Crude Oil Daily

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

US to build oil reserve in northeast region

http://www.tankstoragemag.com/industry_news.php?item_id=7733

The US Department of Energy plans to build an oil storage reserve in the New York Harbour area in preparation for future emergencies.

Part of the government's response to the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the facility will hold 1 million barrels of petroleum and be built at an estimated cost of $215 million (€154.3 million).

Should a similar event occur again, the new reserve will be utilised if regular supplies are disrupted.

According to reports, the reserve will be the first of several that will be constructed around the US to plan ahead for future extreme weather events.

- See more at: http://www.tankstoragemag.com/industry_news.php?item_id=7733#sthash.Umnq3JQs.dpuf

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

U.S. Senate moves to debate energy savings bill, Keystone bid stalls

http://news.yahoo.com/u-senate-moves-debate-energy-savings-bill-keystone-163421672--finance.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate agreed on Tuesday to begin debate on a bipartisan energy efficiency bill, but seems unlikely to pass it unless lawmakers agree on how to proceed with the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline project.

The Senate voted 79 to 20 to advance the legislation, the first big energy bill to reach the Senate floor since 2007.

Offered by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio, the White House-backed bill would save energy through tougher building codes and by making federal government offices install new technologies.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat has offered to hold a vote on a separate bill to provide Congressional approval of Keystone if Republicans allow passage of the energy measure, a version of which has already passed the House of Representatives.

But Republicans want to add several amendments to the energy bill, including one that would take decision on TransCanada's Corp's Keystone pipeline out of President Barack Obama's hands and give it to Congress.

The State Department recently delayed a decision on Keystone, likely until after the November congressional elections.

As of mid-day Tuesday lawmakers had not yet found common ground, and it was unclear if they would. The stalemate could end up killing the energy bill and preventing a vote on Keystone as well.

A Senate Republican aide said it was increasingly looking as if talks to get a vote on Keystone had stalled.

The aide said that Republicans have concluded that the main benefit of a Senate vote on Keystone would be to boost the re-election campaign of Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.

Landrieu has long called on the Obama administration to approve Keystone. Some Republicans fear that such a vote in the Senate could support her central campaign theme of being an effective senator.

The pipeline would bring more than 800,000 barrels per day from Canada's oil sands to refineries in Texas.

Environmentalists oppose Keystone because they say it would lead to more spills and emissions linked to climate change. Backers say it would strengthen North American energy security and create thousands of construction jobs.

Even if Congress passes legislation to approve Keystone, Obama could veto the measure, and likely would have the votes to sustain a veto.

Other amendments that Republicans want to offer include one to block new emission standards for coal-powered plants, to allow export of liquefied natural gas, and prevent imposition of a federal tax on carbon pollution.

Shaheen said her bill would save consumers and businesses $16 billion a year in energy use and create jobs. The bill has wide support from environmental groups and business groups.

"The time is now for the Senate to pass this bill," Shaheen said on the Senate floor. "We can't let extraneous debate on amendments to get in the way of getting this legislation done."

(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Timothy Gardner and Richard Cowan, editing by Ros Krasny)

China refuses Vietnam's call to stop oil drilling

A view of the oil project model on South China Sea of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), during the 6th International Petroleum & Petrochemical Technology and Equipment Exhibition, on April 3, 2006 in Beijing, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

http://news.yahoo.com/china-refuses-vietnams-call-stop-110411956.html

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnam demanded China stop oil drilling operations in a disputed patch of the South China Sea, saying on Monday that Beijing's decision to deploy a deep sea rig over the weekend was illegal.

China dismissed the objections, saying the activity was being carried out in its territorial waters.

Beijing's increasingly assertive territorial claims to the waters, which are thought to have large oil and gas deposits beneath them, have angered Vietnam, the Philippines and other claimants. The region is widely seen as a potential area of conflict.

Last week, President Barack Obama signed a new defense pact with the Philippines aimed at reassuring Asian allies of American backing as they wrangle with Beijing's growing economic and military might.

The China Maritime Safety Administration posted a navigational warning on its website advising that the CNOOC 981 rig would be drilling in the South China Sea from May 4 to Aug. 15, in an area close to the Paracel Islands, which are controlled by China but Vietnam claims as its own.

China's maritime administration also said that ships entering a 3-mile (4.8-kilometers) radius around the area are prohibited.

