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Your #1 source for the latest Business and Industry News.
With over 120,000 readers, BIC Magazine is the Western Hemisphere's largest multi-industry,
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February 3, 2012
 Administration Fast-Tracks Offshore Wind Farms
The Obama Administration
says it plans to make areas off the coasts of Maryland and New Jersey available
to wind-energy developers by year’s end, paving the way for the first leases
under a program designed to fast-track offshore wind farms.
While President Obama
has said he favors an "all of the above” approach to energy development,
Thursday’s announcement highlighted the stronger emphasis he places on wind and
solar power compared with Republicans. A House committee on Wednesday approved
three bills promoting oil and gas exploration, an issue also stressed by the
GOP’s presidential candidates.
The United States
gets about 3 percent of its electricity from land-based wind turbines but
doesn’t yet have any turbines offshore.
Announcing the wind
plan, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department found there would be
"no significant impact” on the environment from issuing the leases and allowing
developers to test whether the areas are viable.
The decision
eliminates a step from the environmental-review process, shortening it by as
much as two years, said Jim Lanard, president of the Offshore Wind Development
Coalition. "This is a critical step,” he said.
Environmental reviews
will still be needed for individual project plans, and wind farms in the
designated areas are still years away from coming online.
Under
the only offshore lease executed so far by the United States — for a
46-square-mile parcel in Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Massachusetts — project
owner Cape Wind Associates would pay the government about $88,000 in annual
rent for 33 years, plus 2 percent to 7 percent of electricity sales.
The Interior
Department is also targeting areas off the Delaware and Virginia coastlines for
future leases. "We will be able to see one day the harnessing of the tremendous
amount of energy we have off the Atlantic coast,” Salazar said.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
Energy Secretary
Backs Natural Gas Exports
Shell Looking At Ways To Improve US Gas Profits
Source: Repsol Begins Deep-Water Exploration Drilling Off
Cuba
Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph Main: Mine Safety and Health
Improving Through Collective Efforts of Government, Industry
February 1, 2012
 Shell CEO
Says Arctic Focus is Alaska, Greenland
Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s
plans to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic region will be centered on Alaska
and Greenland, though the Anglo-Dutch major is also eyeing Russia’s far north
as an exploration frontier, said Chief Executive Peter Voser.
"For us the focus is in
Alaska and to some extent in Greenland, although in the coming years there may
also be opportunities in Russia,” said Voser.
Although Shell’s intention to
drill in Alaska has been well documented — the company has received the
necessary clean-air permits and expects to commence operations there this
summer — the renewed focus on Greenland is the latest sign the energy giant
plans to open a new exploration frontier in one of the world’s last undiscovered
oil and gas provinces.
Vast hydrocarbon reserves
are believed to lie off the coast of Greenland. The U.S. Geological Survey
estimates reserves of 31 billion barrels of oil equivalent yet to be tapped off
the west coast, while another 17 billion are estimated to sit under the seabed
off the island’s east coast.
Shell risks unleashing the
wrath of environmental campaigners, who are strongly opposed to oil companies
drilling in the region. They argue a spill could be impossible to contain and
risk damaging the fragile ecosystem.
Voser acknowledged the
Arctic environment was a particularly sensitive one, but said he believed Shell
could safely conduct operations there.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
Refiners, Union
Reach Deal
Missouri Governor
backs Plans for New Oil Pipeline
Rare Earth Metal Refinery Nears Approval
Saudi Arabia Names Candidate to Head
OPEC
January 30, 2012
 Unit of Buffett’s
Conglomerate ‘Ready to Haul’ Canadian Crude
Warren Buffett’s Burlington
Northern Santa Fe is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit
from the Obama Administration’s decision to reject TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone
XL oil pipeline permit.
With modest expansion,
railroads can handle all new oil produced in Western Canada through 2030,
according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the State Department.
"Whatever people bring to
us, we’re ready to haul,” Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington
Northern, said in an interview. If Keystone XL "doesn't happen, we’re here to
haul.”
The State Department denied
TransCanada a permit Jan. 18, saying there was not enough time to study the
proposal by the Feb. 21 deadline Congress imposed. TransCanada has said it
intends to re-apply with a route that avoids an environmentally sensitive
region of Nebraska, something the Obama Administration encouraged.
The rail option, though
costlier, would lessen the environmental impact, such as a loss of wetlands and
agricultural productivity, compared with the pipeline, according to the State
Department analysis.
Click here to read more.
Today's Links
Obama's Keystone XL Decision: What Have Workers Got to Lose?
CAPP outlines
fracing operating practices for shale, tight gas
Entergy Announces Key Leadership Changes
Forecasting the
future of natural gas
January 30, 2012
 Could North America Be the Next Energy Hub?
North America is poised to
become the "new Middle East” of energy exports by the next decade, according to
a Citigroup analyst.
Edward Morse, Citigroup’s
managing director of commodities research, told "The Vancouver Sun” the
continent is likely to see export capacity rise as production of tar sands,
natural gas and oil — both onshore and offshore — ramp up in Mexico, Canada and
the United States.
"North America, particularly
the United States, is poised to become a growing exporter of petroleum products
from the U.S. Gulf Coast,” Morse said.
Click here for more information.
Today's Links
Boehner says
highway bill fair game for Keystone XL provision
Statoil opts for Luva giant spar
TonenGeneral
Sekiyu to Buy ExxonMobil’s Marketing Unit in Japan for $3.9 Billion
Offshore Wind: an Opportunity for the Oilfield Services
Industry
January 27, 2012
 EU: Study Shows No Need for New Laws to Regulate Shale Gas
There is no need for new
legislation to regulate shale gas exploration in the European Union, according
to a study published today.
The study, carried out by a
consultant and authorized by the European Commission, says existing legislation
on exploration and production of fossil fuels — which are mainly aimed at
guaranteeing safety and environmental protection — can apply to both
conventional and unconventional gas.
"The legal study confirms
there is no immediate need for changing our EU legislation,” Energy
Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said. "We take environmental concerns seriously
and will continue to monitor the development of shale gas extraction in the
EU.”
Shale gas is a controversial
issue in the EU, with France and Bulgaria being the main opponents to its
extraction due to environmental concerns, while others — led by Poland — are
strongly in favor because they see it as a means of easing their dependence on
imported gas, usually from Russia.
Shale gas is extracted by
injecting large amounts of water mixed with chemicals underground, to crack the
rocks that trap the gas and push it to the surface — a process called hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking. Opponents fear the procedure can pollute drinking
water sources and possibly create small earthquakes, while supporters say the
gas operations are carried out much deeper underground, and if the engineering
is correct, there is no danger.
Exploratory drilling is
taking place at more than 20 sites in the EU, half of which are in Poland.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
Energy Industry Wants To Ditch 'Fracking'
CH2MHill brings new global
energy group to Houston
National
Petrochemical & Refiners Association Becomes American Fuel &
Petrochemical Manufacturers
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January 26, 2012
 Obama to Unveil Energy Plans
President Barack Obama is
set to announce a pair of new measures designed to advance the "all of the
above” energy agenda he laid out in Tuesday’s State of the Union address,
including an embrace of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
At a United Parcel Service
Inc. facility in Las Vegas, President Obama will throw his support behind using
natural gas for transport in the medium and heavy truck fleet, according to
administration officials.
UPS used more than $5
million in federal support to upgrade its own fleet of trucks and complete the
first natural-gas "corridor” linking the port of Long Beach, Calif., with Salt
Lake City, where big trucks can readily refuel with liquefied natural gas.
The White House plan,
contingent on congressional support, would include tax credits to offset part
of the cost of upgrading trucks to run on natural gas, and federal help to spur
the creation of five additional natural-gas corridors on heavy trucking routes.
Additionally, the Obama Administration
plans to double down on federal research to find new ways to use natural gas
for transportation, as well as supporting the conversion of city bus and truck
fleets to run on the cleaner fuel, administration officials said.
Click here for more information.
Today's Links
Obama Admin to Hold GOM Lease Sale
Chevron gets go
ahead to expand Table Rock Field
Deep rig market 'set for boom'
Building a Pipeline of Talent for the Oil and Gas Industry
January 25, 2012
 Obama Pushes
Natural Gas Fracking to Create 600,000 Jobs
President Barack Obama
pushed drilling for gas in shale rock and support for cleaner energy sources to
boost the economy in his final State of the Union address before facing U.S.
voters in November.
