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ExxonMobil Earned $9.5 Billion in the First Quarter, but Results Mixed

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Oil & gas giant ExxonMobil’s first quarter 2013 earnings announced today were up $50 million from first quarter 2012, but oil-equivalent production volumes decreased 3.5%. While upstream and downstream earnings were lower, the chemical division reported strong results, which helped balance the company’s overall financial and operational position.

“Upstream earnings were $7,037 million in the first quarter of 2013, down $765 million from the first quarter of 2012. Lower liquids realizations, partially offset by improved natural gas realizations, decreased earnings by $230 million,” the company said in a statement. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 25, 2013 at 1:15 PM

Mayor Bloomberg Speaks at Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy Launch

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New York City – the world’s energy finance capital and one of the world’s largest commodity trading marketplaces – is a fitting location for the Center on Global Energy Policy. As part of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, the center will seek to “provide independent, balanced, data-driven analysis to help policymakers navigate the complex world of energy.”

At Wednesday’s launch event, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was joined by energy experts and US government officials, who helped officially inaugurate the new energy policy initiative. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 25, 2013 at 11:15 AM

Hydraulic Fracturing: a Way to Go Greener?

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Biodegradable polymers are a tiny slice of the broader bioplastics market, but they could offer a means for oil and gas drillers to go greener in hydraulic fracturing operations.

It is almost common knowledge these days that advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, both decades-old techniques, have been the keys to unlocking vast gas and oil deposits in recent years that were previously considered too costly to develop. As hydraulic fracturing has become commonplace across large swaths of the United States – sometimes in areas in which oil and gas drilling is a relatively new phenomenon – it has sparked a range of environmental concerns. These include fears that the materials injected into the ground in the process, which include chemicals and proppants, may contaminate water supplies. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 23, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Natural Gas in Transport: Tomorrow’s Fuel Today

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Last week I had the opportunity to attend and participate in LNG17, the largest global gas event of 2013. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a rapidly growing part of the larger natural gas industry and is especially relevant today because of the increasing global demand for transportation fuels. At the conference, it was clear to me that LNG is a priority for not only Shell, but also the entire industry because of its potential to provide real economic and environmental benefits to the transportation industry in trucks, trains and ships.

For around 50 years, LNG has been used as a source of energy for power generation in cities but new technology and increasing demand has inspired Shell to invest in LNG for transport. Resources around the world, especially in North America, are abundant but supply is growing far faster than demand. It is the industry’s responsibility to build the infrastructure and develop innovative technology to utilize this energy source to its fullest potential. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 23, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Outlook Brightens for US Natural Gas, but not Until 2014

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Oilfield services firm Halliburton anticipates that US natural gas prices, which have strengthened substantially from year-ago levels, could rise to levels that reinvigorate natural gas drilling in 2014.

“We are becoming increasingly optimistic about gas activity in 2014,” said Halliburton chief executive Dave Lesar during the company’s first-quarter 2013 earnings call on 22 April. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 23, 2013 at 8:30 AM

Video: Sally Jewell Begins Tenure as US Interior Department Secretary

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In this latest installment of the US Department of Interior’s weekly video series “This Week at Interior,” Sally Jewell speaks about coming on board as the 51st Secretary of the Interior.

The Department manages energy leases on federal land both onshore and offshore, in addition to numerous other energy-related responsibilities. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 22, 2013 at 1:30 PM

Texas Energy Sector: Booming, Contradictory, Promising

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Think of Texas and the mental movie is obvious: old fashioned oil rigs, big hats, big hair, big boots and conservative politics. Not much room for innovation, information technology, renewable energy or energy efficiency efforts in that narrative, but Texas confounds expectations. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 22, 2013 at 11:00 AM

NGLs to be Exported to Europe from the US Before LNG

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While LNG exports from the US are hotly debated, major shale gas player Range Resources was recently excited to proclaim it will be the first company to export natural gas liquids via ship from the US. Range has an agreement in place to begin ethane shipments to a petrochemical concern in Norway beginning in 2015.

We have a sales VP in Europe now – they [NGL sales team] got a call from China and there’s interest in Pittsburgh,” Rodney Waller, Range Senior Vice President said at the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s Oil & Gas Investment Symposium held last week in New York. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 22, 2013 at 8:30 AM

FY 2014 Budget Proposal: Significant Investment in Clean Energy Development

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In his FY 2014 budget proposal, President Obama increases spending on clean energy development, seeking to expedite R&D and boost cost-competitiveness and deployment of clean energy technologies.

President Barack Obama’s FY2014 budget plan released on April 10, 2013, proposes increases in spending for clean energy production and deployment. The budget aims to support cost-competitiveness and deployment of renewable power, electric vehicles, advanced biofuels, innovative manufacturing processes, and energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 19, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Shell Upbeat on Global LNG, Transport Applications

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Shell has bet heavily on LNG over the past two decades and now has one of the world’s largest LNG portfolios with assets in every segment of the value chain from gas production and liquefaction to retail sales. The company is confident its investments will pay off as natural gas applications continue to move beyond the power generation and industrial sectors into land-based and maritime transportation. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 19, 2013 at 11:00 AM
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