Some notes from day 1 of the Platts London Crude Oil Summit:
Posts Tagged ‘shale’
Platts London Crude Oil Summit: a word of caution about shale delirium
By John Kingston | May 13, 2013 02:59 PM Comments (0)
New Frontiers: OPEC, N. African oil producers seek out shale
By News Desk | April 29, 2013 12:01 AM Comments (0)
The shale boom has led to two developments: lots of hydrocarbon production in the US, and speculation about what countries will lead similar developments and at what pace. In this week’s Oilgram News column New Frontiers, Tamsin Carlisle reviews the plans of countries both in North Africa and the Middle East.
At the Wellhead: Getting ready to take Miss Lime oil to market
By News Desk | April 8, 2013 12:01 AM Comments (0)
With so much crude struggling to find its way to market from the booming plays of the US, new projects are building those concerns into their plans. In this week’s Oilgram News column At the Wellhead, Bridget Hunsucker discusses how developers of resources in the Mississippian Lime formation are already tackling the infrastructure issues.
A new era for US Gulf Coast oil refining dynamics has dawned
By Bridget Hunsucker | January 15, 2013 05:27 PM Comments (7)
After years of stockpiles and capacity constraints, a sea change in US crude flows began last week when the Seaway Pipeline expanded to 400,000 b/d. The pipeline marks the first capacity to link the oil hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, and the Texas Gulf Coast.
This is expected to usher in a new period of crude enlightenment, a “renaissance” as some are calling it, albeit more pragmatic than artistic. (That is, unless one considers the hum of a drilling rig to be a beautiful ballad, pipeline blueprints an architectural achievement or the energy analyst a great philosopher.)
A lot fewer oil and natural gas rigs in action in the US, but it isn’t showing up in production numbers
By Starr Spencer | January 2, 2013 03:10 PM Comments (0)
The overall US land rig count has fallen nearly 13% in the past year, due to a combination of low natural gas prices and efficient drilling. But the largest oil producing states have seen drops in their individual onshore rig counts that are less steep — in some cases far less, according to the latest Baker Hughes data.
The number of land rigs working last week nationwide totaled 1,712, down from 1,965 in the last week of 2011, according to Baker Hughes’ weekly rig count, which comes out every Friday and was last issued December 28.
But not all states were equal when it came to declining rig counts.
Round of Q3 calls showed oil E&P operators’ cost-slashing prowess
By Starr Spencer | November 28, 2012 06:21 AM Comments (0)
E&P companies continued to tout the efficiencies and cost-slashing prowess of “pad” drilling and other savings measures undertaken during third-quarter earnings conference calls, highlighting a trend that has been especially notable this year as companies have stepped up activity across a growing number of unconventional fields.
Operators seemed particularly proud of snipping down the number of days needed to drill wells. For example, in South Texas’ prolific Eagle Ford Shale field, Forest Oil aims to migrate to pad drilling, which allows multiple wells to be drilled from a single site rather than moving the rig after each well, company CEO Patrick McDonald said during his company’s call last month.
“We’ve installed a rig walking system that will allow us to skid the rig over in a much shorter time period and allow us to drill four well pad locations in approximately 60 days — a significant time savings over current single-well style drilling,” McDonald said.
Fracking and the NY election: the pro- forces are happy
By John Kingston | November 9, 2012 02:52 PM Comments (2)
Even though the ultimate call on allowing fracking in the New York section of the Marcellus Shale will reside with Andrew Cuomo, the state’s governor, it was mostly pro-fracking candidates that won more local races on Tuesday.
Now serving the oil and gas industry: just about everyone
By Starr Spencer | October 2, 2012 01:45 PM Comments (0)
Let’s face it – the so-called shale drilling revolution is exciting to witness. But since every other month another “next hot new play” seems to surface, it may be easy to overlook the backstory of just what a tremendous economic net the shale phenomenon has cast — not just on industry and producing areas, but virtually everywhere.
It’s downright mind-boggling to consider just how far-reaching an impact these plays — both emerging and established — are having on the entire landscape of US commerce.
New Frontiers: the shale boom isn’t all shale
By News Desk | September 24, 2012 12:05 PM Comments (2)
In this week’s New Frontiers column from Platts Oilgram News, Starr Spencer says the term “shale” is getting thrown around a bit too casually. It’s a lot more complicated than that.
Oil and gas industry appetite for top-of-the-line new rigs not yet slaked
By Starr Spencer | September 8, 2012 11:39 AM Comments (0)
Here’s a brief capsule of the US oil market in recent months, as what used to be a fairly predictable industry has become a suspenseful rocket ride along a trajectory of activity that has soared to levels not seen in decades:
Volatile crude prices. Price differential blowouts between West Texas Intermediate and waterborne crudes. A horde of new oil production from shale plays and a frenzy of midstream projects to capture, process and transport it. And a refining sector that’s enjoying lucrative product exports and high margins from buying advantaged crude at low prices.