tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65941636610665449622024-03-13T04:40:57.552+00:00Crude Oil Brokers BlogCrude Oil Brokers Blog Feedburner Feed.Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.comBlogger31317125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-90750013891451797402021-06-29T22:26:00.009+01:002021-06-29T22:26:19.856+01:00Oil Prices Advance As OPEC+ Deals with Setback<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165818_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- Oil closed higher with OPEC+ ministers divided ahead of a key meeting later this week on production policy.</p>
<p>Futures in New York managed to eke out a small advance after switching between gains and losses on Tuesday. While OPEC+ members such as Russia have considered backing an increase in output, Saudi Arabia has exercised caution in the face of growing demand and global spread of the delta variant. The alliance delayed preliminary talks between ministers by one day to allow more time to resolve differences.</p>
<p>“We’ll see the trading continue to be choppy until Thursday when the actual meeting is held and we get the official decision,” said Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Management.</p>
<p>Oil prices have climbed about 50% this year as key economies such as the U.S., U.K. and China have reopened, buoyed by mass vaccination campaigns. But the recent spread of the delta variant threatens to slow an ongoing global demand recovery. The resurgence may even lead to export-focused refiners in Asia trimming processing rates.</p>
<p>At the start of the OPEC+ alliance meeting on Tuesday, Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo praised the market’s strong fundamentals but cautioned that it’s “not completely out of the woods yet.” The 23-nation alliance is expected to revive some of the halted supplies it shuttered when demand collapsed, with analysts expecting an increase of 550,000 barrels a day.</p>
<p>Even a larger-than-expected supply boost from OPEC+ will not reach inventories in time to alleviate the tight market, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts including Damien Courvalin and Jeff Currie wrote in a report.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, much more OPEC+ supply will be needed to balance the oil market by 2022,” they said.</p>
<p>Prices</p>
<ul>
<li>West Texas Intermediate for August added 7 cents to settle at $72.98 a barrel in New York</li>
<li>Brent for August settlement rose 8 cents to end the session at $74.76 a barrel
<ul>
<li>The prompt timespread for Brent was 48 cents in backwardation, compared with 73 cents a week earlier</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Meanwhile, the delta variant has become dominant in France and Germany, and the U.K. on Monday reported most new Covid-19 cases since January. Close to half of Australia’s population is now in lockdown as the nation struggles to contain the spread of the strain.</p>
<p>“The delta variant will continue to be in the background and potentially keep the commodity from exploding higher,” said Babin.</p>
<p>Traders will also look to the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute report later Tuesday for signals about crude and gasoline stockpiles in the U.S., where the summer driving season is well underway.</p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-40592129801745653142021-06-29T22:26:00.007+01:002021-06-29T22:26:19.271+01:00Pipeline Firms Gain Leverage with Supreme Court Ruling<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165816_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that natural-gas pipeline projects with federal approval can seize state-owned land, boosting PennEast Pipeline Co.’s planned 116-mile line through Pennsylvania and New Jersey.</p>
<p>In a 5-4 ruling Tuesday that asserted a broad federal power to acquire lands needed for national infrastructure projects, the justices rejected New Jersey’s contention that sovereign immunity shields the state from being sued by PennEast.</p>
<p>The pipeline would carry as much as 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from northern Pennsylvania to New Jersey. PennEast, a joint venture of five companies including Southern Co. and Enbridge Inc., still must secure state-level permits, something that may prove difficult in New Jersey, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Brandon Barnes. He said the project still has “low odds.”</p>
<p>PennEast hailed the ruling as a step toward more affordable, reliable energy, while New Jersey and environmental groups vowed to keep fighting.</p>
<p>The ruling “protects consumers who rely on infrastructure projects -- found to be in the public benefit after thorough scientific and environmental reviews -- from being denied access to much-needed energy by narrow state political interests,” said Anthony Cox, chairman of the PennEast board of managers.</p>
<p>The decision “is not the end of the road in our fight against the PennEast pipeline,” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in an emailed statement. “We still have other, ongoing legal challenges to this proposed pipeline, which is unnecessary and would be destructive to New Jersey lands.”</p>
<p>Still, the ruling is a broad victory for pipeline companies, giving them new leverage in dealing with state officials.</p>
<p><strong>Infrastructure Power</strong></p>
<p>The case split the court along unusual lines, with Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch dissenting.</p>
<p>Writing for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts said the federal government can constitutionally delegate its power to use eminent domain to secure land-use rights -- even if that means suing a state.</p>
<p>Roberts said that authority helped fulfill the constitutional framers’ goal of a “cohesive national sovereign.”</p>
<p>“Over the course of the nation’s history, the federal government and its delegatees have exercised the eminent domain power to give effect to that vision, connecting our country through turnpikes, bridges, and railroads -- and more recently pipelines, telecommunications infrastructure, and electric transmission facilities,” Roberts wrote.</p>
<p>At issue was a U.S. Natural Gas Act provision that lets pipeline companies use the federal government’s eminent domain power. After the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the pipeline in 2018, PennEast sued to gain access to more than 40 parcels that are either owned or partially controlled by New Jersey.</p>
<p>But a Philadelphia-based federal appeals court said that, while the law gives companies eminent domain powers, it doesn’t let them sue states to enforce those rights. The panel pointed to the Constitution’s 11th Amendment, which limits the circumstances in which private parties can sue states without their consent.</p>
<p>Rejecting those arguments, Roberts said lawsuits like the one filed by PennEast “do not offend state sovereignty, because the states consented at the founding to the exercise of the federal eminent domain power, whether by public officials or private delegatees.”</p>
<p><strong>Barrett Dissent</strong></p>
<p>In dissent, Barrett said that assertion “has no textual, structural, or historical support.” She said that if the federal government wants to take state-owned land, it must do so itself, rather than delegating the power to a private party.</p>
<p>“The Constitution limits the means by which the federal government can impose its will on the states,” Barrett wrote.</p>
<p>Jim Waltman, the head of a group that has been fighting the PennEast project for seven years, said he was “extremely disappointed” in the ruling.</p>
<p>“Our fight against PennEast is far from over,” said Waltman, executive director of the Watershed Institute. “The proposed pipeline project still faces many legal and regulatory obstacles.”</p>
<p>Another opponent, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, said the ruling puts preserved New Jersey land in “great jeopardy.”</p>
<p>“The PennEast pipeline would threaten the health and safety of our communities, seize private land and taxpayer-preserved open space, and harm our drinking water, natural and historic resources,” said Tom Gilbert, the group’s campaign director.</p>
<p>The case is PennEast v. New Jersey, 19-1039.</p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-50673151088688388172021-06-29T22:26:00.005+01:002021-06-29T22:26:18.600+01:00Former Texas Driller Shifts Focus to Plugging Old Wells<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165815_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- A long-time investor in oil and gas companies is now betting on cleaning the mess they leave behind.</p>
<p>BlackGold Capital Management LP, a private equity firm partially owned by KKR & Co., is helping form a company to finance and start handling the cleaning and plugging of non-producing wells -- a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants -- before they’re even drilled.</p>
<p>OneNexus Environmental, as the venture has been named, was designed to operate much like a life insurance company for wells. It’s willing to collect premiums from onshore drillers during the life cycle of insured wells, then take ownership and become legally liable for decommissioning those sites when they’re no longer productive.</p>
<p>BlackGold’s move underscores how traditional fossil-fuel investors are seeking to take advantage of opportunities emerging from the energy transition as oil and gas companies face increasing pressure to keep a lid on growth and take action on their carbon footprint. Persuading them to ensure the responsible retirement of new wells alone would create a multi-billion dollar market for companies such as OneNexus, according to Adam Flikerski, a managing partner at BlackGold.</p>
<p>“The numbers can be staggeringly lucrative for OneNexus and at the same time accomplish and solve for a significant problem in society and for the industry,” Flikerski said in an interview. While BlackGold is still not ready to fully abandon conventional oil and gas funding, there’s “no question” most of its future growth will come from investments with green, sustainable characteristics, he said.</p>
<p><strong>Abandoned Wells</strong></p>
