January natural gas hit a 35 month low after December gas expired at 33 month low; distillates demand at 47 week low

January 2024 natural gas contract price hit a 35 month low following the latest Autumn addition to natural gas​ storage since 2017, after trading of the December gas contract had expired at a 33 month low; US distillates supplies saw biggest build in 51 weeks after US distillates demand fell to a 47 week low

US oil prices fell for a sixth straight week, even after OPEC announced additional output cuts, because the cuts were less than were expected and because not all OPEC members were on board with the announced cuts...after falling 0.7% to $75.54 a barrel last week on widespread speculation as to the eventual outcome of the OPEC+ meeting after it had been postponed, the contract price for the benchmark US light sweet crude for January delivery settled 68 cents lower at $74.86 a barrel after volatile trading on Monday as speculators placed their bets on the outcome of the OPEC+ meeting later this week, pending an agreement expected to curb ​oil supplies into 2024...however, oil prices rose on Tuesday ​o​n a weak dollar, and expectations that the OPEC+ producer group would deepen and extend output cuts due to their fears demand would remain subdued, and settled $1.55 higher at $76.41 a barrel on a storm-related drop in Kazakh oil output and a still weaker U.S. dollar,,,oil prices rose further on Wednesday as the storm in the Black Sea region disrupted oil exports from Kazakhstan and Russia, raising fears of supply tightness, and settled $1.45 higher at 77.86 a barrel even after the EIA reported across-the-board crude and fuel inventory builds and record crude production.....oil prices then rose as much as 2.2% early Thursday after OPEC+ announced their agreement to cut output by about 2.2 million bpd for the first quarter next year, but then sold off more than 3.6% by mid day and settled $1.90 lower at $75.96 a barrel,​ as traders grew convinced that the diverse group composed of OPEC plus its oil-producing allies would not deliver on promised output cuts...that skepticism ​of the OPEC agreement continued into Friday's trading as oil tumbled another $1.89 to settle at $74.07 a barrel​, and thus finished 1.9% lowert on the week...

Meanwhile, natural gas prices finished lower for a fourth straight week despite a midweek switch to quoting the higher priced January contract, on a surprise heating season addition of natural gas to storage and on mild forecasts for early December...after falling 3.5% to $2.855 per mmBTU last week despite an unexpected withdrawal of gas from storage and colder than normal forecasts, the contract price for natural gas for December delivery fell 6.1 cents on Monday and 8.8 cents on Tuesday, pushed lower by record production and by weather forecasts for a bearishly warm early December, as trading in the December contract expired with gas priced at $2.706 per mmBTU, a 33 month low for that contract...with markets quoting the contract price for natural gas for January delivery on Wednesday, which had closed down 10.9 cents at $2.837 per mmBTU on Tuesday, prices fell another 3.3 cents on Wednesday, then two-tenths of a cent on Thursday, before ekeng out a 1.2 cent gain to settle at $ 2.814 per mmBTU on Friday, which still left it down 99.9 cents over four weeks...natural gas price quotes thus finished the week 1.4% lower, while the January natural gas contract, which had closed the prior week prices at $2.999 per mmBTU, finished 6.2% lower, after hitting a 35 month low interday friday...

The EIA's natural gas storage report for the week ending November 24th indicated that the amount of working natural gas held in underground storage in the US increased by 10 billion cubic feet to 3,836 billion cubic feet by the end of the week, which left our natural gas supplies 341 billion cubic feet, or 9.8% above the 3,495 billion cubic feet that were in storage on November 24th of last year, and 303 billion cubic feet, or 8.6% more than the five-year average of 3,533 billion cubic feet of natural gas that were in working storage as of the 24th of November over the most recent five years…the ​1​0 billion cubic foot addition to US natural gas working storage for the cited week​ was the latest addition to natural gas​ storage since 2017 ​and contrasts with the average 13 billion cubic feet withdrawal from supplies that was expected by industry analysts surveyed by the Wall Street Journal, as w​ell as the average 44 billion cubic feet withdrawal from natural gas storage that has been typical for the same late Autumn week over the past 5 years, and also the 80 billion cubic feet that were pulled from natural gas storage during the corresponding ​late November week of 2022…

The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA

The US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending November 24th indicated that even after a decrease in our oil imports and a major increase in our oil refining, we again had surplus oil to add to our stored commercial crude supplies, for the sixth week in a row, and for the 27th time in the past 49 weeks​, after​ a modest increase in oil supplies that the EIA could not account for...Our imports of crude oil fell by an average of 696,000 barrels per day to average 5,833,000 barrels per day, after rising by an average of 156,000 barrels per day the prior week, while our exports of crude oil fell by 31,000 barrels per day to average 4,755,000 barrels per day, which combined meant that the net of our trade in oil worked out to a net import average of 1,078,000 barrels of oil per day during the week ending November 24th, 665,000 fewer barrels per day than the net of our imports minus our exports during the prior week. At the same time, transfers to our oil supply from Alaskan gas liquids, natural gasoline, condensate, and unfinished oils averaged 732,000 barrels per day, while during the same period, production of crude from US wells remained at an all time high of 13,200,000 barrels per day for the eighth straight week.  Hence our daily supply of oil from the net of our international trade in oil, from transfers, and from domestic well production appears to have averaged a total of 15,010,000 barrels per day during the November 24th reporting week…

Meanwhile, US oil refineries reported they were processing an average of 16,022,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending November 24th, an average of 518,000 more 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 a rounded average of 275,000 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 November 24th appear to indicate that our total working supply of oil from net imports, from transfers, and from oilfield production was 1,287,000 barrels per day less than what was added to storage plus our oil refineries reported they used during the week. To account for that ​big difference between the apparent supply of oil and the apparent disposition of it, the EIA just inserted a [ +1,287,000 ] barrel per day figure onto what is now line 16 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)….(note there is also an aging twitter thread from an EIA administrator addressing these errors, and what they had hoped to do about it)

This week's 275,000 barrel per day increase in our overall crude oil inventories came as 230,000 barrels per day were  added to our commercially available stocks of crude oil, while 45,000 barrels per day were added to our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the first SPR increase in ​eight weeks. . Further details from the weekly Petroleum Status Report (pdf) indicate that the 4 week average of our oil imports fell to 6,282,000 barrels per day last week, which was still a bit more than the 6,278,000 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 for the eighth consecutive week 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 24,000 barrels per day higher at 439,000 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 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 89.8% of their capacity while processing those 16,022,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending November 24th, up from their utilization rate of 87.0% last week, with national ​refinery utilization rates now rising ​a​fter the ​annual Autumn seasonal maintenance, when refineries switched over to produce winter blends of fuel.. however, the 16,022,000 barrels per day of oil that were refined this week were still 3.7% less than the 16,638,000 barrels of crude that were being processed daily during week ending November 25th of 2022, and 1.9% less than the 16,334,000 barrels that were being refined during the prepandemic week ending November 22nd, 2019, when our refinery utilization rate was at 89.3%..

Even with the increase in the amount of oil being refined this week, gasoline output from our refineries was again lower, decreasing by 35,000 barrels per day to 9,337,000 barrels per day during the week ending November 24th, after our refineries' gasoline output had decreased by 43,000 barrels per day during the prior week. This week’s gasoline production was 0.2% less than the 9,360,000 barrels of gasoline that were being produced daily over the same week of last year, and 7.2% less than the gasoline production of 10,065,000 barrels per day during the prepandemic week ending November 22nd, 2019....on the other hand, our refineries’ production of distillate fuels (diesel fuel and heat oil) increased by 60,000 barrels per day to 4,998,000 barrels per day, after our distillates output had increased by 185,000 barrels per day during the prior week. But even with those increases, our distillates output was 5.9% less than the 5,311,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending November 25th of 2022, and 1.5% less than the 5,075,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending November 22nd, 2019..

Even with this week's decrease in our gasoline production, our supplies of gasoline in storage at the end of the week rose for the 4th time in six weeks and for the 14th time in forty weeks, increasing by 1,764,000 barrels to  218,184,000 barrels during the week ending November 24th, after our gasoline inventories had increased by 750,000 barrels during the prior week. Our gasoline supplies rose by more this week because the amount of gasoline supplied to US users fell by 274,000 barrels per day to 8,206,000 barrels per day, and even though our exports of gasoline rose by 279,000 barrels per day to 1,175,000 barrels per day while our imports of gasoline fell by 130,000 barrels per day to 463,000 barrels per day.…Even after twenty-six gasoline inventory ​withdrawals over the past forty weeks, our gasoline supplies were still 2.1% above than last November 25th's gasoline inventories of 213,768,000 barrels, and only 2% below the five year average of our gasoline supplies for this time of the year…

With this week's increase in our distillates production, our supplies of distillate fuels rose for the first time in nine weeks, and by the most in fifty-one weeks, increasing by 5,217,000 barrels to 110,778,000 barrels over the week ending November 24th, after our distillates supplies had decreased by 1,018,000 barrels to a 18 month low during the prior week. Our distillates supplies rose this week because the amount of distillates supplied to US markets, an indicator of our domestic demand, fell by 1,096,000 barrels per day to a 47 week low of 3,014,000 barrels per day, while our exports of distillates rose by 286,000 barrels per day to 1,334,000 barrels per day, and while our imports of distillates rose by 20,000 barrels per day to 95,000 barrels per day....With 23 inventory decreases over the past thirty-eight weeks, our distillates supplies at the end of the week were ​still 1.7% below the 112,648,000 barrels of distillates that we had in storage on November 25th of 2022, and about 11% below the five year average of our distillates inventories for this time of the year...

Finally, even with our refinery demand higher and our oil imports lower, our commercial supplies of crude oil in storage rose for the 13th time in twenty-six weeks and for the 29th time in the past year, increasing by 1,610,000 barrels over the week, from 448,054,000 barrels on November 17th to 449,664,000 barrels on November 24th, after our commercial crude supplies had increased by 8,700,000 barrels over the prior week... With those increases, our commercial crude oil inventories were slightly above​ the most recent five-year average of commercial oil supplies for this time of year,​ and were ​a​lso about 30% above the average of our available crude oil stocks as of the ​t​he weekend of November 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 November 24th were 7.3% more than the 419,084,000 barrels of oil in commercial storage on November 25th of 2022, and 3.8% more than the 433,111,000 barrels of oil that we still had in storage on November 26th of 2021, but still 7.9% less than the 488,042,000 barrels of oil we had in commercial storage on November 27th of 2020, after early pandemic precautions had left a lot of oil unused…

This Week's Rig Count

Note that this week's rig count​ as of December 1st covers nine days, since last week's count was released on Wednesday, November 22nd, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday...however, the comparisons to year ago rig counts also are to a week following Thanksgiving, and hence also cover a nine day period...since we haven't been able to get back on track for a detailed report 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 December 1st, the second column shows the change in the number of working rigs between last week’s count (November 22nd) and this week’s (December 1st) count, the third column shows last week’s November 22nd 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 period a year ago, which in this week’s case was the 2nd of December, 2022...

