Storage
White House Opposes GOP Bill to Lift Oil Export Ban
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Tuesday it opposes a House Republican bill to lift the four-decade-old ban on crude oil exports. A decision on whether to end the ban should be made by the Commerce Department, not Congress, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. Earnest also took a shot at House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans pushing to end the oil export ban, which was imposed in the 1970s as the United States responded to an Arab oil embargo that sparked inflation and prompted long lines at gas stations.
Kevin Bodenhamer Sets Lofty Standard for Engineers
What more can you say about Kevin Bodenhamer other than he has had a career that most people in the pipeline business can only dream of having. His professional accomplishments can fill a whole page so let’s start with the resume: • 1979-1993, engineer, supervising manager for Cities Service/Occidental Petroleum/Trident NGL. • 1993-1998, manager, Mid-America Pipeline Co. • 1998-2002, director, Williams Cos. • 2002-2013, vice president, senior vice president, Enterprise Products. • 2013-2015, vice president, chief engineer, Willbros Engineers Inc.
Pragmatic Approach to Understand Indian Natural Gas Market
A Pragmatic Approach to Understand Indian Natural Gas Market Historically, India has relied on coal to generate power, liquid fuels as feedstock and oil for its transport sector. But for environmental reasons India needs to focus on cleaner fuels. Natural gas has emerged as the fuel of choice for many industries in India owing to its environmental benefits and higher economic efficiency. However, India’s natural gas market is seeing a supply deficit due to its low domestic production.
Interior Dept.: High-Risk Oil, Gas Wells Checks Lack Funding for Inspections
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management lacks sufficient resources to inspect high-risk oil and gas wells on federal land as a drilling boom continues in Wyoming, Colorado and other states, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Tuesday. The Obama administration has proposed a fee on oil and gas drillers that would allow the land management agency to hire more than 60 inspectors, but the proposal has not gained traction in Congress.
Job Market, Automotive Sales Trends Point to Growing Gasoline Use
U.S. motor gasoline product supplied, a proxy for gasoline use in the United States, has been rising after reaching an 11-year low in 2012. Although lower gasoline prices have been an important factor in the increase in gasoline use so far in 2015, changes in the labor market and in the vehicle sales mix over the past few years also have contributed to the rise in gasoline use.
Feds Cite Poor record-keeping in 2013 West Coast Oil Spill
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The pipeline company responsible for an oil spill that blackened California beaches kept shoddy records on emergency training and how it would protect pristine coastline in the event of a break, federal regulators said Friday. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed six violations from inspections begun in 2013 — about 20 months before the May pipeline rupture near Santa Barbara — but imposed no fines.
Court: Environmental Study Still Required for Sandpiper Oil Pipeline Certificate
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has reversed regulators' decision to grant a certificate of need for the proposed Sandpiper oil pipeline, saying Monday that state regulators must complete an environmental impact statement before the certificate can be issued. The appeals court sent the issue back to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to conduct an environmental review and reconsider whether a certificate should be granted.
OPEC Winning Price War, According to IEA
Oil markets may not balance until late 2016, but supply is finally contracting in a big way. Early last week the EIA confirmed that U.S. oil production was down sharply since peaking in April at 9.6 MMbpd. The agency estimates that U.S. output fell by 140,000 barrels per day in August, a steeper decline than in previous months. In its latest weekly estimate (which is less accurate than monthly retrospective estimates), U.S. oil production is now down to just 9.1 MMbpd.
Basin Energy Acquires Starett Well Service
BRIDGEPORT, WV (AP) — Bridgeport-based Basin Energy Group has acquired Starett Well Service, a specialty roustabout services firm focusing on well site and midstream natural gas infrastructure in the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions. Joe Starett and his wife, Gina Starett, founded the company, which began operations in Jane Lew in 2002. Basin Energy said Joe Starett will continue to lead the company's day-to-day operations, while also will focusing on business development.
World News: Algeria Reforms Laws to Attract Foreign Investment
A Today in Energy brief from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Algeria is reforming its laws to attract foreign investment in hydrocarbons. Algeria is the third-largest oil producer in Africa, after Nigeria and Angola, and the largest natural gas producer in Africa. However, production of both oil and natural gas has declined over the past decade.
