Tech Talk – an introduction to Iran

The theme of these posts, over the past eighteen months, has been to look at the leading producer nations that provide crude oil to the world, and see whether it is realistic to anticipate significant increases in their production. Posts have now looked at North America, Russia, Saudi Arabia and China based on the original […]

U.S. Pumps Most Oil Since 1997 as Energy Independence Grows

U.S. oil production surged last week to the highest level since January 1997, reducing the country’s dependence on imported fuels as new technology unlocks crude trapped in shale formations. Crude output rose by 3.7 percent to 6.509 million barrels a day in the week ended Sept. 21, the Energy Department reported today. America met 83 […]

Brazil’s oil output falls to 22-month low

Petrobras’ oil and natural gas output fell to its lowest level in 22 months in August, slipping 0.3 percent from July to an average 2.54 million barrels a day from fields in Brazil and abroad, the company said in a statement on Friday. Crude oil output in Brazil, the company’s principal source of production, fell […]

OPEC oil output hits lowest since January

PEC crude oil output has fallen in September because of reduced exports from Angola and Nigeria, a Reuters survey showed on Friday, and as Iranian output slipped back to its lowest in more than two decades. The drop in output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may worry consumer countries, already concerned that […]

Natural gas wins place as oil field fuel

The biggest, baddest engines in the world, long chained to diesel fuel, are on the verge of a mass transformation because of cheap natural gas – with oil field equipment holding particular potential, executives said Thursday during a summit of heavy fuel users and producers. “Here’s the first reason that large engines are going gas,” […]

Marathon Looks to Exit Marcellus Shale

Marathon Oil Corp. is putting its natural gas-rich acreage in the Marcellus Shale formation up for sale as it trims non-core assets, people familiar with the situation said. Marathon Oil is putting about 80,000 acres in West Virginia and Pennsylvania up for sale because the company doesn’t consider them central to its growth plans, a […]

Mexico Looking at Risky Deep Water Oil

Much of Mexico’s remaining oil wealth lies thousands of meters below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. The question is: how to get at it. When state monopoly Pemex discovered its ‘Supergiant’ oil fields in the 1970s, they were found in barely 100 meters of water. At the time, they were the envy of […]

Is shale oil production from Bakken headed for a run with “The Red Queen”?

In this post I present the results from an in depth time series analysis from wells producing crude oil (and small volumes of natural gas) from the Bakken (Bakken, Sanish, Three Forks and Bakken/Three Forks Pools) formation in North Dakota. The analysis uses actual production data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission as of July […]

Shale Oil Reserves: A Game Changer Or Just Over Hyped?

Part of the peak oil debate is a discussion on how much oil is “left” for people to consume. Those who reject peak oil (or at least the “doomsday” forms of it) often point to unconventional oil sources as shale oil, oil sands, and even non-oil sources like natural gas or renewable energy. For example, […]

Obama Admin Offers GOM Acreage in March Sale

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau Monday announced that BOEM will offer 38 million acres in the Central Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration and development. […]

Low flow impacts

  In its Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (AEO2012), the US Energy Information Administration presents three scenarios for oil markets: a high oil price case, a reference case, and a low oil price case. In the low oil price case, crude oil prices in 2035 are $62/bbl (in 2010 dollars) vs. $145/bbl in the reference case […]

Global oil exports in decline since 2006: What will importing nations do?

It is with trepidation that independent petroleum geologist Jeffrey Brown has watched global oil exports decline since 2006. With all the controversy in the past several years over whether worldwide oil production can rise to quench the world’s growing thirst for petroleum, almost no one thought to ask what was happening to the level of […]

Tech Talk – conclusions on the Chinese energy situation

Although Energy Policy has not been a significant issue in the current political debate over who should be the next President of the United States, this has not been a particularly good month for that future. In August the Alaskan pipeline pumped an average of 399 kbd from the North Slope. As winter approaches that […]

Iran oil production to remain steady in 2012

Iran’s crude oil production will remain steady this year compared to last year, the country’s oil minister was quoted as saying. Rostam Qasemi’s remarks, made to an Iranian news agency on Friday, countered a forecast by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) of a fall in Iranian production this year. Iran produced about 3.5 million […]

Hint of Stabilization in Iranian Oil Production

The above shows Iranian oil production which has been dropping steadily through 2012 – until August.  At this point, the evidence for that August stabilization is based solely on the “OPEC secondary sources” figures – I now largely discount Iranian self-reports.  We will have to see what other sources say and what the next month […]