Vietnam's foreign ministry said the area where the rig was stationed lay within Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf as defined by the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"All foreign activities in Vietnam's seas without Vietnam's permission are illegal and invalid," the ministry said in a statement. "Vietnam resolutely protests them."

Vietnam's state-owned oil company, PetroVietnam, demanded that China National Offshore Oil Corporation "immediately stop all the illegal activities and withdraw the rig from Vietnamese waters."

Asked about Vietnam's objections, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the drilling was taking place in Chinese waters.

Many analysts believe China is embarking on a strategy of gradually pressing its claims in the water by seeing what it can get away with, believing that its much smaller neighbors will be unable or unwilling to stop them. Vietnam has accused Chinese ships of cutting cables to its exploration vessels and harassing fishermen, as has the Philippines.

Chinese assertiveness puts Vietnam's authoritarian government in difficult position domestically because anger at China, an ideological ally, runs deep in the country. This is exploited by dissident movements, who accuse the government of being unwilling to speak out against Beijing.

Tran Cong Truc, the former head of a government committee overseeing the country's border issues, said the latest Chinese move was especially provocative.

"This act by China is much more dangerous than previous actions such as cutting the exploration cable or fishing bans," he said.

___

Associated Press news assistant Zhao Liang in Beijing contributed to this report.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Tullow gains 3% on Ghana oil hopes

http://www.theguardian.com/business/marketforceslive/2014/apr/09/tullow-gains-ghana-jubilee-field-hopes

Tullow Oil shares have picked up recently after earlier weakness on a series of drilling disappointments.

They have added another 28.5p to 848p as the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation said the Jubilee field - where Tullow holds a 35.5% stake - could produce more oil than the budgeted 100,000 barrels per day. The corporation said the average production as of March 25 was 104,000 barrels and this could hit 105,000 to 110,000 in 2014.

Among the other FTSE 100 risers is Kingfisher, 16.4p better at 438.7p. The B&Q owner was boosted by analysts at UBS moving from neutral to buy and raising their price target from 440p to 475p in the wake of the company's plans to buy Frances Mr Bricolage. The analysts said:

With sales of €552m and pretax profit of €17m, pro forma earnings per share enhancement initially looked to be around 2%, assuming the deal passes through anti-trust. However, there could be more upside from converting some of the owned stores (which lost €13m last year) to Brico, whilst at least retaining the profitability of the franchise business at the current level of €37m.

Mr Bricolage will not affect forecasts until completion later this year. For Kingfisher, the year should start strongly given weather patterns, which should also help first half gross margins. While there are structural concerns at B&Q still (online, value retailers, excess space), a cyclical upswing and likely related share gain for the specialists should cover this until there are more B&Q cutdowns and the new management team plans are in place. We currently assume 5% like for like in the UK and 1% in France with gross margins slightly lower.

Among the mid-caps Carillion has climbed 22.3p to 382.7p after a positive note from Cantor Fitzgerald. Analyst Caroline de La Soujeole said:

The company has had a good start to the year with positive contract momentum. We upgrade to buy (from hold) given our belief that pressures on the top-line are receding; the company's substantial order book provides excellent revenue visibility and cash flow performance should also improve in 2014 and beyond. In our view, Carillion is attractively valued compared to a blended construction/facilities management peer group (around 20% discount) and offers one of the highest dividend yields in the sector. [We raise our] target price to 420p from 350p.

With technology stocks recovering some ground after the recent sell-off, Arm has added 36.5p to £10.21 and fellow chip designer Imagination Technologies is up 11.4p to 207.2p.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

US to help Nigeria rescue schoolgirls

US Secretary of State John Kerry has vowed that Washington will do "everything possible" to help Nigeria deal with the armed group Boko Haram, following the kidnapping of scores of schoolgirls.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/05/us-help-nigeria-rescue-schoolgirls-20145317372360636.html

"Let me be clear. The kidnapping of hundreds of children by Boko Haram is an unconscionable crime," Kerry said in a policy speech in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Saturday.

"We will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return these young women to their homes and hold the perpetrators to justice. That is our responsibility and the world's responsibility," Kerry said.

The US, he said, was "working to strengthen Nigeria's institutions and its military to combat Boko Haram's campaign of terror and violence".

The schoolgirls were abducted by gunmen from the Chibok Government Girls' Secondary School school in Nigeria's Borno state on Tuesday last week.

