Working on the railroads

The rapid increase of North American crude production has resulted in pipeline bottlenecks in some areas, forcing more reliance on rail transportation to access some of the highest-value markets, said analysts with PIRA Energy Group in New York. President Obama in his second inaugural speech called for a $50 billion upgrade of the US transportation […]

Will Colombia Become Latin America’s Poster Child for Peak Oil

The two most hotly debated scientific concepts associated with energy are “global warming” and “peak oil,” both with myriad proponents and detractors around the world. In the latter case however, what is indisputable is that the last several decades have seen major fields in significant oil exporting nations decline. From Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar superfield through […]

Lower highs: The real trajectory of U.S. oil production

The way the oil industry is touting gains in U.S. crude production, you would think that production is soaring to new all-time highs. But the facts say otherwise. Below is a monthly plot of U.S. crude oil production through December 2012. U.S. production remains well below the peak achieved in 1970 and below a secondary […]

Tech Talk – a Russian update and the OPEC MOMR

The Arctic is a less forgiving place than many folk care to recognize. Shell have just moved back the date on which they plan to restart drilling in the Chukchi Sea and won’t be going up there this year. At the same time, last August, Gazprom announced that the development of the Shtokman gas field […]

What happens when America doesn’t need Canada’s oil?

When Alison Redford was forced to admit last month that her province was running short of cash due to low oil prices, it was frightening for Alberta and worrisome for the entire nation. For the past decade, Canada has thrived on the good fortunes of the oil and gas industry, but those times, Redford made […]

Shell Suspends Arctic Drilling for 2013

The troubles that roiled Shell’s rig, the Kulluk, off the coast of Alaska this past winter will reverberate through the summer; the oil company announced it would not seek to drill in U.S. Arctic waters in 2013. (Related: “In Kulluk’s Wake, Deeper Debate Roils on Arctic Drilling“) “We’ve made progress in Alaska, but this is […]

Shale Gas and Tight Oil: Boom? Bust? Or Just a Petering Out?

The oil and gas industry promises “a few days of fracking” for “decades of … production.” But is it true? Believe it or not, some people don’t buy the fracking boom story. Some predict bust. Others, more of a petering out. What gives? Let’s begin with a story about a lunch. Lunch with a Skeptic In […]

U.S. May Swap Light Oil for Heavy Mexican Crude

The U.S. might consider exporting light, sweet crude to Mexico in a swap for heavy crude, Adam Sieminski, administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, said today at a conference in Houston. Mexico produces mostly heavy crude while its refineries are set up to run light, sweet oil, Sieminski said. Many U.S. Gulf Coast refiners […]

Energy 2025: Independence Day

North America’s production is surpassing the nation’s current existing infrastructure, creating a bottleneck effect, discussed Edward Morse, managing director and global head of commodity research at Citi Group, at Platts 2nd Annual North American Crude Marketing Conference. A panel of industry leaders discussed the U.S. crude movement, shale oil supply growth prospects for North America […]

Iraq Begins Design of $18B Oil Pipeline to Jordan

Oil-rich Iraq has started technical work on a planned $18 billion oil-export pipeline from Basra in southern Iraq to the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, senior Iraqi oil officials said Thursday. If realized, the pipeline would deliver a significant export outlet for Iraq’s growing crude-oil production, which […]

Cyberattack leaves natural gas pipelines vulnerable to sabotage

Cyberspies linked to China’s military targeted nearly two dozen US natural gas pipeline operators over a recent six-month period, stealing information that could be used to sabotage US gas pipelines, according to a restricted US government report and a source familiar with the government investigation. From December 2011 through June 2012, cyberspies targeted 23 gas […]

UK Energy Production Falls for 11th Straight Year

U.K. energy production fell for the 11th consecutive year in 2012, although at a slower rate than in 2011. Figures from the Department for Energy and Climate Change, released Thursday, showed primary energy production fell 10.7% on the year as maintenance activity and a long-term output decline led to sharp falls in output from the […]

National Breakdown of Recent Oil Supply Flatness

In trying to understand why global oil supply has flattened out lately (in 2012 for the whole world, and since late 2010 for non-OPEC supply), I found it helpful to make the above graph which shows the top ten countries, and bottom ten countries, for change in oil supply between the second half of 2010, […]

Britain signs off on more North Sea oil

British energy company Maersk Oil announced it was approved to develop an oil field in the North Sea that could hold as much as 9 million barrels of oil. Maersk said its field development plan for the Balloch oil field about 140 miles off the coast of Scotland, was approved by the British Department of […]

The shale phenomenon: fabulous miracle with a fatal flaw

A Chesapeake Energy Corp. worker walks past stacks of drill pipe needed to tap oil and gas trapped deeply in rock like shale at a Chesapeake oil drilling site on the Eagle Ford shale near Crystal City, Texas. The shale formation requires constant drilling to keep up production, (Anna Driver/Reuters/File) At a petroleum conference held […]

UK economy to take oil hit in 2013 before N.Sea recovery

Oil & gas production to fall 3-6 pct in 2013 -Oil & Gas UK * Industry body survey says output down 14 pct in 2012 * Production seen rising in the period 2014 to 2017 Britain’s faltering economy will take another hit from declining UK North Sea oil production this year before a mini-recovery takes […]

Robert Rapier: How Much Oil Does the World Produce?

