Free Republic

If crude prices don't bounce back by the end of the decade, an era of cheap oil could consolidate more oil-market power into the hands of a few low-cost producers in the Middle East - raising concerns about energy security for oil-importing nations, the International Energy Agency says. The IEA's closely watched World Energy Outlook, an annual report being released Tuesday, said the world's reliance on Middle Eastern oil exports could "eventually escalate to a level last seen in the 1970s," most profoundly in developing Asian countries like India and China, if oil prices stay low well beyond 2020 and...

New federal data shows that the Energy Department expects drillers in the Permian Basin to push oil production in the shale play above 2 million barrels per day for the first time ever this November. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s monthly Drilling Productivity Report released Monday, which covers seven of the biggest shale plays in the country, projects production in the Permian to jump by 17,000 bpd this month. That increase would bring the play above the 2 million bpd mark. In December, the EIA expects the play to grow again by 11,000 bpd. But the Permian is one of...

They've shooed pipeline surveyors from their pastures, made anti-pipeline signs for a protest at the county courthouse and at appearances by the Virginia governor. They've also kept up pressure on local officials. As the leader in this multigenerational band of family activists, Carolyn Reilly has found the experience exhilarating and bruising. "There are days when I am in tears in frustration and exhaustion," she said. "Then there are days when I'm fired up and ready to fight." From New England to North Carolina, scattered insurgencies have formed in opposition to a spider web of pipelines up and down the Eastern...

United Arab Emirates, one of the wealthiest Gulf states, is pushing ahead with large new energy projects, betting an oil price recovery will start as early as next year as demand begins to absorb the global glut. "These are times of some hesitancy, times of pain for some ... But pain is not new ... We will pass it stronger," energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told the UAE's biggest annual oil show in Abu Dhabi. "That (oil price drop) didn't change the vision of the UAE ... We are not cancelling projects," he added. Oil prices crashed after Saudi Arabia...

he U.S. has tied and is set to surpass a record for the amount of natural gas in storage, according to the latest Energy Department data. Inventory figures released Thursday show 3.929 trillion cubic feet in storage across the country, tying the previous weekly record of 3.929 trillion cubic feet set on Nov. 2, 2012. And with two or three weeks of additional inventory gains expected this year, it’s likely the U.S. will have a new high mark by the time the summer and fall injection season ends. The large amount of gas in storage, continued strong gas production and...

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, speaking for companies which account for 90 percent of Canada's oil and natural gas production, has painted what is the bleakest picture of the industry's health in recent and possibly living memory. So bleak, that CAPP has gone for broke, submitting 60 recommendations to the Alberta government's royalty review panel, asking for a three-year delay in implementing any changes to royalty rates and pleading for lower royalties to offset the new administration's imposition of higher income taxes and carbon levies. That's the battered taking its begging bowl to the bruised. Both sides are reeling,...

The United States’ energy renaissance is catching attention in Beijing, where Chinese leaders view the phenomenon as “a double-edged sword,” according to a white paper from the free-market group American Council for Capital Formation. “China trusted the United States more when U.S. oil import dependency was higher and Washington actively sought increases in global oil production, a mutually shared objective,” writes George David Banks, executive vice president of the group. “In Beijing’s view, the U.S. shale revolution has increased U.S. immunity to a reduction in global supply resulting from military conflict, political instability, or international sanctions, thereby making Washington a...

Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot! Guy Fawkes and his companions Did the scheme contrive, To blow the King and Parliament All up alive. Threescore barrels, laid below, To prove old England's overthrow. But, by God's providence, him they catch, With a dark lantern, lighting a match! A stick and a stake For King James's sake! If you won't give me one, I'll take two, The better for me, And the worse for you. A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,...

pache Corp. posted a $5.66 billion loss on Thursday, taking charges for asset write-offs and other items as it was hit by both low crude prices and sliding oil production. Apache's oil and gas output fell 7 percent, with only its assets in West Texas, Egypt and the North Sea showing slight increases. Yet despite the downturn, the Houston oil producer believes it can boost its oil production this year, by 2 percent in North America and up to 12 percent in international markets, even as it whittles down costs. The company kept its guidance on its 2015 capital budget...

The state of Alaska will now own more of the big Alaska LNG Project. It will have to shell out more money for it, too. Alaska's Permanent Fund may have to be put up as collateral, also. Legislators have been meeting in special session in Juneau since Oct. 24 to review Gov. Bill Walker's proposal for the state to buy out TransCanada's share of the planned $45 billion to $65 billion pipeline and liquefied gas project. On Nov. 3 and 4, the state Senate (16-3) and House (39-0) gave their approvals. The acquisition is to be effective Dec. 1, under...

