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Shale Revolution: Trade Deficit Slides by Zacks Equity Research   Published on December 18, 2013 |In October, the trade deficit declined to $40.3 billion from the upwardly revised figure of $43 billion for the month of September. Particularly notable was the fact that exports of goods and services increased by 1.8% to a record monthly high of $192.7 billion. This was an 18% increase from September figures. On the other hand, imports increased only by 4.5%, to $233.3 billion. Increase in Global Demand The decline in the level of deficit indicates that the global economy has turned the corner. Shipments to...

That cheap gas is also saving Americans money on their energy bills. But how much? Ask the experts, and you get a fairly wide range of answers.

U.S. crude oil production will rise faster than expected to a near historic high by 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which sharply raised its annual output forecasts on Monday due to the breakneck speed of shale oil development.

The Shale Energy Revolution in North America is Changing the World December 15th, 2013 By MoneyMorning.com.auGood news keeps rolling in for America’s booming shale plays.This week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a report describing how the Marcellus Shale region is on track to supply 18% of total US natural gas production in December.Let’s take a look at two important charts – plus a few quick takeaways about how North America is changing the world…Production in the Marcellus shale is booming. Here’s the first chart.Click to enlarge  Basically, more and more ‘takeaway capacity’ has come online in the...

U.S. crude production rose above 8 million barrels a day in November for the first time in almost 25 years, cutting dependence on foreign oil and pushing the country toward energy independence. Output climbed 0.6 percent, or 45,000 barrels a day, to 8.019 million barrels a day, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Nov. 27. That’s the most since January 1989. “It’s a tremendous shift,” said Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group, an energy consulting firm in Villanova, Pa. “Production will continue to grow in North America, and North America will continue to become less and less dependent on...

In 2012, it was the oil tanker-truck trade. This year, the oil-by-rail boom inundated the U.S. East and Gulf coasts. In 2014, the shale revolution hits the water, says U.S. commodity merchant Freepoint Commodities. A dramatic slump in U.S. cash crude prices in recent weeks has vividly shown that the unrelenting rise in shale oil production from North Dakota and Texas is rapidly nearing the point of saturation for Gulf Coast refiners, likely forcing more and more cargoes up the East Coast on tankers. The swell of crude emerging from the Bakken in North Dakota, plus the Eagle Ford and...

 SEPTEMBER 2013 Vol. 234 No.9 ShaleTech NIOBRARA INDEPENDENTS UNRAVEL PLAY, HIKE LIQUIDS PRODUCTION JIM REDDEN, Contributing Editor A rig drills for oil in Colorado’s liquids-rich basins against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountain range. Source: Colorado Geological Survey. While the byzantine Niobrara shale that underlies a substantial portion of the U.S. Rockies, and beyond, is not for the technologically skittish, recent production data suggest that the resolute independents, who dominate the liquids-rich play, are steadily getting a handle on its unrivaled geological complexities.Even though the multi-horizon Niobrara may have a long way to go, to reach its earlier billing as...

Our economy is straining at the bit to grow out of the Great Recession. You wouldn’t know that from the dreary news on both the jobs and GDP growth front. The good news is found in the incredible potential for high-paying jobs, growth and wealth creation bubbling up in America’s manufacturing sector. Manufacturing is hot, even though we’re supposed to be in a post-industrial economy. The transformation in American manufacturing today is redolent of a century ago when innovation and growth in the industrial landscape was blossoming in both big companies and start-ups. On today’s start-up front we have emerging...

ORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It’s a Monday afternoon at the edge of Texas, but this might as well be the center of the oil field. Although the Port of Corpus Christi moves everything from enormous wind turbine blades to military equipment, the Eagle Ford to its north and the field’s various and sundry products — from steel pipe to sand — seem to touch everything here these days. The drilling boom has launched billions of dollars in port construction projects, as well as a round-the-clock frenzy to move products in and out of the oil patch, and to coastal terminals...

Two recent well-respected and long-running oil industry publications have proclaimed that booming production in North America, particularly in the U.S. shale fields, will hit a plateau as early as 2016 and that production declines will follow soon thereafter. Last week the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) set the decline date sometime before 2020 and this week the International Energy Agency (IEA) set the 2016 plateau date. The boom in U.S. production is set to displace Russia as the top oil-producing country by next year. Had you said this to anyone five years ago, you might have been laughed out...

BROOKFIELD - A Texas-based manufacturing company tied to the oil and gas industry plans to hire about 150 workers and open a new plant in Brookfield by early next year. Legacy Measurement Solutions Inc. of Addison, Texas, formerly known as J-W Measurement Co., on Friday announced plans to be operational by early next year in a 73,000-square-foot facility owned by Nick Strimbu trucking company near the intersection of state Routes 82 and 7. The company has laid out a three-year operations plan, leasing the space initially with options to buy. Gary Crisp, the company's vice president of operations for northeast,...