California Oil Bill Defeated at Least for Time Being
A landmark energy bill in California was watered down after facing significant opposition from the oil and gas industry. The California legislature was considering a bill that would have slashed the state’s petroleum use by 50% by 2030, but the Democrats decided to drop the provision in order to keep the larger bill alive. After seeing the bill pass the State Senate earlier this year, the legislation ran up against a deadline this week for the end of session. However, with strong opposition from the oil and gas industry, the State Assembly could not gather enough votes.
Natural Gas Use: A Tale of 2 Peak Seasons
Use of natural gas has two seasonal peaks, with consumption patterns predominantly driven by weather. The largest peak occurs during the winter, when cold weather increases the demand for natural gas space heating in the residential and commercial sectors. A second, smaller peak occurs in the summer when air conditioning use increases demand for electric power, an increasing portion of which is provided by natural gas-fired generators.
Pipe Staged Ahead of Permits for ND Oil Pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Pipe is being staged in four states for a proposed $3.8 billion pipeline from western North Dakota to Illinois. The piles of pipe are being placed in anticipation of permits for the project by regulators in the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners is proposing the pipeline that would move about 450,000 bbls of North Dakota crude daily. Officials say it's the biggest-capacity pipeline proposed to date to move North Dakota crude.
Sunoco Logistics Holding Open Season for Mariner East 2 Expansion
Sunoco Logistics Partners has begun a binding open season for its Mariner East 2 Expansion Project, which will transport petroleum products, including natural gas liquids and condensate, from processing facilities built in the liquid-rich Marcellus and Utica shale areas to Sunoco Logistics’ Marcus Hook Industrial Complex on the Delaware River. The open season offers service for ethane, propane, butane, C3+, natural gasoline and condensate. Refined product movements will be considered if there is sufficient interest. The prjoect is expected to begin operations in 2017.
Pipeline Reversals and Conversions: Case Studies, Best Practices
The boom in U.S. shale plays and Canadian oil sands has provided North America with a huge new source of petrochemical and energy-generation feedstock. For the most part, the results of this “shale boom” have been quite positive. But the sudden abundance of oil and natural gas is putting pressure on North America’s existing pipeline infrastructure, which simply cannot cope with this additional demand. This pressure is compounded by the fact that most of this new oil and gas production is happening in regions not currently served by the existing pipeline infrastructure (Figure 1).
Crude Oil Swaps with Mexico Could Provide Economic, Environmental Benefits
U.S.-Mexico crude oil swaps approved last month by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security will likely involve exchanges of U.S. light sweet crude for Mexican heavy sour crude that is already being exported to the United States.
Editor's Notebook: Cheap Energy Brings Jobs Where There Were None
OK, I’m a sucker for natural gas. Maybe I’ve learned something these past 25 years that George Mitchell tried to explain: natural gas is the fuel of the future and can revitalize America. After I read this story off the Reuters news wire, can you blame me?
Cleanup of 2013 North Dakota Oil Spill Slowed by Lack of Natural Gas
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A state regulator said cleanup of a massive 2013 oil spill in northwestern North Dakota is being slowed due to the lack of natural gas needed to power equipment at the site. State environmental scientist Bill Suess said workers will be at the site near Tioga at least another two years baking oil from the soil using a process called thermal desorption.
Saudi Arabia Maintained Crude Market Share in Asia in First Half of 2015
In the first half of 2015, Saudi Arabia exported on average 4.4 MMbpd of crude oil to seven major trading partners in Asia, making up more than half of Saudi Arabia's total crude oil exports over that period. Even as global crude oil prices fell in 2014 and 2015, Saudi Arabia increased production and kept its export levels high, enabling it to maintain its market share in these countries. However, long-term trends within Saudi Arabia's energy sector may reduce its global crude oil market share.
Waterside Energy Looks to Expand Project on Columbia River
LONGVIEW, WA (AP) — A Houston-based energy company has unveiled plans to expand its proposed energy project along the Columbia River in Longview. In addition to an $800 million proposed oil refinery, Waterside Energy said it wants to build a $450 million liquefied petroleum gas on private property. The <strong>Daily News</strong> reported that about one train a day would bring propane and butane from Canada and North Dakota to the terminal. The facility could receive up to 75,000 bpd.
Southcross Begins Open Season on Propane Pipeline System
Southcross Energy Partners launched a binding open season to solicit commitments for its recently completed 20,000 bpd propane pipeline system connecting the company's Bonnie View Fractionator to the Corpus Christi. TX area for delivery to end-use customers.
