Business & Markets
75-Year-Old Oil Pipeline Shuts Down
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A pipeline buried under three New England states that carried foreign crude oil from the Port of Portland to refineries in Montreal for 75 years has been mothballed. The oil has stopped flowing. The 236-mile-long pipeline was built to provide for the safe transport of crude o..
The U.K. Is About To Boost Oil Exploration With An Old Trick
In 2000, Canadian miner Goldcorp changed its fortunes through a unique strategy: giving away its proprietary technical data. Dubbed the “Goldcorp Challenge”, the firm made all of its geological information available to the public. And offered $575,000 in prize money to geologists who could use the ..
Chevron Cuts Spending Budget Again
NEW YORK (AP) — Chevron is cutting its spending budget by nearly 40 percent for 2017 and 2018 as it deals with plunging oil prices, a bigger cut in spending than it previously expected. The oil and gas company said that it expects to spend between $17 billion and $22 billion on drilling and other p..
$6 Billion Pipeline To Provide Natural Gas To This Emerging Market
There has been a major deal announced this week in one of the world’s most critical developing natural gas regions: Eastern Africa. That area has been the site of a number of major natural gas discoveries recently, particularly in the offshore of Mozambique — with spots like Kenya and Tanzania also..
Natural Gas Prices Could Plunge Below $1 Here
Natural gas prices in the United States dropped to their lowest levels since 1998 on March 1, with Henry Hub spot prices falling to $1.57 per million Btu (MMBtu). Low oil prices are stealing the media show, but the natural gas sector is also facing a historic downturn. Less attention is understanda..
Is China About To Open Up Its Oil Industry?
Brief but extremely interesting note from China this week. Suggesting that an unparalleled opportunity in the energy space may be coming available here. That’s in the Chinese oil and natural gas industries. Where it appears the government may be about to open up former government-only sectors to ou..
Federal Officials Say Bid-Rigging Goes Beyond Chesapeake’s Ex-CEO
DALLAS (AP) — As advanced drilling technology opened untapped sources of oil and natural gas, it triggered fierce competition among energy companies to scoop up rights to drill on vast swaths of land across the country. The rush caused lease prices to skyrocket in the most promising fields. In a fe..
Drillers: Oil Well Rules Dire for Business; Others Disagree
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An industry-funded study warns of dire consequences if pending rules to prevent another catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico go into effect, but critics questioned that claim. The dire economic analysis was done by Wood Mackenzie, a business research firm, and commissione..
Growth in Domestic Natural Gas Production Leads to Development of LNG Export Terminals
The first export shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced in the Lower 48 states on February 24 is a milestone reflecting a decade of natural gas production growth that has put the United States in a new position in worldwide energy trade. With the rapid growth of supply from shale gas reso..
Canadian Oil Slammed By Low Prices, Pipeline Woes
Canada has been particularly hit hard during the downturn in oil prices. A major oil-producing country, Canada rode the commodity wave upwards over the past decade, but has suffered from the downturn. The economy briefly dipped into a recession in 2015. Even after growth resumed, Canada’s GDP slowe..
First Oil Flows From Alaska Reserve Set Aside in '23
NUIQSUT, Alaska (AP) — Rising from the edgeless, wind-scoured, snow-covered tundra on Alaska’s North Slope lies a million-pound drilling rig pulling the first commercial oil from a reserve set aside nearly a century ago. ConocoPhillips is the first oil company to draw crude from the National Petrol..
CEO Says Exxon Ready for Acquisitions, Investing in Business
DALLAS (AP) — Exxon is interested in acquisitions while oil prices are low, but CEO Rex Tillerson says sellers have unrealistic price expectations. Tillerson said Wednesday that Exxon Mobil Corp. is in financial position to pursue acquisitions or change its spending plans depending on what happens ..
Nigerians Sue Shell in UK Court for Oil Spills Contamination
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Tens of thousands of Nigerian fishermen and farmers are suing multinational oil giant Shell in two new lawsuits filed Wednesday in a British High Court, alleging that decades of uncleaned oil spills have destroyed their lives. London law firm Leigh Day & Co. is representing th..
Harvest Pipeline Sets Open Season For Point Comfort Project
Houston-based Harvest Pipeline Company affiliate Arrowhead Offshore Pipeline launched a binding open season for its Point Comfort Pipeline Project. Once complete, the project will permit Arrowhead to offer transportation of crude petroleum from Jackson County, TX to the Port of Calhoun in Calhoun C..
