Shale Vulnerable to Short-Term Investment Cuts Versus Deepwater

U.S. shale projects may be vulnerable to short-term investment cuts in relation to deepwater projects, according to a Dec. 9 report by petroleum investment advisor Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA). Oil and gas companies are facing reduced cash flow in 2015 due to the recent decline in oil prices to a five-year low. That dip […]

Russia’s Energy Outlook Gloomy Amid Falling Oil Prices

While most oil-dependent economies are likely to suffer under the low and volatile oil prices predicted for next year, analysts paint a particularly dark picture for Russia, which is under the additional pressure of a faltering economy and Western sanctions over Ukraine. At the end of last week oil traded at below $59 per barrel, hitting a new five year minimum. Oil prices continue to plummet from their peak in mid-2014 […]

Bakken and North Dakota Production Report

The North Dakota Industrial Commission just published their Bakken Monthly Oil Production Statistics and also their ND Monthly Oil Production Statistics. Bakken production was down 1,598 barrels per day to 1,118,010 bpd. All North Dakota production was down 4,054 bpd to 1,182,174 bpd. From the Director’s Cut, bold mine: The drilling rig count dropped 2 […]

Rail shipments of oil here to stay

More than 10 percent of the oil transported in North American will be carried on the region’s rail system at its peak, analysis from IHS Energy finds. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries finds the world needing less of its crude oil in part because of the glut in the North American market brought on […]

Exxon Calls Peak Conventional Oil

A couple of years back, I attended a presentation by Tom Eizember, Exxon’s head of strategic planning.   During the presentation, Eizember asked how many in the audience believed in peak oil, and I raised my hand.  I believe I was the only one.  Exxon does not subscribe to peak oil And yet.  Exxon has issued its […]

Crude by rail to peak?

A new report from IHS has said that the amount of crude oil transported by rail in North America could peak between 2015 and 2016 at approximately 1.5 million bpd, though rail is expected to remain a key component of North American oil production over the long term. The new report titled ‘Crude by Rail: […]

The Relentless Production of Shale Oil Is Breaking OPEC’s Neck

The world’s biggest oil companies faced ruin in the summer of 1931. Crude prices had plummeted. Wildcatters were selling oil from the bonanza East Texas field for a nickel a barrel, cheaper than a bowl of chili. On Aug. 17, Governor Ross Sterling declared a state of insurrection in four counties and sent 1,100 National […]

Canada Heavy Oil Nearing $40 Threatens Oil Sands Projects

Canadian heavy crude fell to near $40 a barrel, threatening projects under construction as producers boosted output and space on a pipeline was rationed. Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO) is increasing output at its Kearl oil sands project to 110,000 barrels a day after a shutdown last month, Pius Rolheiser, a Calgary-based spokesman, said by phone […]

Has US oil production peaked? An EIA report argues both sides

Want to dazzle party guests this holiday season with a data-backed argument that the US oil boom may have peaked? Well, the US Energy Information Administration has a report you should probably read. Want to shut up that obnoxious blowhard who keeps using EIA data to support his argument that the glory days of US oil […]

Saudi Oil Minister Naimi: Why Should We Cut Production?

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi on Wednesday shrugged off suggestions that the world’s biggest crude exporter might cut production to reverse the deepest price slump in years, saying the kingdom’s output had remained steady through last month. Naimi’s comments on the sidelines of an annual U.N. climate change conference in Lima, Peru, stuck to the […]

US Government Cuts 2015 Domestic Oil Production Forecast

The U.S. government on Tuesday cut its forecast for domestic oil production growth in 2015 by about 100,000 barrels per day and trimmed its forecast for global oil demand growth next year by 240,000 bpd. The U.S. Energy Information Administration now expects U.S. production next year to rise by 720,000 bpd to around 9.3 million […]

OPEC oil production: still swinging on Libya

Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) totaled 30.01 million barrels per day (b/d) in November, down 290,000 b/d from October, and down for a second consecutive month as Libyan production went into reverse after several months of steady gains, according to the latest Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry […]

Exxon forecasts abundance of oil, gas

North America, once a sponge that sucked in a significant portion of the world’s oil, will instead be supplying the world with oil and other liquid hydrocarbons by the end of this decade, according to ExxonMobil‘s annual long-term energy forecast. And the “almost unspeakable” amount of natural gas found in recent years in the U.S. and […]

Norway’s Oil Decline Accelerating

New oil projects are being scrapped in Norway amid falling production and low oil prices.  Long held up as the model for managing oil abundance, Norway has painstakingly sought to prevent the problems that occur with other natural resource-based economies, such as corruption, slow economic growth, currency appreciation, and subsequently, deindustrialization.  Since 1990, Norway has […]