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We must not allow fracking in parks - The Vindicator - DEAR EDITOR:Ohio Department of Natural Resources Oil and Gas Land Management Commission signed away Ohio’s state parks Nov. 15, approving fracking leases on Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area and Valley Run Wildlife Area.Ohio citizens submitted over 5,000 comments alerting OGLMC to peer-reviewed health and environmental studies. These were ignored. The commission also disregarded nine criteria contained in the statue. They demonstrated willingness to jeopardize $12.5 billion that wildlife-based recreation contributed to Ohio’s economy in 2022.After the announcement, Columbiana County Commissioner Mike Halleck told reporters about the lease of 66 acres of Zepernick Wildlife Area, “We welcome it; it’s being done safely.”But County Commissioner Halleck, as well as the OGLMC members Ryan Richardson, Stephen Buehrer, Matthew Warnock, Michael Wise and Jim McGregor, must not have considered the health and safety studies of fracking.A July accident at a Columbiana well pad caused methane gas to leak for over 28 hours, necessitating evacuation of 450 people in a mile radius. A 2018 Belmont County well explosion caused 20-day gas leaks. It is “among the worst methane leaks in human history.”Accident reports obtained from ODNR illustrate the industry is unsafe. Since 2018, ODNR data documented over 800 accidents requiring inspectors, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and hazmat intervention and remediation.Recently released report “Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure” states, “Our examination uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health directly or without imperiling climate stability upon which human health depends.”Fracking requires millions of gallons of water per well, and produces millions of gallons of toxic wastewater. Peer-reviewed studies show watersheds surrounding frack well pads test positive for radioactive substances.Over 100 studies documented nearly 200 chemical compounds in the air around fracking sites; 61 chemicals are classified as hazardous air pollutants, and some are known carcinogens.“Evidence shows that compressor stations along natural gas pipelines are sources of air pollutant exposures that may contribute to adverse human health outcomes.”Halleck said, “When it’s done, you’ll never know it was there.”I disagree. Fracking wells and infrastructure require four to 30 acres of land. We are losing forest acreage to well pads, infrastructure, roads and pipelines. Well pads are a major source of noise pollution and light pollution. Fracking also has been shown to induce seismic activity.Halleck added, “get used to it, it’s gonna happen.”Do we want a toxic industry next door to wildlife refuges? Let ODNR know Ohio parks belong to us. -- Randi Pokladnik. Steering Committee,Save Ohio Parks Uhrichsville --

Don’t frack Zepernick wildlife area - SalemNews​ -  To the editor: The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) signed away Ohio’s state parks on November 15; approving fracking leases on Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area, and Valley Run Wildlife Area. Ohio citizens submitted over 5000 comments alerting the OGLMC to peer-reviewed health and environmental studies. These were ignored. The commission also disregarded the nine criteria contained in the statue. They demonstrated their willingness to jeopardize the $12.5 billion that wildlife-based recreation contributed to Ohio’s economy in 2022. After the announcement, Columbiana County Commissioner Mike Halleck was interviewed by Cory McCray of Channel 21 WFMJ about the leasing of 66 acres of Zepernick Wildlife Area. Halleck said “we welcome it, it’s being done safely.” But County Commissioner Halleck, as well as the OGLMC members Ryan Richardson, Stephen Buehrer, Matthew Warnock, Michael Wise, and Jim McGregor, did not consider the health and safety studies of fracking. A July 2023 accident at a well pad in Columbiana caused methane gas to leak from the well head for over 28 hours, necessitating the evacuation of 450 people in a one-mile radius. A 2018 well explosion in Belmont County caused a 20-day gas leak. That accident is now considered “among the worst methane leaks in human history.” Accident reports obtained from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the ODNR illustrate that this industry is anything but safe. Just since 2018, the ODNR data has documented over 800 accidents considered serious enough to require inspectors, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and hazmat intervention to remediate the sites. The recently released report, “Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure, Ninth Edition, October 19, 2023” states, “Our examination uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health directly or without imperiling climate stability upon which human health depends.” Fracking requires millions of gallons of water to frack just one well and produces millions of gallons of toxic waste water. Peer reviewed studies show that watersheds surrounding frack well pads test positive for radioactive substances. Over 100 studies have documented nearly 200 chemical compounds in the air around fracking sites. Sixty-one of these chemicals are classified as hazardous air pollutants and some are known carcinogens. “Evidence shows that compressor stations along natural gas pipelines are sources of air pollutant exposures that may contribute to adverse human health outcomes.” Commissioner Halleck said, “when it’s done, you’ll never know it was there.” I disagree. Fracking well pads and infrastructure require four to thirty acres of land. We are losing forest acreage to well pads, infrastructure, roads, and pipelines. Well pads are a major source of noise pollution and light pollution from flaring. Fracking has also been shown to induce seismic activity. Commissioner Halleck also said, “get used to it, it’s gonna happen,” but do we want a toxic industry next door to a wildlife refuge? Let the ODNR know Ohio parks belong to us. Randi Pokladnik, Steering Committee of Save Ohio Parks,

Advocates Sue to Halt Oil & Gas Leasing in Ohio State Parks and Public Lands - Earthjustice — Local groups are appealing the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s approval of nominations to lease Ohio’s largest state park and two wildlife areas for oil and gas development.On September 15, 2023, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission approved nominations to lease Salt Fork State Park, Valley Run Wildlife Area, and Zepernick Wildlife Area. Advocates are claiming the nomination approvals were not given proper consideration under Ohio state law. The groups also claim that there was no opportunity for public hearing as required by Ohio state law. The Commission’s approval of the nominations requires the public lands to be leased to the highest and best bidder, with bidding set to begin in January.The groups suing include Save Ohio Parks, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Buckeye Environmental Network, and Ohio Environmental Council. They are represented by lawyers at Earthjustice, and the Ohio Environmental Council are also representing themselves in this case. Statements from groups and attorneys are below […] Background: On April 7, 2023, Ohio HB 507 went into law requiring the leasing of public lands, including state parks, for fracking. Oil and gas leasing was already allowed at state parks and public lands because of a 2011 bill from the state legislature. HB 507 required oil and gas leasing on state owned land until the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission adopted a uniform lease, at which point the Commission again has discretion to approve or disapprove nominations to lease Ohio’s public lands. The Commission adopted a lease this spring and began receiving nominations to lease.On November 15, 2023, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission voted to advance requests to frack thousands of acres Salt Fork State Park, Valley Run Wildlife Area and Zepernick Wildlife Area. The votes occurred over the chants of around 100 protesters.

Fracking now allowed in Ohio state parks, wildlife areas - The Post -The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission declared its decision to allow fracking in Ohio state parks and wildlife areas owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, or ODNR, on Nov. 15.The commission allowed oil and gas development underneath Salt Fork State Park and two other state-owned wildlife areas – Valley Run Wildlife Area and Zepernick Wildlife Area. Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is the process of fracturing underground bedrock and injecting high-pressure fluid into the rock formations. The high-pressure fluid creates cracks in the bedrock formations for natural gas, oil and brine to flow through. The approval of fracking in state parks has raised concerns among environmentalists and Ohio communities.In May 2011, the Ohio legislature passed House Bill 133, creating the Oil and Gas Leasing Commission to oversee the leasing of public land for oil and gas extraction.The commission, established under former Gov. John Kasich, held its first meeting in November 2019 under incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine.In December 2021, House Bill 507 was created to revise the number of poultry chicks sold in lots from six to three.However, a year later, an amendment was added to HB507 that mandated state agencies to allow fracking on Ohio public lands, according to Save Ohio Parks.Save Ohio Parks, a volunteer group of Ohioans, aims to educate the public about the dangerous effects of fracking and the reliance on fossil fuels.Roxanne Groff, a committee member of Save Ohio Parks, said the bill’s wording regarding the allowance of fracking was changed to read “Public lands may be leased,” to “Shall be leased.” She said this mandate and its wording sparked frustration among park supporters, which, in turn, grew the Save Ohio Parks campaign. Loraine McCosker started the campaign initiative for Save Ohio Parks, and she discussed how fracking worsens the air quality and affects the health of people living in nearby communities. “It's just a health and an environmental catastrophe,” she said.According to the Yale Climate Connections, fracking techniques may take place in populated areas and contaminate drinking water.However, water intensity is lower for fracking than other fossil fuels and nuclear energy sources, using two, three and 10 times less water per unit. Also, relying on natural gas has greater public health benefits than using coal, according to the website. The statute ORC 155.33 states the commission can approve or disapprove of nine criteria, including economic benefit, environmental impact, geological impact, impact on visitors and public comments and objections.McCosker said the commission failed to address the nine considerations. Groff said the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission received 5,000 comments, including peer-reviewed health and environmental studies, outlining the harmful effects of fracking, and the side in favor of fracking submitted no data to support the economic benefits of it.Caden Hibbs, Ohio University’s Student Senate environmental affairs commissioner, said there is money made in fracking and it can lead to economic growth in the short term, but he said the economic benefits are not distributed equally.“I think that there are definitely benefits if you're thinking more short term, less sustainable aspect, but to me, obviously, those fail in comparison to the numerous negative effects,” he said.Hibbs said that environmental degradation and pollution specifically affect marginalized groups to a higher extent.“With an issue like fracking, seeing it, people understanding it more just comes from their own experience,” he said. “They might not see from themselves the kind of issues of fracking, but there are plenty of marginalized communities … who have to deal with these negative effects.”Groff said there is an environmental injustice regarding fracking. She said fracking is burdening vulnerable communities in the Appalachian region, which is one of the poorest regions in the state. “These are our public lands,“ McCosker said. "These are for future generations. They're not for industrial processes, but for future generations (and) for the people right now … (and) for the species that depend on them. With fracking, it has a huge, huge footprint."

