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The world's two biggest oil firms, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell, may withstand the oil price collapse better than their rivals because they are closer to finishing expensive investment projects while others must keep spending. The near halving of oil prices since June is likely to send all the biggest listed oil companies into negative cash flow this year, and has sparked a rush to cut costs across the sector as a result. But depending on where they are in their spending cycles, some companies are finding those cuts easier to make than others. "Both (Exxon and Shell)...

The ongoing United Steelworkers strike hasn’t impacted the market for refined products much yet, but it could if the strike continues for much longer, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings. The credit ratings agency says the strike could have an especially pronounced effect on the U.S. gasoline market. So far, the implications of the strike — now in its second month and affecting 15 refineries and chemical plants — has been relatively limited, Fitch experts said. But that could be changing. The first quarter of the year typically has lower demand for refined products, Fitch said; meanwhile, adequate...

Chevron Corp. said Tuesday it would sell off more assets and cut back on capital spending, as the integrated oil and gas giant looks to protect its finances from lower crude prices. Chevron said it would put about $15 billion of assets up for sale through 2017 — up from a previous $10 billion target — and cut capital spending incrementally to roughly $30 billion in 2017. In January, Chevron had said it would trim capital spending to $35 billion in 2015, down about $5 billion from its 2014 budget. Despite the cuts, the San Ramon, California-based company said it...

The U.S. shale boom may finally be slowing down, according to projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Oil production from the six largest shale plays in the U.S. will hit 5.6 million barrels per day in April, an increase of less than 300 barrels per day over March, the EIA said in its monthly drilling productivity report on Monday. The increase would be the smallest since February 2011. If the EIA’s projection holds, April’s production would be a drastic decrease from a record-breaking surge in 2014; in 10 of the last 16 months, U.S. oil production gained at least...

Natural gas still hasn't really caught on as a fuel for private passenger vehicles, but it's slowly finding more success in commercial applications. The selection of natural-gas commercial vehicles is much larger, and using the fuel in fleets makes more sense from an environmental-impact standpoint than it does for individual cars. One company catering to this market is Mack Trucks, which announced that the natural-gas versions of its Pinnacle series trucks will get a handful of updates this year. These include a new Eaton UltraShift Plus automated transmission and Wingman Advanced safety system. The latter is essentially an adaptive cruise...

After several weeks of stability, the crude-oil market may once again be on the move. Prices fell Tuesday morning in London as some market participants worried about the start of another downward shift. “Most of the supportive factors for Brent are starting to fade,” said analysts at Energy Aspects. After the steep selloff between June and January, the oil market had recovered in February, and appeared to reach some sort of a plateau toward the end of the month. In part, that was because of a rush to buy up oil stocks to be able to sell them at higher...

The European Union has imposed sanctions on a Syrian businessman who it says has bought oil for Syria from ISIS that the government in Damascus has declared to be its enemy.

As expected, President Barack Obama vetoed legislation from Congress that would have approved the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, rejecting the creation of thousands of jobs in the process. However, it did not end the six-year saga for building the 1,179-mile pipeline that would deliver 830,000 barrels of oil per day of Canadian and American crude oil to U.S. refineries. The fight will go on, even though Congress was unable to override the president’s veto. Fortunately, President Obama never closed the door. As noted in his message to the Senate, there remains an ongoing National Interest Determination (NID) process...

...Mr. Hoban expects between 100 and 150 of the leased vehicles to be returned to his Capitol City Nissan dealership on a monthly basis over the next two years as their leases expire. The problem: used Leafs aren’t attracting much demand. With gas prices down 33% from a year ago, and buyers cooling toward electric vehicles, some auto makers are offering deep discounts or attractive leases on battery-powered vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Nissan, for instance, slashed the price of a new Leaf by $6,400 in 2013 and is now offering a $199-a-month lease, or $3,500 cash back and 0% financing...

A Canadian National Railway Co train carrying crude oil that derailed near the northern Ontario community of Gogama early on Saturday is still on fire, the company said late on Sunday. The derailment is CN's second in the region in just three days and the third in less than a month. It was the latest in a series of North American derailments involving trains hauling crude oil, raising concerns about rail safety. "Fire suppression activities are beginning, as is construction of the track diversion," CN spokesman Mark Hallman said in an email, adding that responders were working in shifts around...

The licensees in the Johan Castberg and Snorre 2040 licences have decided to spend more time on the projects. “Castberg and Snorre 2040 are two major and important projects in our portfolio, and it is important that we find sound and robust development solutions for them,” says Ivar Aasheim, Statoil’s senior vice president for field development on the NCS. Statoil and its partners have put in an extensive effort to develop cost-effective solutions for the projects. “We see that our efforts have yielded results, and we are focused on reaping the full benefits of this in a way that ensures...

