North American Natural Gas is Fueling an International Political Power Shift

North American exports of natural gas threaten the dominance of gas exporting giants like Russia, Qatar and Algeria who currently control much of the world’s gas supplies. First U.S. natural gas exports are still three years away, but it’s already creating a buzz. Rivals who dominate the business now are trying to play down the […]

Tech Talk – Saudi Arabia and Natural Gas Liquids

The price of crude oil has been shown to have significant impact on the global economy, and in the current somewhat fragile state of the various parts of that economy the current lower prices help. Yet Stuart Staniford has commented that, given the Saudi need for income to hold off “Arab Spring” dissatisfaction, they are […]

Iran may build gas pipeline in Iraq

Iraqi officials have expressed interest in using experts from Iran to build a section of a natural gas pipeline on their side of the border, an official said. Javad Oji, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Co., said talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad resulted in agreements between the countries to move ahead with […]

OPEC output: another jump as the oil group gets ready to meet

OPEC is meeting in Vienna next week, and suddenly, it might have to talk about too much oil on world markets. That wasn’t the case a few months ago, and the agenda has shifted. Here’s another way to look at the numbers OPEC faces. The Platts estimate of OPEC output for May is 31.75 million […]

Emirates readies oil export detour to avoid Hormuz

By night, the lights of dozens of ships anchored off this eastern Emirati port create the mirage of a far-off city at sea. The crowded anchorage reflects Fujairah’s rise as one of the world’s busiest maritime refueling stations. Soon it will also become a vital new exit route for Arabian crude oil destined for world […]

From Peak Oil to An Excess of Energy: The State of Global Energy

Everyone knows that oil production is declining. That it’s only a matter of time before Peak Oil forces us to find new forms of energy or battle over soil like Kevin Costner in “Waterworld.” As usual, everyone is wrong. Data recently released by the Energy Intelligence Group shows that production of global crude has now […]

Can Shale Gas Meet China’s Energy Needs? Call The Fracker

China has ambitious targets to boost natural-gas consumption. It also sits on extensive deposits of shale gas that may be among the world’s largest. Put those two facts together and you might anticipate a repeat of the gas boom seen in the U.S., where fracking has transformed energy policy. China’s National Energy Administration has targeted […]

Saudi Arabia Achieving $100 Oil Signals Output Reversal

Saudi Arabia is poised to rein in oil sales after it achieved a $100-a-barrel target by cutting the price of its crude and pumping at the highest rate in at least three decades. The world’s biggest crude exporter started to scale back shipments this month, Vienna-based researcher JBC Energy GmbH said, citing tanker fixtures. Three […]

The Saudi Oil Problem

We’re worried about economic growth, or the lack thereof, presidential elections, and why Europe can’t get its act together. But the big daddy of issues is global net oil exports. Saudi Arabia is once again the biggest producer of oil in the world, surpassing Russia to regain its title. Saudi Arabia also happens to be […]

Fun With EROEI

A SIMPLIFIED attempt to model the affect of substituting high EROEI liquids sources with lower EROEI sources. Demand was kept constant to try to isolate the effect of just a change in the composition of production. Try it for yourself using your own EROEI numbers and production composition. Excel Spreadsheet: ROEI May 2012 Stephen Johnston […]

Rampant oil theft ravages Nigeria’s Delta

The sound of fleeing feet rustles from the undergrowth in this swampy enclave in Nigeria’s Delta, where a fire burns beneath an open tank of crude oil and black smoke fills the sky. Criminal gangs are quick to run when boats approach the illegal refineries all over the Niger Delta, a region of creeks and […]

Tech Talk – The Potential for Saudi EOR

Without getting into the discussion of the other aspects of the site, it was interesting to read a post dealing with future oil production on “Watts Up with That” today, in which it is suggested that the forthcoming fall in Saudi oil production will presage the decline in overall global oil production. (The site has […]

Canadian natural gas production takes steep dive

Canada’s natural gas production is falling dramatically, domestic prices are so low that companies can’t cover their cash costs, and exploration is largely on hold. Average daily output this year is likely to slide to the lowest level since 1993, says Peter Tertzakian, chief energy economist at ARC Financial Corp. If you’re keeping score, that’s […]

Norway: The Oil State

Welcome to Norway, home to a proud people who enjoy telling the myth about how they cheated their rival and neighbor Denmark by, despite owning very little of the North Sea oil, getting the then-Danish minister drunk on Norwegian snaps and signing the majority over to them. It’s the same country whose prime minister, Jens […]

Iran Calls on OPEC to Keep Output Ceiling

Iran will insist that OPEC maintain its current production ceiling for crude when the group’s ministers meet this month, state-run Press TV reported, citing the country’s oil minister. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will also discuss candidates for the job of OPEC secretary-general at the June 14 meeting in Vienna, Rostam Qasemi said, according […]

Oil Prices Fall Below Break-Even for Several Nations

Despite a fall of oil prices below break-even levels for several nations, Saudi Arabia shows no inclination of reducing its high rate of oil production.  Following is a table of some OPEC producers’ fiscal breakeven oil prices: $/bbl Algeria 105 Iran 117 Iraq 112 Kuwait 44 Libya 117 Qatar 42 Saudi Arabia 71 UAE 84 […]

Denmark sees 2012 oil production falling 8 pct

Denmark has kept its forecast for its 2012 oil production steady, with output still seen falling by 8 percent from last year, energy officials said on Thursday. The Danish Energy Agency forecast oil production this year would be 11.8 million cubic metres, corresponding to about 203,000 barrels of oil per day. The projection was up […]

Pool of world oil exports dwindling

The fact that world crude oil production has been stagnant since 2005 is now commonly acknowledged. But for all the world’s net oil-importing countries – including South Africa – the crucial oil supply variable is total world oil exports, rather than total world oil production – that is, oil importers must compete for the surplus […]

60 Years Of Oil: developments at BP and Royal Dutch Shell

Over the last 60 years, technological developments and political crises have repeatedly driven the oil and gas industry to new locations and more extreme drilling techniques. Yet some things haven’t changed. As the Queen celebrates 60 years on the throne, problems in Iran are affecting global oil supplies, just as they were in 1952. Take […]

Saudi unlikely to cut soon despite oil under $100

Oil’s fall below $100 a barrel is unlikely to trigger a swift supply cut from OPEC power Saudi Arabia, which is pumping at its highest rate in decades, because its budget can comfortably withstand a much lower price. Others in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Iran and Iraq, need a higher price […]

Saudi Aramco: Saudi Oil Output Exceeds 10M bpd

Global oil supply is exceeding demand by 1.5 billion barrels a day, the chief executive of state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Co. said Thursday. The assessment from the world’s largest oil company came amid worries that crude-oil supplies will be squeezed when the European Union bars imports of Iranian oil on July 1 […]

Iraq Fails to Entice Bidders at First Auction of Oil, Gas Exploration Rights

Iraq failed to attract partners for most of the 12 oil and natural-gas exploration licenses offered in a two-day auction at which Asian and Russian bidders were more active than Western companies. Three of the 12 blocks were awarded, two for oil and one for gas. Russia’s OAO Lukoil and Inpex Corp. of Japan won […]

Computer virus hits Iran’s oil industry

Iran’s key oil industry was briefly affected by the powerful computer virus known as “Flame” that has unprecedented data-snatching capabilities and can eavesdrop on computer users, a senior Iranian military official said Wednesday. The comment is the first direct link between the emergence of the new malware and an attack inside a highly sensitive computer […]

Energy Agency Looks to Natural Gas “Golden Age”

If a series of “golden rules” can be followed, a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests, global natural gas usage could grow by more than 50 percent by 2035. The report, released on Tuesday, came under sharp criticism from environmental groups for charting a route to a “golden age” in the extraction […]

As One Of UK’s Biggest Refineries Prepares For Shutdown, Drivers Concerned About Gas Price Spike

Back in 2007, BP sold its Coryton refinery, one of the largest in the UK, to Swiss refiner PetroPlus for $1.4 billion. Fast forward 5 years later where we find that shortly after PetroPlus filed for bankruptcy, and was forced to proceed with a firesale of its assets, the European end demand market is so […]

Geologists and Engineers are Today’s Peak Oil Cowboys

Hello Penelope Trunk readers!  She’s a great consultant! She “outed me.”  I don’t like to talk about my clients, but I do like to work with engineers, geologists, and those in the energy sector. However, I’d never name names. These are men of action, and they know how to do things.  I have an ‘I-can-do-that’ envy. […]

Saudi Aramco 2011 crude output tops 9 million barrels per day

Saudi Aramco’s crude oil output in 2011 rose to 9.1 million barrels per day (bpd) from 7.9 million a year earlier, the state oil firm said in an annual review released on Monday. “In 2011, the company supported global energy security and petroleum market stability through the continuing reliability of its operations and its investment […]

Conditions and Treatments in North Ghawar

Recent OGPSS talks have focused on the increased use of novel technology in Saudi Arabia, as a means of recovering stranded oil, left during the waterfloods that have successfully sustained production over the past few decades. That technology is being further expanded with the use of carbon dioxide injection as part of an Enhanced Oil […]

Richard Heinberg: End Of Cheap Energy Era

Richard Heinberg explaining why growth in the world economy is coming to an end.  CCTVMay 2012

To Tap Arctic Oil, Russia Partners With Exxon Mobil

Russia is still the world’s largest producer of oil and gas, but growth has stalled and to get to new supplies requires going to a very difficult place — the Arctic. “If you want to be in this business in 2020, 2025, you must think about the Arctic,” says Konstantin Simonov, head of the National […]

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