Hydraulic fracturing, the
process of injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to free gas trapped
in rock, could create more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade, Obama
said.
"We have a supply of natural
gas that can last America nearly 100 years and my administration will take
every possible action to safely develop this energy,” Obama said.
Obama reiterated support for
conservation and cleaner sources of power and pledged more oil drilling as part
of an "all-out, all-of-the-above’’ policy "that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of
new jobs.” He announced incentives to make industries more energy efficient and
again called on Congress to require a larger percentage of the nation’s power
come from low pollution sources.
He directed his administration
to open up more than 75 percent of potential offshore oil and gas resources for
production.
As Obama backed more
domestic oil and gas production, he also pledged support for renewable sources
of power, urging Congress to pass clean energy tax credits and a mandate for
more electricity to come for cleaner sources of power.
An energy efficiency
initiative he’s backing would cut $100 billion from the nation’s energy bills,
he said. Obama also pledged the Defense Department would make the largest renewable
energy purchases in history.
Obama also repeated his call
from last year to repeal tax credits for the oil and gas industry. That effort
failed to win broad support in Congress, after producers said the measures
would push more production and jobs outside the United States.
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information.
Today's Links
Company Seeks To Construct LNG Export Facility at
Brownsville, Texas
EIA energy projections show need for policy changes
US Ethanol Company POET, Royal DSM Announce Ethanol Venture
Big Oil had good 2011, despite 4th-quarter slump
January 24, 2012
EIA: U.S. Reliance on Energy Imports in Decline through 2035
In a statement
released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), increased
production of oil, natural gas and renewable energy improvements in energy
efficiency will reduce U.S. dependency on imported energy resources.
Continued development
of tight oil in the onshore United States and exploration and production in the
U.S. Gulf of Mexico will push domestic crude oil production in the reference
case to 6.7 million bpd in 2020, a level not seen since 1994.
"With modest economic
growth, increased efficiency, growing domestic production and continued
adoption of nonpetroleum liquids, net petroleum imports make up a smaller share
of total liquids consumption,” EIA noted.
U.S. gas production
will exceed consumption early in the next decade thanks to the shale gas
production boom, with the United States expected to become a net exporter of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2016, a net pipeline exporter in 2025 and an
overall net exporter of natural gas in 2021.
The share of natural
gas used in electricity generation will grow from 24 percent in 2010 to 27
percent in 2035, while the share of renewables used in power generation will
rise from 10 percent to 16 percent over the same time period.
The U.S. electric
power sector’s historical reliance on coal-fired power plants has begun to
decline, and the projected share of coal in overall electricity generation
falls to 39 percent, well below the 49-percent share seen as recently as 2007.
This decline can be attributed to slow growth in electricity demand, continued
competition from gas and renewable plants and the need to comply with new
environmental regulations.
Energy demand is
expected to slow through 2035 due to an extended economic recovery and
increased energy efficiency, EIA officials said. The share of fossil fuels in
U.S. energy consumption is forecasted to fall from 83 percent of total U.S.
energy demand in 2010 to 77 percent in 2035.
EIA’s findings were
released Monday in the Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (AEO2012) Reference case,
which includes updated projections for U.S. energy markets through 2035.
The full AEO2012
report will be released in April.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
Obama to talk
energy, jobs in State of Union speech
Pemex makes Veracruz oil find
Shift to liquids helps keep Halliburton profit growing
Brazil Picks New
Petrobras CEO
January 23, 2012
 Oil Fields Gushing in the U.S.
Federal
forecasters are expected to confirm today what the energy industry already
knows: Oil production is surging in the United States.
The
U.S. Energy Information Administration is likely to raise by a substantial
amount its existing estimate that U.S. oil production will grow by 550,000
barrels per day by 2020, to just over 6 million barrels daily.
The
forecast will include new production data from developing oil fields, including
the Bakken shale area in North Dakota, which could hold as much as 4.3 billion
barrels of recoverable oil. North Dakota’s output of oil and related liquids
topped 500,000 barrels per day in November, meaning the state pumped more oil
than Ecuador. In fact, U.S. oil production grew faster than in any other
country over the past three years and will continue to surge as drillers move
away from natural gas due to a growing gas glut, experts say.
This
rising tide of oil and related liquids such as condensate that also are used as
fuel could reduce U. S. dependence on oil imports and help ease the country’s
trade deficit. But it may have limited impact on U.S. gasoline prices, which
increasingly are set by global supply-and-demand trends.
The
increased domestic production also isn’t enough to help the United States
achieve the elusive ideal of energy independence — the country is expected to
consume more than 19 million barrels of oil and liquids a day by 2020.
From
2008 through 2011, U.S. production of a broader category of oil and related
liquids grew by 1.3 million barrels per day, or more than 17 percent, to 8.9
million barrels, according to the research firm IHS-CERA.
IHS-CERA
predicts U.S. production could grow by another 1.3 million barrels per day by
2020, to 10.2 million barrels.
"I
don’t think it’s widely appreciated how dramatic it’s been,” Jim Burkhard,
managing director of IHS-CERA’s Global Oil Group, said of U.S. growth. "Deepwater
production has contributed to the growth in recent years, and more biofuels has
helped, but the really dramatic improvement has been in onshore oil and liquids
— and that is what will continue to drive growth in coming years.”
Click
here to read more.
Today's Links
Shell to Spend Nearly $1B on Offshore Nova Scotia Oil
Exploration
Oil and gas
producer Apache buying Cordillera Energy Partners III in a deal valued at
$2.85B
Gracas Foster
nears Petrobras top job
Shale Gas: A Renaissance In U.S. Manufacturing?
January 20, 2012
 Lawmakers Seek to Undo Pipeline Denial
Congressional supporters of
the Keystone XL pipeline are exploring legislation that might circumvent the
Obama Administration’s denial of a permit for the project by letting Congress
or an independent federal agency approve it.
United after the State
Department denied the permit Wednesday, Republicans in both chambers vowed they
would push proposals to force approval of the pipeline.
"All options are on the
table,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters. "This fight is not
going to go away.”
Stand-alone proposals would
face tough odds in the Democratic-held Senate.
But Boehner pointed to
certain "legislative vehicles we’ll be moving.” He didn’t rule out tying the
proposals to a bill further extending the payroll tax break and
unemployment benefits.
The administration said
TransCanada could reapply. President Barack Obama said his administration
rejected the pipeline permit not on the merits, but because the deadline didn’t
give enough time to study alternative routes around a drinking-water aquifer in
Nebraska, making the national-interest decision impossible.
TransCanada said it will
take up the offer to reapply and is working with Nebraska officials to get a
new route picked by October.
Legislation by Rep. Lee
Terry (R-Neb.) would transfer Keystone XL authority to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), an independent agency, and require it to approve
the pipeline within 30 days. Terry argues FERC understands
pipelines better.
A House Energy and Commerce
subcommittee will debate the bill at a hearing Wednesday.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
Fracking market
to grow 19% to $37 billion worldwide
Pemex Seeks Bids to Develop More Mature Oil Fields
Huge oil rig
arrives to explore in Cuban waters
Ten Questions for the Refining Industry in 2012
January 19, 2012
 Obama Says No, for Now, to Canada Pipeline
The
Obama Administration rejected construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, saying a congressionally imposed deadline didn’t
allow enough time to review the project’s environmental impact.
President
Barack Obama said the decision, which put the pipeline on hold following a
review that began in 2008, "is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline”
and criticized next month’s deadline as "arbitrary.” The administration suggested
the pipeline’s builder, TransCanada Corp., could reapply.
TransCanada
CEO Russ Girling said the company "remains fully committed to the construction
of Keystone XL.” He said, "We will reapply for a presidential permit and expect
a new application would be processed in an expedited manner to allow for an
in-service date of late 2014.”
David Goldwyn, a former State Department envoy for
international energy affairs who now heads a consulting firm, said the United
States could reuse some of the studies and analyses it has already conducted but
the process would take "a minimum of 18 months to two years.”