Environmentalists sue to block fracking in state parks, wildlife areas - cleveland.com– Several environmental organizations announced a lawsuit Thursday seeking to block state approval of fracking for oil and gas in a state park and two protected wildlife areas. The lawsuit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas asks the court to review the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s decision to approve seven requests to open tracts spanning thousands of acres for fracking at Salt Fork in Guernsey County, plus smaller swaths of Valley Run Wildlife Area in Carroll County and Zepernick Wildlife Area in Columbiana County. It was brought by the Ohio Environmental Council, Save Ohio Parks, Buckeye Environmental Network, and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

Environmental groups appeal decisions opening state park to fracking - The Cincinnati Enquirer - Environmental groups are suing Ohio after the state's decision to allow fracking under a state park and wildlife areas.Earthjustice and the Ohio Environmental Council filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court Thursday appealing the state's decisions to greenlight accepting bids for fracking under Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County and two state wildlife areas. Last month, Ohio’s Oil and Gas Land Management Commission approved the next step for oil and gas drilling under Salt Fork State Park, Valley Run Wildlife Area in Carroll County and Zepernick Wildlife Area in Columbiana County. Starting after January, the state will accept bids.Environmental advocates and opponents of the move protested throughout the meeting, frustrated by the decision being made and how little public input was considered."Save Ohio Parks helped almost 5,000 Ohio citizens submit public comments opposed to fracking our state parks and wildlife areas," said Cathy Cowan Becker, a steering committee member with the group that has protested this process for months. "The commission disregarded all of this evidence and voted to frack our beloved parks and wildlife areas anyway."The lawsuit argues that the commission did not follow the rules for approving the acceptance of bids and violated the state's open meetings requirements.The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Opponents appeal decision to allow drilling under Ohio state parks and wildlife areas - Environmental groups filed an appeal Thursday, challenging recent decisions by an Ohio regulatory commission to allow drilling under a state park and two state wildlife areas.Those decisions currently call for sections of Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area and Valley Run Wildlife Area to be leased to the highest and best bidder, with the bidding period set to start in January.Among other things, the groups say the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission failed to consider all of the factors it was required to weigh under state law. The groups also allege that the commission failed to provide an opportunity for public hearing under state law.Plans to drill under Ohio state parks and wildlife areas were jump-started earlier this year by House Bill 507, which began as a two-page bill about poultry regulations and grew to more than 80 pages when lawmakers heaped in provisions about natural gas and other unrelated topics last December. Environmental groups challenged the constitutionality of the law earlier this year, and that case is still pending.The new case appealing the commission’s decisions was filed on Nov. 30 with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. A notice of appeal was also filed with the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission. Parties to the appeal include Save Ohio Parks, the Ohio Environmental Council, the Buckeye Environmental Network and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. Lawyers at Earthjustice are acting as counsel, and the Ohio Environmental Council also has its own attorneys on the complaint.HB 507 would have required approval of drilling under state-owned lands until the commission adopted a standard lease form and other rules to allow drilling on different parcels.Now, under the law, Ohio statutory law calls for the commission to consider nine factors, including environmental impacts, effects on visitors or users of state-owned lands, public comments or objections, economic benefits and more. Commission Chair Ryan Richardson also recited those factors in an affidavit filed in the constitutional challenge case.The opponents’ appeal alleges that the commission failed to duly consider all those factors. The commission also did not allow people attending the meetings to present testimony in opposition to particular proposals.Even after the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission adopted rules this spring, comments by its members indicated they still viewed HB 507 as a legislative mandate preventing them from rejecting parcel nominations outright.“We’ve been directed to open these lands up,” Richardson said at a Sept. 18 commission meeting.In a similar vein, commission member Jim McGregor told the Energy News Network this summer, “we have a mandate from the legislature that says we shall lease public lands for fracking.”The commission did not discuss all the statutory factors for voting either yes or no at its Nov. 15 meeting. Yet it voted to allow opening up lands under the state park and wildlife areas for bid next quarter. No written opinion explaining the decisions has been posted on the commission’s website.“The commission is not required to submit a written opinion, and they are not expecting to write one,” said Andy Chow, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, in response to a question by the Energy News Network the next day. “And there is no appeals procedure.”“The Commission’s refusal to issue a written decision, failure to engage in meaningful discussion of the statutory criteria, and its belief that decisions are not appealable, show a concerning disregard for the process and rigor contemplated by their statutory mandates,” said Megan Hunter, a lawyer for Earthjustice who is representing opponents in the appeal and in the constitutional challenge case.

Fracking on Public Land Draws Environmentalist Lawsuit in Ohio - Bloomberg Law

• Suit says commission’s decision isn’t in line with law
• Appeal is second lawsuit regarding drilling on Ohio lands

Four environmentalist groups sued an Ohio commission over its approval of requests to drill for oil and gas in the state’s largest state park and two state wildlife areas. The Oil & Gas Land Management Commission decisions made Nov. 15 “are not supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence and are not in accordance with law,” said the appeal filed Thursday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. The commission also didn’t consider the factors required under state law and didn’t allow for a public hearing, the appeal stated.Save Ohio Parks, Buckeye Environmental Network, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and Ohio ...

Operators Eye Oil Potential of Ohio's Utica Shale | Energy Intelligence - Operators in Ohio’s natural gas-rich Utica Shale are increasingly targeting the play's volatile oil window, setting the stage for a dramatic shift in its production profile.

DUG Appalachia: 'Forgotten Child' Ohio Sees Oil Output Soar - Buoyed by a decade of investment in the oil and gas industry, Ohio’s production is up and expectations are high that even better numbers are around the corner. Even though Ohio has sometimes been “the forgotten child” in the region, the state has plenty to offer, including the “holy trinity of hydrocarbons,” Rob Brundrett, president of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association, said during an update on the state of the Utica Shale at Hart Energy’s DUG Appalachia Conference on Nov. 29. “We’ve got oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil. So we have them all right here in the Utica and the state of Ohio.”Those resources have drawn in more than $100 billion in investments over the past decade, with the lion’s share going to the upstream sector, he said. “Most of this is private money. It’s not government subsidies. We’re very fortunate to have a strong thriving industry,” Brundrett said. “If you look at the producer side, about $70 billion of that is coming straight from the producers in the state of Ohio, and that money is going into eastern Ohio. And I can’t again overstate the importance of that kind of infrastructure and that kind of investment in really one of the poorest regions in our state.”The state itself embraced its role as an energy producer during that time.With no corporate income tax, the climate is favorable for businesses, he said, and the regulatory environment is straightforward.More than 4,000 permits have been issued for lateral shale wells, and more than 3,000 horizontal shale wells are producing, he said. “We’ve got a really good regulatory environment that’s allowed oil and gas to sort of thrive on the edge of this play,” he said.Brundrett said the industry-friendly environment is one of the big draws Ohio offers. “Just last year, the state of Ohio declared natural gas a green energy. It’s more of a declaratory statement than anything, but I think it doubles down on where the state’s elected officials are when it comes to the production and use of natural gas,” he said.And Ohio has a fully integrated oil and gas industry with production, processing and refining in the state, he said. In 2012, he said, the industry was excited about the possibilities and potential across the Utica Shale, which stretches from New York state in the north to northeastern Kentucky and Tennessee in the south, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).Ohio’s seemed to have potential even as neighboring states — and the Marcellus Shale — got most of the attention. “Ohio is on the edge, so it’s kind of like the younger sibling of the other two. And so maybe the projections weren’t as great for Ohio as what they were for West Virginia and Pennsylvania,” Brundrett said.But 10 years later, he said, investments in the state are paying off.“We’ve always had a strong gas play and we’ve continued to have a strong gas play,” he said. But the play’s oil production is also picking up.Between first-quarter of 2022 and the second-quarter of 2023, oil output increased by 51%, he said.Overall Ohio oil production is also up. In second-quarter 2023, the state produced a total of 6.9 MMbbl of oil. That compares with second-quarter 2022 production of 4.9 MMbbl — a 40% increase, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources data.Looking at expected future production, Brundrett believes Ohio’s contribution to the energy mix will continue to grow as the industry continues to improve its understanding of the source rocks and better parse data.“I think we’ve all learned a ton over the last decade on how best to drill and how best to finish these wells to get the … maximum for your investment. And I think it’s starting to finally really pay off in the state of Ohio, especially with natural gas liquids,” he said. “We’ve found a way to kind of crack that code and really maybe extract the maximum benefits that we can from the ground in Ohio, which is really, really exciting. And we’re probably going to see, obviously, a lot more investment in Ohio based on these results.”Comparison of Ohio’s natural gas production versus consumption from 2010 to 2020. (Source: Ohio Oil & Gas Association)

