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Here are some more selected news articles for the week ending 01 May 2021. Go here for Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Read 02May 2021 – Part 1.
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Big Oil Sees Cash Rolling In— After one of the most difficult years in the oil industry’s history, crude prices have recovered and major producers are finally generating spare cash. Investors really want to get their hands on it, but most are likely to be disappointed. That’s because the pandemic has created a legacy of debt for the world’s biggest international oil companies, many of which borrowed to fund their dividends as prices crashed. For Exxon Mobil Corp. and Total SE, which bore the financial strain of maintaining shareholder payouts last year, any extra cash will go to easing debt. Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have said they want to resume buybacks, but not yet. Only BP Plc is dangling the possibility that shareholder returns could improve soon, after a year and a half of flip-flopping over its payout policy. The coming week’s first-quarter results should show a significant improvement in both profit and cash flow after a dire 2020, but probably nothing that will change investors’ disenchantment with the oil majors. “They have limited appeal as long-term investments because they can’t demonstrate that they can deliver cash flow on a sustainable basis and return it on a sustainable basis,” said Christyan Malek, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s head of EMEA oil and gas. “The key is consistency. We haven’t had any.” The first quarter will be an inflection point for the industry, according to JPMorgan. Company data and estimates compiled by Bloomberg show free cash flow — what’s left after operational spending and investment — is set to rebound to $80 billion for the five supermajors this year, compared with about $4 billion in 2020. Shell will be the top of heap with about $22 billion, Exxon will total $19 billion and even lowest-ranked BP will have about $11 billion. That will be enough for each of the five majors to cover their planned 2021 dividends and together have more than $35 billion left over.
Chevron Posts Bumper Cash Flow — Chevron Corp. generated the most free cash flow since the pandemic emerged as economies clawing their way out of more than a year of lockdowns and paralysis burn more fuel. The oil, natural gas and refining titan posted $3.4 billion in first-quarter cash flow on Friday, more than enough to cover its recently increased dividend, which is a closely watched metric for the oil supermajors. A key driver of the bonanza was a 43% spending cut as Chevron retreats from costly mega-projects to focus on less-risky endeavors such as shale drilling. The shares dropped 2% in pre-market trading. Despite the cash-flow increase, the company said it’s waiting for market conditions to improve before reinstating share buybacks. Chevron disclosed adjusted per-share profit of 90 cents, according to a statement, matching the average of analysts’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. Chevron followed European peers Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc in signaling the worst may be over from the dual menace of a worldwide glut and demand-killing Covid-19 lockdowns. Amid the brightening outlook, significant challenges remain. Chevron’s U.S. refining network lost money for the third time in four quarters, while its overseas fuel-making plants slashed crude-processing by 16% to cope with anemic demand for transportation fuels. The company also cited the negative impacts of the deadly winter storm that afflicted Texas in mid-February. Chevron flexed its financial might earlier this week by becoming the first Western supermajor to raise dividends above pre-pandemic levels. BP, Shell and Total SE all posted better-than-expected results in recent days, largely on the back of the crude-market rebound. Combined cash flow of the European giants exceeded $25 billion for the first time since late 2019. BP said it would begin buying back shares while Shell flagged a dividend increase.
Mich. lawmakers propose $250M natural gas fund The Michigan Legislature is considering allocating $250 million to help utilities build out natural gas infrastructure, while a separate proposal would require the state to study the use of biogas, which the utilities have branded “renewable natural gas.” The subsidy, which was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday and will likely be voted on Tuesday, is strongly opposed by environmental groups and some Democrats. “This is crony capitalism at its worst and this is not what the government should be doing with these dollars,” said Democratic Minority House Leader Yousef Rabhi. “The utilities have raked in $2B in profits during the pandemic, and they should be spending that money to ensure more people have access to gas. It shouldn’t be up to the taxpayers.” The bill is largely designed to expand natural gas infrastructure to areas of the state’s Upper Peninsula with homes that are now predominantly heated with propane. With the impending shutdown of the Line 5 gas pipeline, which delivers propane to about 15% of the region’s homes, propane suppliers will soon be forced to truck in propane, which may slightly increase costs. The shutdown order sparked a conversation about energy delivery in the Upper Peninsula. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force on March 31 delivered ideas on how to improve energy delivery and reliability in the region. Among its suggestions are electrification, increased coordination among utilities, and investment in energy efficiency projects. The task force did not call for expanding infrastructure for natural gas, which heats about 57% of the peninsula’s buildings and homes. The legislation would create a “natural gas expansion fund.” The state’s private utilities could pull from the $250 million pot for projects that expand service to currently “underserved or unserved” areas. The bill claims that the program would help improve “reliability and stability of energy delivery” to those parts of the state while lowering customers’ energy costs.
Michigan regulators will consider climate change in Line 5 decision – – The fate of the Line 5 pipeline is officially a climate issue in the eyes of Michigan regulators.The Michigan Public Service Commission on Wednesday ruled that it must consider evidence on greenhouse gas pollution caused by petroleum flowing through Line 5 as it decides whether Canadian oil giant Enbridge energy can relocate the pipeline inside of a tunnel designed to extend the pipeline’s life span in the Straits of Mackinac. Pipeline opponents called the decision historic: It’s the first time Michigan regulators have factored greenhouse gas emissions into their scrutiny of a project’s environmental impacts under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act.”It makes clear that our understanding of what counts as pollution changes over time, and our agencies and courts need to change with that,” said Margrethe Kearney, a senior attorney with the Environmental Law & Policy Center, which fought to include a consideration of climate change as a factor in the commission’s ruling. Enbridge, which had fought to keep climate change off the table, issued its own statement that did not address the commission’s climate findings. The statement said the company is “pleased” that commissioners rejected other attempts by its opponents to turn the commission’s deliberations into a review of the company’s entire pipeline system.”Our aim is simple,” a company statement read. “To replace the two pipelines in the Straits with an even safer pipeline encased in a concrete tunnel well below the lakebed.”The decision comes just weeks ahead of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s May 13 deadline for Enbridge to stop transporting petroleum through the existing lakebottom pipes – an order Enbridge has vowed to defy.In hopes of extending the pipeline’s life amid public concern about the risk of an oil spill in the Straits from the 68-year-old lakebottom line, Enbridge wants to relocate a 4-mile segment of Line 5 inside of a concrete tunnel deep below the lakebed.The commission, which regulates pipeline siting in Michigan, must decide whether Enbridge can move the pipeline into the proposed tunnel. Enbridge is also awaiting permits to build the tunnel itself. As commissioners considered how broadly to scope their review of the relocation plan, environmentalists pushed them to weigh broad impacts of the pipeline, including its role as a conduit for environmentally damaging greenhouse gases. Enbridge, meanwhile, had urged the commission to take the narrowest possible view, considering only the immediate consequences of moving the pipeline.
Tribal Nation Challenges Pipeline Permit Approval -The Bay Mills Indian Community has challenged a permit issued to Enbridge Energy by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) that would allow Enbridge to build a massive tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac to house a new segment of its Line 5 pipeline. EGLE, despite recommendations from the MI State Historic Preservation Office and opposition from Tribal Nations, granted the permit before the key cultural and archaeological studies were completed – studies that were required by law as part of EGLE’s evaluation of the tunnel permit application.”It is incredibly disturbing to learn that EGLE approved this permit without performing sufficient analysis into this pipeline’s far-reaching impacts on our cultural resources and treaty-protected fish and plant populations,” saidWhitney Gravelle, President and Chairwoman of the Bay Mills Indian Community. “Side-stepping the concerns of Tribal Nations and rubber-stamping this project before the necessary studies were completed signals a deeply concerning indifference to Tribal sovereignty.”Earthjustice, in partnership with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), represents the Bay Mills Indian Community in the Tribe’s fight to protect the Straits and the Tribe’s treaty rights throughout waters in Michigan.”EGLE sidelined the concerns of the Tribal Nations and the State Historic Preservation Office, a sister agency with expertise over historic preservation and cultural landscapes in Michigan, and ignored its statutory obligation to evaluate the Project’s effects on historic and cultural resources,” saidEarthjustice Attorney Adam Ratchenski.”Enbridge has failed to justify how this pipeline tunnel will be in the public interest while disturbing an area of such historic and cultural significance as the Straits of Mackinac”, said Native American Rights Fund attorney David Gover. “This permit was granted without the adequate information necessary to address the grave concerns of the Tribal Nations who stand the most at-risk from its approval.
Frustrated Canada presses White House to keep Great Lakes oil pipeline open (Reuters) – Canada is pushing on several diplomatic fronts against the U.S. state of Michigan’s efforts to close a cross-border oil pipeline, the second such dispute since Joe Biden became U.S. president in January, complicating the governments’ efforts to work together to lower carbon emissions. The conflict over the aging but key pipeline highlights the disruptions caused by a global shift away from fossil fuels. Both governments are working to accelerate the energy transition, but their oil industries are interdependent, so a policy shift in one country can affect energy supply, and the political balance, in the other. The United States imports more crude from Canada than any other nation, at about 3.7 million barrels per day, or about 80%of Canada’s crude output. Ottawa’s strategy, according to four sources familiar with the government’s thinking, is to repeatedly raise the issue of Enbridge Inc’s Line 5 with numerous U.S. counterparts – including Biden – to get them to pressure Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to keep the pipeline open. Last November, Michigan ordered Line 5 to shut by May 13, citing the environmental risk of a possible leak in the four-mile (6-km) stretch of the 540,000-bpd line passing under the Straits of Mackinac in the Great Lakes. The White House has shown no sign of responding to Canadian entreaties, so Ottawa is considering more drastic options, including a threat to invoke an obscure bilateral treaty to keep Line 5 operating or intervene in the legal dispute currently playing out in U.S. courts. Line 5, which flows crude oil and refined products from Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario, via Michigan, has been in operation for nearly 70 years, but officials in Michigan are increasingly alarmed by its advanced age. The line has never leaked into the straits but there have been at least eight other spills since 1980, according to U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration data. The imbroglio over Line 5 comes just three months after Biden angered the Canadian oil and gas industry by cancelling a permit for the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline project on his first day in office. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government reluctantly accepted that decision, even though it killed thousands of construction jobs and further soured Ottawa’s relationship with the main energy-producing province of Alberta. Ottawa has resolved to fight publicly to keep Line 5 open, which – unlike Keystone – is already operating and a vital link in Enbridge’s export network that ships the vast majority of crude from Canada’s western oil patch to the United States.