A CN Rail train carrying crude oil derailed early Saturday in northern Ontario, causing numerous tank cars to catch fire and spill into a local river system, officials said. It was the third CN oil train derailment in northern Ontario in less than a month, and the second in the same area, renewing concerns about the safety of shipping crude oil by train and further suggesting that new safety requirements for tank cars carrying flammable liquids are inadequate. CN said the cars had been retrofitted with protective shields to meet a higher safety standard known as the 1232. The new...

The plunge in gasoline prices has generated a windfall for American drivers. But so far, there's little evidence those savings are producing a widely anticipated boost in consumer spending. So where is all that money going?... Even though prices didn't fall until late last year, Americans saved some $14 billion on gasoline last year, or an average $115 per driver, according to estimates from AAA. The group figures if pump prices stay tame, those savings could amount to as much as $75 billion this year. That kind of saving—if consumers spend it elsewhere—could provide a powerful boost to the U.S....

About 9,300 oil and gas workers lost their jobs in February, as low crude prices spurred energy companies to lay down rigs and lay off employees. The 1 percent decline in oil and gas payrolls adds to the 1,900 jobs that were already shed in January and may just be the beginning of things to come. Producers have been able to blunt some of the pain from the plummet in crude prices — down from a high of $107.26 last June — by stashing oil in storage tanks around the country. But available storage space is filling up, and analysts...

...Deep_Borehole_Disposal and is pretty easy for some nuclear waste. Especially some highly radioactive materials that have sat in some fairly small capsules for almost 40 years. ...topic of discussion in Washington this week when Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz answered questions from Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) at a House Science, Space and Technology committee hearing. The answer from Moniz was positive. He discussed a pilot project that would demonstrate the idea of deep borehole disposal using these capsules. Deep borehole disposal is simple. Drill a very deep hole – 3 miles or so – put the waste in it and...

Islamic State militants have set fire to oil wells in the Ajil field east of the city of Tikrit to try to hinder aerial attacks aimed at driving them from the oilfield, a witness and military source said. Black smoke could be seen rising from oil field since Wednesday afternoon, said the witness, who accompanied Iraqi militia and soldiers as they advanced on Tikrit from the east. Before the Islamic State took over the field in June it produced 25,000 barrels per day of crude that were shipped to the Kirkuk refinery, as well as 150 million cubic feet of...

Despite falling oil prices, production cutbacks and persistent safety concerns, rail officials plan to continue shipping millions of gallons of volatile crude oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota through Texas, according to updated records provided by state officials on Wednesday. Average weekly volumes reflect little change from a first batch of disclosures released last week. Those disclosures, dated last summer, provided a limited view of forecasted shipments. Volumes in Harris County remain the highest, an average topping out at six million gallons a week. Federal emergency orders — approved last spring after a series of fiery derailments involving...

The National Right to Work Foundation announced Wednesday that three employees at LyondellBasell filed unfair labor practice charges against the United Steelworkers Union. The charges allege that union officials from Steelworkers Local 13-227 are harassing workers who are going back to work. The charges were filed Monday with the National Labor Relations Board, according to the foundation that is providing free legal help. The foundation accused an unnamed local union official of making threats toward workers who continue to work during the strike. The group also alleges that union officials have allowed a union Facebook page to threaten union-represented employees...

At Delta Airlines' Philadelphia refinery, the local chapter of the United Steelworkers Union (USW) and Monroe Energy (a Delta subsidiary) have called in a federal mediator to resuscitate talks between the two parties in the hopes of averting the spread of the largest US oil worker strike in 35 years to the US east coast. National negotiations between Shell (on behalf of the oil companies) and the USW are set to resume Wednesday. In April 2012, Delta acquired the Trainer refinery (located near Philadelphia in Delaware County, PA) from Phillips 66 through subsidiary Monroe Energy for $180 million . The...

Shell Canada Ltd. has withdrawn its regulatory application for the proposed Pierre River heavy oil mine north of Fort McMurray. The Pierre River Mine (PRM) application outlined a proposal for 200,000 b/d. The project “remains a very long-term opportunity for us, but it’s not currently a priority,” said Lorraine Mitchelmore, Shell Canada president and executive vice-president, heavy oil. “We will continue to hold the leases and can reapply in the future when the time is right,” she said. PRM had been joined with an application for a 100,000-b/d expansion of the Jackpine Mine, but Shell separated the applications in 2009....