Oil spills on land too. Another catastrophe ?

Two oil spills between late July and last week in Michigan and Illinois are expected to significantly raise prices at Midwestern gas pumps even as they raise questions about the aging infrastructure of pipelines delivering oil and natural gas from Canada to Midwestern refineries. The two broken pipelines are owned by one company: Enbridge Energy Partners of Calgary, Alberta, a firm that is poorly regarded by environmentalists for a large, and increasing, number of spills that have dumped millions of gallons of crude into the environment over the past decade.

The oil and natural gas industry supports more than 9.2 million American jobs, and a number of proposed projects across the country could expand that figure by hundreds of thousands in the next decade. Given the industry’s record for generating jobs and government revenue, we were disappointed that the Obama administration will apparently seek to fund its transportation infrastructure development program by raising taxes on the oil and gas industry.

Crude prices are expected to move sideways on technical indicators and mixed economic data. Natural gas is likely to trade sideways on rising inventories and bearish technical indicators. This week, a host of economic data are expected mixed for the U.S., leading to range-bound trading in crude. Industrial production in the eurozone is expected to rise over the prior month.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Alberta, American jobs, broken pipelines, Calgary, Canada to Midwestern refineries, Crude prices, deep water drilling, economic sentiment, Empire Manufacturing, Enbridge Energy Partners, Germany and Europe, ichigan and Illinois, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Midwestern gas pumps, Minnesota, moratorium, Obama administration, Ohio, oil and natural gas, Oklahoma, pipelines delivering oil, Two oil spills, U.S. economy, United States, Wisconsin, ZEW survey

Thousands of jobs at stake in the US.

President Obama’s proposed tax increases on oil and gas companies would cause over 154,000 workers to lose their jobs, according to a new report by Louisiana State University economist Dr. Joseph Mason. The report also finds that Obama’s proposal would reduce economic output by $341 billion and create over $68 billion in lost wages nationwide. “Though politicians think they are selectively targeting ‘Big Oil’ with these energy tax proposals, they would actually devastate thousands of small American businesses nationwide as well as the workers who depend on them,” Mason said in prepared remarks.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. Chief Executive Officer Khalid al-Falih said the world probably will rely for decades to come on fossil fuels, mainly oil, natural gas and coal. “Even though the share of fossil fuels in the energy mix may decline over the longer term, the absolute quantities of energy from these sources will continue to rise simply because total energy demand is set to expand so significantly,” he said in a speech today at the World Energy Congress in Montreal.

US President Barack Obama asked Congress for more than 90 million dollars to reform oversight of the offshore oil and gas industry, following the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Some of the money would be raised by more than doubling the fees the government charges firms for inspecting their offshore facilities, Obama told House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi in a letter.

Jude    Oil and Gas     American businesses, Big oil, coal, crude oil producer, Deepwater Horizon, Dr. Joseph Mason, energy consumption, energy tax proposals, fossil fuels, Gulf of Mexico, health care, Louisiana State University, mainly oil, Management Service, minerals, Montreal, Nancy Pelosi, natural gas, Obama proposal, oil and gas, oil and natural gas, oil disaster, oil spill, President Obama, Saudi Arabian Oil, Saudi Aramco, US President, World Energy Congress

Petrobras.

The latest revision to the prospectus for Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s $65 billion offering of common and preferred stock highlights the risks of the kind of deepwater-offshore drilling the new capital will fund. But the bigger risk may be political.

The mother lode of oil off Brazil’s coast threatens to reintroduce politics into the management of the oil giant, which is controlled by the Brazilian government but has been ably managed on a commercial basis. ‘BP report clears BP of blame in BP disaster’ was the satirists’ take on the company’s internal inquiry into the Deepwater Horizon accident. Yet while the inquiry’s report, published on September 8, did share out blame with other companies working on the Macondo well, it also contained some strong indictments of decisions taken by BP employees.

