US refinery utilization and refinery throughput both at 9 month lows

US oil prices finished the past week nearly 4% lower, but part of that ​perceived drop was due to a shift to quoting the lower priced December contract, after trading in the November contract expired the prior Friday ​priced 1% higher than December’s contract...December oil then fell $2.59 or nearly 3% to $85.49 a barrel on Monday following diplomatic efforts over the weekend to prevent the Gaza conflict from spreading, and then fell $1.75 or 2% more to $83.74 on Tuesday under pressure from a rallying U.S. dollar, which spiked on stronger-than-expected US macroeconomic data...but oil prices reversed that decline on Wednesday and ​moved $1.65 higher ​t​o $85.39 a barrel after the EIA reported that US oil supplies had unexpectedly fallen in the prior week, before reversing again and sliding $2.18 or 2.5% to $83.21 a barrel on Thursday after the BEA reported our third quarter GDP grew at the fastest rate in over two years,​ suggesting that the Fed would again raise interest rates….however, oil prices spiked again on Friday following US air strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria said to be used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard and settled $2.33 higher at $85.54 a barrel, in a reaction to an announcement from Israel that its military was expanding a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip…

On the other hand, natural gas prices reversed eight straight daily declines ​over two weeks to rise four straight days this week and settle 9.1% higher at $3.164 per mmBTU, as daily forecasts strengthened the blast of early winter cold that was expected to sweep through the Lower 48 by the weekend, and a​fter EIA ​s​torage data s​h​owed that gradually emerging heating demand and stronger LNG exports were offsetting robust production​​​…The EIA's natural gas storage report for the week ending October 20th indicated that the amount of working natural gas held in underground storage in the US increased by 74 billion cubic feet to 3,700 billion cubic feet by the end of the week, which left our natural gas supplies 313 billion cubic feet, or 9.2% above the 3,387 billion cubic feet that were in storage on October 20th of last year, and 183 billion cubic feet, or 5.2% more than the five-year average of 3,517 billion cubic feet of natural gas that were in working storage as of the 20th of October over the most recent five years…the 74 billion cubic foot injection into US natural gas working storage for the cited week was less than the average 80 billion cubic feet addition to supplies that was expected by industry analysts surveyed by Reuters, but more than the average 66 billion cubic feet addition to natural gas storage that has been typical for the same Autumn week over the past 5 years, and more than the 61 billion cubic feet that were added to natural gas storage during the corresponding week of 2022…

The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA

US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending October 20th indicated that after a decrease in our oil exports and a drop in the amount of oil used by our refineries, we had surplus oil to add to our stored commercial crude supplies for the fourth time in fifteen weeks, and for the 22nd time in the past 44 weeks, albeit ​b​y a much smaller amount than the oil supplies that the EIA could not account for....Our imports of crude oil rose by an average of 71,000 barrels per day to average 6,013,000 barrels per day, after falling by an average of 387,000 barrels per day the prior week, while our exports of crude oil fell by 468,000 barrels per day to average 4,833,000 barrels per day, which combined meant that the net of our trade in oil worked out to a net import average of 1,180,000 barrels of oil per day during the week ending October 20th, 539,000 more barrels per day than the net of our imports minus our exports during the prior week. Over the same period, production of crude from US wells remained at its all time high of 13,200,000 barrels per day, and hence our daily supply of oil from the net of our international trade in oil and from domestic well production appears to have averaged a total of 14,380,000 barrels per day during the October 20th reporting week…

Meanwhile, US oil refineries reported they were processing an average of 15,189,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending October 20th, an average of 206,000 fewer barrels per day than the amount of oil that our refineries were processing during the prior week, while over the same period the EIA’s surveys indicated that an average of 196,000 barrels of oil per day were​ being added to the supplies of oil stored in the US. So, based on that reported & estimated data, the crude oil figures provided by the EIA for the week ending October 20th appear to indicate that our total working supply of oil from storage, from net imports, and from oilfield production was 1,006,000 barrels per day less than what our oil refineries reported they used during the week. To account for that difference between the apparent supply of oil and the apparent disposition of it, the EIA just inserted a [ +1,006,000 ] barrel per day figure onto line 13 of the weekly U.S. Petroleum Balance Sheet in order to make the reported data for the supply of oil and for the consumption of it balance out, a fudge factor that they label in their footnotes as “unaccounted for crude oil”, thus suggesting there was an error in the week’s oil supply & demand figures that we have just transcribed.....however, since most oil traders react to these weekly EIA reports as if they were accurate, and since these weekly figures therefore often drive oil pricing, and hence decisions to drill or complete oil wells, we’ll continue to report this data just as it's published, and just as it's watched & believed to be reasonably reliable by most everyone in the industry...(for more on how this weekly oil data is gathered, and the possible reasons for that “unaccounted for” oil, see this EIA explainer)….(NB: there is also a​n aging twitter thread from an EIA administrator addressing these errors, and what they had hoped to do about it)

This week's 196,000 barrel per day increase in our overall crude oil inventories was all added to our commercially available stocks of crude oil, while the amount of oil in our Strategic Petroleum Reserve remained unchanged. Further details from the weekly Petroleum Status Report (pdf) indicate that the 4 week average of our oil imports fell to 6,124,000 barrels per day last week, which was still 1.7% more than the 6,025,000 barrel per day average that we were importing over the same four-week period last year. This week’s crude oil production was reported to be unchanged at an all time high of 13,200,000 barrels per day because the EIA's rounded estimate of the output from wells in the lower 48 states was unchanged at 12,800,000 barrels per day, while Alaska’s oil production was 13,000 barrels per day higher at 430,000 barrels per day but still added the same 400,000 barrels per day to the EIA's rounded national total as it did last week...US crude oil production had reached a pre-pandemic high of 13,100,000 barrels per day during the week ending March 13th 2020, so this week’s reported oil production figure is now 0.8% above that of our pre-pandemic production peak, and 36.1% above the pandemic low of 9,700,000 barrels per day that US oil production had fallen to during the third week of February of 2021.

US oil refineries were operating at a nine month low of 85.6% of their capacity while processing those 15,189,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending October 20th, down from their 86.1% utilization rate of last week, but still a refinery utilization rate that is not unusual during the Fall, when refineries are undergoing seasonal maintenance during a changeover to produce winter blends of fuel.. The 15,189,000 barrels per day of oil that were refined this week were​ also at a nine month low, 1.6% less than the 15,436,000 barrels of crude that were being processed daily during week ending October 21st of 2022, and 4.3% less than the 15,865,000 barrels that were being refined during the prepandemic week ending October 18th, 2019, when our refinery utilization rate was at 85.2%..

Even with the decrease in the amount of oil being refined this week, the gasoline output from our refineries was still higher, increasing by 63,000 barrels per day to 9,824,000 barrels per day during the week ending October 20th, after our refineries' gasoline output had increased by 77,000 barrels per day during the prior week. This week’s gasoline production was 4.1% more than the 9,437,000 barrels of gasoline that were being produced daily over the same week of last year, but still 2.7% less than the gasoline production of 10,098,000 barrels per day during the prepandemic week ending October 18th, 2019. At the same time, our refineries’ production of distillate fuels (diesel fuel and heat oil) increased by 39,000 barrels per day to 4,733,000 barrels per day, after our distillates output had decreased by 33,000 barrels per day during the prior week. Even with that increase, our distillates output was 4.9% less than the 4,978,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending October 21st of 2022, and 0.7% less than the 4,688,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending October 18th, 2019..

With this week's increase in our gasoline production, our supplies of gasoline in storage at the end of the week rose for the 11th time in thirty-five weeks, increasing by 156,000 barrels to 223,457,000 barrels during the week ending October 20th, after our gasoline inventories had decreased by 2,370,000 barrels during the prior week. Our gasoline supplies rose this week because the amount of gasoline supplied to US users fell by 79,000 barrels per day to 8,864,000 barrels per day, and because our exports of gasoline fell by 248,000 barrels per day to 833,000 barrels per day, while our imports of gasoline fell by 53,000 barrels per day to 653,000 barrels per day.…Even after twenty-four gasoline inventory decreases over the past thirty-five weeks, our gasoline supplies were 7.5% above than last October 21st's gasoline inventories of 207,890,000 barrels, and about 1% above the five year average of our gasoline supplies for this time of the year…

Even with this week's increase in our our distillates production, our supplies of distillate fuels fell for the nineteenth time in thirty-three weeks, decreasing by 1.686,000 barrels to 113,773,000 barrels over the week ending October 20th, after our distillates supplies had decreased by 3,185,000 barrels during the prior week. Our distillates supplies fell by less this week because the amount of distillates supplied to US markets, an indicator of our domestic demand, fell by 347,000 barrels per day to 4,039,000 barrels per day, and even ​a​s our exports of distillates rose by 211,000 barrels per day to 1,021,000 barrels per day, while our imports of distillates rose by 39,000 barrels per day to 116,000 barrels per day....But with 40 inventory increases over the past seventy-five weeks, our distillates supplies at the end of the week were still 5.4% above the 106,357,000 barrels of distillates that we had in storage on October 21st of 2022, but were also about 12% below the five year average of our distillates inventories for this time of the year...

Finally, with our oil exports and refinery demand both lower, our commercial supplies of crude oil in storage rose for the 9th time in twenty-six weeks and for the 25th time in the past year, increasing by 1.372,000 barrels over the week, from 419,748,000 barrels on October 13th to 421,120,000 barrels on October 20th, after our commercial crude supplies had decreased by 4,491,000 barrels over the prior week. ​Even with this week's increase, our commercial crude oil inventories were still about 5% below the most recent five-year average of commercial oil supplies for this time of year, but were still about 26% above the average of our available crude oil stocks as of the ​t​hird weekend of October over the 5 years at the beginning of the past decade, with the big difference between those comparisons arising because it wasn’t until early 2015 that our oil inventories had first topped 400 million barrels. After our commercial crude oil inventories had jumped to record highs during the Covid lockdowns of the Spring of 2020, then jumped again after February 2021's winter storm Uri froze off US Gulf Coast refining, but then fell in the wake of the Ukraine war, only to jump again following the Christmas 2022 refinery freeze offs, our commercial crude supplies as of this October 20th were 4.3% less than the 439,945,000 barrels of oil in commercial storage on October 21st of 2022, were 2.2% less than the 430,812,000 barrels of oil that we still had in storage on October 22nd of 2021, and were 14.5% less than the 492,427,000 barrels of oil we had in commercial storage on October 23rd of 2020, after early pandemic precautions had left a lot of oil unused…

Week's Rig Count

once again, in lieu of details on the rig count, we are again just including below a screenshot of the rig count summary pdf from Baker Hughes...in the table below, the first column shows the active rig count as of October 27th, the second column shows the change in the number of working rigs between last week’s count (October 20th) and this week’s (October 27th) count, the third column shows last week’s October 20th active rig count, the 4th column shows the change between the number of rigs running on Friday and the number running on the Friday before the same weekend of a year ago, and the 5th column shows the number of rigs that were drilling at the end of that reporting week a year ago, which in this week’s case was the 28th of October, 2022...

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Antis Grasp at Data Straws to Block Drilling Under Ohio State Land | Marcellus Drilling News - The Big Green group Save Ohio Parks is trying to block legally permitted and state-encouraged drilling under some of Ohio’s state-owned lands, including shale drilling under (not on) state parks. Save Ohio Parks recently tried to prove shale drilling is a problem in the Buckeye State by using data from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). In a funny turnabout, the group actually proves the opposite — that shale drilling is super safe and not harming the environment in Ohio.

City of Murrysville looking to lease Marcellus, Utica shale under community park -— The Murrysville Community Park sits on 305 acres. There’s a playground, ball fields, soccer fields, and a walking path. But it’s something underneath the ground that the city is looking to lease, and if they do, it could bring in more than $1.5 million dollars. Michael Nestico, Murrysville’s Chief Administrator, said the city is asking for bids from oil and gas companies to see if leasing the rights to the Marcellus and Utica shale under the Murrysville Community Park is something the city should do. “It’s an interesting opportunity and we’re exploring how we might be able to go about leasing out the gas rights,” Nestico said. Right now, the city has one bid from Washington County-based Olymus Energy. They offered to pay $1.5 million dollars upfront, and then 18-percent in royalties in any gas obtained from under the park -- and then sold. Nestico said the money would be put to good use. “[It would] contribute to some of our park programming and improvements, provide some relief in other areas of our annual budget,” Nestico said. There wouldn’t be a well or a drill site on the park grounds. This would be drilled underground from the nearby Olympus Energy Titan well pad. But Nestico said there are some people in Murrysville concerned about environmental impacts. Some point to Allegheny County banning fracking in county parks last year. The city said it’s considering everything. “So, it is a difficult balancing act, because if we don’t take advantage and lease out our subsurface rights, that environmental impact is still going to exist one way or another,” Nestico said. The city is also looking to get bids to lease the rights under Duff Park. That could bring in more than $500,000 dollars plus royalties.

“Forever chemicals” in Pennsylvania fracking wells could impact health of surrounding communities: Report – EHN — “Forever chemicals” have been used in Pennsylvania fracking wells, but it’s impossible to know how widespread contamination could be, according to a new report.The report, published today by Physicians for Social Responsibility, an environmental health advocacy group, found eight documented cases of the group of chemicals known as PFAS(per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) used in unconventional gas wells between 2012 and 2015.During the same time period, more than 5,000 wells in the state were injected with around 160 million pounds of undisclosed, “trade-secret” chemicals, which could include PFAS, according to the report, which includes a map of these sites. “It’s impossible to know how widespread PFAS contamination from oil and gas wells might be at this point,” Dusty Horwitt, co-author of Physicians for Social Responsibility’s reports on PFAS in Pennsylvania, told Environmental Health News (EHN). “We need more transparency before we can begin to address this issue.”Environmental Health News has previously reported on the use of PFAS at Pennsylvania oil and gas wells, mapping the locations of the eight wells where the chemicals have been used, tracking where waste from those wells has traveled, and documenting a case of PFAS contamination in drinking water at a Pennsylvania home that once had fracking wells on the property.In Pennsylvania, fracking companies must publicly disclosewhat chemicals they use, but they’re permitted to withhold “trade secrets.” This exemption is used frequently. “Secret” ingredients were used in more than half of Pennsylvania fracking wells developed between 2013 and 2017, with themost heavy usage of secret chemicals occurring in southwestern Pennsylvania.PFAS are a class of more than 15,000 chemicals with similar properties that are used in a wide variety of household products to make them waterproof, grease-proof or stain resistant. The chemicals don’t break down naturally, so they can build up in the environment and human bodies. Exposure to PFAS is linked to health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, liver and thyroid problems, reproductive problems, lowered vaccine efficacy in children and increased risk of birth defects, among others. The chemicals, which are extremely water-repellent, are sometimes used in fracking fluid to make the chemical mixture more stable and to more efficiently flush oil and gas out of the ground at high pressure. There’s also evidence that companies use the chemicals during initial drilling and other phases of oil and gas extraction, but since they aren’t required to disclose those chemicals, there’s no way of knowing how widespread the practice is. Much of the fracking in Pennsylvania takes place in rural communities, where many households use private wells. There are more than one million private water wells in Pennsylvania serving about 3.5 million people in rural areas. Private drinking water wells are not protected by the federal Safe Water Drinking Act and aren’t regulated in most states, including Pennsylvania, so the water isn’t routinely tested or monitored, and the responsibility for cleaning up dangerous chemicals falls to homeowners. “Considering how toxic and persistent these chemicals are and the evidence that they have been used in oil and gas extraction for decades,” Horwitt said, “it’s critical for state regulators to start looking for these contaminants in people’s drinking water near oil and gas sites.”Several environmental advocacy groups are calling for a statewide ban on PFAS in Pennsylvania oil and gas operations in response to the new report.“PFAS pollution is a serious health concern,” said Alison Steele, executive director of the Environmental Health Project, one of the advocacy groups calling for a ban on PFAS in oil and gas wells, in a statement. “To protect residents from PFAS exposure, the Pennsylvania legislature must pass legislation that restricts the oil and gas industry from using any PFAS pollutants in their operations.”

