Monthly Archives: November 2017

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) signed an agreement covering potential collaboration, including potential offshore opportunities and the sour gas development projects. The agreement covers discussions between the two companies on possible CNPC participation in the Lower Zakum, Umm Shaif, and Nasr areas as well as the Bab, Bu… Read more »

The US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee adopted Chair Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alas.) proposal to authorize oil and gas leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain for federal budget reconciliation purposes. The final 13-10 vote on Nov. 15 ran along party lines, with Republicans voting aye and Democrats, with Independents Bernie Sanders (Vt.)… Read more »

The world’s consumers are not yet ready to say goodbye to the era of oil, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2017 report. WEO 2017 projects that global oil demand will continue to grow to 2040, although at a steadily decreasing pace. Up until the mid-2020s demand growth remains robust,… Read more »

Oil and gas companies employ various measures to protect their increasingly sophisticated operational infrastructure. Nevertheless, cyber-criminals are adept at finding vulnerabilities to gain access to these critical systems – and their efforts appear to be paying off. As a 2016 white paper from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) observes, cyberattacks against critical energy infrastructure systems have been… Read more »

Comparative inventory (C.I.) has been dramatically reduced in 2017. Levels have fallen 159 mmb since February and are now approaching the 5-year average for the first time in nearly 3 years (Figure 1). (Click to enlarge) Figure 1. The U.S. Over-Supply of Oil is Ending. Source: EIA and Labyrinth Consulting Services, Inc. An interpreted yield curve that… Read more »

Less than a week after Venezuela shocked the world by announcing it would proceed to restructure its massive external debt, even as it was within the grace period on hundreds of millions in unpaid interest expense, on Thursday the socialist nation confirmed it has never been closer to an official default after Reuters reported that… Read more »

Baker Hughes has reported that the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States fell for yet another week, this time dipping 11 rigs—most of which was a loss to the number of oil rigs—the largest decline in the number of oil rigs this year. WTI and Brent continue on their upward trend… Read more »

The history of crude oil and natural gas is a history of technological innovation. Until recently the innovation supported crude oil and natural gas. Now, it challenges it, causing structural changes in the crude oil and natural gas markets. Originally, crude oil was only used for lighting. This changed following the invention of the internal… Read more »

The Bitcoin boom is well and truly underway, and investors are constantly looking for new ways to gain an advantage in this space. The best way to do this, it seems, is by cutting the energy costs of mining this precious commodity. The Bitcoin mining industry consumes 22.5 TWh of energy annually, which amounts to… Read more »

Comments made by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), sent Brent crude to its highest in more than two years, to US$59.30 a barrel, Reuters reports. West Texas Intermediate was more impervious to the comments, but it also gained a few cents, to close at US$52.64 a barrel—the highest in six months. The… Read more »