Chesapeake Energy Ex-CEO McClendon Indicted
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Aubrey McClendon, the former chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corp., was indicted Tuesday on a charge of conspiring to rig bids to buy oil and natural gas leases in northwest Oklahoma. The Department of Justice said in a statement that McClendon is suspected of orchestratin..
Russia Says Global Deal to Cap Oil Output is Close
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia says it is close to an international deal with OPEC countries to cap oil production, and that a final decision will be made at a meeting this month. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar floated an output cap last month with the aim of boosting oil prices, but it was condit..
US Report: Rail Safety Violations Should Be Prosecuted
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators are failing to refer serious safety violations involving freight rail shipments of crude oil and other hazardous cargo for criminal prosecution, and are going lightly on civil fines, according to a report released Friday by a government investigator. The Federal Ra..
Why Oil Booms and Busts Happen
What if I told you that there was a period in history where oil demand declined by 5 MMbpd and non-OPEC supply increased by 5 MMbpd, yet oil price rallied more than 50%? Would you believe me? If your answer is yes, then you guessed right. This was the period from 1979 to 1985; it was a period duri..
Wall Street Won’t Give Up on Its Energy Bets
The oil and gas industry is suffering through its worst cycle in a generation, with most companies losing money at today’s prices. Debt is piling up and the losses are starting to become a concern for lenders. Shareholders are getting burned by plummeting share prices. Yet, major investors are stil..
Study: California Leak Was Top Methane Release in US History
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A natural gas leak that sickened Los Angeles residents and forced thousands from their homes was the largest known release of climate-changing methane in U.S. history, scientists reported Thursday. The 16-week blowout from a well at a Southern California Gas Co. storage facility ..
Game-Changer Leviathan Gas Field Sees Serious Delays
The massive Leviathan gas field, nestled deep inside the Levantine basin off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, is considered a game-changer for both Israel and Europe, but a wide range of roadblocks is threatening development, and now production will be delayed by at least a year. Political hurdles, re..
Milestone LNG Export Shipment Set to Leave US for Brazil
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The first international shipment of liquefied natural gas in decades from the Lower 48 states is poised to leave for Brazil from Louisiana. Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. announced Wednesday that a ship bound for Brazil was being loaded with LNG at its Sabine Pass facility in sout..
Canadian Oil Production Expected to Increase Despite Lower Prices
Despite lower crude oil prices, EIA expects Canadian oil production to continue increasing through 2017. Canadian oil sands projects that were already under construction when prices began to fall in 2014 and that are expected to begin production in the next two years are the main driver of productio..
SoCalGas Facility Must Pass Tougher Tests to Operate Again
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gas storage facility that spewed methane uncontrollably for almost four months, driving thousands of families from their homes, won’t resume operations until it has undergone tougher tests than ever required before, a process that will take months and perhaps even longer. T..
Saudi Oil Minister Says Market Should Handle Low Prices
HOUSTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s oil minister says production cuts to boost oil prices won’t work, and that instead the market should be allowed to work even if that forces some operators out of business. Ali Al-Naimi said Tuesday that production cuts by big, low-cost producers like Saudi Arabia wou..
Pacific Northwest Could Become Hub for Methanol Production
SEATTLE (AP) — The Pacific Northwest could become a major hub for methanol production if three proposed refineries are built along the Columbia River and Puget Sound. A China-backed consortium, Northwest Innovation Works, has proposed two plants in Washington and a third in Oregon to convert natu..
American Midstream Holding Open Season for Magnolia Interstate Extension
American Midstream began a non-binding open season for a proposed 45-mile extension of the Magnolia Intrastate pipeline to transport up to 500,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas for delivery to a major interstate pipeline beginning in 2019. The open season ends April 11. The proposed Magnolia Ex..
Lawmakers Mull Moratorium on SoCalGas Storage Facility
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are considering legislation that would prevent a utility from resuming full operations at a facility that had a massive natural gas leak for nearly four months. The bill requiring testing of wells at the Southern California Gas Co. facility near Los ..
High Supplies Seen Capping Oil Price Until Early 2017
PARIS (AP) — A glut of oil will keep prices from rebounding until next year, much later than previously forecast, experts at the International Energy Agency said Monday. A year ago, the IEA, a Paris-based organization of 29 major oil importing nations, had forecast a “relatively swift” recovery. ..
Oil Production in Federal GOM Expected to Hit Record High in '17
U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) crude oil production is estimated to increase to record-high levels in 2017, even asprices remain low. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects GOM production will average 1.63 MMbpd in 2016 and 1.79 MMbpd in 2017, reaching 1.91 MMbpd in December 2017. GOM prod..
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