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Petroleum / Mining in Northern America

  • BHP Billiton bucks trend by looking to accelerate oil and gas exploration

    UNITED STATES, 2016/05/11 The boss of BHP Billiton said the commodities giant will not wait for prices to recover and will invest in its oil division as it pursues “quality increase projects”. Chief executive Andrew Mackenzie, speaking at a conference in Florida, said the multinational would undertake “one of our most signficant oil exploration programmes” by accelerating its activities. BHP will conduct further drilling on the Green Canyon lease in the Gulf of Mexico by completing the Caicos exploration well in July next successful results from Shenzi North before this year.
  • Kenya: US to help finance $18 billion oil pipeline

    UNITED STATES, 2016/01/10 The U.S. government said late on Tuesday said that it would help Kenya finance an significant oil pipeline project. Speaking to the press next a conference with Kenyan Energy Cabinet Secretary Alfred Keter, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec said that the U.S. would help Kenya find $18 billion for the construction of an oil pipeline from Lamu at the Kenyan coast to the oil fields in the north of the country. “Kenya needs $18 billion worth of financing, [for the construction of the pipeline] so one of the questions we are discussing is how we can work together with the private sector and governments to raise that sum, to find ways to make certain that this financing become available,” Godec said.
  • Oil above $37 as U.S. supply tightens, still near 11-year low

    UNITED STATES, 2015/12/26 Oil edged further above $38 a barrel on Thursday before retreating as it remained within sight of an 11-year low reached this week, as traders put positions in order ahead of an expected week of low liquidity ahead. U.S. crude has gained support from falling inventories, reduced drilling and the lifting of a ban on most U.S. crude exports, which has pushed U.S. crude to a premium to world benchmark Brent for the initial time in about a year. Brent (LCOc1) settled up 53 cents at $37.89 a barrel as of 11:48 a.m. EST. It fell to $35.98, an 11-year low, on Tuesday. U.S. crude (CLc1) settled up 60 cents at $38.10 next gaining additional than 8 % this week.
  • Canada's Alberta to introduce economy-wide carbon tax in 2017

    CANADA, 2015/11/23
  • Petrobras import of US condensate help address refining shortage, but faces tax controversy in Brazil

    BRAZIL, 2015/11/10 But condensate arriving from the United States could be subject to Brazil’s CIDE levy because it has been partially processed, they said. Petrobras’ move to start buying processed U.S. condensate will help output at its domestic refining network, but the purchases have exposed a wrinkle in Brazilian law that could allow the national-run company to import the light oil business-free, tax lawyers and traders said. Typically, condensate is considered a very light form of crude found in oil or natural gas wells and in raw form is not taxable in Brazil. The concept of lightly processed condensate is peculiar to the United States. It arose last year as a way for U.S. producers to have it classified as a refined product to circumvent a decades-old ban on domestic crude exports. With U.S. condensates shipments presently hitting the export market, they are causing headaches for bookkeepers in the United States and Brazil.
  • Shell halts Alaska offshore drilling project

    NETHERLAND, 2015/09/28 Royal Dutch Shell on Monday announced it’s stopping offshore oil exploration in Alaska for the foreseeable next next finding deposits uneconomic. The decision comes next the company got final approval to drill in the area a month ago. "The Shell Alaska team has operated safely and exceptionally well in each aspect of this year's exploration program," Director of Shell Upstream Americas, Marvin Odum said in a statement. "Shell continues to see significant exploration potential in the basin, and the area is likely to from presently on be of strategic importance to Alaska and the US. However, this is a clearly disappointing exploration outcome for this part of the basin.”
  • US closer to lifting 40-year ban on oil and natural gas exports; bill needs Senate floor vote

    UNITED STATES, 2015/08/06 Senate Energy Committee chair Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, has been a long-time advocate for lifting the ban, which she said was outdated due to the rise of the United States as an energy power. In addition to unlocking crude oil exports, the bill would as well speed up exports of liquefied natural gas and ensure that states that have offshore oil and gas development get their share of federal revenues. The United States is closer to begin exporting oil. The Senate Energy Committee passed a bill last week that would lift a decades-old ban on the export of crude oil. The 22-member panel approved the initiative to allow the US to export oil and boost national revenue-sharing for offshore oil and gas drilling by a vote of 12-10.
  • Canada is North America's Great Oil Security Blanket

    CANADA, 2015/05/03 The Keystone XL pipeline debate that unfortunately continues to drag on has pushed Canada’s oil production potential into the spotlight. Canada is our neighbor and leading trade partner, with U.S. goods and private services trade with Canada totaling around $750 billion a year, interestingly equal parts imports and exports. Additional oil connections are a natural match. The U.S. is the major consumer in the world, 80% above second place China, and Canada is an emerging powerhouse, presently producing 4.1 million b/d, 33% additional than in 2005. U.S. energy policy must realize Canadian oil for what it is: North America’s great oil security blanket. Canadian oil is as well “ethical oil” since Canada is a democracy and free market sought by investors that desire less risk. This is in contrast to members of OPEC, an “oil cartel” that holds 6 of the top 7 oil reserve holders. For the U.S., the real importance of Canada is an expanding capacity to export oil – rising production, amid flat request. All three categories of oil production continue to increase, crude oil, natural gas liquids, and unconventional oil sands.
  • Exxon chief ‘settles in’ for long period of relatively weak oil prices

    UNITED STATES, 2015/03/08 The world should “settle in” for a period of relatively weak oil prices, the chief executive of ExxonMobil has said, with US shale production additional resilient than a lot of people had expected. Rex Tillerson’s comments came as the world’s major listed energy company said it would cut capital spending by 12 % this year, in a sign of how the industry is cutting costs in response to the plunge in crude prices. Mr Tillerson told an annual conference for analysts in New York that oil prices had crashed because request increase in China and elsewhere had slowed, while US supplies were “coming like a freight train”. Those conditions could persist, he said. “My view is people need to kind of settle in for a while,” he said. “There’s a lot of supply out there and I don’t see a particularly healthy world economy.”
  • Exxon, BP defy White House and extend partnership with Russia

    UNITED STATES, 2014/06/02 The U.S. slapped sanctions on Rosneft's CEO Igor Sechin in late April, freezing his assets and preventing him from obtaining visas. However, the sanctions do not extend to Rosneft itself, allowing western companies to continue to do business with the Russian oil giant. ExxonMobil signed an agreement with Rosneft, extending its partnership to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on Russia's pacific coast. Known as the Far East LNG project, the export terminal will receive natural gas from Russia's eastern fields inclunding from Sakhalin-1, an island off Russia's east coast. Rosneft announced the transaction in a press release on its website on May 23. Several of the major oil companies in the world are doubling down in Russia despite moves by the West to isolate Russia and its economy. ExxonMobil and BP separately signed agreements with Rosneft – Russia's national-owned oil company – to extend and deepen their relationships for energy exploration.