Energy / Crude Oil

• Khartoum Breaks International Laws by Blocking South Sudan's Crude Oil

  Juba, South Sudan:The Republic of Sudan has suddenly blocked the transportation of South Sudan’s crude oil to the international market. On Christmas Eve all loaded cargo was prevented from leaving, while other cargo was not allowed to load.Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Minister of Petroleum and Mining Stephen Dhieu Dau said two ships carrying 1.6 million barrels of Dar Blend originating from South Sudan were stopped from leaving the port, and an additional 0.6 million Barrels of Dar Blend were prevented from loading. Yet another two more other ships were prevented from landing at Port Sudan to take possession…

• Croatia’s INA Oil Company, Caught Between al Assad and a Hard Place

  As international pressure tightens against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, the Croatian national oil joint stock company Industrija Nafte (Oil Industry, or INA) is coming under increasing pressure to divest itself of its concessions in the increasingly civil war torn country. But there’s a catch – Zagreb-based INA is a subsidiary of Hungary's Magyar Olaj es Gazipari Reszvenytarsasag (or MOL). MOL Group owns 47.16 percent of INA, the Republic of Croatia (represented by the Croatian government) - 44.84 percent and private investors - 7.9 percent. With its 2010 revenue of $4.28 billion, INA is Croatia's largest company. INA’s website…

• Post-Keystone, Canada Takes its Business Elsewhere

  After Republican lawmakers in the United States lost their political gamble over the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, the Canadian government decided to issue a double insult to its southern neighbor by simultaneously condemning the political circus in Washington and saying it's time to look at markets in Asia, where a Chinese economy is bustling along at a growth rate of more than 8 percent. Republican leaders in Washington waged a political bet on the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline and lost. Opposition over the original route through Nebraska prompted U.S. authorities to push a decision on the oil sands pipeline…

• In Another "Great Leap Forward," Chinese Firm Finds Oil in Thailand's Northeast

  As seemingly omnivorous Chinese energy firms encircle the globe looking for exploitable hydrocarbon reserves, one firm is searching close to home. Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Corp. Ltd has started exploring for oil On Thailand's Thung Kula Rong Hai 1,235 square mile plateau, which covers the country’s four northeastern provinces. Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Corp. Ltd is focusing its exploration efforts in Thung Kula Rong Hai’s Chumphon Buri district in Surin province. Village forums and public hearings are being conducted throughout the Chumphon Buri district, and an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is expected within three months.  While many such proposed energy projects encounter stiff resistance from…

• Saudi Arabia's Rising Domestic Oil Consumption to Threaten Exports?

  Saudi Arabia is currently the world’s leading oil producer, containing approximately one-fifth of the world's proven oil reserves. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, Saudi Aramco reported that it had reached its target production capacity of 12 million barrels per day (bpd), even as Reuters reports that Saudi production is just under 10 million bpd. Whatever the actual figures, Saudi Arabia nevertheless produces roughly one-third of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) total output of roughly 30 million bpd. Saudi Arabia’s economy remains heavily dependent on crude oil, as oil revenues have accounted for 80-90 percent of total Saudi revenues…

• Kurdistan's Huge Oil Reserves Lend Credibility to Iraqi Claims of 115 Billion Barrels

  Whilst much of Iraq may be viewed as in a metastable social and political state, the semi-autonomous northern region of Kurdistan has enjoyed relative peace for a number of years. This has enabled the regional government to develop oil exploitation laws and to lease much of the land to foreign exploration and production companies. Regional operator Gulf Keystone Petroleum has been involved in the discovery of the Shaikan Field, believed to hold between 8 and 13.4 billion barrels in place with appraisal of this giant (potential supergiant) on-going. Gulf Keystone Petroleum believes that Iraqi Kurdistan may hold 45 billion barrels…

• Former IEA Oil Expert: Oil Production Could Begin to Decline in 2015

  The following interview is a guest post by Matthieu Auzanneau, a freelance journalist living in Paris. This article previously appeared in Le Monde.Olivier Rech developed petroleum scenarios for the International Energy Agency over a three year period, up until 2009. This French economist now advises large investment funds on behalf of La Française AM, a Parisian assets management firm. His forecasts for future petroleum production are now much more pessimistic than those published by the IEA. He expects stronger tensions as of 2013, and an inevitable overall decline of oil production "somewhere between 2015 and 2020", in the following interview.Olivier…

• How Will Peak Oil Fare in 2012

  The returns are in and we now know that world price of a barrel of oil averaged $111 in 2011. This was up 14 percent from last year and well above the previous high of $100 set in 2008.The average barrel of oil that we bought last year cost $15 more than the year before. Here in America, we burn about 6.7 billion barrels of the stuff each year. Therefore, our collective oil bill for 2011 was about $100 billion higher for the same amount of energy that we burned in 2010. This $100 billion created few new jobs here…

• Nigeria Ends Fuel Subsidies in Face of Protest Threats

  In a nasty New Year’s Day present to his fellow Nigerians, President Goodluck Jonathan directed his administration to end fuel subsidies, effective immediately. Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency issued a statement noting, "By this announcement, the downstream sub-sector of the petroleum industry is hereby deregulated for (gasoline). Service providers in the sector are now to procure products and sell same in accordance with the indicative benchmark price to be published fortnightly and posted on the PPPRA website." The government urged people not to panic-buy or hoard fuel, stating, "Consumers are assured of adequate supply of quality products at prices that…

• U.S. Net Exporter of Petroleum Products - A Look at the Numbers

  One big story of 2011 was the United States switched from being a net importer to a net exporter of petroleum products. Here are the details behind that development. The graph below plots the difference between U.S. exports and imports of petroleum products. On average in 2008, we had been importing about 1.8 million barrels per day more than we exported. So far in the second half of 2011, the difference has swung to an average positive net export balance of 0.4 million barrels per day. The exports are coming in the form of diesel and gasoline that is being…