The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new solicitation to purchase oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to a DOE press release. The solicitation, announced by the DOE's Office of Petroleum Reserves, seeks up to 3.3 million barrels of crude oil for delivery to the SPR in October. The decision to initiate this purchase, according to the release, aligns with the DOE's strategy of acquiring oil at $79 per barrel or below. To date, the DOE has procured a total of 32.3 million barrels of oil at an average…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new solicitation to purchase oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to a DOE press release. The solicitation, announced by the DOE's Office of Petroleum Reserves, seeks up to 3.3 million barrels of crude oil for delivery to the SPR in October. The decision to initiate this purchase, according to the release, aligns with the DOE's strategy of acquiring oil at $79 per barrel or below. To date, the DOE has procured a total of 32.3 million barrels of oil at an average…

The Utica shale has for years been known as a gas-producing play. But this may be about to change as one company reports promising results from its oil well offensive in the area. EOG has been drilling in the Utica shale for months now, and it just reported that the play can “compete with the best plays in America.” The production figures EOG reported for its wells there support this: over the first 180 days since drilling, a three-well pad dubbed Xavier produced an average of 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent in total. Another…

Azerbaijan will get a welcome earnings boost from BP’s announcement that it has launched production at a new $6-billion facility in Azerbaijan’s giant Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oil field. The upgrade can boost the field’s output by as much as 25 percent. Dubbed Azeri-Central-East (ACE), the facility consists of a new production platform 130 kilometers offshore in Azerbaijan’s sector of the Caspian Sea. Currently ACE boasts a single well drilled to a depth of 3,150 meters with two more wells to be drilled this year, raising ACE’S…

Almost 75 Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday expressed support for President Joe Biden’s decision to pause approvals for new LNG export projects. “With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment,” the Democratic Senators and Representatives wrote in a letter to President Biden, carried by Reuters. “This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether…

Almost 75 Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday expressed support for President Joe Biden’s decision to pause approvals for new LNG export projects. “With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment,” the Democratic Senators and Representatives wrote in a letter to President Biden, carried by Reuters. “This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether…

Almost 75 Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday expressed support for President Joe Biden’s decision to pause approvals for new LNG export projects. “With our allies well-supplied by existing exports, we agree that now is the time to step back and examine the long-term impacts that additional U.S. LNG exports will have on American consumers, industries, and the environment,” the Democratic Senators and Representatives wrote in a letter to President Biden, carried by Reuters. “This is an overdue opportunity to examine whether…

Via Metal Miner In a world where the appetite for energy is insatiable, the battery market has become the playground for some of the brightest minds aiming to fuel everything from cell phones to electric vehicles. However, as our gadgets become even smarter, the traditional batteries we’ve relied on seem ever so dim-witted in comparison. Enter the era of cutting-edge battery technology, where the latest developments are juicing up the market with a blend of high energy and high drama. The Latest Tech On (and Off) the Battery Market Let’s…

China has allocated more export quotas for refined petroleum products for 2024, issuing a second batch that nearly matches the volumes in the first batch.   China has recently issued 18 million metric tons of fuel export quotas in the second batch of allocations for this year, Chinese trade sources and consultancies told Reuters on Tuesday.   The volumes in the latest batch include 14 million tons of refined products and 4 million tons of marine fuel, consultancy firms Longzhong and JLC, as well as trade sources, said.…

Saudi Aramco is keeping its huge dividend of $31.1 billion for the first quarter despite a decline in net income due to lower crude sales as the Kingdom is voluntarily restricting supply to the market.  Aramco, the state oil giant of the world’s top crude oil exporter and the largest oil firm globally, reported on Tuesday a net income of $27.3 billion for the first quarter of 2024, down from $31.9 billion for the same period of 2023, due to lower crude oil volumes sold, weakening refining and chemicals margins, and lower finance…

The OPEC+ group is still studying whether to raise oil production but it would act on supply if necessary, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.    The possibility to raise supply is still being reviewed, Russia’s top oilman said, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax. “It always depends on the current situation, the balance of supply and demand,” Novak said. “Everything is being analyzed. Right now, you don’t need to predict anything, you just need to see how the market…

