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Anger and dismay as Russia scraps $50bn gas plan

Eastern European nations reacted with shock and anger to Russia’s decision to abandon South Stream , its $50bn gas pipeline across the Black Sea into Europe, as shares in some of the companies involved in the project dived. Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary said they had received no advance warning that Moscow was scrapping South Stream, even though they all have substantial financial and political capital invested. Russia said it would export its gas to a trade hub in Turkey instead. Proposed South Stream pipeline route map South Stream is so far the biggest casualty of the stand-off between Russia and Europe over Moscow’s military involvement in Ukraine . The much-vaunted project, backed by Russia’s state-controlled gas group Gazprom , was designed to bring Russian gas into Europe by bypassing Ukraine. It gained momentum after a series of price disputes between Moscow and Kiev over the past decade led to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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How the US shale gas industry has changed the global economy

The year 2014 will be remembered for an unprecedented juxtaposition of events. Two oil-producing countries in the Middle East were in a state of crisis. Relations between the West and Russia slumped to a new Cold War low. And oil prices have slumped, to $66 a barrel for Brent Crude this morning, half its recent peak. This didn’t used to happen. The modern history of oil prices is characterised by a series of spikes, each one coinciding with a crisis in the Middle East. It is a mark of how US shale gas and oil production has changed the oil market – and thus the prospects for the global economy. Never has a theory collapsed so quickly as Peak Oil, the idea that fossil fuel prices would rise inexorably as supply failed to keep track of demand. Even as late as 2011 the US had a trade deficit in […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Shale gas provides largest share of U.S. natural gas production in 2013

Republished November 25, 2014, 10:15 a.m. to clarify graph title. Total U.S. natural gas gross withdrawals reached a new high at 82 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2013, with shale gas wells becoming the largest source of total natural gas production. Natural gas gross withdrawals are a measure of full well stream production including all natural gas plant liquids and nonhydrocarbon gases after oil, lease condensate, and water have been removed. According to the Natural Gas Annual , gross withdrawals from shale gas wells increased from 5 Bcf/d in 2007 to 33 Bcf/d in 2013, representing 40% of total natural gas production, and surpassing production from nonshale natural gas wells. New technology has enabled producers to shift production to resources that are now easier to reach and have lower drilling costs. These trends have been reflected in a lower market price of natural gas. In 2007, shale […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Real Cost of Fracking: How America’s Shale Gas Boom Is Threatening Our Families, Pets, and Food

Resilience Published on Resilience (http://www.resilience.org) The first researchers to systematically document ill health in livestock, pets, and people living near fracking drill sites were Michelle Bamberger and Robert Oswald. Bamberger, a veterinarian, and Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell University, used a case study approach–looking at individual households–to search for possible effects (Bamberger and Oswald 2012). Many fracking chemicals are known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors or other classes of toxins (Colborn et al. 2011). Bamberger and Oswald’s studies, carried out during the ongoing fracking boom, uncovered serious adverse effects including respiratory, reproductive, and growth-related problems in animals and a spectrum of symptoms in humans that they termed “shale gas syndrome”. Ultimately, their research led them to consider fracking’s broader implications for farming and the food system (Bamberger and Oswald 2012 and 2014). Their new book, The Real Cost of Fracking: How America’s Shale Gas Boom Is Threatening Our […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Boston, New York City winter natural gas prices expected to remain high

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Bloomberg Note: November through March are considered winter months. Forward prices for 2014-15 and 2015-16 are as of 10/29/2014. Despite expectations of a milder winter for 2014, marketers anticipate high prices for natural gas in Boston and New York City. Natural gas prices are expected to be lower than last winter, but higher than the average of previous winters, particularly in Boston. Boston. Average forward prices in Boston this winter are expected to be $13.70 per million British thermal unit (MMBtu), which is $2.33/MMBtu lower than the winter of 2013-14 but much higher than previous winters. Higher natural gas prices are partly because the pipeline industry has not added any new capacity to flow more Marcellus gas into Boston and because production from eastern Canada and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Everett (Boston) and Canaport (New Brunswick) terminals are not high […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Anton, Schlumberger Venture to Cut Size by Firing Workers

