Energy / Crude Oil

• Russia Readies to Take Shale Oil Lead

  President of Russian energy company Rosneft, Igor Sechin, said he was eager to unlock the shale oil potential in the Samara region of western Russia. With forecasts warning the U.S. shale phenomenon won't last, Russia could be moving its pawns into play. Sechin met Friday with Helge Lund, chief executive officer of Norwegian energy major Statoil, to sign a joint venture agreement for the production of the Domanik shale formation in the Samara region, near Russia's southwest border with Kazakhstan. Sechin said in a statement the deal with Statoil would help his company, the largest publicly traded oil and gas company in…

• Bosnian Federation: Oil Legislation Sets First Concessions in Motion

  Earlier this year we let you in on a little known secret about an up-and-coming oil venue in an unlikely corner of the world—Bosnia and Herzegovina. The paralytic “multi-ethnic” government and three-headed, rotating presidency of Bosnia is not known for its ability to pass key legislation. Indeed, since the war ended various governments have not passed any key legislation--except to abolish the death penalty, which for obvious reason transcended “ethnicity”—without direct intervention by the “international community”.  However, as we predicted, oil legislation, which is in everyone’s interest here, would be passed before the end of the year. That time has…

• Oil Majors Pushing Offshore, but Obstacles Remain

  Major oil companies continue an aggressive push into deeper water as the memory of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout recedes. Spurred on by consistently high prices for crude oil, the decline of conventional oil fields, and the advent of new drilling technologies, companies like BP plan bigger investments in offshore oil in the coming years. BP is still not out of the woods in terms of its legal liabilities stemming from the 2010 disaster, but they are pushing into deeper waters. In August 2013 BP began appraising its Tiber field, a “giant” oil field that could hold between 4 to…

• No Need for More Iranian Oil, U.S. Says

  Iran says it expects a major boost in oil exports now that it has a nuclear deal in hand. In a sign the market is able to do without, however, the U.S. government said Iran's return is unlikely because of the ample supply of oil elsewhere. Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Kazzem Vaziri-Hamaneh said last week relief from economic sanctions could stimulate an oil export economy hamstrung by Western sanctions. "Certainly, the annulment of sanctions will facilitate and accelerate exports operations and supply of Iranian oil to the global market," he said. Related article: PetroChina to Buy Exxon Stake in Iraqi Oil FieldMembers…

• Higher U.S. Oil Drilling Has An Unexpected Effect

  Platts reported some unusual findings last week as part of a new study.Looking at oil versus natural gas drilling in the U.S.The analysts found that since 2008 there has been a concerted shift toward drilling of oil targets. Among companies that make up the Standard & Poor's Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Index, 26 out of 32 firms saw oil increase as a percentage of overall production during the last five years. Related article: Small Company’s New Subsea Wellhead Tap Design Attracts Oil Majors InterestThis makes perfect sense given the disconnect in pricing between the commodities. Which has seen…

• Small Company’s New Subsea Wellhead Tap Design Attracts Oil Majors Interest

  As offshore drilling moves into deeper waters, new engineering techniques are needed to cope with temperatures that can hit 150 degrees Celsius, with crushing pressures that can exceed 25,000 pounds per square inch (psi).As the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico proved, when things go wrong, the consequences can be enormous where high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) wells are situated, but the extreme conditions will increasingly impact major oil finds in not only the Gulf of Mexico, but developing areas of the North Sea, Arctic and offshore Brazil and Africa as well. Related article: Kurdistan…

• Only Oil Insiders Are Looking At This Play

  U.S. oil men usually love their home turf. Especially today, with U.S. shale plays yielding some of the best production and reserves numbers on the planet.But one industry insider made a surprising comment last month. Showing that U.S. oil firms may be looking in an unexpected direction for growth.The brief mention came during the quarterly conference call for Energy XXI (Nasdaq: EXXI)—a leading exploration firm in the Gulf of Mexico that I’ve discussed in the past.President John Schiller was asked about growth opportunities for his company. To which the industry veteran replied that he is seriously looking at Malaysia.This seems…

• Oil Supply Outages Leave Spare Capacity Tightest Since 2008

  There has been quite a sell-off in oil in the last few months. First, the deal between Iran and the West made front-page headlines and sparked speculation of an imminent drop in oil prices. Brent prices dropped 2.7% immediately after news of the deal broke, both on reduced geopolitical risk as well as hopes of more Iranian crude reaching global markets. Second, U.S. oil production continues to climb. WTI prices dropped $1.31 in early trading on November 27, on news that U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly jumped by 6.5 million barrels the previous week. Hovering around $92, WTI reached a six-month…

• Kurdistan Set to Begin Oil Exports to Turkey with New Pipeline Next Month

  Kurdistan’s Prime Minister announced oil exports will begin in December from a new pipeline, marking a major milestone for the semi-autonomous region in Iraq. During an interview with reporters in Anakara on November 26, Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani stated that a newly constructed pipeline running from Kurdistan to Turkey may begin operations “before Christmas.” Expected to carry around 300,000-400,000 barrels per day (bpd), the pipeline is key to both sides. Kurdistan is attempting to build increasing independence from Baghdad, and oil exports are a vital source of revenue for the fledging government. Turkey, for its part, needs reliable sources…

• BP at Heart of Revived Dispute over Kirkuk Oil

  Iraqi central authorities in Baghdad have announced plans to go ahead with a controversial deal with British oil giant BP Plc. to revive the giant oilfield in disputed Kirkuk in a move that will spark anger in the Kurdish Region of Iraq, which is vying for control over the area with Baghdad. Baghdad signed the deal with BP in September, but the authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) say they remain opposed to the deal in Kirkuk, which lies in the disputed territory between the autonomous KRG and the rest of Iraq. According to Iraqi Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi,…