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The American Petroleum Institute (API) released its monthly statistical report on Thursday, revealing the highest-ever production of U.S. crude oil and natural gas liquids in June. During that month, production of crude oil hit 10.7 million barrels per day (mb/d), and production of natural gas liquids hit 4.2 million barrels per day, . “Record production of U.S. crude oil and natural gas liquids last month highlighted the strength of our nation’s energy renaissance,” Dean Foreman, API chief economist, said in the announcement of the report. “U.S. oil production has supplied all of the growth in global oil demand so far...

Recordings and summaries of emergency calls show Washington wildlife officials at first objected to an air rescue of a woman treed by wolves, or help from the Okanogan County sheriff. Washington wildlife managers initially opposed sending a helicopter or a search-and-rescue team to save a woman treed by wolves in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, according to recordings and summaries of emergency calls. ... Notes from a call between DNR dispatcher Jill Jones and a wildlife officer summarized WDFW’s position, and her position, shortly before the helicopter launched. “No helicopter. Federally listed species. 3 WDFW personnel saying so,” according to DNR’s...

North Dakota has filed a claim against the federal government for $38 million the state spent dealing with the months-long Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests. The state claims the often violent protests were the result of negligence by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps failed to enforce the law and keep protesters from setting up illegal campsites on federal land, the state argues.

Plunging drilling costs have sparked an explosion of production out of the Permian Basin of West Texas. In fact, Texas is pumping so much oil that it will surpass OPEC members Iran and Iraq next year, HSBC predicted in a recent report. If it were a country, Texas would be the world’s No. 3 oil producer, behind only Russia and Saudi Arabia, the investment bank said. “It’s remarkable. The Permian is nothing less than a blessing for the global economy,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, a consulting firm… “The industry cracked the code on fracking,” said McNally....

Posting Bloomberg stuff is verboten on FR, so here is a link to the article

During the July 2018 NATO summit, elements of the USA newsmedia focused on President Trump’s accurate attacks on Western Europe’s contradictory actions and positions in the arenas of defense and commerce. What the USA newsmedia covered much less was how welcome those points were to NATO members from Eastern Europe, whose memories of Russian aggression are much more recent, perhaps, than those of Western Europe, making them as wary of these issues as Mr. Trump is. Delegates from Poland, Lithuania, and Romania, for example, appeared just as happy about Mr. Trump’s comments as delegates from England, France and especially Germany...

A top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iran would immediately withdraw its “military advisers” from Syria and Iraq only if their governments wanted it to. “Iran and Russia’s presence in Syria will continue to protect the country against terrorist groups and America’s aggression,” said the adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, in a conference in Moscow, according to Reuters. “We will immediately leave if Iraqi and Syrian governments want it, not because of Israel and America’s pressure,” he stressed. Iran and Russia back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s civil war. Iran has been...

Russia is planning to expand its Syrian bases at Tartus and Hemeimeem to Libya. The possible Russian move into Libya represents the most recent failure stemming from the policies of President Obama that backed Islamist rebels who overthrew and killed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Mr. Obama has said that the failure to prepare for the aftermath of the ouster of Gadhafi was the worst mistake of his presidency. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also came under fire for failing to provide security for Americans who were attacked and killed in Benghazi after Gadhafi’s fall. The push for a...

The U.S. government sees oil production further climbing next year even amid transportation logjams in the country’s most prolific shale play. The Energy Information Administration sees U.S. crude output averaging 11.8 million barrels a day in 2019, up from its 11.76 million barrel a day estimate in the June outlook. “In 2019, EIA forecasts that the United States will average nearly 12 million barrels of crude oil production per day,” said Linda Capuano, Administrator of the EIA. “If the forecast holds, that would make the U.S. the world’s leading producer of crude.” U.S. crude output has remained above the 10-million-barrel...

The Saudisation policy of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has coincided with an "expat exodus" and a drop in foreign investment. Saudi businesses are complaining that locals don't want to do "low-status" jobs that many expats worked — creating a real problem for the economy. In November, a paper by the Institute of International Finance projected capital outflows in 2017 at $101 billion, 15% of gross domestic product. A recent rebound in oil prices has temporarily rescued the ailing Saudi economy, but it will not be a long-term solution. As of April, more than 800,000 had left the...

