Harris' energy strategy is ambiguous from a strategic perspective, say her aides
Since Vice President Kamala Harris joined the White House race 25 days ago, she has been keeping energy executives on their toes. Was she the anti-pollution and climate change warrior Attorney General of California? Or was she the pragmatic number two in the Democratic Biden Administration that oversaw record U.S. production and exports of oil? Seven times in her speeches, she mentioned climate, but never energy, fracking, or oil. Polls indicate that climate change is a topic of great interest, particularly among younger voters. Her campaign is aimed at avoiding alienating any side.
Rising US Oil Clout on Show in Houston
A glance at the attendee list at one of the world's largest energy industry events in Houston this week left little question about the growing influence of the United States over global oil politics.Present: top U.S. diplomat Mike Pompeo. Absent: leading Saudi and Russian officials, and most OPEC nations.As the United States weans itself off foreign oil imports - thanks to booming domestic production - the complex web of politics and business interests that have shaped decades of Washington's energy diplomacy in the Middle East and beyond is changing.That shift was unmistakable in Houston this week.In his keynote address…
US LNG Projects Buoyed by China Import Talks
China's interest in reducing its trade surplus with United States through increased energy imports could advance plans for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, said energy executives involved in developing new facilities.The White House and China on Saturday said a U.S. trade team would travel to China to explore new energy and agricultural deals. The joint communique lowered trade tensions, lifting stock markets in Asia and the United States on Monday.There are over two dozen proposed U.S. LNG plants waiting for customer commitments to reach a final investment decision, many of them looking to China for deals. About 13 percent of U.S.
US LNG Firms Lament Bad Timing of Tariffs, China Trade Spat
The Trump administration's planned steel tariffs and a potential trade battle with China could hurt U.S. liquefied natural gas companies just as a new wave of developments in the fast-growing market is gaining steam, company executives say. China is the fastest growing major buyer of LNG, making it an important customer for U.S. producers. It is also a significant exporter of the steel components used in LNG plant construction. With an LNG shortage looming as early as 2022, a rush of offtake deals with China and other buyers had been looking likely, boosting construction prospects, said company executives at the CWC LNG Americas Summit in Houston.
Statoil: Room to Grow North Dakota's Bakken
Statoil ASA, the Norwegian state-controlled oil producer, has plenty of growth opportunities left in North Dakota's Bakken shale formation, an executive said on Tuesday. "We have quite a lot of running room" in North Dakota, Torgrim Reitan, head of Statoil's U.S. operations, said in an interview on the sidelines of CERAWeek in Houston, one of the world's largest gathering of energy executives. Oil development has spiked in recent years in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. Concern has spread about a maturation of operations in North Dakota, the second-largest oil-producing U.S. state where Statoil is one of the largest producers.
Texas Flood: U.S. Oil Pours into Global Markets
United States taking share from OPEC nations in Asia, Europe, as China’s biggest U.S. crude buyer to double imports. In the two years since Washington lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, tankers filled with U.S. crude have landed in more than 30 countries, ranging from massive economies like China and India to tiny Togo. The repeal has unleashed a flood of U.S. shale oil, undercutting global crude prices, eroding the clout of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and seizing market share from many of its member countries.
Exxon to Invest $20 Bln on US Gulf Refining Projects
Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil producer, said on Monday it would invest $20 billion through 2022 to expand chemical and refining plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The investments at 11 sites should create 35,000 temporary construction jobs and 12,000 permanent jobs, Chief Executive Darren Woods said in a speech at CERAWeek, the world's largest gathering of energy executives in Houston. Exxon last month pledged to boost this year's spending by 16 percent to expand operations, especially in shale production, after the company posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by rising oil prices and lower costs.
Siccar Point Announces First N. Sea Oil Deal
Venture acquires 8.9 pct stake in Mariner Field; deal highlights growing private equity role in region. Private equity-backed oil and gas venture Siccar Point Energy announced its first North Sea investment on Tuesday and said it planned to do more deals over the next year as cash-rich firms step up activity after a two-year rout in the sector. Siccar Point, headed by Jonathan Roger, a former Centrica executive, and backed by private equity firm Blue Water Energy and Blackstone, acquired a 8.9 percent stake in the UK North Sea Mariner field from JX Nippon.
No Cheap Fuel Bonanza for Airlines
While airlines are in no rush to pass on fuel savings to passengers brought by the collapse in oil prices, the Houston travel market has left them little choice. Airlines serving the U.S. oil capital have resorted to steep discounts to lure newly budget-conscious energy executives back into the air, according to an analysis of ticket prices provided exclusively to Reuters. Crude's 70-percent drop in the past 19 months has made the Houston travel market a rare point of downward pressure on airline revenues. Its value, including flights, conventions and related services, was estimated at $2.8 billion in 2014 in a report for the Texas governor's office.
Nexen Apologizes for Worker's death at Canada Oil Sands Site
Nexen Energy executives apologized on Saturday for an explosion at the company's Long Lake oil sands facility in Alberta that killed one employee, left another critically injured and shut down the site for an indefinite period. Fang Zhi, who heads the unit of China's CNOOC Ltd, said the incident marked one of the darkest days in Nexen's history. "Our thoughts are with the families," he told reporters in Calgary. The company said the injured worker had been taken to the burn unit of a hospital in the provincial capital of Edmonton. The explosion happened on Friday afternoon at the site south of Fort McMurray, Alberta.
U.S. Highway Bill Should Include Oil Export Provision
The U.S. ban on crude oil exports stands the best chance of being lifted when linked to highway funding legislation, said U.S. Senator John Hoeven, a Republican from North Dakota. The 1970s-era ban on most oil exports is deeply unpopular in North Dakota and other crude-producing U.S. states, with energy executives chafing at the limited access to global markets. Various stand-alone measures in Congress to pass a repeal have failed, and President Barack Obama has threatened to veto any such legislation that reaches his desk, saying the focus should be on renewable energies.
Hurting Canadian Oil Producers Signal Further Cuts to Come
Canadian energy companies, especially those at higher cost oil sands producers, are signalling they will cut capital spending for a second straight year in 2016 as they adjust to a painful new reality of oil near $40 a barrel. Energy executives, coming off a bleak third-quarter earnings season and due to roll out capital budgets in coming weeks, were in a grim mood even before the United States last week rejected TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would have been key in boosting exports of heavy oil from the landlocked oil sands.
North Dakota Producers, Regulators Spar over Rules
North Dakota's oil producers and their federal regulators sparred at an industry conference on Tuesday over a raft of new rules with broad implications for energy development, the latest escalation in a war of words that has both parties aiming to sway public opinion. The public spat at the North Dakota Petroleum Council's annual meeting comes as federal agencies move to exert greater control over how oil companies extract crude from shale formations and how even small bodies of water are used nationwide. Both proposals, from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S.
US Oil Producers Mull Wastewater Spin-offs
Some U.S. oil producers are trying to sell parts of their lucrative saltwater disposal businesses in a sign that cheap crude is already forcing cash-starved companies to sell assets so oil can keep flowing. Many oil companies rely on outside contractors, which tend to be small, privately-held companies, to inject the briny byproduct of crude production hundreds or thousands feet deep into the earth, well below the water table. But for producers which own such facilities, the high-margin business has served as a source of cost savings and steady revenue…
French, Spanish Ministers Discuss New Cross-border Energy Links
French, Spanish and Portuguese energy ministers have discussed plans for new power and gas infrastructure across the French-Spanish border, the French energy ministry said on Tuesday. The ministers met with EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete in Paris on Tuesday and launched a working group to boost energy networks in South-West Europe. Spanish energy executives have long complained about France's reluctance to boost cross-border links and the European Commission has made better connections to the Iberian peninsula a top priority as this could reduce the continent's dependence on Russian gas.
Pakistan Eyes Gas Imports, but Challenges Remain
Pakistan plans to install new gas import terminals and pipelines to underpin an economic revival linked to $46 billion in Chinese deals, but its ambitions are being undermined by poor planning, price uncertainty and security concerns, industry experts said. The government wants to increase imports to fuel industry expansion and reduce daily blackouts. It also aims to boost domestic gas production in the long term. For that to happen, energy executives said the government must regulate the sector better, be more consistent in dealing with foreign firms and forge ahead with tapping big deposits in the province of Baluchistan…
Rosneft, BP To Explore For Shale Oil In Russia
Rosneft and BP signed an agreement on Saturday to jointly explore for hard-to-recover oil in Russia, the first major deal for the state-run Russian oil company since the West imposed sanctions over Ukraine in March. Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has been targeted by U.S. sanctions along with some other members of Putin's so-called inner circle following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March. Western energy bosses saved the St Petersburg International Economic forum from…
New U.S. Sanctions On Putin Allies Cause Few Ripples
The United States imposed fresh sanctions on Russian firms and government officials on Monday, a move that financial markets largely shrugged off and U.S. Republican lawmakers dismissed as too little to deterMoscow from further action in Ukraine. The reaction underscored the dilemma facing President Barack Obama: how to use sanctions to punish Moscow for its intervention in Ukraine without hurting European countries and foreign companies with deep financial ties to Russia. Washington slapped sanctions on seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to President Vladimir Putin…