Pennsylvania’s Gas Industry Used 160 Million Pounds of Secret Chemicals From 2012 to 2022, a New Report Says - Oil and gas producers in Pennsylvania used some 160 million pounds of chemicals that they are not required by law to publicly identify in more than 5,000 gas wells between 2012 and 2022, according to research published on Tuesday. The chemicals may have included per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a toxic and pervasive class of chemicals, according to the report from Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), an activist group that last week co-published a new compilation of studies on the harms of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas.The industry is required to disclose the chemicals to state regulators in the database FracFocus. But operators are allowed by state law to keep from publicly disclosing them if doing so would put their operations at a competitive disadvantage. Although the FracFocus data does not identify which substances were among the 160 million pounds of chemicals, the new report says that at least one kind of PFAS was used by two oil and gas operators in eight Pennsylvania wells during the study period—information that was first reported by PSR in 2021. PFAS were used by one company at four wells in Washington County and one in Beaver County. Another operator used the chemicals in three wells in Lawrence County, according to the report. “Eight wells may just be the tip of the iceberg because we also found that there were 160 million pounds of trade-secret chemicals injected into thousands of unconventional gas wells over the same period,” said Dusty Horwitt, who wrote the report. PFAS—dubbed “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment—and accumulate in the blood of virtually every American—are linked to serious illnesses including some cancers, low birth weights, ulcerative colitis, reduced receptiveness to vaccines and elevated cholesterol. As evidence gathers of the chemicals’ threat to public health, U.S. states including Pennsylvania have been increasingly imposing health limits on their presence in drinking water. “Accumulation of certain PFAS has also been shown through blood tests to occur in humans and animals,” according to the Food & Drug Administration. “While the science surrounding potential health effects of this bioaccumulation of certain PFAS is developing, evidence suggests it may cause serious health conditions.” The man-made chemicals act as stain- and fire-retardants, and have been used since the 1940s in a wide range of consumer products such as nonstick cookware and flame-resistant fabrics. They have also been used by the U.S. military in firefighting foam, resulting in high levels of PFAS water contamination near many military bases. Critics of the oil and gas industry have long claimed that many chemicals used in drilling and fracking have the potential to contaminate the aquifers that supply drinking water to private water wells in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. The industry says its drilling fluids are separated from aquifers by layers of steel and concrete that extend through an aquifer, and that fracking chemicals are released thousands of feet below sources of public drinking water. Horwitt said the oil and gas industry uses PTFE, a type of PFAS, for drilling into rock because of the chemical’s friction-reducing qualities. The industry also uses “surfactants,” chemical compounds that can be used as detergents or foaming agents, and which may contain PFAS chemicals, he said. In August this year, a study by the U.S. Geological Survey and Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection found that streams near small rural towns surrounded by oil and gas development may contain “low levels” of PFAS contamination, especially from PFOA, one of the chemicals that the EPA plans to regulate. That report said fluids and foams used for drilling and fracking of gas wells may contain PFAS, which “greatly increase” the recovery of petroleum hydrocarbons. Any PFAS contamination of nearby creeks and rivers could be traced to combined sewer overflows (CSOs), which take combined stormwater and sewage during heavy rains, the USGS/DEP study said. The report urged Pennsylvania to follow the example of Colorado, which banned the use of PFAS by the oil and gas industry, and requires public disclosure of all chemicals used in fracking, including proprietary chemicals. It also called on Pennsylvania and the federal government to increase water testing so that they know where PFAS chemicals have been used by the oil and gas industry, end the exemption from hazardous waste rules for oil and gas waste and ban production and wastewater wells near sources of drinking water, as well as near homes and schools.

Plum officials are trying to stop a new planned injection well for fracking wastewater -- Attorneys representing Plum Borough and an environmental group opposed to fracking said in arguments on Tuesday before Commonwealth Court in Pittsburgh that a proposed second “injection” well for disposing of toxic fracking wastewater would violate the borough’s zoning code. Penneco Environmental Solutions, an oil and gas company, began operating its first disposal well in Plum in 2021 and has since encountered stiff opposition from borough residents over both the current and proposed wells, called Sedat 3A and Sedat 4A, respectively. The case in Commonwealth Court is being closely watched by the environmental community and the state’s gas industry at a time when Pennsylvania frackers produce billions of gallons of toxic “produced water” each year, extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale, but are running out of places to dispose of it. Until recently, most of the state’s produced water had been trucked to Ohio’s 200-plus injection wells. But well operators in Ohio, under pressure from nearby residents and environmentalists, are starting to balk. Pennsylvania has just 14 injection wells. Sedat 4A in Plum Borough would be the 15th. Once a player, Shell confirms it's not part of any regional hydrogen hub “My mental health and my physical health is impacted by this every day,” said Katie Sheehan, a Plum resident who lives near Penneco’s already-existing injection well. Ms. Sheehan appeared at a press conference, held after the oral arguments inside the City-County Building in Pittsburgh, alongside activists and fellow Plum residents opposing Penneco’s proposed well. They are concerned that another well in Plum would increase truck traffic and air pollution in the neighborhood. Gillian Graber, executive director and founder of Protect PT, the environmental organization that has been named as an intervenor in the case, said that the group is “standing with Plum Borough in opposing the well” because “this is going to have multiple impacts.” Before the Commonwealth Court panel, attorneys for Plum Borough said that Plum’s own zoning board erred in approving a special exception application by Penneco for a second injection well. The Plum attorneys argued that the zoning board failed to ask Penneco to demonstrate the safety of its proposed project, and that the company does not have a constitutional right to expand the number of injection wells at the site. An attorney representing Penneco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Penneco has proposed converting Sedat 4A from a conventional gas well into an “injection well,” which would enable the company to pump millions of gallons of produced water at high pressure down the well’s existing metal tubes that are encased in layers of cement and bore thousands of feet deep into the ground. Produced water is highly toxic and can contain benzene, arsenic and radium 226 and 228, both radioactive isotopes, as well as other toxic chemicals from its time underground. While the gas industry argues that fracking and wastewater disposal are environmentally safe and highly regulated, residents in Pennsylvania and other fracking states across the country have long argued that wastewater from fracking has polluted their aquifers and wells and caused significant health problems.

This rural township is trying to make it easier to fight injection wells - An oil and gas company recently withdrew its application to inject liquids deep underground in rural Clara Township, a win for officials and residents who feared groundwater pollution and health risks. The experience with the state agency responsible for approving or rejecting such applications has left locals pushing for changes to the process. Supervisors Steven Mehl and Robert Wylie represent the roughly 120 residents of Clara Township, located in Potter County. They told Spotlight PA they didn’t learn about the proposed well from the company as required, and had to push the state Department of Environmental Protection to hold a public meeting, as that’s not mandatory. That’s why they took matters into their own hands by petitioning county officials, asking for help from state lawmakers, and repeatedly requesting that the DEP reject the application. “The process is broken,” The oil and gas industry uses injection wells to dispose of fluid created during the production process, storing it deep underground. The waste contains salts, chemicals, and metals, and can be toxic to humans and the environment.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates hundreds of thousands of underground injection wells nationwide. Pennsylvania — which has 19 such wells, per the EPA — has relied on Ohio’s more than 200 injection wells to dispose of waste.The oil and gas industry says there are safeguards in place to protect the environment and prevent water pollution. But residents nationwide, including in Pennsylvania, have pushed back against injection wells coming into their communities, citing health concerns and risks of contaminated water.Hannah Wiseman, a Penn State law professor, told Spotlight PA that while groundwater contamination from injection wells is not unheard of, it is rare due to “relatively strong” protections included in the federal and state permitting processes.Before proceeding with an injection well in Pennsylvania, an operator must get approvals from the EPA and DEP. The process can take years as each office reviews the application and evaluates compliance with federal and state regulations.The EPA in December 2021 granted Roulette Oil & Gas a permit to change the use of an existing well in Clara Township from production to disposal, pending approval from the state DEP. Pennsylvania’s oil and gas law requires that the applicant complete a map with information about the project and send a copy to stakeholders, including the municipality that houses the site. Proof of notification is required as part of the state’s permit approval process.The supervisors knew about Roulette’s application for a permit from the EPA in 2021, and advocates then circulated an online petition urging the federal agency to deny the request. At the time, the DEP had not received an application from the company. A DEP spokesperson told Spotlight PA that the applicant notified the township in March 2022 but did not provide details or say how. The department said staff made several unsuccessful attempts to reach the township after it submitted an objection to the permit application in March 2023. After receiving Mehl’s phone number from a third party, the DEP contacted him directly in April 2023, the spokesperson said. Roulette Oil & Gas withdrew its change-of-use application with the state in September. It’s unclear why.

22 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 16 – 22 -Marcellus Drilling News - New shale permits issued for Oct 16 – 22 in the Marcellus/Utica rebounded. There were 22 new permits issued last week, versus 14 the week before. Last week’s permit tally included 17 new permits in Pennsylvania, 5 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Chesapeake Energy was the top permittee for the week, drawing 7 permits between two counties in PA: Susquehanna and Wyoming (northeastern part of the state). EQT had 5 permits across two PA counties: Greene and Washington (southwestern part of the state). And Ascent Resources had 5 permits in Ohio in two counties: Guernsey and Harrison. ASCENT RESOURCES | CHESAPEAKE ENERGY | EQT CORP | GREENE COUNTY (PA) | GUERNSEY COUNTY | HARRISON COUNTY | RANGE RESOURCES CORP | SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY | SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY | WASHINGTON COUNTY | WYOMING COUNTY (PA)

Range Resources Maintaining Natural Gas, NGL Output to Prepare for Surging LNG Demand - Appalachian-focused Range Resources Corp. plans to maintain natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) production into next year using hedging and efficiencies to capture the forecast surge in demand as Gulf Coast LNG export facilities start up next year. The management team held a conference call to discuss the latest results and the expected growing demand for liquefied natural gas exports. After last year’s soaring commodity prices, a glut of mostly oil-associated gas helped push Henry Hub below $4.00/MMBtu beginning in January Since then, gas prices averaged around $2.50 through mid-October, according to NGI historical price data. The Energy Information Administration also recently reported that U.S. gas-directed rigs had fallen 24% since the start of the year because of lower prices...

Longer Laterals Means Range Resources Drilling Fewer Wells in 2023 --Range Resources Corporation, the very first company to drill a shale well targeting the Marcellus Shale layer in Pennsylvania (in 2004), issued its third quarter update yesterday. In prior guidance from earlier this year, Range said it would drill between 60-65 wells in 2023. However, with this latest update, that number was revised down to 51 new wells in this latest update. The reason for drilling fewer wells, according to the Range officials, is that the company is drilling longer wells, achieving the same amount of lateral feet with fewer holes in the ground. Even though fewer new wells are coming, the ones that are drilled produce more.

How Mountain Valley Pipeline's latest delays will hit partners - Pittsburgh Business Times - Equitrans Midstream Corp.'s acknowledgement last week that the Mountain Valley Pipeline will be further delayed and cost more than previously expected will put pressure on MVP's joint venture partners and customers of the oft-delayed pipeline, according to a new report. Equitrans (NYSE: ETRN) said the 303-mile pipeline that will take Marcellus Shale natural gas through West Virginia and Virginia won't be operational until the first quarter of 2024, delayed from the previous expectation of the end of 2023 after being included in a 2023 law mandating MVP's completion. The pipeline's cost has now ballooned to $7.2 billion from $6.6 billion. That's going to impact Equitrans, which is building the pipeline and will operate and partially own it; EQT Corp, which has a big contract to ship gas on it, as well as MVP joint partners Roanoke Gas, AltaGas and Consolidated Edison of New York. "The new pipeline now won't be available for most of the coming winter, leaving eastern U.S. markets more vulnerable if the season is severe," East Daley Partners wrote in a report published Tuesday. That includes EQT, which has the biggest contract and expects to ship 1.29 billion cubic feet per day on the pipeline on its own and also with a 500 million cubic feet per day lease to a third party. "Delays to MVP have prevented EQT from potentially growing production into the new pipeline capacity in the peak demand season," East Daley said. Nor will it be complete at its start, according to East Daley. And Equitrans will also feel the heat, the analysis said: It can't operate its Hammerhead pipeline, which is in Pennsylvania and feeds MVP local Marcellus and Utica Shale gas, nor is it able to move forward on the MVP Southgate extension in North Carolina. "These projects and other contract provisions are all contingent on MVP entering service and are critical to ETRN's ability to de-lever," East Daley said.

EQT Signs Deals to Sell 1.2 Bcf/d of Natural Gas on MVP - EQT Corp. said Thursday that it has signed two major sales agreements covering all the capacity it has booked on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) system, which it expects to enter service early next year. “These are two of the largest long-term physical supply deals ever executed in the North American natural gas market,” CEO Toby Rice told financial analysts during a call to discuss third quarter results. Management said EQT restructured a previous 525 MMcf/d capacity release into a new 10-year, 800 MMcf/d firm sales contract beginning in 2027 with an unspecified customer. It also signed another 10-year, 400 MMcf/d firm sales contract with an investment-grade utility that begins in 2027.

EQT Sets New World Drilling Record; Deals to Sell 1.2 Bcf/d via MVP -- Marcellus Drilling News - EQT Corporation, currently the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S., provided its third quarter update yesterday. And wow! There is plenty to talk about. The company set another drilling world record of 18,264 feet in 48 hours, beating the existing world record set by EQT in the second quarter (see EQT Sets World Drilling Record; Tug Hill Deal to Close Next 30 Days). CEO Toby Rice announced the company recently signed two long-term deals with natural gas customers who will buy EQT’s molecules from the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) when it gets completed. The two deals collectively add up to 1.2 Bcf/d heading to the southeastern U.S.

Natural gas leak reported in Woodstock near site of earlier explosion – NBC Chicago - Authorities in suburban Woodstock say that a natural gas leak was reported Monday, just two weeks after a massive explosion that leveled a home and damaged at least 20 structures. According to officials, firefighters were called to the 300 block of Lincoln Avenue at approximately 1:21 p.m. Monday after residents noticed the odor of natural gas. Firefighters immediately notified Nicor, and after a search, a small underground leak was found between the sidewalk and the roadway. The leak was repaired by 4:30 p.m., officials said. That leak occurred near St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which was where crews had struck an underground gas line on Oct. 9. After several hours, a massive explosion ripped through a home in the 200 block of Lincoln Avenue, leveling it and damaging a total of 20 structures. A total of 22 individuals were displaced from their homes by that explosion. Officials said that St. Mary’s had canceled all events for Monday, but that the church and school would resume operations Tuesday. In a note to residents, officials said they understood the frayed nerves and uneasy feeling that the latest leak caused, but assured the public that the situation was quickly resolved. “With the events that occurred two weeks ago on Lincoln Avenue, we understand smelling natural gas in your home or business can be concerning,” officials said. No further information was available.

