won’t get built.” Asian buyers are showing a keen interest in potential exports of US shale gas, because it is indexed to Henry Hub, the […]

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No one wants Russia to implode but optimists have their work cut out

No one wants Russia to implode but optimists have their work cut out For the state of Russia’s economy is parlous. A couple of weeks ago, the Russian ministry of economy slashed its forecast for average annual growth between now and 2030 from 4pc to 2.5pc. In fact, Russia’s economy has recently been extremely weak. It fell into technical recession in the first half of the year and it looks likely to post growth of only about 1pc this year, down from an average over the past decade of just under 5pc. Russia’s previously strong growth earned her inclusion in the group of countries known as the BRICs. In fact, this gave a misleading impression of Russia’s underlying dynamism. Russia’s strong past growth reflected a series of one-off factors which cannot be repeated. Most importantly, over the past 10 years, higher oil prices have increased Russia’s export earnings, and […]

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New report: jobs from shale gas development greatly exaggerated by industry

There’s a new report out from the  Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative , which consists of independent, nonpartisan research and policy organizations in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia that monitor employment trends, tax policy, economic development, and the community impacts of energy extraction in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. The Collaborative has an advisory committee of academic experts. The new report is entitled: Exaggerating the Employment Impacts of Shale Drilling : How and Why . It contains a lot of great data and important analysis. Among the key findings: Between 2005 and 2012, an estimated 3.7 jobs were created for every well […]

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Apache cuts freshwater use in Permian fracking

In Irion County, where Apache is probing for the Wolfcamp shale, the company is tapping the Santa Rosa formation for brackish water supplies that lie between 600 and 800 feet below ground in this part of the Permian, just below freshwater aquifers. The brackish water complements existing efforts to treat and recycle flowback and produced water. “We’re not using freshwater out here,” Lucian Wray, production manager for Apache’s South Permian region, said of the company’s Barnhart operating area. “We are recycling 100% of our produced water. We don’t dispose of any of it,” he told Reuters. The tactic is saving Apache money in trucking and disposal costs. Water costs alone can eat up around 10% of a well’s budget, according to IHS CERA. Apache says it costs about 29 cents per barrel to treat flowback water, an enormous discount to the roughly $2.50 per barrel it costs to dispose […]

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Shale gas’s next frontier could be Poland

Shale gas, the energy source which has shaken up world oil markets, could soon be flowing in Poland after changes in government policy. Shale gas drilling has a chequered history in Poland. International oil giant Exxon Mobil tried to extract the controversial energy source in the country and gave up in 2012. Instead, Poland’s first shale gas extraction will start within months, or even weeks, according to Dennis McKee, chief executive of United Oilfield Services, which is providing equipment for shale gas exploration in Poland. ( Read more: Poland: A tough sell for investors? ) “The climate is changing quickly at this point, and there are more wells this year than in the last five years,” he told CNBC. “Government plans have changed, making it easier to develop.” Shale gas, the energy source which has shaken up world oil markets, could soon be flowing in Poland after changes in […]

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The shale game, & Shilling for dollars

Posted: Friday, November 22, 2013, 12:16 AM Likewise, as the American economy got crushed by no-longer-cheap oil, all the working classes in this country below the one-percenters got crushed, hammered and trashed. Among other things they can no longer afford is gasoline. Total vehicle miles driven has gone down by almost 3 percent since 2007. It will keep going down, and the Happy Motoring matrix will collapse for another reason: Capital scarcity will translate into fewer available car loans for Americans and fewer qualified borrowers, and Americans are used to buying their cars on installment loans. The shale-gas situation is also not the “energy savior” it’s cracked up to be. Because it costs so much to export the stuff, and we don’t have the export infrastructure in place – ocean terminals, fleets of special (expensive!) tanker ships – shale gas is hostage to the U.S. domestic market. The initial […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
Category:

The shale game, & Shilling for dollars

Posted: Friday, November 22, 2013, 12:16 AM Likewise, as the American economy got crushed by no-longer-cheap oil, all the working classes in this country below the one-percenters got crushed, hammered and trashed. Among other things they can no longer afford is gasoline. Total vehicle miles driven has gone down by almost 3 percent since 2007. It will keep going down, and the Happy Motoring matrix will collapse for another reason: Capital scarcity will translate into fewer available car loans for Americans and fewer qualified borrowers, and Americans are used to buying their cars on installment loans. The shale-gas situation is also not the “energy savior” it’s cracked up to be. Because it costs so much to export the stuff, and we don’t have the export infrastructure in place – ocean terminals, fleets of special (expensive!) tanker ships – shale gas is hostage to the U.S. domestic market. The initial […]

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Supermajors 'worst climate offenders'

The findings of the study by the US-based Climate Accountability Institute reveal the 90 companies have between them generated nearly two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions since the dawn of the industrial age. They are said to have been responsible for 63% of cumulative emissions between 1751 and 2010, amounting to about 914 gigatonnes of CO2 out of a total of about 1450 gigatonnes, according to the newly published report. The list of climate offenders includes 50 investor-owned companies, mainly oil supermajors, as well as 31 state-owned companies such as Statoil, Saudi Aramco and Russia’s Gazprom. ChevronTexaco was the leading emitter among investor-owned companies, causing 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, with ExxonMobil not far behind at 3.2%. In third place, BP has caused 2.5% of global emissions, while Statoil was ranked as the 34th largest emitter on the overall list of 90 companies. Nearly 30% of emissions were produced by […]

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Supermajors ‘worst climate offenders’

The findings of the study by the US-based Climate Accountability Institute reveal the 90 companies have between them generated nearly two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions since the dawn of the industrial age. They are said to have been responsible for 63% of cumulative emissions between 1751 and 2010, amounting to about 914 gigatonnes of CO2 out of a total of about 1450 gigatonnes, according to the newly published report. The list of climate offenders includes 50 investor-owned companies, mainly oil supermajors, as well as 31 state-owned companies such as Statoil, Saudi Aramco and Russia’s Gazprom. ChevronTexaco was the leading emitter among investor-owned companies, causing 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, with ExxonMobil not far behind at 3.2%. In third place, BP has caused 2.5% of global emissions, while Statoil was ranked as the 34th largest emitter on the overall list of 90 companies. Nearly 30% of emissions were produced by […]

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Blackstone’s Version of Peak Oil

A $6 billion oil deal signals yet another apex for the Blackstone Group. The sale of private equity-backed GeoSouthern Energy to Devon Energy comes at a high price by one important measure. Blackstone, one of GeoSouthern’s owners, also has an uncanny knack for timing. The glut of undeveloped land owned by oil companies suggests finding buyers will get tougher. Devon can justify the purchase price to its own shareholders, who roundly embraced the deal, using one metric. It is paying just 2.5 times projected 2015 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for GeoSouthern’s assets in the Texas-based Eagle Ford shale formation. Peers like Rosetta Resources are trading at a multiple of four. At $135,000 an acre, however, Devon shelled out about six times more than Marathon Oil paid two years ago to buy land in the same area from KKR and Hilcorp Resources. What’s more, Blackstone got in […]

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