In May 2014, the United States government announced intentions to accelerate the review process for LNG exports. The decision came when tensions were rising among Russia and the rest of Europe regarding its involvement in Ukraine. Europe threatened sanctions and Russia warned of cutting off supplies, but there was a major problem: the sides are mutually dependent on each other.
For the first time since 1938, Mexico’s oil frontier is open for business. Mexico’s newly privatized oil industry was officially signed into law on August 11, 2014, ending Petróleos Mexicanos’ (Pemex) 76 year nationalization reign on the country’s hydrocarbon resources. Pemex provides roughly one-third of Mexico’s tax revenue, but years of corruption and inefficiency have cut sharply into its production. The company has lost roughly $8 billion to date in 2014, according to Reuters. Volumes for Q2’14 dipped to 2,468 MBOEPD, and management expects overall output for 2014 to average 2,441 MBOEPD. If the numbers prove to be accurate, production will have declined by 36% since 2004 (3,848 MBOEPD), or an annual average of roughly 140 MBOEPD. If the entire ten year period is considered, the lost production of 1,407 MBOEPD is roughly equal to Q2’14 volumes produced by both Apache Corp. (ticker: APA, 636 MBOEPD) and Occidental Petroleum (ticker: OXY, 741 MBOEPD).
Yesterday, Governor John Hickenlooper announced the members of a statewide task force that will craft recommendations to help minimize land use conflicts that can occur when siting oil and gas facilities near homes, schools, businesses and recreational areas. “The governor created the task force as part of a compromise to avoid a divisive and costly campaign fight this fall over
Yesterday Reuters reported that an emergency energy plan was being constructed for Europe, should gas stop flowing through the pipelines that connect European homes with Russia’s natural gas. “Kiev is warning that Russia plans to halt gas supplies while Moscow says Ukraine could siphon off energy destined for the European Union – which has just threatened new sanctions if Moscow
In November, voters in the city of Lafayette, Colorado approved Ballot Measure 300, which banned all “oil and gas extraction and related activities” within the Lafayette city limits. Lafayette is at the western edge of the Wattenberg field in the Denver Julesburg Basin, where horizontal drilling into the Niobrara has taken off in the past three years. On Aug. 27,
Energy Companies Discussed their Colorado Operations at EnerCom’s The Oil & Gas Conference 19® Weld County, Colorado, is home to the Wattenberg Field, where horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing and complex well completion techniques are creating Colorado’s shale boom. Operators are going after oil and gas trapped in layers of shale about 7,000 feet beneath Weld County’s rich farmland and
After a full morning of investor presentations by leading oil and gas companies including Range Resources (ticker: RRC), Core Laboratories (ticker: CLB) and Whiting Petroleum (ticker: WLL), Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper took the stage during a surprise visit to EnerCom’s 19th Oil & Gas Conference today. The governor pointed out that “unemployment in Colorado is down to 5.3% to pre
Rice Energy (ticker: RICE) announced the intent to form a master limited partnership (MLP) prior to its Q2’14 earnings release on August 11, 2014. The announcement comes less than seven months after Rice closed its initial public offering in January 2014. The MLP offering is expected to consist of the company’s Pennsylvania gas gathering assets and will likely close in
A number of oil train derailments and resulting fires over the past year in the U.S. and Canada spurred questions about the volatility risk of U.S. Bakken crude oil being shipped by rail from North Dakota to refineries throughout North America. The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed new rules for tank car design and introduced revisions to train speed
Two initiatives targeting Colorado’s oil and gas industry are effectively dead as of yesterday, August 4, 2014. The announcement was a somewhat surprising end to a escalating issue spearheaded by two Democratic officials. Popular sentiment among local and national news outlets is the two sides reached a compromise to not only work through industry regulations in a diplomatic fashion, but
Initiatives 88 and 89 have been officially withdrawn, Governor John Hickenlooper announced at the Colorado state capitol on August 4, 2014. Representative Jared Polis, the leader of the initiatives, reached a compromise with the governor earlier on the Aug. 4 deadline to submit signatures associated with the ballot measures. The initiatives had reportedly collected more than 200,000 signatures and Polis
Yesterday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will allow LNG Development Co. (ticker: LLC) to export LNG from a terminal in Warrenton, Oregon, to countries without a Free Trade Agreement. The terminal is the first of its kind to be approved on the West Coast. The terminal is still subject to environmental review and final regulatory approval from