<p>The U.S. alone has about 3.4 million abandoned oil and gas wells, and only 40% of those are plugged, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Many belonged to companies that went bankrupt, or were sold to small drillers still hoping to extract some fuel out of the ground, or were simply abandoned amid a lack of capital for needed remediations.</p>
<p>That’s partly because onshore drillers have no legal obligation to set aside funds for their asset retirement obligations, meaning they can just carry estimates of that liability on their balance sheet, says Tony Sanchez III, OneNexus founder and chief executive officer. The new firm will seek to raise $300 million in equity as reserve capital for the liabilities they’re willing to aggregate.</p>
<p>“It’s a giant unfunded liability,” Sanchez said in the same interview. Insuring well retirement would allow companies to move liabilities associated with asset retirement obligations off their balance sheets, improving their borrowing capacity as well as their environmental credentials, he said.</p>
<p>OneNexus also marks a twist for Sanchez, a former owner and CEO of Sanchez Energy Corp., a Texas driller that filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and emerged from Chapter 11 a year ago as Mesquite Energy.</p>
<p>“If we’re going to produce oil and gas, we should do so in a sustainable manner,” Sanchez said. “And one of the components to sustainability is: when the well finishes its producing, the funding should be available to plug it and not leave this for future generations.”</p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-35121326831664410552021-06-29T22:26:00.003+01:002021-06-29T22:26:17.983+01:00Biden-backed Carbon Border Tax Faces Fight from Developing World<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165814_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- India and other developing nations will oppose plans by the European Union and the U.S. to penalize imports of carbon-intensive goods to curb emissions at the global climate summit to be held in Glasgow this November.</p>
<p>“It is the most regressive proposal” with “no principle of equity adhered to,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Vandana Gombar at the BNEF Summit held virtually on Tuesday. “This is unfair taxation, nobody will accept it.”</p>
<p>India will instead seek more action from European nations and the U.S., which have not kept their commitments on reducing emissions, Javadekar said. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is considering a so-called border adjustment tariff to be levied on certain carbon-intensive goods imported from countries with lax climate controls. That’s similar to plans put forth by the EU and those being discussed by the U.K. and Canada.</p>
<p>Javadekar listed India’s climate investments, including its solar power plans and 400 billion rupees ($5.9 billion) spending on increasing forest cover. The minister also criticized delays in plans to release the $100 billion in financial aid to developing nations to help them meet their climate goals. The funds that were supposed to be disbursed by 2020 have now been delayed to 2025.</p>
<p>India would push for more action from developed nations at the Conference of Parties or COP26 in November, Javadekar said. “We are paying, we are suffering from climate change which was caused by the reckless emissions for hundreds of years by the developed world,” Javadekar said.</p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-21691579970531786052021-06-29T22:26:00.001+01:002021-06-29T22:26:17.594+01:00Refiners Bet Boldly on USA Demand<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165813_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- Summer is the time of the year when refiners are apt to chase profits regardless of what supply and demand numbers tell them.</p>
<p>Particularly this year, after more than 12 months of retreat and industry losses in the billions because of a pandemic that paralyzed economies, the need for urgency is plain. The July 4 holiday, traditionally a big driving time in the U.S., begins next weekend. Not far behind looms August when the Atlantic hurricane season traditionally kicks into high gear.</p>
<p>PBF Energy Inc.’s Delaware City refinery summoned an extra 500,000 barrels of feedstock for fuel-making production units that are running harder to get more gasoline to market, a person familiar with operations said. Shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show the vacuum gasoil, or VGO, arrived after nearly a four-week journey from Russia, indicating PBF had long planned to rev up summer rates.</p>
<p>Industry wide, gasoline production in the week ended June 18 jumped 4% to 10.3 million barrels a day, the highest level since September 2019. Gasoline stocks fell nearly 3 million barrels to 240 million as gasoline demand, measured by products supplied, rose 80,000 barrels to 9.44 million barrels a day, a five-week high. The overall demand for oil products rose 0.9% to 20.8 million barrels a day.</p>
<p>For the faint of heart, there are danger signals: The four-week rolling average demand for gasoline, a more reliable gauge, fell 10,000 barrels to 9.11 million. That’s 445,000 barrels below the five year average for 2014-2019. The four-week average demand for all oil products is seasonally the lowest since 2014, excluding 2020.</p>
<p>“Refiners are running but demand isn’t there yet,” said Amrita Sen, co-founder of London consultancy Energy Aspects and head of research.</p>
<p>The Nymex 3-2-1 crack spread, a rough gauge of the margin refiners can capture with a barrel of crude based on futures prices in New York, fell below $20 a barrel for the second consecutive day on Monday while Gulf Coast margins have also narrowed since Thursday.</p>
<p>If too much product comes to market too fast, spot prices will sag as happened with Chicago diesel earlier this week. Midwest rates at 96.6% are still the highest in the nation even after dropping 0.7% to 96.6% last week. Midwest supply rose a third week, by 980,000 barrels to 49.6 million barrels, the highest since April 16.</p>
<p>On the West Coast, which raised rates last week, summer heat waves threaten to overwhelm power grids, which could bring an abrupt stop to production at any time. Monthly and all-time high temperatures could envelop Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.</p>
<p>For Gulf Coast refiners, another overactive hurricane season could be in store for the Atlantic, with government forecasters predicting as many as 20 named storms after a record number slammed into the U.S. mainland in 2020.</p>
<p>Refining margins (as of June 24, in $/bbl)</p>
<ul>
<li>Maya U.S. Gulf coking at $5.77</li>
<li>LLS U.S. Gulf cracking at $7.88</li>
<li>WCS U.S. Midcontinent coking at $27.56</li>
<li>East Coast Forcados cracking at $3.57</li>
</ul>
<p>Nymex crack spreads</p>
<ul>
<li>U.S. West Coast WCS crude oil 3-2-1 crack spread at $35.77</li>
<li>3-2-1 front-month crack spread at $19.33</li>
<li>For more crack spread futures, see CRCK</li>
</ul>
<p><em>--With assistance from Javier Blas and Brian K. Sullivan.</em></p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-23149194372692958512021-06-29T13:26:00.013+01:002021-06-29T13:26:46.740+01:00Shell Rep Becomes CEO of Aberdeen Renewables Group<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165812_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) has revealed that it has appointed David Rodger as its new chief executive officer.</p>
<p>AREG outlined that the appointment comes as the group seeks to further develop support to members and increase links with stakeholders to assist net zero strategies across north east Scotland and beyond. Rodger, who is joining the group on October 1, is said to have extensive experience across the energy industry.</p>
<p>The incoming AREG CEO previously spent four years with the group as a communications manager, before joining Vattenfall in 2009. He supported the development of the Clashindarroch onshore windfarm near Huntly, as well as the European Offshore Wind Deployment Center, before joining Shell in 2012. </p>
<p>“I’m extremely proud to be returning to AREG as CEO,” Rodger said in an organization statement. “Despite leaving more than a decade ago, I’ve continued to be heavily involved through advisory groups and supported the organization at every opportunity,” he added.</p>
<p>“There has been enormous change in that time but we’re now entering another exciting phase for renewable energy in Scotland, and I can’t wait to be part of that with AREG as we grow the organization to champion both the production and use of low carbon energy – right across industries, communities and homes,” Rodger went on to say.</p>
<p>Jean Morrison, the chair of AREG, said, “the board and I are very pleased to welcome David back to AREG in this new role”.</p>
<p>“He has been involved with AREG for more than 15 years in various positions and his knowledge, connections and passion for transformation will be fundamental in driving us forward,” Morrison added. “Through his developer experience, David will bring fresh ideas and initiatives for the organization as we continue to champion the supply chain and enable a just energy transition,” the AREG chair continued.</p>
<p>AREG, which has around 190 members, was founded as a non-profit organization almost 20 years ago. According to its website, the group plays a key role in developing a sustainable renewable energy sector in the north east of Scotland and across the UK, supporting its members and attracting investment. AREG members include BP, Equinor, and Shell.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-79711828490162165942021-06-29T13:26:00.011+01:002021-06-29T13:26:46.429+01:00Physical Oil Markets Run Hot<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165811_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- The physical oil market, in which millions of barrels of crude are bought and sold each day, is screaming for more supply in the run-up to a pivotal meeting of OPEC+ producers this week.</p>
<p>Whether it’s in the North Sea, the Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma, or the Middle East, futures and swaps in the world’s leading pricing locations are trading deep in a pattern called backwardation. In short, it means traders are willing to pay big premiums to secure physical barrels. The structure wouldn’t look out of place in a $100-a-barrel market.</p>
