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When Jack Ekstrom joined Whiting Petroleum Corporation in 2008, the company had 450 employees. Six years later, the company has 1,100 employees, said Ekstrom, vice president of corporate and government relations at Whiting. “At any given time, we have about 250 approved positions that we need to fill during a 12-month period,” Ekstrom said, “even though we are not recruiting for all of them at the same time.” Whiting Petroleum’s surge in hiring reflects a larger hiring boom within the oil and gas industry that is playing out across the nation. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that 119,800 people...

The chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday he sees oil rising to near $100 a barrel in coming years, some 40 percent above current prices that have been hit by a supply glut and sluggish global growth. "I think an oil price, which will balance the markets in the next years to come, will be close to $100," Fatih Birol told a conference in Stockholm, when asked to quantify at what level he sees oil prices long-term. "We shouldn't be blinded with what's happening now. Looking at the geology, looking at the economics of the...

Jordan’s King Abdullah believes battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and other terrorist groups is “our third world war.” Speaking to “CBS This Morning,” Abdullah stated that ISIS is a Muslim problem that they need to take ownership of. “We need to stand up and say what is right and what is wrong. This is no reflection of our religion. This is evil and all of us have got to make that decision,” Abdullah, who is in Washington to meet with President Barack Obama, said. “We have to stand up and say this is the line that is...

Plummeting oil prices boost the argument for exporting U.S. crude and slowing the advance of new regulations that will affect the industry, American Petroleum Institute CEO Jack Gerard said Friday. Oil prices have fallen roughly 35 percent since June, with surging U.S. crude production helping boost supply beyond softening demand worldwide. Gerard cast that as “a temporary adjustment in the price,” with some rebound on the horizon, but told reporters in a conference call Friday that the decline should encourage U.S. policymakers to find ways to keep the domestic drilling boom on track. “The worst thing for us to do...

U.S. crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2013, increasing by 9% from the 2012 level to 36.5 billion barrels, according to the U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, 2013 report released yesterday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. crude oil and lease condensate proved reserves surpassed 36 billion barrels for the first time since 1975. North Dakota had the largest increase (1.9 billion barrels, 51%) in oil reserves among individual states in 2013, based on development of the Bakken/Three Forks formation in the Williston Basin. With 5.7 billion...

Working gas in storage was 3,410 Bcf as of Friday, November 28, 2014, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 22 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 227 Bcf less than last year at this time and 372 Bcf below the 5-year average of 3,782 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 183 Bcf below the 5-year average following net withdrawals of 34 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 145 Bcf below the 5-year average of 1,247 Bcf after a net injection of 11 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 44 Bcf below the...

Iraq's plan for higher oil exports in 2015, emerging in detail just days after OPEC shunned any output cut, will add to global over supply and is likely to entrench the reluctance of other OPEC members to curb their own supplies. Iraq's government on Tuesday reached a temporary agreement with Kurdish regional authorities, preparing the ground for flows of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Kirkuk crude exports to resume, on top of 250,000 bpd from the region's own fields. The increase could cause unease for other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries unable to boost exports...

Global oil and gas exploration projects worth more than $150 billion are likely to be put on hold next year as plunging oil prices render them uneconomic, data shows, potentially curbing supplies by the end of the decade. As big oil fields that were discovered decades ago begin to deplete, oil companies are trying to access more complex and hard to reach fields located in some cases deep under sea level. But at the same time, the cost of production has risen sharply given the rising cost of raw materials and the need for expensive new technology to reach the...

The United States has enough shale gas to supply the surge of recently announced petrochemical expansions and, despite anemic prices, producers have no plans to stop pumping as long as demand exists, a Southwestern Energy executive said Thursday. Gas prices collapsed two years ago and while they have recovered somewhat, some drillers have turned their focus to more lucrative regions rich in oil and other liquids. But companies that specialize in natural gas production continue to produce more, spurred on by technological advances and cheaper drilling and completion costs that allow them to produce more with less. “Looking at the...

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last week made no change to its production target despite a 40 percent slide in oil prices over just five months, causing some commentators to pronounce the cartel irrelevant. If OPEC cannot act to defend the prices and revenues of its member countries, does the organisation still serve any purpose? There is an assumption among some commentators that OPEC is only relevant and working if ministers can reach a production agreement in response to shifts in prices, and that strong disagreement is a sign of dysfunction. But the record suggests that ambitious...