Oil pipeline disputes raise tensions between U.S. and Canada (AP) – Months after President Joe Biden snubbed Canadian officials by canceling Keystone XL, an impending showdown over a second crude oil pipeline threatens to further strain ties between the two neighbors that were frayed during the Trump administration. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a top Biden ally, ordered Canadian energy company Enbridge last fall to shut down its Line 5 – a key piece of a crude delivery network from Alberta’s oil fields to refineries in the U.S. Midwest and eastern Canada. Whitmer’s demand pleased environmentalists and tribes who have long considered the pipeline, which reaches 645 miles (1,038 kilometers) across northern Wisconsin and Michigan, ripe for a spill that could devastate two Great Lakes. A section roughly 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) long crosses the bottom of Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The area is a popular tourist destination, and several tribes have treaty-protected commercial fishing rights in the straits. But with the governor’s May 12 shutdown deadline approaching, Canadian officials are lining up behind Enbridge as it contests the order in U.S. court and says it won’t comply. The Calgary-based company says Whitmer is overstepping her authority and that the 68-year-old pipeline is sound. “Our government supports the continued safe operation of Enbridge’s Line 5,” Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s minister of natural resources, told The Associated Press in an email. “It is a vital part of Canadian energy security, and I have been very clear that its continued operation is non-negotiable.” A Canadian House of Commons committee this month warned of dire consequences from a shutdown: job losses, fuel shortages and traffic nightmares as 23 million gallons (87 million liters) of petroleum liquids transported daily through Line 5 are shifted to trucks and rail cars considered more susceptible to accidents.
Could an ancient, submerged cultural site stop Enbridge’s Great Lakes pipeline? – The battles over Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline and proposed tunnel project continue to escalate. For more than a year, archaeological discoveries in the Straits of Mackinac have caused concerns not only among field experts and environmental activists, but especially among Indigenous tribes because the history of their cultures is potentially at stake. At its basis are laws provided to multiple tribes under the umbrella of the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, as part of the 1836 Treaty of Washington. The tribes include Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Little River Band of Odawa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Andrea Pierce, chair and founder of the Anishinaabek Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party and member of Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, joined tribal members and environmentally conscious brethren to investigate. The caucus, with the aid of water advocates like Terri Wilkerson and Little Traverse Bay Bands citizen Fred Harrington, Jr., conducted side-scan sonar to see if something was amiss. Video footage and photographs taken during the excursions revealed a circle of stones thought to be part of a cultural site from as far back as 10,000 years ago, near the end of the Ice Age. “It’s not just one little circle we’re talking about,” says Wilkerson, a retired real estate broker from Pinckney. “It’s quite expansive. We’re not talking about a 20-by-20-foot area.” Similar rock formations have been located near Grand Traverse Bay and Beaver Island.
Nearly 50% of spring hearing respondents oppose new Line 5 (AP) – Almost half of the respondents to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress’ spring hearings questionnaire say they would support the organization if it opposes reconstructing Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline across northern Wisconsin. The company decided to reroute the pipeline after the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued to force removal of the line from its reservation. The company is seeking permits from the Department of Natural Resources and state utility regulators to reroute the line. The Conservation Congress is a group of influential outdoor enthusiasts that advises the DNR on policy. The congress’ spring hearing questionnaire earlier this month said the line is aging and should be decommissioned. The questionnaire asked respondents if they would support the congress should it oppose construction to replace the portion of line that runs across the reservation. Respondents could file their answers online from April 12 through April 15. ADVERTISEMENT Nearly half of Wisconsin residents who responded during the three-day virtual response period – about 48% – said they would support the congress’ opposition. A little more than a third – about 38% – said they would not support a stance opposing the reconstruction and 16% were undecided. About 49% of all respondents, including those from outside Wisconsin, said they would support congress opposition. Thirty-four percent said they would not support opposition and about 17% were undecided. Only 165 respondents were from outside the state. The breakdown was the same to a question asking if respondents would support congress opposition to DNR permits for the reconstruction, with about 47% saying they would support opposition and about 34% saying they wouldn’t with about 18% undecided. The percentages were the same for both Wisconsin residents and all respondents.
Labor union study says St. Paul Park refinery becoming less safe – A large labor union said Marathon Petroleum has increasingly compromised safety at its St. Paul Park refinery, including dismantling part of its in-house fire department. Marathon, which bought the refinery in 2018, bristled at the allegations, saying that its firefighting capabilities are “robust” and that it has an “outstanding safety record.” The report issued by the Laborers Union comes three months after the start of an ongoing labor dispute at the Marathon St. Paul Park refinery. The Laborers are not directly involved in that dispute, but they represent workers at union contractors that have been replaced by nonunion contractors at Marathon. Ohio-based Marathon, the nation’s largest oil refinery company, has continued operating the plant with management employees from St. Paul Park and its other refineries. Marathon acquired the St. Paul Park refinery in 2018 as part of its $23 billion buyout of Andeavor LLC. Since then, union leaders said Marathon has increasingly relied on nonunion contractors – from repair projects carried out by pipe fitters to cleaning work by laborers. “It has moved from overwhelmingly union contractors to nonunion contractors from out of state,” At the same time, Marathon has let safety slip at St. Paul Park, according to the report, which is largely built on interviews with striking in-plant employees and workers from outside contractors. Workers provided “multiple examples” of “hydrocarbon” – oil and gas – releases or chemical releases due to contractors’ errors, the report said. They also told of unsafe work conditions, including improper handling of flammable chemicals. And workers brought in to replace union tradesworkers had an “obvious lack of experience and training,” the Laborers’ report said.M
Worker group alleges unsafe practices at Marathon Minnesota refinery (Reuters) – Inadequate safety standards at Marathon Petroleum’s St. Paul Park refinery in Minnesota have caused avoidable hydrocarbon and chemical releases that pose a threat to the community, a local worker advocacy group said in a report on Sunday, as a lockout of unionized plant workers extends into its third month. The report by Local Jobs North, a union-backed organization, said that lax safety standards at the plant led to mistakes that could have ignited volatile hydrocarbons. It also cited inadequate installation of safety controls for pipe repair operations and use of poorly constructed scaffolding. The report, which was reviewed by Reuters, said that Marathon eliminated dedicated safety positions and removed experienced maintenance contractors to save on costs after taking over the plant in 2018. The report was based largely on information from employees who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, according to its co-author Kevin Pranis, marketing manager for the Laborers’ International Union of North America branch in Minnesota and North Dakota. Despite a general improvement in safety metrics at U.S. refineries, there have been some incidents at these facilities in recent years that have killed and injured workers as a result of aging equipment and human error, often by untrained employees. Marathon said it selects contractors through a comprehensive evaluation process, that they receive training for specific roles and meet federal and state regulations, and that independent auditors vet contractor health and safety programs.
DOE: Granholm enters Line 3 debate with call for ‘clean’ pipelines — Monday, April 26, 2021 –Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm gave a thumbs-down at a CNN climate town hall to a Minnesota oil conduit environmentalists have targeted, though she acknowledged that the project isn’t in her department.
PUC rejects investigating increased Enbridge oil shipments – The oil flow through Enbridge’s pipelines across northern Minnesota has grown significantly since the company set out to build its new Line 3. Honor the Earth, an Indigenous environmental group, in October asked for the state’s utility regulators to investigate that change in volume, saying it negated the need for the $3 billion replacement for the existing Line 3. The Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Thursday declined to investigate in a 5-0 vote. The commissioners agreed with Enbridge that the panel lacked jurisdiction because its approval of the Line 3 project is now in front of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. “I don’t want the court to somehow look at us as trying to interfere with its jurisdiction,” said John Tuma, a PUC commissioner. “If we start monkeying around with the record, it could cause a delay at the Court of Appeals.” Paul Blackburn, an attorney for Honor the Earth, said the record for the appeal is already set and wouldn’t be reopened just to account for the group’s complaint about Enbridge. Honor the Earth and other environmental groups, along with three Ojibwe bands, appealed the PUC’s 2020 approval of Line 3. They said, among other things, that Enbridge’s demand forecasts for the pipeline were faulty. The Minnesota Department of Commerce also has appealed the PUC’s Line 3 approval on the oil demand issue. The appeals court held oral arguments on March 23. A decision, which could halt work on the pipeline, is due by June 21. Oil volume on Enbridge’s Minnesota system rose steadily in the late 2010s, climbing past an annual average of more than 2.8 million barrels per day as the company increased its operating efficiency. The new Line 3 would add about 375,000 barrels per day of capacity to Enbridge’s corridor of six pipelines across Minnesota. During the hearings for Line 3, Enbridge had reported that the system’s effective capacity was just over 2.4 million barrels per day, meaning the company has added 400,000 barrels per day in capacity. Thus, Honor the Earth claims Enbridge provided incorrect information to the PUC during the Line 3 hearings.
Appeals court denies new hearing over Dakota Access pipeline permit – A federal appeals court on Friday declined to rehear a ruling against the Dakota Access pipeline after it agreed in January that its permit violated federal law. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld its January decision, which agreed with a lower court that the pipeline’s federal easement was a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The court declined without explanation to review that earlier decision. Dakota Access, the pipeline company behind the project, will likely seek to have the case heard by the Supreme Court, although the federal government has dropped its backing of the company. In its January decision, the appeals court ruled the pipeline’s easement was not subject to sufficient environmental review. In a separate case, a federal district court is considering a request from pipeline opponents, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, to shut down the pipeline over the easement issues. Although President Biden rescinded the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline as one of his first acts in office, the Justice Department has so far declined to halt the Dakota Access pipeline during the regulatory review process. This has caught the ire of a number of environmental groups that backed Biden in the presidential race, including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council. “President Biden campaigned and was elected on the boldest climate platform ever. Minutes after being sworn in, Biden began taking real, meaningful climate action,” Sierra Club Director Michael Brune said in a statement earlier this month. “Yet, President Biden’s actions today fail to live up to the climate and Tribal commitments he made, nor is it in line with the bold action he has taken since taking office.” The Hill has reached out to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for comment.