<p>At the heart of the tightness, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied nations are keeping millions of barrels off the market when demand in the world’s big consumption centers is coming back from Covid. At the same time, the producer alliance has a tricky decision to make given the threat of new virus variants, and uncertainty about when the U.S. might ease sanctions on Iran, freeing the nation’s exports.</p>
<p>“The physical market is very tight as you have the trifecta of all the big refining centers buying,” said Kitt Haines, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. “With Brent at around $75, OPEC+ will take a long hard look at how tight the market is, especially with Iran not looking like it will be back anytime soon.”</p>
<p>In the North Sea, home of the Dated Brent benchmark that’s central to many oil transactions, prices are getting stronger despite an increase in regional cargo loadings coming next month.</p>
<p>Bids for cargoes have been dominating a pricing window run by S&P Global Platts. On Friday, Royal Dutch Shell Plc sought Forties, often a grade that sets benchmark North Sea prices, at a premium of $1.10 a barrel above Dated Brent, the highest in a year. Traders report burgeoning demand from local refineries as mobility recovers. Differentials for key Nigerian grades have also made significant gains.</p>
<p>“Refiners are increasing runs, particularly in Europe, so there is more physical demand and this is pushing up differentials as buyers compete for ‘local’ grades,” said Jonathan Leitch, London-based director of consulting at Turner Mason & Co. “Looking ahead, the tightness in the physical market will be a further confirmation for OPEC that demand really is growing strongly and that there is certainly a market for additional crude.”</p>
<p><strong>Soaring Spreads</strong></p>
<p>But it’s in timespreads that market tightness looks most apparent.</p>
<p>West Texas Intermediate crude for August was 70-cents-a-barrel above September contracts on Monday, a very high level by historical standards. Equivalent contracts for Brent were about 75 cents. Dated to Front Line swaps, contracts to hedge -- or bet on -- physical Brent prices were at 40 cents a barrel, close to the strongest since December 2019.</p>
<p>Likewise, backwardation in prompt swaps for Dubai crude, a benchmark for barrels that make up the baseload of feedstock for Asian refineries, widened to the largest since January 2020 earlier this month.</p>
<p>That strength may be as much about supply-side dynamics as growing consumption. Chinese demand is continuing to recover from the impact of the virus, and physical market buying from India is starting to pick up following a vicious second wave that had hobbled its economy. However, the picture elsewhere remains mixed, especially parts of Southeast Asia including Malaysia, which just has extended its lockdown, hurting consumption.</p>
<p>A soaring premium for Brent crude over Dubai oil has restricted supplies flowing into Asia from the Atlantic Basin as buyers avoided pricey Brent-linked barrels flowing in from places such as North Sea and West Africa.</p>
<p>In the U.S., refiners have steadily increased processing rates to meet rising demand from motorists, draining domestic supplies of light crude. Analysts forecast inventories at the key storage hub in Cushing could fall even further as shale producers heed investors’ calls to restrain spending for new production.</p>
<p>The resulting tightness in supplies is supporting prices of heavy oil from Canada to Colombia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s also making U.S. crude so pricey that it’s hampering overseas sales.</p>
<p><strong>Pulling From Asia</strong></p>
<p>Such is the shift that some American refiners have been forced to lock in supplies from Asia, such as Sokol crude from eastern Russia, that’s helped lift spot differentials of the variety to the highest since 2020.</p>
<p>“U.S. refiners competing for barrels usually absorbed by Asian refiners is creating an illustration of a tight market,” Grayson Lim, a senior oil analyst at FGE in Singapore. “How tight the actual physical market will be in Asia really depends on the outcome of the OPEC+ talks involving the August target output later this week.”</p>
<p>Market observers widely expect that a hike of some kind will be agreed when OPEC+ meets this week, with the extra supply hitting the market in August. All but two of 19 analysts, traders and refiners in a global survey by Bloomberg News predicted that the coalition will tap its sizable spare production capacity.</p>
<p>Yet the average increase they forecast for August was about 550,000 barrels a day -- barely a quarter of the global supply deficit that OPEC+ itself anticipates during that month.</p>
<p>“Crude fundamentals are on a tear at the moment, signaling a tight market in all the relevant metrics,” said Eugene Lindell, an analyst at consultant JBC Energy GmbH. “The tightness we are seeing is the logical consequence of demand exceeding supply for most of this year on account of the OPEC+ production cuts and a successful vaccination campaign.”</p>
<p><em>--With assistance from Lucia Kassai, Jake Lloyd-Smith and Jasmina Kelemen.</em></p>
<p>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-18984280282309345802021-06-29T13:26:00.009+01:002021-06-29T13:26:46.102+01:00BSEE Revises Maximum Daily Civil Penalty Fine Regs<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165810_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has announced revisions to the regulations for maximum daily civil penalties (MDCP) that may be imposed on producers for violations under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act (FOGRMA).</p>
<p>The BSEE noted that the revised regulations cross reference the parallel regulations of the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), which also sets MDCP amounts for FOGRMA violations. This final rule synchronizes and permanently links the BSEE and ONRR fine amounts, ensuring they are always consistent, and that any annual inflation adjustments are automatically reflected, the BSEE highlighted. No new costs or burdens are imposed by the revised regulation.</p>
<p>“In addition to preventing any possibility of future inconsistencies between BSEE and ONRR maximum daily civil penalty amounts under FOGRMA, the revisions announced today eliminate the duplication of efforts and unnecessary costs to the Department of the Interior,” Janine Marie Tobias, the BSEE’s national enforcement program manager, said in an organization statement posted on the BSEE’s website on Monday.</p>
<p>The BSEE may impose civil penalties under FOGRMA after providing an operator with notice of noncompliance and an opportunity to correct the violation(s) for noncompliance with any applicable statute, regulation, order, or lease term relating to any federal oil or gas lease. The organization may also impose penalties under FOGRMA, without providing prior notice or an opportunity to correct the violation, for certain known or willful violations of the provisions of FOGRMA.</p>
<p>According to its website, the mission of the BSEE is to promote safety, protect the environment, and conserve resources offshore through vigorous regulatory oversight and enforcement. The organization is headed by an appointed director who oversees a staff of more than 850 federal employees. The BSEE’s headquarters are located in Washington D.C., and Sterling, Virginia.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-6662986149021583922021-06-29T13:26:00.007+01:002021-06-29T13:26:45.794+01:00Another CNOOC Field Fires Up<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165809_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>CNOOC Limited (NYSE: CEO, TSX: CNU) has announced that the Weizhou 11-2 oilfield phase II project has commenced production.</p>
<p>In addition to utilizing the existing processing facilities of the Weizhou 11-2 oilfield, the project has built one unmanned wellhead platform, CNOOC Limited revealed. A total of 13 development wells are planned for the asset, including seven production wells and six water injection wells, according to CNOOC, which said the project is expected to reach a peak production of approximately 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day next year.</p>
<p>CNOOC Limited holds a 100 percent interest in the Weizhou 11-2 oilfield phase II project and acts as the operator. The project, which is said to have a water depth of around 130 feet, is located in the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea.</p>
<p>Last week, CNOOC Limited announced that <strong>China’s first offshore large-sized independent deepwater gas field, Lingshui 17-2, had commenced production</strong>. Back in May, the company revealed that the Liuhua 29-2 gas field had started production and in March, it revealed that the Caofeidian 6-4 oilfield had commenced output.</p>
<p>CNOOC Limited achieved total net production of 137.7 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter of 2021, which represents an increase of 4.7 percent year on year, the company revealed in its key operational statistics report released in April. CNOOC Limited made two new discoveries and drilled 18 appraisal wells during the first quarter.</p>
<p>According to its website, the CNOOC group is the largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas in China and one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world. As of December 31, 2020, the group owned net proved reserves of approximately 5.37 billion barrels of oil equivalent and its average daily net production was 1.44 million barrels of oil equivalent, its site shows.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-13833820035859313882021-06-29T13:26:00.005+01:002021-06-29T13:26:44.980+01:00Eni Ordered to Set Aside Part of Sankofa Revenues<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165808_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- Eni SpA and Vitol Group could lose a share of the proceeds from their offshore oil field in Ghana after resisting a government order to merge their asset with a domestic company’s neighboring field.</p>