The Obama Administration said a fresh request would
trigger a new environmental review. The State Department’s Kerri-Ann Jones
declined to commit on a timeline for completing the review, saying, "It would
be a completely new application.”
Administration officials
said they had to reject the permit since TransCanada has yet to submit an
alternate route for a portion of the pipeline that passes through an
environmentally sensitive area. The administration postponed a pipeline
decision in November, saying a new route was needed to avoid the Nebraska Sand
Hills, which sit atop an aquifer that supplies fresh water. Critics saw that
move as political, since it delayed the decision until after the election.
Alison
Redford, the premier of Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta, said she was
disappointed in the U.S. government’s decision but said she believed the
project would eventually be approved.
Click
here for more information.
Today's Links
Fossil Fuel
Forecast: A Huge Role
Barents Opening 'in 2013'
Pembina Pipeline to Buy Provident Energy
Mulva: U.S. Govt Needs 'Constructive Role' in U.S. Shale
Boom
January 18, 2012
Obama Advisers Call For ‘All In’ Energy Strategy For Jobs, Security
Business leaders who
advise President Obama have recommended an "all-in” energy approach that would
encourage more development of conventional and renewable energy on federal
lands to create jobs and boost U.S. energy security.
Obama’s Council on
Jobs and Competitiveness suggested leasing more federal lands and speeding up
regulatory approvals for oil, gas and coal production there while ensuring
safety standards exist to protect health and the environment.
"The council
recognizes providing access to more areas for drilling, mining and renewable
energy development is controversial,” the advisers said, "but, given the
current economic situation, we believe it’s necessary to tap America’s assets
in a safe and responsible manner.”
The advisers said the
United States and the world will still need fossil fuels for years to come.
They said developing
more of America’s energy resources would help reduce foreign-energy reliance,
pointing to the roughly $1 billion the United States spends daily on oil
imports.
"Over the long term,
we expect innovation and technological advancements will greatly reduce
America’s reliance on fossil fuels,” they said. "Until then, however, we need
to be all in.”
Click here to read
more.
Today's Links
Shell teams up with Tullow to explore for oil in Atlantic
Anadarko hits natural gas off Mozambique
Laredo aims to raise production by 25%
North Dakota Drillers Need More Fracking Crews, State Says
 Norway
Awards 60 New Oil Production Licenses
Norwegian Energy Minister
Ola Borten Moe announced today the country has awarded 60 new production licenses
to 42 oil companies in the "biggest ever” award in so-called predefined areas.
The companies were awarded
34 licenses in the North Sea, 22 licenses in the Norwegian Sea and four
licenses in the Barents Sea, Moe told attendees at an oil conference.
The licenses are situated in
mature areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, where 27 of the companies have
been awarded operatorships.
Moe also said the recent
Aldous/Avaldsnes discovery in the North Sea will be renamed Johan Sverdrup,
after a former Norwegian politician.
Statoil ASA’s (STO) Chief
Executive Helge Lund said the company aims for production start at Aldous/Avaldsnes
"well ahead of 2020” and reiterated his demand for new acreage to increase
production after that date.
"Unless we get new
discoveries, production can halve from 2020 to 2030,” Lund said.
Click here to read more.
Today's Links
ConocoPhillips Seeks Partner for Canada Oil-Sands Assets
Aramco, Sinopec Sign Yanbu Refinery Deal
Valero Energy to
invest in cellulosic ethanol plant in US
Drilling could
help plug abandoned oil wells
January 16, 2012
 Oil India Plans
to Buy Shale Gas Assets in U.S., Australia
State-run Oil India Ltd.
plans to buy shale gas assets worth up to $200 million and is scouting for potential
acquisitions in the United States and Australia as it seeks to gain expertise
in the field ahead of India’s plans to auction blocks in the country.
"Shale gas is going to be
the future of unconventional oil exploration and development,” Director of Finance
T.K. Ananth Kumar said. "We prefer to go in for a joint venture partnership
rather than fully owning the asset. This is our strategy for acquisition of
shale gas.”
The U.S. shale gas boom has
transformed the gas market and made the country a net exporter. India is
seeking to tap into its shale gas resources to meet rising gas demand from
power plants and factories.
Last October, Oil Minister
Jaipal Reddy said the government would reveal its policy on shale gas block
auctions in 2012. The South Asian nation expects to launch its auction of
blocks by the end of 2013.
Oil India joins other Indian
companies — such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and GAIL (India) Ltd., which have
already acquired acreage in the United States — to get technology for
exploiting the natural resource and secure fuel supplies.
The "Mint” newspaper cited
Oil India Chairman N.M. Borah as saying the company is in talks with a U.S.-listed
firm to buy a 25-percent stake for some $200 million in acreage in Texas.
Click here for more information.
Today's Links
Platts Survey:
OPEC Pumps 30.83 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Per Day in December
Ichthys Decision Puts Darwin on the LNG Map
South Sudan Signs First Oil Deals Since Independence
Project to Pour Water into Volcano to Make Power
January 13, 2012
 Shell Leader Expects
Arctic Offshore Drilling This Year
At a scientific conference
on Thursday, Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum said the company expects to
clear remaining regulatory hurdles and begin drilling later this year in the
Chukchi Sea near Alaska.
Shell received conditional
federal approval last month to drill six exploratory wells in the Arctic
offshore region but still must secure permits for individual wells.
Selling regulators on its
plan for responding to spills or other accidents at the sites are among the
requirements for Shell to obtain those permits.
Odum said Shell is mindful
of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and the wide
criticism BP and others involved received for the conditions leading to the
accident and their response.
"We will have every piece of
response in Alaska available on a one-hour notice,” Odum said in a keynote
address at the ninth conference of the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and
Science of Texas. "The access to the equipment will provide for a much
different response than what the world watched in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Environmentalists who oppose
the drilling contend no proven technology exists for cleaning up a spill in the
slushy Arctic environment.
The area about 70 miles off
the Alaska coast is more remote than the Gulf, and winter ice causes
additional challenges.
Odum noted, however, the
drilling will be in about 150 feet of water — far shallower than the well under
a mile of water that blew out in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
He said Shell is also
working with Norwegian experts on how best to clean up any potential spills in
colder climates.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
Inpex, Total Approve $34 Billion Australian LNG Project
Petrobras
platform arrivals to accelerate reserve growth
Solazyme
announces appointment of Mark Warner as SVP of engineering
Oil and Gas Professionals Wanted at San Antonio Career Fair
January 12, 2012
Chamber Touts
Keystone XL, Domestic Energy to Create Jobs
Energy topped the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce’s annual list of priorities for boosting the economy, as
the group’s president urged approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and further
exploitation of domestic oil, gas and coal resources.
Chamber President Tom
Donohue called energy a "game changer” for the United States in his annual
State of American Business speech, which sets out priorities to boost the
economy. For 2012 Donohue also suggested stopping an "avalanche” of energy and
business regulations, reforming Social Security and Medicare, boost
intellectual property protections and using other policies that can promote
growth "without raising taxes or adding to the deficit.”
He said the nation could
create more than 1 million jobs by 2018 developing oil, natural gas and coal —
a claim promoted by the American Petroleum Institute (but decried by a top
Democratic lawmaker). Pointing to the oil boom in North Dakota, where
unemployment has fallen below 4 percent, he said the United States "is on the
cusp of an energy boom that is already creating hundreds of thousands of jobs,
revitalizing entire communities and reinvigorating American manufacturing.”
He also urged the Obama Administration
to approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar-sands oil
from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Gulf Coast. Like other supporters,
Donohue said its construction would create 20,000 jobs and more down the road,
and the 1,700-mile pipeline would provide energy from a friendly neighbor.
"The project has passed
every environmental test,” Donohue said, adding some labor unions have been
"screaming” in support of it. "There is no legitimate reason, none at all, to
subject it to further delays.”
Click here to read more.