Dakota Access loses appeals bid, setting the stage for a second shutdown showdown in Boasberg’s court –Dakota Access has lost its bid for an appeal of a decision that vacated their permits last year and required more environmental study of the crossing 90 feet under Lake Oahe. That means things are still on track for a second shutdown showdown. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to reconsider its decision upholding a lower court decision that vacated permits for Dakota Access and required the Corps to conduct additional environmental study due to the pipeline’s controversial nature. The appeals court’s order denying DAPL’s appeal offers little insight into the court’s reasoning. The decision leaves Dakota Access with dwindling options for appeal – the Supreme Court, which does not always take such cases up. This sets the stage for a second hearing into the shutdown question, which has already been proceeding concurrently with the appeals process. Dakota Access filed an updated estimate of economic harm caused by a shutdown in Boasberg’s court on that question Monday. The statement is a key metric Boasberg will have to consider in his decision, and it now includes the sworn testimony of MHA Nation’s Chairman Mark Fox, who said his tribe would lose $160 million in a one-year period and $250 million in a two-year period if the pipeline shuts down. Fox has also sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seeking one-on-one consultation on the pipeline’s continuity, in which he states that Dakota Access carries more than 60 percent of the Fort Berthold Reservation’s oil to market. A response to DAPL’s updated estimate are expected Monday from the Standing Rock Sioux and other parties opposing the pipeline, which will be another key metric in Boasberg’s consideration. North Dakota on Monday also filed a motion to intervene in the case, saying that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has abandoned its leadership role and no longer adequately represents the interests of the state. The motion followed a status report earlier this month in which the Biden administration said oil could continue to flow on the Dakota Access pipeline. That irked environmental and tribal groups, who had pressed the President to take direct action to shut the pipeline down. North Dakota, however, was also irked that the Corps didn’t take a strong stand defending their permit, and indicated its defense of the permit might not be as vigorous as before. The federal agency also said it is constantly evaluating the situation and could at any time change its position. North Dakota in its motion to intervene said it has a vital interest in defending its permitting processes, which were responsible for 358 miles of the Dakota Access pipeline’s 1,172-mile route. The Corps is responsible for just the 1.73 mile crossing 90 feet below Lake Oahe.
Judge orders Army Corps update on Dakota Access pipeline by May 3 — A federal judge ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide an update by May 3 on when it plans to complete an environmental review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline and whether it recommends the line should shut during the review process, court records showed on Monday. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is considering a request by Native American tribes to shut the 557,000 barrel per day crude oil line out of North Dakota while the review is carried out. The Army Corps at a hearing earlier this month said it expects the review would be completed by March 2022, but it has not made a recommendation about whether to close the line during that process.
Judge gives U.S. 2nd chance to offer Dakota Access pipeline opinion – – A federal judge faced with a motion on whether the Dakota Access oil pipeline north of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation should be shut down during an environmental review is giving the Biden administration another chance to weigh in on the issue.U.S. District Judge James Boasberg held a hearing earlier this month to give the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers an opportunity to explain whether oil should continue to flow during its study, after an appeals panel upheld Boasberg’s ruling that the pipeline was operating without a key federal permit. The Corps instead told the judge it wasn’t sure if it should be shut down.The decision not to intervene came as a bitter disappointment to Standing Rock, other tribes involved in the lawsuit and environmental groups. Even the judge appeared to be taken aback when the Corps opted to shrug its shoulders.”I too am a little surprised that this is where things stand 60 days later,” Boasberg said at the hearing, referring to the three months he gave the Biden administration to catch up on proceedings. “I would have thought there would be a decision one way or another at this point.”Boasberg said in a one sentence order filed late Monday that the Corps has until May 3 to tell him when it expects the environmental review to be completed and give “its position, if it has one,” on whether the pipeline should be shut down. The Corps said earlier it expected the review to be done by March 2022. Attorneys for the pipeline’s Texas-based owner, Energy Transfer, have argued that shuttering the pipeline now that economic conditions are improving would cause a major financial hit to several entities, including North Dakota, and the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation located in the state’s oil patch.
Oil-rich Bakken Shale shows promise of natural gas growth despite fewer rigs –Although oil production in most US shale basins is not expected to reach pre-coronavirus levels until at least late 2023, additional processing and higher gas-to-oil ratios might still lead to natural gas growth in the oil-rich Bakken. Oneok increased its first-quarter natural gas and natural gas liquids volumes processed in the Williston Basin and plans to bring another 200 MMcf/d of processing capacity online before year-end, which will further reduce flaring in North Dakota. Gas volumes processed in the Rocky Mountain region increased 5% while NGL raw feed throughput volumes grew 20%, the company reported in its first-quarter 2021 earnings call on April 28. This occurred despite winter storm production freeze-offs in February and lower year-over-year drilling activity in the region. “The Williston Basin continues to surpass our expectations,” Oneok CEO Terry Spencer said. “Our increased operations were not reliant on increased rig activity or commodity prices. Instead, it is based on DUC inventory, rising gas to oil ratios and increased ethane demand.” Oneok chief operations officer Kevin Burdick said: “There are 350 DUC wells on our dedicated acreage. With eight completion crews, there is no need for additional drilling or completion crews to maintain our volumes throughout the year. Any additional activity would provide upside.” With more than 200 MMcf/d of natural gas still being flared in the Bakken, according to the latest data by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, more volumes of gas can still be captured even if production stagnates for the foreseeable future, especially with wells demonstrating higher gas-to-oil ratios. The company is moving forward with its 200 MMcf/d Bear Creek natural gas processing plant expansion and related infrastructure in the Williston Basin, which is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Continental Resources ramping up Bakken operations, adds rigs to Powder River Basin — (Reuters) – Shale oil producer Continental Resources on Thursday said it will ramp up activity in North Dakota’s Bakken shale field this year as it shifts more of its production operations to crude oil from natural gas. The company said roughly 70% of its well completions in the second half of the year will be focused on the Bakken versus about 50% of completions at the start of the year. The shift comes as the company is re-orienting its production portfolio to focus more heavily on oil, Chief Executive Officer Bill Berry told investors during an earnings call. U.S. oil prices have rebounded as coronavirus vaccine roll-outs pick up pace, and were trading around $64 a barrel on Thursday, versus around $15 a barrel a year ago as coronavirus lockdowns crushed fuel demand and battered the oil market. “We see supply and demand is coming back into balance and that bodes well for commodity prices in the future,” Continental Executive Chairman Harold Hamm told investors. There remains a supply overhang in the market, and upward momentum in oil prices largely depends on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) “functioning as they do and have been,” he said.
Senate votes to restore Obama-era regulation of methane, a climate-warming gas –The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to reverse former President Donald Trump’s move to weaken Obama-era regulations designed to reduce climate-changing methane emissions from oil and gas fields. The 52-42 vote sets up the first official reinstatement of one of more than 100 climate regulations dismantled by the Trump administration. Regulating methane, a primary component of natural gas, is critical for advancing President Joe Biden’s goal to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half from 2005 levels over the next decade and achieve a net-zero economy by 2050. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, Angus King, I-ME, and Edward Markey, D-Mass., introduced the resolution under the Congressional Review Act, a law which allows Congress to quickly overturn a previous administration’s regulations with a simple majority vote and a signature from the president. The Democratic-held House is expected to approve the measure and send it to President Joe Biden. The White House supports the passage of the bill, according to a statement on Tuesday from the Office of Management and Budget. Passing the bill would reinstate the 2012 and 2016 Oil and Natural Gas New Source Performance Standards set by the Obama administration. The Trump administration’s rollback last year eliminated federal requirements for oil and gas companies to monitor and repair methane leaks from pipelines, storage facilities and wells. Three Republican senators voted for the bill: Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Rob Portman of Ohio. Trump’s effort to dismantle the rule was a victory for the oil and gas industry, which comprises nearly 30% of U.S. methane emissions. Smaller oil and gas companies and fossil fuel lobbyists who supported Trump’s rollback have argued that methane regulations are too expensive. Major oil and gas companies like BP, Shell and Exxon, who have promoted natural gas as a cleaner fuel than coal, have voiced support for methane regulation. A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s largest trade group, said the group is working with the Biden administration “in support of the direct regulation of methane for new and existing sources through a new rulemaking process.”
California governor seeks ban on new fracking by 2024 (AP) – Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state’s powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election. Newsom’s order is the beginning of a lengthy rule-making process that, if successful, would make California the largest state to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production. “California needs to move beyond oil,” Newsom said in a news release, arguing it would “create a healthier future for our children.” California was once one of the largest oil-producing states in the nation, with a robust industry centered in the Central Valley just north of Los Angeles. But by 2020, the state’s oil production fell to its lowest level in state history, down 68% from its peak in 1985. Now, one of the state’s top exports is electric cars. The state has ordered automakers to sell more electric work trucks and delivery vans and, last year, Newsom ordered state regulators to ban the sale of all new gas-powered cars by 2035. Still, California is the seventh-largest oil producing state in the country, with an industry that directly employs about 152,000 people and is responsible for $152.3 billion in economic output, according to a 2019 study commissioned by the Western States Petroleum Association. Friday, WSPA President and CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd vowed “to fight this harmful and unlawful mandate.” “Banning nearly 20% of the energy production in our state will only hurt workers, families and communities in California and turns our energy independence over to foreign suppliers,” she said. Eliminating California’s oil and gas industry won’t be easy. The state has more than 60,000 active oil wells, and industry executives and their allies have lots of influence at the state Capitol. But in the first quarter of 2021, permits for all types of oil drilling in California plunged 90%, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance, an environmental advocacy group.
California’s New Fossil Fuel Pledge Is Still a ‘Half-Measure,’ Say Climate Advocates –Climate campaigners on Friday cautiously applauded California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moves to cut off new hydraulic fracturing permits by 2024 and evaluate phasing out oil production by 2045, while also stressing that the timeline still needs to be accelerated.The embattled Democratic governor of the world’s fifth-largest economy directed the state Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division to initiate regulatory action to stop new fracking permits and requested that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) analyze how to stop extracting oil statewide.”It’s historic and globally significant that Gov. Newsom has committed California to phase out fossil fuel production and ban fracking, but we don’t have time for studies and delays,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.”Californians living next to these dirty and dangerous drilling operations need protection from oil industry pollution today,” she added. “Every fracking and drilling permit issued does more damage to our health and climate.”Food & Water Watch California director Alexandra Nagy agreed that the governor’s steps were significant andshared Siegel’s frustrations with Newsom’s refusal to immediately ban fracking by executive action.”This announcement is a half-measure as it allows continued drilling and fracking for the next two-and-a-half years,” Nagy said. “Directing his regulatory agencies to do the work over two-and-a-half years that the governor can do today is more of the dodging we’ve seen from Newsom during his entire tenure.” Since taking office in January 2019, he has approved 8,610 oil and gas well permits, according to Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker’s “Newsom Well Watch” website.