<p>A Ghanaian court ordered Eni, the field operator, and its joint venture partner to pay 30% of all revenues generated from their Sankofa field, which produces about 60,000 barrels a day, into an escrow account, Judge Mariama Sammo said Friday.</p>
<p>The monies will be “deposited into an interest-bearing account with a bank to be agreed between the parties until the final determination of the substantive case,” the judge said.</p>
<p>The order, which became effective on the same day, will remain in place until the court decides on the case brought forward by Springfield Exploration and Production Ltd., which owns the neighboring Afina field.</p>
<p>The Accra-based energy company is seeking the enforcement of a government order that Eni combine, or unitize, its Sankofa field with Springfield’s Afina field. The fields’ unitization would require that the companies develop and produce the two assets’ output as a single unit.</p>
<p>It’s common within the oil industry to combine nearby fields that turn out to be part of the same geological structure. The process distributes the resources between license holders in proportion to their share of the initial discoveries, allowing for more efficient development of the resources using shared infrastructure.</p>
<p>However, Eni had previously opposed the unitization of Sankofa, saying Springfield, which estimates that Afina has 1.5 billion barrels of oil in place, hadn’t sufficiently tested its discovery to show that it shares a reservoir. Sankofa has reserves of about 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 500 million barrels of oil, according to Eni’s website.</p>
<p><strong>High Stakes</strong></p>
<p>Eni is studying the full ruling “in order to establish the impact it could have on our current operations,” it said in an emailed statement. “We fully expect to take the appropriate steps necessary in order to protect our operations in the country, including appealing against this ruling.”</p>
<p>A spokesperson for Vitol declined to comment.</p>
<p>If the court doesn’t end up calling for the companies to combine their fields, the funds preserved together with the accrued interest will be released to Eni and Vitol, the judge said in her ruling.</p>
<p>“Springfield is not interested in stalling ongoing crude oil production on the Sankofa field, and believes in fairness and justice for all, irrespective of their size and position,” Chief Executive Officer Kevin Okyere said in an emailed statement.</p>
<p>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-69296691148726762142021-06-29T13:26:00.003+01:002021-06-29T13:26:44.358+01:00What is the Market Consensus for OPEC+ Meeting?<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165807_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>According to Rystad Energy’s oil markets analyst Louise Dickson, the market consensus is that OPEC+ will likely raise August production by about 500,000 barrels per day at its next meeting, which is scheduled to take place on July 1.</p>
<p>Depending on the Delta variant developments, this would still be a net positive for oil prices as it doesn’t fully satiate the swiftly growing demand profile over summer, Dickson highlighted. The oil markets analyst outlined that Rystad Energy believes OPEC+ should take an even more cautious approach, however, and only raise production by 100,000 to 200,000 barrels per day, month on month, in August, “due to uncertainty over the Delta variant and a potential Iran deal”.</p>
<p>“OPEC+ should be cautious but over-caution will lead to a continued oil price rally that on one hand will bring much needed dollars to many OPEC+ countries, but risks relinquishing market share outside the OPEC+ sphere of influence,” Dickson said in a statement sent to Rigzone on Monday.</p>
<p>“OPEC+ prefers to stay behind the demand curve to provide more pricing flexibility and better plan for upstream developments, as well as leave some flexibility for the potential return of Iranian barrels, slipping compliance from Russia and Iraq, and a potential mini-surge from U.S. shale,” the Rystad Energy analyst added.</p>
<p>“For the moment, it looks like the U.S. airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria over the weekend will likely pause any imminent U.S.-Iran nuclear deal talks,” Dickson went on to say.</p>
<p>In the statement sent to Rigzone, Dickson pointed out that oil prices were taking a hit over new setbacks that the Covid-19 pandemic is landing in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia.</p>
<p>“The forecast for oil demand recovery over the summer may be a bit overestimated and traders are facing a reality check this week as the Delta variant reached Europe and as an infections surge in Southeast Asia and Australia is bringing back lockdowns,” Dickson said.</p>
<p>“The lifting of public health measures across Europe in June may need to be walked back in order to fight the new highly contagious spread of the new variant,” Dickson added.</p>
<p>“We could see a flurry of travel restrictions reinstated in Europe as a result of the Delta variant’s spread, which would weigh on gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel demand, and prices will take notice,” the Rystad representative continued.</p>
<p>At the time of writing, the price of Brent crude oil stood at $73.98 per barrel.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-63861372957508981282021-06-29T13:26:00.001+01:002021-06-29T13:26:43.649+01:00Eastern Mediterranean Drilling Campaign Could Include Five Wells<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165805_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>A unit of Energean plc (LSE: ENOG) has signed a contract with Stena Drilling Limited for its 2022-2023 drilling program offshore Israel, Energean reported Monday.</p>
<p>Energean Israel Limited’s contract for the Stena Icemax drillship includes three firm wells and two optional wells and will likely target recoverable resources of more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), Energean noted in a written statement.</p>
<p>“We are delighted to working with Stena again, and this five-well program follows the three-well development drilling program and 243-million-boe Karish North discovery, all successfully executed with Stena over 2019 and 2020,” commented Energean CEO Mathios Rigas.</p>
<p>Energean stated that it expects to drill all three firm wells in 2022, with the first spudding in the first quarter of next year. The operator noted the firm wells include:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Karish North development well, with a scope including re-entry, sidetracking, and completion of the previously drilled Karish North wells and completion as a producer to commercialize 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas and 31 million barrels of liquids (2P reserves; 243 million boe total; first gas projected for the second half of 2023</li>
<li>The Karish Main-04 appraisal well that will likely target further prospective volumes within the Karish Main Block, including the potential oil rim identified earlier with 166 million boe total estimated unrisked recoverable volumes (Degolyer and MacNaughton estimate excluding D-sand volumes)</li>
<li>The Athena exploration well in Block 12, located between the Karish and Tanin leases, targeting estimated unrisked recoverable resource volumes of 400 billion cubic feet of gas and 2 million barrels of liquids with a 70% geological chance of success.</li>
</ul>
<p>“Our five-well growth program, offshore Israel, commencing 1Q 2022, has the potential to double Energean plc’s reserve base with resource volumes that can be quickly, economically, and safely monetized,” remarked Rigas. “Combined with first gas from our flagship Karish gas development project in mid-2022, the next 12 months are set to be truly transformational for Energean.”</p>
<p><strong>Energean reported this past January</strong> that it had taken a final investment decision on the Karish North development. The following month TechnipFMC (NYSE: FTI) (PARIS: FTI) revealed that it had secured a <strong>letter of award for subsea equipment for the project</strong>.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-15362286032646608412021-06-29T04:26:00.001+01:002021-06-29T04:26:46.210+01:00Oil Prices Contract As Market Ponders OPEC+ Move<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165806_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- Oil fell the most in a week with the market expecting OPEC+ producers to increase supply at an upcoming meeting at a time when the delta variant is threatening to slow a recovery in demand.</p>
<p>Futures in New York closed 1.5% lower. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will meet Thursday, when they may decide to boost output by 500,000 to 1 million barrels a day in August, according to a RBC Capital Markets report. Meanwhile, the spread of the more infectious delta variant of the coronavirus is resulting in renewed lockdowns across parts of Asia and Australia.</p>
<p>The coalition “will answer the call to put more barrels on the market,” said Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, in the report. “This modest turn of the taps should be palatable to all the parties involved,” and will be “well-received” by the Biden White House, she added.</p>
<p>U.S. crude futures are up more than 10% so far this month with progress in Covid-19 vaccination campaigns and reopenings underpinning an ongoing global demand rebound. Whether it’s in the North Sea, the Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma, or the Middle East, futures and swaps in the world’s leading pricing locations are trading deep in a pattern called backwardation, showing how traders are willing to pay big premiums to secure physical barrels. Key benchmark crude timespreads eased somewhat Monday with exports at a major Norwegian oil field set to rise to a record.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia has maintained discipline toward relinquishing supply back into the market. The 23-nation alliance has restored roughly 40% of the almost 10 million barrels of daily production it shuttered when demand collapsed last year at a tightly controlled pace to avoid outpacing demand growth.</p>
