Free Republic

James Lebas, former chief revenue estimator for the Texas Comptroller’s office, made news recently when he told the state’s House Committee on Energy Resources that, working with the Comptroller’s office, he had determined that output from the oil and natural gas industry now accounts for fully one-third of the entire Texas economy. Given that the Texas economy would rank 12th among all nations on earth, that’s an amazing amount of economic activity for one industry to provide. Yet, it should not surprise anyone who has really been paying attention to the phenomenal boom the industry has undergone in Texas since...

The skyrocketing growth of unconventional oil and natural gas production in the United States has ignited an intense debate on the impact of energy exports on U.S. energy and economic security and its foreign policy. In “Changing Markets: Economic Opportunities from Lifting the U.S. Ban on Crude Oil Exports,” Charles Ebinger and Heather Greenley worked with National Economic Research Associates (NERA) to examine the economic and national security impacts of lifting the ban on crude oil exports. Learn eights facts about U.S. crude oil production within the key findings outlined below, and download the full report. U.S. Economic Benefits Key...

Waist-high weeds and a crumbling old Chevy mark the entrance to a rust-colored factory complex on the edge of town here, seemingly another monument to the passing of the golden age of American industry. But deep inside the 14-acre site, the thwack-thwack-thwack sound of metal on metal tells a different story. “We’re holding our own,” said Greg Hess, who is looking to hire draftsmen and machine operators at the company he runs, Youngstown Bending and Rolling. “I feel good that we saved this place from the wrecking ball.” The turnaround is part of a transformation spreading across the heartland of...

America’s energy renaissance isn’t brought to you by Big Oil. That’s the message the American Petroleum Institute sent Tuesday, as it released a report documenting the nearly 30,000 businesses across the nation that supply the oil and gas industry with equipment and services. Erik Milito, API’s upstream director, said the report illustrates “the true breadth and scope of the industry’s positive impact throughout the country.” “What we’re trying to show is more of the teamwork approach that goes to energy, where it’s not just an operator or a producer that is involved in safe and responsible development,” Milito added. “It’s...

n the 2014 edition of its International Energy Outlook (IEO2014), the US Energy Information Administration projected world liquid fuels consumption to rise 38% by 2040. The agency also pointed out that world markets for petroleum and other liquid fuels have entered a period of dynamic change—in supply and demand. “The potential for growth in demand for liquid fuels is focused on the emerging economies of China, India, and the Middle East, while liquid fuels demand in the US, Europe, and other regions with well-established oil markets seems to have peaked,” EIA said. In countries outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation...

In the chambers of the Nebraska Supreme Court in Omaha, a hearing was held Friday about the decision by Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie F. Stacy claiming that the law under which the state’s governor had approved the route of the Keystone XL pipeline was unconstitutional. The judge, in a case brought by three landowners, decided that LB1161, the law passed by the state’s legislature at the end of its session in 2011 that shifted the approval of the pipeline route from the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) to the governor, was unconstitutional, and as such the judge instituted a...

...faces unprecedented challenges to its long-term expansion and modernization plans.... Last week Rosneft said it would cut staff to reduce costs: Kommersant business daily said Rosneft's Moscow headquarters would see cuts of up to 25 percent from the current 4,000. These would be the first significant job losses at a company that swelled via the acquisition of rivals such as YUKOS, pushed into bankruptcy some ten years ago by the government of President Vladimir Putin. Since then Rosneft's output has risen 10-fold to exceed 4 million barrels per day or four percent of global supply. But last week it reported...

The Gulf Coast is driving a surge in U.S. exports of petroleum products as refineries run at near-record levels, according to recent reports. In June, the United States on average exported 3.7 million barrels per day of gasoline, distillate, jet fuel, petroleum coke and hydrocarbon gas liquids, according to the most recent data available. That’s an increase of 17 percent, or 543,000 barrels per day, from the same time last year, the Energy Information Administration said in a newly released analysis. Nearly three-quarters of that growth came from the Gulf Coast, where refineries remain “extremely competitive” against their global counterparts...

Israel is hoping to lure U.S. exploration and production companies to take advantage of its new offshore opportunities. So far, Houston’s Noble Energy is the only U.S. player there, after its discovery of major gas fields below the Mediterranean Sea. Reporter Rhiannon Meyers details how Israel is searching for inspiration and expertise in Texas. “Ultimately, Texas is the hub of the global oil and gas industry,” Joshua Beagelman, who is organizing the nation’s first international oil and gas conference in the fall, told her.