End fracking exemptions, a threat to maternal and public health – Chelsea Clinton, et al – The adoption of safe, clean, renewable energy is an essential element for sustaining the U.S. economy and maintaining the health of its citizens. There are many paths to these goals. Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is not one of them. To protect communities across the country today – from the Santa Maria Basin in California to the Appalachian Mountains in northern New York – as well as future generations, the country must rapidly phase out harmful fracking. Environmental pollutants caused by fracking are known risk factors for congenital heart defects, hormonal disruption, maternal stress, and preterm birth. Fracking rigs have become so abundant in the U.S. that their flares can now be seen from NASA satellites. An estimated 17 million Americans live within 1 mile of a fracking site.At a time when the world is grappling with the imminence and enormity of climate change, the continuation of fracking operations moves the U.S. away from its climate goals, not toward them. More immediately, the industry’s ability to avoid federal environmental regulation – and harm the health of the communities where fracking is being conducted – is alarming. In 2005 under the Bush-Cheney administration, the Energy Policy Act freed fracking from regulations required by the Environmental Protection Agency’s underground injection control program, which is designed to protect underground drinking water sources. This set of exemptions became known as the Halliburton loophole, named after the first fracking company, Halliburton, for which then-Vice President Dick Cheney was the former CEO. The frightening reality of the Halliburton loophole is that it allows companies to inject massive amounts of potentially harmful chemicals into the earth and pollute the air without disclosing what they are doing. The fracking industry has sidestepped an astonishing list of federal regulations, including the Clean Water Act; the Clean Air Act; theResource Conservation and Recovery Act; the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory Program; theCERCLA Superfund bill, which makes polluting parties liable for cleaning up injected fluids used in fracking; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and most state water-use regulations. “This means that for fracking, the suite of regulatory protections normally in place to reduce hazardous environmental exposures and protect public health do not apply,” explains Joan Casey, a colleague of ours who is an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. Because companies conducting fracking operations don’t have to report to the Toxic Release Inventory Program, it is left to scientists to evaluate the impact of fracking on the air, waterways, and human health.
EPA, U.S. Virgin Islands officials launch second probe after Limetree Bay refinery releases noxious fumes – The Washington Post – Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Virgin Islands officials are investigating a second accident at a controversial refinery in St. Croix after it emitted noxious fumes that prompted some schools and a vaccination site on the island to close Friday. The release of sulfuric gases from the facility, which caused nausea and eye irritation in some residents and comes shortly after the Limetree Bay refinery showered oil on a neighboring community, has raised fresh questions about the operation. The company and territory officials gave differing accounts of what emanated from the plant. Jean-Pierre Oriol, U.S. Virgin Islands planning and natural resources commissioner, said in a statement Friday that the refinery had released hydrogen sulfide, which can cause serious health impacts at high exposure levels during a short period. The company, however, said the hydrogen sulfide had been converted to sulfur dioxide before entering the atmosphere. Oriol, said that his office was “aware of a foul, gaseous smell permeating through-out the Frederiksted area for the past few days” and is looking into the matter. He urged vulnerable residents to stay indoors until the fumes had dissipated.”[The Department of Planning and Natural Resources] is advising the public that persons with respiratory ailments such as allergies, lung disease and asthma should consider taking protective actions,” Oriol said. “Protective actions include staying indoors or relocating to areas less affected.”The fumes also forced the island’s covid-19 vaccination center on the University of Virgin Islands campus to close Friday. An official there said it was slated to reopen on Monday.The company confirmed in a statement that it had experienced an accident that began Thursday night and lasted until early Friday morning, “which created a strong odor detectable outside the facility. Limetree has corrected the problem and will continue to monitor any additional impact to the outside community.”On Saturday, it clarified that the upset had triggered a pressure relief valve that sent “an unusually high amount of sulfur-containing gases” into a flare, where they were burned before being released into the air.High levels of sulfur dioxide can not only irritate the eyes, nose and throat, but cause inflammation of the respiratory system. Over time, it can contribute to lung and heart disease. The refinery, which restarted operations nearly three months ago after the plant had been shuttered for nearly a decade, is already under scrutiny for a Feb. 4 accident that sent a fine mist of oil over broad swaths of the island, settling on houses as far as three miles away. The oil settled on cars, gardens, rooftops and cisterns filled with rainwater that residents use for drinking, cooking and bathing.
EPA to Send Investigators to Probe ‘Distressing’ Incidents at the Limetree Refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands –The Environmental Protection Agency will send investigators to the U.S. Virgin Islands as early as this week, the agency announced Tuesday, as part of a larger probe into a series of accidents at a St. Croix oil refinery that residents worry has exposed them to dangerous levels of noxious fumes and poisoned their drinking water.The investigation, which will be done in conjunction with U.S. Virgin Islands officials, will look into recent mishaps at the Limetree Bay refinery, including an accidental flare last week that released large amounts of sulfuric gases, causing three schools to shut down on Friday and prompting local officials to issue a warning for those with breathing issues to stay indoors.The fumes also forced the island’s Covid-19 vaccination center on the University of the Virgin Islands campus to close Friday, the Washington Post reported last week.”We smell it outside, we smell it inside. It irritates your eyes, your throat,” said Olasee Davis, an ecology professor at the university, which is located about two and a half miles west of the refinery. “People are concerned about their health.” It’s the second flaring incident, in which a refinery burns off gases or releases steam as a safety precaution, since the plant reopened in February under new ownership. An accidental flare on Feb. 4 covered more than 130 homes in the nearby Clifton Hill neighborhood with specks of oil and contaminated the drinking water for dozens of residents. EPA’s announcement Tuesday was a sign that the agency may be ramping up its investigation into possible violations by Limetree and is the latest in a series of developments that have cast doubt on the future of the refinery. In March, the agency withdrew a key air pollution permit for the plant that would have allowed the company to expand its refining operations in the future, citing environmental justice concerns and a need to further review how to best safeguard the community. The refinery also shut down operations for about three weeks earlier this month due to an undisclosed mishap, and several top Limetree executives announced they were stepping down, according to reports from Reuters.
Alberta Environment investigates oil spill – Alberta Environment and Parks has now identified the source of a recent oil spill in Stony Plain, that was classified as an environmental disaster. Clean up crews with ProNorth Environmental Services Inc. in Sturgeon County were on scene last week for several days securing the area and cleaning up the oil from a nearby creek. In the early afternoon on April 7, Alberta Environment informed the town of an oil spill in the North Business Park, where a used oil drum was found leaking into a nearby creek, west of the Stony Plain Lions RV Park & Campground. A ministry spokesperson provided an update and additional information, following an investigation. “Alberta Environment and Parks has tracked the source to a tipped over used oil above ground storage tank, outside of the fence line of a light industrial park,” said Paul Hamnett, press secretary to Jason Nixon, Minister of Environment and Parks. tAt this time it is unknown who the owner of the tank is or how it tipped over and leaked. The total tank volume was 2,300 litres and it is unknown exactly when the spill occurred, noted Hamnett. “The oil travelled approximately 300 metres and goes through one culvert and then is contained by a hanging culvert that has been fortified with boom and an underflow weir to prevent further spread,” he said. “None has travelled past this point.” Hamnett noted that environmental contractors continued clean up at the site this week, at the direction of the Town of Stony Plain. About 1,500 litres of used oil have been collected and disposed of at an approved facility. Vac trucks were skimming the product and gently flushing stained vegetation and wildlife deterrents have been installed on the site. “A waste storage container has been mobilized to site to store contaminated soil prior to disposal,” said Hamnett. “Sampling continues to occur at the site and the downstream containment point is secure.”
BP beats first-quarter estimates on stronger commodity prices, improving oil demand – British energy major BP on Tuesday reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, following a period of stronger commodity prices and a brighter demand outlook. It comes as oil and gas majors seek to prove to investors that they have gained a more stable footing amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis. BP’s first-quarter underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, came in at $2.6 billion. That compared with a profit of $115 million in the fourth quarter and $791 million for the first quarter of 2020. Analysts had expected BP to report first-quarter profit of $1.4 billion, according to Refinitiv. The London-based energy giant said the result was driven by “exceptional” gas marketing and trading performance, “significantly” higher oil prices and stronger refining margins. Net debt fell $5.6 billion to $33.3 billion at the end of the first three months of the year, meaning BP hit its target of reducing net debt to $35 billion. The company said it would now retire this goal, subject to maintaining a strong investment grade credit rating. Looking ahead, BP said it intends to resume share buybacks at a cost of around $500 million in the second quarter.
Shell raises dividend for second time in six months after first-quarter earnings beat forecasts – Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported slightly better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, amid stronger commodity prices and growing expectations of a fuel demand recovery. Shell also raised its dividend by around 4%, its second increase in six months, as the oil major seeks to reassure investors it has gained a more stable footing. It comes after Shell slashed its payout for the first time since World War II in April last year. The Anglo-Dutch company reported adjusted earnings of $3.2 billion for the three months through to the end of March. That compared with $2.9 billion over the same period a year earlier, and $393 million for the fourth quarter of 2020. Analysts had expected first-quarter adjusted earnings to come in at $3.1 billion, according to Refinitiv. Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, said in a statement that the company had made a “strong start” to the year and was “ideally positioned to benefit from recovering demand.” Shell confirmed the massive winter storm that engulfed Texas in February had an aggregate impact of around $200 million on first-quarter adjusted earnings. It had warned this was likely to be the case in an update published April 7. Shares of Shell rose around 1.3% during morning deals in London. The firm’s stock price has climbed more than 9% year-to-date, having tumbled nearly 40% in 2020. Net debt was reduced by $4 billion over the first three months of the year, falling to $71.3 billion. The company has targeted reducing its whopping debt pile to $65 billion as part of its plans for a sustainable future. Shell has urged investors to take part in an advisory vote on its climate plans at the group’s annual shareholder meeting on May 13. Shell’s van Beurden has previously said the firm’s energy transition strategy, which sets out plans to become a carbon neutral company by 2050, is “designed to bring our energy products, our services, and our investments in line with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement and the global drive to combat climate change.” Activist shareholder group Follow This has criticized the firm’s energy strategy, saying it is not consistent with the Paris Agreement – a landmark accord considered critically important to reduce the risk of a climate catastrophe. In its outlook for the second quarter, Shell warned of persistent “significant uncertainty” in economic conditions, with an anticipated negative impact on the oil and gas industry. The energy giant said sales volumes could be adversely impacted and it may need to take measures to curtail oil and/or gas production. “Such measures will likely have a variety of impacts on our operational and financial metrics,” Shell said.