<p>Still, the path to recovery continues to be a jagged one and remains susceptible to viral outbreaks dampening demand. With the spread of the variant, “we believe OPEC+ should take an even more cautious approach, only raising production by 100,000 to 200,000 barrels per day, month-on-month in August,” said Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy, in a note.</p>
<p>Cases of the delta variant have surged across Europe and Asia in recent weeks, leading to new travel and movement restrictions. The U.K. on Monday reported the most new Covid-19 cases since January, and Hong Kong, Spain and Portugal all imposed new restrictions to visitors from the U.K. At the same time, authorities are racing to contain outbreaks in Australia.</p>
<p>Prices</p>
<ul>
<li>West Texas Intermediate for August delivery slid $1.14 to settle at $72.91 in New York</li>
<li>Brent for August settlement lost $1.50 to end session at $74.68 a barrel</li>
</ul>
<p>Meanwhile, the possibility of Iranian barrels returning to international markets was potentially complicated after U.S. forces conducted air strikes Sunday against Iran-backed militias in Iraq. The militias are responsible for attacks against American facilities in Iraq, the Defense Department said.</p>
<p><em>--With assistance from Elizabeth Low and Alex Longley.</em></p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-66832295152761347612021-06-28T19:26:00.015+01:002021-06-28T19:26:34.578+01:00Baker Hughes Acquires Stake in Synthetic Natural Gas Firm<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165804_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- Baker Hughes is taking a 15% stake in a startup that aims to produce natural gas from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, the oilfield service company’s latest move to invest technology designed to capture emissions.</p>
<p>Houston-based Baker Hughes is investing in Electrochaea GmbH, a German company developing a process to make so-called synthetic natural gas from carbon dioxide and from hydrogen produced using renewable energy, according to a statement. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The CO2 can be derived from sources including industrial plants and the breakdown of organic matter.</p>
<p>The investment is the latest example of an oilfield service provider backing technology intended to address concerns about greenhouse gas emissions. Earlier this month, Baker Hughes announced plans to develop a hub in Norway to capture and store CO2.</p>
<p>Baker Hughes and Electrochaea technology “provides an integrated method to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as road transportation and heating,” Rod Christie, executive vice president of turbomachinery and process solutions at Baker Hughes, said in the statement. With its investment, Baker Hughes will get a seat on Electrochaea’s board.</p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-42422935607412398082021-06-28T19:26:00.013+01:002021-06-28T19:26:34.242+01:00Drilling Contractor Invests in Geothermal Tech Firms<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165803_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR) reported last week that it is investing a total of $21 million in a pair of geothermal technology companies.</p>
<p>In one instance, the drilling contractor will invest $10 million in Sage Geosystems Inc. Sage is developing geothermal technologies integrating surface (plant) and subsurface (well) components aimed at improving heat harvesting efficiency at a lower capital cost, according to a written statement from Sage. The investment from Nabors, coupled with $2 million from Virya, LLC, will help to accelerate Sage’s technology commercialization and construct its first commercial power plant, stated Sage, which is a Virya portfolio company.</p>
<p>“Geothermal energy can be developed into an unlimited source of clean and renewable energy, which is available 24 hour a day, 365 days a year, but also requires a relatively low amount of resource mining for its effective utilization,” remarked Sage CEO Lev Ring. “We believe the combination of Sage and Nabors will propel geothermal energy to the front of the transition to rapidly commercialize clean energy sources, economically and responsibly.”</p>
<p>Given its focus on early commercialization, Sage pointed out that it is prioritizing access to onshore geopressured formations in the Gulf of Mexico region to prove the commercial viability of its technologies and geothermal harvesting approach.</p>
<p>“We are very excited to participate in the evolution of geothermal energy along with Sage,” commented Nabors Chairman, CEO, and President Anthony G. Petrello. “We believe Sage’s novel approach to harnessing geothermal energy has significant potential to be disruptive to energy markets worldwide.”</p>
<p>Separately, Nabors has also agreed to invest $11 million in GeoX Energy, Inc., which aims to commercialize technologies to install supercritical geothermal power stations in the United States and internationally.</p>
<p>“GeoX is delighted to welcome Nabors, one of the world’s largest providers of advanced drilling technology and well construction services, as a strategic investor,” said Andrew Fleming, GeoX’s founder and CEO in a written statement. “We believe that Nabors’ drilling expertise, stellar health, safety, and environment record, and global reach will greatly accelerate GeoX plans of scaling our supercritical power stations in the U.S. and worldwide in an eminently safe manner for both employees and the environment.”</p>
<p>Nabors’ investment will help to cover costs of a 50-megawatt supercritical geothermal pilot project that GeoX plans to complete by the end of 2022, GeoX noted.</p>
<p>“We believe that GeoX’s leadership, with its extensive global energy experience, combined with its supercritical geothermal power station technologies, have the potential to provide an economic source of baseload renewable power for many generations to come,” Petrello said.</p>
<p>Nabors owns and operates one of the world’s largest land-based drilling fleets and also provides offshore platform workover and drilling rigs in the U.S. and internationally, the company states on its website.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com. Find out more about geothermal energy in recent Rigzone articles discussing</em> <em><em><strong>orphaned oil and gas wells</strong></em></em><em>, </em><em><em><strong>market opportunities and collaboration</strong></em></em><em>, </em><em><em><strong>ultra-deep drilling technology</strong></em></em><em>,</em> <em><em><strong>a waterless system</strong></em>, and <strong>co-production from a conventional oil well</strong></em><em>.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-78221579714259880662021-06-28T19:26:00.011+01:002021-06-28T19:26:33.613+01:00Biden Expected to Sign Obama Methane Mandates into Law<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165802_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- The House voted Friday to rescind a Trump-era rule blocking the EPA from directly limiting oil industry emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane, a move that would restore requirements imposed by the Obama administration while freeing the agency to craft new more stringent rules for the oil and gas industry.</p>
<p>The measure, which was passed by a vote of 229-191, has already passed the Senate and is now expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden whose administration has said addressing methane pollution is a critical and urgent step needed to combat climate change.</p>
<p>“If we’re going to be serious about combating this climate crisis, we have to take steps now to cut the amount of methane in our atmosphere,” said Representative Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat. “This legislation will keep more than 1.6 million tons of methane out of the air that we all breath.”</p>
<p>Methane, the chief component of natural gas, is estimated to be at least 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere over a 20-year period. The oil and gas sector is the largest industrial source of the pollutant, which can escape from oil wells and gas pipelines.</p>
<p>Trump’s methane rule, finalized in 2020, ended the Environmental Protection Agency’s methane-specific emission limits at new oil and gas wells, while removing additional curbs on leaks of smog-causing volatile organic compounds from gas transmission and storage equipment.</p>
<p>The House vote to repeal that rule effectively reinstates prior standards including mandates for periodic monitoring of some wells and leak inspections and repairs of transmission and storage equipment. Its passage also sets the stage for the EPA to strengthen the standards as well while imposing similar requirements on nearly one million existing wells.</p>
<p>The measure, which had the backing of companies Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Equinor ASA, Cheniere Energy Inc. and Pioneer Natural Resources Co., comes as the oil and gas industry increasingly realizes that reducing methane emissions from their operations is essential for the viability of their businesses as they seek to brand their fuel source as a cleaner alternative to coal. The French government scuttled a $7 billion deal to import liquefied natural gas from the U.S. last fall amid concerns about methane emissions.</p>
<p>“American companies as well as some of the international companies see the writing on the wall,” said Dan Grossman, a senior director with the Environmental Defense Fund. “Market forces are dictating that the U.S. gets its house in order when it comes to regulating methane pollution.”</p>
<p>Democrats were able to overturn the Trump rule using a 1996 law known as the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to rescind federal regulations passed in the waning days of a presidential administration as long as they act within a few months of a new Congress. The methane measure passed the Senate in April.</p>
<p>It had been used only once before 2017 when Republicans, led by then-President Donald Trump, used it to repeal 14 Obama-era rules including one that limited the ability of the mentally ill to buy firearms and another forcing oil companies to disclose their payments to foreign governments.</p>