Tour of fracking sites connects activists from Appalachia and the Gulf ... What do residents of the Gulf Coast and Appalachia have in common? A lot, according to the members of an art collective, especially when it comes to the buildout of the petrochemical industry and its impact on public health.So in November, they brought together about 25 people in Pittsburgh, including local residents living alongside industry and activists fighting the fossil fuel industry from the Gulf Coast and other regions. The purpose was to kick off a multi-city campaign against pollution called “We Refuse to Die.”To illustrate shared values and connect the dots across experiences, the activists took what organizers called a “toxic tour” of fracking sites in Washington County, an idea that came out of activism in Texas. It was the final event in a series that took place over severaldays, including other toxic tours and an art installation and ceremony. “We Refuse to Die” is also part of the “Unsettling Matter, Gaining Ground” exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Tammy Murphy, advocacy director for Physicians for Social Responsibility, Pennsylvania, which helped organize the tour, said they want people to see with their own eyes the environmental and health impacts of the oil and gas industry, as many of the companies operate in multiple communities.“The way that we see it is the industries work as a network,” Murphy said. “And for us, this is our way of strengthening our own network.”On the small, black bus, participants told their stories and chanted, “We refuse to die! We refuse to die!”Beka Economopoulos is the director of the Natural History Museum, described as a museum for the movement, who organized the gathering. She explained why the campaign is called “We Refuse to Die.” “The idea is if the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry is writing off our communities as sacrifice zones,” Economopoulos said. “With ‘we refuse to die,’ the living dead speak back, forging a coalition between the living and the dead in which those we have lost are not simply victims, but allies and agents of change.” The first stop on the tour was a parking lot across from the MarkWest Houston plant that processes natural gas for transport. There, the group met up with Lois Bower-Bjornson, an organizer with the Clean Air Council and a resident of Washington County. A microphone in hand, she addressed the group and said the plant has been expanded beyond its original size and residents worry about fires and the health impacts of gas flaring there. “This is normalized,” Bower-Bjornson said. “People that live in Washington County and down to our county commissioners will tell you how much money this industry has made and how much it’s brought into the communities.” From the small crowd, Barbara Irvin from Mississippi asked Bower-Bjornson about her characterization of the priorities of elected officials in the county when it comes to fracking. “So nothing about human life?” Irvin asked. “The same human life that’s paying your salary, the same human life that is getting, you know, you into office. And this is what you have to say, which is absolutely nothing?” “It’s unfortunate,” Bower-Bjornson answered. Irvin said that at home in Mississippi, she feels no one is held accountable for illnesses caused by pollution in her community. “We’ve got to keep fighting to make it stop,” Irvin said. “And, you know, don’t just shove it under the rug because you can’t shove your life under the rug.” Along the route to another site, the bus passed a black and white billboard paid for by the campaign that reads, “Kids living near fracking wells are 2-3 times more likely on average to get childhood leukemia,” a finding from a Yale School of Public Health study.During a stop at a park in North Strabane Township, where a Range Resources fracking pad can be seen from the soccer field, Travis London took the mic to share his story. He’s from Donaldsonville, Louisiana, a town between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, in an area known as Cancer Alley. London said in his community, a football field, a Head Start program, and an elementary school are all near a major ammonia manufacturing plant owned by CF Industries. He said that in his area, activists are still fighting permits to build more industrial plants. Now, they are also pushing back against what he calls the greenwashing and misinformation around carbon capture technology and hydrogen plants.For Melanie Meade, the week of activities was an emotional rollercoaster. Meade is an activist in Clairton, south of Pittsburgh, where the largest coke plant in the US is located. “This tour has helped me to see and realize that we all have a purpose in this,” said Meade, who is also a fellow for the Black Appalachian Coalition. “And where we feel like we’re insufficient or not enough, there are others who are down the road or down the river who can help us realize that we are enough together.The campaign’s next action will be installing an art piece in East Palestine, Ohio, overlooking the Norfolk Southern train derailment site on the disaster’s one-year anniversary on February 3.

14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 20 – 26 | Marcellus Drilling News - New shale permits issued for Nov 20 – 26 in the Marcellus/Utica was anemic but better than the prior pathetic report of just a single new permit (see 1 New Shale Well Permit Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 13 – 19). There were 14 new permits issued last week. Last week’s permit tally included 7 new permits in Pennsylvania, 7 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. EQT took the top prize for the most new permits, receiving 6 for a single well pad in Greene County, PA.  COLUMBIANA COUNTY | ENCINO ENERGY | EQT CORP | GREENE COUNTY (PA) | GUERNSEY COUNTY | INR | SENECA RESOURCES | TIOGA COUNTY (PA)

NOG expands Permian presence, enters Ohio Utica shale with $170 million acquisitions– Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) has entered into a definitive agreement with a private party to acquire non-operated interests across approximately 3,000 net acres located primarily in Lea and Eddy Counties, New Mexico. NOG owns existing interests in approximately 90% of the leasehold. Current production is roughly 2,800 boed (2-stream, about 67% oil). NOG expects 2024 production to average around 2,500 boed (2-stream, about 67% oil), but expects significant future growth on the assets, with average production of more than 3,500 boed for 2025 through 2030. Capital expenditures on the assets are expected to be in the range of $25 - $30 million in 2024, with similar expected levels annually through 2027. The acquired assets include 13 net producing wells, 1 net well in process and an estimated 26.3 net undeveloped locations, representing approximately 13.5 years of inventory at sustaining capital levels. The undeveloped assets are of extremely high quality, with an average pre-tax PV-10 breakeven of less than $45 per bbl. Mewbourne Oil is the largest operator, controlling approximately 80% of the assets. Appalachian basin transaction. NOG has entered into a definitive agreement with a separate private party to acquire non-operated interests in Jefferson, Harrison, Belmont, and Monroe Counties, Ohio. The primary target zone is the Point Pleasant/Utica Shale. Current production is approximately 23 MMcfd (about 3,800 boed, nearly 100% gas), and NOG expects average production in 2024 at slightly higher levels. NOG expects to incur approximately $14 million of capital expenditures on the assets in 2023, and $8 million of capital expenditures in 2024. The acquired properties include approximately 0.8 net producing wells and 1.7 net wells-in-process. Substantially, all the assets are operated by Ascent Resources, one of the top Utica producers in Ohio.

Living on Earth: Unmasking Secret Fracking Chemicals - Many of the chemicals used in fracking for natural gas are hazardous to human health, but loopholes in disclosure laws mean that companies can keep them secret. So Pennsylvania’s Governor is moving to compel companies to disclose the chemicals they use in fracking operations. Environmental Health News reporter Kristina Marusic joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the health risks and disclosure challenges. (Transcript) If you drill and break or fracture certain rocks underneath North Dakota, Texas, and Pennsylvania you can put in a pipe and get out some oil and lots of natural gas. This process of hydraulic fracturing nicknamed fracking relies on high pressure water laced with toxic chemicals, chemicals that are often hazardous to human health. But if you live near these fracking wells, it can be hard to find out just what might be getting in the water and the risks you might be running. So, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has announced that his state will make new rules to disclose chemicals used by fracking operations. As Pennsylvania’s attorney general in 2020 Shapiro led a grand jury that found regulators at the Department of Environmental Protection had failed to protect communities from fracking health risks. Environmental Health News reporter Kristina Marusic works in western Pennsylvania fracking country and joins us now from Pittsburgh. Kristina, welcome back to Living on Earth!

Opinion: Time to move on fracking safety measures – Pennsylvania Capital-Star - For years, advocates have been calling on Harrisburg to implement commonsense safety regulations to mitigate harmful health impacts of fracking – particularly for children and other vulnerable populations. Gov. Josh Shapiro has taken a step forward in delivering for these impacted communities. Now, it’s time for the state legislature to do the same. A growing body of scientific research is showing what advocates have long suspected: that fracking is connected to serious negative impacts for families who live nearby. An array of scientific studies have associated fracking with serious negative health outcomes, from an increased risk of certain types of childhood cancers to premature death in residents who live near fracking activities. The fluids used in fracking can contain highly toxic chemicals, which can leak into groundwater. Fracking can also dredge up dangerous radioactive rock formations that are naturally occurring and found in shale deposits. And the fracking process can also release dangerous pollution into the air, increasing the risk of asthma and other respiratory and pulmonary diseases. Yet for years, the oil and gas industry has used its political clout and generous campaign donations to bottle up any attempt to impose commonsense safety measures on drillers. That changed earlier this month, when Gov. Shapiro directed the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to begin the process of implementing new regulations designed to improve the safety of impacted communities while reducing emissions of methane from wells — a potent greenhouse gas. Once implemented, these new rules will increase transparency of the chemicals used in drilling, better protect communities from the toxic wastewater created by fracking, improve corrosion protections and enhance inspections of drilling equipment. They build upon Shapiro’s work as attorney general, where his investigations of the oil and gas industry led to the release of a state grand jury report that highlighted the urgent need for reforms to protect Pennsylvania families from the harmful impacts of this extractive industry. But Shapiro’s move only represents a first step. Many of the recommendations in the grand jury report require legislative action. While legislation to improve fracking safety requirements have languished in the legislature for years, a legislative committee recently held a hearing on a bill by Rep. Danielle Friel Otten (D-Chester) to impose setbacks on drilling operations to increase the minimum distance between fracking infrastructure and homes, schools and other buildings. This legislation responds to the growing scientific consensus that families closest to drilling activities are at the greatest risk from negative health impacts. While Gov. Shapiro recently secured a commitment from CNX to implement setbacks from the state-mandated 500 feet to 600 feet for all sites, and increases them to 2,500 feet for sensitive sites like hospitals and schools, we need a statewide approach. It’s not feasible for the governor to negotiate voluntary setbacks on a company-by-company basis for an entire industry. While fracking companies remain a powerful force in Harrisburg, it’s time for lawmakers to put the safety of Pennsylvania families over the profits of their corporate campaign contributors. At the same time, improved setbacks are just one of eight recommendations to come out of the grand jury report.

Natural Gas Said Springboard to Advance Four U.S. Hydrogen Hubs - Major energy producers, midstream operators and petrochemical giants are set to kickstart a string of nationwide hydrogen hubs, four fueled with natural gas, to advance emissions reductions from the hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors. Seven hydrogen hubs, aka H2Hubs, were recently selected to receive a total of $7 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to begin the projects. In addition, the sponsors, mostly from the private sector, have earmarked another $40 billion-plus to advance the hubs, sited from Pennsylvania to California. The funding “is laying the foundation for a new, American-led industry that will propel the global clean energy transition while creating high quality jobs and delivering healthier communities in every pocket of the nation,” DOE said..