The Eagle Ford shale formation produced its billionth barrel some time last month, analysts at research firm Wood Mackenzie said Thursday. That production figure includes crude oil and condensate, and more than 70 percent of that production has occurred in the last two years, according to the firm. The milestone comes at a time when many in the industry have discussed plans to pull back on U.S. shale production, as plummeting crude oil prices is prompting a new period of financial restraint for some producers. Ratings agency Moody’s, for example, said last month it expects exploration and production companies to...

Click on the Podcast, 1 hour long: Michael Berry 12/03/14 6pm John Hofmeister The former president of Shell Oil Company and veteran of multiple industries for over 35 years, Mr. Hofmeister has held key leadership positions at General Electric, Nortel and AlliedSignal (now Honeywell International). He currently serves as Chairman of the National Urban League and is a member of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee. Upon retirement from Shell Oil, Mr. Hofmeister founded the not-for-profit Citizens for Affordable Energy, a nationwide membership association, which promotes sound U.S. energy security solutions. He also served...

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said in an interview with CNBC Wednesday that the oil and gas giant could remain “successful” even if oil prices continued to plummet. Tillerson said that because many of the company’s biggest projects take years to complete, Exxon Mobil tests its investment across a range of prices between $120 and $40 per barrel. “All of the investment decisions we take have been tested across a range of pricing that accommodates these types of price swings,” Tillerson said. “What you do is ensure that you can be successful at the bottom of the price swing.” Tillerson...

With the recent collapse of oil, Jim Cramer has turned to a real expert on the subject to get a better sense on where the oil patch is headed during this crucial time. That is why he has turned to oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, best known as an American business magnate and financier who chairs BP Capital Management. Cramer thinks this Oklahoma native understands the oil business better than anyone else and could shed light on the importance of OPEC and impact of Russia on the energy space. "They didn't say they wouldn't cut, but OPEC will have to...

After years of boom times, American oil producers are suddenly under the gun of an OPEC price war and may soon be looking for help from a friendly Republican Congress. The global oil cartel decided to test U.S. drillers’ mettle on Thanksgiving Day by leaving its production target unchanged in the face of slumping demand, in what news reports from Vienna called a bid by Saudi Arabia to undermine America’s shale boom. The decision deepened an oil price swoon that began in July, and signs of a slowdown in domestic drilling are already emerging — but so are omens that...

The world is awash in oil, I’m hearing. The problem is, it’s fairly expensive oil. Take for example Canada. The country that has managed to increase its production of oil by a million barrels a day over the last decade. But almost all of that increase has come from oil sands. If you consider only conventional crude oil, Canadian production today would be a third of a million barrels a day lower than at its peak in 1973. Even without counting environmental costs, that stuff’s not cheap. It was profitable when West Texas Intermediate was over $90. But last week...

On Monday, militants affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for killing an Apache employee during an attempted carjacking in Egypt in August. The employee’s death illustrated that oil and gas workers continue to operate in some of the most dangerous regions around the globe (in what is already known as a dangerous industry for its workers). While the regions in the Middle East where the Islamic State is most prevalent have become increasingly dangerous for workers, terrorist groups have also been targeting oil and gas industry employees in other countries. In Algeria in 2013, Al-Qaeda affiliated militants...

Oil and gas production has begun at the Jack/St. Malo project in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, companies involved in the project announced. Chevron Corp. and Statoil said the fields are located about 25 miles apart in 7,000 feet of water 280 south of New Orleans. Chevron said the fields, discovered a decade ago, eventually will reach daily production of 94,000 barrels of oil and 21 million cubic feet of natural gas. Chevron has a 50 percent working interest in the Jack field, with Statoil and Maersk splitting the remaning half. Chevron holds a 51 percent working interest in the...

Production cuts resulting from low oil prices could eliminate the growth in U.S. output over the next year and a half, according to an analysis by financial services firm Raymond James. The report concluded that barring any cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, U.S. expected annual production growth of 1.5 million barrels per day in 2014 would have to fall to near zero over the next year and a half to close the gap between supply and demand in the oil market. The analysis comes on the heels of OPEC’s decision last week not to prop up...

The oil patch gave up some new hints Monday about what drilling activity may look like as oil prices plummet. November’s batch of new Texas drilling permits fell 50 percent compared to the prior month, in a sign that oil companies are holding back from boring into their sweetest spots while crude prices linger below $70 a barrel. It’s the first time in the past year that the number of new Texas drilling permits has declined: It rose as much as 24 percent in September, according to Austin-based oil field analytics firm Drillinginfo. For now, it is not necessarily a...