On a sparsely populated island off the coast of the northwestern United States, more than a hundred environmental activists gathered last weekend to practice seaborne drills to disrupt construction on Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd's Westridge crude oil terminal. In kayaks and sailboats they practiced forming blockades, raising banners and rescue techniques. Sunday culminated in a mass role play in which kayakers blockaded a large vessel and unfurled banners emblazoned with "Stop Kinder [Read more]
More than 18 pct of U.S. Gulf oil output shut in by Harvey
More than 18 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut in on Tuesday due to Harvey, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement said. That equates to some 319,523 barrels of oil per day, out of roughly 1.75 million barrels pumped daily from the Gulf. The amount of production shut in was down from Monday, when more than 331,000 barrels were shut in. Meanwhile, 19.1 percent of natural gas production in the region, or 615.09 million cubic feet [Read more]
Harvey threatens more U.S. oil refineries after heavy rains
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Heavy rains and flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey threatened more oil refineries along the Louisiana coast after hammering plants in Texas, forcing Exxon Mobil Corp and Citgo Petroleum to consider shutdowns. The storm dropped back over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, sending heavy rains from Houston through to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Between five and 15 inches of rain was expected in south-central Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday. The Gulf Coast is [Read more]
Oil falls but gasoline jumps as Harvey hits U.S. refiners
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell more than 3 percent on Monday but gasoline prices surged to two-year highs as Tropical Storm Harvey kept hammering the U.S. Gulf Coast, knocking out several refineries which backed up crude supplies and disrupted fuel production. Massive floods caused by the storm forced refineries in the area to close. In turn, U.S. crude futures fell as the refinery shutdowns could reduce demand for American crude. “The reduced inputs to those Gulf refineries [Read more]
Oil markets roiled as Harvey hits U.S. petroleum industry
Oil markets were roiled on Monday after Tropical Storm Harvey wreaked havoc along the U.S. Gulf Coast over the weekend, crippling Houston and its port, and knocking out several refineries as well as some crude production. U.S. gasoline prices hit two-year highs as massive floods caused by the storm forced refineries in the area to close. In turn, U.S. crude futures fell as the refinery shutdowns could reduce demand for American crude. Brent futures steadied as pipeline blockades in Libya [Read more]
Trump renews threat to scrap NAFTA going into next round of talks
U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threat to scrap NAFTA and ripped on trading partners Canada and Mexico in a tweet early on Sunday, days before the three countries were scheduled to hold a second round of negotiations on rewriting the 23-year-old agreement. "We are in the NAFTA (worst trade deal ever made) renegotiation process with Mexico & Canada. Both being very difficult, may have to terminate?" he wrote. In a separate Sunday morning tweet, Trump repeated his pledge that [Read more]
U.S. drillers cut oil rigs ahead of Hurricane Harvey – Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a second week in a row ahead of Hurricane Harvey and as a more than year-long recovery in drilling slows down in reaction to soft crude prices. Drillers cut four oil rigs in the week to Aug. 25, bringing the total count down to 759, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its report on Friday. That compares with 406 active oil rigs during the same week a year ago. Drillers have added rigs in 56 of the past 65 weeks since the start [Read more]
BHP explores $2 bln stake sale in Canada potash mine -sources
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd is considering selling a 25 percent interest in its Canadian potash mine project, a stake that could be worth close to $2 billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The move comes as activist investor Elliott Management Corp has been pushing the company for changes. BHP is working with an investment bank for the potential stake sale in its partly built Jansen, Saskatchewan potash project, the sources said this week. For BHP, the move [Read more]
BHP explores $2 bln stake sale in Canada potash mine-sources
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd is considering selling a 25 percent interest in its Canadian potash mine project, a stake that could be worth close to $2 billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The move comes as activist investor Elliott Management Corp has been pushing the company for changes. BHP is working with an investment bank for the potential stake sale in its partly built Jansen, Saskatchewan potash project, the sources said this week. For BHP, the move [Read more]
Oil up as U.S. rigs and refineries brace for hurricane
Oil prices rose on Friday as the U.S. petroleum industry braced for Hurricane Harvey, which could become the biggest storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade. Harvey became a category 2 storm as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico with winds of 110 mph (175 kph), 145 miles (235 km) off port O’Connor, Texas, the National Hurricane Center said. The hurricane is forecast to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday between Corpus Christi and Houston, both important oil refining [Read more]