These remarks are remarkably straightforward. Again the Emporor's lack of clothes is revealed against all custom and the prevailing fictions of the World Order. Very uplifting, we have a lion fighting for America, at home & abroad. PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good morning, everybody. Good morning to the media — the legitimate media and the fake-news media. Good morning to them. A lot of good people here. Surprising. Q Mr. President, which countries did you want to spend more on NATO in particular? PRESIDENT TRUMP: Just look at the chart. Take a look at the chart. It’s public. And many countries are...

President Donald Trump exposed in a spectacular way, in front of millions of home viewers, how the Europeans milk money from the United States for “protection against Russia,” while they give millions of dollars for getting supplied with oil and gas from the same, supposedly “enemy,” country. Trump is not the first U.S. president who brings this up to the European allies. But he will be the first U.S. president who will definitely do something to fix this decade-long anomaly. Thomas Lifson adds: Trump's critics that contend he is in Putin's pocket have some explaining to do how this fits...

"We're protecting Germany from Russia and Germany is giving Russia billions." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LSFrs1tP_g

•Texas claims the top spot in CNBC's 2018 America’s Top States for Business rankings. •The energy sector is helping to turbocharge the $1.6 trillion Texas economy. •Texas has added more than 350,000 jobs in the past year. •Texas is home to some of America's most important public and private companies, including giants like AT&T, ExxonMobil and Dell. Riding the rising tide of energy prices—and the job growth that goes with it—Texas claims the top spot in CNBC’s 2018 America’s Top States for Business rankings. This is familiar territory for the Lone Star State, which becomes the first four-time winner in...

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 11, 2018--Titan Production Equipment has officially opened for business, completing its acquisition of Exterran Corporation’s North American production equipment business. The new company plans to scale up quickly, aiming to become the market leader in the design, engineering and manufacture of oil and gas production equipment used to separate, process and treat hydrocarbon streams – including glycol regeneration dehydrators, as well as two- and three-phase separators. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180711005433/en/ Designed for high-volume, complex manufacturing, Titan Production Company's Columbus, Texas facility is one of the largest of its kind in the...

“Germany is totally controlled by Russia … They will be getting between 60 and 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline, and you tell me if that is appropriate because I think its not,” Trump said. The U.S. president was speaking at a press conference in front of NATO representatives ahead of a two-day summit. The Trump administration’s policies indicate it views security and trade as intimately linked. And when it comes to the trade balance, no ally will be spared. Speaking in Brussels, Belgium on the first leg of his European trip, the U.S. president...

Crude oil prices could jump as high as US$250 a barrel if Iran goes through with its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to U.S. pressure on oil buyers to cut their Iranian purchases to zero, RT reports, quoting analysts. The most bullish among these analysts was Artem Avinov from online broker TeleTrade, who saw prices skyrocketing to US$250 a barrel if the Strait of Hormuz is blocked, disrupting about 17 million bpd in seaborne oil trade. Avinov, however, added that this course of events is very unlikely, suggesting Iran would instead opt for “a quick economic...

They may gloat all they like, those “progressives.” But this is, at best, a Pyrrhic victory for them. Pruitt is gone. His replacement, Andrew Wheeler, though, is their worst nightmare. He’s an ex-coal-industry lobbyist. He led the team – with Steve Milloy – that killed Cap and Trade in 2009/10. He gets – far more than Scott Pruitt ever did – that environmentalism has nothing to do with saving the planet and everything to do with killing capitalism. Pruitt may be gone. But the same president remains in the White House. And his agenda remains unchanged. The United States is...

The U.S. Navy stands ready to ensure free navigation and the flow of commerce, the U.S. military’s Central Command said on Thursday, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned they would block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and some senior military commanders have threatened in recent days to disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf countries if Washington tries to cut Tehran’s exports.

As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Donald Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela threatening regional security, why can't the U.S. just simply invade the troubled country? [Oh, my. The MSM never stops trying, do they?]