The U.S. State Department on Friday issued an environmental assessment of a revised route for the Keystone XL crude pipeline that concluded it would not harm water or wildlife, clearing a hurdle for the project that has been pending for a decade. Even if the pipeline spilled crude oil along its revised route through Nebraska, a top concern of environmentalists, there would likely be no impact to groundwater, the nearly 340-page draft review said. "Prompt cleanup response would likely be [Read more]
U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for second week in three -Baker Hughes
U.S. energy companies cut oil rigs for a second week in three as new drilling has stalled in the nation's largest oil field, where production was forecast to grow at the slowest pace in nearly two years due to pipeline constraints. Drillers cut one oil rig in the week to Sept. 21, bringing the total count down to 866, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday. The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is still much [Read more]
Canada orders new regulatory review of Trans Mountain pipeline
The Canadian government on Friday directed its National Energy Board (NEB) regulator to conduct a new review of its application to expand the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, taking into account the impact of additional marine traffic. The NEB must report to cabinet within 22 weeks, Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada's Federal Court of Appeal last month overturned the Liberal government's approval of expansion of the pipeline, which runs from [Read more]
Now near 100 million bpd, when will oil demand peak?
LONDON (Reuters) - Sometime in the next few weeks, global oil consumption will reach 100 million barrels per day (bpd) - more than twice what it was 50 years ago - and it shows no immediate sign of falling. Despite overwhelming evidence of carbon-fuelled climate change and billions in subsidies for alternative technologies such as wind and solar power, oil is so entrenched in the modern world that demand is still rising by up to 1.5 percent a year. There is no consensus on when world oil [Read more]
Trump sets implied oil price target below $80
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States has sent mixed messages to OPEC and its allies over the last week about whether they need to do more to raise oil production and hold down prices. “The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now” President Donald Trump demanded on Twitter on Sept. 20. “We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices,” he complained. “We will remember,” the [Read more]
Natural gas says it’s no longer a transition fuel. It may be wrong: Russell
Natural gas is no longer merely a transition fuel between the past of dirty coal and crude oil and the future of renewables, according to an increasingly confident cross-section of the industry. A procession of senior executives of major companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp , espoused this view while speaking at this week's GasTech event, the industry's biggest annual gathering. While the industry has plenty to be buoyant about, including rapid and sustained Chinese [Read more]
USD Partners moving ahead with Canada crude by rail expansion
USD Partners LP has begun expansion work at one of Canada's largest crude by rail loading terminals, which will boost capacity at the facility by 50 percent and be completed by year end, the head of the company's Canada unit told Reuters.The expansion at Hardisty, Alberta, will increase loading capacity to three 120-car unit trains per day, or roughly 225,000 barrels, to meet strong demand from both producers and refinery customers amid pipeline bottlenecks, said Jim Albertson, [Read more]
Kinder Morgan hires TD to sell Canadian business
Kinder Morgan Inc has hired investment bank TD Securities to facilitate a potential sale of its Canadian business, which could fetch the U.S. pipeline operator as much as C$2.4 billion ($1.8 billion), people familiar with the situation told Reuters this week. The move comes about two weeks after Kinder Morgan closed its sale of the Trans Mountain pipeline to the Canadian government for about C$4.5 billion. At a conference earlier this month, Kinder Morgan Chief Executive Steven Kean [Read more]
Heavy crude differential widens again to biggest in nearly 5 years
The Canadian heavy oil differential widened slightly against the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark on Friday, setting the widest level in nearly five years for the second straight day. * Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for October delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, settled at $35.75 a barrel below the WTI benchmark crude futures , according to Shorcan Energy brokers. * Thursday's settle was $35 under WTI, then the widest differential since November 2013. * Higher [Read more]
China’s Sinopec plans to build Canadian oil refinery
China's Sinopec Corp has joined a group planning to build an oil refinery in Alberta, an enterprise that would strengthen demand for the Canadian province's heavily discounted crude. State-owned Sinopec, formally known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp , along with an Alberta indigenous group, China State Construction Engineering Corp and Alberta management company Teedrum, plan to build a refinery to process 167,000 barrels per day of crude into gasoline and other products, [Read more]