INDUSTRY NEWS
What Happens If The Next U.S. President Bans Oil Exports?
All the leading Democratic candidates have vowed to reduce the country’s emissions to net zero by 2050, which is a pledge general enough to overlook, but some have also promised to ban oil exports as part of push to net zero emissions. Now this is a promise that the industry cannot overlook.
U.S. energy chief downplays effect of coronavirus on oil markets
The coronavirus, as we can determine today, has not had a tremendous impact on energy production or energy purchases just yet, he said after a talk at the Atlantic Council in Washington. "For the moment the Chinese seem to have a clear indication of the virus itself, where it is, and are taking aggressive steps to control a potential outbreak."
OPEC+ in second day of talks as Saudis push for emergency cut
OPEC+ officials gathered in Vienna for a second day of debate on the impact of the coronavirus, a process that could result in an emergency ministerial meeting where Saudi Arabia would push for an oil-production cut.
4 Promising Oil Trends To Watch In 2020
Granted, state-owned behemoths and giant energy companies tend to have more than their fair share of discoveries. But that does not in any way mean smaller companies have been missing out on the action--on the contrary, they have time and again showed up the big boys and earned their bragging rights in the arena, too.
Expect A Strong Year For Oil Discoveries
Despite growing anti-oil sentiment, oil and gas companies unearthed 12.2 billion new barrels of oil and oil equivalent last year, according to Rystad Energy—a figure that represents a four-year high—and offshore is where most of these new discoveries lie.
How the Oil Market Learned to Live With a Middle East in Flames
It’s a trading pattern that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, but has become increasingly familiar. The threat of conflict loomed over the heart of the global oil market this past week, but the usual panic buying by traders and consumers was met quickly by a wave of U.S. shale drillers grasping the opportunity to lock in prices for future production.
Despite Trump’s Claim, the U.S. Still Needs Some Middle East Oil
Before the “shale revolution,” as American drillers call it, Gulf coast refiners invested millions of dollars to process relatively cheap heavy oil from the Middle East and Latin America. At the same time, shale oil is much lighter and lower in sulfur compared with supply from the Persian Gulf, and not ideal for most American refineries.
Chevron pulls employees out of Iraq amid escalation
Chevron said it was evacuating its workers and contractors from the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq after the U.S. State Department urged Americans to flee Iraq because of concerns from Iran-backed militias and the potential targeting of Americans in the area.
Denver company tests evaporation as solution for oil field wastewater
The company's Carrier Gas Concentration, or CGC, technology receives oil field wastewater, which is known in the industry as saltwater, and separates the water from oil, natural gas, chemicals and other contaminants. The water is heated to the point of evaporation and released as steam while everything else is left behind as a super concentrated brine.
Permian Advocates See Methane Emissions Progress
Permian explorers are flaring more than ever before as record oil drilling created a surfeit in a region too sparsely populated to use all the gas that arises as a byproduct of crude output. Permian drillers flared enough gas last year to fuel every household furnace, stove and water heater in the state of Texas.
Alex Epstein’s Clear Thinking on Climate and Energy
Epstein’s human-centered optimism sets him apart from both sides of the climate and energy debate. As he points out in a recent talk at the University of Texas at Austin, if there is a climate crisis, it’s not showing up in the numbers that matter most.
The OPEC+ Deal Was The First Step To $100 Oil
The U.S. vs China trade war and Brexit “noise” out of Europe have been the driving forces behind the global recession fear. Only a prolonged and severe recession will cause a decline in demand for oil-based transportation fuels and feedstock. So far, there has been no decline in oil demand in the real world, primarily because the U.S. economy is expanding.
Exxon Mobil Beats New York’s Climate-Change Accounting Case
Tuesday’s ruling, by New York Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager in Manhattan, is a blow to the state’s attorney general, Letitia James. In the securities fraud lawsuit, filed in October of last year, New York accused Exxon of lying to shareholders about its use of a “proxy cost” for carbon in accounting for future climate change regulation to make them think the company was being more prudent than it was.
The One Sweet Spot That Continues To Drive Permian Growth
Before hydraulic fracturing, Bone Spring was a target for conventional oil. After the introduction of fracking and horizontal drilling across U.S. shale plays, production from the Bone Spring formation has risen significantly, and it is now one of the fastest developing unconventional plays in the United States, the EIA said in a report on the Permian’s Wolfcamp and Bone Spring shale plays.
Visualizing The US Shale Slowdown
There continues to be much speculation and information pointing to a potential slowing of US oil production. However the latest production data from the EIA continues to point higher, albeit at a slower rate.
Texas Wildcatters Scoff at Growth Predictions
What’s ticking folks off these days is how the International Energy Agency in Paris and the Energy Information Administration in Washington still predict robust U.S. production growth next year, despite the dire reality on the ground. The IEA expects an increase of 900,000 barrels a day, while the EIA forecasts 1 million, which would mean practically replicating this year’s expansion.
Putin Calls U.S. Shale “Barbaric”
Vladimir Putin has spent his week cozying up to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and dissing the United States’ oil industry, dismissing shale oil production as a “barbaric” process. At the same time, Putin has announced that Russian oil output has increased despite the fact that the country has also pledged to remain cooperative with OPEC’s production curbs.
‘Deep Electrification’ Means More Natural Gas
For environmental reasons, there’s an ongoing push to “electrify everything,” from cars to port operations to heating. The idea is that a “deep electrification” will help lower greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.
How To Trigger A Global Recession In One Easy Step: Ban Fracking
In a time long ago, seven years this month, President Obama and candidate Mitt Romney sparred in their second debate over the extent to which Obama deserved credit for increasing America’s oil and natural gas production. Three years later President Obama would, without fanfare, sign epic legislation reversing a 40-year-old petroleum export ban.
Exxon Blasts NY for Walking Back Claims at Trial’s End
The New York attorney general’s office dropped its claim that Exxon Mobil Corp. intentionally misled investors about how it accounts for the financial risks of climate change, significantly diminishing the state’s case in the last minutes of a high-stakes securities fraud trial.