Hydrogen Is Just Another Hole for Natural Gas to Fill -- The gas industry has had plenty of practice making a case for itself. A few decades ago, when the U.S. as a whole was becoming more environmentally minded, the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency was eying the gas industry, and public-health research was beginning to suggest that gas stoves might be bad for health. In the 1970s and ’80s, the industry went on an offensive to downplay those dangers, using the same strategies, even thesame PR firms, as the tobacco industry to avoid regulation, and was largely successful. Preserving demand for the product—gas stoves were “gateway” appliances that made a home more likely to have a gas furnace, a gas clothes dryer, and so on—was key.The fracking boom supercharged that imperative, flooding the market with cheap gas. As hydraulic fracturing and horizontal-drilling technologies began liberating gas from hard-to-reach shale formations, production went way up. The U.S. natural-gas market was exploding with supply, which began to drive gas prices down. All that gas needed someplace to go.But then a fortuitous pivot provided exactly that place: Ethane, a previously unusable waste product of natural-gas extraction, proved useful. In the past two decades, the industry has begun pouring resources into commercializing a method to “crack” ethane molecules, allowing them to be rearranged into ethylene, the main building block of plastics. The majority of petrochemical cracker plants built after 2012 were designed to use ethane. Drilling for “wet” gas—which is higher in ethane content, and therefore less useful as natural gas destined to be burned for fuel—became a profitable endeavor.This ushered in the gas-for-plastic revolution: The industry envisioned a plastics boom, planning for ethane “cracker” plants all over the Ohio River Valley and the Gulf Coast. In 2018, the International Energy Agencypredicted that petrochemical production—which is mostly plastic—would account for nearly half of all growth for fossil-fuel demand by 2050. As of February 2020, some 343 new plastic-production plants and expansions were permitted or planned in the U.S., according to the American Chemistry Council, a top trade group for American plastic companies. Shell’s cracker, a behemoth operation on a sprawling 384-acre campus, began operations last year, with its very own ethane pipeline snaking from the shale-gas fields to supply it. “What led the massive boom in the construction of new plastics facilities in the U.S. was not the emergence of massive public demand for plastics, but the fact that natural-gas feedstocks became incredibly cheap,” Carroll Muffett, the president of the Center for International Environmental Law, a nonprofit human-rights and environmental law firm, told me in 2020. “The fracking boom triggered the renaissance of the plastics industry in the U.S.”Yet plastic production is no guarantee; almost every boom eventually goes bust, and the market is beginning to show some tentative signs of waning. Some of the planned plastic plants never came to fruition, whether because they failed to find an investment partner or they faced falling commodity prices and were dealing with corruption charges. There are hints that demand is slowing down for the moment, leading to slimming margins for plastic makers (although no shortage of predictions show the industry continuing togrow, in and outside the U.S.).No matter the future of plastics, the U.S. gas industry is already well into its next gambit, or rather, gambits: One is the monumental-scale build-out of liquified-natural-gas (LNG) export facilities. Within one day of Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the gas industry had sent a letter to the White House requesting its help obtaining approval for pending plans to build terminals to send gas to Europe, to stem an energy crisis that the conflict would surely cause. The Biden administration largely obliged, and the major fossil-fuel companies saw their profits more than double year-over-year. Now LNG terminals are popping up throughout the U.S. Gulf Coast, and exports of gas to Europe remain high. Although some still see natural gas as a “bridge fuel” between more carbon-intensive fuels, such as coal and oil, and a genuinely clean-energy future of solar and wind power, that idea has been widely questioned: Natural-gas use seems mostly a bridge to using more natural gas. Shipping LNG abroad appears to be worse for the environmentthan burning coal, leading to questions about whether the Biden administration will step in to halt the infrastructure build-out.The industry’s other gambit also has received direct support from the Biden administration, whose signature climate laws include billions of dollars of investments and tax credits for hydrogen fuel—made from natural gas. Exxon, for one, is heavily lobbying the Biden administration to allow the industry access to tax credits written into the Inflation Reduction Act; last month, the Biden administration announced that it would invest $7 billion in the creation of seven hydrogen “hubs,” and hydrogen from gas was central to the plan.

Northeast Natural Energy received “industry-first” ESG grade for Marcellus shale natural gas – Northeast Natural Energy, a West Virginia-based Marcellus shale natural gas producer, has just become the first producer globally to receive an "A" letter grade from Equitable Origin (EO) for the ESG performance of its West Virginia assets. This was the result of a voluntary reverification audit conducted by Responsible Energy Solutions LLC in 2023. A pioneer in differentiated natural gas production, NNE became the first producer in the United States to certify an asset to EO's independent voluntary standard for high-ESG performance at the site level in 2021. Equitable Origin-approved expert third-party assessor Responsible Energy Solutions LLC independently evaluated NNE's operations against the principles of the EO100 Standard, including corporate governance and ethics; social impacts, human rights, and community engagement; occupational health and safety and fair labor standards; and environmental performance. Annually, the assessors undertake reverification audits to assess conformance to the standard and progress by NNE on a Continual Improvement Plan that is a requirement for ESG certification. These findings are subject to a rigorous external peer review. "Having completed our third annual assessment for Northeast Natural Energy, our team has seen continuous improvement that reflects a culture of excellence at NNE," said Roy Hartstein, founder and president, Responsible Energy Solutions LLC. "Through the review of thousands of pages of documents and dozens of interviews with NNE staff, contractors, and external stakeholders, we have found that culture reflected in action and results from the field through the senior leadership." Northeast Natural Energy, LLC is a privately owned energy company headquartered in Charleston, W.Va. that focuses on the development of dry, pipeline quality natural gas in the Appalachian basin. The company operates 40,000 contiguous acres in north central West Virginia, developing and producing reserves from the Marcellus shale.

Natural Gas Extends Losing Streak on Surprise Storage Build – WSJ 1108 ET – Natural Gas Prices Turn Lower on Unexpected Storage Build - Natural gas futures give up early gains and move lower as the EIA reports an unexpected increase in natural gas supplies for last week. EIA says natural gas in storage rose by 10 Bcf to 3,836 Bcf as of Nov. 24, which was 9.8% above its year-ago level and 8.6% above the five-year average for the week. Given a cold snap across parts of the US, a draw of 13 Bcf was expected, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. Milder-than-normal weather in the US so far this fall has kept a lid on demand, while daily US production has reached record levels around 105 Bcf. “The longer it takes for cold/blue weather maps to show up, the more impatient the natural gas markets are likely to get. We continue to look to the 2nd half of December for better opportunities of colder air to advance into the US,” forecaster NatGasWeather says in a report. Natural gas for January delivery is down 0.2% at $2.798/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)1501 ET –– Natural gas futures lose ground for a fifth straight session as the EIA reports an unexpected 10 Bcf increase in gas storage to 3,836 Bcf as of Nov. 24, against expectations of a 13 Bcf draw in a Wall Street Journal survey. Natural gas for January settles off 0.1% at $2.802/mmBtu. Mild US weather and near record production are pressuring prices ahead of the expected winter draws. “Winter weather risks will remain the big driver of prices into next year,” says Francisco Blanch, head of commodities research at Bank of America. “We’re thinking $3 per mmBtu average for 2024,” he says. Strong exports could help, however. “Mexico has been a huge taker of US gas with over 6 Bcf a day going there, and with roughly 15 Bcf a day in LNG exports, about a fifth of America’s gas is going abroad right now,” he adds.

Despite Subdued Prices, Haynesville Natural Gas Producers Ramp Up Activity in November - Counter to rig count trends over much of 2023, natural gas production in the Haynesville Shale proved robust through the first half of November and could continue to help drive strong overall output, according to East Daley Analytics. Pipeline flows in Louisiana and East Texas averaged 13.2 Bcf/d through Nov. 16, marking a 300 MMcf/d jump over October levels and the highest volumes East Daley has observed since the basin’s 2023 output peaked at 13.7 Bcf/d in May, analyst Oren Pilant said. Most of the gains were on Energy Transfer LP’s Enable-Haynesville gathering system (plus-275 MMcf/d), with small gains on several other gathering systems, he said. Pilant said near record levels of LNG feed gas demand – above 14 Bcf/d through most of...

Commonwealth LNG inks carbon capture and storage pact - Commonwealth LNG has entered into a deal with OnStream CO2 for a carbon capture and storage solution at its 9.3 mtpa LNG facility under development in Cameron, Louisiana. OnStream CO2 is a joint venture between Carbonvert and Castex Carbon Solutions. Under the memorandum of understanding, OnStream CO2 will design, construct, own, and operate carbon dioxide (CO2) capture equipment near the Commonwealth LNG site, according to a statement by the US LNG developer. The captured CO2 will be permanently sequestered at the Cameron Parish CO2 hub, while Commonwealth LNG will dedicate CO2 emitted from the LNG facility for a 20-year term. The Carbonvert-Castex joint venture recently announced an operating agreement with Louisiana to develop a 24,000-acre tract of land offshore Cameron Parish, where it will permanently store CO2 in a hub with capacity for more than 250 million metric tons. Final terms of the carbon capture arrangement remain subject to negotiation of a definitive agreement between the parties, Commonwealth LNG said. “Adding carbon capture technology complements our comprehensive goal of achieving best-in-class environmental standards through measures that also include a focus on responsibly sourced gas and the installation of the highest efficiency gas turbines,” Commonwealth LNG founder and executive chairman, Paul Varello, said. Commonwealth LNG said it expects a final investment decision on its LNG project in the first half of 2024, with first cargo deliveries expected in 2027.

Cheniere, OMV seal long-term LNG supply deal - US LNG exporting giant Cheniere has signed a long-term deal with Austrian energy firm OMV to supply the latter with liquefied natural gas. OMV will receive the volumes via the Gate LNG import terminal in the Dutch port of Rotterdam where it holds capacity. According to separate statements by the two firms, Cheniere Marketing will supply OMV Gas Marketing and Trading with up to 12 LNG cargoes per year, or about 0.85 mtpa of LNG, at a TTF-linked price starting in late 2029. The two firms did not reveal the duration of the sales and purchase agreement. Cheniere’s executive VP and CCO, Anatol Feygin, said this deal deepens their relationship further since Cheniere first supplied OMV in 2018. “This long-term agreement between Cheniere and OMV will enhance Cheniere’s ability to supply LNG to Europe, where energy security has never been more important,” he said. Berislav Gaso, executive president for OMV Energy business, said the company has made “another significant step in diversifying and safeguarding alternative non-Russian gas supply sources for its customers in the long-term.” Earlier this year, UK-based energy giant BP signed a 10-year deal with OMV to supply the latter with LNG via the Gate terminal, owned by Gasunie and Vopak. Under this deal, BP will supply up to 1 mtpa of LNG per year from its global portfolio from 2026. Sabine Pass expansion deal In connection with the OMV deal, Cheniere also announced that Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage V has entered into a long-term integrated production marketing gas supply agreement with ARC Resources U.S. Corp., a unit of Canada’s natural gas producer ARC Resources. Under the deal, ARC Resources has agreed to sell 140,000 MMBtu per day of natural gas to SPL Stage 5 for a term of 15 years, starting with commercial operations of the first train (train 7) of the Sabine Pass liquefaction expansion project.

Arc Resources Cuts Deal with Cheniere to Sell Natural Gas at Prices Linked to TTF - Arc Resources Ltd., one of Canada’s largest natural gas producers, said Wednesday it would send more volumes to Cheniere Energy Inc. for liquefaction and delivery to Europe. Under a gas supply agreement (GSA) signed with Cheniere, Calgary-based Arc said it would send 140,000 MMBtu/d to the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Stage 5 project in Louisiana for 15 years once the first train comes online. Cheniere would pay a price for those volumes indexed to the Title Transfer Facility (TTF), Europe’s gas benchmark, further exposing Arc’s volumes to international indexes. Arc CEO Terry Anderson said the deal represents the first time a Canadian producer has signed a long-term arrangement to send gas to Europe at prices tied to TTF. He added that it advances the company’s LNG strategy,...

