INDUSTRY NEWS
44 Things You Didn’t Know About Oil
Whenever you see a headline like this, you know it will go along the lines of “did you know that petroleum stands for rock oil?” Yes you did, goes the reply of an overwhelming majority of readers. For this reason, the list below is one which holds the reader in high esteem, as a dear colleague on the road to broaden our knowledge of the oil industry. So here we go…
Analysts Expect Oil Price to Average $75 Per Barrel in 2019
Analysts at BMI project that Brent will climb even higher in 2020, averaging $78 per barrel, before plateauing at $80 per barrel over the course of 2021 and 2022. The Bloomberg consensus forecasts that Brent will average $65 per barrel in 2020 and $67.5 per barrel in 2021.
Let Ethanol Fend for Itself
The East Coast’s largest and oldest oil refinery is declaring bankruptcy. In its January 22 filing, Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) — whose facilities can process 335,000 barrels of oil per day — cited the economic burden of complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as a primary contributor to its fiscal woes. Regardless of the merits of PES’s claims, the RFS is an economic and environmental burden on the United States and ought to be repealed.
America’s Dangerous Foreign Mineral Dependence
Now that we’ve finally made progress in our long struggle for energy security — thanks to fracking and the shale revolution — we are sleepwalking into a dangerous import dependence on the minerals and metals that are the building blocks to our 21st century economy. Our reliance on imported minerals and metals required for production of cars and other consumer goods is at record levels.
OPEC Considers Moving the Goalposts
The 24-country alliance wants to reduce oil stockpiles to their five-year average, a goal that is almost at hand according to figures from the International Energy Agency. Yet Saudi Arabia and Russia now say that metric is flawed -- distorted by years of excessively high supplies and patchy data outside developed economies.
Trump backs off proposal to cut royalty payments to Texas, other states for Gulf oil
In the budget proposal released Monday, the White House preserved the revenue sharing agreement, which was expected to deliver $275 million to Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi this year.
New lithium extraction method could reuse fracking wastewater
Lithium is widespread in devices used today, from mobile devices to electric cars. In 2016, over 212,000 tonnes were consumed globally. With continuing technological advancements, demand for lithium has quickly outpaced the rate at which it can be mined or recycled.
U.S. retail gas prices finally moving lower
By market, the West Coast remains the most expensive in the country, with Washington state joining California with prices above the $3 per gallon mark. Four of the seven states in the country that saw an increase in gasoline prices were in this market, even though gasoline inventories are unseasonably high.
Saudi Oil Minister Tired Of Shale Hype
Al-Falih has clearly become annoyed at all the pestering from reporters and market analysts about the prospect of U.S. shale spoiling OPEC’s plans this year. He put on a brave face and dismissed questions about OPEC losing market share as U.S. drillers continue to ramp up.
America’s Natural Gas Hurdles
If the United States plans to continue imposing sanctions on Russia and its energy sector, it should consider how to approach output from projects like Yamal L.N.G. This is because the original source of such gas will become increasingly difficult to determine as the trade becomes more global.
Permian: Getting to look a lot like Saudi Arabia
The U.S.'s Permian Basin is looking like Saudi Arabia, with as much as 1 million barrels of spare oil capacity ready to go into production, according to Nansen Saleri, former head of reservoir management at Saudi Aramco, the world's largest crude exporter.
New Englanders Have Only Themselves to Blame for Energy Price Spikes
Local and state opposition have blocked a number of natural gas pipelines in recent years, with the result that the region hasn’t benefited from the gas production growth in the Marcellus shale formation in nearby Pennsylvania.
Exxon Mobil plans to triple Permian production
Exxon Mobil is beginning to break out specifics of its spending plans after announcing Monday that it wants to invest $50 billion in the U.S. during the next five years, in part because of extra financial benefits gained from the new U.S. tax law.
Time to Protect Our Vulnerable Grid
Late last year, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a “joint Technical Alert,” confirming that our nation’s nuclear, energy, water, aviation, and critical manufacturing sectors, as well as some government entities, have been the targets of repeated cyberattacks. Some succeeded.
Why the oil price is so high
PERHAPS the most vexing thing for those watching the oil industry is not the whipsawing price of a barrel. It is the constant updating of theories to explain what lies behind it.
U.S. oil output set for “explosive growth”: IEA
U.S. oil output is set for " explosive" growth this year as prices rally, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. That was just one of a chorus of voices from Goldman Sachs group Inc. to OPEC itself warning of a looming output surge reminiscent of the "heady days" of the first shale boom.
The World’s Most Innovative Gas Field
Appalachian gas production has surged over eighty five percent (from 13,837 bcf/d to 26, 027 bcf/d) since 2014. The region has one the most productive and economic gas acreage in the country, and today it produces more gas than all other shale plays in the United States combined.
As oil majors move into Permian, cool efficiency replaces passion and guts
The majors have plans to drill thousands of wells, streamline operations, maximize production and create what they call frac factories to suck hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day from the 48 million acres of shale rock across West Texas and eastern New Mexico.
U.S. oil industry set to break record, upend global trade
The economic and political impacts of soaring U.S. output are breathtaking, cutting the nation’s oil imports by a fifth over a decade, providing high-paying jobs in rural communities and lowering consumer prices for domestic gasoline by 37 percent from a 2008 peak.
Oil Market Conquers Its Fears Over Shale
For more than three years, the ability of shale producers to rapidly dial production up or down has haunted the oil market, cutting off nascent rallies and keeping prices trapped around $50 a barrel or lower. Any move above that level stoked fears that producers would flood the market with oil once again, causing dramatic reversals in prices.