EIA: natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals rise - Natural gas deliveries to US liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals rose in the week ending October 18 compared to the week before, according to the Energy Information Administration. The agency said in its weekly natural gas report that 29 LNG carriers departed the US plants between October 11 and October 18, EAI previously said that 20 LNG carriers departed US terminal in the week ending October 11. However, the agency said that this week’s LNG vessel count includes five vessels that departed US LNG terminals on Wednesday, October 11, but were not included in the vessel count for the previous report week (October 5 through October 11). The total capacity of these 29 LNG vessels is 108 Bcf, the EIA said, citing shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance. Average natural gas deliveries to US LNG export terminals increased by 12.2 percent (1.5 Bcf/d) week over week, averaging 14.3 Bcf/d, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights. Natural gas deliveries to terminals in South Louisiana increased by 4.1 percent (0.4 Bcf/d) to 9 Bcf/d, while deliveries to terminals in South Texas increased by 11.4 percent (0.4 Bcf/d) to 4.2 Bcf/d. The agency said that natural gas deliveries to terminals outside the Gulf Coast rose 0.8 Bcf/d to 1.1 Bcf/d as the Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland returned to service after concluding its annual maintenance. Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant shipped ten cargoes and the company’s Corpus Christi facility sent five shipments during the period under review. The Freeport LNG terminal and Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal each sent five LNG cargoes and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass shipped four cargoes. Also, Elba Island LNG and Cove Point LNG did not ship cargoes during the period under review. This report week, the Henry Hub spot price decreased 28 cents from $3.18 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.90/MMBtu this Wednesday, the agency said. The Henry Hub price remained among the highest of all major US hubs outside of California, it said. Moreover, the price of the November 2023 NYMEX contract decreased 32.1 cents, from $3.377/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.056/MMBtu this Wednesday. According to the agency, the price of the 12-month strip averaging November 2023 through October 2024 futures contracts declined 15.4 cents to $3.375/MMBtu. The agency said that international natural gas futures increased this report week. Bloomberg Finance reported that weekly average front-month futures prices for LNG cargoes in East Asia increased $2.32 to a weekly average of $16.50/MMBtu. Natural gas futures for delivery at the Dutch TTF increased $2.49 to a weekly average of $15.78/MMBtu. In the same week last year (week ending October 19, 2022), the prices were $32.11/MMBtu in East Asia and $37.30/MMBtu at TTF, the EIA said.

Venture Global gets OK for Plaquemines LNG workforce boost - Venture Global LNG has received approval from the US FERC to increase the peak workforce at the site of its Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana.The FERC authorized Venture Global to expand the construction workforce and extend construction activities at the Plaquemines LNG site during a meeting held on October 19.In a filling with the FERC in December last year, Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG requested authorization to increase the peak workforce to up to 6,000 per day.Plaquemines LNG also asked FERC to increase traffic volumes to accommodate the additional workforce, and implement a 24-hours-per-day, 7-days per-week construction schedule for the project.In addition, Plaquemines LNG sought approval for an additional parking/laydown area referred to as the State Highway 23 (SH23) Yard.Plaquemines LNG asked the regulator for expedited review of its request in a filling in June this year.The firm said at the time it hopes to start exports of LNG as soon as late 2024 and to complete the construction of both phases of the project by the end of 2026.In May last year, Venture Global took a final investment decision on the first phase of the project and the related pipeline.Plaquemines LNG phase one customers include PKN Orlen, Sinopec, CNOOC, Shell, and EDF. The first phase has a capacity of 13.33 mtpa.Earlier this year, the firm sanctioned the second phase of the Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana. As per Plaquemines LNG phase two customers, they include ExxonMobil, Chevron, EnBW, New Fortress Energy, China Gas, Petronas, and Excelerate Energy.

Venture Global LNG completes $4 billion senior notes offering - US LNG exporter Venture Global LNG said it had closed its $4 billion offering of senior secured notes.The offering included a series of 9.5 percent senior secured notes due February 1, 2029 in an amount of $2.5 billion and a series of 9.875 percent senior secured notes due February 1, 2032 in an amount of $1.5 billion, according to Venture Global.Venture Global said the notes were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, or the securities laws of any state or other jurisdictions, and the notes may not be offered or sold in the US.In May, Venture Global closed its $4.5 billion inaugural offering of senior secured notes.Venture Global’s $4.5 billion senior secured notes offering in May and the latest offering of the notes, “represent the first and second largest high yield bond offerings in 2023, respectively,” the firm said.The LNG exporter recently won approval to increase the peak workforce at the site of its Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana.Earlier this year, the firm sanctioned the second phase of the Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana.The full project, including the second stage, will have a capacity of 20 mtpa coming from 36 modular units, configured in 18 blocks.Together, phase one and phase two represent about $21 billion of investment.Once online, this will be Venture Global’s second LNG plant after the Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana.Calcasieu Pass produced its first LNG on January 19, 2022, moving from FID to LNG production in 29 months, and the first commissioning cargo left the facility on March 1.However, Venture Global has still not declared commercial operations at the facility and it recently filed with the US FERC seeking approval to put in service liquefaction blocks 7-9.

EIA Says Low Price for NatGas Led to Crash in Rig Count 2023 | Marcellus Drilling News - -- The Baker Hughes rig count has crashed this year compared to last year’s numbers. A few months ago, we began to chronicle the weekly rig count to keep track of this alarming situation (which we post about every Monday). U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts have taken notice of the crashing rig count and asked themselves: Why? It may seem obvious, but EIA points out in a new post on its Today in Energy website that the crash in the natural gas rig count directly correlates to the crash in the price of natural gas.

US natgas prices jump 7% on smaller-than-expected storage build, cold weather (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 7% to the highest in a week ahead of options expiration on a smaller-than-expected storage build and forecasts for colder than expected weather and higher heating demand over the next two weeks. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said utilities added 74 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage during the week ended Oct. 20. That was smaller than the 80-bcf build analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with an increase of 61 bcf in the same week last year and a five-year (2018-2022) average increase of 66 bcf. Traders noted the storage increase was still bigger than normal for this time of year because mild weather last week kept heating demand low. Analysts at energy advisory Ritterbusch and Associates said the price spike was due to "A combination of continued cold near-term temperature forecasts that are now stretching through the first week of November in some cases and a smaller than expected storage injection." On its second-to-last day as the front-month, gas futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose 20.4 cents, or 6.8%, to settle at $3.214 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since Oct. 13. The December future, which will soon be the front-month, was up about 14 cents to around $3.52 per mmBtu. That put the front-month up for a fourth day in a row and kept it over the psychological round number of $3 per mmBtu, where lots of put and call options were still open, ahead of the November options expiration on Thursday and the November front-month expiration on Friday. LSEG said average gas output in the Lower 48 U.S. states rose to an average of 103.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in October, up from 102.6 bcfd in September and a record high of 103.1 bcfd in July. Even though temperatures in the Lower 48 will average near normal through Nov. 10, meteorologists noted the weather was turning seasonally cooler and will be much colder than normal from Oct. 29 to Nov 2. But that extreme cold will only hit parts of the country, with Denver expected to see snow and highs of just 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degree Celsius) on Sunday, while temperatures in New York will reach 80 F (27 C) on Saturday. LSEG forecast U.S. gas demand, including exports, would jump from 97.8 bcfd this week to 107.3 bcfd next week. The forecast for this week was higher than LSEG's outlook on Wednesday. Pipeline exports to Mexico slid to an average of 6.9 bcfd so far in October, down from a monthly record high of 7.2 bcfd in September. Gas flows to the seven big U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants rose to 13.6 bcfd so far in October, up from 12.6 bcfd in September. That compares with a record high of 14.0 bcfd in April.

Court indefinitely blocks Gulf oil leasing deadline set for Nov. 8 - A federal appeals court on Thursday indefinitely stayed an earlier order requiring the Biden administration to hold a November oil lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, though it’s unclear whether the administration will immediately proceed with the sale. The Interior Department is required to hold the lease sale under the text of the Inflation Reduction Act, the sweeping climate and infrastructure bill President Biden signed into law last year. This August, the administration announced it would shrink the leasing area by about 6 million acres, citing dangers to the habitat of the critically endangered Rice’s whale. The following month, however, a federal judge blocked the restriction and ordered the sale to include those 6 million acres. Judge James Cain, a Trump appointee, sided with plaintiffs including the state of Louisiana and energy companies, writing they “have demonstrated substantial potential costs.” The sale, which was initially given a deadline of Sept. 27, which was later pushed back to Nov. 8. On Thursday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the earlier order until it reaches a decision on an appeal of the order by conservation groups. Oral arguments in the appeal in the 5 Circuit Court are set for Nov. 13. “We look forward to the opportunity to present our arguments to the Court of Appeals,” said Steve Mashuda, an attorney with the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, which is involved in the appeal. “We’ll continue to press for restoring basic measures to prevent harm to the critically endangered Rice’s Whale.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates there are less than 100 Rice’s whales alive, making it among the most endangered whale species worldwide. A spokesperson for the Interior Department declined to comment on whether the lease sale will still take place as scheduled Nov. 8.

Louisiana adopts stronger rule to tackle orphaned oil well problem - The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources finalized a new rule Friday to help reduce the number of orphaned oil and gas wells throughout the state. At one point last year, Louisiana had more than 4,600 wells considered orphaned, meaning they were abandoned with no financially viable owner to take responsibility. These wells can pose a significant risk to the environment through leaks or damage and can be costly for taxpayers to repair. There are also approximately 17,000 non-productive oil and gas wells in Louisiana registered as having future utility, meaning the operator claims they could be used in the future. As a result, the state doesn’t require the operator to plug the well. Unplugged wells can leak methane into the air, contaminate water, reduce property values and prevent other economic uses of the land. The longer a well sits idle and unplugged, the more likely it is to become orphaned. The new Natural Resources regulation puts limits on extensions of the future utility status oil and gas drillers can receive and increases fees on wells that have been inactive and unplugged for five years or more. It also reduces fees for operators who plug 10 or more wells in a year.

Texas Shatters Monthly Natural Gas, Oil Production Records as Jobs, Permitting Tick Upward - Texas production of natural gas and oil reached all-time highs for the second month in a row in September, according to the latest monthly analysis by Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA). Marketed natural gas production totaled 34.6 Bcf for the month, while oil production was 5.9 million bbl, according to the report prepared by TXOGA Chief Economist Dean Foreman. “This data confirms the Texas oil and natural gas industry is a powerhouse of production, pipelines, processing and ports, all while continuing to make solid gains in environmental progress,” said TXOGA President Todd Staples. “Investment in infrastructure by our industry is what enables this high level of performance, which further solidifies the Lone Star State’s position as the world’s energy leader...

Baker Hughes Clinching More LNG Contracts, with Pipeline of FIDs in Queue - The global LNG market remained tight during the third quarter, evidenced by price spikes, labor strikes in Australia and geopolitical turmoil, but demand still rose about 1.5% year/year and is looking stronger, Baker Hughes Co. CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said Thursday. During a wide ranging conference call to discuss quarterly results, Simonelli provided insight into how the oilfield services giant is gaining ground and customers with its technology prowess in both traditional and lower carbon energies. The big footprint in natural gas, and in particular, equipment for the liquefied natural gas market, is key to the executive team’s positive view in the short term.

Halliburton grows electric fracking fleets in Q3 - Houston Business Journal -Halliburton is gradually retiring its diesel-powered hydraulic fracturing fleets in favor of natural gas-powered electric fleets. The Houston-based oil field services company signed on more e-fleet contracts in the third quarter 2023, even seeing a repeat customer, after signing more multi-year contracts for its Zeus fleet than in any prior quarter during Q2. “[I’m] very pleased with the trajectory that we see around e-fleets and they're performing very, very well. So that continues to sort of build up the confidence of the market and that technology,” CEO Jeff Miller said during the company’s Q3 earnings call. Miller added that the technology has a lower total cost of ownership than existing equipment, making it more successful than diesel fleets, which are also higher-emitters. Miller confirmed that while it is not a one-to-one ratio of adding e-fleets and retiring diesel fleets, the company has had the opportunity to retire diesel fleets this year as well. Even as some expect demand for oil to decrease soon — a new report from the International Energy Agency says global demand for oil, natural gas, and coal could all peak by 2030 — Miller is confident there will still be some need for the fleets. “There is no scenario where a large operator will not be fracking. Then it becomes, 'Why wouldn't you want that one fleet at least to be your lowest cost operating fleet because it's burning natural gas, it's emitting less, and it's working at the highest performance?'" Miller said. "At that point, this becomes a much easier discussion because it is the lowest cost operating fleet. It is extremely high efficiency and it lowers their overall cost." Miller, who sees growth for decades based on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ estimate that oil demand will increase by 10 million barrels before the end of the decade and continue growing through 2045, said he sees demand growth for oilfield services to focus in offshore markets. Halliburton posted net income attributable to the company of $716 million for Q3, slightly beating analysts projections and increasing from 31.6% from the third quarter last year. Revenue also increased by 8% year-over-year to $5.8 billion. Revenue growth was led by a 17.4% growth in international revenue growth on the year, led by increased activity in Latin America. North America revenue remained flat on the year and decreased 3% from the previous quarter, driven by decreased pressure pumping services in U.S. land and lower well intervention services in the Gulf of Mexico.

Minnesota regulators OK rare fund to decommission new Enbridge pipeline - Enbridge's new oil pipeline across northern Minnesota has only been operating for two years, but state regulators approved a plan Thursday aimed at making the company pay for eventually decommissioning the project. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) greenlit a compromise between the Calgary-based Enbridge and the state's Department of Commerce, which had disagreed about how long the pipeline — called Line 93 after replacing the former Line 3 — might operate while the energy sector transitions away from fossil fuels. But the trust fund, unusual in the U.S. but common in Enbridge's Canada, still drew criticism from at least one environmental nonprofit. Despite that, Katie Sieben, a Democrat who chairs the five-member PUC, said it was a "good outcome" that pushed Enbridge "to commit a significant amount of resources to ensuring that the existing Line 93 now is pulled out of the ground at the end of its useful life." Under the deal, Enbridge will pay more than $61 million a year into the trust fund until Oct. 1, 2041. That's 20 years after the pipeline started operating. The company estimated decommissioning the new pipeline will cost $1.25 billion. The PUC required this fund when granting a Certificate of Need for the controversial 337-mile project in Minnesota, but it took until now to finalize all the details. Before the deal between Enbridge and Commerce, Enbridge and oil shippers split from Commerce on how quickly Enbridge would need to fill the trust fund. The companies, including Cenovus Energy and ExxonMobil, said contributing over 30 years would better align with what they expect will be the economic life of the pipeline. Shippers like ExxonMobil "bear the majority of the costs of the operation of a pipeline" through tariffs and tolls, including "end-of-life costs" like decommissioning, read a July 28 letter to the PUC from Praveen Duggal, Exxon's manager for logistics, optimization and business development. "An abbreviated collection period would front-load the costs and adversely impact rates for shippers during that period," wrote attorney Brian B. Bell of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, representing Cenovus Energy. "The increased shipper costs will, in turn, unduly increase costs for consumers."

