Oil
Weak Oil Prices Prompt Fitch to Cut Saudi Arabia's Rating
LONDON (AP) — Saudi Arabia suffered another credit ratings downgrade on Tuesday after Fitch lowered its view on the oil-rich kingdom in light of the fall in energy prices. In a note, Fitch said it was reducing its rating on Saudi Arabia by one notch to AA- from AA and warned that another downgrade ..
Thieves in Mexico Build Tunnel, Camouflage Trucks to Steal Oil
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in central Mexico say thieves built a camouflaged truck to transport fuel stolen from government pipelines. Police found a tunnel built by pipeline thieves in the same state of Guanajuato last week. The discoveries show the sophistication of thieves who drill taps int..
Iowa Panel Says Construction Can Begin on Oil Pipeline
DES MOINES (AP) — State utility regulators have deemed that construction can begin on the Bakken oil pipeline in Iowa as soon as federal permits are obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and two other plans are filed. The Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously this past week to issue the o..
TransCanada Resumes Oil Shipments Through Keystone Pipeline
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada Corp. has resumed sending oil through the Keystone Pipeline after a weeklong shutdown prompted by a leak and oil spill in southeastern South Dakota. The pipeline came back online Sunday, but with a reduced pressure. The company says it is continuing cleanup and ..
Alberta's Taxes Precipitate Fall from Grace Within Oil Industry Circles
“Who will stand up for Alberta’s persecuted billionaire community?” the headline of a popular political blog site sarcastically blared after the story broke last month about how wealthy Calgary entrepreneur N. Murray Edwards had apparently relocated his residence to London for tax reasons...
Oil Speculators Run Out of Reasons to Bet on Rising Prices
Oil prices plunged to their lowest levels in a month on April 4, falling back from recent highs to the mid-$30s per barrel. Oil traded down on the sinking prospect of an outcome from the Doha summit April 17, where several key OPEC countries will meet with Russia to discuss the pending production f..
US Judge OKs $20 Billion BP Oil Spill Settlement
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval Monday to an estimated $20 billion settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation’s history. The settlement, first announced in July, in..
AP Source: US Trying to Block Halliburton Purchase of Baker Hughes
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is expected to sue this week to stop Halliburton from acquiring Baker Hughes, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the lawsuit had not yet been announced. Halliburton and Baker Hughes hel..
TransCanada Says Spill Shut Down Keystone Pipeline
FREEMAN, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada Corp. says the Keystone pipeline will likely remain shut down for the rest of the week while officials investigate an apparent oil spill in southeastern South Dakota. Oil was discovered on a 300-square-foot area in a ditch near a Freeman-area pump station. About 1..
US Rig Count Drops 14 to 450, Another All-Time Low
HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped 14 this week to 450, another all-time low amid continuing energy industry price woes. A year ago, 1,028 rigs were active. Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday 362 rigs sought oil and ..
Mexico's Proven Oil Reserves Down a Whopping 21%
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s government oil commission says the country’s proven reserves of oil and gas dropped by a startling 21 percent in 2015. The commission said Thursday that combined oil and gas reserves amounted to 10.24 billion barrels of crude equivalent at the end of 2015, compared to 13..
Qatar Says 12 Countries Confirmed for Oil Cap Meeting
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar’s oil minister says 12 countries have agreed so far to participate in a meeting it’s hosting next month to discuss a freeze in oil output levels. Qatar announced earlier this month it would be the venue for between OPEC and non-OPEC producers on April 17 to discuss the prod..
$50 Oil As Soon As May?
After staging a 50 percent rally between February and March, oil prices have bounced around, moving up or down on a given day depending on the news cycle. The persistent glut and rising storage levels weigh on crude prices, but falling production levels provide some reason for optimism. On March 29..
EIA Report Shows Decline in Cost of U.S. Oil and Gas Wells Since 2012
The profitability of oil and natural gas development activity depends on both the prices realized by producers and the cost and productivity of newly developed wells. Overall trends in well development costs are generally less transparent than price and productivity trends, which are readily observa..
Tallgrass Buys Piece of REX
Tallgrass Development’s wholly owned subsidiary, Rockies Express Holdings, has signed a purchase agreement with a unit of Sempra U.S. Gas and Power to acquire Sempra’s 25% membership interest in Rockies Express Pipeline LLC for $440 million, subject to adjustment under the purchase agreement. “Sinc..
Howard Lateral Crude Pipeline Open Season Ends
Medallion Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Medallion Midstream, said it successfully closed a binding open season for its proposed crude oil pipeline extension, the Howard Lateral. The open season began Feb. 9. Medallion executed a long-term transportation service agreement that provides a capaci..
Oil Majors Only Replace 75% of Oil and Gas Produced in 2015
The oil majors failed to replace all of the oil and gas reserves that they burned through in 2015, a worrying sign for the industry’s future. The Wall Street Journal reported that the seven largest oil and gas companies only replaced about 75 percent of the reserves on average that they produced la..
