U.S. energy companies kept the oil rig count unchanged this week, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said on Friday, even though crude prices hovered near their highest level since the summer of 2015. The rig count , an early indicator of future output, held at 747 in the week to Dec. 22, still much higher than a year ago when only 523 rigs were active after energy companies boosted spending plans for 2017 as crude started recovering from a two-year price crash. The [Read more]
Surge in U.S. shale hedging to boost drilling in 2018
NEW YORK (Reuters) - WhMore than 144 million barrels were added to hedges, after global oil markets LCOc1 rallied by as much as $13 in the quarter. Higher prices help producers lock in profits for future sales. That should guarantee that total production exceeds 10 million bpd in 2018, which would be an all-time record for U.S. drilling. Traders say growth next year will likely exceed government forecasts, heralding a record year that could pressure prices in the near term. For oil [Read more]
UK’s Forties North Sea oil pipeline due to restart in early Jan
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Forties oil and gas pipeline, one of the biggest in the North Sea, should be repaired around Christmas, its operator Ineos said on Thursday, the earlier end of a timeframe the company gave to carry out the work. The announcement pushed oil prices lower. Forties plays an important role in the global market as it is the biggest of the five North Sea crudes underpinning Brent, a benchmark for oil trading in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The system, [Read more]
Canadian offshore oil interest grows as pipeline woes sink Alberta prices
Canada's offshore oil industry, a sliver of the country's crude sector, is drawing rising investment interest due to an aggressive push by Newfoundland and Labrador as prices plummet in oil-rich Alberta due to pipeline problems. Offshore interest in the Atlantic province stands in contrast to Western Canada's oil fields, where foreign companies have sold some $23 billion worth of assets this year due to depressed prices. ExxonMobil's Hebron off Newfoundland, Canada's easternmost province, [Read more]
Brent prices caught in the calm before the storm? Kemp
LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Crude oil traders have started to price in the resumption of North Sea shipments on the Forties pipeline, with spot prices stalling and nearby calendar spreads returning to levels before the pipeline was shutdown. Pipeline owner Ineos is working on several repair options and said it expects operations to resume within 2-4 weeks of the original shutdown on Dec. 11 (“Ineos awaiting custom parts to fix Forties oil pipeline”, Reuters, Dec. 19). Brent futures for [Read more]
Canada firm plans $200 mln coin/share offering for oil and gas
Canadian oil financing firm Oleum Capital Inc plans to raise $200 million in mid-January through what it calls the world's first offering of both shares and cryptocurrency tokens, a senior company executive told Reuters. The Calgary, Alberta-based company, which helps relatively small firms that may have trouble raising capital on their own, intends to list on the Dutch Caribbean Securities Exchange, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dave Bradley said in an interview on Friday. The [Read more]
Nebraska regulators deny TransCanada request to amend Keystone XL application
Nebraska regulators on Tuesday denied TransCanada Corp's request to retroactively amend its route application for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project through the state, a potential setback to the company as it seeks to head off legal challenges to the approved path. The state's Public Service Commission had approved a route for Keystone XL last month, but it was not for the preferred route cited in TransCanada's application. Instead the commission approved the [Read more]
TransCanada to review Nebraska denial of motion to amend KXL route application
* TransCanada Corp says it will review the Nebraska Public Service Commission decision to deny its motion to amend an application for a route for the Keystone XL pipeline, and determine the next steps for project. * TransCanada says Keystone XL remains a viable project with strong commercial support, the company expects to secure final federal permits in early 2018. (Reporting by Nia Williams) [Read more]
Enbridge limits space in January on west Canadian oil pipelines
Enbridge Inc will ration space on its Mainline crude pipeline system in January, the company said on Tuesday, the latest sign of record storage inventories in western Canada pushing export networks to capacity. Canada's largest pipeline company said it will apportion Lines 4 and 67, which ship heavy crude, by 36 percent and Lines 2 and 3, which carry light barrels, by 17 percent. Apportionment means shippers cannot transport all their nominated volumes on the Enbridge system and can [Read more]
Nebraska regulators deny TransCanada request to amend Keystone XL application
Nebraska's Public Service Commission on Tuesday denied TransCanada Corp's motion to amend its application for a route for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline through the state, a move that the company had hoped would head off legal challenges against the project. The commission approved a path for Keystone XL last month, but it was not for the preferred route cited in the application. Instead the commission approved an "alternative mainline" route, a move pipeline opponents [Read more]