“Super-emitting” oil wells near Denver are releasing 142% more pollution per hour than state average, CSU study finds - The Colorado Sun -- The plugs in old oil and gas wells across Colorado are doing their job, preventing methane from escaping into the atmosphere — except in Adams County, which is home to several super-emitting wells, according to a Colorado State University study. Adams County had three wells with massive emissions, the largest emitting 75 kilograms or 165 pounds of methane per hour, 142% more than the average for unplugged wells in the state. “The CSU study is alarming,” Adams County Commissioner Eva Henry said in an email. “It is very apparent the health and safety of our community and the children in Adams County is in danger.” The average methane emissions for the county were 1,240 grams per hour compared with an average for the rest of the counties surveyed of 32.5 grams per hour. By way of comparison one dairy cow, which belches methane, emits about 40 grams an hour. Between August 2022 and April 2023 CSU researchers measured methane emissions from 108 plugged wells and 226 unplugged, abandoned wells in 17 counties and 63 oil and gas fields in Colorado. There were zero emissions from the 108 plugged wells. “We didn’t see one plugged well that was emitting,” Stuart Riddick, a researcher at CSU’s Energy Institute, told the state Energy and Carbon Management Commission at an Oct. 16 meeting to review the results. The ECMC regulates oil and gas activities. The CSU team went back after a few months and measured 36 of the wells again and the results were the same. The plugs were effective in both wells recently closed and those extending as far back as the 1960s. “Plugging in Colorado is effective,” Riddick said. The biggest emissions appeared to come from wells where production had stopped and the valves were closed, so-called shut-in wells. “Shut-in wells are a potentially big risk, for they aren’t plugged and they aren’t serviced,” Riddick said. “If you leave anything outside for two years in Colorado it is going to corrode.” “The biggest emitting wells were the newer recently abandoned wells,” Riddick said. “In some cases, these wells were not abandoned because they were played out, but because the owner ran into operating problems or went bankrupt.” The orphan wells that were recently in production averaged 3,640 grams of methane per hour compared with 3.6 grams per hour for the remainder of the non-producing, orphan wells. “This is a new type of orphan well,” Riddick said.

Oil companies capture a lot of their CO2. They use it to drill more oil. -Every year, companies around the United States capture around 18 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from natural gas processing plants, oil refineries and power plants. As long as that CO2 — equivalent to around 4 million cars on the road for a year — is buried somewhere deep underground, it can’t contribute to global warming.That’s the theory, anyway. But today, the lion’s share of the CO2 captured from industrial processes doesn’t go back into the ground. Instead, 60 percent of it is used to extract more oil, in a controversial process known as “enhanced oil recovery.” “I think it’s a huge problem,” said Lorne Stockman, research co-director of the advocacy group Oil Change International. “The oil and gas industry has done a very good job of co-opting our climate and clean energy policy.”For over a decade, the U.S. government has been quietly funding the capture of CO2 that is ultimately used to drill more oil. Some experts and researchers argue that the climate impact is net positive: The oil will be drilled anyway, and the process can help companies learn how to capture CO2 more efficiently. But others say that the government shouldn’t be helping companies sustain more fossil fuel extraction.The debate gets at one of the key questions for a country trying to shift away from fossil fuels — when is it still acceptable to financially support the production of oil and gas?Climate and energy experts have said for years that the world will need some amount of carbon capture to zero out carbon emissions. The International Energy Agency estimates that the world will need to be able to capture 1.2 billion tons of CO2 per year by 2050; today, the world’s total carbon capture amounts to just 4 percent of that goal. But for a long time, there wasn’t a way for companies to make much money off burying carbon dioxide underground. The United States did offer a tax credit for CO2 stored permanently, but it was only around $20 per metric ton. Experts say it didn’t give companies enough of an incentive to take on the costs of burying CO2 deep underground in places like saline aquifers — areas of porous rock filled with salty water.So, many oil and gas companies used the CO2 that they captured for a process that already existed: enhanced oil recovery. Oil is removed from a well in three stages: First, natural pressure can push oil toward the surface. Then, drillers inject a fluid, usually water, to produce more. In the final stage, CO2 can be injected into the well, where it mixes with the oil, expands and propels the oil toward the surface. This final stage, enhanced oil recovery, accounts for around 4 percent of U.S. oil production. It’s popular in the Permian Basin — a major oil field that covers West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. Most of the CO2 that companies now use for enhanced oil recovery comes from geologic sources, where they dig it up before injecting it into their wells. Some experts point to this to argue that enhanced oil recovery would happen anyway, regardless of whether captured CO2 is available. Benjamin Longstreth, the global director of carbon capture for the Clean Air Task Force, says that as long as captured CO2 isn’t creating more oil production, then using captured CO2 doesn’t change much for the climate. “In both cases, the same quantity of [enhanced oil recovery] is happening,” he said. “And the same quantity of CO2 is going into the Earth.”groups argue that the government shouldn’t befunding this type of oil recovery. As part of President Biden’s signature climate bill, Congress updated a tax credit known as 45Q, which pays companies to capture CO2. The tax credit now offers companies up to$60 per ton of CO2 captured and used for enhanced oil recovery. (Companies get more, up to $85 per ton, if they inject the CO2 underground in something like a saline aquifer.)“Congress should not have created — and later increased the value of — a new oil and gas industry subsidy under the guise of climate emissions mitigation,” said Josh Axelrod, senior advocate for the nature program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Fossil fuel firms spent millions on US lawmakers who sponsored anti-protest bills | US news -Fossil fuel companies have spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign donations to state lawmakers who sponsored anti-protest laws – which now shield about 60% of US gas and oil operations from protest and civil disobedience, according to a new report from Greenpeace USA.Eighteen states including Montana, Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, West Virginiaand the Dakotas have enacted sweeping anti-protest laws which boost penalties for trespass near so-called critical infrastructure, that make it far riskier for communities to oppose pipelines and other fossil fuel projects that threaten their land, water and the global climate.Another four states have enacted narrower versions of the same law, but which could still be exploited to issue trumped-up charges against peaceful protesters. Many were based on a “model bill” promoted by the industry-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec).According to the report, nine of the top 10 companies that lobbied most for anti-protest bills since 2017 are fossil fuel companies, including US companies ExxonMobil, Koch Industries and Marathon Petroleum, as well as Canadian companies Enbridge and TC Energy (Trans Canada).In addition, 25 fossil fuel and energy companies have contributed more than $5m to state anti-protest bill sponsors in this timeframe, data from political finance trackers Open Secrets and Follow the Money shows.According to Dollars v Democracy 2023: Inside the Fossil Fuel Industry’s Playbook to Suppress Protest and Dissent in the United States , a playbook of tactics has been deployed by corporations, law enforcement agencies and fossil fuel-friendly lawmakers in the US since the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests at Standing Rock in 2016. This includes mass arrests, spurious litigation, intelligence sharing, harsh policing tactics such as water cannons and sophisticated public relations efforts to depict activists as troublemakers and extremists, the report says.It’s part of a global strategy reported by the Guardian to silence, discredit and criminalize environmental activists and Indigenous rights defenders opposed to polluting energy, mining and other extractive projects that are incompatible with meaningful climate action.“We are seeing an escalation of tactics to criminalize, bully, and sue those working for climate action, Indigenous rights and environmental justice… [as] oil and gas companies find new ways to delay the transition to clean energy and protect their own profits,” said Ebony Twilley Martin, the executive director of Greenpeace USA. “Frontline activists should not face extreme, life-altering legal risks for putting their bodies on the line to keep our planet habitable.’ Since 2017, more than 250 anti-protest bills have been introduced in 45 states including legislation to eliminate driver liability for hitting protesters and create felony offenses for demonstrations construed as riots, according to theInternational Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL).The bills appear to have proliferated as a response to prominent student, environmental and racial justice movements such as Standing Rock and Black Lives Matter, and experts say they restrict the first amendment protected right to free speech, assembly and protest.

60% of US Oil and Gas Infrastructure Now Protected by Anti-Protest Laws: Greenpeace -In the seven years since the massive protests against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock, the fossil fuel industry and their allies in politics and law enforcement have been hard at work to prevent a repeat: Around 60% of oil and gas infrastructure in the U.S. is now shielded by anti-protest laws that make direct action much riskier for activists and frontline communities who want to protect their local and global home from dangerous pollution, a new Greenpeace report has found.The report, Dollars vs. Democracy 2023: Inside the Fossil Fuel Industry's Playbook to Suppress Protest and Dissent in the United States, reveals that fossil fuel companies made up nine of the 10 most determined lobbyists for anti-protest measures since 2017 and that 25 oil, gas, coal, and energy companies contributed more than $5 million to legislators who sponsored these laws."Our current climate emergency is a direct result of the oil and gas industry’s operations," Greenpeace USA executive director Ebony Twilley Martin said in a statement. "Frontline activists should not face extreme, life-altering legal risks for putting their bodies on the line to keep our planet habitable. Oil and gas companies are finding new and dangerous ways to delay the transition to clean energy and protect their own profits."The oil and gas industry has played an outsize role in the spread of so-called "critical infrastructure" laws. These laws impose extra penalties for campaigners who trespass on the property of pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, despite the fact that states already have anti-trespass laws on the books. In 2017, Marathon Petroleum and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers pushed the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to adopt an anti-fossil fuel protest measure as one of its "model bills." ALEC is a shadowy network of corporations and lawmakers that prepares bill templates aligned with business interests that can be easily spread from state to state.Since 2017, 18 states have passed critical infrastructure laws that now protect around 60% of oil and gas infrastructure, and four other states have passed slightly watered-down versions of these laws. In 2023 alone, lawmakers have introduced 23 anti-protest bills in 15 states, and four states have passed anti-fossil fuel protest laws. North Carolina passed the most draconian of the year. It classifies trespassing on an energy facility as a felony punishable with up to two years in prison and attempting to “obstruct, impede, or impair the services of transmissions of an energy facility" as felonies that carry up to 19 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Oregon, Utah, and Georgia also passed more limited anti-protest laws.The oil, gas, and coal industry has financed the spread of these laws: Nine of the top 10 lobbyists for these bills from 2017 to 2023 were Marathon, ExxonMobil, Enbridge, TC Energy, Koch Industries, Chevron, Energy Transfer, Williams Companies, and Valero. In addition, 25 fossil fuel companies gave $5 billion to lawmakers pushing these laws, with the top five donors being Duke Energy, Dominion Energy, Marathon Petroleum, BNSF Railway Co., and Koch Industries.

AIDEA Sues DOI over Canceled Alaska Leases - The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) for the alleged illegal canceling of leases in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) 1002 area. The lawsuit was filed in the Washington DC District Court. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland had authorized the cancellation of the remaining seven oil and gas leases issued by the previous administration in the Coastal Plain. The leases were suspended in June 2021 following the issuance of Secretary’s Order 3401, which identified “multiple legal deficiencies in the underlying record supporting the leases”. The AIDEA said in a statement that the DOI’s cancellation of lease agreements is unlawful since the department “failed to adhere to its own rules governing lease termination, rendering its cancellation of the 1002 area leases invalid”. The AIDEA further stated that the DOI’s unilateral decision “violates constitutional and statutory due process rights” and “was inadequately reasoned and unsupported by facts, making the lease cancellation decision arbitrary and capricious”. The AIDEA reiterated that the 1002 area leases were lawful, adding that the DOI’s reversal from its original position “directly contravenes and frustrates Congress’s directive in the Tax Act to hold an initial sale and issue leases for oil and gas production and development by 2021”. “The federal government is determined to strip away Alaska’s ability to support itself, and we have got to stop it”, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said in the statement. “Alaska does responsible oil and gas development in the Arctic under stricter environmental standards than anywhere else in the world. Yet the federal government is focused on trying to stop our ability to produce oil and gas. Each action they take demonstrates a failure to comprehend the worldwide demand for oil and gas. If Alaska continues to be denied its constitutional right to safely develop resources, countries with much lower environmental standards will gladly fill that void with significant environmental impacts. The State of Alaska will continue being bold in defending our rights. We will not allow illegal actions to occur against Alaska and I fully support this lawsuit”. “This lawsuit wouldn’t be necessary had the Biden administration followed the law that I drafted, consulted with the Alaska Natives who actually live on the North Slope, or simply acted in America’s best interest”, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said. “Instead, we’re watching an administration soften sections with an authoritarian regime in Venezuela, while effectively sanctioning Alaska’s economy. At this precarious time in the world, all this does is increase our reliance on foreign oil, harm our energy and national security, and drive up fuel costs at the pump”. “By outsourcing energy development, President Biden is empowering and funding America’s adversaries, harming the global environment with lower standards and higher emissions, taking good-paying jobs away from hard-working Americans, and disregarding the voices of the indigenous people of the Arctic region who strongly support responsible resource development”, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan said. “I strongly support AIDEA’s lawsuit against this lawless administration, a critically important effort to defend the rule of law and protect the interests of Alaskans and all Americans”.

It's Very Difficult for USA to Reload Strategic Petroleum Reserve - The U.S. would probably happily re-load its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), but it is very difficult to do so while the global oil market is running a deficit. That’s what Bjarne Schieldrop, Chief Commodities Analyst at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), said in a report sent to Rigzone on Monday, adding that the country has drawn down its SPR over the latest years to “only 50 percent of capacity”. “It will have to wait to the next oil market downturn,” Schieldrop said in the report. “But that also implies that the next downturn will likely be fairly short lived and also fairly shallow. Unless of course the U.S. chooses to forgo the opportunity,” he added. In the report, Schieldrop noted that crude oil prices would probably have to rally to $150-200 per barrel before the U.S. would consider pushing another 100-200 million barrels from the SPR into the commercial market. “As such the firepower of its SPR as a geopolitical oil pricing tool is now somewhat muted,” he said in the report. The Chief Commodities Analyst highlighted in the report that most of the recent U.S. SPR draw down was “in response to the crisis in Ukraine as it was invaded by Russia with loss of oil supply from Russia thereafter”. The U.S. has no problems with security of supply of crude oil, Schieldrop stated in the report. “U.S. refineries have preferences for different kinds of crude slates and as a result it still imports significant volumes of crude of different qualities,” he said in the report. “But overall, it is a net exporter of hydrocarbon liquids. It doesn’t need all that big strategic reserve as a security of supply anymore … Essentially the U.S. doesn’t need such a sizable SPR anymore to secure coverage of its daily consumption,” he added.

NEBC’s Montney Pipeline Connector Gains Approval, with Limits on Indigenous Control - A two-year regulatory ordeal has ended in success for a US$262 million natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline system that would carry Montney Shale production in northeastern British Columbia (BC) to an Alberta hub. Montney Shale The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) recommended final approval of the 125-mile NEBC Connector, sponsored by NorthRiver Midstream. The dual-pipe connection with 91,000 b/d capacity would begin in the Fort St. John region. CER’s analysis generated a 387-page report on a routine construction application that escalated into a marathon test case on northern native rights to influence, manage or stop industrial development. The case drew interest from 21 Indigenous tribes, which sought to enforce a BC court verdict requiring the BC Energy Regulator to give a project...

