Video: Fracking ban thrown out by judge
A fracking ban in the city of Longmont, Colorado, was thrown out by a judge amid petition drives to hold a statewide vote in November on restricting oil and gas drilling that generate $30billion a year.
Statoil profits drop 12% on lower production
Statoil, Norway’s biggest energy company, said profit fell 12% in the second quarter as production declined because of maintenance work and asset sales.
Europe binges on US fuel as shale boom leaves Gulf glut
Traders booked the most tankers in eight months to ship diesel and heating oil to Europe from the US Gulf, where refining is surging as a consequence of America’s rising crude production.
Cairn India drops most in five years over cash use concerns
Cairn India Ltd., operator of the nation’s biggest oil field on land, headed for its biggest drop in more than five years after a loan given to its parent raised investor concerns about the use of its cash reserves.
UK announces $340million renewable power contract auction
Renewable-power projects in the UK will compete for guaranteed payments totaling more than £200million ($340million) a year of as part of its first auction of contracts to spur low-carbon electricity. An auction of so-called contracts-for-difference will take place this year and an extra £50million a year will be offered at a sale next year, the Department for Energy and Climate Change said today in an e-mailed statement. By 2021 as much as £1billion a year may be available, it said.
Norway reviews its $8billion Russian stake
Norway’s $890billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, is reassessing its holdings in Russia as the European Union considers expanding sanctions against the country. Since the July 17 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 by a missile that the US says was probably supplied by the Russian military, sentiment toward assets based in Russia has soured further. The government of Norway, which isn’t an EU member, said it’s ready to adjust the fund’s holdings to reflect the changing geopolitical climate. The European Commission will present proposals for more “targeted measures” to national officials today.
BG said to seek sale of North Sea assets
BG Group is seeking buyers for its largest operations in the North Sea as the British company attempts to overhaul its portfolio, according to people familiar with the matter.
Putin’s Ukraine woes compounded by $103billion Yukos claim
Russia will discover next week how much it may be asked to pay for the confiscation a decade ago of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Yukos Oil Co., then the country’s biggest oil producer. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will rule on July 28 on a $103billion damages claim the company’s former owners filed against Russia in 2007, Tim Osborne, head of GML Ltd., former holding company of Yukos, said by e-mail. Court official Willemijn van Banning said by phone she couldn’t comment on the date for the ruling.
Repsol eyes Talisman acquisition, insiders claim
Spanish oil major Repsol is exploring a bid for Talisman Energy as it looks to deploy cash it received as compensation for the loss of its stake in Argentina’s YPF, according to people familiar with the matter.
Arctic ice melt allows for South Korea oil hub
Melting Arctic ice is widening a path for ships to deliver European oil to Asia, stoking South Korea’s ambition to become a regional storage and trading hub. The country, whose proximity to China, Russia and Japan makes it an ideal conduit for oil arriving via the Arctic, plans to add tanks for storing almost 60 million barrels of crude and refined products by 2020, about the same as Singapore’s current capacity. The nation also seeks to leverage its energy infrastructure, which includes five refineries, to become Northeast Asia’s oil hub, said Kim Jun Dong, the deputy minister of energy and resources policy.
Renewable projects drive ABB earnings down
Global power group ABB's earnings dropped for a third consecutive quarter, missing analyst estimates, amid mounting charges at the unit for offshore wind and solar projects.
Alstom quarterly orders double on South African rail contract
Alstom, the French engineering company which is selling most of its energy-equipment business to General Electric (GE) to focus on train-making operations, said orders doubled in the fiscal first quarter because of a 4billion euro ($5.4billion) rail contract in South Africa.
UK retains target to cut carbon emissions by half through 2025
The UK will keep a target to cut greenhouse gases by half through 2025, Energy Secretary Ed Davey said, foiling the Treasury’s effort to weaken the target. Revising the so-called carbon budget would be premature, given that the government’s estimate of the UK and EU levels of ambition on carbon-cutting “are likely to be extremely close,” Davey said today in a statement to Parliament.
Brent crude rises for second day as EU seeks to punish Russia
Brent crude gained for a second day as the European Union warned that Russia risks growing isolation over the downing of Malaysian Air flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine.
