Business & Markets
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..
Australia's Gorgon, One of the World's Largest LNG Terminals, Ships First Cargo
Australia’s Gorgon project, one of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the world, shipped its first cargo last week to Japan. Located on Barrow Island off the coast of northwestern Australia, the project includes a domestic natural gas plant, a carbon dioxide injection project, and a..
$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..
EPA Aims to Cut Methane Leaks From Natural Gas Companies
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a new partnership with 41 energy companies that have agreed to voluntarily reduce methane emissions from natural gas operations to help combat climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the Natural Gas STAR Methane ..
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..
Dubai's Dodsal Finds $8B Natural Gas Deposit in Tanzania
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai-based Dodsal Group says it has discovered 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas deposits in Tanzania’s Ruvu Basin Coast Region valued at around $8 billion. The conglomerate says it had initially estimated that the gas deposits held 2.17 trillion cubic feet, but mor..
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, ..
Scuttled Israel Gas Deal Frustrates US, Israeli Developers
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli and American energy companies expressed disappointment on Monday over Israel’s Supreme Court decision that struck down a government deal that would have given them the rights to begin pumping natural gas from offshore deposits. David Stover, the chairman of Houston-based No..
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..
Williams Advances Unique Position in Canada with Startup of Second Offgas Processing Plant
Williams today announced the startup of its second offgas liquids extraction plant, a key asset in the company’s Canadian midstream and petchem complex. The new plant boosts domestic production of petchem feedstocks and significantly reduces emissions in the oil sands production process while recove..
PG&E: A Company That Has Seen the Light When it Comes to Safety
In these times when we as a society and as an industry are surrounded by blatant insults, public tantrums and overdone political correctness, it’s refreshing to know there is a company that’s doing something the right way. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has not always done things the right way. It’s ..
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..
Purchase Agreements in Place for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Purchase agreements have been signed for virtually all of the natural gas that would be delivered to the Southeast by the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the lead energy company behind the $5 billion project said Tuesday. Diane Leopold, president of Dominion E..
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 ..
First Chevron Gorgon LNG Cargo Departs for Japan
Chevron Corporation today announced that its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gorgon Project has departed Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Western Australia. The cargo will be delivered to one of Chevron’s foundation buyers, Chubu Electric Power, for delivery into..
What Happens When Oil Hits $50?
The major beneficiary of the 54 percent jump in oil prices from the lows of $26 per barrel is the U.S. shale oil industry, which will utilize this rise to ramp up production and repair balance sheets. But any move above $45 per barrel will likely reverse all this good luck: The drop in production wi..
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