Nigerian police on Friday said Boko Haram was holding 223 girls of the 276 seized from the school, revising upwards the number of youngsters abducted.

The girls' abduction has triggered global outrage and prompted protests in a number of Nigerian cities, as desperate parents call on the government to secure their release.

More than 200 people also held a rally on Saturday in front of Washington's Lincoln Memorial to bring attention to the girls' plight.

'No effort' to rescue girls

Nigerian mothers on Saturday vowed to hold more protests to push for a greater rescue effort from the authorities.

"We need to sustain the message and the pressure on political and military authorities to do everything in their power to ensure these girls are freed," Nigerian protest organiser Hadiza Bala Usman told AFP.

She said that women and mothers would on Tuesday march to the offices of the defence minister and chief of defence staff "to ask them what they are doing to rescue our daughters".

"We believe there is little or no effort for now on the part of the military and government to rescue these abducted girls, who are languishing in some dingy forest," she said.

Nigeria's information minister, Labaran Maku, said on Friday that Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, had chaired a top-level meeting with military and security chiefs about a possible rescue mission.

The mass kidnapping is one of the most shocking attacks in Boko Haram's five-year offensive, which has killed thousands across the north and centre of the country, including 1,500 people this year alone.

Boko Haram, an armed group whose name means "Western education is sinful", is fighting what it calls Western influence and wants to form an Islamic state in Africa's largest oil producer country.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Greenpeace attacks Arctic oil shipment

http://www.tankeroperator.com/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=5502

On Thursday, Greenpeace protestors tried to prevent Sovcomflot’s (SCF) Panamax shuttle tanker ‘Mikhail Ulyanov’ from berthing at Rotterdam with a cargo of Arctic oil.

She had arrived at the Dutch port with 67,000 tonnes of crude oil loaded from an offshore platform in the Pechora Sea - the first cargo loaded from the offshore platform.

In a statement, SCF said that the actions of Greenpeace had compromised a safe operating environment for the ‘Mikhail Ulyanov’, her crew and protesters themselves and exposed the involved parties to the useless and unreasonable risk.

Commenting on the Greenpeace action, Mikhail Suslin – vice president, head of safety department of OAO Sovcomflot - said: “We are extremely disappointed that our vessel has been the subject of an irresponsible publicity stunt by Greenpeace, which occurred despite the measures taken by our ship and the port authorities, including the Coast Guard and the Marine Police.

“‘Mikhail Ulyanov’ is an ultra-modern high ice class shuttle tanker, with a technical specification above most of her peers, including conventional tankers transporting crude from oil fields on the continental shelf of the North Sea. The actions of Greenpeace have caused unnecessary extra stress for the ship’s captain and potentially unsafe operating conditions for the vessel when manoeuvring in the restricted area of the port waters and especially by the Greenpeace actions preventing the safe mooring of the tanker to the oil terminal.

”Over many years Sovcomflot has built a reputation, within the international maritime community, for providing safe and reliable energy transportation for our clients across the globe. We put safety and quality operations at the heart of everything we do,“ he said.

Stanislav Chichin, the vessel’s Master, said: “The actions of Greenpeace cause nothing but profound disappointment. As a Master, I know that the actions of Greenpeace have needlessly distracted our highly professional crew from its normal work in an area of highly intensive shipping traffic.

“The crew of tanker ‘Mikhail Ulyanov’ made its scheduled voyage from the point of loading in the Pechora Sea towards the discharge port of Rotterdam. At the entrance of the port and in the port during the process of mooring operations they were met by Greenpeace vessels. The actions of Greenpeace break the fundamental principles of international conventions for safety at sea, as well as environmental safety.

”My responsibility in manoeuvring in the confined waters of a port is no less dangerous than sailing in the Arctic, especially when another vessel is trying to interfere with a tanker transporting 67,000 tonnes of crude oil in an area of high intensity shipping. During the process of final voyage and during the mooring operations to the terminal of the port, the Greenpeace vessel ‘Rainbow Warrior’ deliberately tried to prevent the safe mooring of the vessel, putting herself between the hull of the tanker and the berth, risking their people and of the port.

”From the seafarers’ point of view the inadequacy of their behaviour in marine waters is unprofessional and can only be explained by the desire to make an impression on the general public without thinking about the consequences,” he said.