Exxon, Chevron make big oil acquisitions in the face of uncertain future for fossil fuels - Oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron have recently announced major acquisitions of oil companies, expanding their oil and gas assets. Some analysts see these acquisitions as big bets on a fossil-fueled future, while others argue the moves could be viewed as consolidation in an industry that may be on the decline. Those conflicting reads come amid similarly dueling projections on the future of fossil fuels more broadly: An international energy organization predicted this week that fossil fuels could peak this decade, while a U.S. forecaster recently said global energy emissions will increase through the middle of this century. Regardless of broader questions, the energy companies touted the deals as good for business. Exxon this month announced it was purchasing oil and gas producer Pioneer Natural Resources and paying nearly $60 million for it. The move expands Exxon’s footprint in the Permian Basin, an oil and gas-producing area in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The company said its production in the basin would more than double to the equivalent of 1.3 million barrels of oil per day. A press release from the company said the move would be “expected to generate double-digit returns by recovering more” energy. This week, Chevron said it would acquire Hess, an oil and gas producer that’s also known for its toy trucks, for $53 million. A press release from Chevron touted Hess’s positions in Guyana and in the Bakken — an oil-producing region in North Dakota and Montana. Fernando Valle, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said the two acquisitions represent Exxon and Chevron doubling down on their oil business. He said the acquisitions show that “clearly, Exxon and Chevron don’t see the peak oil” coming as soon as projected by a report saying it could come this decade. “I think they’re grabbing market share because others are pulling back, but I think within five years we’ll see that we need more development, more exploration, more supply,” Valle added.

Chart of the Week: The US is officially the world’s biggest LNG exporter - The United States has reached an energy milestone that’s squarely at odds with its ambition to be a climate leader: In the first six months of 2023, it exported more liquefied natural gas or LNG than any other country in the world, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. LNG — fossil gas that’s been cooled into a liquid state that’s easier to store and ship — causes planet-warming emissions at every step from extraction to transportation to burning. Qatar was the world’s leading LNG exporter for years, until Australia surpassed it in 2021. The two countries have continued to export similar amounts of LNG since. Meanwhile, U.S. exports have skyrocketed. Just seven years ago, the U.S. barely produced or exported any LNG. Now it’s the world leader, and its exports are on track to keep growing.

Spot LNG shipping rates continue to decline - - Spot charter rates for the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier fleet fell for the fourth week in a row, according to Spark Commodities. Last week, spot LNG freight rates continued their downward trend. The Spark30S Atlantic rate fell $11,500 per day week-on-week to reach $135,500 per day, while the spot rate on the Pacific Spark25 route fell $32,750 per day week-on-week to reach $135,550 per day. According to Spark’s data on Friday, the Atlantic rate fell $3,000 to $132,500 per day, while the Pacific rate decreased $6050 to $129,500 per day. As per European LNG pricing, the SparkNWE DES LNG front month dropped from the last week. Last week, the Spark NWE DES LNG for November rallied over 40 percent to $15.563/MMBtu for November deliveries on heightened geopolitical tensions. NWE DES LNG for November was assessed on Thursday at $14.975 per MMBtu, a $0.565 discount to the TTF price. The TTF price for November settled at $15.563/MMBtu on Thursday, while the JKM spot LNG price for December settled at $18.245/MMBtu. The JKM LNG price rose more than $3/MMBtu from last week.

Chinese ship's anchor caused damage to Baltic gas pipeline, Finland suggests -A Chinese container ship's dislodged anchor caused damage to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, Finnish police believe. The Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel Newnew Polar Bear is responsible for the damage earlier this month to the undersea Balticconnector pipeline spanning the Gulf of Finland, said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), citing evidence and data. Investigators said the Finnish navy has retrieved an anchor from the location where the pipeline ruptured on 8 October, and they were investigating whether it belonged to the Chinese vessel. A 1.5 to 4-metre-wide seabed trail, leading to the point where the pipeline was broken, was likely caused by the dislodged six-tonne anchor. "There are traces in the [anchor] which indicate that it has been in contact with the gas pipeline," said Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi, who is heading the NBI investigation. Officials said that establishing if the damage was intentional, unintentional, or due to "bad seafaring" would be the focus of the next phase of the probe. On 8 October, Finnish and Estonian gas system operators observed a significant pressure drop in the pipeline, leading to it being shut down.

Norway's Hydrocarbon Production Continues to Drop --Norway’s petroleum production totaled about six billion cubic feet of oil equivalent so far in 2023, with September figures slipping further compared to the previous month. According to the data released by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), average production during September stood at 17.16 million cubic feet per day (MMcfpd). That slipped from the 22.32 MMcfpd the NPD reported for August. For September 2022, the NPD reported an average production of 21.01 MMcfpd. The directorate also noted that the total production figure achieved in September 2023 was 22.4 percent below its forecast. In barrel terms, the preliminary production figure for September 2023 was 1.797 million barrels of oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and condensate. “Total gas sales were 6.0 billion Sm3 (GSm3), which is 3.6 (GSm3) lower than the previous month,” the NPD said in its announcement. The directorate added that average daily liquids production in September was 1.644 million barrels of oil, 138,000 barrels of NGL and 15,000 barrels of condensate. Oil production in September was 4.7 percent lower than the NPD’s forecast and 0.7 percent lower than the forecast so far this year. The total petroleum production of about six billion cubic feet of oil equivalent so far in 2023 consisted of 2.73 billion cubic feet of oil, 342.5 million cubic feet of NGL and condensate and about 2.95 billion cubic feet of gas for sale, the NPD said in its report for September. .

More Natural Gas Production, LNG Projects Needed to Better Balance Global Energy Markets, IGU Says - The war in Ukraine and years of underinvestment have placed the global natural gas market in an “unstable equilibrium” that could linger for decades without additional funding for upstream production and LNG infrastructure, according to the International Gas Union (IGU). In its annual Global Gas Report, the IGU and contributors from Rystad Energy AS and Snam SpA outlined how a surge in liquefied natural gas, mostly from the United States, has helped ease price spikes from record levels following the invasion of Ukraine last year. However, prices are still well above pre-war levels and a razor-thin global supply balance has led to more volatile price swings. Looking into the mid-term, IGU researchers said a failure to secure natural gas supply growth could derail energy...

EU Considers Extending Natural Gas Price Cap as Supply Concerns Persist - Natural Gas Intelligence - Despite record high European Union (EU ) natural gas storage levels and lower prices, the bloc’s executive arm may extend an emergency limit on the cost of gas that was implemented earlier this year to avoid any potential price hikes this winter. The European Commission (EC) is reportedly considering an extension as an investigation of a leak on the Balticonnector pipeline continues and supply concerns grow as war rages in Israel. The EC would not confirm news media reports about the possibility of an extension or other energy measures being considered. “As for all emergency energy measures we introduced last year, the market correction mechanism expires in February next year,” an EC spokesperson said. “But it is premature to speculate on the potential extension of the cap...

EU Regulator Calls for Natural Gas Demand Cuts Over ‘Subsidizing’ LNG -The European Union’s (EU) energy regulatory agency has recommended bloc members continue reducing natural gas consumption in the short-term and prioritize energy projects that cut future demand. Since European natural gas prices rose to peak levels last summer, the region’s supply and demand balance has found an uneasy equilibrium thanks to demand reduction policies and an influx of mostly U.S. LNG. In a recently published market report, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) offered several recommendations based on its review of extreme natural gas volatility following last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine. Chief among them was for members “to maintain political commitments to reduce gas consumption.”

Surge in Worldwide LNG Projects to Ease Natural Gas Supply Concerns, IEA Says - Natural Gas Intelligence The International Energy Agency (IEA) is projecting that global demand for natural gas will start to dip by the end of this decade, but should remain strong and near a historic peak through 2050. In its latest 350-page annual World Energy Outlook (WEO), researchers said that for the first time in the history of the forecast, they expect demand for all three fossil fuels – oil, natural gas and coal – to decline by 2030 under all scenarios. “The energy world will look very different by 2030, even under today’s policy settings,” said IEA chief Faith Birol. He said fossil fuels as a share of global energy supply, which has been around 80% for decades, would “decline significantly by 2030.” Researchers acknowledged, however, that some key uncertainties could affect that outlook...

GTT booked orders for 52 LNG carriers in January-September - French LNG containment giant GTT received orders for 52 liquefied natural gas carriers and one floating LNG producer in the first nine months of this GTT said in its financial report on Wednesday that deliveries of these LNG carriers are scheduled between the first quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2028.The FLNG, being built at South Korea’s SHI, is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027.GTT won orders for 10 LNG carriers in the third quarter and 42 LNG carriers in the first half.The Paris-based firm received record 134 LNG carrier orders in January-September last year and record 162 orders for LNG carriers in 2022.Besides these LNG carriers and the FLNG, GTT received an order from Chinese shipyard Yangzijiang to design the tanks for ten LNG-powered ultra-large containerships and for five very large LNG-powered containerships with South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.Delivery of all these container ships is scheduled between the second quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2028.Earlier this year, GTT’s chief Philippe Berterottière said GTT is expecting that there will be up to 450 orders for large LNG carriers over the 2023-2032 period.Commenting on the company’s January-September results, Berterottière said that with 52 orders for LNG carriers and one FLNG unit, “the commercial performance of our core business continues to be very strong.”He noted that GTT booked 15 orders for LNG as fuel in the third quarter of 2023, “indicating a resumption of commercial activity as LNG spot prices stabilize.”“LNG demand remains particularly high and sustainable, as illustrated by the number of final investment decisions for new liquefaction plants made since the beginning of the year, leading to additional LNG carrier needs,” he said.This year’s FID’s include Venture Global LNG’s second Plaquemines LNG phase, Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG project, and NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project.

Algerian Natural Gas Exports Surge, Providing Additional Supply Cushion for Europe - Algeria is keeping its promise to supply Europe with additional natural gas as the continent continues replacing Russian imports. Algeria LNG exports reached record highs during the first nine months of this year, increasing 35% year-over-year to 9.94 million tons (Mt), according to Kpler data. Algeria liquefied natural gas exports are being supported by a growing surplus at home. Domestic gas production is outgrowing consumption, according to Kpler LNG analyst Laura Page.

Germany's DET plans to launch two FSRU terminals in Q1 2024 - German LNG terminal operator Deutsche Energy Terminal is planning to commission its FSRU-based facilities in Stade and Wilhelmshaven in the first quarter of 2024. Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action established Düsseldorf-based DET in January to manage FSRU-based LNG import terminals. Following the launch of these two facilities in Stade and Wilhelmshaven, DET will operate in total four FSRU-based LNG terminals.The German government, helped by Uniper, RWE, and TES and Engie chartered in total five FSRUs from Hoegh LNG, Dynagas, and Excelerate Energy.Uniper and RWE installed Hoegh’s FSRUs Hoegh Esperanza and Hoegh Gannet in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel. The Wilhelmshaven 1 terminal has a capacity of 6 bcm per year and the Brunsbüttel terminal has a capacity of 3,5-5 bcm per year.Also, the government sub-chartered the FSRU Transgas Power, owned by Dynagas, to private firm Deutsche Regas to serve the planned LNG import terminal in the port of Mukran.’

IEA Sees Growing Global Natural Gas Supply, Resilient Long-Term Demand Through 2050 - The International Energy Agency (IEA) is projecting that global demand for natural gas will start to dip by the end of this decade, but should remain strong and near a historic peak through 2050. In its latest 350-page annual World Energy Outlook (WEO), researchers said that for the first time in the history of the forecast, they expect demand for all three fossil fuels – oil, natural gas and coal – to decline by 2030 under all scenarios. “The energy world will look very different by 2030, even under today’s policy settings,” said IEA chief Faith Birol. He said fossil fuels as a share of global energy supply, which has been around 80% for decades, would “decline significantly by 2030.” Researchers acknowledged, however, that some key uncertainties could affect...

Singapore LNG wins approval for second terminal - Singapore LNG, the operator of the country’s first LNG import terminal on Jurong Island, has secured approval from the Singapore government to develop and operate the country’s second LNG import facility. Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced SLNG’s plan to develop the second LNG terminal in Singapore on Tuesday during SLNG’s 10th anniversary gala dinner. He said in a speech that the terminal would have up to 5 mtpa capacity to “meet Singapore’s energy needs and enhance our energy security.” “Our current LNG terminal has throughput capacity of about 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Our peak utilisation this year was 60 percent, so we currently still have some headroom,” he said. “But this will eventually not be enough as our demand for LNG continues to grow,” Wong said. With a second terminal, Singapore would be able to meet its power generation needs entirely with LNG, if necessary, Wong said. “Unlikely we will have to do so anytime soon, since we will continue to have access to piped natural gas,” he said. “But having the additional capacity will be helpful; it will give SLNG the flexibility to better meet the growing LNG needs of the shipping industry and the wider region, and advance our position as an LNG bunkering and trading hub,” Wong said. “We are still studying the exact size and the best way to build this terminal. All of you know that waterfront land comes at a premium in Singapore,” Wong said. “So one possibility is to start with an offshore terminal at Jurong Port. Further studies are being conducted, and more details will be announced in due course,”

Eni says to launch Congo FLNG project in December - Italian energy firm Eni said it will launch the first floating LNG production unit in Congo in December. Officials from Eni and from Belgium’s Exmar, Congo’s SNPC, and Drydocks World gathered on Saturday to celebrate the sail away of the Tango FLNG and the Excalibur FSU from Dubai to the Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville. Eni said in a statement the milestone aligns with the timeline of the Congo LNG project, whose first phase will startup in December 2023. Moreover, Tango FLNG, which has a liquefaction capacity of about 1 billion cubic meters per annum of gas, or 0.6 mtpa, will be moored 3 kilometers offshore along with the Excalibur FSU vessel upon their arrival in Congo. In August last year, Eni signed a deal to buy Exmar’s Tango FLNG. The floating LNG producer, delivered in 2017 by China’s Wison, has a storage capacity of 16,100 cbm. . The Congo LNG project leverages Marine XII gas resources and existing production facilities in a new, phased approach that will allow to reach about 4.5 bcm per year of gas liquefaction capacity at plateau, as well as zero routine gas flaring, Eni said.

Eni inks three-year deal for Indonesian LNG supplies - Italian energy firm Eni has signed a three-year liquefied natural gas sales and purchase agreement with Merakes LNG Sellers to secure more LNG volumes from Indonesia.The deal is for 0.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of LNG per year and starts from January 2024, Eni said in a statement.Back in 2021, Eni started gas production from the Merakes project offshore Indonesia.Gas supplies from the field will help extend the life of Pertamina’s Bontang LNG facility in East Kalimantan.Earlier this year, a unit of energy trader Vitol also signed a three-year deal with the Merakes LNG Sellers to offtake volumes from the Bontang LNG facility.Merakes is part of the East Sepinggan PSC, jointly owned by Eni, Neptune Energy, and Pertamina.The Bontang LNG plant launched liquefaction operations in the 1970s and has been supplying LNG ever since, primarily to Asian markets.

