The equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, typhoon Haiyan, aka Yolanda, barreled through the Philippines and is expected to make landfall in Vietnam Sunday. “The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, jointly run by the United Nations and the European Commission, said nearly 16 million people, including more than 12 million from the Philippines, were… Keep reading →
Four oil traders are claiming in a lawsuit that they can prove that BP, Statoil and Shell conspired with Morgan Stanley and trading firms such as Vitol to manipulate Brent crude prices. The traders say that the three oil companies placed orders to move markets, rather than buy crude. “Platts’ methodology ‘can be easily gamed… Keep reading →
The oil and gas industry builds some of the world’s largest, most technically-challenging and expensive projects, especially now as companies are pushed further offshore, into the Arctic and into unconventional resource opportunities. As such, capital expenditure is closely watched by investors and there is consistent discourse around how much cash should be deployed to increase… Keep reading →
Architectural firm SWA Group has proposed building a bike lane along the Keystone XL pipeline, which “could turn what is now a source of rancor into a tourist attraction”. Project costs could reach $400 million, factoring in designers, cultural experts, economists, engineers and “interpretive elements” along the route. [Bloomberg] Consol Energy’s sale of five coal mines… Keep reading →
Well it’s not quite that dramatic, but Houston was passed over as host of the 2017 World Petroleum Congress in favor of Istanbul, Turkey. The Texas energy capital hosted the event in 1987 and nearly won the honors for the 2014 event, narrowly losing out to Moscow. [Houston Business Journal] Eni drilled a successful appraisal… Keep reading →
“Yet another reason to hate fracking: It’s connected with an increase in STDs, car crashes, drug-related crimes, and sexual assault in areas where the oil and gas industry sets up shop.” The article then goes on to explain that it’s actually not hydraulic fracturing that’s linked to these things, it’s working conditions at oil and… Keep reading →
Guy Chazan must have inwardly rejoiced while interviewing outgoing Shell CEO Peter Voser for his piece in the Financial Times (which I’d link to, but they have a frustrating paywall situation). Most of the interview is about dull and important matters like capital expenditure cycles for oil majors, but Voser gave the FT a little… Keep reading →
Jellyfish in the cooling water intake have forced the shutdown of Sweden’s largest nuclear reactor, which generates about 10% of the country’s electricity. As bizarre as this sounds, jellyfish have caused problems at power plants in several countries, including the US. [CNN] Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that state-controlled energy company Petronas is going… Keep reading →
BP and the US federal government are at odds over how much oil was actually spilled into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010: BP says 2.45 million barrels, the US government says 4.2 MM bbl. “Clean Water Act fines…range from a maximum of $1,100 for every barrel… Keep reading →
Shell has selected Louisiana’s Ascension Parish as the potential site for its Gulf Coast natural gas-to-liquids facility. On September 24, 2013, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Royal Dutch Shell announced selection of Louisiana’s Ascension Parish as the site for a proposed Gulf Coast natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant, a cost of least $12.5 billion. Shell will also fund… Keep reading →