Today's Links
Hess to focus capex on shale plays
Oil Companies Still Eye
Controversial Norwegian Acreage
Steffy: Other
countries learning Macondo’s lessons
New Partnership
Helps Commercial Kitchens Recycle Trap Grease, Save Money
January 11, 2012
 Oil and Gas
Leases on Public Lands Up 20 Percent in 2011, Feds Say
Oil and gas lease sales on
public lands grew 20 percent in 2011, a top official said Tuesday, as the
Interior Department plans more sales in 2012 and mulls whether to boost the
royalty rate.
In 32 lease sales, the
Bureau of Land Management brought in $256 million on sales of 1,296 parcels of
land, up from $213 million in 2010 on sales of 1,090 parcels, the Interior
Department said. Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes told reporters the numbers
for 2011 include a lease sale in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve-Alaska in
December.
BLM has scheduled 32
additional lease sales on U.S. public lands in 2012, according to the agency.
"We intend to continue to
build on that success [from 2011] this year,” said Hayes.
Hayes also told reporters the
department will "soon” propose a rule that could increase the 12.50 percent royalty rate for onshore oil and
gas leases on public lands. He did not elaborate on the timetable or what the
proposed rule will contain.
A report by the Government
Accountability Office, the government watchdog agency housed in Congress, has
said the federal government’s royalty rate is less than what states and private
land owners get paid.
"It is not a trivial
exercise to identify what particular royalty rates might make sense,” Hayes
said. "Our intent is to make sure the American taxpayer is getting appropriate
value for oil and gas development on our public lands.”
The announcement also comes
as the Interior Department finishes writing rules the department says would
require disclosure of fluids used on public lands for hydraulic fracturing, the
controversial process used to free up trapped oil and gas from shale-rock
formations.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
Lease sales on
federal lands climb
10 Significant Discoveries of 2011
BP, Sempra to Invest $1 Billion in Wind Farms
ConocoPhillips
Announces Executive Appointments
January 10, 2012
Statoil makes
large oil discovery in Barents Sea
For the second time in less
than a year, Norway’s Statoil announced it has discovered a large oil reserve
in the Barents Sea.
A well drilled in the Havis
prospect in the Barents Sea proved both oil and gas at an estimated volume of
between 200 million and 300 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalents, the
state-controlled oil company said Monday.
Statoil discovered between
150 million and 250 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalents in the
nearby Skrugard prospect last April.
"Havis is our second high-impact
oil discovery in the Barents Sea in nine months,” Statoil CEO Helge Lund said.
"The discovery’s volume and reservoir properties make it Skrugard’s twin.
Skrugard and Havis open up a new petroleum province in the North.”
Statoil has been exploring
in the Barents Sea for more than 30 years and said the find proves persistence
and long-term thinking bear fruit.
"We are about to realize the
Barents Sea as a core area on the Norwegian continental shelf,” said Erik
Strand Tellefsen, Statoil’s vice president for the Skrugard development.
Click here to read more.
Today's Links
Youngstown opens
mills again as states jockey for fracking jobs
Feds say rig
heading for Cuba drilling meets standards
How Microbes
Teamed to Clean Gulf
Finding a Way to Put a Zebra in Your Tank
January 9, 2012
 BOEM to Hold Public Hearing on Proposed O&G Leasing
Program
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold a
public hearing in Houston on Jan. 10. The hearing will provide an opportunity
for the public to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
for the proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas lease sales offshore
Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. This DEIS is for the proposed lease
sales in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico 2012 – 2017 five-year program.
A leasing program consists of a schedule of oil and gas lease auctions indicating
the size, timing and location of proposed leasing activity for the five-year
period following its approval by the Secretary of the Interior.
The proposed program includes offshore areas in the Western and Central Gulf of
Mexico where there are currently active leases and exploration, and where there
is known or anticipated hydrocarbon potential.
Click here for more information.
Today's Links
Keppel scoops
$150m US rig deal
Biosensors to Prevent Heat
Stroke Unveiled as Petro-Safety Tools
Alaska governor, majors' executives discuss ANS gas
Amid BCS mania,
BP pushes a feel-good Gulf story
January 6, 2012
 US Refiners May Profit From Petroplus Woes
U.S. refiners could see new
opportunities as Europe's largest independent refiner and wholesaler of
petroleum products shuts down three of its five refineries, analysts said.
Petroplus Holdings AG announced the three closings last Friday as banks starting
freezing more than $2 billion worth of the financially troubled Swiss company's
credit lines. Petroplus has faced stubbornly high crude prices, stagnant demand
and fierce competition from overseas refiners, which has led to net losses in
every quarter except one since 2009.
The refinery shutdowns in
France, Belgium and Switzerland could help U.S. crude processors fill refining
gaps and grab market share in Europe. That could increase the expanding U.S.
exports of oil distillates, such as heating oil and diesel, to the Continent.
Output from the combined
667,000 barrels a day of refining capacity at the shuttered refineries already
has ceased, while the company's refineries in U.K. and Germany are running at
half of their combined 330,000 barrel-a-day capacity, according to Petroplus
Chief Executive Jean-Paul Vettier. Half of Petroplus's output is diesel
according to a Bank of America energy newsletter. Read more...
Today's Links
Lebanon plans to
hold bidding for oil, gas licenses in 2012
COTEMAR Tracks Offshore Workers with RFID Tags
Northern Gateway Oil-Pipeline Backers Emerge In Canada
Filing
Twelve-story Animated Lightshow to Dazzle Downtown, Salute LSU, BCS, and
Showcase New Orleans
January 5, 2012
 Alaska Governor
to Meet with Oil CEOs
Today the chief executives
of the big three North Slope energy producers are expected to meet with Alaska’s
Gov. Sean Parnell.
Parnell, who said it was
time the region’s major players, including the state, "work collectively to
determine the shape of the next generation of North Slope resource development,”
proposed this virtually unheard-of meeting three months ago.
The letter, which went to
the CEOs of Exxon Mobil Corp.; Rex Tillerson, BP, Bob Dudley; and ConocoPhillips,
Jim Mulva, called for a "multiparty meeting of the gas commercialization
stakeholders.”
Parnell, hoping to jolt
stalled efforts to advance a major natural gas pipeline from the North Slope,
said he wants the companies to unite behind a project that would allow for
liquefied natural gas to be shipped overseas, if the market truly has shifted
from the Lower 48.
He said he wants them to do
this under the framework of the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. If they do, he
said the state can be flexible, including talking tax and royalty terms.
Last month, Parnell said he
expected the major players to get behind one project or the state would move in
another direction. He also said the producers were talking, which he considered
progress.
Click here for more
information.
Today's Links
API urges energy
discussion in election campaigns
Louisiana: Payments for Gulf Spill Resume
U.S. Needs Reality-Based Energy Policy
Danos & Curole Says Hello to New Operations Director
January 4, 2012
International
Players Jump at U.S. Shale
International
energy companies are signing billion dollar deals with U.S. firms to reap the
financial benefits of their oil fields and siphon knowledge from their
experience in extracting petroleum from dense shale rock to carry the skills
overseas.
In
return, they are ponying up the funds to get more wells drilled, so the oil and
natural gas bounty trapped deep below can get to market quickly.
"The
big motivation for [U.S. companies] wanting to find a partner is finding
someone with big pockets,” said Scott Hanold, energy research analyst for RBC
Capital Markets. "They are just money men at the end of the day.”
French
energy giant Total signed its second shale compact with Oklahoma-based natural
gas producer Chesapeake Energy last week to secure acreage in Ohio’s burgeoning
Utica shale. The company received 25-percent interest in a 619,000 acre joint
venture with Chesapeake and Houston-based EnerVest. In exchange, it forked over
$700 million cash along with a promise to fund 60 percent, or about $1.63
billion, of the group’s drilling and well completion costs in the Utica.
China’s
Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corp. muscled its
way into U.S. shale with a $2.2 billion investment in oil fields owned by
Oklahoma-based energy company Devon.
The
Chinese corporation gains one-third interest in Devon’s 1.2 million acres in
the Utica shale, the Michigan Basin, the Mississippian in Oklahoma, the
Tuscaloosa marine shale in Louisiana and the Niobrara in Wyoming.
Sinopec
will pay $900 million cash when the deal closes, expected in 2012’s first quarter, and cover 70
percent of Devon’s drilling costs, about $1.6 billion.