<p>In addition to the methane rule, the House voted on Thursday to overturn a Trump rule by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that critics say allows predatory lending and an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule that critics say makes it harder for workers to prevail against employers in workplace discrimination claims.</p>
<p><em>--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.</em></p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-11650873605450413612021-06-28T19:26:00.009+01:002021-06-28T19:26:33.115+01:00USA Oil Refiners Score Supreme Court Victory<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165801_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- The EPA has wide latitude to exempt refineries from federal mandates that they mix renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday, a victory for oil companies seeking a break from the requirements.</p>
<p>In a 6-3 decision, the justices rejected arguments that the Environmental Protection Agency’s exemption power is limited to only a handful of refineries that have received uninterrupted annual waivers from the Renewable Fuel Standard.</p>
<p>Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said that nothing in the Renewable Fuel Standard law itself “commands a continuity requirement.”</p>
<p>Under President Joe Biden, the EPA is expected to issue fewer waivers and force more refineries to satisfy annual biofuel quotas by either blending plant-based alternatives into their products or buying compliance credits from other companies that have. However, the Supreme Court precedent will give future administrations wide clearance to exempt oil refineries from annual blending quotas.</p>
<p>It also provides the Biden administration with more options for addressing concerns by some lawmakers and industry officials that climbing compliance costs imperil some independent refiners, particularly in the Northeast U.S. Several governors and non-integrated refineries, including PBF Energy Inc., and Delta Air Lines Inc.’s Monroe Energy LLC, have urged EPA to lower quotas.</p>
<p>Several refiners rose on the ruling, while biofuel makers sank. The S&P Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Select Industry Index was up 1.6% after rising as much as 1.8%. Among the top movers on the index was PBF Energy Inc., which jumped as much as 9.9% and was up 2.2% to $16.49 at 11:08 a.m. in New York trading. HollyFrontier Corp. climbed as much as 3.4% and was up 1.3% to $34.11. CVR Energy Inc. rose as much as 5.4% and was up 4% to $19.81.</p>
<p>Biofuel maker Darling Ingredients Inc. dropped as much as 9.9% before recovering some of its losses. It was down 3.1% to $63.15, while Renewable Energy Group Inc. was down 6.7% to $60.03 after dropping as much as 7.7%. Soybean oil, the commodity used to make biomass-based diesel dropped almost 6% in Chicago while corn used in U.S. ethanol fell as much as 3%.</p>
<p>Under the Renewable Fuel Standard law, Congress authorized EPA exemptions for small refineries that face an “economic hardship” in complying. Refineries that win exemptions can save tens to hundreds of millions dollars annually that they might otherwise spend buying biofuel compliance credits.</p>
<p>The waivers had surged under former President Donald Trump, provoking a backlash from biofuel advocates who argued Congress only intended the exemptions to be short-term relief, helping funnel refiners into compliance with the blending requirements over time. Refiners, by contrast, have argued Congress intended the waivers to serve as an essential safety valve, helping insulate a critical domestic industry from spiking compliance costs.</p>
<p>In his opinion for the court, Gorsuch noted the lack of clarity from the Renewable Fuel Standard law on the matter. “Neither the statute’s text, structure, nor history afford us sufficient guidance to be able to choose with confidence between the parties’ competing narratives and metaphors,” he wrote.</p>
<p>The case turned on the justices’ interpretation of just a few words in the Renewable Fuel Standard law -- specifically its provision allowing a small refinery to petition the EPA “at any time” for an “extension” of its initial, automatic exemption. Biofuel producers unsuccessfully argued the law’s use of the word “extension” inherently meant refineries can only qualify if they have an existing exemption to prolong.</p>
<p>In a dissent, Justice Amy Coney Barrett argued the most natural reading of “extension” is as a continuation -- whether the matter is a tourist extending a hotel stay, a newspaper reader extending a subscription or a refinery seeking an extension of a biofuel waiver.</p>
<p>But Gorsuch wrote it was “entirely natural -- and consistent with ordinary usage -- to seek an ‘extension’ of time even after some lapse,” much as a forgetful student might seek “an extension for a term paper after the deadline has passed.”</p>
<p>Gorsuch was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh in ruling for refiners. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined Barrett in dissent.</p>
<p>Biofuel makers blasted the decision and called on the EPA to limit exemptions anyway.</p>
<p>“Today’s decision allows refiners to request an RFS exemption extension, but it does not make it easier for refiners to actually receive one,” said Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. “We fully expect the Biden EPA to keep their commitment to the RFS” and “deny the vast majority of RFS exemption extension requests that are pending or that will be submitted in the future.”</p>
<p>The coalition of biofuel allies that challenged the EPA waivers said they hoped the EPA’s new leadership would “take a far more judicious and responsible approach to the refinery exemption program than their predecessors did.”</p>
<p>Refiners celebrated the ruling, asserting the EPA should liberally use its validated waiver power to exempt refineries.</p>
<p>“As refiners both large and small face all time high renewable identification number costs and are recovering from the economic impacts of Covid-19, we urge EPA to immediately take action to make the RFS a workable program for U.S. refiners and consumers,” HollyFrontier said in an emailed statement.</p>
<p>Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association, said he hoped the EPA would now move swiftly “to provide critical relief to those small refineries that have demonstrated disproportionate economic harm resulting from the RFS.”</p>
<p>The EPA, which is now drafting a proposed slate of biofuel-blending quotas for 2021 and 2022, said it was analyzing the opinion.</p>
<p>“We understand this decision has implications for our current ongoing Renewable Fuel Standard rulemaking activities and petitions from small refineries currently pending before the agency,” EPA spokesman Nick Conger said by email. “The agency will follow the law and base our decisions on sound science while ensuring transparency.”</p>
<p>The dispute at the Supreme Court arose after the Renewable Fuels Association and other biofuel supporters challenged three waivers the EPA issued to refineries owned by HollyFrontier and CVR Energy’s Wynnewood Refining Co. In January 2020, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the challengers, saying the EPA had exceeded its authority. The refineries appealed to the Supreme Court, and the federal government, under Biden, switched sides to favor the biofuel supporters.</p>
<p>The high court heard oral arguments in April.</p>
<p>The case is HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association, 20-472.</p>
<p><em>--With assistance from Susan Decker, Greg Stohr and Ellen M. Gilmer.</em></p>
<p><em>To contact the reporter on this story:<br />
Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.net</em></p>
<p><em>To contact the editors responsible for this story:<br />
Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net<br />
Elizabeth Wasserman</em></p>
<p><em>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-81100020707117171282021-06-28T19:26:00.007+01:002021-06-28T19:26:32.236+01:00Hurricane Energy Restructure Plan Not Sanctioned<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165800_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>Hurricane Energy plc has revealed that the High Court of Justice of England and Wales has not sanctioned the company’s restructuring plan.</p>
<p>Following the development, the existing Hurricane Energy board said it is considering all options, including an appeal.</p>
<p>“Unless the company or the ad hoc committee successfully appeals the judgment, the restructuring plan will not be implemented,” Hurricane Energy noted in a statement posted on the company’s website.</p>
<p>“The company’s convertible bondholders have certain rights under the terms of the convertible bonds which, if enforced, could result in an acceleration of the convertible bonds and ultimately an insolvent liquidation of the company. As a result, there is a significant risk of no value being returned to shareholders,” Hurricane Energy added in the statement.</p>
<p>The company noted that a number of its shareholders have indicated that they were not supportive of its restructuring plan and, as a result, have indicated an intention to vote against the re-election of directors that are standing for re-election at the upcoming annual general meeting on June 30, and/or to vote in favor of resolutions proposed by Crystal Amber Fund Limited to remove all of the non-executive directors at the upcoming EGM on July 5.</p>
<p>“It is the company’s understanding that, in the event all of the executive directors are removed from the board, the company’s nominated adviser is likely to resign with immediate effect,” Hurricane Energy stated.</p>
<p>“This is likely to have the result that the shares of the company are suspended from trading and, if a replacement nominated adviser is not in place within a period of one month, it may result in the shares of the company being de-listed from AIM,” Hurricane Energy added.</p>
<p>Hurricane Energy was established to discover, appraise, and develop hydrocarbon resources from naturally fractured basement reservoirs, according to its website. The business has a portfolio of contiguous offshore licenses on the UK Continental Shelf, West of Shetland.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-17297952448479648692021-06-28T19:26:00.005+01:002021-06-28T19:26:31.640+01:00API Launches New GHG Template<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165799_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>The American Petroleum Institute (API) has launched a new template for oil and gas companies to more consistently report and track greenhouse gas (GHG) indicators.</p>