QatarEnergy seals 27-year LNG supply deal with Eni - State-owned QatarEnergy and Italy’s Eni signed a 27-year sale and purchase deal for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar to Italy.Qatar’s energy minister and chief executive of QatarEnergy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, and Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni, signed the SPA during a ceremony in Doha, according to a statement by QatarEnergy issued on Monday. Under the deal, Eni will receive up to 1 mtpa, or up to 1.5 billion cubic meters per year, from the joint venture between QatarEnergy and Eni that holds an interest in Qatar’s North Field East (NFE) expansion project.Eni is a partner in the 32 mtpa NFE expansion project with a 3.125 percent share.The volumes will be supplied to the receiving terminal FSRU Italia, currently located in Piombino, Italy, with expected deliveries starting from 2026 with a duration of 27 years.Eni said in a separate statement the LNG supply contract will contribute to Italy’s security of supply through the diversification of its supply sources.The Italian firm is already importing in Europe 2.9 bcm per year from Qatar since 2007 under a long-term supply agreement.QatarEnergy and UK-based Shell recently signed two long-term LNG sale and purchase deals for the supply of up to 3.5 mtpa of LNG from Qatar to the Netherlands for a period of 27 years.Prior to that, QatarEnergy also signed two deals with TotalEnergies for up to 3.5 mtpa and a period of 27 years. These supplies are intended for the Fos Cavaou LNG receiving terminal in southern France.Both Shell and TotalEnergies are partners in the giant Qatari LNG expansion project.Together, NFE and NFS form the wider North Field expansion project to increase LNG production from the North Field, adding 48 mtpa to Qatar’s export capacity and bringing it to 126 mtpa.

S. Korea's Hyundai, Saudi Aramco ink $2.4b gas plant deal | China Daily --South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering have signed a $2.4 billion contract with oil giant Saudi Aramco to build a gas processing plant, Seoul's presidential office said on Tuesday. The deal was signed on Monday in Riyadh at a ceremony to mark 50 years of construction cooperation between the two countries, with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol attending as part of his state visit to the kingdom. The two builders, affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group, have been working on the first phase of Aramco's Jafurah gas processing facilities project after winning the order in 2021, Hyundai said in a statement confirming the signing of the $2.4 billion contract on the second phase. The joint statement also called for greater efforts to prevent the escalation and spread of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and urged both sides to stop targeting civilians and allow the "rapid and unimpeded delivery" of humanitarian aid Jafurah is Saudi's largest unconventional non-oil associated gas field, with reserves estimated at 200 trillion cubic feet (5.7 trillion cubic meters) of raw gas. Aramco has said daily output could reach around 2 billion cubic feet by 2030. Yoon and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed the agreement in a joint statement after talks, pledging further cooperation in construction and infrastructure, including on Saudi Arabia's NEOM mega-city and Vision 2030 reform plans. The joint statement also called for greater efforts to prevent the escalation and spread of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and urged both sides to stop targeting civilians and allow the "rapid and unimpeded delivery" of humanitarian aid. State-run Korea National Oil Corp also clinched a storage deal with Aramco during Yoon's visit that allows the Saudi company to store 5.3 million barrels of oil in South Korea's reserve facilities in the port of Ulsan for five years.

Oman LNG inks shareholding deals with international firms - State-owned producer Oman LNG has signed shareholding deals with international companies, including Shell and TotalEnergies. Besides Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG shareholding agreements, Oman LNG, in which the government of Oman holds 51 percent, said it had also signed a gas supply agreement with state-owned Integrated Gas Company (IGC) to extend the gas supplies beyond 2024. “The agreement encapsulates extending the gas supply period for additional 10 years until 2023 at a total volume of 10.4 million metric tonnes per annum, reflecting the company’s drive towards its beyond 2024 aspirations,” it said. These deals renew Oman LNG’s strategic partnerships with international firms and will contribute to boosting Oman’s revenue from natural gas. Based on these agreements, Oman LNG’s shareholding structure will continue with Oman Investment Authority, Shell, TotalEnergies, Korea LNG, Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi, PTTEP, and Itochu. Qalhat LNG’s shareholding will include Oman Investment Authority, Oman LNG, Itochu, and Mitsubishi, the LNG producer said.

India boosts LNG imports in September - India’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose in September compared to the same month last year, according to the preliminary data from the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. The country imported 2.27 billion cubic meters, or about 1.7 million tonnes of LNG, in September, a rise of 17.5 percent compared to the same month in 2022, PPAC said. During April-September, India took 15.11 bcm of LNG, or some 11.1 million tonnes, up by 9.4 percent, PPAC said. India paid $1.2 billion for September LNG imports, down from $1.4 billion last year, while costs dropped from $9.4 billion in the April-September period last year to $6.6 billion during the same six months this year, it said. As per India’s natural gas production, it reached 3.02 bcm in September, up by 6.1 percent compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. During April-September, gas production rose by 4 percent to 17.87 bcm, PPAC said. At the moment, India imports LNG via seven facilities with a combined capacity of about 47.7 million tonnes.

Swedish ferry runs aground and spills diesel A ferry ran aground in southern Sweden on Sunday, spilling diesel over several kilometres, but the vessel's 75 passengers were taken to safety, officials said. The Marco Polo TT-Line ferry got stuck south of Karlshamn early in the day, according to the coastguard. The ferry "leaked diesel fuel for several kilometres before running aground", it said in a statement, adding that thick fog in area and made it difficult to work out the extent of the spill. Investigators are looking into the cause of the accident and whether maritime law was breached, senior coastguard investigator Jonatan Orn told public radio P4. The ferry was operating between the ports of Trelleborg and Karlshamn, but Orn said the ferry had strayed from its usual route when it ran aground. The oil slick had reached land by late afternoon on a coastal strip in the municipality of Solvesborg, said local authorities. The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency has been called in to help and will begin decontaminating the site on Monday, they added. The ship's hull had been holed in the bow and middle of its hull, but a senior official at the Swedish Transport Agency told the TT news agency there was no risk of it sinking.

Sweden Fines Ferry Officers for Negligence Causing Grounding and Oil Spill -Swedish prosecutors today announced fines for the captain and third officer of the ro/pax ferry Marco Polo(15,99 gross tons) charging that the two officers acted recklessly navigating the ferry which contributed to its grounding and an ongoing environmental clean-up. This came as the Swedish Coast Guard is calling up additional resources to help with the ongoing efforts and elected officials warned it could take a year to fully recover.The ferry, which is operated by TT-Line of Germany, had departed Trelleborg, Sweden on October 21 sailing for Karlshamn, Sweden when it reported grounding on Sunday, October 22. The Swedish Coast Guard assisted in the evacuation of 41 passengers and 10 of the 30 crew onboard. During the subsequent investigation led by the Coast Guard along with the public prosecutor, they reconstructed the events leading up to the grounding and confirmed earlier reports that the ship touched ground sustaining damage and was likely leaking, but continued under its own power before grounding a second time. The hull of the vessel was damaged causing it to take on water and as of Thursday, the Coast Guard is reporting that 14 cubic meters of oil waste has been recovered from the sea and nine cubic meters from the shoreline. Up to approximately three miles of the coastline has been fouled by the oil. According to the prosecutor, the third mate was in command of the ferry before the first event. Despite reduced visibility, including fog in the area and nighttime darkness, he was proceeding only using the vessel’s electronic chart. The Coast Guard believes the electronic position system malfunctioned while prosecutors charged him with negligence for failing to use other navigational aids such as the radar or to add a lookout.Based on their interviews with the crew, the Coast Guard investigation shows the crew thought they were to the east of Hanö, a small island off the southeast coast of Sweden, when in fact they were in the channel between Hanö and the mainland. After the first grounding, the master of the ferry took command and he too continued to rely on the electronic chart. The ship went hard aground during the second grounding reporting the incident around 6:25 a.m.The two officers were each fined with one fine of approximately $3,600 and the other being approximately $1,500. The prosecutor highlighted to reporters that Swedish law provides mild penalties for negligence, which these crimes were judged to be, versus harsher penalties for intentional acts. However, the Coast Guard still can impose a water pollution fee and an additional investigation is underway regarding the seaworthiness of the vessel based on the malfunctions.

Oil tankers detained off Malaysia after ‘unauthorised’ STS operation - The Malaysian coastguard has boarded and detained two ageing oil tankers accused of carrying out an unauthorised ship-to-ship transfer of oil off its coastline. A helicopter-based team boarded the Chinese-operated, 300,361-dwt Artemis III (built 1996) and the Indian-managed, 159,106-dwt Ocean Hermana (built 2004) after the crews refused to cooperate with a request for an inspection, the Malaysian authorities said. Campaign group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) identified the two vessels and posted a satellite image of the ships side-by-side that was taken on Tuesday. The group said the transfer involved an Iranian cargo after tracking Artemis III loading around 2m barrels of crude at Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal in August. It said Artemis III carried out a ship-to-ship transfer of around a third of those barrels to an aframax tanker in the same area off Malaysia in October before authorities took action. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said it was investigating a case of conducting STS operations and anchoring without permission. The two captains are also being investigated for obstructing the duties of a public servant. Both offences carry potential fines and terms of imprisonment, the MMEA said in a statement. Maritime First Admiral Nurul Hizam bin Zakaria, the Johor State maritime director, said both ships had 26 crew members on board. The MMEA did not identify the vessels but released photos after the operation 60km east of the coastal village of Tanjung Sedili, Johor, in southern Malaysia. One showed the name of the Artemis III and the rudimentary paint job over the former name of the vessel, the Aglaia. A second photo published by local media showed the name of the second tanker. The Honduras-flagged Artemis III is owned by a single-ship company that is managed by Efferiie, which is based in Dalian,

India Expected To Reject Russian Demand To Pay For Oil In Chinese Yuan -- India’s government is expected to reject demands from Russian oil companies to pay for Russia’s crude oil imports in Chinese yuan, Indian officials told Bloomberg on Friday.Russia and its companies need Chinese currency as Russian trade has become much more reliant on China after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia. Moscow has a lot of Indian rupees, but it can’t spend them all while it needs yuan. Russian firms have largely ditched dollar and euro payments due to the Western sanctions and the fact that Russia has been cut off from the SWIFT banking payment system.Russian oil companies have been asking lately for payments in yuan, but the Indian government – which owns 70% of the refiners in the world’s third-largest crude oil importer – will not agree to these demands, according to Bloomberg’s sources.Some crude cargoes from Russia to India have been recently delayed because the parties have failed to agree on the currency of the payment, sources at refiners told Bloomberg. Earlier this week, unnamed Finance Ministry sources told Reuters that payment in Chinese currency of seven cargoes of Russian crude oil imported by state-run Indian oil refineries is being held up over the Indian government’s new-found hesitancy to accept this form of payment.State-run Indian Oil Corporation has settled purchases in yuan previously, while Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum have not yet resorted to the Chinese currency, though direct Russian suppliers have requested this.India has hiked imports of Russian crude in the past year due to the cheaper Russian supply compared to crudes from the Middle East.

IEA Says Global Oil Demand to Reach Peak This Decade - Global demand for oil will reach its peak this decade, the International Energy Agency predicted for the first time, amid growing popularity of electric cars and the cooling of China’s economy. The predicted peak, which the agency also anticipates for coal and natural gas, doesn’t mean a rapid plunge in fossil fuel consumption is imminent. It will probably be followed by “an undulating plateau lasting for many years” with emissions remaining too high to limit global warming to 1.5C, the IEA said. The world will consume as much as 102 million barrels a day of oil by the late 2020s, with the volumes dropping to 97 million barrels a day by mid-century, according to the base-case, called the Stated Policies Scenario, laid out on Tuesday in the IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook. “The transition to clean energy is happening worldwide and it’s unstoppable,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement. “Claims that oil and gas represent safe or secure choices for the world’s energy and climate future look weaker than ever.” Oil demand in the petrochemicals, aviation and shipping industries will continue to increase to 2050 but it won’t be enough to offset lower demand from road transport amid “astounding rise in electric vehicle sales,” the IEA said. China, which has for years driven the growth in global crude consumption, will see its appetite weakening over the next few years, with total consumption declining in the long run, according to the report. Global oil consumption will follow the same path as demand for other hydrocarbons. “We are on track to see all fossil fuels peak before 2030,” the IEA said. It’s the first time all scenarios drawn up by the Paris-based agency for global energy markets point to a near-term decline in hydrocarbon consumption. The IEA’s base-case reflects energy policies currently pursued by governments worldwide and the continued ramifications of last year’s energy crisis. The IEA’s second scenario, which assumes all governments meet their energy and climate pledges in full and on time, envisions global oil demand peaking at 93 million barrels a day in 2030, with a decline to 55 million barrels per day in 2050. The third, a net zero emissions scenario in which global warming is limited to 1.5C, would see global demand plunging to 77 million barrels a day in 2030 and just under 25 million barrels a day in 2050. The process of decarbonizing the global economy “will be a long one and fossil fuel producers remain influential” in the years to come, according to the report. In the base-case, Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will keep their combined share of the oil market at 45% to 48% until the end of this decade. By the middle of the century, that will rise above 50% thanks to higher production in Saudi Arabia, the de-facto OPEC leader. Russia, on the other hand, is set to lose some 3.5 million barrels a day, or roughly a third, of its oil production by 2050, “as it struggles to maintain output from existing fields or to develop large new ones,” the IEA said. The IEA also assumes that in the years to come Iran and Venezuela will be able to grow their output thanks to a gradual relaxation of international sanctions.

OPEC, IEA diverge further in 2024 oil demand forecasts – The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) diverged further in their predictions of global oil demand growth in 2024 as they hold contrasting views on next year’s economic outlook. In its monthly oil market report, the oil producer group OPEC stuck to its previous forecast of a “healthy” 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) demand growth in 2024, explaining that “solid global economic growth, amid continued improvements in China, is expected to further boost oil consumption.”

OPEC plans no immediate action after Iran urges Israel oil embargo, say sources - OPEC is not planning to hold an extraordinary meeting or take any immediate action after Iran's foreign minister called on members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to impose an oil embargo and other sanctions on Israel, four sources from the producer group told Reuters. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday called on OIC members to impose an oil embargo and other sanctions on Israel and expel all Israeli ambassadors. Four sources from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces a third of the world's oil and includes several Muslim countries including Iran, said that no immediate action or emergency meetings were planned by the group in light of Iran's comments. "We are not a political organisation," one of the sources said. On Tuesday, the Gulf Cooperation Council secretary-general when asked whether Arab countries should reduce oil production in retaliation for Israel's actions in Gaza, said that the GCC was committed to energy security and shouldn't use oil as a weapon. "The GCC works as a clear and honest partner as an oil exporter with the international community and we can't use that as a weapon in any way possible," Jasem al-Budaiwi said. In 1973, Arab producers led by Saudi Arabia slapped an oil embargo on Western supporters of Israel in its war with Egypt, targeting Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States. Oil prices spiked as a result but over the longer term the crisis led to the development of new oil provinces outside the Middle East like the North Sea and deepwater assets, and encouraged alternative energy. While Western countries were the main buyers of crude produced by the Arab countries at the time, nowadays Asia is the main buyer of OPEC's crude. "The geopolitical environment is different compared to 50 years ago," another OPEC source said about why an embargo won't be implemented.

