US East Coast oil refineries enjoy a stirring comeback

By Katharine Fraser | May 17, 2013 04:21 PM Comments (0)

Alarm bells rang along the US Eastern Seaboard not too long ago that the region would face fuel shortages due to refinery closures in the region, but the dynamics changed with the entrance of some new players as well as domestic crude supply via rail from the Bakken Shale play.

The region is study in contrasts in a matter of a few short years. A couple of years ago, it seemed three major plants might close: the then Sunoco-owned refineries in Marcus Hook and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the then ConocoPhillips-owned Trainer, Pennsylvania, refinery. All that came amid Hess and partner PDVSA initially scaling back operations of the Hovensa refinery on St. Croix, which exported to the US Atlantic Coast, to 350,000 b/d in 2011 before shutting it in January 2012.

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More fun in Vermont: a natural gas pipeline project in the land of a fracking ban

By John Kingston | May 16, 2013 04:31 PM Comments (0)

The schizophrenic battles over natural gas in Vermont — a state that was the first to have its governor sign a permanent fracking ban – just keep coming.

At the heart of the latest issue is a plan by Vermont Gas, the state’s natural gas utility, to add a 41-mile extension to its existing 750 miles of natural gas pipelines in the state. The new line would extend service to Middlebury, home of Middlebury College. And that’s where Bill McKibben works.

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EIA analysis: oil inventories are down, runs are up

By News Desk | May 15, 2013 01:43 PM Comments (0)

US crude inventories took a slight downward turn last week, away from several weeks of record highs. You can read Platts’ analysis here.

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US energy tax policy poised for big changes, or none at all

By Brian Scheid | May 15, 2013 12:01 AM Comments (0)

Billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and natural gas producers will be eliminated under a proposal US congressional tax writers are floating. But they’re also floating a proposal that would make these tax breaks pretty much permanent.

They are thinking about getting rid of the controversial production tax credit for wind and also thinking about keeping it for a very long time. They might take up a carbon tax, they might not and they might raise the federal gasoline tax, or lower it. It’s really unclear at this point.

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Commodities trading: not for the faint-hearted

By Melanie Wold | May 14, 2013 12:01 AM Comments (0)

Once the darling of hedge funds, commodities are now looking like a poisoned chalice. Last year, hedge funds such as BlueGold, which specialized in crude oil; Centaurus, in natural gas; and Fortress Commodities, across all raw materials, shut down. Several commodities fund of funds also closed last year after clients fled.

Commodities trading, it seems – and in particular oil – is not for the faint of heart. The field is littered with failed ventures and prison sentences.

International sanctions on exporting countries such as Iran can make trading crude an even more dangerous game. On May 9, the US Treasury said it was penalizing Sambouk Shipping for contravening these sanctions. Sambouk is allegedly associated with Dimitris Cambis, who, along with a network of front companies, was executing ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil to obscure its origin.

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OPEC oil output took a sharp upward turn in April

By News Desk | May 13, 2013 03:41 PM Comments (0)

After several months of cutbacks, Saudi Arabia reversed course in April and boosted its production. That led to an overall rise in the group’s output. You can see the full Platts analysis here.

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Platts London Crude Oil Summit: a word of caution about shale delirium

By John Kingston | May 13, 2013 02:59 PM Comments (0)

Some notes from day 1 of the Platts London Crude Oil Summit:

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At the Wellhead: What the heck is North Dakota going to do with all that oil money?

By News Desk | May 13, 2013 12:01 AM Comments (1)

The North Dakota oil boom gives the state new funds. Lots of them. Lots and lots of them. Starr Spencer, in this week’s Oilgram News column At the Wellhead, discusses how the state is dealing with that cash.

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ICYMI: Biden and Keystone, US oil import balance, Brent/WTI

By John Kingston | May 10, 2013 05:41 PM Comments (0)

A few random things at the end of the week:

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Making money in Hawaii’s oil market is like pushing a boulder up a volcano

By Jeffrey Bair | May 10, 2013 12:43 PM Comments (2)

They like to say around the Platts office in Houston that California is an island.

An economic island, that is. The kind where the spot prices of gasoline and other refined fuels are insulated from the bob and weave of trades in the rest of the United States.

It’s an interesting analogy. But consider how fuel economics are affecting a real-live island right now: Oahu.

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