Mainland Europe shale gas: What now? lweb.es/f802
OEF REVIEW:The shale gas boom has proved to be a game changer for the United States economy, bringing about an era of cheap natural gas that has helped to make the country’s industry more competitive. Europe has also been seen as a future shale gas region in recent years, but a Wood Mackenzie survey of global shale gas drilling activity highlights only three European countries – Poland, Ukraine and the UK – as having any shale gas wells scheduled for 2016.
OEF REVIEW:“It’s hard to see a dramatic price increase,” Vitol Group BV Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor told Bloomberg in an interview, saying prices were likely to bounce around a band with a midpoint of $50 a barrel for the next decade. “We really do imagine a band,” probably between $40 and $60 a barrel, he said. “I can see that band lasting for five to ten years. I think it’s fundamentally different.”
OEF REVIEW:China’s oil demand will grow 4.3% this year to surpass 11 million barrels per day, compared to 4.8% growth last year, the country’s top energy group forecast on Tuesday. State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) sees the country’s oil demand rising to 566 million tonnes, or 11.32 million barrels per day in 2016, some 460,000 barrels per day higher than last year.
OEF REVIEW:With oil-directed rigs representing two thirds of the decline, the US drilling rig count fell 18 units to 619 during the week ended Jan. 29, the latest Baker Hughes Inc. data show (OGJ Online, Jan. 22, 2016). The overall count is down 924 year-over-year and the lowest since Aug. 6, 1999. Martin Craighead, BHI chairman and chief executive officer, forecasted more pain in 2016 for the worldwide drilling industry“. At current commodity prices, the global rig count could decline as much as 30% in 2016, as our customers’ challenges of maximizing production, lowering their overall costs, and protecting cash flows are now more acute,” he said.
OEF REVIEW:Global energy demand will increase 25 percent between 2014 and 2040, driven by population growth and economic expansion, ExxonMobil said today in the 2016 edition of The Outlook for Energy. At the same time, energy efficiency gains and increased use of renewable energy sources and lower carbon fuels, such as natural gas, are expected to help reduce by half the carbon intensity of the global economy.
OEF REVIEW:Question: BP moved very quickly to say it thought that the oil price would stay low for a long time. What factors fed into that statement? Answer: If you consider the two most recent big drops – 2008/2009 and 1998 – both of those were driven by economic recessions. So, we saw big falls in demand. Those tend to correct themselves relatively quickly. In contrast, the price weakness this time was caused by strong growth in supply, initially as a result of very strong growth in US shale. Normally, world demand for oil grows by about 0.8 million barrels a day per year, but at the end of last year US shale, on its own, grew by 1.6 million barrels a day. Last year, we saw a combination of supply increments from Iraq and Saudi Arabia that added a further 1.5 million barrels a day. What we know from history is that the oil market takes an awful lot longer to adjust to supply shocks than it does to cyclical demand shocks.
OEF REVIEW:With the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index down more than 40% since last June, investors worldwide are watching the decline with growing concern – but not because they are invested in the plummeting market (China’s stocks are overwhelmingly held by Chinese). Rather, the fear is that plunging equity prices mean that China’s economy is going down the tubes. But those seeking compelling clues about China’s economic future should look elsewhere.
OEF REVIEW:A change to the North Sea Brent crude oil futures contract will alter the way prices for Brent futures are compared to futures prices for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil. Beginning January 29, the Brent contract will expire, or rollover to the next month, approximately two to three weeks before expiration of the WTI contract for delivery in the same month. Prior to the change, the Brent contract rollover was only five to seven days ahead of the WTI rollover.
OEF REVIEW:With oil prices touching their lowest level since 2003, Dmitry Zhdannikov writes that OPEC officials and deal brokers are looking back nearly two decades and asking whether a behind-the-scenes deal to curb oil output between OPEC and non-OPEC Russia could be struck. He suggests that a paper by Robert Mabro, founder of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies who helped to broker the 1998 oil deal, could could throw light on the current problem. Mabro wrote at the time: “Changes in policy are always possible, even likely, when significant revenue losses are at stake”. 
OEF REVIEW:“Hydraulic fracturing remains a highly contentious public policy issue because of concerns about the environmental and health effects of its use. This Critical Issue Paper is written as a primer for the general public, journalists, and even resource professionals who may have difficulty finding objective, credible information about hydraulic fracturing of shales and other unconventional sources and related environmental concerns.
OEF REVIEW:“Hydraulic fracturing remains a highly contentious public policy issue because of concerns about the environmental and health effects of its use. This Critical Issue Paper is written as a primer for the general public, journalists, and even resource professionals who may have difficulty finding objective, credible information about hydraulic fracturing of shales and other unconventional sources and related environmental concerns.
OEF REVIEW:“The energy markets are tanking and are at levels that have not been seen since “The Recession” of 2009. Opinions are divided on the effects of the fall. Some say it is good for consumers, whereas, others say it is bad for the global economy. This article will analyze the overall effects of low crude oil prices on the industry, the major oil-producing nations, consumers and the overall global economy.
OEF REVIEW:The International Energy Agency’s Monthly Oil Report provides an overall view of the state of the international petroleum market and projections for oil supply and demand 12-18 months ahead. These are the IEA’s highlights of the current report.
Energy ministers from the G20 affirmed their commitment to renewable energy at the first G20 Energy Ministers Meeting this October in Istanbul. This is the first time that renewable energy is on the G20 agenda.
OEF REVIEW: Solar installations have grown 25-30% in 2015 compared to last year, accordinbg to Mercom Capital Group’s global forecast. Global solar installation figures are illustrated from 2007 to 2015, and country-by-country forecasts are made for China, U.S., UK, India and Japan.
OEF REVIEW: President Putin talks with Charlie Rose about: the Islamic State and Syria; his relations with President Obama; how Russia and the U.S. cooperate for a better world; about his popularity in Russia; his views on the U.S.; Ukraine and the Minsk agreements; the disintegration of the USSR; the Baltic States; and what he sees as his legacy.
Statoil and its partners have put the first subsea gas compression facility on line at Aasgard in the Norwegian Sea. Subsea compression will add some 306 million barrels of oil equivalent to total output over the field’s life.