<p>The move, which follows the release of the organization’s Climate Action Framework in spring, is described by the API as the next step in its efforts to accelerate climate solutions. Developed in consultation with the API’s members, the financial sector, policymakers, industry customers, and other interested parties, the template aims to provide a consistent and uniform set of core GHG indicators to enable greater comparability in climate related reporting, according to the API.</p>
<p>API’s template standardizes the names of indicators, units of measure, and the definitions for reporting boundaries to prompt comparable reporting from one company to another, the organization highlights. The template prompts for data on Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions and consists of core GHG emissions indicators that companies can voluntarily report publicly. It is also said to include indicators on a company’s efforts to mitigate GHG emissions and a place to indicate a company’s GHG targets and other climate reporting resources, as well as a section where a company can indicate its third-party verification of GHG reporting.</p>
<p>“As an industry of engineers and problem solvers, we measure and track progress in everything we do and aim to share relevant data transparently,” the API’s president and chief executive officer, Mike Sommers, said in an API statement.</p>
<p>“Working with our members, the financial community and throughout the supply chain, this reporting template builds on our robust sustainability efforts and elevates the consistency and comparability needed for tracking climate-related progress from company to company,” he added.</p>
<p>“U.S. natural gas and oil companies were among the first businesses to develop sustainability reporting, and we continue to expand our efforts to reduce emissions to generational lows while delivering affordable and reliable energy,” Sommers went on to say.</p>
<p>The API’s climate action framework was released in March this year. In an API statement back in March, the organization described the project as a robust policy framework of industry and government actions to address the risks of climate change while meeting the world’s long-term energy needs. </p>
<p>The API represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry and has 600 members, which produce, process, and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, according to the API’s website. The organization was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 700 standards since its inception.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-41013583559291568192021-06-28T19:26:00.003+01:002021-06-28T19:26:30.912+01:00Thwarted Trump Oil Buy Would Have Given Biden $6B<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165798_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- A bipartisan compromise unveiled Thursday calls for selling oil from the U.S. emergency stockpile to fund billions of dollars in roadwork and other infrastructure.</p>
<p>But Democrats missed their shot at a bonanza -- and a $6 billion down payment on the infrastructure package -- by killing a plan last year to buy crude for the reserve at rock-bottom prices.</p>
<p>The foregone purchase of as much as $3 billion worth of oil, which was urged by Republicans and the Trump administration as a way to help the industry reeling from a crude glut at the start of the pandemic, was blocked by congressional Democrats who didn’t want to use federal money to prop up fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer crowed to his colleagues that the deal blocked a “bailout for big oil.”</p>
<p>It was a missed buying opportunity.</p>
<p>At the time, buying $3 billion worth of West Texas Intermediate crude would have brought in 122.5 million barrels for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at $24.49 each -- and likely require finding additional storage space. If sold at today’s price of about $73.60 per barrel, that crude would generate slightly more than $9 billion, for a profit of about $6 billion.</p>
<p>Estimates are limited because it’s unclear when, exactly, sales and purchases would have taken place -- and such big U.S. government purchases might have boosted prices, as well as incurred additional transactional costs. Further congressional changes also may have been required to increase the reserve’s capacity.</p>
<p>Still, a U.S. government purchase in March 2020 with a corresponding sale today would be the epitome of buying low and selling high.</p>
<p>Although the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established after the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s to help the U.S. weather supply shocks, Congress has increasingly used it as a piggy bank, selling off stockpiled crude to pay for everything from medical research in 2015 and tax cuts two years later.</p>
<p>On Friday, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm defended the current plan, which President Joe Biden supports, casting it as commonplace during an interview with Bloomberg Television.</p>
<p>Every year, she said, Congress uses the emergency stockpile “to pay for something or another that may not be related to the reserve itself.”</p>
<p>Former President Donald Trump’s failed plan last year to buy crude represented a twist on that approach, as an effort to help the oil industry by taking supplies off a glutted global market.</p>
<p>But a March 2020 effort to tie the oil purchase to investments in clean energy as part of a Covid recovery package faltered in Congress.</p>
<p><em>--With assistance from Jennifer Jacobs and Steven T. Dennis.</em></p>
<p>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-84181886841044907732021-06-28T19:26:00.001+01:002021-06-28T19:26:30.357+01:00SBM Offshore Completes $1B+ FPSO Project Financing<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165797_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>SBM Offshore has announced that it has completed the project financing of the Prosperity FPSO for a total of $1.05 billion.</p>
<p>The project financing was secured by a consortium of 11 international banks, the company noted, adding that it expects to draw the loan in full, phased over the construction period of the FPSO. The names of the banks were not released by the company.</p>
<p>SBM Offshore noted that the financing will become non-recourse once the FPSO is completed and the pre-completion guarantee has been released. The project loan has a tenor of two years post completion and carries a variable interest rate plus 1.60 percent, the company revealed.</p>
<p>Prosperity FPSO will use a design that largely replicates the design of the Liza Unity FPSO, according to SBM Offshore. The new FPSO will be designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day and will have an associated gas treatment capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day, as well as a water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels per day. It will be able to store around two million barrels of crude oil, SBM Offshore highlighted.</p>
<p>The Prosperity FPSO project is part of the Payara development offshore Guyana. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation, is the operator of the development and holds a 45 percent interest in the Stabroek block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds a 30 percent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds the remaining 25 percent stake.</p>
<p>SBM Offshore’s main activities comprise the design, supply, installation, operation, and life extension of floating production solutions for the offshore energy industry over the full lifecycle, according to its website. The business, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, employed more than 4,500 people as of December 31, 2020, its site shows.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-42132472922279586262021-06-28T11:26:00.005+01:002021-06-28T11:26:24.670+01:00Oil Steady as OPEC+ Hike Expected to Lag Behind Demand<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165796_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>(Bloomberg) -- Oil held steady near the highest level since 2018, with an OPEC+ meeting this week expected to bring supply increases that won’t keep pace with the global demand recovery.</p>
<p>Futures in New York traded near $74 a barrel after rising 1% on Friday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will meet Thursday following a 50% gain in prices this year. Producers may decide to boost output by 550,000 barrels a day in August, a Bloomberg survey shows, but that’s barely a quarter of the global deficit that OPEC+ anticipates during the month.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s top producer, has so far proceeded cautiously, with the persistence of Covid-19 and the potential restoration of Iranian supply clouding the market outlook. In a possible complication to talks on the Iranian nuclear deal, U.S. forces conducted air strikes Sunday against Iran-backed militias blamed for attacking American facilities in Iraq, the Defense Department said.</p>
<p>“Crude oil trades steady, with market participants expecting OPEC+ will keep supplies tight enough to support current levels,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. “With virus uncertainties due to the highly contagious delta strain and questions about an Iran nuclear deal hanging over the market, the group may opt for caution,” hence current price strength.</p>
<p>Oil has rallied this year as a rapid rebound from Covid-19 in major energy markets such as the U.S., Europe and China has led to increased mobility and greater consumption of transport fuels. The recovery has also drained bloated stockpiles, and the International Energy Agency has urged OPEC+ to return more supply to keep markets balanced.</p>
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<p><strong>Prices</strong></p>
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<ul>
<li>West Texas Intermediate for August delivery edged up 2 cents to $74.07 a barrel at 10:19 a.m. London time.
