U.S. Department Of Defense Moves Ahead With Green Energy

03/01/17 •lweb.es/f2640 •bit.ly/2ocvx54

Clean Energy, Military, USA

The largest U.S. government agency – the Department of Defense, which is also the world’s largest single petroleum buyer – plans to forge ahead under the new administration with a decade-long effort to convert its fuel-hungry operations to renewable power. Why? In combat zones, green energy saves lives. The military’s zeal for renewable power has already had broad impacts on energy contractors, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts for solar companies and helping to reduce fuel consumption. Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, has long supported efforts to reduce troop dependence on petroleum.

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EIA: U.S. Expected To Become Net Exporter Of Natural Gas By 2018

02/29/17 •lweb.es/f2648 •bit.ly/2peDp3W

Exports, gas, USA

The transition of the U.S. to net exporter of natural gas by 2018 is to be driven by declining pipeline imports, growing pipeline exports, and increasing exports of liquefied natural gas. The Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana became the first operating LNG export facility in the Lower 48 states in 2016. By 2021, four LNG export facilities are expected to be completed with a combined operational export capacity of 9.2 billion cubic feet per day. The EIA also projects the U.S. to become a net exporter of total energy in the 2020s.

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Shale Break-Even Price Drops 55% On Average

lweb.es/f2644 02.28.2017

Shale, USA

Since 2013, the average wellhead break-even price (BEP) for key shale plays has decreased from $80 a barrel to $35/bbl. This represents a drop of over 55%, on average. The wellhead BEP decreased across all key shale plays, with Permian Midland falling by over 60% from $98/bbl in 2013 to $38/bbl in 2016 (for horizontal wells only). Rystad Energy forecasts an average WTI oil price of $60/bbl, which implies a 40% improvement in the cash from operations. This improvement will result in higher investments of the shale operators.

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$70 Billion Each For Shale Plays And Offshore Projects This Year

lweb.es/f2650 02.20.2017

Investments, Offshore, Oil, Shale, USA

For every dollar invested this year in North American shale plays another dollar will be allocated for planned projects offshore racking up spending of $70 billion in each sector, analysts at Rystad Energy said: “Offshore projects that were uncommercial at $110 per barrel in 2013 are now commercial at an oil price of $50 per barrel.” However, Rigzone Data Services said offshore investment declined 30-35% in 2016 and offshore capital expenditure is expected to decline for the current year. According to Diamond Offshore, it’s difficult for deepwater operators to compete with the unconventional space.

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CNPC Buys Stake In Abu Dhabi’s Largest Oil Concession

lweb.es/f2652 02.19.2017

Asia, Middle East, Oil

China National Petroleum Corp. bought a stake in Abu Dhabi’s largest oil concession as the Middle Eastern emirate with 6% of global crude reserves looks increasingly to Asia, its biggest market, for investment to raise output capacity. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. awarded CNPC an 8% stake in the onshore venture. “If you’re Abu Dhabi and looking for demand growth, China is the future and its demand is going to continue to grow”… “For the big buyers in Asia, the logical source of that future supply is the Gulf,” said Amereller Legal Consultants.

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India Steps Up Efforts To Boost Domestic Oil And Gas Production

lweb.es/f2658 02.17.2017

gas, India, Oil

Following its first oil and gas field auction in six years India has decided to award the bulk of the operating licenses to new players. The operating licenses are for 31 contract areas comprising 44 oil and gas fields and have been awarded under a revenue-sharing model. These contract areas would monetize 40 million metric tons of oil and 22 billion cubic metres of natural gas over 15 years for the Indian government. India’s oil demand growth will outpace China‘s for the third year in a row in 2017.

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T. Boone Pickens: True Energy Independence For America

lweb.es/f2654 02.17.2017

Oil, USA

Oil expert T. Boone Pickens says that America is in the midst of an energy renaissance, and President Donald Trump will have the opportunity to set the nation on a course toward self-sufficiency: “We are still a long way from securing our nation’s energy future and are not without risk of failing” he states. “I suggest President Trump pursue an energy plan with two parts. The first part is to not screw up what we have going for us. The second part is to not settle for what we’ve done so far.”

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Gazprom And China Broadening Cooperation In Energy Sector

lweb.es/f2662 02.16.2017

China, gas, Power, Russia

Meetings have recently been held between Russia and China on energy: one between Gazprom and the State Council of the People’s Republic of China covering the collaboration between Gazprom and Chinese energy companies and financial organizations; and the other between Gazprom and CNPC which looked at the current progress and future prospects for gas deliveries from Russia to China, the possibilities for underground gas storage facilities and gas-fired power generation in China, as well as the use of LNG as a vehicle fuel along the Europe-China international transport route.

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Global Wind Energy: Strong Year Ahead Expected

lweb.es/f2656 02.16.2017

Clean Energy, Wind, World

According to Renewable Energy World, the wind industry globally has good prospects for 2017 and beyond: China could push back towards 30 GW of installations and India has set a new national record with 3,612 MW of new installations; Europe’s numbers were surprisingly strong. Additionally, there are clear indications that the offshore industry could spread beyond its northern European home to North America, East Asia, India and perhaps elsewhere in the near future as a result of technological advances and growing investor confidence.

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Norwegian Barents Sea Drilling Set For Record

lweb.es/f2660 02.15.2017

Norway, Oil

Explorers look set to drill a record number of wells in Norway’s Arctic waters this year. The Norwegian Barents Sea may contain as much as half the country’s unexplored resources, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The remote area off the country’s northern tip enjoys the benefits of the Gulf Stream, meaning that unlike the rest of the Arctic, it’s largely ice-free. The prospect that industry observers will be watching most closely is Statoil’s Korpfjell well near the Russian border. It could contain as much as 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

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Oil Price Uncertainty: $35 To $93 For December 2017?

lweb.es/f2613 02.10.2017

Oil, prices, World

The EIA forecasts Brent prices to average $53 a barrel in 2017 and $56/b in 2018, with WTI $1/b less than Brent in both 2017 and 2018. However, “The current values of futures and options contracts suggest high uncertainty in the price outlook. For example, EIA’s forecast for the average WTI price in December 2017 of $53/b should be considered in the context of NYMEX contract values for December 2017 delivery. Contracts traded during the five-day period ending January 5 suggest the market expects WTI prices could range from $35/b to $93/b (…) in December 2017.”

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Permian Basin: $60,000 An Acre, But A Gold Mine For Oil Drillers

lweb.es/f2664 02.09.2017

investors, Shale, USA

Record prices for drilling rights in the Permian Basin, the most fertile U.S. shale field – where wells can generate profit with crude selling for less than $40 a barrel – are prompting oil companies and private equity investors to look elsewhere for the next big gushers. Explorers eager to tap the basin’s mile-thick stack of oil-soaked rock layers have paid as much as $60,000 an acre. That marks a 50-fold explosion in deal prices over four years. It also pushes the cost 10 times higher than in the Bakken of North Dakota.

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