Delfin seals long-term LNG supply deal with Gunvor - LNG Prime Delfin Midstream, the US developer of a floating LNG export project in the Gulf of Mexico, has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas supply deal with a unit of Geneva-based energy and LNG trader, Gunvor. Delfin LNG, a unit of Delfin Midstream, and Gunvor Singapore entered into the LNG sale and purchase agreement, according to a statement by Delfin Midstream. Under the SPA, Delfin LNG will supply between 0.5 to 1.0 million tonnes of LNG per year to Gunvor on a free-on-board (FOB) basis at the planned Delfin Deepwater Port, located off the coast of Louisiana for a minimum duration of 15 years. Dudley Poston, CEO of Delfin, welcomed the signing of a “major” long-term LNG supply agreement with Gunvor. This latest sale and purchase agreement “further demonstrates our attractiveness” as a long-term source of LNG, he said. “We continue to support US LNG projects and unlock new sources to meet the growing global LNG demand while further expanding our supply portfolio,” Kalpesh Patel, co-head of LNG trading of Gunvor, said. “Final phase towards FID” on first three floating LNG producers Delfin plans to install up to four self-propelled FLNG vessels that could produce up to 13.3 mtpa of LNG or 1.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas as part of its Delfin LNG project. The firm also aims to install two FLNG units under the Avocet LNG project. “The company has secured commercial agreements for LNG sales and liquefaction services and is in the final phase towards FID on its first three FLNG vessels,” Delfin said in the statement. In October, Delfin won more time from the US FERC to put into service the project’s onshore facilities in Louisiana.Delfin now has time until September 28, 2027, to construct and make available for service the onshore facilities.

Top 25 Natural Gas Producers in the US - In this article, we'll discuss the top natural gas-producing companies in the US and their current dynamics. If you want to skip our detailed overview of the country's natural gas sector, read Top 5 Natural Gas Producers in the US. The United States is rich in natural gas resources found in multiple key basins and regions. Firstly, the Marcellus Shale, spanning Pennsylvania and West Virginia and extending into New York, Ohio, and Maryland is a significant part of the Appalachian Basin and one of the largest natural gas fields in the US. Another important area is the Permian Basin, which stretches across Texas and New Mexico. Although primarily known for its oil production, this basin has experienced a surge in natural gas production due to new drilling techniques. In the south-central United States, the Haynesville Shale, located in Louisiana and East Texas, has witnessed a resurgence in production. The Piceance Basin in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, known for its substantial gas in tight sand formations, and the Anadarko Basin, spreading across Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Colorado, are also notable for their gas reserves. Moreover, the Utica Shale, primarily beneath Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, offers impressive future potential. Situated below the Marcellus, it is positioned to become a major source of gas in the US. Although comparatively underdeveloped, its vast, untapped reserves could play an essential role in shaping the country's energy landscape.Due to its rich regions, the US now produces the majority of the natural gas it consumes. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the country reached a record high in dry natural gas production in 2022, approximately 36.35 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). This equates to an average daily production of about 96.60 billion cubic feet. In 2022, US dry natural gas production rose by approximately 1.82 Tcf compared to 2021. This increase was driven by growing demand, especially for exports, and the rising prices of natural gas. Furthermore, in 2022, five states—Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Oklahoma—accounted for about 70.4% of the total national dry natural gas production, despite there being thirty-four natural gas-producing states in the US.The monumental increase in natural gas production is primarily attributed to advanced drilling techniques, such as horizontal drilling (drilling sideways underground) and hydraulic fracturing (breaking rocks with high-pressure liquids). These techniques are particularly effective in certain types of underground rock layers, like shale deposits, where gas is trapped in very tight and small spaces. These new methods have made it easier to extract gas from these challenging areas.US prepares wave of methane rules on oil and gas industry - Federal agencies are poised to release a battery of rules in the coming months that crack down on the oil and gas sector for releasing the potent greenhouse gas. That includes regulations for leaky pipelines; energy production on public and private lands; and infrastructure related to processing, transporting and storing natural gas. Even liquefied natural gas terminals and offshore petroleum production facilities, which aren’t covered by EPA’s coming methane rules, could find themselves paying for excessive leaks beginning in 2025.That’s on top of other methane efforts. The Energy and State departments are creating guidelines to distinguish relatively climate-friendly fuel producers and exporters from their more high-emitting competitors. And the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal procurement agencies are readying rules that would require publicly traded companies and government contractors to report on direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, from their supply chains.Curbing the gas responsible for almost a third of today’s global warming could contribute to Biden’s climate legacy. And it might also buy the world valuable time to solve the more intractable problem of phasing out carbon emissions.“There’s a recognition that cutting methane is one of the fastest, best ways to reduce pollution that’s contributing to climate change,” said Paul Billings, national senior vice president for public policy at the American Lung Association. “The technology is available, and it’s highly cost-effective.”The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Enbridge gets state panel's OK to move Line 5 pipeline into tunnel -- The Michigan Public Service Commission ruled Friday that the relocation of Enbridge Energy's Line 5 oil pipeline from the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac to a yet-to-be-constructed tunnel beneath the lakebed is the "best option" to improve safety while still securing the "public need" for fossil fuels.Commission Chair Dan Scripps, in approving a site permit for the project, noted the current placement of the dual pipeline on the lakebed west of the Mackinac Bridge, where it is exposed to a potential anchor strike, presents a risk that must be addressed."It’s clear," Scripps said. "We need to get those pipelines off the bottomlands and out of the Great Lakes.”The commission did require Enbridge to make additional risk assessments and safety considerations while moving forward with its plans, but the approval vote still angered Line 5 and tunnel opponents who attended the meeting. The motion to approve the site permit passed 2-0. Commissioner Alessandra Carreon abstained since she was recently appointed to the commission and had not been present for much of the debate on the matter. The two "yes" votes, Scripps and Commissioner Katherine Peretick, are both appointees of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.The decision was greeted with outbursts from the packed meeting room of "Shut it down!" and "Blood on your hands." One of those addressing the panel said the commission should remove "public service" from its title after Friday's decision."You’ve broken my heart," said Lissa Spitz, a resident from Washtenaw County. "We are at the most critical time in human history right now. Our house is burning down. We must end the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible.”Andrea Pierce, a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, said she was "disgusted" by the vote and expected there would be an appeal. She and others argued the pipeline and tunnel would soon be "obsolete" as the state moved away from fossil fuels."This will be on your heads for the rest of your lives,” Pierce said.

The Problem with Enbridge Line 5 pipelines through the Great Lakes - Nearly 23 million gallons of oil daily flow through two aging pipelines in the heart of the Great Lakes, just 1.5 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge. Constructed during the Eisenhower administration in 1953, the two 20-inch-in-diameter “Line 5” crude oil pipelines owned by Canadian company Enbridge, Inc. lie exposed at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac - a busy shipping channel. Enbridge’s pipelines, which run about 1,000 feet apart at depths ranging from 100 - 270 feet, have laid on the bottom of the Straits for over six decades. Enbridge installed several support structures under the pipelines in 2006 and again in 2010 and 2018, following the company’s oil spill into the Kalamazoo River - the nation’s largest-ever land-based oil spill. Now, hundreds of supports elevate 3 miles of the pipeline off the lakebed into the turbulent current. This design was never approved and makes the pipeline unsafe. Enbridge officials have said that properly maintained pipelines can last indefinitely, but the company’s history of major spills in Michigan and North America proves otherwise. Today, much of the oil flowing through the Line 5 pipelines (90 to 95%) comes from Canada and takes a shortcut through Michigan and the Straits of Mackinac before crossing back into Canada near Port Huron. Line 5 has spilled 33 times and at least 1.1 million gallons along its length since 1968. The pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac cross one of the most ecologically sensitive areas in the world. The Great Lakes are home to 21 percent of the world's fresh surface water. The pristine Straits area supports bountiful fisheries, provides drinking water to thousands of people, and anchors a thriving tourism industry with historic and beautiful Mackinac Island right in the center. This area is the definition of Pure Michigan. Several troubling factors have come together that cause grave concern:

• An anchor strike from a ship in peril in 2018 gashed and dented both underwater pipelines
• Enbridge contractors severely damaged pipeline supports in 2019, but all Enbridge safety measures missed the damage, which wasn't even discovered until June 2020 - at which point the pipeline was temporarily shut down to inspect the damage (subsequently reopened)
• The tarnished safety record of Enbridge, Inc., the Canadian company that operates the pipeline, including the largest inland oil spill when its Line 6B spilled 1.1 million gallons of tar sands bitumen into the Kalamazoo River in 2010
• There are ongoing issues of compliance with the contract between the pipeline company and the State of Michigan (the Easement), including eight known violations
• The age, location, and questionable condition of the pipeline
• An increase in the volume and pressure of fluids moving through the pipelines
• The lack of transparency about safety inspections and what petroleum products are being transported through Line 5 in the Great Lakes
• The lack of proactive regulatory environments in Michigan and at the federal level
• University of Michigan scientists modeled the currents in the Straits of Mackinac and called it "the worst possible place for an oil spill in the Great Lakes."
• Line 5 is a shortcut for Canada's benefit, with less than 5 to 10% of the product used in Michigan.
• Scientists warn that we have less than ten years to reduce carbon emissions by half or face dire consequences from a dangerously overheating climate. It is even more urgent to move away from dirty fuels like the ones carried by Line 5

Source of US Gulf oil spill still unclear: Update -More than a week after its discovery, federal officials have yet to identify the source of an oil spillfrom a major offshore US Gulf of Mexico gathering line that shut in production at seven offshore facilities.Emergency response crews have examined 40 miles of the 67 mile long Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) pipeline system without finding any damage or source of the leak, the US Coast Guard said today. A survey of another six miles of surrounding pipelines has also failed to identify the leak. Overflights conducted since 20 November have observed no new oil releases or any effects on the shoreline and wildlife, the Coast Guard said.The spilled crude was identified as Light Louisiana Sweet (LLS), although the MPOG system delivers crude to Empire, Louisiana, where it can be traded as Heavy Louisiana Sweet (HLS). LLS and HLS traded on Monday at premiums to the Nymex-quality WTI benchmark in Cushing, Oklahoma, of $3.50/bl and $3.75/bl, respectively, on the first session of January trade. Both LLS and HLS traded well above their average premiums in the prior trade month of $2.61/bl and $2.17/bl.Federal officials said MPOG's closure has shut in production at seven facilities serviced by the line, which extends into the Main Pass, Viosca Knoll and Mississippi Canyon areas in the Gulf. The shut in has affected facilities operated by W&T Energy VI, Occidental Petroleum, Walter Oil and Gas, Cantium, Arena Offshore and Talos Energy Ventures, according to the Coast Guard.Federal officials estimate that as much as 1.1mn USG (26,000 bl) of crude leaked, based on meter readings from MPOG. The spill is located about 19 miles off the coast of southeastern Louisiana.