<ul>
<li>Earlier, futures rose as much as 0.5% to $74.45, the highest since October 2018.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Brent for August settlement lost 2 cents to $76.16 a barrel.</li>
</ul>
</td>
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</tbody>
</table>
<p>The oil market’s structure continues to indicate tighter supply. Brent futures for August are 84 cents more expensive than those for September, a bullish structure known as backwardation.</p>
<p>All the while, the glut of crude stored at sea which built up during the pandemic continues to shrink. The stockpile fell 17% last week, according to Vortexa data, the lowest since early 2020.</p>
<p>© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.</p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-66258130288260599722021-06-28T11:26:00.003+01:002021-06-28T11:26:23.818+01:00OGTC Completes Rebranding<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165795_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>The Oil & Gas Technology Center (OGTC) announced Monday that it has completed its repositioning to become the Net Zero Technology Center.</p>
<p>The organization outlined that the change reflects the natural evolution of the center as it continues to accelerate the development and deployment of technology to enable a net zero energy future. Last year, the center transitioned its seven existing solution centers into one Net Zero Solution Center, with three core programs focused on reducing emissions, developing integrated energy systems, and unlocking a digitized offshore energy sector.</p>
<p>To date, the Net Zero Technology Center has co-invested $244.8 million (GBP 176 million) with industry, screened more than 1,300 technologies, and generated $13.9-20.8 billion (GBP 10-15 billion) GVA potential, the center highlighted. Over 64 field trials have been delivered, with another 49 planned and underway, over 20 technologies have been commercialized, and 33 tech start-ups supported, the center noted.</p>
<p>The UK and Scottish governments are each investing $125.2 million (GBP 90 million) in the Net Zero Technology Center as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal, which is a $473 million (GBP 340 million) investment program jointly funded by the UK and Scottish governments and regional partners. </p>
<p>“Innovating and developing technology is critical to unlock an affordable net zero energy future,” Colette Cohen, the chief executive officer of the Net Zero Technology Center, said in an organization statement.</p>
<p>“It is essential we invest in and commercialize solutions that accelerate the energy transition and reimagine the North Sea as an integrated energy basin,” Cohen added.</p>
<p>“There is no silver bullet when it comes to the technology required. We must prioritize affordable energy solutions while decarbonizing oil and gas, which will be required for years to come to meet global demand,” Cohen went on to say.</p>
<p>Michael Gove, the UK Government Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said, “industries across the UK are seizing the opportunities of our pivot to net zero”.</p>
<p>“Our energy transition will only be possible by working closely with the energy sector and the Net Zero Technology Center embodies the strength of that partnership,” he added.</p>
<p>“By investing in new technologies and innovation the UK will continue to lead the world in tackling climate change while protecting and creating new jobs. Together we will build back greener and better from the pandemic,” Gove added.</p>
<p>The UK Government Minister for Scotland, David Duguid, said, “the timely renaming shows how the Aberdeen City Region Deal is adapting to help the North Sea economy harness its existing capabilities, infrastructure, and private investment to deliver hydrogen production, carbon capture and storage, offshore wind, and decommissioning”.</p>
<p>Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said she fully supports the Net Zero Technology Center’s rebranding, “which aligns with their fresh purpose of supporting the oil and gas industry to develop and deploy technology to accelerate the transition to an affordable net zero North Sea”.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email </em><em>andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-48717436498510735342021-06-28T11:26:00.001+01:002021-06-28T11:26:23.040+01:00Will OPEC+ Meeting Outcome Cut Oil Price by $10?<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165794_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p><em>(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the attributed sources and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rigzone or the author.)</em></p>
<p>The OPEC+ alliance of major oil producers is scheduled to meet virtually Thursday of this week, and oil market-watchers have been pondering what the group will decide. Below, two of Rigzone’s regular panelists offer their perspectives on the much-anticipated online gathering.</p>
<p><strong>Barani Krishnan, Senior Commodities Analyst,</strong> <strong>Investing.com</strong>: How the Saudis are going to manage the expectations of the 22 other countries who are in the OPEC+ grouping with them, when the alliance meets this week. Some, led by Russia, are already impatient of generating additional revenue for their coffers at these prices and the only way would be to add a million barrels or two as a whole to production. The Saudis, of course, know what that would do: shave between $5 and $10 off a barrel.</p>
<p><strong>Jon Donnel, Managing Director, B. Riley Advisory Services:</strong> Commodities traders will be attuned to the upcoming OPEC+ meetings, with early indications that the group is willing to add incremental production back into the market in August. Crude storage levels have continued to decline, in no small part due to disciplined capital spending by U.S. producers. Consensus was for overall production levels to be held flat at year end 2020 exit rates of 11 million barrels per day, and that forecast has proved to be prescient over the first half of the year. U.S. operators have done an admirable job of “controlling what they can control,” putting the industry in relatively good standing despite the myriad of challenges faced.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email</em> <em>mveazey@rigzone.com</em><em>.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6594163661066544962.post-68088951943766278592021-06-27T09:26:00.003+01:002021-06-27T09:26:27.877+01:00Exxon USA Headcount Set to Grow Smaller<div><img src="https://images.rigzone.com/images/news/articles/165792_582x327.png" class="ff-og-image-inserted" /></div>
<p>Based on page views, Rigzone’s downstream readers showed particularly strong interest last week in a report about pending workforce reductions. Keep reading to learn more about the anticipated job cuts, along with other popular recent downstream-related articles on Rigzone.</p>
<p><strong>Exxon Prepares to Cull White Collar USA Jobs</strong></p>
<p>Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) could reduce its U.S. office-based workforce by up to 10% within the next five years, according to this article from Bloomberg. Citing unnamed sources, the news agency stated the company is targeting its lowest-performing employees and will thus not frame the reductions as layoffs. Furthermore, the article states that evaluations are underway and affected employees have not yet learned their fate. A 2020 company filing showed that the U.S. accounts for approximately 40% of ExxonMobil’s 72,000-strong global workforce, Bloomberg also notes.</p>
<p><strong>USA Oil Prices Close Gap to Brent</strong></p>
<p>For the first time in years, the Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil benchmarks are heading toward parity, Bloomberg has reported. Often cheaper than Brent, the WTI has become more expensive as U.S. oil producers continue to show discipline and inventories of domestic crude steadily decline, the news agency explained. The article goes to say, however, that the likelihood of Brent and WTI actually intersecting may be limited given signs of a rise in U.S. oil production.</p>
<p><strong>$510MM Middle East Contract Goes to Saipem</strong></p>
<p>A unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) is expanding its sour gas plant, and it has named Saipem the winner of a competitive tender to oversee the project’s engineering, procurement, and construction. The project will expand ADNOC Sour Gas’ Shah Sour Gas Plant’s capacity by 13% and enable the facility to increase recovery of higher-end products, according to the client company’s CEO. The plant upgrade’s projected completion is 2023.</p>
<p><em>To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.</em></p>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Published from the <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.blogspot.com/">crude oil brokers</a> blog for professional <a href="http://crudeoilbrokers.org/">crude oil brokers and facilitators</a>.</div>Crude Oil Brokershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06507096336218288671noreply@blogger.com0