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Wood Mackenzie: Oil exports hinge on U.S. political maneuvering

If nothing happens soon, politicking in Washington may push the debate on U.S. crude oil exports to 2017, analysis finds. UPI/Dennis Brack/Pool Wood Mackenzie says. U.S. crude oil exports are restricted under legislation enacted in response to the 1970s export embargo from Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. There are no restrictions on certain petroleum products like gasoline and some companies have recently started testing the moratorium with the export of condensate, an ultra light form of oil found in U.S. shale deposits. Harold York, an analyst of the refining sector at Wood Mackenzie, said condensate exports amount to a de facto ease on the restrictions, though, according to him, there are few "overt calls" from either side of the U.S. political aisle to lift the ban completely. Last week, Australian company BHP Billiton said it was the one that concluded oil products processed from the […]

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BHP Seen Shipping First U.S. Condensate Without Ruling

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) plans to export condensate from the U.S., the first company seen to ship the fuel abroad without express permission from federal regulators. BHP sold a cargo after deciding that it’s a processed product eligible for export and without a direct ruling from the U.S. Commerce Department, said a person familiar with the trade, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The company plans to export condensate from Texas’s Eagle Ford formation that’s been run through distillation towers, Eleanor Nichols, a Melbourne-based BHP spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement today. The shipment shows how companies are increasingly finding ways around a four-decade-old law prohibiting most oil from leaving U.S. shores. Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) received rulings this year from the Commerce Department allowing them to send the lightly-processed oil overseas. South Korea bought at least one of […]

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Crude exports and re-exports continue to rise; some volumes sent to Europe and Asia

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly The United States exported 401,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of crude oil in July 2014, the highest level of exports in 57 years and the second highest monthly export volume since 1920, when EIA’s published data starts. Recent crude oil exports are also noteworthy for both their origins and destinations. As a result of existing U.S. crude oil export restrictions, most U.S. crude exports are sourced domestically and are sent only to Canada. However, since April, crude exports have included modest amounts of Canadian-produced barrels that were moved through the United States and then re-exported to Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and Singapore. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly To export crude oil from the United States, a company must obtain a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Under export licensing requirements […]

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Shale Boom Redraws Oil Routes as Alaskans Ship to Korea

For signs of how the U.S. shale boom is transforming the global flow of oil, look halfway across the world at South Korea . The Asian nation, which relies on the Middle East for about 86 percent of its oil imports, is benefiting as new output from Texas to North Dakota displaces the crudes that fed U.S. refineries for decades. South Korea received this month a shipment of Alaskan oil for the first time in at least eight years and may buy more, the importing company said. The country was one of the first to receive a cargo of the ultralight U.S. oil known as condensate after export rules were eased. The U.S. shale revolution has driven oil output to the highest in more than three decades, reducing America’s need for overseas purchases and sinking global prices into a bear market . South Korea is seeking to reduce its […]

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Effect of Increased Levels of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports on U.S. Energy Markets

Introduction This report responds to a May 29, 2014 request from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE) for an update of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) January 2012 study of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export scenarios. This updated study, like the prior one, is intended to serve as an input to be considered in the evaluation of applications to export LNG from the United States under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act, which requires DOE to grant a permit to export domestically produced natural gas unless it finds that such action is not consistent with the public interest. Appendix A provides a copy of the DOE/FE request letter. DOE/FE asked EIA to assess how specified scenarios of increased exports of LNG from the Lower 48 states could affect domestic energy markets, focusing on consumption, production, and prices. The DOE/FE scenarios posit total LNG exports […]

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Construction starts on Cameron LNG plant

Ground broken on Louisiana plant designed for liquefied natural gas exports. (UPI/Shutterstock/tcly) Construction began in Louisiana on a plant cleared to export around 1.7 billion cubic feet of U.S. natural gas per day, joint venture partners said. Officials from the consortium led by Sempra Energy and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony in Hackberry, La., for the Cameron liquefied natural gas project . "We look forward to 2018 when the first LNG cargo is loaded and on its way to global markets," Farhad Ahrabi, chief executive officer at Cameron LNG, said in a Thursday statement. Development group Cameron LNG said the Hackberry plant represents a $10 billion investment. Once completed, it will be able to export 12 million tons of LNG, or around 1.7 billion cubic feet per day. The groups behind the project have export deals with several Asian countries. Critics of U.S.-sourced LNG […]

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Oil industry fight erupts over exports

The Independent Petroleum Association of America said it rejected complaints over decisions that cleared the way for the export of petroleum products. Crude oil exports are restricted under legislation enacted in the wake of the oil embargo imposed in the 1970s by Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Refinery consortium Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy last week said a June decision by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to clear exports of so-called condensate as a petroleum product rather than crude oil was incorrect. IPAA said the refiner’s real complaint has more to do with competition than the "realities surrounding U.S. energy security." IPAA argues for more exports, citing the exponential rise in U.S. oil production that came as a result of the shale boom. "It’s sad that an organization that purports to stand up for consumers would distort the plain language […]

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Plains All American Moving to Join Condensate Exporters

Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) says it should be on the list of companies that can export lightly processed oil from the U.S. The company has all the same assets in place that helped Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) and Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) get relief from 29-year-old crude export restrictions this year, Plains Chief Executive Officer Greg Armstrong said in a conference call with analysts yesterday. “We have the stabilization, distillation towers and the pipeline system all the way to the dock, we can pretty much trace the pedigree of that barrel all the way through,” Armstrong said. “The only thing that might get in our way is political arbitrariness.” Pioneer and Enterprise jolted the oil industry when they said the U.S. Commerce Department issued private rulings allowing them to export ultra-light crude that has gone through a stabilizer that uses a distillation tower. The first […]

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Investment decision made for Cameron LNG

French energy company said Thursday it made a final investment decision on a liquefied natural gas plant planned for Louisiana. GDF Suez is a partner with Cameron LNG for the LNG plant planned for Hackberry, La. The plant is designed to produce and export up to 12 million tons of LNG per year. "We are very pleased to partner in one of the first LNG export projects in the United States," Gerard Mestrallet , president and chief executive officer of GDF Suez said in a statement . Production of the facility should be completed in 2019 at a cost of $10 billion. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued its final environmental impact statement on the Cameron LNG facility in early May. The construction and operation of the facility would result in some environmental damage, but that damage would be rendered "less-than-significant" by the company’s proposed mitigation strategies, FERC said. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple