Shale Gas: From Geologic Bubble to Economic Bubble

Fracking for natural gas is on Coloradans’ minds. From landholders to policy makers, it’s a pig pile of attention on the environmental effects, which are bad enough when real — roads ruined by heavy trucks carting waste water, and waste water voided from the hydrologic cycle when stored in disposal wells, seeps from faulty linings […]

U.S. Said to Have Received Saudi Assurances on Ample Oil Supply

The U.S. has received assurances from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait that they would raise oil production to help offset the effect of economic sanctions on Iranian exports, according to participants in discussions between the U.S. and oil-producing countries. While there have been no formal requests, negotiations or agreements for increased output, […]

IEA downgrades non-OPEC oil supply forecast for 2012

Oil supply from non-OPEC countries will grow less than expected in the first quarter this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, leaving its global oil demand growth forecast unchanged. The agency, which advises industrialised nations on energy policy, said non-OPEC oil production will rise by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) In the […]

Kuwait Pumped 3 Million Barrels a Day in February

Kuwait pumped about 3 million barrels of oil a day last month, Farouk Al-Zanki, the chief executive of state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said. KPC has a contingency plan if the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf becomes closed, he said today in Kuwait, without providing any details. Demand for the company’s […]

Tech Talk – a recap in light of Iranian Sanctions and Canadian production estimates

This series of posts has just completed a review of the different regions of Russian oil production, with the conclusion that while Russia may maintain current production levels of around 10.4 mbd for a short while, it faces rising domestic consumption levels at the same time that it is not replacing existing production at a […]

ExxonMobil admits 2012 output will fall

Exxon Mobil has admitted it expects its output to drop 3% this year, although the supermajor insists production will still grow by an average of 1% to 2% a year over the next five years. In an annual presentation to analysts at the New York Stock Exchange, the company said its production of liquids would […]

R-Squared: Gas Prices & Keystone Pipeline

In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I answer more questions about gas prices, and discuss the Keystone XL pipeline and future development of Canada’s oil sands. Some of the topics discussed are: The EROEI for producing oil sands The emissions profile of shipping the oil sands to China versus refining it in the U.S. […]

Importance of Optimized Recovery Rises as More Fields Mature

Growth in oil production to sustain the nation’s economy must be achieved through a combination of new discoveries and optimized recovery from existing fields, which account for a quarter to two-thirds of total global assets. This number is expected to increase over the coming years as more and more fields enter the mature phase. At […]

Iraq Production Reached 3 Million Barrels per Day in February

According to MEES, Iraq production has passed the 3 Mb/d mark in February thanks to the opening of a single Single Point Mooring as part of the Basra terminal expansion: Iraq plans to start the actual loading of crude in a week to 10 days, initially boosting oil exports through the country’s south, which currently […]

Is Nat Gas the Most Important Commodity of the Future?

Natural gas is the buzz word at the 31st annual IHS CERAWeek as several speakers have referenced it as the most important commodity for the future. The Energy Information Administration, in its Annual Energy Outlook 2011, projected that natural gas demand in the United States could be 26.55 Tcf by the year 2035. “Thirty percent […]

Iranian vs Saudi Oil Production History

Yesterday I posted a composite oil production graph for Iran based on five data sources from 2000 through Jan 2012.  It’s interesting to contrast the Iranian production with that of Saudi Arabia, so I updated my graph for that country, based on the same sources: I also show the rig count on the right axis. […]

Oil Producers See Untapped, Unconventional Fields Meeting Demand

Total SA (FP) and Petroleos Mexicanos executives said still-untapped global fields and new methods for extracting fuel from shale rock and deep water will help meet demand for oil and natural gas. Undeveloped fields will produce 1 million barrels a day of oil by 2025, Yves-Louis Darricarrere, president of exploration and production for Paris-based Total, […]

A New Era of Hydrocarbon Fuels: Gas to Liquids & Coal to Liquids

Unconventional liquid fuels are slated to provide ever growing proportions of future demand for transportation fuels. The burgeoning success of plants such as Shell’s Pearl GTL plant in Qatar herald a new era of liquid fuels production. In terms of what GTL is, it is the process of chemically turning natural gas into cleaner-burning liquid […]

Total’s Upstream Chief Says Peak Oil Is Around The Corner

For the past couple of years executives from French oil giant Total have espoused a belief that the world is pretty close to a peak in oil supply. Today in a speech at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Yves-Louis Darricarrere, president of the company’s oil and gas exploration division, said, “We think it will […]

LPG: lots of supply, and US export prospects rising

And up the road from the CERA meeting, another IHS unit–Purvin & Gertz–was holding its own annual meeting on the market and outlook for NGLs/LPGs. Starting off the presentation session was Ken Otto, consultant with the host company, who set the table for the day-and-half event. Total growth in LPG supply over the next three […]

China vigorously promoting shale gas exploration, development

Shale gas exploration and exploitation in China is still at an early stage. Natural gas accounted for 4% of China’s total energy consumption in 2010. The natural gas share of total world energy demand was nearly six times that, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2011. In the first 5 months of […]

Peak oil: Meet the frackers

All the oil majors and energy agencies – including ExxonMobil, BP, the IEA and the EIA – project that we can meet growing world oil demand for the next two decades with increased production from OPEC, more unconventional oil production, biofuels, better extraction technology and massive growth in the uptake of hybrid cars. But there’s […]

Cheap natural gas slows drilling

Low prices for natural gas are rippling through the San Juan Basin, causing some drillers to reconsider their plans. Prices have been on a sharp decline as shales in Pennsylvania, North Dakota and elsewhere boomed, flooding the markets with natural gas. Oil and gas industry insiders say natural gas is now so cheap that it’s […]

Big Oil moving fast to get ahead of Peak Oil

Christophe de Margerie, chief executive officer of France’s global integrated oil company Total SA ( TOT , quote ), has emerged as one of the highest-profile supporters for the peak oil school of thought, which contends the world will eventually run out of economically extractable petroleum. Big Oil companies like Total seem to have strapped […]

World Production Update

The EIA, IEA and JODI have updated their numbers so it is time for a small update on some world production charts. Figure 1. World oil production (EIA Monthly) for crude oil + NGL. The median forecast is calculated from 15 models that are predicting a peak before 2020 (Bakhtiari, Smith, Staniford, Loglets, Shock model, […]

Saudi Arabia Sees No Sabotage to Petroleum Facilities

Saudi Arabia said late today there was no sabotage to its oil facilities in the Qatif region. The statement came from Major General Mansour Al-Turki, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, after reports of a fire near the Ras Tanura refinery.  Bloomberg

Chevron In Talks with Russia on Arctic Exploration

U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. has held talks with a senior Russian government official on Arctic exploration, as the country’s leader Vladimir Putin hinted he would allow non-state companies to operate in Russia’s northern seas. “Your country has enormous reserves, and the absence of large projects in the Russian Federation is a big gap in […]

Pemex Ready to Drill in GOM’s Deep Waters

Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, is ready to drill in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico near the maritime border with the U.S., its head of production said Tuesday. Pemex has in place high-tech drilling platforms, safety systems and membership in a well-containment group as part of redundant measures to […]

The death of peak oil

Here’s another structural transformation to add to all the others that you have to get your head around: it’s the transformation of global energy markets as a result of shale oil and gas. We’ve already got the digital revolution and the switch from consumption to savings after the GFC, not to mention the rise of […]

Peak Oil Decline Rates of Large Oilfields, featuring Jim Buckee

Jim Buckee discussing peak oil 2009

Piracy Threatens West Africa Oil Expansion

Piracy is a growing threat to West Africa’s plans to double oil production over the next decade and is already having a devastating impact on ports, the U.N. Security Council was warned Monday. A growing number of attacks are being recorded in the Gulf of Guinea and entries into some ports have been cut by […]

At the Wellhead: Norwegian renaissance may be on tap

The CEO of the group responsible for one of the biggest finds ever made offshore Norway stopped short this month of saying there is currently a full-scale renaissance in oil exploration taking place, but says there is a lot of excitement now and more major finds will be made. With output from Norway’s mature fields […]

Mexico Exceeding 100% Reserve-Replacement Rate, Calderon Says

Petroleos Mexicanos’ proven reserve replacement rate now exceeds 100 percent, meaning the Mexican state-owned oil company is replacing every barrel of oil it extracts with at least one new barrel of reserves, President Felipe Calderon said today. Calderon made the comment at a ceremony to start operations of the Bicentenario semi-submersible oil platform, according to […]

Saudi Arabia raises crude oil output

As crude oil prices reached a nine-month high on concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, Saudi Arabia has increased its crude exports, and the U.S. is pondering releasing oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, according to media reports Saturday. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has increased production in the past week and offered additional […]

Coal Exports to Double in Austrailia

The race to open a $40 billion coal region in Australia is being led by billionaires Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer. Victory depends on who wins approval to build a 500-kilometer (310-mile) railroad to the coast. Rinehart, 58, Asia-Pacific’s richest individual, and Indian billionaire GV Krishna Reddy’s GVK Group are developing a $10 billion mine, […]

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