Marine Rescue Service performed oil spill response activities in Vanino port — Marine Rescue Service says it is completing oil spill response activities in the port of Vanino (Khabarovsk Territory). The incident happened during the operation conducted by the Siziman tanker homeported in Vanino (owned by Far East Tanker Company) to bunker the Chios Trinity (flag of Panama, owned by Venture Shipping & Trading S.A.). Rescue forces of MRS Sakhalin branch’s Vanino subdivision conducted oil response activities upon the request of the Harbour Master. According to the operation control department, the spill of heavy fuel oil was caused by the fuel hose collapse. 200 liters were spilled on the deck of the Chios Trinity with 100 of the product spilling on the water. Boom-laying boat Spasatel Aleksyuk with a rescue team was sent to the incident site. They conducted oil spill containment having placed 200 meters of booms around the vessel and having collected the spilled oil products. The water area is currently being cleared with sorbents. Environment monitoring is underway.
Total Declares Force Majeure on Mozambique LNG –Total declared force majeure on its Mozambique LNG project on Monday. In a statement posted on its website, the company noted the evolution of the security situation in the north of the Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique and confirmed the withdrawal of all Mozambique LNG project personnel from the Afungi site. “Total expresses its solidarity with the government and people of Mozambique and wishes that the actions carried out by the government of Mozambique and its regional and international partners will enable the restoration of security and stability in Cabo Delgado province in a sustained manner,” Total said in the statement. In August last year, Total revealed that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Government of Mozambique regarding the security of Mozambique LNG project activities. The MOU provided that a joint task force would ensure the security of Mozambique LNG project activities in Afungi site and across the broader area of operations of the project, Total noted in a company statement at the time. In July 2020, Total announced the signing of a $14.9 billion senior debt financing agreement for the Mozambique LNG project, which is the country’s first onshore LNG development. Mozambique LNG represents a total post-financial investment decision investment of $20 billion, the company outlined in July last year. Total E&P Mozambique Area 1 Limitada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Total, operates Mozambique LNG with a 26.5 percent participating interest.
Bayelsa community Bemoans impact of oil spill from Shells pipeline -Residents of Ikarama community in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa State, have lamented the adverse impact of an oil leak from a nearby Shell’s oilfield, calling for the immediate remediation of the situation. The oil pollution is from the April 7, 2021 leak from Shell’s 14-inch Okordia-Rumekpe pipeline which discharged crude into the area. The Okordia-Rumemkpe crude trunkline is part of the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and conveys crude to the oil firm’s crude export terminal at Bonny in Rivers State. LEADERSHIP gathered that a Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) was conducted and the report confirmed that the leak was traced to equipment failure which emanated from a rupture on the 14-inch crude delivery pipeline. The JIV exercise, which is a statutory probe into the cause of any recorded spill incident involving the oil firm, regulators, host communities and state ministries of environment, discovered that some 213 barrels which had no impact on the environment outside SPDC’s right of way leaked from its asset, while approximately 110 barrels polluted 1.34 hectares of land. Residents near the spill impacted site told LEADERSHIP that they have suffered untold hardship from the pollution of land, air and lakes near the area due to the evaporation of the leaked crude by the scorching sun. Mr Education Ikiowori, who works at the Ikarama oilfields and witnessed the JIV, said the spill was as a result of corrosion. He said that Shell and the regulators had visited and they excavated the place in search of the cause of the spill. “They all saw that the rupture was caused by corrosion, yet Shell disagreed. “Normally SPDC when they come even if the spill was caused by corrosion, they would try to influence it in their favour by saying it was caused by third party so as to avoid responsibility to the land owners. For this one, thank God that it was very obvious that it was equipment failure as the government representatives and regulators and all who were here confirmed it,” he said. Chief Washington Odoyibo said that residents have been experiencing the antics of Shell, attributing every spill incident to sabotage times without number.
Exxon Strikes More Oil Offshore Guyana Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) on Tuesday reported another oil discovery in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana. Located some 6.8 miles (11 kilometers) south of the Uaru-1 well, the most recent Uaru-2 well encountered approximately 120 feet (36.7 meters) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir that includes newly identified intervals below Uaru-1, ExxonMobil noted in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. The company noted the latest discovery augments Stabroek’s previous recoverable resource estimate of approximately 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent. “The Uaru-2 discovery enhances our work to optimally sequence development opportunities in the Stabroek Block,” remarked Mike Cousins, ExxonMobil’s senior vice president of exploration and new ventures. “Progressing our industry-leading investments and well-executed exploration plans are vital in order to continue to develop Guyana’s offshore resources that unlock additional value for the people of Guyana and all stakeholders.” ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited operates the Stabroek projects and owns a 45% interest in the block. Other stakeholders include Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. (NYSE: HES) (30%) and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited (HKG: 0883) (25%). “We expect to have at least six FPSOs on the Stabroek Block by 2027, with the potential for up to 10 FPSOs to develop the current discovered recoverable resource base,” commented Hess CEO John Hess in a separate written statement.
DENR to investigate possible oil spill in Manila Bay –The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is investigating a possible oil spill in Manila Bay.According to a report on “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday, yellow stains can be seen in the water surrounding a yacht moored beside the sea wall of the Manila Yacht Club.The DENR said the possible oil spill spread about 500 meters.The DENR took samples of the water which were sent to the Environmental Management Bureau to determine if it was oil. The water has yet to be cleaned by authorities.
Crews start clean-up of oil spill off Chinas Qingdao port – Clean-up crews worked on Wednesday to contain an oil spill in the Yellow Sea near the Chinese port city of Qingdao, a day after a collision between a tanker carrying around a million barrels of bitumen mix and a bulk vessel in thick fog. A preliminary study estimated about 500 tonnes (3,420 barrels) of oil had been spilled but this needs to be assessed further, a Shandong Maritime Safety Administration official who declined to be identified told Reuters by phone. The safety administration had said on its Weibo account on Wednesday morning that the collision caused a “minor” spill. The Liberia-flagged tanker A Symphony, which was at anchor at Qingdao port, was involved in the collision with shipping vessel Sea Justice on Tuesday during heavy fog. The impact caused a breach in its cargo tanks and ballast tanks. Visibility in the area is improving and is at about 500 to 1,000 metres, the Shandong Maritime Safety Administration official said, adding that when the accident took place on Tuesday it had been less than 200 metres. He added that 12 vessels have been dispatched to deal with the accident and cleanup but did not say whether the leak had been contained. “The accident took place about 11 nautical miles south-east of Qingdao port and so far there has been no direct impact on the operation of Qingdao port,” said the Shandong official. “There are oil spill experts on the scene that have started clean-up operations,” said a spokesman for Goodwood Ship Management, manager of A Symphony on Wednesday. The two ships were in stable condition, there were no casualties and a probe into the cause of the accident was under way, the safety administration said.
China says Yellow Sea oil spill is small – China said Wednesday that an oil spill caused by a collision the previous day between an oil tanker and a cargo ship in the waters of the Yellow Sea is “a small amount.” “The collision damaged the cargo compartments of the tanker and a small amount of oil spill was found in the sea,” the Maritime Safety Authority of eastern China’s Shandong province said today through social network Weibo. It said “the two ships are stable” and emergency work continues, although the crash did not cause injuries. After the accident, a security perimeter was created “to prevent secondary accidents,” the authority added. The event occurred at about 09:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday, when the Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier Sea Justice collided with the Liberian-flagged tanker A Symphony anchored in waters near the important port of Qingdao, in eastern China. The A Symphony tanker, 272 meters long and almost 46 meters wide, was built in 2001 and is managed by Singaporean company Goodwood Ship Management. The company confirmed the event in a statement sent Tuesday to EFE. “The force of the impact on the front of the port side caused a crack in the cargo and ballast tanks, with a quantity of crude oil spilled into the ocean,” it said. According to Goodwood Ship Management, poor visibility off Qingdao Port has hampered emergency operations, which are continuing at the moment.
Ships steer clear as oil spill clean-up continues off China’s Qingdao port -(Reuters) – Ships steered clear of A Symphony on Thursday as an oil spill clean-up in the Yellow Sea near the Chinese port city of Qingdao continued, two days after a collision between the tanker and a bulk vessel in thick fog. A preliminary study estimated about 500 tonnes (3,420 barrels) of oil had been spilled but this needs to be assessed further, a Shandong Maritime Safety Administration official who declined to be identified told Reuters by phone on Wednesday. The Liberia-flagged tanker A Symphony was at anchor off Qingdao port with a cargo of around a million barrels of bitumen mix on board when it was involved in the collision with shipping vessel Sea Justice on Tuesday. The accident took place about 11 nautical miles south-east of Qingdao port and the impact caused a breach in its cargo tanks and ballast tanks. Ships have been instructed to stay at least 10 nautical miles away from the A Symphony. Hong Kong-based fuel trading company Run Cheng International Resource (HK) Co has said it was the owner of the 150,000-tonne cargo of bitumen blend on board the A Symphony. Bitumen mix, a blend of heavy crude oil and residue, is used by China’s independent refiners as an alternative refining feedstock as it often incurs a lower import tax than crude oil. It is also used for road surfacing and roofing.
Tanker collision spilt 400 tonnes of oil off China coast: Authorities, Around 400 tonnes of oil spilt into the Yellow Sea after a tanker collided with another ship off China’s largest crude-receiving port earlier this week, maritime authorities said Thursday. “The amount of oil spilt from the ship into the sea is about 400 tonnes, and the emergency disposal work is being carried out in an orderly manner,” said Shandong Maritime Safety Administration in a social media post. “The collision incident has had no impact on ships entering and leaving Qingdao port.” It added that 12 decontamination vessels were deployed to clean up the oil spill, which took place around 40 nautical miles (75 kilometres) off-shore from Qingdao port in northeast China. Panamanian bulk carrier “Sea Justice” struck the Liberian oil tanker “A Symphony” near Qingdao around 9 am Tuesday, causing the tanker to lose “a quantity of oil”, according to a previous statement from vessel managers Goodwood Ship Management. “All crew members have since been accounted for, and there are no injuries.” Also read | Oil spills off China’s Qingdao port after ship collision An unnamed official with the Maritime Safety Administration told Chinese state newspaper Global Times on Thursday that the cargo was labelled as “bitumen solution” but its specific content requires further testing. “The oil leak is in full disposal now and if technological controls are in place, it will certainly keep the impact on the environment to the minimum,” the official was quoted as saying. After the collision, vessels were told not to go within ten nautical miles (18.5 kilometres) of the area, according to a separate notice by the Maritime Safety Administration. Goodwood Ship Management said Thursday that “managers are continuing to work closely with the MSA on the clean up operation and the investigation into the incident.” It previously said poor visibility in the area was hampering oil spill clean-up efforts.