Shale Gas: An American Success Story

Shale gas development, an activity that scarcely existed 10 years ago, is a U.S. success story that supports more than one million American jobs and generates billions of dollars in government revenues, Jack Williams, president of XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, said Thursday. In a speech at the Shale Gas Insight Conference […]

Latest Saudi Oil Production

Saudi oil production is in the news again: The Group of Seven finance ministers last month called on oil exporters to expand production. Saudi Arabia initially reacted coolly to the request, saying that global supply and demand were balanced. But the kingdom has recently taken steps to bring down prices, consulting with large refiners and […]

Brazil says to hold oil rights sales in 2013

Brazil plans to hold in 2013 its first oil exploration rights auction in five years, Brazil’s energy minister Edison Lobao said on Tuesday, a sale that many petroleum companies consider essential to their continued health and survival in the country. The so-called 11th Round oil concession auction will take place in May and will limit […]

Saudis offer extra oil to control prices

Saudi Arabia has offered its main customers in the US, Europe and Asia extra oil supplies through the end of the year, a sign the world’s largest exporter is worried about the impact of rising prices on the global economy. The Group of Seven finance ministers last month called on oil exporters to expand production […]

Offshore Morocco: Drilling Deeper

Africa has long been a key destination for energy companies seeking oil and gas reserves. Nigeria was established as an important source of hydrocarbons in the 1950s, while other West African countries, such as Equatorial Guinea, have seen substantial increases in their oil production in more recent decades. Last year’s revolutions in the North Africa, […]

Has Unconventional Oil Production Peaked?

Before any peak oilers reading this article get excited, the ‘peak’ here is in no way geological. We have more than enough hydrocarbons riddling the earth’s crust to incinerate ourselves eight times over. Rather, the peak might be geopolitical. Developing awkward reserves in hard to reach places is becoming more troublesome for international players than […]

Shell Delays Arctic Oil Drilling Until Next Year

In the latest in a series of embarrassing setbacks, Shell Oil Company announced on Monday that it has been forced to delay drilling for oilin Alaskan Arctic waters this year after a spill containment dome was damaged during a testing mishap. The accident further delayed Shell’s six-year, $4.5 billion effort to drill of off the […]

Tech Talk – China’s Coal Industry

In this run-up to the election, the American Energy future seems to have faded into the quiet background. Gone are the concerns of past years, as both parties seem to have bought into the idea that the nation is well on track toward a much reduced need to import oil. Wood Mackenzie is forecasting that […]

Tar sands, oil shale, and heavy oil: Why the conventional wisdom about unconventional oil is likely to be wrong

In the old days, that is before 2010, the oil industry used to regale the public with tales of plenty that revolved around what is commonly called “conventional oil.” Conventional oil refers to oil in a liquid state occurring naturally and coming from a well on land or water. It’s what most people think of […]

Iraq sees exports reaching 6 mln bpd by 2017

Iraq laid out more milestones on its path back to oil producing power, targeting 6 million barrels per day exports by 2017, and confirming it was currently pumping more than neighbour and fellow OPEC member Iran. Iraq’s Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said on Saturday he expected oil exports will reach 2.9 million bpd next year […]

Gas pipeline proposed for British Columbia

A Houston energy company announced it signed a preliminary deal to develop plans for a natural gas pipeline to service LNG export facilities in western Canada. Spectra Energy Corp., which has headquarters in Texas, announced it signed a development agreement with BG Group to build a gas transit system for liquefied natural gas export facilities […]

Venezuela oil production was 2.99 million bpd in August

Venezuela’s oil production has not risen above 3 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, despite the assertions of President Hugo Chavez’s government, according to an internal report seen by Reuters. Chavez’s socialist administration wants to ramp up the OPEC nation’s crude output – its main source of revenue – but has not published certified […]

Geopolitical unrest and key oil producers

Some people observed 9/11 by lighting candles, others by killing more Americans. Yesterday a mob stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. Among other implications, this raises the possibility that the stability that seemed to have returned to that country may be short-lived. As of […]

The Magic of Shales

Under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new rule for oil and gas, companies have been allowed much greater freedom to book reserves. On the surface, there is a good argument to be made for expanding the definition of allowable booked reserves. But in practice, this may have opened the door to false valuations of […]

North Dakota oil production at record high

Oil production in North Dakota hit another record high above 674,000 barrels per day in July as oil companies successfully tapped the region’s shale bounty, data from the state’s Industrial Commission showed on Wednesday. Oil output in the Bakken, Sanish and Three Forks prospects also rose, to a record high just under 610,000 bpd in […]

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