In the first installment of this series, I took a look at U.S. and global oil reserves according to the 2012 BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Today, I want to examine oil production statistics since 1965. Highlights of this article and topics that will be explored include: New global oil production record set in 2011, […]

Oil Sands Mining Uses Up Almost as Much Energy as It Produces

The average “energy returned on investment,” or EROI, for conventional oil is roughly 25:1. In other words, 25 units of oil-based energy are obtained for every one unit of other energy that is invested to extract it. But tar sands oil is in a category all its own. Tar sands retrieved by surface mining has […]

Tech Talk – Thoughts on the Precautionary Principle

As Michael Brander tells it, in his book on the Scottish Highland Regiments, the Scottish Highlands produced, between 1740 and 1815 men for some 86 Highland Regiments who travelled around the world to strengthen the British Empire. But, towards the end of that period sheep were introduced into Scotland and the great land clearances began […]

The energy sector in coming years

Byron King gives us the realities of shale gas.

Saudi Arabia ready to lift oil output

Saudi Arabia expects to raise its oil output in the second quarter to satisfy higher demand from China and feed economic recovery elsewhere, oil industry sources said. The world’s largest oil exporter kept production steady at about 9 million barrels per day (bpd) last month and sources say production has since hovered around that level […]

Oil Supply Flatness Continues

January oil supply numbers are out – chart above.  Still no real sign of supply increases – there was a very small bump up in November, but it has now faded. This is becoming a pretty interesting situation. Early Warning

Declining global oil export capacity

The Export Capacity Index (ECI): A New Metric For Predicting Future Supplies of Global Net Oil Exports By:  Jeffrey J. Brown February 18, 2013 In this paper, I briefly review recent global crude oil and liquids production numbers, and I review the Export Land Model (ELM).   I also introduce the concept of the Export Capacity […]

Bomb disables Iraq fuel oil pipeline

Attackers bombed and disabled a pipeline carrying fuel oil from Iraq’s largest refinery to a province north of Baghdad, the oil ministry said on Sunday. “A bomb attack led to an explosion in the 16-inch pipeline transporting fuel oil from Baji refinery to Nineveh province,” said ministry spokesman Asim Jihad. He said the ministry expected […]

Direct threat to Canadian economy posed by U.S. shale oil production

Remember Peak Oil, the theory that global crude oil supplies have peaked and are in irreversible, long-term decline? The concept got a lot of media play but never really passed the smell test, since it didn’t account for the impact of technological change or rising oil prices. In any case, the notion of Peak Oil […]

Bakken Shale Oil

The New Oil Landscape The fracking frenzy in North Dakota has boosted the U.S. fuel supply—but at what cost? When Susan Connell arrives at the first oil well of the day, she tosses her stylish black-rimmed glasses onto the dashboard of her 18-wheeler, climbs down from the cab, and pulls the zipper on her fire-resistant […]

OPEC to Trim Supply Amid Saudi Output Cuts

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will cut crude shipments by 0.9 percent this month amid lower production by Saudi Arabia, according to tanker tracker Oil Movements. The group that supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil will export 23.51 million barrels a day in the four weeks to March 2, down 220,000 a […]

Shale Oil Production Could Hit 14M Barrels per Day by 2035

Global shale oil production has the potential to reach up to 14 million barrels per day by 2035, or 12 percent of the world’s total oil supply, according to a new report from accountants PwC released Thursday. PwC’s report – ‘Shale oil: the next energy revolution’ – stated that the firm estimates the increase could […]

Statoil to build Arctic oil terminal

Norwegian energy company Statoil ASA says it plans to build a new oil terminal on the country’s Arctic coast to process oil from a recent discovery in the Barents Sea. Statoil chose a development concept Tuesday that envisions transporting oil from the Skrugard field, which is expected to come on stream in 2018, through a […]

The Most Lucrative Countries For Oil And Gas Workers

The oil and gas industry has been a true bright spot amid the economic downturn. Regions with rampant drilling like south Texas and North Dakota have among the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. In Dickinson, N.D. workers at McDonald’s can get a $300 signing bonus and wages of $15 or more an hour. There’s […]

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