The Oil Market Traded Lower on Monday as it Continued to Erase Previous Gains in Light of the Diplomatic Efforts Over the Weekend to Prevent the Gaza Conflict From Spreading -- The oil market traded lower on Monday as it continued to erase its previous gains in light of the diplomatic efforts over the weekend to prevent the Gaza conflict from spreading. The recent diplomatic developments helped ease tensions, bringing some hope of a de-escalation in the conflict after Hamas released two U.S. hostages held in Gaza on Friday. Aid convoys started to arrive in the Gaza Strip from Egypt over the weekend, while U.S. President Joe Biden had calls on Sunday with the leaders of Canada, France, Britain, Germany and Italy following his visit to Israel last week. The oil market continued to trend lower after posting a high of $88.29 on the opening on Sunday night. It extended its losses to over $2 as it sold off to a low of $85.35 in afternoon trading. The market later settled in a sideways trading range ahead of the close. The December WTI contract settled down $2.59 at $85.49 and the December Brent contract settled down $2.33 at $89.83. The product markets ended the session in negative territory, with the heating oil market settling down 6.11 cents at $3.0955 and the RB market settling down 4.51 cents at $2.3285. Citi said it expects a meaningful rebound in commodities assets under management for October towards $700 billion, on the back of Middle East geopolitics and position squaring across the petroleum complex and gold. Citi said short-term momentum model forecasts higher oil prices into the month-end with a neutral-bullish signal for ICE Brent in the next 5-10 days. Chevron Corp said it will buy Hess Corp in a $53-billion all-stock deal. CEO John Hess of Hess Corp, is expected to join Chevron's board of directors once the deal closes. Chevron Corp said it will no longer use put options to hedge the crude oil production it is acquiring from Hess Corp, once the deal is completed. In its most recent earnings report, the company had contracts in place that locked in $70/barrel for about 80,000 bpd of WTI production and $75/barrel for about 50,000 barrels of Brent production for the rest of the year. Global diesel imports into Europe so far this month were pegged at 3.76 million metric tons, down from 5.78 million tons last month. Meanwhile, LSEG tracking shows that gasoline exports from northwest Europe to the U.S. and West Africa are set to reach 986,000 metric tons so far this month, down from 1.27 million tons in September. IIR Energy reported that U.S. oil refiners are expected to shut in about 1.9 million bpd of capacity in the week ending October 27th, increasing available refining capacity by 375,000 bpd. Offline capacity is expected to fall to 1.1 million bpd in the week ending November 3rd. Citgo Petroleum Corp reported that operating conditions at its 167,500 bpd Corpus Christi, Texas East plant have made flaring necessary on October 22nd. Delek reported that equipment malfunction resulted in flaring at its 73,000 bpd Big Spring, Texas refinery on October 22nd. The refiner is trying to minimize emissions while its attempts to restart the unit.

WTI Slides 2.5% as USD Gains on US GDP Surprise to Upside - While ULSD was the outlier, reversing higher in afternoon trading, oil futures declined on Thursday under pressure from a strengthening U.S. dollar. Government data showed gross domestic product in the third quarter expanded at the fastest rate in over two years despite higher interest rates. U.S. economy grew at a neck-breaking 4.9% annualized rate during the third quarter, up from a 2.1% growth rate estimated for the April-June period and a tepid 0.9% expansion for the first three months of the year, according to data released Thursday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The fresh GDP data reflects an economy that not only absorbed the Fed's aggressive rate-hiking campaign but managed to reaccelerate on the back of robust consumer spending and a solid labor market. What's notable is that the increase in consumer spending during the third quarter reflects some rotation in demand from services on the goods side of the economy, which should be supportive of manufacturing activity in the coming months. Supporting this view, U.S. durable goods orders spiked 4.7% in September -- more than double the 2% increase expected by economists. This week's inventory report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed demand for distillate fuels, which correlates closely with economic activity, remained above 4 million barrels per day (bpd) for the second straight week through Oct. 20, some 5% above the five-year average. The Labor Department Thursday morning released high-frequency data showing unemployment claims remained in a 200,000 to 220,000 range for the eighth consecutive week through Oct. 21, although a stable labor market has yet to materialize in stronger gasoline consumption that continues to trail the five-year average. EIA data showed gasoline consumption in the most recent week averaged 8.8 million bpd, some 3% below the five-year average. On the geopolitical front, oil traders continued to monitor developments surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas triggered by the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israeli citizens. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the military is preparing for a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip, increasing the risk of a wider regional conflict. Although vague on details, including the scope of the invasion, the comments from Netanyahu prompted some investors to re-price the potential for supply disruptions from the Middle East on Wednesday. At settlement, NYMEX West Texas Intermediate futures for December delivery declined to $83.21 bbl, down $2.18 on the session, and international crude benchmark Brent for December delivery on ICE retreated $2.20 to $87.93 bbl. NYMEX November ULSD futures advanced $0.0134 to $3.0439 gallon, while front-month RBOB futures fell back $0.0281 to $2.2561 gallon.

Oil Wobbles on Russian Oil Exports as US Inventory Falls - Oil futures nearest delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange flipped between modest gains and losses early Wednesday after preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute showed total U.S. oil and petroleum products supplies declined for the second straight week, while rising crude oil exports from Russian ports in the Baltic and Black seas prompted investors to question Moscow's adherence to a supply pact with Saudi Arabia. Russian crude oil exports rose to a three-month high of 3.53 million barrels per day (bpd) in the seven-day period ending Oct. 22, according to the tanker-tracking data compiled and assessed by Bloomberg. This lifted the less volatile four-week average figure to 3.5 million bpd, which is around 300,000 bpd above a 3.2-million-bpd target. Earlier this month, Russia said it would prolong a pledged reduction in crude oil exports through the end of 2023 and hinted it might opt for further extension into next year. Additionally, tougher sanctions' enforcement on international shipping companies that transport Russian crude above the $60 per barrel (bbl) price cap had some in the market speculate Russian crude flows would take a hit. So far, these concerns have not materialized, adding to the bearish sentiment in the oil market. Separately, API data released late Tuesday showed U.S. commercial crude oil inventory was drawn down 2.668 million bbl last week, missing an expected 10,000-bbl uptick. Supply at the Cushing, Oklahoma, tank farm, the NYMEX delivery point for West Texas Intermediate futures, rose 513,00 bbl. The report also detailed a 4.169-million-bbl draw in gasoline supply for last week, far more than calls for a 300,000-bbl decline, and a 2.313-million-bbl drop in distillate inventories, more than twice an expected 1.1 million-bbl-drawdown. Next, oil traders await the release of official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EDT. Near 7:30 a.m. EDT, NYMEX WTI futures for December delivery traded little changed near $83.80 bbl, while Brent December futures on ICE added $0.16 to $88.22 bbl. NYMEX November ULSD futures dropped $0.0294 to $3.0155 gallon, while front-month RBOB futures advanced $0.0148 to $2.2824 gallon. On the macroeconomic data front, U.S. Purchasing Managers Index for the month of October showed a surprise expansion in both manufacturing and service business activity after a stagnant output seen in August and September. Manufacturers and service providers alike reported improved activity levels as the downturn in demand moderated. In reaction to the data, the U.S. dollar rallied against a basket of foreign currencies to settle Tuesday's session at 106.080, as investors repriced the strength of the U.S. economy and a potential for more rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in coming months. CME FedWatch Tool shows increased odds for a 0.25% hike in the federal funds rate at the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting in December.

Oil futures: Crude higher following US air strikes, Brent above $90/b -- Crude oil futures Friday were higher on concerns of a wider regional conflict in the Middle East after US forces conducted strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Front-month Dec23 ICE Brent futures were trading at $90.21/b (1740 GMT), compared to the day's high of $90.24/b and Thursday's settle of $87.93/b, while the more-liquid Jan23 contract was trading at $88.94/b. At the same time Dec23 NYMEX WTI was trading at $85.38/b versus Thursday's settle of $83.21/b. However, markets were still heading for small weekly losses after retreating earlier in the week. Last Friday, Dec23 Brent closed at $92.16/b, while Nov23 WTI settled at $88.08/b. Prices had initially consolidated at lower levels Friday but rebounded on confirmation that the US had launched strikes on two bases in eastern Syria, which it said are used by Iranian-backed groups. "The risk of the conflict spreading and causing oil supply disruption will likely continue contributing to risk premia for oil for the time being," BMI said in a note. US officials said the strikes were in response to a number of attacks against American personnel based in Iraq and Syria, which had been targeted in a slew of drone and missile strikes. Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said US and coalition forces have been attacked at least a dozen times in Iraq and four times in Syria. "We know that these groups are affiliated with Iran," Ryder said without elaborating. Ryder also confirmed that "approximately 900 troops have subsequently deployed or are in the process of deploying" to the region. On economic news, the ECB on Thursday left the key interest rates unchanged, following 10 consecutive rate increases. However, ECB President Christine Lagarde said that it was premature to talk about rate cuts and would not confirm rates had even peaked yet.

Saudi Arabia's GDP crosses $1trln mark for first time in 2022 – PwC -- Saudi Arabia’s GDP crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in 2022, fuelled by robust investment from the private and public sectors, non-oil revenue growth and continued diversification, PwC said in its inaugural “Saudi Economy Watch” report. The economic success has propelled Saudi Arabia to the 17th position in the global rankings, boasting the largest GDP size in 2022 and targeting 15th place by the year-end. The Kingdom can achieve $1.3 trillion in fiscal revenue by the end of 2028, the report said, citing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast. According to PwC, the Kingdom’s non-oil private sector grew 5.8% year-on-year (YoY) in Q2 2023, surging 13.9% compared to 2019. Conversely, growth in the non-oil government sector slowed to 3.8% YoY, while the oil sector contracted by 4.3% YoY due to production cuts. Non-oil revenues grew by two and a half times the baseline of $163 billion to $411 billion in 2022, with expectations of a further 11% increase this year, PwC said. The report reviewed the Kingdom’s ongoing performance across several economic targets at the midpoint towards achieving Vision 2030’s goals. Female workforce participation rose to 36% in Q1 2023, beating the 2030 target of 30%, supported by social liberalisation and Saudisation policies. This resulted in a boost to household incomes, which has been a critical factor in rising consumption and broader economic growth. Meanwhile, homeownership among Saudi nationals expanded from 47% to 67%, surpassing the US and France. These strong results can be attributed to a range of initiatives to boost the supply of affordable homes, including a tax on undeveloped urban land and improved access to finance. The report said that the 2030 target of 70% homeownership is now close to being achieved. Economic diversification initiatives are bearing fruit, thanks to the commitment of the public sector to major non-oil investments, the report said.

Israeli Official Vows to Wipe Iran 'Off the Face of the Earth' If Hezbollah Enters War - An Israeli official has vowed that Iran would be “wiped off the face of the earth” if Hezbollah opens up a northern front for Israel.Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire along the Lebanon-Israel border since the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. There have been dozens of casualties, mainly on the Lebanon side, but Hezbollah has not launched a major assault on Israel.Nir Barkat, Israel’s minister of economy, told The Mail on Sunday that if Hezbollah enters the war, Israel would not only “eliminate” the group but would also target Iran. “The plan of Iran is to attack Israel on all fronts. If we find they intend to target Israel, we will not just retaliate to those fronts, but we will go to the head of the snake, which is Iran,” he said.Barkat’s warning comes as an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza appears imminent. Israel is stepping up its airstrikes on the besieged enclave and has already killed over 4,000 Palestinians, including over 1,000 children. Barkat threatened Iran with a similar fate.“Lebanon and Hezbollah are going to pay a heavy price, similar to what Hamas is going to pay. But that’s not enough. The very clear message is that we are going to be going after the heads of Iran as well. When will we do that? When we decide,” Barkat said.“Israel has a very clear message to our enemies. We are saying to them, look what’s happening in Gaza – you are going to get the same treatment if you attack us. We are going to wipe you off the face of the Earth,” he added.Israel does not have the capabilities to sustain a bombing campaign in Iran without US support, and both Iran and Hezbollah have formidable militaries with advanced missiles. But Barkat’s threat is not hollow since Israel possesses a secret nuclear weapons stockpile, making it the only nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East.

Israel Again Bombs Syria's Damascus and Aleppo Airports - Israeli airstrikes simultaneously targeted Syria’s two main international airports in Damascus and Aleppo for the second time since the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.The airstrikes took place early Sunday morning and put both airports out of service. Syria’s SANA news agency reported that one civilian worker was killed in the attack, and another was wounded.“At about 05:25 am on Sunday, the Israeli enemy simultaneously carried out an aerial act of aggression with waves of missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea west of Lattakia and from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan targeting Damascus and Aleppo international airports,” a military source told SANA.“The aggression led to the martyrdom of a civilian worker at Damascus Airport, the injury of another worker, in addition to causing material damage to the runways of the two airports, putting them out of service,” the source added.Israel previously targeted both airports on October 12. On October 14, Israeli airstrikes targeted the Aleppo airport but not Damascus. In all instances, the airports were temporarily knocked out of service. According to The Times of Israel, Syria told aviation authorities that the damage caused by the Sunday airstrikes would leave the airports out of service for at least two days.

Israeli Airstrikes Kill Eight Syrian Soldiers in Southern Syria - Israeli airstrikes targeted southern Syria early Wednesday morning, killing eight soldiers and wounding seven more, Syria’s SANA news agency reported.The strikes targeted the southern Deraa province and came after Israel said rockets were fired from Syria toward Israel. “At about 1:45 am on Wednesday, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial act of aggression from the direction of occupied Syrian Golan, targeting several military sites in Deraa countryside,” a military source told SANA.According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli military said its “fighter jets struck military infrastructure and mortars belonging to the Syrian army in response to the launches towards Israel yesterday [Tuesday].”It’s unclear if the Syrian military was involved in firing rockets into Israel. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that fighters “loyal to Hezbollah” had “launched rockets towards the occupied Syrian Golan” from the Deraa province, likely referring to Shia militias that operate in Syria.Later on Wednesday, Israel launched more airstrikes in Syria in the north that hit the Aleppo airport. “Nearly at 1:25 pm on Wednesday, the Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression from the Mediterranean Sea, west of Lattakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport, causing material damage to the airport’s runway and it’s now out of service,” a military source toldSANA. Israel has been bombing Syria for years, and the country’s airports became common targets toward the end of 2022. The two separate airstrikes on Wednesday marked at least the 30th time Israeli warplanes bombed Syria this year.

’No one will be spared’: A guide to Middle East fallout from the Israel-Hamas war U.S. officials are worried that violence in Israel’s neighbors will spiral into a larger regional war. Missile strikes from Yemen. Israeli settler killings of Palestinians in the West Bank. Attacks on U.S. troops in Syria. And that’s before Israel officially launches a ground invasion of Gaza, the territory controlled by Hamas militants who killed more than 1,000 Israelis on Oct. 7. Biden administration officials are especially concerned that armed groups backed by Iran are preparing to exact more bloodshed. Aside from Hamas, those proxy forces include Lebanon and Iraq-based Hezbollah and the Houthis of Yemen. “We see a prospect for much more significant escalation against U.S. forces and personnel in the near term. And let’s be clear about it, the road leads back to Iran,” a senior Defense Department official told reporters Monday. The official was granted anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the record. Arab officials are worried, too. They are urging Washington to help defuse the tensions by using what leverage it has with Israel. Some say the United States should call for a cease-fire, but the Biden team is unwilling to do so, saying Israel has the right to respond to the Hamas attacks. It’s especially tough to contain the violence because the sparks are flying in many different places. If tensions don’t lower soon, “the whole region will be affected,” predicted one Arab diplomat, granted anonymity for the same reason. “No one will be spared.” Here are some of those potential flashpoints:

Israel Demands UN Chief Resign for Saying Hamas Attack Didn't Happen in a Vacuum - Israel’s ambassador to the UN has lashed out at UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for saying the Hamas attack on southern Israel “did not occur in a vacuum” and demanded his resignation.“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” Guterres said at a UN Security Council meeting. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced, and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.” He added that the history does not mean the Hamas attack was justified. “The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he said.Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan called the comments “shocking” and called on Guterres to step down. “There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words,” he said. Other Israeli officials criticized Guterres, including Benny Gantz, who is a minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet. Gantz called Guterres a “terrorist apologist” and said that “absolutely nothing can justify the slaughter of innocent civilians.” Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes continue to pound Gaza, where thousands of children have already been killed by the Israeli onslaught.