The OPEC Conundrum: Expect Production Cuts Before June 2015

When OPEC met on 27th November they decided to leave production unchanged and to not meet again until June 2015. This at a time of volatility in oil markets and plunging price that leaves many OPEC member states facing budget deficits, some large and unmanageable. In this post I take a look at the oil […]

Big Oil hits the brakes on shale spending

With oil prices in free fall, the fear is that hunting for new shale in the U.S. may just not be that profitable. ConocoPhillips(COP) became the first major U.S. oil company on Monday to reveal that it is slashing spending for 2015. There are expectations that more energy companies will follow. Oil prices have dropped […]

The EIA’s World Oil Production Numbers

The EIA has recently published their International Energy Statistics. Their stats include all liquids such as NGLs, biofuels and even refinery process gain. But I only track actual oil. The EIA does not track “Crude Only” so we are forced to track what they do track which is Crude + Condensate. The EIA is about […]

Eagle Ford Produces 1 Billionth Barrel of Oil

The Eagle Ford shale play produces its one billion barrel of cumulative oil production, and the play’s potential remains strong despite lower oil prices. The Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas achieved a significant milestone last month with the production of its one billionth barrel of crude and condensate. Over 70 percent of this […]

Iraq Exports Boost to Add Pressure on 2015 Oil Market

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 […]

Peak Natural gas: The fracking fallacy

The United States is banking on decades of abundant natural gas to power its economic resurgence. That may be wishful thinking. When US President Barack Obama talks about the future, he foresees a thriving US economy fuelled to a large degree by vast amounts of natural gas pouring from domestic wells. “We have a supply […]

Did Peak Oil Arrive in 2014?

The recent price crash in crude oil, if it lasts for any length of time, will certainly affect oil production. The question is, just how great an effect will it have and how soon? But in this post I want to concentrate on what is, or was, happening to world oil production even before the […]

Output Forecast To 2020 Will Make Saudi Arabia Very Happy

Summary Shale oil is totally different from conventional oil – production tracks oil prices lagged one year; new wells get payback in two years and their production is hedged. U.S. shale oil production in 2015 will be 6 Million barrels/day up from 4 Million in 2014 -regardless of oil price slump. Production will be flat […]

Big Oil Going Big In The Gulf Of Mexico

The oil industry is betting big on the Gulf of Mexico with both costs and production rising as a result. The Gulf has seen a bit of a resurgence in production this year, after declining from a peak in 2009. The oil industry extracted 1.7 million barrels per day on average in the summer of […]

Russia Says Will Keep Oil Output Steady In 2015

Russian oil companies will keep production steady in 2015, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, after Moscow left a meeting with other major oil producers with no agreement on how to address weak oil prices. Russia, which is not an OPEC member, has watched nervously as oil prices have fallen 30 percent since June […]

Libya Producing 700000 B/D of Oil

Libya is currently producing 700,000 barrels a day of oil, a top energy official said Wednesday. The country’s current production, less than half of its normal level of about 1.5 million barrels a day, has been hit by frequent unrest and strikes. Speaking to reporters, Mohamed Oun, a deputy vice-prime minister for energy, also said […]

More on Bakken Production, Choke Theory

The US Petroleum Supply Monthly just came out with production data for every state and territory. US supply was up 168,000 bpd to 8,864,000 bpd in September. The biggest gainers were North Dakota, up 53,000 bpd to 1,185,000 bpd and Alaska up 79,000 to 477,000 bpd. Alaska  was way down in both July and August […]

Saudis unlikely to cut oil production

Oil prices are bottoming, and Saudi Arabia is unlikely to heed Iran’s request for a cut in oil production when OPEC meets Thursday, analyst Stephen Schork told CNBC on Monday. Iran’s semi-official news agency Mehr reported on Sunday that ministers from Iran will seek a cut from Saudi Arabia, joining a chorus of other members […]

Giant Oil Field Decline Rates

Summary of article 1, Cobb’s “Aging Giant Oil Fields” 2013 The world’s 507 giant oil fields comprise a little over 1% of all oil fields, but produce 60% of current world supply Of the 331 largest fields, 261, or 79%, are declining at 6.5% per year. Techno-fixes have made matters worse because they’ll increase the […]

Bakken Sweet Spots are Petering Out

The Bakken, as well as other shale oil areas, is not one homogeneous area where equal amounts of can be found. David Hughes in DRILLING DEEPER puts it this way, though here he is talking about gas wells, the same applies to oil wells: All shale gas plays invariably have “core” areas or “sweet spots”, where […]

Yergin: OPEC Underestimated Resiliency of U.S. Oil Output

OPEC was mistaken in thinking that U.S. shale oil production would be unprofitable once crude prices slipped below $90 a barrel, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will have a tough time coming to an agreement about production when ministers gather Nov. 27 in Vienna, said the vice-chairman […]

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