Offshore Wind: California's New Gold Rush
Areas in California: An Assessment of Locations, Technology, and Costs.” One conclusion: CA’s offshore wind resource potential “corresponds to about 1.5 times the state’s electric energy consumption based on 2014 EIA figures” (italics added, EIA = the US Energy Information Administration). The NREL study is based on six likely Pacific wind energy areas, from Crescent City, in the north, near Oregon, to Port Hueneme, just north of LA.CA’s offshore process started in earnest three years ago when a wind energy company then called Trident Wind – now Castle
U.S. Rig Count Drops, But E&P Spend Up 13%
U.S. energy companies this week cut oil rigs for a second straight week, and notched the first monthly fall since March.Drillers cut four oil rigs in the week to June 29, bringing the total count down to 858, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. <RIG-OL-USA-BHI>That was the first time drillers cut rigs for two weeks in a row since October 2017. For the month, the rig count decreased by one, its first decline since March.For the quarter, however, the count rose by 61, its biggest gain since the second quarter in 2017, after
Energy Industry Says 'No Thanks' to Trump Offer of Marine Sanctuaries
In a bid to boost energy development, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering shrinking or eliminating 11 marine sanctuaries designed to protect 425 million acres of coral reefs, marine mammal habitats and pristine beaches. The review is part of a broader strategy to open new areas to oil and gas drilling and “put the energy needs of American families and businesses first,” according to the order Trump signed in April that triggered it. But interviews with energy industry representatives signal the effort will likely miss its target. Opening up
EIA Release Short-Term Energy Outlook
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released its Short-Term Energy Outlook. Select highlights include: • North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $52 per barrel (b) in April, $1/b higher than the March average and the fifth consecutive month that Brent crude oil spot prices averaged between $50/b and $55/b. EIA forecasts Brent prices to average $53/b in 2017 and $57/b in 2018. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are forecast to average $2/b less than Brent prices in both 2017 and 2018. • NYMEX contract values for August 2017 delivery traded
Oil up 2%
glut. Oil was also supported by an industry strike in Norway that threatened to cut North Sea crude output and a weaker dollar ahead of a Federal Reserve policy announcement at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), where the central bank was expected to keep U.S. interest rates unchanged. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories fell 6.2 million barrels last week, versus a 3.4 million-barrel drop forecast in a Reuters poll. Crude stocks in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer, have fallen since 14.5 million barrels were drawn in the week to Sept
EIA: Falling Fuel Costs, Rising U.S. Production Ahead
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its latest Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook (http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/). Select highlights follow: • EIA projects average U.S. household expenditures for natural gas, heating oil, electricity, and propane will decrease this winter heating season (October 1 through March 31) compared with last winter, which was 11% colder than the previous 10-year average nationally. Projected average household expenditures for propane and heating oil are 27% and 15% lower
Armed with New Technology, Oil Drillers Revisit Gulf of Mexico
what might be left behind. After an unusually harsh winter, higher prices for natural gas - abundant on the shelf - are an added incentive to drill. "We are re-shooting all of our large fields to make sure that we haven't missed anything," said Matt McCarroll, chief executive of Fieldwood Energy LLC, a private equity-backed company that bought shelf assets from Apache and SandRidge Energy Inc last year. Total proved reserves in the Gulf of Mexico are currently about 4.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But Stephen Trammel
Opinion: Oil Market Risks Grow as Chaos Spreads
Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Nigeria and now Iraq: the crude oil market has weathered a long list of actual and threatened supply shocks with remarkable calm. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), unplanned disruptions have removed around 2.5 million barrels per day from the crude market since the start of 2011. But for most of that time, Brent, the international marker, has traded in a narrow range around $105 per barrel and daily price volatility has fallen to the lowest level for 20 years. The absence of volatility despite increasing chaos across much of the Middle
China Optimistic of Finding Gas off Vietnam
A Chinese oil rig whose deployment to waters claimed by Vietnam early this month triggered a rupture in ties has a good chance of finding enough gas to put the area into production, Chinese industry experts said. That would give China its first viable energy field in the disputed South China Sea, as well as make it a source of friction with Hanoi for years to come. For now, China has said nothing about the potential of the area. The first round of drilling had been completed, the rig operator said on Tuesday, without giving any results from the tapped wells. The $1 billion deepwater rig owned
February 2024