Cairn India rose 0.63% to Rs 328.50. Shares of India’s biggest state-run oil exploration firm by revenue Oil & Natural Gas Corporation gained 1.49% to Rs 1375.70. India’s second biggest oil and gas exploration firm by revenue, Oil India, advanced 2.07% to Rs 1565.70. On BSE, Oil India reported volumes of 4,623 shares, ONGC clocked volumes of 26,218 shares and Cairn India notched up volumes of 38,445 shares.

Jude    Maritime News, News     BP disaster, Brazil's coast, Brazilian government, BSE, Cairn India, deepwater offshore drilling, deepwater player, deepwater production, Exxon Mobil, Macondo well, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, oil and gas exploration, oil companies, oil giant, Oil India, ONGC, Petroleo Brasileiro, super major

BP Sued Over Atlantis Platform.

BP Plc’s Atlantis oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico should be shut until the company can prove it meets U.S. safety and engineering standards, an environmental watchdog group said in a lawsuit. Food & Water Watch sued BP in federal court in Houston today.

Thousands of Americans are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a comprehensive study of the environmental and health threats of natural gas fracturing. Pollution from this drilling technique – commonly known as fracking – has been the focus of three heavily attended public meetings in Texas, Colorado and Pennsylvania this summer.

A Texas maker of equipment for oil- and gas-field production and processing is building a new manufacturing and distribution plant in Pennsylvania to serve the booming natural gas industry. Houston-based Allied Technology said the facility in suburban Pittsburgh will help provide dehydration units, sand separation equipment, steel storage tanks and other equipment to several major clients working in the Marcellus Shale formation.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Allied Technology, Atlantis oil, BP PLC, Bruce Hamilton, critical safety, distribution plant, drilling technique, engineering standards, fracking, gas production platform, Gulf of Mexico, Marcellus Shale formation, natural gas industry, Pennsylvania, Sierra Club, U.S. safety

Thick Layer Of Oil On Seafloor.

Scientists on a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico are finding a substantial layer of oily sediment stretching for dozens of miles in all directions. Their discovery suggests that a lot of oil from the Deepwater Horizon didn’t simply evaporate or dissipate into the water — it has settled to the seafloor.

French oil giant Total on Thursday announced its first ever investment in a coal seam gas project, paying around $750 million for a 20% stake in an Australian joint venture. The project will convert coal steam gas from fields in Queensland into liquefied natural gas at a plant on the country’s east coast, from where it will be sold to energy-hungry Asian markets.

Oil prices fell back on Thursday, after getting an early boost from lower jobless claims and crude inventories. Benchmark oil for October delivery lost 42 cents to settle at $74.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas pump prices were virtually unchanged at a national average of $2.68 for a gallon of unleaded regular.

Jude    Maritime News, News    

10 killed in Iran pipeline blast.

Up to 10 Iranian workers died on Saturday in hospital after being badly burnt in an explosion in a gas pipeline, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The pipeline transporting gas from the Khangiran refinery in Sarakhs to the city of Mashhad in Iran’s northeastern province of Khorasan-e Razavi exploded on Friday when it was accidentally struck by an excavating machine, state media reported.

The accident on the BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent oil spill filled headlines and prompted a temporary Washington ban on drilling. Chances for the ban to be lifted soon were hurt by the blaze on a second Gulf rig a couple of weeks ago.

India may raise as much as 190 billion rupees ($4.1 billion) selling shares in Oil & Natural Gas Corp., the country’s biggest energy explorer, and Indian Oil Corp., to help cut its budget deficit. Indian Oil, the nation’s second-biggest refiner, may raise a further 100 billion rupees by selling fresh equity to help it fund a new crude oil processing plant it is building, Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan told reporters in Mumbai today.

Jude    Maritime News, News     BP oil rig, construction of roads, Engineering and Development Company, excavating machine, explosion, gas pipeline, gas transfer, Gulf of Mexico, hospitals, India, Indian Oil Corp., Iran Gas, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister, Iranian workers, IRNA news, Javad Oji, Khangiran refinery, Mashhad city, natural gas, offshore drilling, Oil & Natural Gas Corp., pipeline blast, ports, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sarakhs, Sarakhs-Mashhad pipeline, schools, Washington ban on drilling

Tougher Offshore Regulations ?