Bohai spill shipowner says it follows sanctions — Greek shipowner NGM told Argus today it has no knowledge if crude that spilled from one of its vessels off China’s coast this week originated in Venezuela, a longtime target of US sanctions. “The cargo onboard the A Symphony was loaded in Asia,” the company said. “NGM Energy’s strict compliance policy continues to be that the vessels it manages do not carry Venezuelan cargo absent authorization from US sanctions authorities. NGM screens all shipment details and documentation for sanctions compliance. NGM has not knowingly loaded any unauthorized cargoes of Venezuelan origin, either in Venezuela or abroad.” Chinese authorities are working to clean up around 400t (3,000 bl) of oil that spilled from the 20-year-old Suezmax tanker following a collision with another vessel earlier this week. The Liberia-flagged tanker collided with the Panamanian flagged bulk vessel Sea Justice on 27 April, causing an oil spill in the Bohai sea near Qingdao port in Shandong province. Shandong’s maritime safety administration (MSA) said it has dispatched 12 vessels to help clean up the oil and the emergency response work is proceeding smoothly. The incident happened around 40 nautical miles (75km) from Qingdao. Vessel arrivals and departures are continuing as normal at Qingdao, the MSA said. Malaysia loading Vortexa data indicate the A Symphony loaded its cargo in Malaysia in early April, but it is not clear where the crude originated. The A Symphony was due to discharge around 1mn bl of crude in Qingdao on 27 April, according to data from Vortexa. Details of the charterer are unavailable. The cargo was booked by a local trading firm and destined for an independent refiner in Shandong province, market participants said. The cargo was classified as bitumen blend. Despite US sanctions meant to keep Venezuelan oil out of the market, supplies of bitumen-rich 16 degAPI Merey blend routinely make their way to China through obscure intermediaries, often undergoing ship-to-ship operations in southeast Asia.
Oil Market Spoiled by OPEC+ — The oil market has frequently been spoiled by OPEC+, as the alliance has stepped in several times since the start of the pandemic to save prices when the demand outlook was worsening. That’s what Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets, Bjornar Tonhaugen, said in a statement sent to Rigzone on Tuesday, adding that the group’s technical committee is now looking at India and other countries with concern. “The market boosted prices today as it expects that OPEC+ will address the developments in India and, since the country is among its major clients, it may reconsider its output policy,” Tonhaugen said. “Traders do not want to miss out on a potential bullish OPEC+ meeting so a limited optimism is reflected in prices. Should OPEC+ turn a blind eye to India though, the gains may quickly evaporate,” he added. Tonhaugen noted that news from India set off a loud alarm on trader floors this week and that oil prices have taken a hit on expectations that oil demand will crash in a country that is among the commodity’s largest consumers globally. The Rystad Energy representative said Covid-19 infections in India are already out of control and that the country’s healthcare system is insufficient to handle the population’s needs, therefore things will likely get much worse before they get better, with severe consequences for all commodities including oil. The 16th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting is due to be held via videoconference on Wednesday. In a statement posted on OPEC’s twitter account on Tuesday, the organization’s secretary general noted that the global economy continues to show positive signals of recovery but also underscored the need to continue with vigilance as uncertainties remain going forward. India has seen more than 300,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and more than 2,000 deaths, every day since April 22, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization (WHO). The country has administered more than 130 million vaccine doses as of April 20, WHO’s latest data shows.
Oil Prices Falter Under Virus Surge Cloud — Oil slipped with the rapid resurgence of Covid-19 in India and other countries casting a cloud around a return to normal consumption, even as OPEC+ projected a strong global demand recovery this year. Futures in New York closed 0.4% lower on Monday. While an OPEC+ technical committee raised its global oil demand growth forecast for 2021 to 6 million barrels a day and said most of the fuel inventory glut accumulated during the pandemic will have depleted by the end of this quarter, the group cautioned that virus cases in India, Brazil and Japan may have a negative impact on economic growth. In India, signs of strain on the nation’s refiners are emerging. Indian Oil Corp. is looking to sell gasoline into the spot market — a potential indication of weak domestic demand. The country’s refiners are being forced to postpone planned shutdowns for maintenance at some plants as workers are either fleeing or falling ill. “India poses a significant risk to the global recovery, especially as more information comes out as to how widespread the virus is there,” . While U.S. demand appears to be picking up, the market need to “see a continuation of the easing of Covid restrictions and the actual summer travel season kick into full gear.” Despite signs of a recovery in demand in the U.S. and the U.K., the patchy rebound worldwide poses a risk to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which have agreed to start adding more supply from May. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo told officials at the start of the online meeting that there are “positive signals” in the global economy, but also pointed to factors in the oil market that require ongoing vigilance. “The news, particularly in the U.S., is looking a lot better, making people optimistic” on the demand recovery, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. “But there’s still so much trouble in India, it’s uncertain how far prices can really go.” The OPEC+ panel’s global demand growth estimate for 2021 is up from its projection of 5.6 million barrels a day last month, though in line with a report published by OPEC’s secretariat a couple of weeks ago. The committee sees global oil inventories declining by 1.2 million barrels a day this year on average. West Texas Intermediate for June fell 23 cents to settle at $61.91 a barrel. Brent for June settlement slipped 46 cents to end the session at $65.65 a barrel. Among the worrying signs for India’s demand recovery, IOC has not yet issued an expected tender to purchase West African crude and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. has cut processing rates. The world’s third-largest oil importing country has been a particular area of concern for the oil market in recent days as it faces record daily coronavirus case counts and renewed restrictions in some parts of the country.
Oil Rises Despite OPEC+ Sticking to Output Hike Amid India COVID Surge – (Reuters) -Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday as OPEC, Russia and their allies agreed to stick to plans to raise output slightly from May 1, suggesting they don’t see a lasting impact on demand from India’s coronavirus crisis. OPEC+, as the producer group is known, has also ditched plans to hold a full ministerial meeting on Wednesday, sources said. A technical meeting on Monday had voiced concern about surging COVID-19 cases but kept its oil demand forecast unchanged. The panel decided to stick to policies broadly agreed at a previous April 1 meeting of OPEC+, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said after the talks. Brent crude ended the session up 77 cents, or 1.2%, at $66.42 a barrel after climbing to a session high of $66.51. U.S. oil gained $1.03, or 1.7%, to settle at $62.94. Prices gave up some gains in post-settlement trade after U.S. crude stockpiles rose by about 4.32 million barrels last week, sources said, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute. OPEC+ was set to slightly ease oil output cuts from May 1, under a plan agreed before the coronavirus surge in India. India, the world’s third-largest crude importer, has recorded a daily rise of more than 300,000 cases for several days. It has also reported a total of almost 200,000 deaths. “The possibility that increasing OPEC+ production could be intersecting with weakening Asian oil demand suggests a possible end to the reduction in the global oil supply surplus that has been supporting the complex during the past year,”
WTI Settles Near $63 Amid Robust Signals Rigzone — Oil climbed by the most in nearly two weeks with the OPEC+ alliance and BP Plc pointing to signs of a robust demand recovery taking shape in parts of the world. Futures in New York jumped 1.7% on Tuesday. An OPEC+ committee decided this week to move forward with a planned gradual crude production increase, anticipating a strong demand rebound this year, even as coronavirus cases rise in countries such as India. The producer group decided to skip a Wednesday meeting and instead gather in early June. In the U.S., where a demand recovery is seen outpacing much of the world, President Joe Biden said that he intends to send new vaccines to India. Meanwhile, BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said China’s oil demand is above pre-pandemic levels. The OPEC+ decision to “skip the ministerial meeting shows that the energy market is in pretty good shape right now. But if new risks emerge, we’ll see how sensitive the market is.” U.S. benchmark crude futures are up more than 6% so far this month amid signs of a consumption recovery in some parts of the world. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday that there is optimism in the global oil market and global mobility is increasing. Meanwhile, shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S raised its earnings guidance citing surging demand for its services, underscoring a boom in global trade. The uneven pace at which the world’s economies are emerging from their pandemic-driven slump has given rise to dislocations in crude flows. Canadian oil sellers have sent exports on rare voyages to the U.S. West Coast this month as the U.S. makes progress in its vaccine rollout. But at the same time, West African crude exports to Asia are poised to drop to their lowest since October as shipments to India slump. “You’re seeing incredibly strong demand in America and China,” said BP CEO Bernard Looney in a Bloomberg Television interview. “America is almost back to where it was. The vaccines are going to kick in now in Europe. Then of course the question is what happens in the rest of the world.” West Texas Intermediate for June rose $1.03 to settle at $62.94 a barrel. Brent for the same month gained 77 cents to end the session at $66.42 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. Gains in U.S. benchmark crude futures on Tuesday outpaced those of its global counterpart. Brent’s underlying market structure softened, with the premium of the nearest contract narrowing against the following month. Meanwhile, the discount of WTI’s front-month contract to Brent’s was the smallest in more than a week.
WTI Dips After Surprise Crude Build — Oil prices rallied today, with WTI back above $63 as the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee came and went without issue (discussing the desire to gently raise production as demand comes back… as expected). The group confirmed it will not hold a full ministerial meeting on Wednesday as planned, delegates at the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) agreed at their meeting on Tuesday, signaling confidence in the current plans to ease the production cuts While India fears remain, many remain confident in the recovery in the rest of the world…“You’re seeing incredibly strong demand,” BP Plc Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday. China’s oil demand is above pre-pandemic levels, the U.S. is almost back there and “vaccines are going to kick in now in Europe.” For now, the next clue will come from inventories… API
- Crude +4.319mm (-200k exp)
- Cushing +742k
- Gasoline -1.288mm
- Distillates -2.417mm (-1.2mm exp)
After the prior week’s surprise crude build (albeit small), analysts expected a small draw last week but were likely shocked when API reported a big surprise 4.319mm crude build… WTI hovered around $63.20 ahead of the print and dipped modestly after Not everyone is excited:“If the grim trend continues, the oil demand loss India will experience could be the single largest reduction in absolute terms that any country has suffered since the beginning of the pandemic,” Rystad Energy said in a note. The firm added that there is some optimism around the plans by OPEC+. “Should OPEC+ turn a blind eye to India though, the gains may quickly evaporate,” Rystad added.
