Berkshire Hathaway Inc's energy unit on Thursday named William Fehrman as its new chief executive to replace Gregory Abel, who was promoted a day earlier to oversee more Berkshire units, and potentially succeed Warren Buffett. Fehrman, 57, joined the energy unit, Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co, in 2006. He had been chief executive of its MidAmerican Energy Co subsidiary, which provides electric and natural gas service in four Midwest U.S. states, and BHE Renewables, which builds wind and [Read more]
Oil prices expected to trade around $60-$70 through 2020: Kemp
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices are expected to remain close to current levels, averaging around $60 to $70 per barrel through the end of the decade, according to the annual survey of energy professionals conducted by Reuters. Forecast prices have changed very little since the last survey a year ago, and are only modestly higher than in the first survey conducted in 2016, when spot prices were much lower than they are today and near the bottom of the cycle. Long-term price [Read more]
Jefferies poaches RBC senior bankers in expansion drive
Jefferies has hired Dai Clement and Lorna Shearin from Royal Bank of Canada to develop its power, utilities and infrastructure business, as part of a wider investment banking expansion, banking sources said on Tuesday. Dai Clement will become global head of power, utilities and infrastructure investment banking at Jefferies, while Lorna Shearin will be the European head from April. Both will be based in London, the sources told Reuters. Clement was European head of utilities at RBC, while [Read more]
Encana estimates Q4 core production topped its forecast
Encana Corp on Tuesday estimated fourth-quarter production from its core assets would top its own forecast, helped by the Canadian oil and gas producer's efforts to revamp its business. The company - in the middle of a five-year plan to boost its output growth rate - has benefited from focusing on four core North American basins: the Montney and Duvernay in Canada, and the Eagle Ford and Permian in the United States. Calgary, Alberta-based Encana said it estimates production from [Read more]
Keystone XL pipeline opponents appeal Nebraska route approval
Opponents of TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline appealed a decision by Nebraska regulators to approve a path for the project through the state, a lawyer for the opponents said on Friday. The legal challenge throws up another obstacle to the long-delayed project, which environmentalists have made a symbol of their fight against climate change but which President Donald Trump supports as a job creator. The Nebraska Public Service Commission in November approved a route for [Read more]
Rail shipments of Canadian oil to U.S. seen rising over 60%
Canadian crude shipments to the United States by rail could rise more than 60 percent this year on demand by Gulf Coast refiners for the heavy crudes and the wide differential between Canadian grades and the U.S. benchmark. The rail shipments could reach as much as 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) by year end and average some 400,000 bpd in 2019, estimated analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Last year, the shipments averaged 130,000 bpd, according to U.S. government data. Canadian [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for first week in three
U.S. energy companies this week cut oil rigs for the first week in three even though crude prices hovered near their highest level since the spring of 2015. Drillers cut 5 oil rigs in the week to Jan. 5, bringing the total count down to 742, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. In the prior two weeks, drillers did not add or remove any rigs. The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is much higher than a [Read more]
Frigid weather sends heating prices soaring as energy usage spikes
NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A severe winter storm in the U.S. Northeast brought plunging temperatures on Friday, driving regional natural gas prices to all-time highs, disrupting refinery operations and causing electrical outages. From Baltimore to Caribou, Maine, efforts were under way to clear roadways from Thursday’s snowfall. Temperatures were expected to be 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below the average for this time of year and could set records, according to the National Weather [Read more]
Canadian oil exports to U.S. dip in November
Canadian exports of crude oil fell 2.4 percent month-on-month in November to 3.28 million barrels per day, Statistics Canada data said on Friday, after a decline in shipments to the United States. The 80,000 bpd drop in exports to Canada's biggest customer came in the same month TransCanada Corp's Keystone pipeline, which carries crude from Alberta's oil sands to U.S. refineries, was shut down following a leak in rural South Dakota. Keystone restarted in late November but the 590,000 bpd [Read more]
U.S. shale returns to growth, posing problem for OPEC: Kemp
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices have risen above $60 per barrel which should accelerate shale drilling and production in the next few months, provided the price increase is sustained. U.S. crude futures are trading over $60 for all delivery months between February and August 2018, an increase of about 40 percent since the middle of 2017. And the futures strip for 2019, the benchmark against which U.S. shale producers can execute hedges for next year’s output, is trading over $56, [Read more]