U.S. Production of Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids Expected to Increase Through 2017
U.S. production of hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL)—a group of products including ethane, propane, butanes, and natural gasoline—is expected to increase from 3.86 million barrels per day in 2015 to 4.33 million b/d in 2017, according to EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). HGLs are produced at both ..
Coast Guard: Unknown Amount of Crude in Louisiana Bayou
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says an unknown amount of crude oil has spilled into a bayou in southern Louisiana. The Coast Guard said in a statement Monday night it received a report around 8 p.m. that a tank along the edge of Bayou Teche near Charenton was being filled with crude oil wh..
U.S. Petroleum Product Exports Continue to Expand
Total U.S. petroleum product exports continued to increase in 2015, up 467,000 barrels per day (b/d) from 2014 to 4.3 million b/d, driven by increased exports of distillate fuel, motor gasoline, and propane. Mexico and the region encompassing both Central and South America continued to be major reci..
United Kingdom Increases Oil Production in 2015, but New Field Development Declines
After many years of decline, production of petroleum and other liquids in the United Kingdom (U.K.) increased by about 100,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2015. The largest contribution to this increase came from fields that were brought online in the second half of 2014. Significant increases also cam..
U.S. Lifted The Crude Oil Export Ban, And Exports Went…Down
Just over three months after the authorities lifted the four-decade ban on crude oil exports, the U.S. has actually exported less this year than it did over the same period the year before, when the ban was still in place. According to Clipper Data market intelligence cited by the Financial Times, ..
NACE International Brings the Corrosion Fight to Vancouver, BC
NACE Corrosion 2016, held March 6-10 in Vancouver, B.C., brought together a widely diverse representation of those involved in the coating and anti-corrosion materials fields. In all about 6,500 attendees whose interests ranged from applications for highway and bridge construction to wastewater pro..
5 Plead Guilty to Bribery Scheme with Venezuelan Oil Company
HOUSTON (AP) — A Venezuelan national living in Florida and four other people have pleaded guilty to federal charges for a bribery scheme involving millions of dollars in contracts between U.S.-based energy firms and Venezuela’s state-run oil company, prosecutors said Wednesday. Officials responsibl..
Kuwait Oil Company Says It's Found New Oil and Gas Field
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait’s state oil company says it has discovered a new oil and gas field in the Western part of the country. Kuwait Oil Company said in a statement to the country’s state news agency Thursday that preliminary tests suggest the new field in the al-Jathatheel region will provide a..
Gulf Oil, Gas Leases Up for Sale; Environmentalists Protest
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government is selling off oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico during a sale Wednesday, but environmentalists opposed to fossil fuels development on public lands plan to protest. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is offering about 45 million acres for explorat..
Wells Drilled Since Start of 2014 Provided Nearly Half of Lower 48 Oil Production in 2015
U.S. crude oil production from the Lower 48 states from new wells (drilled since the start of 2014) made up 48% of total U.S. crude oil production in 2015, up from 22% in 2007. Production from new wells has grown as advances in horizontal drilling and completion techniques led to growth in oil produ..
Iowa Regulators Reject Request to Fast Track Oil Pipeline
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State regulators have rejected a Texas-based company’s request to expedite a permit to build the so-called Bakken oil pipeline through 18 counties in Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Utilities Board issued an order Friday refusing to grant the motion..
Brazil's Oil Giant Petrobras Reports $10.2 Billion Quarterly Loss Amid Lower Oil Prices
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, reported a record quarterly loss of $10.2 billion Monday due to a large reduction in the value of some assets amid lower oil prices. Petrobras has been at the center of a sprawling corruption scandal that has ensnared some of Brazil’s..
US Rig Count Drops 4 This Week to All-Time Low of 476
HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped 4 this week to 476, a record low and another sign of continuing price woes in the oil and gas industry. A year ago, 1,069 rigs were active. Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday ..
- Trump Aims to Revive 1,200-Mile Keystone XL Pipeline Despite Major Challenges
- ONEOK Agrees to Sell Interstate Gas Pipelines to DT Midstream for $1.2 Billion
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- Another Major U.S. Oil Refinery Shutting Down as Lyondell Confirms Houston Closure
- Boardwalk Approves 110-Mile, 1.16 Bcf/d Mississippi Kosci Junction Pipeline Project
- Tullow Oil on Track to Deliver $600 Million Free Cash Flow Over Next 2 Years
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- GOP Lawmakers Slam New York for Blocking $500 Million Pipeline Project
- Texas Oil Company Challenges $250 Million Insurance Collateral Demand for Pipeline, Offshore Operations
- Phillips 66 to Sell $865 Million Stake in 500-Mile Gulf Coast Express Pipeline to ArcLight
