August Oil Supply Numbers

The IEA and OPEC have released their numbers for oil supply in August (well “total liquid fuels” anyway).  The above shows all available data from the three main public agencies supplying estimates of this.  Basically nothing exciting at all happened: oil supply continues to look completely flat throughout 2012.  Prices rebounded a bit though. In […]

Iraq’s southern oil output at 2.5 mln bpd

Iraq’s oil production from its southern oilfields is at 2.5 million barrels per day as the country edges closer to becoming the world’s biggest source of new supplies over the next few years, a senior Iraqi oil official said. Iraq’s biggest field Rumaila, operated by BP, is currently producing 1.35 million bpd while Zubair oilfield, […]

OPEC Report Shows Widening Gap Over Iran’s Oil Output Views

An oil producers’ report Tuesday revealed a widening gap in views over how much crude oil Iran is producing, with Tehran saying output is up when experts say it is sharply declining. The rare disclosure of sensitive Iranian oil data–made in the monthly oil-market report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries–comes amid intense scrutiny […]

OPEC Oil Production Rises as Angola and Nigeria Pump More

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boosted crude production last month as Angola, Nigeria and Libya pumped more, the group said. Output from OPEC, which supplies 40 percent of the world’s oil, climbed to 31.41 million barrels a day in August versus 31.16 million the previous month, OPEC’s Vienna-based secretariat said in its Monthly Oil […]

Ice prompts Shell to halt oil drilling in waters off Alaska

A day after it began, the first oil drilling off in the Arctic waters off Alaska was halted today because of an approaching mass of ice, Royal Dutch Shell tells the Associated Press. The drilling — a narrow 1,400-foot-deep “pilot hole” to check for natural gas or obstructions — began Sunday before dawn in the […]

Oman the comeback kid of oil

Oil was slipping from Oman’s grasp five years ago. Unlike its neighbours Saudi Arabia and the UAE with giant fields of the kind that make oil majors salivate, Oman’s reserves tend to be scattered in smaller deposits, ponds rather than lakes. Fields were reaching old age quickly, which translated into thick, sticky crude that needed […]

Shell Starts Drilling off Alaska North Coast

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) said its Noble Discoverer rig started drilling in the Chukchi Sea off the north coast of Alaska, beginning preparations to become the first company to drill for oil in the U.S. Arctic in decades. The company has been given permission by the U.S. Interior Department to perform preparatory work as […]

Tech Talk -Chinese gas shale development

On occasion, the British Government goes through an internal shake-up that leads to various pundits trying to explain to us lesser mortals what it all means. Thus, with changes in the Ministers who work in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, there is a suggestion that the UK is pulling back from their commitment […]

Fracking in California takes less water

In Pennsylvania, the controversial practice of fracking can consume 4.5 million gallons of water per well, the liquid pumped deep underground to crack rocks that contain natural gas. In parts of Texas, fracking a well often takes 6 million gallons. But in California, where fracking is starting to spread, the average amount of water involved is just […]

Record interest in Norway’s mature oil fields

* Big five oil majors apply for licences * Total of 47 applications * Several newcomers on the list Norway has received a record number of applications to explore mature oil areas offshore, with companies apparently spurred by high prices and good prospects for extracting new resources more cheaply from developed fields. The Norwegian Ministry […]

Credit Suisse: US can maintain oil growth

The US can maintain oil production growth at around 600,000 b/d because of shale development, the Gulf of Mexico and, potentially, the Arctic, but requires a near-term oil price of $95/bl for Brent, according to Switzerland-based bank Credit Suisse. The required price could drop to $80/bl over time. US growth is seen accounting for 80pc […]

Mighty Exxon leaves Baghdad in a bind

When Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani met Exxon Mobil executives in Baghdad two months ago, he could hardly control his emotions. His anger boiling over, the Iraqi oil chief threatened to kick the Americans out of the country. With Exxon and other foreign oil majors upsetting Baghdad by signing exploration deals Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan […]

New Zealand Looks to Boost Oil & Gas Output

New Zealand is hoping to replicate the success of oil and gas exploration in its North Island’s Taranaki basin in a new prospecting round as it tries to boost economic growth and attract investment, Minister of Energy and Resources Phil Heatley said Tuesday. The government, which invited bids for oil and gas exploration permits for […]

Russia’s Aug oil hits post-Soviet high of 10.38 mln bpd

Russia extracted oil at a record pace of 10.38 million barrels per day in August, a level unseen since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as companies took advantage of high oil prices, Energy Ministry data showed on Sunday. Rising production will be welcomed by the administration of President Vladimir Putin, who embarked on a […]

Tech Talk – Oil production within China

If one looks at a map of China, at first it seems to be a land that has been heavily endowed with gas and oil fields. However, with the continued rise in demand for liquid fuel, exploration and development are being aggressively pursued inside the nation, as well as offshore and abroad. Current levels of […]

