Canadian pipeline company Enbridge Inc said on Tuesday it has received a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install 54 steel supports along its underwater Line 5 pipeline in Michigan's Straits of Mackinac. Line 5 ships 540,000 barrels per day of light crude oil and propane and is a critical part of Enbridge's Mainline network, which delivers the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the United States. However the Michigan is suing Enbridge in a bid to have the underwater portion [Read more]
Court blocks Alberta legislation that would restrict energy flows to British Columbia
A Canadian court on Tuesday granted a temporary injunction against legislation enabling the province of Alberta to restrict the flow of oil and gas to neighbouring British Columbia. Alberta enacted Bill 12, dubbed the "turn off the taps act" in May, after it was passed by the previous provincial government in retaliation for British Columbia opposing the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline. Bill 12, formally known as the "Preserving Canada's Economic Prosperity Act", has yet to be [Read more]
Oil slips as focus shifts from Saudi supply to global demand concerns
Oil prices eased on Tuesday as weak manufacturing data from Europe and Japan focused market attention on the gloomy outlook for demand and away from uncertainty around supply disruptions in Saudi Arabia. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $58.36, down 28 cents. Brent crude futures fell 35 cents to $64.42 a barrel. "The demand side of the equation is back in focus," said Michael McCarthy, senior market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, pointing to sluggish manufacturing [Read more]
Eight energy firms dropped from Canada’s main equity index
Eight Canadian energy companies were booted out of the S&P/TSX Composite Index on Monday because their market capitalization has dropped below minimum requirements, the latest sign of difficulties facing the country's oil and gas sector.Analysts said the rebalancing of Canada's flagship index underlined the challenge to energy companies in attracting investment amid concerns about lack of new oil pipeline capacity and a glut of inexpensive North American natural gas.Canada holds [Read more]
Alberta to unveil budget on Oct. 24, spending cuts loom
Alberta will unveil its first budget on Oct. 24, the premier said on Monday, warning that "difficult decisions" would need to be made on spending to help tackle hefty deficits. Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party were elected in April, ousting the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), with promises to get Alberta's finances in order. The western province holds most of Canada's oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, but it has been struggling with persistent [Read more]
Oil CEOs push carbon-capture efforts ahead of climate talks
A group of 13 major oil companies charted out a plan on Monday to promote investments in carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), ahead of a gathering in New York. Oil chiefs grappling with growing demand for climate change action have looked to invest in carbon-capture and sequestration techniques that some executives, including Occidental Petroleum Corp CEO Vicki Hollub, say could make drilling carbon neutral. Carbon sequestration technology works by trapping carbon in caverns or porous [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs to lowest since May 2017 -Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a fifth week in a row to the lowest since May 2017, even as crude prices jumped more than 7% this week after an attack halved output in the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia. Drillers cut 14 oil rigs in the week to Sept. 20, bringing the total count down to 719, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. In the same week a year ago, there were 866 active [Read more]
Oil heading for 7% weekly gain after Saudi attacks
Oil prices were on track to jump more than 7% this week, their biggest weekly gain in months, on rising Middle East tensions after a key Saudi Arabian supply hub was knocked out in an attack last weekend. A Saudi-led coalition launched a military operation north of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, as the United States worked with Middle East and European nations to build a coalition to deter Iranian threats after the Saudi attack. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 59 [Read more]
Saudi Aramco confident full output from Khurais to resume by end of Sept
Saudi Aramco is confident full production will resume by the end of September from Khurais, one of two oil sites attacked about a week ago, a company executive said on Friday. Aramco was shipping equipment from the United States and Europe to rebuild the damaged facilities, Fahad Abdulkarim, Aramco's general manager for the southern area oil operation, told reporters on a tour organised by the state company. Reuters reporters were shown repair work under way, with cranes erected around two [Read more]
U.S. natgas futures fall over 3% on bigger-than-expected storage build
U.S. natural gas futures fell more than 3% from a near five-month high on Thursday following the release of a report showing a bigger-than-expected storage build. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said utilities added 84 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas to storage during the week ended Sept. 13. That was higher than the 78-bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an injection of 84 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year (2014-18) average [Read more]