US Coast Guard says 3% of Gulf of Mexico's daily oil output remains shut in (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard said on Tuesday that about 3% of the Gulf of Mexico's daily oil production remained shut in after a million-gallon oil spill, as it continued surveying Third Coast Infrastructure's pipeline to find the source of the leak. The pipeline was closed by Third Coast's Main Pass Oil Gathering Co (MPOG) on Nov. 16 after crude oil was spotted around 19 miles (30 km) offshore the Mississippi River delta, near Plaquemines Parish, southeast of New Orleans. The Coast Guard had not yet identified the source of the leak after surveying around 40 miles (64 km) of the 67-mile-long (108 km) underwater pipeline, as remote-controlled devices and divers scanned the rest along with other surrounding pipelines. No new oil had been spotted since Nov. 20 from the suspected release, the Coast Guard said while leading clean-up efforts. Initial calculations placed the volume of the leak at 1.1 million gallons, or 26,190 barrels, with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimating that around 61,165 barrels of daily oil output from at least six producers was shut in. Operators whose facilities are impacted include W&T Energy VI (WTI.N), Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), Walter Oil and Gas, Cantium, Arena Offshore and Talos Energy Ventures (TALO.N).

US production of planet-heating fuels hits record levels -U.S. oil and gas companies extracted record amounts of planet-warming oil and gas in 2023 — a year that was the globe’s hottest in recorded history. New reporting from The Guardian on Monday found that the U.S. government is planning for oil and gas production levels to stay at “near-record levels” until mid-century. The U.S., like most wealthy nations, has picked 2050 as the date by which it will zero out the greenhouse gases released by burning gas, oil, and coal. Those reductions are planned because burning such carbon-dense fossil fuels in power plants, cars and factories is far and away the biggest driver in the rise in global temperatures and extreme weather. But the reporting from the Guardian, which draws together both projections from the federal Energy Information Agency and recent U.N. reports, suggests that the U.S. has set itself an impossible chronology: a long plateau of high fossil fuel production that continues to mid-century — before somehow falling to nothing. The reporting comes as the U.S. negotiating team prepares for the annual United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP28) to open in the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s major fossil fuel exporters. The reporting from the Guardian comes as the international fossil fuel industry is gearing up to argue — as Exxon CEO Darren Woods did earlier this month — that the fuels themselves are not the issue. “The problem is not oil and gas. It’s emissions,” Woods told the Asia Pacific Forum on November 15. “The solutions to climate change have been too focused on reducing supply,” he added. “That’s a recipe for human hardship and a poorer world. Leaving oil in the ground does nothing to stop the demand for it. It simply raises the price and makes it harder to alleviate poverty around the world.” This line matched one offered by fossil fuel representatives at a key U.N. treaty negotiation earlier this month that aimed to stem the rising tide of plastic waste.At negotiations in Nairobi, fossil fuel and petrochemical representatives argued that plastic waste could be addressed without slowing plastic production — an argument, activists noted, that the industry has made since at least the 1970s. Fossil fuel lobbyists have attended climate talks more than 7,200 times since 2003. Representatives of Big Oil — TotalEnergies, Exxon, Chevron, BP, and Shell — have been given 267 passes, a new report has found. For example, Agence France Presses found that U.S. consultancy McKinsey was helping the UAE craft a proposal by which oil production would fall by just 50 percent by 2050. These bids from the fossil fuel industry — which depend on a massive buildout in largely unproven and possibly ineffective technologies like carbon capture, methane monitoring and chemical recycling — cut directly against what scientists say is necessary: the drastic reduction and ultimate elimination of the use of fossil fuels. “It’s particularly alarming to see the projections of record U.S. oil and gas production year after year until 2050,” Michael Lazarus, a senior scientist at Stockholm Environment Institute, told The Guardian. “The U.S. is locking in production for years that makes it hard to meet climate goals,” he added. “It’s out of sync and it needs reckoning.”

US oil and gas production set to break record in 2023 despite UN climate goals -The United States is poised to extract more oil and gas than ever before in 2023, a year that is certain to be the hottest ever recorded, providing a daunting backdrop to crucial United Nations climate talks that hold the hope of an agreement to end the era of fossil fuels. The US’s status as the world’s leading oil and gas behemoth has only strengthened this year, even amid warnings from Joe Biden himself over the unfolding climate crisis, with the latest federal government forecast showing a record 12.9m barrels of crude oil, more than double what was produced a decade ago, will be extracted in 2023. Records will also be broken this year for gas production, with a glut of new export terminals on the Gulf of Mexico coast facilitating a boom that will see US exports of liquified natural gas (or LNG) double in the next four years. Tellingly, the US government expects this frenzy of oil and gas activity to continue at near-record levels right up to 2050, a point at which scientists say planet-heating emissions must be eliminated to avoid catastrophic climate breakdown. A third of the world’s planned oil and gas expansion in this period will occur in the US, a recent report found.At the Cop28 climate summit, starting in Dubai this week, the European Union and a cadre of “high ambition” countries that range from Kenya to Samoa willpush for an agreed “phaseout” of fossil fuels. António Guterres, secretary general of the UN, has called fossil fuel production the “poisonous root” of the climate crisis that should be dismantled. “Cop28 must send a clear signal that the fossil fuel age is out of gas, that its end is inevitable,” he said.The US’s surging fossil fuel production casts a pall over such ambitions, however. “It’s particularly alarming to see the projections of record US oil and gas production year after year until 2050,” said Michael Lazarus, a senior scientist at Stockholm Environment Institute, which helped produce a recent UN report finding the world is planning double the amount of fossil fuel production consistent with remaining within a 1.5C (2.7F) global temperature rise compared with pre-industrial times.“The US is locking in production for years that makes it hard to meet climate goals,” he said. “It’s out of sync and it needs reckoning.”Under Biden, the US has passed its first major climate legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, which has spurred record investment in clean energy such as solar and wind, as well as propel sales of electric vehicles.The US president’s administration has fashioned new pollution rules to slash emissions from cars, trucks and power plants and recently struck a renewed agreement with China, the only country that emits more carbon than the US, to do more to stem the climate crisis. US energy emissions, meanwhile, have been edging downwards and are expected to drop 3% this year, albeit at a slower rate than needed to meet its own climate goals.

US holds first of several oil and gas auctions as COP28 gets underway (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Tuesday said it raised $3.4 million from a sale of oil and gas drilling rights in Wyoming, the first in a series of such sales that will coincide with a United Nations' conference aimed at combating fossil fuel-driven climate change in Dubai. The Interior Department's U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offered 37 parcels on 35,000 acres (14,164 hectares) in Wyoming, with just 18 tracts on 21,500 acres receiving bids, the agency said in a statement. The sale was the largest of a BLM plan to offer 63 drilling parcels on nearly 44,000 acres (17,806 hectares) in six Western states over the next two weeks. A bid of $2.6 million for a 720-acre parcel in Converse County accounted for nearly 80% of the Wyoming auction's total high bids, according to a Reuters analysis of bidding on the online platform EnergyNet. Details on the winning bidders was not immediately available. BLM will also offer acreage in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nevada, North Dakota and Utah on Nov. 30, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12. The UN's "Conference of the Parties" on climate, known as COP 28, will begin on Thursday and will take place over the same two weeks. Dozens of nations plan to push for the world's first deal to phase out carbon dioxide-emitting coal, oil and gas at the meeting. U.S. President Joe Biden is not expected to attend. An Interior spokesperson did not comment on the timing of the sales. Environmental groups were critical of the sales. "Instead of doing the necessary work to fight climate change, Biden continues to support the expansion of fossil fuels here in the U.S.," Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager for Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a climate change law passed last year, made oil and gas auctions a prerequisite for renewable energy development. It also, however, requires higher royalty rates and minimum bids meant to boost taxpayer returns.

Environmentalists slam Biden admin's oil and gas auctions during COP28 -Environmental groups criticized the Biden administration's $3.4 million auction of oil and gas drilling rights in Wyoming on Tuesday as world leaders prepare to meet in Dubai for the COP28 climate summit.The 37 parcels of land covering some 35,000 acres was the first of 63 drilling parcels the Interior Department's U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) planned to sell across 44,000 acres in six Western states over the next two weeks.In addition to Wyoming, auctions will take place in New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Utah. The last auction is due to take place on Dec. 12 — the final day of COP28. "Instead of doing the necessary work to fight climate change, Biden continues to support the expansion of fossil fuels here in the U.S.," Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager for Friends of the Earth, said in a statement to media.Ghio said the Wyoming sales marked the latest in a series of disappointments from President Biden's administration, per the Washington Examiner. Biden has made tackling climate change a key part of his administration's national security strategy and he pledged to move away from fossil fuels. But Axios' Ben Geman notes he's faced a delicate balancing act on drilling.Biden signed into law last year key legislation that included measures to combat climate change under the Inflation Reduction Act. But it tethers the White House priority of offshore wind development to oil and gas offerings following demands from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), whose vote was key in the bill's success.Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's approval of theConocoPhillips' Willow oil project in Alaska. Meanwhile, oil industry and Republican officials have criticized Biden for holding back future production. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said that in its decision on Willow, the administration was "following the science and the law when it comes to everything we do, and that includes gas and oil" lease considerations.