The growing glut of U.S. natural gas is helping to power a manufacturing boom in Mexico. Natural-gas exports across the southern border have risen 11% so far this year, to two billion cubic feet a day, according to Bentek Energy, an analytics company based in Denver. And that flow of gas could double in the next few years, analysts say. Companies have announced plans for at least seven new pipelines to take gas across the border from Texas and Arizona, including one expected to start transporting fuel at the end of the month. The increasing flow of gas is easing...

The management acumen of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro continues to amaze. Reuters: Algeria is in talks to export crude oil to fellow OPEC member Venezuela, Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said on Tuesday, confirming a Reuters report. Last week, a document from Venezuela’s state-run energy company PDVSA seen by Reuters showed Venezuela was considering importing crude oil for the first time and could use Algerian light crude as blending stock to boost sales of its own extra-heavy oil. “Yes, we are in talks,” Yousfi told Reuters when asked whether Algeria was planning to export crude oil to Venezuela. He declined...

A federal judge’s ruling that BP was reckless in the lead-up to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill hinged on mishandling of well integrity tests and a decision to drill deeper than was deemed safe, among other factors the judge said were “motivated by profit.” For years, the London oil company has been waging courtroom warfare over the events before the worst oil spill in U.S. history, pointing to alleged mistakes by cement contractor Halliburton and rig operator Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon rig where 11 workers died in an explosion as the disaster unfolded. U.S. District Judge Carl...

AIDEA board OKs early work, concession for North Slope plant for Interior supplies On Aug. 25 the board of the Alaska Industrial and Export Authority passed a couple of resolutions that move forward a project to build a liquefied natural gas plant on the North Slope, for the supply of natural gas to Fairbanks and the Alaska Interior. One resolution authorizes AIDEA to spend $1.6 million, in addition to an existing commitment of $4.5 million, for the early procurement of long lead-time items needed for the plant, while the engineering and design work for the plant is still in progress....

U.S. exports of petroleum products, primarily from the Gulf Coast (PADD 3), have continued to increase. Year-to-date product exports through June 2014 (the latest month for which data are available), including gasoline, distillate, jet fuel, petroleum coke, and hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL), averaged 3.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d), up 543,000 bbl/d over last year. Increased exports from the Gulf Coast have accounted for 72% of the growth in total U.S. exports (Figure 1). With U.S. refinery runs at or near record levels for much of the year and domestic product demand only slightly higher than last year, product exports...

Rail shipments of crude oil rose to 119,634 carloads in the most recent fiscal quarter, an increase of more than 10 percent over the 106,605 shipments in the comparable period last year, according to figures released Thursday by the American Association of Railroads. The association, an industry trade group, called it the busiest quarter ever for crude oil shipments by rail. In the single month of August, shipments rose 25 percent compared to the previous August. Shipments of other commodities showed more modest gains. As oil production has soared past pipeline capacity, trains have become a favored alternative for the...

Mexico’s landmark energy reforms have mostly been discussed from the perspective of oil and gas production, but industry experts also hoping the changes will transform Mexico’s electric power industry. The country’s electric power sector has been plagued by not enough supply and inefficiencies for decades. The state-owned Federal Electricity Commission controlled the majority of generation and all transmission and distribution facilities. In a presentation Thursday in Houston on Mexican Energy reform, Mayer Brown partner Jose Valera estimated the average electricity rates in Mexico were about 25 percent higher than the average U.S. price even after the government offered a hefty...

The ongoing energy reform in Mexico has been touted as opening the possibilities for a massive production increase from shale formations in the Burgos and Sabinas basins, largely because the assessments of technically recoverable resources reported by the US Energy Information Administration are so substantial. But, we should be careful not to put the proverbial “cart in front of the horse.” Specifically, as the US success story shows, although the geology (the cart in this case) might be very promising, there are a number of above ground issues (the horse) that must be aligned for large-scale successes to be realized....

With an $860 million deal announced this week, Buckeye Partners is betting on condensate. Condensate, a type of light crude oil, has been flowing in increasing quantities from the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas as technological advances boost production there. And with more condensate coming from the region — as well as the possibility that lightly refined condensate may be exempt from a U.S. ban on most crude oil exports — many midstream companies are looking at potential profit in getting the light oil from the South Texas wells to market. From 2009 to 2012, annual U.S. production of...

A proposal to build a pipeline from the fracking fields of Pennsylvania to eastern Massachusetts by late 2018 is sparking concern among many property owners in the path of the pipe. But there’s a twist to this evolving story: a proposed surcharge added to electric bills that would force every ratepayer in New England to help pay for the interstate pipeline, which is expected to cost $2 billion to $6 billion. The route proposed for the pipeline’sMassachusetts segment runs through dense forests, wetlands and small towns in the northern tier of the state. Alternative routes, or modifications to the northern...