ExxonMobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson acknowledged the risks posed by climate change at the company’s annual meeting on May 29, but he stressed that the real-world consequences of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels remain unknown. “We view climate change as a serious issue, it does present serious risk,” Tillerson told shareholders. But he cast doubt… Keep reading →
Saudi oil output hit a record 9.51 million barrels per day in 2012, when the country lifted output to offset the impact of supply disruptions in Libya and a 1 July EU embargo on Iranian crude shipments. Saudi Arabia exported about 6.9 million bbls/d of oil last year, of which more than 50% went to… Keep reading →
North America has seen its share of oil spills of late, including an ExxonMobil pipeline leak in Arkansas and a Chevron diesel pipeline leak in Utah, both within the first few months of the year. Canadian Pacific Railway is keeping the trend going. A Canadian Pacific-operated train carrying crude oil from Saskatchewan derailed on Tuesday,… Keep reading →
Cost estimates for various methods of wastewater disposal and recycling vary, depending on both the reservoir in question, and the information source. A seven-well recycling and reuse program using electrocoagulation in Eddy County, New Mexico, substituted over 8 million gallons of produced water for fresh water, and saved $70,000-$100,000 per well in water management costs, according… Keep reading →
Turkey’s state-run oil firm has struck an agreement with U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) to develop joint projects in Kurdish-administered northern Iraq, the country’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday. Mr. Erdogan also said that Turkey can pursue separate arrangements with the Erbil-based Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG. “Countries from various parts… Keep reading →
Tax reform in Alaska promises to attract more oil and gas investment, but even for an established player in the state such as ConocoPhillips, getting substantial new production onstream.
Alaska’s state legislature approved oil tax legislation reform earlier this month designed to establish a more attractive investment climate for oil and gas producers. Companies such as ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and BP have been calling for changes to Alaska’s fiscal system for years, arguing that it deters investment in the state’s substantial resources. Keep reading →
Papua New Guinea is set to join the global LNG game in 2014 when the ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project is scheduled to ship its first deliveries, but a major announcement today by InterOil suggests an additional LNG export project could come on stream in the Asian Pacific island nation not long after.
InterOil has been active in PNG since the late 1990’s and operates the country’s only refinery which supplies about 65% of domestic refined product demand. Profits from InterOil’s downstream operations are often used to offset the costs of the company’s LNG export project, a major long-term strategic objective for the independent firm. Keep reading →
Here are some interesting energy-related tid bits making the rounds this week.
Iran Moving Beyond Oil Keep reading →
The long-running dispute between Iraq’s central government in Baghdad and Kurdistan Regional Government leaders in Erbil entered a new phase when the Iraqi Parliament last week passed a 2013 budget that allocated a fraction of the money requested by the KRG. A bulk of this funding is used to pay oil companies operating in the semi-autonomous region.
“In a blatant stiff-arm to the Kurds, the budget allocates just $646 million to cost recovery for Kurdistan Regional Government oil contractors — a figure that covers only around two months’ worth of the crude that Erbil was slated to provide this year,” Michael Knights said in a Policy Alert from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank. The KRG reportedly requested $3.5 billion. Keep Reading →
ExxonMobil is the world’s largest international oil company by virtually all operational and financial metrics and Steve Coll’s book offers a fascinating look at the inner workings of this secretive corporate colossus.
A vestige of John D Rockefeller Senior’s Standard Oil, which famously avoided speaking to the press for much of its existence, ExxonMobil is known within the industry for its operational expertise, rigorous financial discipline, project management skills and tight-lipped nature. Coll’s extensive research and unprecedented access to individuals within and outside the company with first-hand knowledge of transformative events is what makes the book stand out. Keep reading →