Regulators who are supposed to police offshore oil and gas drilling are spread too thinly, poorly trained and hampered by outdated technology, according to a study by an Interior Department review board appointed after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chevron today announced its first venture in the west African country of Liberia. Inspired by giant Cretaceous trend oil finds in recent years off the coasts of Ghana and Ivory Coast, Chevron hopes that it too can find some bounty. Chevron will hold 70% of three new licenses.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger withdrew his support Monday for a controversial new offshore oil drilling project off the Santa Barbara coast in the wake of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Arnold Schwarzenegger, BP oil disaster, Chevron, coasts of Ghana, drilling exploration wells, federal territory, gas drilling, giant Cretaceous, Gulf of Mexico, Ivory Coast, Liberia, offshore oil, oil and gas, oil drilling, oil platform, Santa Barbara coast, Tranquillon Ridge, west African, West Coast

Fire breaks out on Oil Rig in South Atlantic.

A fire broke out on an oil platform off Argentina’s South Atlantic coast, prompting the evacuation of eight workers, the Argentine navy said Wednesday. One of the workers suffered slight burn injuries.

BP PLC’s long-awaited internal investigation into the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig found that the British oil giant bears some responsibility for the disaster but laid most of the blame on its contractors.

The Obama administration will seek an additional 100 million dollars to begin beefing up inspections of offshore oil and gas activities in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Anibal Marelli, Argentine navy, BP PLC, British oil, Chilean, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, drilling the well, ENAP Sipetrol, explosion, gas activities, Gulf of Mexico, leaking oil, natural gas, Obama administration, offshore oil, oil platform, Rio Gallegos, sleeping quarters, South Atlantic coast, Tierra del Fuego, two rescue ships, U.S. history, which killed 11 workers, worst oil spill

Storing Greenhouse Gas.

The United States took another step towards a major goal of its environmental policy – reducing the amount of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the selection of 15 projects to develop technologies to safely and economically store carbon dioxide in geologic formations.

Drillsearch Energy Ltd and Innamincka Petroleum Ltd have agreed to a “friendly merger” through a scheme of arrangement. The merged group would have market capitalisation of in excess of $150 million and create the Cooper Basin’s “leading mid-tier oil and gas company”, the two companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Jude    Maritime News, News     carbon dioxide, Cooper Basin, court approval, Drillsearch Energy, environmental policy, friendly merger, geologic formations, greenhouse gas, Innamincka Petroleum, Innamincka shareholders, major goal, market capitalization, Steven Chu, United States

UK oil against drilling ban.mpg

The CEO of a British oil and gas industry association says the U.K. does not need to halt drilling in the North Sea. Malcolm Webb of Oil and Gas UK says deepwater drilling regulations in the U.K. are better than those in the U.S., so a disaster like the one in the Gulf of Mexico is unlikely.

Crude prices are expected to decline this week on bearish technical indicators, rising inventories and improving refinery utilization rates. Meanwhile, natural gas is likely to trade higher on bullish technical trends and higher demand.

Oil prices may trade lower this week on rising inventories. Samson Oil & Gas Limited advises that it has closed on the first sale of 19,451 acres of its Denver-Julesberg Basin acreage interests in Goshen County, Wyoming, for US$63.7 million in cash, which amount includes the US$10 million deposit previously received by Samson from the Buyer. A second closing is scheduled for the week beginning September 20th.

Jude    Maritime News, News     Baker Hughes, British oil, crude oil, Crude prices, deepwater drilling, Denver-Julesberg Basin, gas industry, Goshen County, Gulf of Mexico, halt drilling, natural gas, North Sea, offshore platforms, Samson Oil & Gas Limited, Wyoming