Total
and Sinopec follow other international energy powerhouses that have crossed the
Atlantic recently, including Norway’s Statoil.
"It’s
a continuation of a very fevered process of large international companies with
cash coming into North America,” Hanold said.
Including
Total’s deal, overseas-based companies spent about $33 billion buying into U.S.
shale through acquisitions or joint ventures last year. For the international
energy behemoths, North America’s rapidly expanding shale fields can be viewed
as a sure and easy bet, requiring big bucks, but little work.
Click
here for more information.
Today's Links
Enterprise says
Appalachia-to-Texas pipeline is a go
DeepOcean names new CEO
Exxon in Talks to
Restructure Stake in Japanese Unit TonenGeneral Sekiyu
Clean Harbors to
Present at the 14th Annual Needham Growth Conference
January 3, 2012
 Technology,
Innovation and Economy Will Shape Energy Industry in 2012
According
to year-ahead predictions by business advisory firm Deloitte, a higher demand
for gas, rising global commodity prices, together with demergers and
nanotechnology will be among key themes to emerge in the energy sector in 2012.
Due to tightening environmental regulations, expectations of ample supply at
competitive prices and the need to back up intermittent renewable resources
such as wind and solar to ensure reliability, gas is expected to become the
fuel of choice for many global energy hubs.
The Middle East is expected to provide much of the incremental supply thanks to
its massive resources and forecasted increase in export capacity. In fact, the
production rate in the Middle East is projected to nearly triple over the next
two decades.
The complexity of the offshore value chain is expected to grow considerably
over the next 10 years, driven by the rising global demand for energy, the move
toward more and more remote geographies and legislative change.
"The industry operates under a magnifying glass with oil companies held
accountable for environmental, anti-corruption and safety standards not just in
relation to their own behavior but for that of all their contractors,” said
Graeme Sheils, oil and gas partner at Deloitte in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
The outlook for the oil price and focus on finding new areas for development
saw a number of companies split their upstream and downstream operations into
separate units during 2011, allowing for a sharpened management focus,
increased transparency for investors and creating additional value for
shareholders.
"We believe further splits will occur over the next two or three years within
the ranks of the integrated international oil companies,” added Sheils. "However,
some large vertically-integrated companies may maintain their current structure
for several reasons such as the difficulty in assessing shipping assets and the
time taken for renewable assets to become profitable enough to sell.”
The increasing consumption and demand of natural resources has led to a
scavenger hunt for new supplies by companies and countries alike. While the
South China Sea has yet to be explored in depth, early predictions by Chinese
analysts put oil reserves at more than 200 billion barrels.
The ongoing civil unrest in Arab countries will also continue to impact on the
oil markets. This has seen the biggest impact in Libya where crude production
fell from 1.6 million bpd to less than 100,000 bpd since February.
Nanotechnology, the science of small things, is expected to progress in leaps
and bounds in 2012 with a particular resonance in the renewables sector,
facilitating the generation of electricity directly from solar, wind and
geothermal resources.
"Research will continue unabated over the long term with some economists
predicting a $1 trillion global market for nanoproducts over the next 10-15
years. A market this large will have implications for the energy sector, not
just for renewables but also for oil and gas and, in particular, energy
storage,” concluded Sheils.
Click
here for more information.
Today's Links
Total Buys $2.32 Billion Shale Stake, Helping Chesapeake Pare It’s Debt
U.S. Appeals
Court Stalls Implementation of Cross-State Emissions Rule
Latin Oil
Supplies for U.S. Start to Dry Up
Iran targets 5
million barrels oil a day
January 2, 2012
In a first,
gasoline and other fuels are top U.S. export
For the first time, the top
export of the United States, the world’s biggest gas guzzler, is — wait for it
— fuel.
Measured in dollars, the
nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel than any
other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990. It also
will be the first year in more than 60 that America has been a net exporter of
these fuels.
A decade ago, fuel wasn’t
even among the top 25 exports. And for the last five years, America’s top
export was aircraft.
The trend is significant because for decades the U.S. has relied on huge
imports of fuel from Europe in order to meet demand. It only reinforced the
image of America as an energy hog.
And up until a few years
ago, whenever gasoline prices climbed, there were complaints in Congress that
U.S. refiners were not growing quickly enough to satisfy domestic demand; that
controversy would appear to be over.
Click here for the complete
story.
Today's Links
White House, GOP battle for supremacy on Keystone pipeline
New poll shows
Americans still support Keystone XL
UK Hands Out 46 New North
Sea Exploration Licenses
Five top federal
energy policy moments in 2011
December 29, 2011
Impact Statement Released for Upcoming US Rounds
US regulators have put out a draft environmental impact
statement for the next five years of Gulf of Mexico offshore leasing and are
now soliciting public comment, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said
Thursday.
The
document is the government's new long-term evaluation of the environmental
risks of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico since 2010’s Macondo disaster, which
killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in US history.
Once
finalized, the document
will set the stage for planned lease sales in the Central and Western Gulf of
Mexico scheduled from 2012 to 2017. Read more...
Today's Links
Deutsche Bank:
U.S. Chemicals Sector Growth to Post Modest Growth in 2012
All eyes on
German renewable energy efforts
Twelve
Global Executives to Watch in 2012
Petro-Scholarships and Grants Proliferate
December 28, 2011
 EPA Finalizes 2012 Renewable Fuel Standards
The United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized the 2012 percentage standards for four
fuel categories that are part of the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program
(RFS2). The EPA continues to support greater use of renewable fuels within the
transportation sector every year through the RFS2 program, which encourages
innovation, strengthens American energy security, and decreases greenhouse gas
pollution.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) established the RFS2
program and the annual renewable fuel volume targets, which steadily increase
to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022. To achieve these volumes,
EPA calculates a percentage-based standard for the following year. Based on the
standard, each refiner and importer determines the minimum volume of renewable
fuel that it must ensure is used in its transportation fuel.
The final 2012 overall volumes and standards are:
Biomass-based diesel (1.0 billion gallons; 0.91 percent)
Advanced biofuels (2.0 billion gallons; 1.21 percent)
Cellulosic biofuels (8.65 million gallons; 0.006 percent)
Total renewable fuels (15.2 billion gallons; 9.23 percent)
Last spring EPA had proposed a volume requirement of 1.28 billion gallons for
biomass-based diesel for 2013. EISA specifies a one billion gallon minimum
volume requirement for that category for 2013 and beyond, but enables EPA to
increase the volume requirement after consideration of a variety of
environmental, market, and energy-related factors. EPA is continuing to
evaluate the many comments from stakeholders on the proposed biomass based
diesel volume for 2013 and will take final action next year.
Overall, EPA’s RFS2 program encourages greater use of renewable fuels,
including advanced biofuels. For 2012, the program is implementing EISA’s
requirement to blend more than 1.25 billion gallons of renewable fuels over the
amount mandated for 2011.
Click here for more information on the standards and regulations.
Click here for more information on renewable fuels.
Today's Links
Noble Energy Discovers More Natural Gas Off Cyprus
Calgary oil
transforms Canada to energy superpower
Top 5 Highest-Paying Jobs without Degrees
Buying, Selling 'Pre-Owned' Facilities A Complex Process
December 27, 2011
Obama Signs
Payroll Tax Bill that Requires Speedy Decision on Keystone Pipeline
President
Obama has signed into law a broad payroll tax package that includes a measure
requiring him to make a speedy decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.
The GOP-backed measure requires the administration to make a decision within 60
days on the pipeline, which would carry oil sands crude from Alberta, Canada,
to refineries on the Gulf Coast. In order to reject the pipeline, Obama would
have to declare the project is not in the national interest.
While Republicans lobbied aggressively for the provision, administration
officials note the move could backfire. They point to a recent warning by the
State Department — the lead agency conducting the federal review of TransCanada
Corp.’s proposed project — that the administration will have little choice but
to reject the project if officials are forced to make a decision in 60 days.
White
House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said on Twitter last week the
Keystone provision "simply shortens the review process in a way that virtually
guarantees the pipeline will NOT be approved.”
Still, the measure will force the administration to weigh in on the pipeline
before the 2012 election.
Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline said they hoped the measure requiring a
speedy decision on the project will ensure its rejection by the administration.