The OPEC+ group is still studying whether to raise oil production but it would act on supply if necessary, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday.    The possibility to raise supply is still being reviewed, Russia’s top oilman said, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax. “It always depends on the current situation, the balance of supply and demand,” Novak said. “Everything is being analyzed. Right now, you don’t need to predict anything, you just need to see how the market…

Oil prices remained under pressure on Tuesday morning, but Israel's decision to send troops into Rafah and Saudi Arabia's aggressive pricing of its June cargos should help to stop oil prices from falling. - International organizations are increasingly sounding the tocsin on shrinking crude inventories, with the IEA indicating Q2 2024 would see demand surpass supply by a whopping 900,000 b/d, the first two consecutive negative quarters since late 2021. - With OPEC+ curbing supply by means of Saudi Arabia’s and Russia’s voluntary…

It is fairly common nowadays to see relatively near-term estimates for a point at which demand for petroleum-based fuels begins to decline. The term often used to describe this “tipping point” is Peak Oil Demand. When I say “near term,” I mean right around the corner if you look at an estimate published last year by the International Energy Agency-IEA, an intergovernmental agency headquartered in Paris, France, and originally established after the Oil Embargo of 1973 to help cushion against future oil shocks. This agency…

Oil and gas companies have boosted offshore drilling in recent months, finding large resources in the newest exploration hotspots and aiming to develop huge low-cost, low-emission oil and gas fields that will yield decades of high returns. The majors are investing more in deepwater exploration as they are doubling down on their pledge to continue delivering oil and gas to meet global demand. The high offshore drilling activity is already showing in the rising profits and backlogs of the world's top oilfield services providers and rig charterers.…

So strategically vital to Russia, Iran, and China is the Akkas gas field in Iraq that enormous pressure was brought to bear on politicians in Baghdad to ensure that all contracts related to the field went to Russian firms in the first instance, with back up from Chinese companies when required. Iranian gas companies are not thought up to the task of running a major gas field development, which is why their own gas fields are mostly being effectively run by firms from those two countries, particularly Russia. However, in one of the most extraordinary…

The Federal Trade Commission last week gave the green light to Exxon’s acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources. There was one condition attached to the approval of the $60-billion deal: that Scott Sheffield, the former CEO of Pioneer, does not join the combined company’s board. The FTC alleged that Sheffield had colluded with OPEC and OPEC+ members to limit production and increase oil prices. The allegations shook the shale oil world, where several large consolidation deals are awaiting the trade watchdog’s approval. Now, the…

Giant Chevron and mid-cap Cheniere have said they are bullish on natural gas demand, which Chevron CEO Mike Wirth says he expects to beat expectations due to surging electricity consumption from big tech.  Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Wirth said that while the market for natural gas was evolving rapidly, making it difficult to pin down, he expects soaring electricity consumption from artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers, combined with efforts to electrify the American vehicle fleet and manufacturing, to spur global natural gas demand,…

By John Kemp, senior energy analyst at Reuters Saudi Arabia and its allies in OPEC? are likely to keep oil production unchanged for a further three months when ministers review output allocations on June 1. The tightening of petroleum supplies and depletion of inventories widely anticipated at the start of the year has failed to materialise so far. If OPEC+  officials had hoped to increase production into a tightening market characterised by rising oil prices they are likely to be frustrated. Crude stocks, futures prices and calendar spreads…

By Mish Shedlock of MishTalk The lie of the day is from the EPA: Carbon capture will pay for itself (thanks to IRA subsidies). No, it won’t even with subsidies. Expect blackouts and a higher price for electricity. Suite of Standards to Raise Costs, Reduce Output Let’s take a dive into the EPA news release Biden-Harris Administration Finalizes Suite of Standards to Reduce Pollution from Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants “Today, EPA is proud to make good on the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision to tackle climate change and…