A four-day strike at Petrobras gathered steam on Wednesday, cutting crude and natural gas output from the No. 2 South American oil producer and threatening to become the most disruptive walkout at the state-run oil company in 20 years. On Wednesday, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, said in a securities filing late Wednesday that oil output in Brazil was about 140,000 barrels a day, or 6.5 percent below pre-strike levels of about 2.1 million barrels a day. Using contingency plans management restored production that was cut by as much as 273,000 barrels a day, or 13 percent...

Turmoil at Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA deepened late Tuesday, as the company said a strike by Brazil's biggest oil workers union stopped a significant amount of oil and gas production, and that the company’s alternate board chairman was stepping down just two months after his appointment. Petrobras said that the strike affected 13% of the company's daily oil production and 14% of the company's daily natural gas production on Monday. The strike affected 273,000 barrels of oil production and 7.3 million cubic meters of natural gas production, the company said. The Oil Workers Federation, or FUP, began...

JOE SCARBOROUGH: So let's talk about -- there was a New York Times article, I'm sure you saw it, a couple of weeks back, saying something like 150 families have contributed overwhelmingly... CHARLES KOCH: Yeah. SCARBOROUGH: ...to the candidates that are in the race right now, the overwhelming amount of money. That's not a way to run a democracy, is it? Like 150 families are basically funding most presidential campaigns? CHARLES KOCH: Well, you see to me it depends on to what end. If it's to get policies that will create, open up opportunities for people and get rid of...

Volkswagen admitted in September that it used defeat devices aimed at fooling emissions tests in 11 million of its diesel vehicles -- but now its gasoline models are implicated in the scandal as well. On Tuesday, Volkswagen reported that it understated the level of carbon dioxide emissions of about 800,000 vehicles, including gasoline-powered models. This is the first confirmation that some of Volkswagen's gasoline-run vehicles do in fact exceed carbon dioxide emissions. The company didn't provide details in today's revelation, but it said the conclusion comes after conducting internal emissions tests. Volkswagen reported its findings after the markets in Europe...

As an investor in start-up companies, I am always working to test my assumptions and update my understanding of where the energy sector is now, and the direction it is moving in towards the future. Some key questions for this dynamic year: Is the current oil crisis the marking of a step change towards a cleaner energy industry or merely history repeating itself? While today's oil price at $45-50 per barrel is probably too low to be considered the new normal, what should we expect moving forward? One thing is for sure: change is coming. Although demand for oil and...

A bid by oil export advocates to tether the trade issue to a federal highway bill has hit a dead end. Oil producers and their allies in Congress had hoped to use the highway bill as a vehicle for unrelated provisions lifting the 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude exports. But the House Rules Committee opted not to make any oil export amendments in order during the chamber’s upcoming debate on that highway measure this week. Dozens of amendments were blessed by the committee, which will allow them to be considered for possible inclusion in the highway bill, but neither of...

The Syrian civil war began in early 2011 as part of the Arab Spring protests, which originated in Tunisia in December 2010 and quickly spread to neighbouring countries such as Egypt, Libya and Yemen. In July 2014, Syria's oil minister stated that the country's oil sector had lost around $23.5 billion due to damage to facilities and pipelines, looting and production delays since the start of the country's crisis. As of July of last year, Islamist militants and other rebel groups were in control over most of Syria's oil producing regions and were showing no signs of slowing down the...

As U.S. propane production has increased and domestic demand has remained relatively flat, the United States has transitioned from being a net propane importer to a net exporter. Facilitated by rapid expansion in the capacity to export domestic supply, propane exports from the United States are changing traditional propane trade patterns across the globe. The initial growth in U.S. propane production, between 2008 and 2010, led to a reduction in dependence on propane imports, with net imports falling from an average of 109,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2008 to a near-balance of 16,000 b/d in net exports in 2010....

Only 1% of the Bakken Play area is commercial at current oil prices based on my analysis that follows. Only 4% of horizontal wells drilled since 2000 meet the EUR (estimated ultimate recovery) threshold needed to break even at current oil prices, drilling and completion, and operating costs. The leading producing companies evaluated in this study are losing $11 to $38 on each barrel of oil that they produce, the very definition of waste. Although NYMEX prices are about $46 per barrel, realized wellhead prices in the Bakken are only $30 per barrel according to the North Dakota Department of...

The debate over US crude oil exports provides a long-overdue chance to throw off the shackles of political gridlock. The Republican-dominated House voted last month to lift the 40-year-old ban on oil exports. President Obama vowed to veto the bill if it reaches him. However, the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats are showing signs of disillusionment with the increasingly indefensible ban, which rewards US refiners at the expense of oil producers and the motoring public. Still, a favor to the oil industry won't be possible without a concession, probably one that recognizes the environmental harm from enabling more US oil...