"Our hope is the president will use the opportunity to deny the permit, and
sooner rather than later,” 350.org President Bill McKibben said in a statement.
Click here for more information on this story.
Today's Links
Shale-Gas Boom Spurs Race
Turkey, Azerbaijan Sign Deal
For Trans Anadolu Pipeline Project
Lafayette moving
toward natural gas
Top 5 Paying O&G Jobs with Degrees
December 23, 2011
 A new chapter for
rig survivor
Chad
Murray was one of the last people off the Deepwater Horizon. He twice fought
his way back through the burning, debris-strewn living quarters to help rescue
injured co-workers, risking his life to save them from the smoke and flames.
A
day and a half later, when the survivors finally arrived at shore, they were
told to wait on the boat. Final preparations for their arrival supposedly
weren’t ready. Murray, having been through the most grueling ordeal of his
life, had had enough. He walked up the gangplank anyway, and his crew mates
followed him.
Now,
Murray, 36, is leading the way again, determined to make sure the Deepwater
Horizon’s victims, its survivors and their families aren’t forgotten.
Earlier
this year, he settled his legal claims with Transocean, the rig’s owner and his
former employer, and while he can’t discuss the terms, he said he accepted a
lower settlement so he could move on with his life.
Last
April, on the first anniversary of the disaster, he used some of the money to
form DWH11.org, a charity to help families and workers affected by offshore
drilling accidents.
Click
here to read the complete story.
Today's Links
API calls on President Obama to approve Keystone XL
EOR
Playing Role in Carbon Capture, Storage Research
Excelerate Advances Puerto Rico Floating Regas Project
Chesapeake
relocates prairie dog family from drill site
December 22, 2011
First Movers in Eco-Drilling: Greener Results to be Clicks
Away
At
the clickety-click of a mouse, stakeholders in the Eagle Ford and other shale
areas will be able to discern the impact that different aspects of natural gas
shale development have on the environment and collaborate on the best ways to
prevent damage.
The
Houston Adavanced Research Center (HARC) has awarded Petris Technology of
Houston a contract to commercialize a geographic information system (GIS) that
will help predict and prevent ecological harm from drilling operations. The
technology initially will be developed in the Eagle Ford shale play area. The
work will complement prototype efforts underway by the University of Arkansas
for the Haynesville and Fayetteville shale plays.
Petris’
work will focus on a GIS analytical tool and associated technology integration
transfer for optimizing well placement. The system also will enable key types
of environmental data to be shared between stakeholders, such as exploration
and production (E&P) firms, land owners and regulatory agencies. Read more…
Today's Links
Spectra, Chesapeake, AEP plan
pipeline from Utica shale
Phillips 66
leadership team announced
McDermott and Heerema in Ichthys win
DOJ approves Exelon deal, with conditions
December 21, 2011
Canada PM: ‘Very Serious’ About
Focusing On Asia For Energy Exports
In a broadcast interview, Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the country is "very serious” about focusing
its efforts on selling oil and gas to Asia, even in the event of an accelerated
approval for the Keystone XL project.
The CTV network released excerpts
of the interview where Harper says there was no turning back on its push to
boost energy-related exports to Asia.
The Obama Administration has
said a decision on whether TransCanada Corp. can get a permit to build the
extension to the existing Keystone pipeline — which would move crude oil from
the Alberta oil sands to the Gulf Coast — won’t be made until after the 2012
election.
"I am very serious about
selling our oil off this continent, selling our energy products off to Asia. I
think we have to do that,” Harper said in the interview. "When I was down in
the United States recently it was interesting. I ran into several senior
Americans who all said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get Keystone done. You can sell all
of your oil to us.’ I said, ‘Yeah, we’d love to but I think the problem is now
that we’re on a different track’.”
The United States Senate has
agreed to extend a payroll tax cut the White House pushed, but only on the
condition the White House accelerates plans on a Keystone XL decision to within
the next two months.
Today's Links
Cyprus’ FM briefs US
officials on gas development
EPA finalizes
air-toxics rule for power plants, likely will unveil it today
Enbridge Wins
Contracts to Proceed With Gulf Coast Pipeline
Total Buys
ExxonMobil Out of Fina Antwerp Olefins
December 20, 2011
Mississippi Moves
Toward Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing
Mississippi state officials have
published regulations to lease state waters in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and
gas drilling.
Mississippi Development
Authority (MDA) Spokesman Dan Turner said the move could clear the way for a
lease sale sometime in 2012, after a public comment period that ends Jan. 20.
State officials said they
believe state waters largely hold natural gas, cutting the threat of large oil
spills. They said drilling could produce $250 million to $500 million in
royalties for the state over time, almost of all which is legally directed to
education.
The authority plans to hold
a public hearing on the coast in January or February and is likely to issue the
rules sometime after. That could clear the way for the state to take bids on
leases later in 2012.
Turner said because little
if any oil is believed to be there, Mississippians have little reason to fear a
Deepwater Horizon-style massive spill like the one in 2010.
"This is tried and true
technology,” Turner said. "Texas, Alabama and Louisiana have been using it for
decades. This is just an apples-and-oranges comparison to BP.”
Click here for more
information on this story.
Today's Links
Conoco Gets a Permit to Develop Alaska Site
Demand for offshore supply ships 'will rise 10%'
Science, Public Outreach Can Curb Questionable Groundwater
Complaints
Rick Perry stands
up for natural gas drilling
December 19, 2011
Shale's Bounty Goes Beyond Oil and Gas
The United States shale
oil and natural gas boom has cracked open another lucrative market—gas liquids
used to make plastics.
The same drilling
technologies that have unlocked vast amounts of crude and natural gas from
previously unproductive shale formations across the U.S. also are reaping large
stores of ethane, propane and butane, known as natural-gas liquids.
This growing bounty
has resuscitated the U.S. petrochemical industry, which just a few years ago
was being strangled by the high costs of the raw materials.
Processing ethane
into chemicals is 50 percent cheaper than using crude oil-derived naphtha and
its availability has made U.S. petrochemical companies the envy of overseas
competitors. It also brings the prospect of lower prices for auto parts,
Styrofoam and other products. Read more…
Today's Links
Alberta's Redford: Leading the Energy Conversation
Oil companies
exploring south-central Kansas
Noble Increases Resource Estimate for Leviathan
Cheniere provides developing liquefaction project in Texas
December 16, 2011
Efficiency, Safety Spur RFID Development for O&G Sector
As companies seek to address
issues of safety and non-productive time, use of radio-frequency identification
(RFID) technology – in which radio waves are used to transfer data from an
electronic tag, attached to an object, through a reader, in order to identify
and track an object – has started to grow within in the oil and gas industry.
RFID technology has
primarily been used to track inventory, and has been utilized in industries
such as retail asset tracking, animal identification and transportation tolls.
Now, oilfield service company Weatherford has introduced RFID traceable
drillpipe, which can connect temperature, pressure, number of rotating hours
and cumulative fatigue load to specific joints. To date, the company has tested
in the North Sea and has shipped to operators in Brazil and China.
The company has also
developed and deployed the RipTide reamer, the first RFID activated drilling
reamer. The RFID tag can be dropped from the surface into a well, enabling
multiple activations and deactivations during drilling or tripping.
Weatherford’s addition of
RFID drillpipe to its suite of well completion products is the culmination of
over a decade of effort by the company to implement RFID technology into
drillpipe.
Read more...
Today's Links
Canada oil
pipeline into US gets extension support
Neste to Develop, Test Microbial Oil Processes at Porvoo
Anadarko ready to drill in
big Gulf project
Americans support shale, poll finds
December 14, 2011
First Offshore
Bids to be Opened Since Spill
For the first time since the
2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the federal government will auction offshore
drilling leases in the western Gulf of Mexico.
The auction, which will get
underway at 9 a.m. central time at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans,
will be presided over by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Early details suggest there
is plenty of pent-up industry demand for the offshore tracts up for grabs. The
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management reports 20 companies have placed 241 separate
bids to buy 191 tracts off the coast of Texas — slightly more than the 189 bids
27 companies submitted on 162 tracts during the last western Gulf lease sale in
August 2009.