WTI Extends Gains, Above $64, As Gasoline Demand Hits Pre-Pandemic Levels — Oil prices are higher this morning, after dipping on API’s reported – and unexpected – crude build last night, as expectations strengthened for a revival in global consumption despite the resurgent pandemic in India and Brazil. “The market expects a major revitalization for global oil demand from this summer onwards,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy.“As vaccination campaigns progress and as lockdowns are set to soon be lifted in Europe and other recovering economies, the need for road and jet fuels will increase and the result will be felt.” All eyes for now on Crude stocks after last night (and the prior week’s) surprise build. DOE
- Crude +90k (-200k exp)
- Cushing +722k
- Gasoline +92k
- Distillates -3.342mm (-1.2mm exp)
After the prior week’s surprise crude build (and API’s surprise crude build for this week), analysts continued to expect official data to show a modest draw… but instead we saw a very modest 90k build. Distillates saw a 3rd straight week of draws…
Oil surges with U.S. demand bump driving global rebound optimism – – Oil advanced to the highest in over a month as a combination of declining U.S. petroleum product supplies and signs of stronger demand buttressed expectations for a revival in global consumption. Futures in New York jumped 1.5% on Wednesday, posting the largest back-to-back daily gains in two weeks. A U.S. government report showed total petroleum stockpiles dropped last week, led by the biggest weekly decrease in distillate inventories since early March. A gauge of demand for overall petroleum products rose to the highest in more than two months. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is forecasting an unprecedented jump in global oil demand as vaccination rates rise. The hefty decline in U.S. distillate supplies comes as robust freight demand drives a trucking boom, providing another sign of the recovery underway in the world’s largest oil-consuming country. At the same time, retail gasoline prices in California rose to $4 a gallon for the first time in a year and a half as restrictions ease in the most-populous U.S. state. Still, a resurgence of the pandemic in countries such as India and Brazil are raising concerns around how long it will take to see a full-fledged demand rebound take hold worldwide. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery rose 92 cents to settle at $63.86 a barrel. Brent for June settlement gained 85 cents to $67.27 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, posting the largest daily gain since April 14. Both benchmarks were at the highest since March 17
Oil Jumps To Six-Week High On Stronger Economic Outlook –Oil prices rose early on Thursday to their highest level in six weeks as a brighter outlook on the American economy and oil demand offset bearish demand prospects from the COVID crisis in India. As of 11:03 a.m. EDT on Thursday, WTI Crude was up 1.50 percent at $64.87, after touching $65 earlier in the day, and Brent Crude prices had risen 1.61 percent to cross the $68 a barrel mark, at $68.41. A weaker U.S. dollar today also added fuel to the oil rally this week, which had accelerated on Wednesday when the EIA reported a small inventory build of 100,000 barrels for the week to April 23 and an average gasoline production of 9.6 million bpd, up from 9.4 million bpd in the previous week. In middle distillates, the EIA estimated an inventory draw of 3.3 million barrels for the week to April 23. U.S. refinery utilization rates also rose last week, to 85.4 percent from 85.0 percent in the previous reporting week, as per EIA data. The oil market saw another bullish factor for oil demand in the Federal Reserve’s statement from Wednesday that the U.S. economy is accelerating. “Amid progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened,” the Fed said in its FOMC statement, adding that it would continue with its easy monetary policy to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses. The signs of strengthening the U.S. economy and oil demand trumped on Thursday concerns about the health crisis in India, which could offset some of the demand rebound elsewhere. Rystad Energy warned on Wednesday that the COVID crisis in India could disturb the nearly balanced global oil market, which could see a surplus of oil supply of as much as 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in May amid a sizeable loss of demand from the world’s third-largest oil importer. Goldman Sachs, however, continues to believe that the market will take India’s crisis in its stride and will realize the biggest jump ever over the next six months.
Oil Slips On Profit Taking, Stronger U.S. Dollar – Oil prices dropped early on Friday as profit-taking and a strengthening U.S. dollar put a stop to this week’s rally that saw prices hitting a six-week high on Thursday.As of 10:14 a.m. EDT on Friday, WTI Crude was trading down below $64 a barrel, at $63.43, down by 2.32 percent. Brent Crude prices were down by 1.87 percent on the day at $67.26.On Thursday, oil prices had jumped to their highest levels in six weeks as a brighter outlook on the American economy and oil demand offset bearish demand prospects from the COVID crisis in India.But on Friday, the rally took a breather as market participants turned to profit-taking. A rising U.S. dollar also weighed on oil prices on Friday, as a stronger U.S. currency makes crude buying more expensive for holders of other currencies.Continued concern over the worsening COVID crisis in India outweighed the bullish factors on Friday, but oil prices were still on track to post a monthly gain of 6-7 percent in April – the fifth rise in monthly oil prices in the past six months.On Friday, oil was dragged down by concerns that the health crisis in India could offset some of the demand rebound elsewhere. While the United States and parts of Europe such as the UK are already re-opening and seeing increased economic activity, travel, and consumer revenge spending, major economies such as India and Brazil are suffering under the COVID resurgence. The situation in India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, is particularly concerning. Some analysts, such as Rystad Energy, warned this week that the COVID crisis in India will result in a surplus of oil supply of as much as 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in May.
India demand fears, weak Japan crude imports knock oil prices 2% (Reuters) – Oil prices were down 2% on Friday, falling from six-week highs as investors unloaded positions after weak Japanese crude import data and on worries about fuel demand in India, where COVID-19 infections have soared. U.S. crude and global benchmark Brent were set for their biggest daily drops in about three weeks, but were still on track for monthly gains of about 8% and 6%, respectively. Fuel demand worldwide is mixed but consumption is rising in the United States and China. Brent crude fell by $1.30, or 1.9%, at $67.26 a barrel by 12:48 p.m. EDT (1648 GMT), the last day of trading for the front-month June contract. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was at $63.67 a barrel, down $1.34, or 2.1%. “The tug of war between summer demand growth prospects and worsening COVID infections is still in full swing,” JBC Energy analysts wrote on Friday. India, the world’s third largest oil consumer, is in deep crisis, with hospitals and morgues overwhelmed, as the number of COVID-19 cases topped 18 million on Thursday. Japan’s – another major crude oil importer – imports fell 25% in March from a year earlier to 2.34 million barrels per day, according to government figures. However, the country’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace since early 2018. “There are still several major countries struggling mightily with the COVID-19 and of course there is a humanitarian crisis developing in India,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital. “These are two big sources of demand that are taking a hit.” OPEC oil output rose in April due to more supply from Iran, countering the cartel’s pact with allies to reduce supply. A Reuters survey forecast that Brent would average $64.17 in 2021, up from last month’s consensus of $63.12 per barrel and the $62.3 average for the benchmark so far this year.
Oil Prices Show Monthly Increase | Rigzone — Oil rose this month with a slew of positive economic data and signs of a budding fuel consumption revival in key economies offsetting a worsening coronavirus crisis elsewhere. Futures in New York rose this week, extending its monthly gain to 7.5%. The near-certain likelihood of higher fuel consumption in the U.S., China and the U.K has brightened the overall demand outlook, even as a resurgent pandemic in countries such as India, Brazil and Japan cloud those prospects. OPEC and its allies see world consumption rebounding by 6 million barrels a day this year, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. this week said demand could post a record jump as vaccination rates increase. Green shoots of a revival in fuel consumption are sprouting around the world. Travel across China is expected to pick up over an extended Labor Day holiday. In the U.S., a string of real-time data pointing to an economic rebound taking hold in the world’s largest oil consumer has stoked optimism around demand in coming months. Oil’s overall advance is in keeping with a broad-based surge in interest in commodities this week, driven by optimism in key economies and tightening supplies of raw materials. That’s pushed the Bloomberg Spot Commodity Index to the highest level since 2012 in previous sessions. West Texas Intermediate fell $1.43 to settle at $63.58 a barrel, but rose 2.3% this week. Brent for June settlement, which expires Friday, lost $1.31 to $67.25 a barrel. The contract is up 1.7% this week, and climbed 5.8% for the month. The more-active July contract declined $1.29 to $66.76. Still, it will likely be a bumpy road ahead for prices as the world’s economies reopen at varying paces. U.S. benchmark crude futures on Friday posted their largest daily loss in almost four weeks, with raw materials and U.S. equities cooling from a scorching rally. Further weighing on prices was a strengthening dollar, which makes commodities priced in the currency less attractive. A viral onslaught in India is the most notable threat to a worldwide oil recovery. Imports from the South Asian country could fall by over 1 million barrels a day in the coming weeks, if not three times more, consultant Kpler said in a report Friday. The loss of demand is showing up in U.S. physical markets, where sour crude differentials have weakened this week amid lower demand from India.
USA and Saudis Team up for Net Zero Project – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has revealed that a net zero producers forum between the energy ministries of the United States, Canada, Norway, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia is being established. Collectively representing 40 percent of global oil and gas production, the countries will come together to form a cooperative forum that will develop pragmatic net-zero emission strategies, according to a joint statement from the project participants. The strategies include methane abatement, advancing the circular carbon economy approach, the development and deployment of clean-energy and carbon capture and storage technologies, the diversification from reliance on hydrocarbon revenues, and other measures in line with each country’s national circumstances, the statement noted. “There is no greater challenge facing our nation and our planet than the climate crisis. That’s why President Biden has laid out the boldest climate agenda in our nation’s history – one that will spur an equitable clean energy economy and cement the United States on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050,” the DOE said in a statement posted on its website. “To achieve our global climate goals we need cooperation from all major emitters, including oil and gas producing nations, to identify and act on solutions to phase out unabated fossil fuel emissions, while reducing emissions to the maximum extent possible in the interim,” the DOE added. “For this reason, the U.S. Department of Energy has led on creating a new international forum dedicated to developing long-term strategies to reach global net-zero emissions,” the DOE continued. The net zero producers forum is part of a series of new initiatives announced recently by the DOE that will expand international cooperation around tackling the climate crisis, boosting clean energy innovation, and advancing an equitable transition to a net-zero future, the organization outlined. Other initiatives include a new partnership with India on speeding up clean energy deployment and joining a new public-private consortium to cut power sector emissions by at least 50 percent over 2020 levels in the next 10 years.