'Netanyahu Got All the Warnings,’ Says Former Israeli Military Intelligence Chief - Hamas’ massacre of more than 1,400 Israelis and kidnapping of over 200 others on Oct. 7 was more than a national tragedy for Israel — it was also a massive intelligence failure. Now, as Israel goes to war against Hamas, vital questions abound: Why didn’t Israeli leadership see this coming? If Israel defeats Hamas, what will take its place? And what are the odds that Israel’s greatest ally, the United States, could get pulled into a direct role in the conflict?Amos Yadlin has unique insights into all these questions. The 71-year-old former Israeli intelligence chief, who oversaw the destruction of Syria’s nascent nuclear program and the serial sabotage of Iran’s, has emerged as a key voice on the crisis, briefing members of Israel’s war cabinet. For nearly a decade following his term as intelligence chief, he served as head of Israel’s highly influential Institute for National Security Studies, and he remains a security eminence grise, now running the national-security consultancy Mind Israel.In a new interview with POLITICO Magazine conducted via Zoom over two days last week, Yadlin offered a useful window into official Israeli thinking on the escalating war — from solutions to the ongoing hostage crisis to the challenge of avoiding Palestinian civilian casualties.Yadlin made clear that Israel’s policy in this war was not simply to retaliate for the massacre or weaken Hamas, but to definitively end the jihadist group’s 16-year rule in Gaza.Retired Israeli general and Executive Director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital on Dec. 5, 2020. | Mazen Mahdi/AFP via Getty Images“We are going to destroy Hamas, as Nazi Germany was destroyed,” he said, adding that Israel would mount a global assassination campaign against Hamas leaders akin to the one it launched following the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.Aligned politically with the country’s center left — he was the Labor Party’s candidate for defense minister in the 2015 elections — Yadlin attributed much of the blame for the catastrophe to the national distraction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s push to overhaul the country’s judiciary: “Netanyahu got all the warnings — from his defense minister, from the chief of staff, from the head of intelligence, from the head of Shin Bet and from independent writers like me, like others — that this is weakening Israel deterrence and endangering Israeli national security.”Complicating matters in recent days, the Israeli media has been abuzz with reports of internal Israeli government deliberations over a second front with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, with the defense minister and other Israeli officials reportedly advocating a preemptive strike on the militant group and the U.S. cautioning against it.Yadlin said Hezbollah’s “very cautious” behavior indicated a low likelihood of a second front developing. But while declining to go into details, Yadlin — who is privy to recent discussions between U.S. and Israeli officials — hinted that, in the event Hezbollah were to initiate a full-blown war with Israel, the U.S. might join “shoulder to shoulder” with Israel: “If Hezbollah attacks first, don’t be surprised — the U.S. may participate in this war.”The following is a partial transcript of our conversation. It has been edited for concision and clarity. (Full disclosure: Yadlin is an advisory-board member of ROPES, an Arab-Israeli peace organization I founded.)

Israel to Consider Civilians 'Terrorist Accomplices' If They Stay in North Gaza - The Israeli military has told Palestinian civilians living in north Gaza that if they don’t evacuate to the south, they will be considered “an accomplice in a terrorist organization,”The warning was made in threatening leaflets dropped by Israeli drones on Saturday. “Urgent warning, to residents of Gaza. Your presence north of Wadi Gaza puts your life in danger. Whoever chooses not to leave north Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza might be identified as an accomplice in a terrorist organization,” the leaflets said, according to Reuters.Israel previously ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, an area that’s home to 1.1 million people. Since Gaza is under blockade, the only option for Palestinians in the north is to flee to the south, which is also under constant Israeli bombardment.Some Gazans have fled to the south, while others have refused to leave their homes or have sought shelter at hospitals, hoping they will not be targeted in the Israeli onslaught, but Israel is ordering hospitals to be evacuated. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, Israel ordered the evacuation of Al-Quds hospital, which is housing more than 400 patients and 12,000 displaced civilians.Since Israel has unleashed its bombing campaign on Gaza in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, at least 4,651 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 1,756 children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. On the Israeli side, at least 1,405 people have been killed.Gazans are also suffering from food and water shortages due to the Israeli siege. A limited number of aid trucks have been allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt, which included medical supplies but no fuel to power hospital generators. Aid agencies have said the aid that has been let in is just a “drop in the ocean” for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

Israel hits Gaza with one of deadliest nights of bombings so far in war against Hamas | Israel-Hamas war -- The blockaded Gaza Strip has been hit by one of the deadliest nights of Israeli bombing so far in the war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as two more hostages were freed amid reports that talks to secure the release of dozens of others were under way. At least 400 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and 70 were killed overnight on Sunday in bombardments of the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp and streets close to two hospitals in Gaza City. Entire residential blocks across the strip have now been levelled, including in areas where Palestinians had been told by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to seek refuge. Approximately half the strip’s housing stock, and much of the coastal exclave, is now covered in grey rubble dust. Late on Monday, Hamas said it had released two elderly Israeli women – Yokheved Lifshitz and Nurit Yitzhak, who also goes by the name Nurit Cooper – for humanitarian reasons in response to mediation by Qatar and Egypt. Meanwhile, Israeli outlets reported that the US and Qatar were trying to broker a deal in which 50 people held by Hamas and other groups in Gaza of foreign or dual nationality would be released. On Sunday it emerged the US had pressed Israel to delay its expected ground assault on Gaza to allow time for the release of more hostages believed to be held in the exclave, and the delivery of more aid to the besieged territory. The Maariv newspaper said the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his generals were at odds over when to launch an expected ground invasion. Quoting unnamed senior Israeli officials, the daily said the Israeli leader is delaying putting boots on the ground while there is still a possibility of returning the captives, and that the “initial phrase” of the Israeli offensive – airstrikes – is “not yet exhausted”.

Jordan’s queen says western world ‘complicit’ in Gaza casualties - Queen Rania of Jordan argued the western world is “complicit” in the casualties in Gaza, pointing to the seemingly widespread support of Israel in its fight against militant group Hamas following the group’s bloody attack against the Jewish State earlier this month. “This is the first time in modern history that there is such human suffering and the world is not even calling for a cease-fire,” Rania said in an interview with CNN. “So the silence is deafening and to many in our religion, it makes the western world complicit…through their support and through the cover that they give Israel that it’s just right to defend itself.” Calling the western world’s support of Israel a “glaring double standard,” Rania, who is of Palestinian descent herself, said many in the Arab world perceive the support as “aiding and abetting” the mass killings of civilians in Gaza. Rania’s criticism of the western world’s reaction comes amid Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel earlier this month that killed over 1,400 people, including hundreds of civilians. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and several other countries, and has since launched hundreds of air strikes into Gaza and cut off the territory’s food, water, medicine and fuel supply. The United States has largely supported Israel’s pledge to eliminate Hamas, which controls Gaza, in response to the attacks, drawing a parallel to America’s war on terror after the 9/11 attacks. “The world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and its right to defend itself and condemned the attacks that happened,” Rania said. “But when we look, we’re seeing the last couple of weeks, we haven’t…we’re seeing silence in the world. Countries that are just expressing concern or acknowledging the causalities, but always with the preface of declaration of support for Israel.” Over 5,700 Palestinians in besieged Gaza have been killed in the conflict, including over 2,300 children, 1,200 women and 295 elderly people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Over 16,200 are wounded as hospitals warn of collapse in the wake of low supplies, Gaza officials said Tuesday.

Oxfam: Israel Using Starvation as 'Weapon of War' Against Gaza Civilians - The international charity group Oxfam has said Israel is using starvation as a “weapon of war” against Palestinian civilians living in Gaza, as barely any food is being delivered to the besieged enclave.Gaza has been under blockade since 2007, and Israel imposed a “total siege” on October 9, cutting off all food, fuel, and medicine. A limited number of aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza from Egypt recently, but Oxfam said only 2% of the food that was previously delivered is going in.“The international agency analyzed UN data and found that just 2% of food that would have been delivered has entered Gaza since the total siege,” Oxfam said in a press release. “While a small amount of food aid has been allowed in, no commercial food imports have been delivered.”Oxfam said that prior to the total siege, 104 trucks a day delivered food to Gaza. Since the weekend, 62 trucks have been allowed to enter Gaza through Egypt, but only 30 were carrying food.“The situation is nothing short of horrific—where is humanity? Millions of civilians are being collectively punished in full view of the world. There can be no justification for using starvation as a weapon of war,” said Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East director.Oxfam said Gaza is also virtually out of clean water, making some of the food that has been let in, such as rice and lentils, useless since people do not have clean water or fuel to prepare them. The group said Israeli airstrikes have hit bakeries and supermarkets, further straining the food supply. The electricity blackout and lack of fuel have also disrupted the supply of food.

Oxfam Accuses Israel of 'Using Starvation as Weapon of War' in Gaza --The humanitarian group Oxfam International on Wednesday accused Israel of "using starvation as a weapon of war" in the besieged Gaza Strip, where hunger and thirst are growing rapidly as just a trickle of aid has been allowed to enter the territory amid the Israeli military's relentless bombing campaign.Citing United Nations data, Oxfam said in a statement that just 2% of the food that would have been delivered to Gaza prior to Israel's latest assault has been able to enter the strip since October 9, when the Israeli government announced a total blockade of the strip. International law prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare.In recent days, Israel has allowed several truck convoys carrying food, drinking water, and medical supplies to reach southern Gaza through the Egyptian border, but U.N. officials said that's nowhere near enough to meet the growing needs of Gazans, more than a million of whom have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes."The aid which resumed from Egypt over the weekend is a mere drop in the ocean of what is needed," Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Tuesday.Oxfam noted Wednesday that "despite 62 trucks of aid being allowed to enter southern Gaza via the Rafah crossing since the weekend, only 30 contained food and in some cases, not exclusively so.""This amounts to just one truck every three hours and 12 minutes since Saturday," the group said.Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam's regional Middle East director, said in a statement that the situation in Gaza "is nothing short of horrific.""Where is humanity?" she asked. "Millions of civilians are being collectively punished in full view of the world, there can be no justification for using starvation as a weapon of war. World leaders cannot continue to sit back and watch, they have an obligation to act and to act now."The United Nations estimates that more than 1.6 million people in Gaza—roughly 70% of the enclave's population—are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Brian Lander, deputy head of emergencies at the World Food Program, toldReuters earlier this week that around 465 trucks of aid per day are necessary to help desperate Gazans who haveresorted to drinking sewage-contaminated water and frequently skipping meals.

Massive Israeli Strikes Cut Internet in Gaza, IDF Begins Ground Operations - The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced an expansion of its ground operations into the Gaza Strip. Israeli air strikes on the besieged enclave have knocked out communications for the two million plus Palestinians living there.It appears Tel Aviv launched its anticipated ground invasion into Gaza on Friday as the Israeli Air Force pounded the region, causing a near communication blackout. “The Air Force is striking underground targets very significantly. Ground forces are expanding the ground activity this evening,” military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a press conference, reported Middle East Eye.The Jordanian Foreign Minister explained the ground operations would cause a humanitarian catastrophe. “Israel just launched a ground war on Gaza. The outcome will be a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions for years to come. Voting against [the] Arab [UN General Assembly] resolution means approving this senseless war, this senseless killing,” heposted on X. “Millions will be watching every vote. History will judge.”Jawwal, a Palestinian communications provider, issued a statement on X saying that the bombing had nearly completely disabled cell phone and internet settings in Gaza. “We regret to announce a complete interruption of all communications and Internet services with the Gaza Strip in light of the ongoing aggression,” the company said. “The intense bombing in the last hour caused the destruction of all remaining international routes linking Gaza to the outside world.”The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported in the Middle East Eye it had lost contact with its aid workers in Gaza. “We have completely lost contact with the operations room in the Gaza Strip and all our teams operating there due to the Israeli authorities cutting off all landline, cellular and internet communications.” The group’s statement continued, “We call on the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli authorities to provide immediate protection to innocent civilians, medical facilities and our teams.”Al-Jazeera notes it has inconsistent communications with some reporters in the besieged enclave. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports two dozen journalists have been killed by the Israeli bombing campaign.

The Humanitarian Case for Another Arab Oil Embargo - Anything less than threatening an oil embargo against Israel and its Western allies will likely fail to get the former to open up a humanitarian corridor, but this requires a degree of political will, trust, and coordination between the participating countries that can’t be taken for granted. . The pro-Israeli camp led by the US is against the formal involvement of any third parties in the latest war, hence the redeployment of their naval assets to the region in order to deter this scenario. The end result is that these refugees continue dying as “collateral damage” of the incessant strikes that Israel carries out on anti-terrorist pretexts, which infuriates the global masses and especially those in majority-Muslim countries, who feel powerless to stop the Gazans’ suffering. Without the creation of humanitarian corridors and amidst the spike in violence that’s expected to follow the onset of Israel’s planned ground operation, there’s a very real risk of riots breaking out across the world.Western countries could either brutally suppress them like they did those that occurred during the height of the pandemic or stand aside due to their elites’ self-interested political reasons like they did during the Antifa-BLM riots all across the US over summer 2020. In either case, their national stability wouldn’t seriously be threatened even if some extremists carry out terrorist attacks against those who participate in this unrest, but the same can’t be said for many majority-Muslim countries.These states could struggle to contain such riots since some of their security personnel might refuse to crack down on the participants if they sympathize with their pro-Palestinian cause, and even if they follow orders, the masses might riot more on the pretext that their governments are “Zionist puppets”. After all, their riots would have begun as protests in support of a noble cause, so it would be seen by the participants as a betrayal of the Palestinians, fellow Muslims, and humanity to violently disperse them.With a view towards averting that worst-case but nevertheless plausible scenario, it would therefore be a good idea for the pro-Palestinian and neutral camps to collaborate on ways to most compellingly pressure Egypt and/or Israel to open up humanitarian corridors. Since it’s unlikely that majority-Muslim countries will team up against one of their own, these efforts would thus almost certainly be directed against Israel and its Western allies, which could most effectively take the form of an oil embargo.Many Westerners already sympathize with the Palestinians’ plight so they could be counted on to pressure their governments to accede to these demands via large-scale protests across their bloc if majority-Muslim energy-exporting states and Russia give them an ultimatum. Their decisionmakers might still refuse to do their utmost in forcing Israel to host these refugees or the self-professed Jewish State might defy them in spite of their efforts, but it’s arguably the best way to advance this noble goal. Anything less than threatening an oil embargo against Israel and its Western allies will likely fail to get the former to open up a humanitarian corridor, but this requires a degree of political will, trust, and coordination between the participating countries that can’t be taken for granted. Seeing as how no indication has yet to emerge suggesting serious interest in this, it therefore remains speculative for now, but that could quickly change if public pressure becomes unbearable in many majority-Muslim countries.