The lease sale covers about
20.6 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico, with available blocks located in
federal waters at least nine miles off the shoreline. Some of the available
offshore tracts are shallow — just 16 feet deep — but the available acreage
includes territories as deep as 10,975 feet.
According to the Offshore Energy
Bureau, the areas up for sale could produce 222 million to 423 million barrels
of oil and 1.49 trillion cubic feet to 2.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Click here for more information on this story.
Today's Links
OPEC Agrees on Output Ceiling
House passes bill
linking tax cut, Keystone pipeline
API applauds
passage of new pipeline safety legislation
FTTN targets oil & gas leases in Texas, Oklahoma &
Louisiana
December 13, 2011
House Set to Vote
on Keystone XL Today
The House is slated to force
a showdown with the White House over the controversial Keystone XL pipeline
today, by voting on legislation that would speed up the project’s approval and
renew a payroll tax cut the Obama administration favors.
At its heart, the bill is
designed to extend a 2 percent Social Security payroll tax cut before it
expires Jan. 1 and extend unemployment insurance through Jan. 31, 2012.
But House Republicans have
folded in the unrelated pipeline proposal and another provision that would
strike new EPA pollution standards for industrial boilers. The measure would
give the Obama administration 60 days to approve a permit for TransCanada’s
Keystone XL pipeline, designed to carry Canadian crude from Alberta to
southeast Texas refineries.
The State Department
recently decided to delay a final verdict on whether the $7 billion project is
in the national interest until early 2013 so it could conduct an environmental
analysis of an alternative route being considered by TransCanada and Nebraska
policymakers.
President Barack Obama has
vowed to reject any legislation linking the pipeline and payroll tax cut. And
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said the combination
pipeline-payroll package is dead on arrival in that chamber.
But House Republicans could
force the White House’s hand. If the House passes the legislation today and
quickly recesses for the holiday break, Senate Democrats and the Obama
administration may have no choice but to accept the pipeline proposal as the
price for the payroll tax cut extension — or let the tax relief expire. Read more...
Today's Links
Iraq Expects To Be Given
OPEC Presidency In 2012
Pipeline safety bill wins bipartisan vote in House
Schlumberger,
Halliburton maybe eyeing Heckmann Corp.
Pickens: Reduce Foreign Oil
Imports
December 12, 2011
OPEC
Seeks to Heal Rift and Fix Oil Target
The
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) began negotiations
today on a new production deal aimed at healing the rift caused by a
bad-tempered failure to agree on an output target when it last met in June.
At stake for
OPEC is a credible output policy heading into a year when sluggish global
economy could undermine fuel demand and bring down oil prices that now are more
than $107 a barrel.
"I think
they have to agree this time because they need to be credible,” said former
Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil ahead of the meeting of the 12-member
cartel that pumps more than half the world’s oil exports.
Without a
collective supply target, OPEC members with spare capacity — Saudi Arabia and
its Gulf Arab allies — will remain free to pump at will.
Leading
producer Saudi Arabia made clear its intention to keep oil prices under
control, saying it was producing a surprisingly high 10 million barrels daily
of crude, much more than estimated by most in the oil industry.
That pleased
consumer nations worried about the impact of oil prices on global growth. But
the Saudi position is worrying for the price hawks in OPEC like Iran, Algeria
and Venezuela who want to keep oil above $100. Iran wants a commitment from
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC producers that they cut back to accommodate
the restoration of Libyan supply.
OPEC’s
secretariat has prepared a report for today’s meeting, which forecasts demand
for OPEC crude at 30 million bpd on average in the first half. That would allow
for stocks to rebuild in the second quarter when global fuel demand is at its
lowest.
Click here for more information on this
story.
Today's Links
Rosetta to Spend $590 Million on Eagle Ford Expansion
US players
eye E&P JV
Chesapeake sees
benefits in hiring returning vets
Subsea 7 nets Gulf contract double
December 9, 2011
Obama vows to
fight effort to link Keystone XL, payroll tax cut
US
President Barack Obama promised to block any effort to include a Keystone XL
pipeline project approval provision in legislation to extend the payroll tax
cut, which is due to expire at yearend. "My warning is not just specific to
Keystone,” he said following a Dec. 7 meeting with Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper. "Efforts to tie a whole bunch of other issues to something
[congressional Republicans] should be doing anyway will be rejected by me.”
Harper,
who appeared with the president, said the Canadian government’s positions on
the proposed pipeline, which would move oil produced from Alberta’s oil sands
to US Gulf Coast refiners, are very well known, and that he’s discussed the
matter with Obama on many occasions.
"He’s
indicated to me, as he’s indicated to you today, that he’s following a proper
process to eventually make that decision here in the United States, and that he
has an open mind in regard to what that decision may, or may not, be,” the
prime minister told reporters. "I take that as his answer.” Read more...
Today's Links
The Great Crew Change: Petro-Opportunities for Veterans
Abound
BP's Svanberg to Be Named Volvo Chairman Monday
Canada green
lights Total oil sands project
LyondellBasell
Plans U.S. Olefins Expansion and Asia PO/TBA Unit
December 8, 2011
U.S., Alaska
Lease Sales Nab $24M in High Bids
The volume of crude oil in
the trans-Alaska pipeline could increase thanks to a State of Alaska petroleum
lease sale, which took in just under $21 million in high bids on the North
Slope and in near-shore waters of the Beaufort Sea.
Although the state received
no bids for the North Slope Foothills region, it tentatively sold 178 tracts
covering 334,969 acres for $14.1 million on the North Slope. It also sold
another 78 tracts covering 281,095 acres for $6.8 million along the Beaufort
coast.
A federal lease sale within
the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, held a few hours after the state lease
sale, attracted three companies or groups that submitted high bids of $3
million for 141,739 acres.
The state will receive 50
percent of the earnings from the federal lease sale.
Alaska officials said they
were pleased with the results. Gov. Sean Parnell called it a step toward his
goal of getting a million barrels per day moving through the trans-Alaska
pipeline. The line has been operating at less than a third of its 2.1-million
barrel per day capacity.
One new player was Royale
Energy of San Diego, with more than 50 high bids. The company said it targeted
liquids-rich shale known to have sourced the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk oil
fields.
Shell Offshore submitted 18
high bids in Harrison Bay in the Beaufort sale.
Repsol E&P USA was high
bidder on 26 leases on the North Slope and five in the Beaufort Sea.
Pioneer Natural Resource
submitted the highest state bids — $876 per acre on a pair of Beaufort leases.
ConocoPhillips was the high
bidder on at least 34 North Slope tracts.
In the federal lease sale,
ConocoPhillips Alaska was the high bidder on three leases and was edged out on
two others by the 70&148 LLC, which was the high bidder on 11 tracts.
Woodstone Resources was the
third bidder in the federal sale.
Click here for more
information on this story.
Today's Links
Exxon Declares Gas King
Conoco: Seeking Buyers For Alliance Refinery In Louisiana
BASF investing
$20 million in Vidalia, Louisiana, plant improvements, creating world-class
adsorbents manufacturing environment
Shell, Eni buy
Nigeria offshore oil field rights
December 7, 2011
Report: Gulf of Mexico Still Worth Drilling
A new report shows the
deep water Gulf of Mexico is still a good bet for exploration and production,
despite recent regulatory changes in the wake of the Macondo disaster.
Since the
April 2010 oil spill, U.S. authorities have moved to strengthen regulatory
oversight of the offshore industry, splitting the previous regulator into three
separate bodies and increasing the number of permits required.
Global
energy research and consulting firm WoodMackenzie said its study had found the
Gulf of Mexico was still an attractive place to invest, citing the region’s
geology, its well-developed infrastructure and a stable fiscal regime.
"There are
large yet-to-find volumes in maturing and emerging plays alike,” the report
said, adding a typical discovery makes positive returns in all geologic plays.
At the
same time, the report acknowledged existing technology had some catching up to
do before the local resource potential could be fully tapped.
The high
cost of extracting remaining play from remote areas and challenging reservoirs
would necessitate billions in development drilling and facility capital
pitching the five-year budget for this at $82 billion.
However,
the Houston-headquartered consultancy also said higher oil prices could lead to
"project economics improving dramatically.”