Huge natural gas producer knocked offline by malware attack

One of the world’s biggest producers of liquefied natural gas has been hit by a malware attack that has taken down its website and e-mail servers. This is the second documented computer attack to hit a large energy company this month. Officials with Qatar-based RasGas first identified an “unknown virus” on Monday and took their […]

Arctic to Reverse Decline in Norwegian Oil Production

Arctic exploration is set to reverse the decline in Norwegian oil production according to a poll of oil and gas professionals. The poll – conducted by technical consultants GL Noble Denton at the Offshore Northern Seas conference currently being held at Stavanger, Norway – found that 74 percent of participants believe the development of sizable […]

Venezuela Refinery Burns Fourth Day After 48 Die in Blast

Venezuelan firefighters put out the last of three blazes at the country’s largest refinery following an explosion four days ago that killed at least 48 people. “We’re in a cooling stage now,” Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said today on state television. “We’re inspecting the affected areas and checking our infrastructure to prepare for restarting operations.” […]

Energy expert says world’s oil production has peaked

Every year in August there is a weeklong event, the Oil & Gas Conference. It’s in Denver and draws an international audience. By most accounts EnerCom is the best on the schedule. This year 121 companies were scheduled to make presentations. If I were allowed to hear only one presentation, and attend one breakout session, […]

Calling out extremists

verything the executive director of the International Energy Agency said in Houston this month needed to be said and cannot reasonably be disputed. Like many leaders who express right thoughts about development of unconventional oil and gas resources, however, Maria Van der Hoeven didn’t say enough. In a speech at the Baker Institute of Rice […]

Tech Talk – China’s Offshore Oil

The recent post on Chinese claims to territory in the China Sea, mentioned the rush to plant flags on different islands in the South China Sea portion, as a sign of the ongoing nature of the disputes that continue to develop in the region. That status has continued with protests this last weekend in China […]

Game Over? Or Overtime?

“U.S. shale gas production is projected by EIA to increase over the 2012–2035 period by 3 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe) per day (it currently contributes 700,000 Mboe/d, and a recent Harvard study projects the 2020 shale gas potential contribution to be 49 Mboe/d). Much of  that which is not deemed recoverable will also […]

Gulf of Mexico oil companies start evacuations

Oil companies are evacuating some Gulf of Mexico oil rigs in advance of Tropical Storm Isaac. For now the storm is close to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. But oil installations would be at risk if it heads to the Gulf of Mexico and reaches hurricane strength. BP said Friday it has begun evacuating all […]

Venezuela Imports Oil Despite Having Huge Reserves

Despite having the largest oil reserves in the world, Venezuela faces a severe shortage of gasoline, experts said. Former high-ranking employees at Venezuela’s state run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), said that due to deterioration of its refinery system and the vast amount of fuel being smuggled out of the country, the government […]

BP Expects to Start Libya Oil Exploration Drilling Next Year

BP PLC expects to start next year deep-sea drilling work off the coast of Libya, as the U.K. oil giant resumes it $2 billion exploration program halted by the rebel overthrow of Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s regime last year. The major oil company, which in May lifted a freeze on its activities in the North African […]

Iranian Oil Production Falls Further

We have data through July from OPEC secondary sources and through June for most other sources.  The result looks as above (graph not zero-scaled to better show changes).  Iranian production has been falling noticeably for a number of months and is now down by about a sixth of the pre-sanctions level.  This ignores the possibility […]

Iraqi Oil Exports to Rise to Highest in Over Two Decades

Iraq’s crude exports are set to rise to an average of 2.6 million barrels a day this month, the highest level in more than two decades, said Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the Oil Ministry. The August tally includes some oil from the self-governing Kurdish region in the north of Iraq, he said. Shipments of […]

Wither Peak Oil?

Sorry folks, it’s been a while since we’ve posted!  It’s not that there’s no more Peak Oil – rather we’ve been busy with other things, and we’ve said quite a bit about the topic in the past.  Not much of that has changed, if any.  But we’ve intended to provide an update.  Now we find […]

Debunking the myth of almost unlimited natural gas

With the development of shale gas wells, many consumers got the impression that our nation’s supply of natural gas is almost unlimited. But now that the price of natural gas is below the cost of production, output is going down, and that does not bode well for consumers. After skidding below $2 per million Btu […]

Don’t Count on Revolution in Oil Supply

This is a guest post by Sadad al-Huseini, now a petroleum consultant and formerly executive vice president of Saudi Aramco for exploration and production, and is a response to the recent article in PIW (Petroleum Intelligence Weekly) by Leonardo Maugeri on his new study Oil: the Next Revolution, challenging his optimism about future oil supplies […]

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