Strategy Report Points to Improved Safety, Smart Pigs
With liquids pipeline incidents down by half since 1999, even as their use to transport crude oil pipeline has increased, there is little doubt among experts about what has led to this success on the safety front – preventive maintenance and integrity management programs.
Ex-Exxon Executive Discusses Lauch of 'Clean' Oil Sands Project
After decades of exhaustive attempts to overcome the dirty reputation of oil sands, we finally have an environmentally-friendly and low cost method to tap into these vast resources in the state of Utah – good news both for Mother Nature and all oil and gas investors. MCW Energy Group’s CEO, former Exxon president of the Arabian Gulf region, R. Gerald Bailey, talks about his hunt for an innovative technology that simultaneously makes money and cleans up the environment, and the race to capitalize on Utah’s vast oil sands resources.
2H Offshore Awarded Contracts for Stampede Development in Gulf
2H Offshore, an Acteon company, was awarded two separate contracts, one by Hess Corp. and a second by Enbridge Energy Co., to verify the design, fabrication and installation phases of the Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs) for the Stampede field development in the Gulf of Mexico. The field is operated by Hess.
Canadas Oilfield Service Sector Battered by Low Prices
In some ways the numbers don’t look that bad. For a group of 25 diversified, publicly traded Canadian oilfield service (OFS) companies, combined revenue of nearly $9 billion in the first six months of 2015 was only 22.1% lower than $11.53 billion for the same period in 2014. With oil prices down 50 percent for the first half of 2015, a revenue decline of 22.1% looks misleadingly attractive.
Big Cities Scramble in Preparation for Possible Oil Train Disaster
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — They rumble past schools, homes and businesses in dozens of cities around the country — 100-car trains loaded with crude oil from the Upper Midwest. While railroads have long carried hazardous materials through congested urban areas, cities are now scrambling to formulate emergency plans and to train firefighters amid the latest safety threat: a fiftyfold increase in crude shipments that critics say has put millions of people living or working near the tracks at heightened risk of derailment, fire and explosion.
Clean Up of Mississippi River to Begin after Tow Boat Collision Spills Oil
COLUMBUS, Ky. (AP) — Clean up crews planned to go into the Mississippi River on Friday in Kentucky after a collision between two tow boats caused an oil spill that prompted the closure of that part of the river. The collision Wednesday evening near Columbus, KY, damaged at least one barge carrying clarified slurry oil. The cargo tank ruptured, causing thousands of gallons of oil to spill into the river, the U.S. Coast Guard said. No injuries were reported. The river was closed Thursday from mile-markers 938 to 922, Petty Officer Lora Ratliff said.
Not Everyone Is Happy About Egypts Latest Gas Discovery
The Nile has been the source of life for the people of Egypt for all of recorded history. A blue stripe down the spine of Egypt’s desert terrain, one of the earliest civilizations known to man grew and prospered for centuries along its banks. But long before the first pharaoh, the Nile was laying the groundwork for a resource that would provide for her people today, one layer of organic material at a time.
Fluor Wins Front-End Contract for Ohio Petrochemical Complex
PTT Global Chemical Public Company (PTTGC) selected a Fluor-led team to perform front-end engineering and design work for its proposed petrochemical complex in Belmont County, OH. The team includes Fluor, Technip and SK E&C. The project will encompass an ethane cracker and derivatives units by leveraging the availability of feedstock from gas taken from the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in the region to create chemical products. Front-end activities are expected to be completed in 2016.
EIA Says Effects of Removing Crude Export Limits Depend on Price, Resource Assumptions
A new study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the potential implications of allowing more crude oil exports finds that effects on domestic crude oil production are key to determining the other effects of a policy change. Gasoline prices would be either unchanged or slightly reduced. Trade in crude oil and petroleum products would also be affected.
- Phillips 66 to Shut LA Oil Refinery, Ending Major Gasoline Output Amid Supply Concerns
- FERC Sides with Williams in Texas-Louisiana Pipeline Dispute with Energy Transfer
- U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Pipeline Permits
- ConocoPhillips Eyes Sale of $1 Billion Permian Assets Amid Marathon Acquisition
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
- U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Pipeline Permits
- Malaysia’s Oil Exports to China Surge Amid Broader Import Decline
- U.S. LNG Export Growth Faces Uncertainty as Trump’s Tariff Proposal Looms, Analysts Say
- Marathon Oil to Lay Off Over 500 Texas Workers Ahead of ConocoPhillips Merger
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
