Maritime Rule Change Stirs Fears of Diesel Shortage: Kemp
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has so far resisted pressure to soften or postpone the implementation of new regulations requiring ships to use bunker fuels with a lower sulphur content from the start of 2020.That has prompted warnings from some analysts that the regulations will squeeze the availability of low-sulphur diesel and jet kerosene required by trucks, trains, aircraft, farmers and industry, resulting…
Cushing's Market Clout Wanes Amid U.S. Crude Export Boom
The volume of oil sitting in 300 steel tanks in a nine-square-mile radius in Cushing, Oklahoma has long been a key barometer for the health of U.S. crude supply and the nation's benchmark for daily trading of billions of dollars in the commodity. But those tanks could soon drain to levels near effectively empty, even as U.S. oil production soars past a new record of 10.4 million barrels per day. Oil supplies have fallen before in Cushing for a variety of seasonal or market-driven reasons.
Kinder Morgan: Pipeline Expansion Delays Possible
Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd said on Monday the start-up of its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion could be delayed past September 2020 if it is unable to get more clarity around permitting and the judicial process by early next year. The company's appeal to Canada's energy regulator over municipal permits for the C$7.4 billion ($5.8 billion) expansion was heard on Monday. The company said in a statement that it needs certainty by early 2018 to move ahead with construction.
ConocoPhillips to lay off 300 after Cenovus deal
ConocoPhillips will lay off 300 Canadian workers, mostly in the country's oil capital of Calgary, after selling most of its local assets to local producer Cenovus Energy Inc, the Houston-based company said on Thursday. The layoffs will occur by the middle of May, ConocoPhillips spokesman Rob Evans said. It was not immediately clear what percentage of the Canadian workforce would be laid off. The company had more than 2,000 staff as of late-2015 and currently employs around 13,300 globally.
Oil Firms Deepen Cost Cuts as Price Recovery Remains Elusive
Oil companies are deepening cost cuts through efficiency and standardisation to stay profitable while maintaining dividends as a supply glut pushes back a potential recovery in the price of crude, top executives and analysts said. The sector has slashed jobs, projects and investments to cope with a 60 percent downturn in crude prices over the past two years, with consultancy Wood Mackenzie putting the drop in exploration and production spending by the top 56 oil and gas firms at 49 percent…
Newest US Refinery Sold at a Loss
A North Dakota refinery that was the first to be built in the United States since the 1970s has been sold at a loss, with profit elusive since it opened last year, as low oil prices took a toll on the region's energy industry, crimping the appetite for diesel. The sale to Tesoro Corp, which owns the only other refinery in the state, makes it unlikely another refinery will be built in the United States in the near future, despite the glut of cheap crude due to shale oil production.
North Dakota Oil Output Dips Slightly for February
North Dakota's oil output fell 3,000 barrels per day in February, far less than expected as producers brought some wells online to generate cash, the state's energy regulator said on Wednesday. The state's roughly 11,000 active wells pumped about 1,119,100 barrels per day in February, Lynn Helms told a community group in Williston, the state's oil capital. The state reports production on a two-month lag and final numbers are slated to be released on Friday.
Mansion Sales, Discount Dining: Oil Woes hit Houston's Rich
Prices for mansions in Houston's swankiest neighborhood have tumbled in lock step with crude prices. The Houston Opera has offered free season tickets to patrons who lost their jobs in the oil bust. A fancy restaurant offers cut-price dinners. Twenty months into the worst oil price crash since the 1980s, well-heeled residents of the world's oil capital are among the hardest hit largely because tanking energy firm shares make up much of oil and gas executives' compensation.
Total Plans Exploration Well in UK North Sea
French oil major Total plans to drill an exploration well at its Sween site in the British part of the North Sea, it announced on Thursday, expanding near its existing infrastructure in defiance of weak oil prices. Total said it will start drilling in the third quarter at the prospect located 150 kilometres east of the Shetland Islands and near its Alwyn platform. The North Sea is one of the oldest and therefore costliest areas to look for oil, resulting in a sharp reduction in exploration and output in recent years.
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.
Norway's Offshore Shipping Sector Faces Bleak Year
Norwegian companies that provide supply ships and drilling rigs to the global oil industry face a bleak year ahead as contracts disappear and financing options dwindle in the face of weak global crude prices. They could increasingly be forced to sell or write down the value of assets, cut jobs and tap shareholders for cash to weather the downturn, according to industry experts. This would herald more pain for Norway, where the overall oil sector accounts for about a fifth of the economy and unemployment is rising…
Oil Services Firms 'Trim Fat'
A slump in oil prices is forcing the oil and gas services industry for the first time in 15 years to trim costs in a way that executives say will create a lasting change away from their usual lavish way of doing business. Navigating a new environment in which oil prices have halved in a year and their customers are slashing investments, oil service firms face a rough ride. "The industry has been quite lazy in changing because oil prices have been helping us a lot…
Sound Oil Appoints Cantor Fitzgerald as Sole Adviser
Sound Oil, the Mediterranean focused upstream gas company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Cantor Fitzgerald Europe as the Company's sole broker with immediate effect. Cantor Fitzgerald Europe will work alongside Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance Limited, the Company's nominated adviser. The Company is also pleased to announce that Cantor Fitzgerald Europe will initiate coverage on Sound Oil shortly, with the release of a comprehensive research report on the Company.
In downturn, N.Dakota's Oilfield Firms Jostle for Tiniest of Jobs
Oilfield service companies eager for work amid plunging crude oil prices have until the end of Wednesday to bid for a guaranteed job: plugging a North Dakota well abandoned by a producer closing up shop in the No. 2 U.S. oil patch. Whichever oilfield service company does the plugging, be it Halliburton Co, Schlumberger NV or another firm, the job could bring in more than $20,000. While that's far less than the millions they have received to drill and fracture wells in years past…
Dragon Oil Shareholder ENOC: No Dividend
Majority stake will allow ENOC to vote against dividend; ENOC to lower Dragon Oil's near-term production target. Dragon Oil Plc's largest shareholder, Emirates National Oil Co Ltd (ENOC), said the oil producer no longer needed to pay a dividend to shareholders, stepping up pressure in its bid to take over the company. ENOC, which owns 54 percent of Dragon Oil, offered 750 pence per share to buy out minority shareholders in June.
Rio de Janeiro to Host 2 Global Oil Events in October
In October, Rio de Janeiro will transform into the “oil capital”. The city, which is already an international marketplace for the sector, prepares to host two of the largest international energy events: the Brazilian edition of OTC, the major global Offshore conference, and the meeting of the “energy cities”, World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP), an annual gathering of the mayors of the 22 cities which have energy as a strategic economic sector.
Maintenance to Cut Enbridge's Mainline Capacity
Canada's largest pipeline company Enbridge Inc expects maintenance work over the next three months to cut throughput on the western leg of its crude export network by up to 9 percent, a company document seen by Reuters on Friday showed. Pipeline space lost to maintenance by November will total nearly 190,000 barrels per day of the 2.4 million bpd of operating capacity on the Canadian portion or western leg of the Mainline system, which carries the bulk of Canada's crude exports to the United States.
Oklahoma Earthquake Surge Tied to Energy Activity -Study
A dramatic jump in the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma to a rate never seen there by scientists before, appears to be caused by a small number of wells where wastewater associated with oil and gas production is injected into the ground, a study released on Thursday said. Just a few of these so-called disposal wells, operating at very high volumes, "create substantial anthropogenic seismic hazard," according to findings from Cornell University researchers published in the journal Science.
Citigroup to Start Trading Physical Canadian Crude
Citigroup Inc plans to start trading physical Canadian crude oil, three sources have told Reuters, setting itself up to jockey with banks and traders to fill the vacuum left by other Wall Street giants offloading physical commodity businesses. Three participants in the Canadian crude market, who declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media, said Citi is in the process of preparing for physical trading of the most liquid Canadian grades.