Could This Oil Field Be the Next Bakken? Business is rockin' in the Bakken. Within the next year output is expected to surpass one million barrels per day, up from almost nothing ten years ago. Such growth has been a boon for investors as evident in the share price performance of companies like Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CLR), Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG), and Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS). But the hunt is now on for the next great American shale play. And one formation in particular just might have the potential to rival the Bakken: the Colorado Niobrara.A spotty track record Readers...

1 Real Threat That Could Kill America's Oil Boom By Tyler Crowe | More Articles October 27, 2013 | Comments (3) The one thing you see in the energy section of any news publication is the price of oil. Most of the time, it will give some doom-and-gloom reason that has little to do with the price of oil, or it will be some analysts making claims that oil will be double what it is today, or that it will drop 20%-30%. The most fascinating part of these prognostications is that they rarely give any real reason. A great example...

The Niobrara Shale Play – the Next Bakken? [ 0 ] February 1, 2013 The Niobrara shale formation extends across northeastern Colorado, northwestern Kansas, southwestern Nebraska and southeastern Wyoming.  The play ranges in thickness from 275-400 feet deep, with three primary carbonate-rich benches that average 10-25 feet thick with 5-10% porosity. Within the Niobrara, oil and natural gas are found at 3,000-14,000 feet beneath the earth’s surface.  O&G producers tap these resources through both vertical and horizontal wells typically drilled at 7,000-8,000 feet with variable geopressures. To date, most of the Niobrara’s O&G development focuses on the Denver-Julesburg Basin (“DJ...

SmallerLarger Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services Expand Photo A cloud formation fills the sky as an oil pump is silhouetted in front of it near the town of Hereford on the northeastern plains of Weld County. Drilling operations throughout northern Colorado are suspected to only have tapped into a fraction of the oil and natural gas in the region. Tribune file photo | A cloud formation fills the sky as an oil pump is silhouetted in front of it near the town of Hereford on the northeastern plains of Weld County. Drilling operations throughout northern Colorado...

After a decade or more of shale development in the US, the country remains "in the early innings" of that growth with tens of billions more dollars expected for infrastructure and development, according to an analysis by investment bank Credit Suisse unveiled Tuesday. Overall, strong drilling activity and continued technological progress should lead to "significant oil production growth still to come in the key regions such as the Permian [Basin] ... as well as the Eagle Ford, Bakken and Niobrara (Wattenberg)" shales, the report, "The Shale Revolution II," said, referring to the West Texas, South Texas, North Dakota/Montana and Colorado...

For decades, OPEC nations have, for the most part, enjoyed a good living. As long as oil prices remain high, they can recover billions of barrels of oil at relatively low cost and sell it to the rest of the oil-thirsty world. But the North American shale oil boom is shaking things up for the cartel. In fact, the surge in U.S. and Canadian oil production resulting from the application of new drilling technologies threatens to reduce OPEC's share of the global oil market this year to its lowest level in more than a decade. Does that imply gloom and...

SWEETWATER — U.S. oil production for the week ending Aug. 30 averaged 7.62 million barrels per day, which is the highest weekly output of crude oil in the nation since Oct. 1989. That increase is almost exclusively because of increases in domestic shale oil production in states such as Texas. The vast majority in a packed room at the Nolan County Coliseum nodded their heads in a gesture of pride to that news, delivered directly by Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick. She spoke about the robust energy industry in the state during the Shale Show in Sweetwater this past week....

Shale Show 2013 will take place Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 1-2 at the Nolan County Coliseum in Sweetwater’s Newman Park. Shale Show is an energy technology showcase, business networking, and information sharing event that will be held in every odd-numbered year in Sweetwater, in the heart of the Cline Shale and America's Energy Solutions Region. Shale Show is open free to the oil and gas industry, regional leaders and businesses, and to the general public. A very limited number of indoor and outdoor display spaces are still available for a fee. Shale Show is a nationwide event. With more than 150 exhibitors...

In Texas these days, there’s a feeling of absolute and unwavering confidence in the concept of an US energy revolution. From the depths of reserves to the richness of the energy, an incredible transformation is taking place. We’ve been talking about the significant impact of the US’s oil production for a while now, but the buzz about shale oil and gas is only getting louder. At Morgan Stanley’s energy forum in Houston in August, Director of Research John Derrick and Portfolio Manager Evan Smith said shale was the prevailing topic. One area that’s driving this game-changing trend is located only...