Richard Sadler, CEO of Lloyd’s Register Group added: “Sovcomflot’s fleet is routinely surveyed by Lloyd’s Register (LR) and other members of the International Association of Classification Societies. This helps ensure that the fleet carries the necessary high standards of regulatory environmental and safety certification enabling international trading. LR, which certifies the majority of the fleet, additionally certifies Sovcomflot to ISO quality standards including environmental protection and energy management.”

Later on on Thursday, ‘Mikhail Ulyanov’ was safely berthed at the terminal.

Dutch police boarded the ‘Rainbow Warrior’ and arrested more than 30 activists, including the vessel’s Master.

Greenpeace was protesting against the production and shipment of Arctic oil arguing that the Gazprom project to extract oil from the Barents Sea is an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen.

The shipment was the first to be loaded from the Prirazlomnaya platform, owned by Gazprom and the site of a Greenpeace protest last September, which led to the arrest of those involved by the Russian authorities.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Train catches fire in Lynchburg, Va., derailment

In this image made available by the City of Lynchburg, shows several CSX tanker cars carrying crude oil in flames after derailing in downtown Lynchburg, Va., Wednesday, April 30, 2014. (AP Photo/City of Lynchburg, LuAnn Hunt)

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/04/30/train-catches-fire-in-lynchburg-va-derailment/20878311/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl39%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D470873

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) -- Several CSX tanker cars carrying crude oil derailed in downtown and caught fire along the James River in Lynchburg, Va., leading to the evacuation of nearby buildings, but no injuries, city officials said.

The city on its website and Twitter posted that firefighters on the scene made the decision to let the fire burn out and urged motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area. It tweeted that the tanker cars were carrying crude oil and that three or four of them were breached. The city said 13 or 14 tanker cars were involved in the derailment.

Photos and video show several black tanker cars derailed and extensive flames and smoke.

The city said there was no impact on the drinking water for its 77,000 residents due to spillage into the James River. However, officials for the city of Richmond said its public utilities department is drawing from an old canal system instead of the James River as a precaution.

The train with about 15 cars was traveling from Chicago to Virginia when it derailed, CSX said in a statement. It did not say where the train was headed. The railroad operator said it is "responding fully, with emergency response personnel, safety and environmental experts, community support teams and other resources."

The National Transportation Safety said it is sending investigators to the scene.

The city said on in a news release on its website that CSX officials were working to remove the portion of the train that is blocking workers from leaving Griffin Pipe Foundry located in the lower basin.

"We're used to kind of bangs and booms," said Gerald McComas, a security officer at foundry up river from the derailment site. "My first thought was it sounded like one of the guys started a motorcycle and then a realized, wait a minute, no ... that was more of a boom. We walked outside and there was the smoke rolling in."

A portion of the train was blocking the road allowing workers at to leave their parking lot, McComas said. Instead workers were walking along the tracks to get to the other side of the train in order to leave their facility.

"I'm walking home tonight," McComas joked.

A phone message left by The Associated Press with the Lynchburg Police Department wasn't immediately returned.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Adam Thiel was dispatched to the site to provide officials with updates on the situation.

In one of her last acts before leaving office last week, outgoing National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman warned the Obama administration that it needs to take steps immediately to protect the public from potentially catastrophic oil train accidents even if it means using emergency authority.

The safety board has long recommended that the Department of Transportation toughen its design standard for the kind of rail tank cars used to transport crude oil and ethanol.

The cars are too easily punctured or ruptured, even in low-speed accidents. Their flammable contents are then spilled, fouling the environment and often igniting.

"We are very clear that this issue needs to be acted on very quickly," Hersman told reporters at the conclusion of a two-day forum the board held on the safety of rail transport of oil and ethanol. "There is a very high risk here that hasn't been addressed ... We don't need a higher body count before they move forward."

In 2011, the oil, ethanol and railroad industries agreed on voluntary measures that toughened standards for rail cars known as DOT-111s, which are the kind of tank cars used to transport most flammable liquids. However, there have since been several accidents in which cars built to the new standards ruptured. NTSB officials have said the voluntary standards don't go far enough.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said he expects the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which is part of the department, to send a proposal for new tank car standards to the White House for review this week. However, it's likely to be at least months, and possibly years, before new government standards go into effect.

There have been eight significant oil train accidents in the U.S. and Canada in the past year involving traings hauling crude oil, including several that resulted in spectacular fires, according to the safety board.