Botten stays at Oil Search helm
Oil Search's managing director said he plans to stay with the Papua New Guinea oil and gas producer for at least another 18 months as the company considers expansion opportunities.
Sinopec first-half production increases 8% on overseas output
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest refiner, reported an 8 percent gain in first-half oil and gas production as overseas output doubled. Output rose to 237 million barrels in the six months ended June 30, the Beijing-based company known as Sinopec said in a statement yesterday after the close of trade. Production rose faster than the 3.8 percent increase a year earlier.
Surgut leads ADR rout on sanctions speculation
OAO Surgutneftegas plunged the most in four months, leading Russian stocks lower in U.S. trading as President Vladimir Putin rebuffed calls to end the war in Ukraine after the downing of an airliner, stoking concern that new sanctions could cripple the economy.
UK gas extends decline as ample supplies offset Ukraine risk
UK natural gas for August fell for a second day as tanker arrivals top up supply, reducing immediate risks posed by the escalating Ukraine crisis. The August contract in the UK, Europe’s biggest market, declined as much as 1.4% after closing 4% down on July 18, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg. The contract gained 6.9% the day earlier, the most since April 7, after the downing of flight MH17 over rebel-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine threatened to escalate tensions between the West and Russia, Europe’s biggest gas supplier.
Speculators cutting bullish oil bets miss Ukraine rally
The downed jetliner in Ukraine and Israel’s Gaza offensive blindsided speculators who had cut bullish crude bets on the assumption that risks to supply were diminishing.
Kurdish oil grab fuels independence dream as Iraq unravels
As modern Iraq collapses, the northern region of Kurdistan is emerging as an oasis of relative calm -- with plenty of oil to support its political ambitions for independence. With the advance of Islamist rebels deep into Iraq, autonomous Kurdistan is increasingly rejecting Baghdad’s claims over its oil. Last week Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani seized control of fields near Kirkuk, in the latest move by Kurdistan to assert control over the region’s oil.
Former Alstom executive pleads guilty in Indonesian scheme
A former Alstom SA executive pleaded guilty to US charges that he took part in a scheme to bribe foreign government officials to win a power contract in Indonesia. William Pomponi, 65, is the third Alstom executive to admit guilt in the case. In court today, he said he plotted to bribe Indonesian officials and members of the country’s state-owned electricity company, Perusahaan Listrik Negara PT, to win a $118million contract to provide power from facilities in Tarahan, on the southern coast of Sumatra, prosecutors said.
Mexico opens the energy door to private companies
Mexico’s Senate approved additional legislation to help open the country’s energy sector to private companies for the first time in more than seven decades, a move decried as treasonous by opponents. The Senate voted 90 to 28 today to approve a bill that sets a framework for oil and gas contracts for companies entering the country such as Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. The landmark legislation opens the state-run crude monopoly held by Petroleos Mexicanos since 1938. Three other proposals that will open the electricity sector and set guidelines for state-owned companies and their employees will be debated today and over the weekend.
Ban on US oil exports seen dying one ruling at a time
The four-decade-old ban on most crude exports from the US, now the world’s largest producer, will be weakened bit by bit as government rulings allow exceptions, say energy analysts including IHS Inc. The Commerce Department’s permission for Enterprise Products Partners LP and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. to ship abroad ultra-light oil known as condensate foreshadows a chain of incremental actions that will chip away at the restriction until it’s obsolete. As much as 1.2 million barrels a day may be freed for export on the recent rulings alone
Exxon to Daimler eye Russia risk as sanctions escalate
Exxon has bet heavily on its relationship with Rosneft, a state energy producer that’s led by Putin confidant -- and US sanctions target -- Igor Sechin. Next month Exxon expects to begin drilling an Arctic well with Rosneft that will cost as much as $700million, the most expensive such project ever in Russia. It’s also working on a $30million shale well project in Siberia.
Gulf Keystone’s ex-chief executive leaves board
Gulf Keystone Petroleum founder Todd Kozel has turned down a seat on the board after retiring last month as chief executive officer of the oil explorer with fields in Kurdistan.