Saudi in Talks to Sell Aramco Stake to Energy Co – — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said the kingdom is in talks to sell a 1% stake in state oil giant Saudi Aramco to a “leading global energy company” as he forecast an economic rebound after the coronavirus pandemic. The kingdom is looking at the potential sale — which could be worth about $19 billion, based on the company’s market value — as a way to lock in customer demand for the country’s crude, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said in a rare interview on a Saudi television channel late Tuesday. While providing few details on which company is involved in the talks, he said the sale could take place in the next two years. “I don’t want to give any promises about deals finalizing, but there are discussions happening right now about a 1% acquisition by one of the leading energy companies in the world,” Prince Mohammed, the country’s de facto ruler, said. “I cannot mention the name but it’s a huge company. This deal could be very important in strengthening Aramco’s sales in the country where this company resides.” China is the largest buyer of Saudi Arabian oil. Almost 30% of the kingdom’s crude exports went to the Asian country last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Japan, South Korea and India were the next biggest importers. As well as China, Aramco is keen to make further inroads into India, the fastest growing market for oil consumption before the pandemic hit. But the company faces strong competition from other suppliers and Indian refiners are among the most price-sensitive in the world. The crown prince is increasingly leaning on Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, to help finance his plan to transform and diversify the Saudi economy — an initiative dubbed Vision 2030. That effort has faced hurdles in recent years, with investors spooked by the kingdom’s domestic political crackdown and the killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and then with the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Aramco’s 2019 initial public offering — in which it sold about 2% of its stock on the Riyadh bourse — raised almost $30 billion. The money was transferred to the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and was meant to support investments to shift the biggest Arab economy away from a reliance on oil sales. Since then, Aramco has also taken on debt and started selling off some non-core assets to maintain a $75 billion dividend, most of which goes to the state.
Fire at COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad kills at least 82 people – After an accident caused an oxygen tank to explode, eyewitness accounts and video clips of the terrible scenes of the fire at the hospital treating COVID-19 patients have provoked shock and anger throughout Iraq. A hashtag demanding Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi be sacked was soon trending on Twitter. Saturday’s fire at the Ibn Khatib hospital, an intensive care facility dedicated to COVID-19 patients in the Diyala Bridge neighbourhood, one of Baghdad’s poorer districts in the southeast of the city, has killed at least 82 people and injured 110. At least 28 patients with severe symptoms of the virus who were on ventilators were among the dead. This tragedy is but the latest horrific example of the devastating impact of decades of sanctions, illegal invasions, occupations and the deliberate stoking of a sectarian civil war orchestrated and led by successive US administrations that have reduced a once prosperous country, with one of the most advanced health and social infrastructures in the Arab world, to utter poverty and degradation. To this day, Iraq suffers from political violence, kidnappings and extortion at the hands of numerous militias, while accidents resulting from neglect and decrepit infrastructure have compounded the plight of the Iraqi people. In 2019, to cite but one example, at least 90 people drowned when an overloaded ferry carrying families on an outing sank in the Tigris River in the northern city of Mosul. The World Socialist Web Site has described the consequences of Washington’s onslaught on the Iraqi people as “sociocide,” the deliberate destruction of the entire infrastructure of a modern civilization (See: “The US war and occupation of Iraq – the murder of a society”). The blaze spread rapidly because without smoke detectors, sprinkler system or fire hoses, “the hospital had no fire protection system, and false ceilings allowed the flames to spread to highly flammable products,” said Maj. Gen. Khadim Bohan, the head of Iraq’s civil defence forces. He told the state-run Iraqiya TV, Officials said that some of the victims were older patients on ventilators who could not move from their beds when the fire started. Reuters news agency quoted an eyewitness as saying that patients and medical workers had jumped out of second-story windows to escape the flames.
Scores of Palestinians injured in Jerusalem as Jewish supremacists march chanting “Death to Arabs”‘More than 100 Palestinians were wounded in violent clashes with the police that broke out in East Jerusalem after a march by hundreds of far-right Jewish supremacists chanting, “Death to Arabs! Death to Arabs! All the people want revenge!” on Thursday night. The clashes followed days of mounting tensions in the city. The police used water cannon and stun grenades on the Palestinians, many of them in family groups with young children dressed in their holiday clothes. They had gathered outside the Damascus Gate at the end of the day’s fast during Ramadan, which started on April 12. At least 20 Palestinians, injured by the security forces’ sponge-tipped bullets and stun grenades, had to be taken to hospital. One Israeli driver, slightly wounded in an attack by young Palestinians, and a police officer were also hospitalised. Dozens of Jews and Palestinians were arrested. The Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City, is the most important gathering place for East Jerusalem’s Palestinian community, with tens of thousands of people passing through or sitting there every evening. The plaza outside the Gate has witnessed multiple clashes between Palestinians and the police in the last days over barriers installed by the police to prevent people sitting there during the month of Ramadan. The authorities gave no valid reason for the barricades, precipitating largely peaceful demonstrations at the Gate and calls to “Open the barriers” that were aggressively dispersed by mounted police and torrents of foul-smelling “skunk water,” turning the plaza into a battlefield. Further fuelling tensions, the authorities disconnected the Al-Aqsa mosque’s loudspeakers so that the call to prayer would not disrupt Israel’s Memorial Day ceremony for fallen soldiers at the Western Wall and restricted the number of West Bank Palestinians attending Ramadan services at the compound to just 10,000, subject to vaccination, far fewer than the numbers wanting to attend. When young Palestinians posted videos of themselves assaulting Jews on social media, amid flare-ups in Jaffa where Palestinian Israelis beat up the head of a yeshiva (a religious seminary) leading to violent clashes with the police, right-wing Jewish extremists seized the opportunity to fan the flames and demand vengeance. On Sunday evening, legislators from the fascistic Religious Zionism party, accompanied by provocateurs singing songs of anti-Palestinian hatred and vengeance, demanded the police take tougher action to “protect Jewish dignity.” Shortly after, Mohammed Abu Ziyadeh, 17, was attacked at the light rail station on Jaffa Street. Then on Monday, assaults on Palestinians escalated as dozens of young Jewish racists went on a rampage through the city chanting “Death to Arabs” and attacking passersby with stones and tear gas. The police made a show of arresting six suspects, later releasing all of them, and allowed similar provocations to continue in the days that followed.
Crush at Israeli religious festival kills 45 (Reuters) -Medical teams worked on Friday to identify 45 people crushed to death in a stampede at a religious festival on the slopes of Israel’s Mount Meron, with children among the dead. Witnesses spoke of seeing a “pyramid” of people who were asphyxiated or trampled in a passageway around 3 metres (10 feet) wide at the crowded event in the Galilee. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had thronged to the tomb of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai for the annual Lag B’Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance. The festival was segregated by gender, and medics said the injuries and deaths were concentrated in the men’s section. Police asked family members of those who were still missing to provide pictures and personal information to help with the identification process. By late afternoon, the Health Ministry said 32 of the dead had been identified. As sunset neared on Friday the process was halted for 24 hours in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, and would resume on Saturday evening. Videos posted on social media in the minutes after the crush showed Ultra-Orthodox men clambering desperately through gaps in sheets of torn corrugated iron to escape the crush. People who stayed on the scene through the night questioned how the situation so quickly spiralled out of control, though there had been concern for years about safety risks at the annual event. “There was some kind of mess, police, screaming, a big mess, and after half an hour it looked like a scene of a suicide bombing attack, numerous people coming out from there on stretchers,” said 19-year-old festival-goer Hayim Cohen. “We were going to go inside for the dancing and stuff and all of a sudden we saw paramedics from (ambulance service) MDA running by, like mid-CPR on kids,” 36-year-old pilgrim Shlomo Katz told Reuters. An injured man lying on a hospital bed described how the crush began when a line of people in the front of the surging crowd simply collapsed. “A pyramid of one on top of another was formed. People were piling up one on top of the other. I was in the second row. The people in the first row – I saw people die in front of my eyes,” he told reporters. The Mount Meron tomb is considered to be one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world and is an annual pilgrimage site. The event was one of the largest gatherings in Israel since the coronavirus pandemic began more than a year ago. The Justice Ministry said investigators would look into whether there had been any police misconduct connected to the tragedy.
Israel stampede: Religious festival crush kills 45: Live updates — A stampede at a religious festival is Israel this morning killed at least 45 people and left some 150 others injured.Israeli investigators are examining exactly how the crush happened at Israel’s Mount Meron. In the meantime, here’s what we know so far:
- What happened: A stampede broke out at Israel’s Mount Meron, killing at least 45 people. Worshipers had gathered at the mountain to mark the Lag B’Omer holiday, an annual event where participants sing, dance and light fires in homage to second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai at his burial site.
- Americans among the dead and injured: A State Department spokesperson said “multiple” US citizens were among those killed and injured in the stampede. Secretary of State Tony Blinken spoke with his Israeli counterpart on Friday to offer his condolences on the deadly incident.
- Event allowed during Covid-19 pandemic: Israel’s health ministry had urged people not to attend the festival, warning of the risk of another coronavirus outbreak. However, case numbers have been low, and Israel has already fully vaccinated more than 58% of its population, so the event was allowed to proceed. Dov Maisel, vice president of operations at the volunteer-based emergency organization United Hatzalah, told CNN that around 100,000 people were in attendance.
Multiple US citizens were among those killed and injured at a religious festival in Israel overnight, a State Department spokesperson said Friday.”We can confirm that multiple U.S. citizens were among the casualties,” the spokesperson said, but did not provide details on numbers of wounded or how many were killed. “The U.S. Embassy is working with local authorities to verify whether any additional U.S. citizens were affected, and is providing all possible consular support to affected U.S. citizens and their loved ones,” the spokesperson added.“Out of respect for the families at this difficult time, we have no further comment,” the spokesperson said.”We offer our sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of those injured and who perished in the tragedy at Mt. Meron during the Lag Ba’omer commemorations,” they said.
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