The report
pointed out with a typical breakeven rate of $75 per barrel of oil, "the
majority of Gulf of Mexico fields will be profitable to develop if the oil
price stays at or above $80 per barrel in the long term.”
Today's Links
BP,
Shell preparing for resuming oil exploration in Libya
New Hart Energy Study: World Refinery Capacity to Grow Despite Recession
U.S. Navy Places America's Largest Biofuel Order With Dynamic Fuels
The State of American Energy in 2012
December 6, 2011
 U.S. House Bill Would
Move Keystone XL Permit Decision to FERC
United States House
Republicans have joined their Senate colleagues in urging President Barack
Obama to reverse his Nov. 11 decision to delay acting on TransCanada Corp.’s
cross-border permit application for the project until after the 2012 elections.
Actions included introduction of legislation that would transfer authority for
approving or denying the permit from the U.S. Department of State to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Lee Terry (R-NE), an Energy
and Power subcommittee member, introduced HR 3548 that he said would create a
structured process by which FERC could approve the pipeline, including a route
modification to be worked out with Nebraska.
Terry said his bill would
enable construction of the proposed pipeline’s non-Nebraska portion while
details and approval of a route modification in Nebraska are worked out. "Going forward with FERC is
simply moving the authority to an agency that understands pipelines,” Terry
explained.
House Energy and Commerce
Committee Republicans agreed. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), chairman of its Energy and
Power Subcommittee, said the administration "was relentlessly insistent” that a
decision would be made by Dec. 13. "Now, [it says it’s] incapable of making a
decision before 2013,” he continued in his opening statement at the
subcommittee’s hearing. "In the meantime, tens of thousands of American workers
are forced to wait at least another year for possibly the most shovel-ready of
all projects.”
Witnesses from organized
labor urged action to get the project moving so their members could go to work.
"Joblessness in construction is far higher than any industry sector, with over
1.1 million construction workers currently unemployed in the United States,”
noted Brent Bookers, construction department director at the Laborers’
International Union of North America. "Too many hard-working Americans are out
of work, and the Keystone XL pipeline will change that dire situation for
thousands of them.”
Click here for more
information on this story.
Today's Links
Post-Macondo Regulations
Change the O&G Industry
Natural gas boom projected to fuel job growth
Shell Chemicals Hopes to Crack Appalachia
End of Mideast
‘Easy Oil’ Means Opportunity for Exxon, BP: Energy Markets
December 2, 2011
Senate GOP Bill Prods Obama to Reverse Keystone
XL Delay
Later today, the Subcommittee on Energy and Power will hold the 14th
congressional hearing on the Keystone XL Pipeline. The focus of the discussion
will be on energy security issues, job creation and a GOP-backed bill that aims
to speed up construction approval.
Senate Republicans
introduced legislation earlier this week that would deem the proposed Keystone
XL crude oil pipeline federally approved 60 days after enactment if the Obama Administration
did not act. But several said they would rather see President Obama reverse his
Nov. 11 decision to delay acting on TransCanada Inc.’s cross-border permit
application for the project until after the 2012 elections.
"Our foreign oil
vulnerability endangers our national security,” said Richard D. Lugar (R-Ind.),
the bill’s main sponsor. "Building the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline now is
a dramatic opportunity to change that equation. It’s also a dramatic
opportunity to create jobs. It’s the largest infrastructure project ready now
in the United States.
Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), one
of the bill’s 37 cosponsors, said issues surrounding Keystone XL’s route across
his state have been resolved, and the bill reflects this. "If the president
were to act on this today, work could commence,” said Johanns.
Other cosponsors noted forcing
Canadian oil sands producers to sell crude recovered from Alberta deposits
elsewhere would have greater adverse environmental impacts. John Hoeven (R-S.D.),
another Energy and Natural Resources Committee member, said supertankers and
terminals involved in transporting the crude from Canada’s west coast to East
Asian customers would emit more carbon dioxide than the proposed 1,700-mile
pipeline.
The American Petroleum
Institute immediately expressed its strong support for the bill. "It would
enable the permitting process to proceed while efforts continue to resolve
concerns related to one isolated area in Nebraska,” said API Executive Vice President
Marty Durbin. "The process has dragged on for more than three years and the
latest decision by the president will add at least another year of delay. This
shovel-ready project should not be shelved for political purposes.”
For more information on this story, click here.
Today's Links
China's Demand
For Oil Will Equal US Demand By 2040 Say Researchers
MSHA to start using pre-assessment
conferencing procedures
Cyber Security
Poses Threat to O&G Bottom Line
Has US Learned The Lesson Of Enron?
December 1, 2011
Two
Companies Announce Gas Finds in Gulf of Mexico
Anadarko and
Pemex reported Thursday two separate natural gas finds in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anadarko made
its natural gas discovery in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico at its Cheyenne
East well.
Chuck Meloy, senior vice president of worldwide
operations, said the company hit 50 feet of "high quality” gas pay in the
eastern Gulf. The well will be tied back to the Independence hub and the
company expects first gas in 2012.
Meanwhile,
Mexican state-owned oil giant Pemex has pointed to "great potential” at an
exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico off Veracruz.
Tests at
the Nen 1 well have proven, probable and possible reserves of "around 400
billion cubic feet of gas.” The
well has an estimated production of 27 million cubic feet per day.
In
a statement released Thursday company officials stated, "The assessment derived
from geophysical logs, dynamic testers and core training and background wall
positively identified three sites that together represent a net thickness of
about [164 feet] of oil impregnated.”
Click
here for more information on the Anadarko find.
Click
here for more information on the Pemex find.
Today's Links
November 30, 2011
U.S. Nears Milestone: Net Fuel Exporter
For
the first time in 62 years, the United States’ exports of gasoline, diesel and
other oil-based fuels are soaring, putting the nation on track to be a net
exporter of petroleum products in 2011.
A
combination of faltering domestic activity and booming demand from emerging
markets means the United States is exporting more fuel than it imports.
A
report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows the United
States sent abroad 753.4 million barrels of everything from gasoline to jet
fuel in the first nine months of this year, while it imported 689.4 million
barrels.
That
the United States is shipping out more fuel than it brings in is significant
because the nation has for decades been a voracious energy consumer. As
recently as 2005, the United States imported nearly 900 million barrels more of
petroleum products than it exported. Since then the deficit has been steadily
shrinking until finally disappearing last fall, and analysts say the country will
not lose its "net exporter” tag anytime soon.
"It
looks like a trend that could stay in place for the rest of the decade,” said
Dave Ernsberger, global director of oil at Platts, which tracks energy markets.
"The conventional wisdom is the United States is this giant black hole sucking
in energy from around the world. This changes that dynamic.”
The
growth in exports is part of a "transformation of the energy system,” says Ed
Morse, global head of commodity research at Citigroup Inc. "It’s the beginning
signs of a process that will continue for the next decade and will point toward
energy independence.”
The
reversal raises the prospect of the United States becoming a major provider of
various types of energy to the rest of the world, a status that was once
virtually unthinkable. The United States already exports vast amounts of coal,
and companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. are pursuing or exploring plans to
liquefy newly abundant natural gas and send it overseas.
Also adding to the exporting firepower: Refineries
are more efficient, giving them an edge over older facilities in Europe. New drilling
methods are boosting oil production, helping ensure steady supplies of raw
material for refiners to process.
The
United States could expand its export trade further next year. Motiva
Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., is
expected to finish work next year on a refinery expansion in Port Arthur,
Texas, which would double the facility’s capacity and make it the largest in the
country. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and TransMontaigne Partners LP plan
to build a $400 million terminal on the Houston Ship Channel.
To
be sure, the balance could shift back relatively quickly. If the United States
economy was to rebound sharply, domestic need for fuels refined from crude oil
could also shoot back up, which could increase crude import demand. In
addition, refineries could lose customers if foreign economies falter, sending
the United States back to being a net importer.
Click
here for more information on this story.
Today's Links
Nexen, CNOOC Team Up in GOM
JV
Samsung C&T, KNOC buying Apollo oil unit for $772 million
Texas company
plans drilling fluid plant in W.Va.
Sasol Plans Ethane Cracker in Louisiana
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