An oilfield service venture set up by Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) and Anton Oilfield Services Group (3337) is considering cutting costs because of the partnership’s slow progress. Sichuan-based Tongzhou IPM Services Co., set up in September 2012, is trying to cut operating costs and could reduce the number of workers, said Wang Bo, Anton’s Hong Kong-based spokesman. The move doesn’t imply that Anton and Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield-services provider, plan to shut the venture. “We think the unit could still be competitive in the oilfield-services market if we improve efficiency, control cost and react more quickly to market demand,” Wang said. Schlumberger’s Houston-based spokesman Joao Felix declined to comment and referred all questions to Anton. Schlumberger’s plan to take advantage of China ’s shale gas push and establish a presence in the resource-rich Sichuan province will take a blow should Tongzhou be dismantled. It may also add to troubles […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Boom Is Drowning Out Coal Industry’s Battle Cries

4729 Votes Natural Gas Boom Is Drowning Out Coal Industry’s Battle Cries While a lot of the political fodder during the 2014 election season focused on the “war on coal,” a bigger and even stronger show of force is transforming the nation’s economic landscape, especially in “war torn” Appalachia: natural gas. The natural resource has emerged from the back burner of U.S. energy development and onto the hot seat. Over the last seven years, it has not only fueled new economic growth but it has also changed the way electricity is generated. Beyond the newfound abundance — a result of shale gas drilling technologies — the manufacturing sector has subsequently boomed. To be clear, dry natural gas can be used for electric generation. Wet natural gas, or natural gas liquids that include methane, ethane butane and propane, are separated from the dry gas. Those elements are then used as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pennsylvania Benefits from Oil, Gas Extraction in the State

Fracking for oil and natural gas in Pennsylvania is creating a significant amount of economic stimulus for the state in the form of new jobs and funding that will help pay for infrastructure, according to the Pennsylvania Business Daily. And while there is some resistance from activists, Pennsylvania communities are becoming more open to drilling in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Natural Gas Association Director of Public Outreach, Dan Weaver. The broader acceptance is a relatively new occurrence, Weaver said. “Four or five years ago, everyone was using scare tactics, saying that there was going to be mass, widespread devastation and everything was going to just go downhill. We’re four or five years later, and there is no mass, widespread devastation,” Weaver said. While devastation has not found its way to the area, employment opportunities have: the drilling is creating thousands of good jobs in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shale revolutionary for United Kingdom, company boss says

Momentum is building behind fledgling British shale natural gas industry. UPI/Gary C. Caskey Ineos Chairman Jim Ratcliffe unveiled preliminary plans to give momentum to the fledgling British shale natural gas industry. At a Thursday conference, the chairman said substantial investments could follow developments in shale . "I believe shale gas could revolutionize U.K. manufacturing, and I know Ineos has the resources to make it happen, the skills to extract the gas safely and the vision to realize that everyone must share in the rewards," he said. Ineos acquired shale exploration and development licenses near a power plant a few hundred miles from the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The British Geological Survey said the available reserves there are "modest." The emerging shale industry in the country has been met with opposition from environmental activists concerned about the fallout from the controversial drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as well […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russia-China Gas Deals Could Kill America’s Dream Of Natural Gas Exports

4727 Votes Russia and China have signed  two large natural gas deals  in the last six months as Russia turns its attention to China, in reaction to sanctions and souring relations with Europe, currently Russia’s largest energy export market. But the move has implications beyond Europe. In the department of everything is connected, U.S. natural gas producers may be seeing their dream of substantial liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports suffer fatal injury because of Russian exports to the Chinese market, a market that was expected to be the largest and most profitable for LNG exporters. Petroleum geologist and consultant  Art Berman –who has been consistently skeptical of the viability of U.S. LNG exports–communicated in an email that Russian supply will force the price of LNG delivered to Asia down to between $10 and $11, too low for American LNG exports to be profitable. Now, let’s back up a little. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple