Archive for the 'Oil and Gas' Category

By Sam Fletcher / Oil & Gas Journal
June 26, 2009

HOUSTON, June 26 — The near-month price for benchmark US crude futures climbed above $70/bbl again in the New York market with confirmation of additional disruption of oil exports from Nigeria and the euro recovering from its earlier losses against the US dollar.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC confirmed militant attacks damaged a pipeline carrying benchmark Bonny crude to the key export terminal in Nigeria. Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix, Zug, Switzerland, earlier reported recent attacks on oil facilities in the delta have likely reduced Nigeria’s current production to 1.3-1.4 million b/d, down from 1.9 million last July and 1.8 million in the first quarter of this year. “The attacks on the pipeline infrastructure are also having an impact on the running of the local refineries, Warri and Port Harcourt are said to be shut, and Kanuda [is reported] running on stocks, which will run out in the next 2 weeks and provide some support to the Atlantic Basin light-end products,” he said (OGJ Online, June 25, 2009).

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After following oil higher, prices for natural gas slide–and take an industry along for the ride.

HOUSTON — As crude oil grabs headlines for trading above $60 a barrel, little brother natural gas seemed to be following. Since the end of April, gas climbed out of its $3.15-per-thousand-cubic-feet ditch to a recent $4.42.

But two bullies in the market–weak demand and unrelenting supply–suffocated a 40% gain this week. Thursday, the Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas inventories continue to climb faster than expected. Supply in storage is a third higher than it was this time last year, 22% above the five-year average. Small exploration and production companies have fallen by the wayside, seeking bankruptcy protection, while others teeter on stock prices measured in nickels and dimes. Gas traded Friday at $3.54, back in the trough where analysts say it belongs.

“Three words: Too. Much. Gas,” says energy analyst David Pursell, of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.

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5/27/2009

Oil prices hit a new high for the year and gasoline jumped a dime a gallon locally Tuesday as the stock market responded to a rise in consumer confidence.

Benchmark crude for July delivery gained 78 cents to settle at $62.45 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since oil hit $62.98 on Nov. 14, according to Bloomberg data.

Meanwhile, many retailers in Tulsa raised the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded from $2.15 to $2.25, the most expensive local price since fuel hit $2.29 on Oct. 25.

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Declaring “The Panhandle’s time is now,” the chairman of OGE Energy Corp. told shareholders Thursday he expects wind and solar energy to play a growing role in the electric utility’s future.

The Oklahoma Panhandle has wind and it has great sun resources, which puts it in position to take advantage of the political push to convert a growing percentage of the nation’s power supply to renewable energy sources, said Pete Delaney, chairman, president and chief executive of OGE Energy Corp.

Speaking at an annual shareholders meeting, Delaney was peppered with questions from shareholders interested in knowing more about the company’s plans to use wind and solar energy.

Delaney told investors OGE Energy Corp. only gets about 2 or 3 percent of its power from wind energy, but he expects that to increase to 15 to 20 percent in the next 10 or 15 years.

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May 26, 2009

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States fell by 18 this week to 900, down more than half from a year ago.

Of the rigs running nationwide, 711 were exploring for natural gas and 180 for oil, Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday. Nine were listed as miscellaneous.

A year ago, the rig count stood at 1,889. The U.S. count is down 56 percent since the end of August as weak energy demand has hampered oilfield activity.

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By MEERA SELVA , 05.26.09

The U.S. energy secretary said Tuesday that he’s had enough of talk about fighting global warming. He wants action and has pledged that America will act first to help move along the talk.

And if others, especially new No. 1 carbon dioxide emitter China, are waiting for U.S. action, they’ll get it, said Steven Chu, a Nobel-Prize winning physicist who has long warned of the dangers of global warming.

“The U.S. will move, inevitably it will move first, as a more developed country we should be moving first, and I hope China will follow,” he said.

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Pamela A. Grady
5.26.2009

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. and the city of Oklahoma City dedicated a new compressed natural gas fueling station at Will Rogers World Airport.

Designed, built and operated by Clean Energy, the large-scale, public access station will provide clean, green, domestic CNG to the expanding Airport Express fleet of shared-ride CNG shuttles. The facility, located at 4424 Amelia Earhart Drive, will be available 24/7 to serve CNG-powered vehicle fleets that operate in the area.

The Department of Airports awarded a 10-year contract to Clean Energy to develop and supply the new station.

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Heidi Rambo Centrella
5.26.2009

For three consecutive months, Oklahoma City saw a drop in sales tax receipts over the same months last year – a first for Forbes’ “recession-proof” city. Mayor Mick Cornett says he is disappointed and unsure how the city will plan its 2010 budget with these numbers.

“This is the time of year when your budget forecasters need to have some degree of certainty about the amount of revenue that’s going to be coming into the city so that we can properly budget the hundreds of millions of dollars, literally, that we expect to be coming into this city,” Cornett says. “I’m concerned about it.”

Budget Director Craig Freeman introduced a proposed 2009-2010 fiscal year budget at the May 5 City Council meeting. Council is scheduled to vote on the budget at its June 16 meeting. The budget will become effective July 1.

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By Elizabeth Souder and Dave Michaels, The Dallas Morning News 5/26/2009
DALLAS, TEXAS: The Obama administration’s push to shift the country toward renewable energy and away from fossil fuels puts the Texas economy in the crosshairs.

Hopeful Texas Democrats and entrepreneurs say the change would open opportunities for the state’s energy industry, while cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that are heating the planet. But even as Texas installs more wind power than any other state and boosts incentives for solar energy, fossil fuels reign.

“If the construct is to punish carbon manufacturers, then yes, Texas does suffer,” said John Hofmeister, former president of Houston-based Shell Oil Co.

The conflict between President Barack Obama’s vision and Texas’ reality boils down to a mix of politics and industry. While Obama has staked his economic recovery agenda on creating millions of green jobs, Texas depends on carbon dioxide jobs.

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By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Published: 5/26/2009

Well-thumbed, yellowed pieces of Oklahoma’s oil and gas drilling past can play a huge part in pumping up the industry’s high-tech future.

Well logs, handwritten by geologists as the drill bit churned nearly a century ago, are valuable tools that need to be preserved, officials say.

An Energy Libraries Online campaign hopes to raise enough money so that all of these paper records from early 20th-century well sites can be scanned and available via computer.

Newer wells already have a wealth of digital information, but many producers believe the old holes still trap plenty of oil.

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