Bureau of Land Management Seeks Public Comment for Oil, Gas Lease Sales The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comment for several oil and gas lease sales in the United States, the organization’s site shows. In a statement posted on its site on November 27, the BLM noted that its Nevada state office opened a 30-day public scoping period to receive public input on two oil and gas parcels totaling 2,320 acres. The parcels may be included in a June 2024 lease sale in Nevada, the BLM outlined in the statement. The comment period ends December 27, the organization highlighted. In a separate statement posted on its site on November 20, the BLM revealed that its New Mexico state office opened a 30-day public comment period to receive public input on 26 oil and gas parcels totaling 6,162 acres “that may be included in an upcoming lease sale in New Mexico and Kansas”. The comment period for these parcels ends on December 20, the BLM pointed out in the statement. In a statement posted on its site on November 16, the BLM noted that its Montana-Dakotas state office opened a 30-day public comment period to receive public input on 31 oil and gas parcels totaling 6,510 acres. These parcels may be included in an upcoming lease sale in North Dakota, according to the BLM statement, which revealed that the comment period for these parcels ends on December 18. On November 6, the BLM stated on its site that its New Mexico state office opened a 30-day public scoping period to receive public input on four oil and gas parcels totaling 6,972 acres that may be included in an August 2024 lease sale in Texas. The comment period for these parcels ends on December 6, the BLM highlighted in this statement. The BLM outlined on its site that it will apply a 16.67 percent royalty rate for any new leases from the sales, “as authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act”. Leasing is the first step in the process to develop federal oil and gas resources, the BLM highlighted on its site, adding that, before development operations can begin, an operator must submit an application for permit to drill detailing development plans. “The BLM reviews applications for permits to drill, posts them for public review, conducts an environmental analysis and coordinates with state partners and stakeholders,” the BLM notes on its site. “All parcels leased as part of an oil and gas lease sale include appropriate stipulations to protect important natural resources,” it adds.

California Refinery Caused Toxic Dust Incidents, Residents Say -- Bloomberg law.com – A proposed class of California residents are seeking compensation for exposure to toxic dust allegedly stemming from multiple incidents at an oil refinery in the San Francisco Bay Area. PBF Energy Inc. and its subsidiaries mismanaged the facility in Martinez, causing flaring and hazardous substances to cover surrounding areas on several occasions between November 2022 and July 2023, residents told the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday. Those substances included dust—created by gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel refined at the facility—that contained aluminum and other hazardous metals. Petroleum coke dust, a known carcinogen, was also ...

Oregon, Washington challenging federal approval of GTN Xpress gas pipeline (KOIN) – Oregon, Washington, and California filed a petition on Wednesday urging a federal commission to reconsider their approval of a methane gas pipeline expansion in the Pacific Northwest.The challenge to the pipeline expansion comes after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved TC Energy’s plans for the pipeline in late October. The company says the expansion is necessary to meet growing demand.The pipeline runs more than 1,300 miles through Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The GTN Xpress project would expand capacity of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline by about 150 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.During a press conference on Wednesday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Washington and the non-profit Columbia Riverkeeper were filing a motion for a re-hearing of FERC’s decision. Inslee said Oregon and California were joining the petition, asking FERC to reconsider its decision.Inslee argues that the project would violate Washington’s environmental laws and would hurt consumers.The governor added that FERC’s “ill-considered” decision is “damaging to the future aspirations to the state of Washington,” and the state’s decarbonization goals.“The FERC decision somehow ignored the fact that Washington state is reducing its reliance on methane gas. We have multiple laws that require us to reduce the use of that methane gas, and in fact, we are reducing our usage,” Inslee said. “It is incredible to us that a federal agency would allow a project to move forward which is diametrically opposed to the policies and the laws in the state of Washington.”Inslee says FERC ignored the will of the people in the state of Washington by approving the expansion and overlooking the state’s laws.

Oil-rich Canada province challenges clean energy bill - The conservative premier of energy-rich Alberta province challenged the Canada government Monday over its plans to make the national electricity grid carbon-neutral by 2035. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith argues that this idea will jeopardize the power grid in her western province, which is highly dependent on natural gas, and would trigger sharp rises in utility rates for consumers. To oppose the clean energy bill, Smith resorted to a sovereignty law passed a year ago that lets her province disregard federal laws it deems harmful. Alberta is Canada's largest producer of oil and natural gas. "We're creating an opportunity for the federal government to do the right thing," Smith said. "I'm hoping that they now understand that we're serious, that we are going to preserve the integrity of our power grid in whatever way we need to, so that we can get back to the table and talk about the ways in which we can agree," she added. She said her government is considering creating a public electrical utility to dodge federal energy requirements. "It's simply too massive a risk for Albertans," she said, referring to what the consequences of the federal clean energy plan would be for her province. Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault responded by saying Smith's announcement lacked any legal basis and is fueled by what he called an ideology that resists the fight against climate change. The government's plans to overhaul the electricity grid are expected to become law in January 2025.

Alberta stands against “unconstitutional” regulations pushing Trudeau’s net zero agenda – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith invoked a measure to defy federal regulations that aim for a net zero electrical grid by 2035, setting up a confrontation between the Canadian province and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith The resolution proposed under the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act orders provincial government agencies to not enforce or aid in enforcing Canada’s clean electricity regulations, arguing that power generation is the jurisdiction of the provinces under the constitution, not the federal government’s. The move is likely to set up a major court battle and standoff between Trudeau and Smith, a conservative premier who has vowed to thwart federal regulations that would undermine the province’s energy sector. Smith’s government said in a statement that Alberta, which relies on natural gas for the bulk of its power generation, is able to achieve a net-zero power grid by 2050 but the 2035 target would be “unaffordable, unreliable and unconstitutional” and puts people at risk of “freezing in the dark” when temperatures drop as low as minus-23F. The federal rules are flexible enough to be “realistic and accommodate Alberta’s needs,” Steven Guilbeault, Trudeau’s environment minister, said in a statement. “We have been collaborating in good faith on clean electricity investments and regulations as part of our Canada-Alberta working group, which we created at the request of Alberta with the express intent to work through these issues collaboratively. The government of Alberta has never brought up a constitutional veto at the negotiating table.” Smith has railed against the federal clean power rules for months, even launching a multimillion-dollar ad campaign against the measures. But Wednesday’s move marks the first time she has invoked her signature sovereignty law, which her government argues allows her province to override federal laws or regulations, but which has yet to be tested in court. The step comes a month after the Supreme Court of Canada largely struck down a separate federal law on the review major resource and infrastructure projects, legislation that was opposed by Canada’s oil industry. The province doesn’t have time to wait years for the courts to rule on the constitutionality of the clean electricity regulations and must act now, Smith said at a news conference on Monday. The federal clean electricity regulations are discouraging private investors from submitting applications for needed natural gas power plants in Alberta, Smith’s government said in its release. While the resolution to defy the feds wouldn’t apply to private individuals or corporations, the legislation instructs the province to study the feasibility of setting up a provincially owned corporation that could bring on and maintain “more reliable and affordable electricity” at a later date, regardless of federal net-zero government’s rules.

Dow plans Canada net-zero ethylene, PE units - Dow said today it has made a final investment decision to build the world's first net-zero CO2 emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives complex in Alberta, Canada.The $6.5bn project includes construction of a new ethylene cracker at the existing Fort Saskatchewan site and increasing polyethylene (PE) capacity at the site by 2mn metric tonnes (t)/yr, as well as retrofitting the site's existing cracker to net-zero CO2 emissions.The project will use Linde's air separation autothermal reformer technology to convert the site's cracker off-gas to hydrogen, which will be used as a clean fuel to supply the site's furnaces. CO2 emissions will also be captured and stored, reducing existing emissions by approximately 1mn t/yr of CO2, while abating emissions from the addition of the site's new capacity.The project will proceed in two phases, with construction starting in 2024. The first phase, including 1.285mn t/yr of ethylene and PE capacity, would start up in 2027. The second phase, to start in 2029, would add approximately 600,000 t/yr of capacity.The investment is expected to deliver $1bn of EBITDA growth per year at full run rates, while decarbonizing Dow's global ethylene capacity, the company said.Dow selected the Fort Saskatchewan site due to Western Canada's cost-competitive natural gas relative to other regions, as well as cost-advantaged ethane. Dow said it expects the site to be one of the company's most cost-competitive in the world. The region also has access to existing CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure. The governments of Canada, Alberta and Fort Saskatchewan made subsidies and incentives to support the project.Linde has been selected as the industrial gas partner for the supply of clean hydrogen and nitrogen for the site, and Fluor was selected for front-end engineering and design. Wolf Midstream will provide CO2 transportation and Ravago will provide third-party logistics for finished products from the site.Dow currently has approximately 1.3mn t/yr of ethylene capacity at its Fort Saskatchewan site, and approximately 1.3mn t/yr of PE capacity split between two sites in Alberta.

Dow Makes FID on $6.5B Net Zero Emission Cracker in Alberta - Global materials science firm Dow Inc has declared a final investment decision on its $6.5 billion Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project, which aims to build the world's first net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives facility in Alberta, Canada. The project includes building a new ethylene cracker and increasing polyethylene capacity by 2 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) as well as retrofitting the site's existing cracker to net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions, Dow said in a news release Tuesday. Dow expects its investment to deliver $1 billion of EBITDA growth per year at full run rates over the economic cycle while decarbonizing 20 percent of Dow's global ethylene capacity. Dow said it can begin construction in 2024 and add capacity in phases, with the first phase starting up in 2027, adding approximately 1.285 million mtpa of ethylene and polyethylene capacity, and the second phase starting up in 2029, adding an additional approximately 600,000 mtpa of capacity. To achieve net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions, the Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero project will deploy Linde's air separation and autothermal reformer technology to convert the site's cracker off-gas to hydrogen, which will be used as a clean fuel to supply the site's furnaces, according to the release. Further, carbon dioxide emissions will be captured and stored, reducing existing emissions by approximately 1 million mtpa of carbon dioxide equivalent while abating emissions from the addition of the site's new capacity. Dow selected the Fort Saskatchewan site for the project as Western Canada offers highly cost-competitive natural gas relative to other regions, as well as cost-advantaged ethane, a key feedstock for ethylene production. At full run-rates, the company expects the site to be one of its most cost-competitive in the world. The region also features access to existing carbon dioxide transportation and storage infrastructure with available capacity to fully support the decarbonization of the project, according to the release. Dow said it utilized the subsidies and incentives available from the governments of Canada, Alberta, and Fort Saskatchewan, noting that Path2Zero will be the first project to access Canada’s investment tax credit program. The project leverages approximately $2 billion of investment from third-party companies for circular hydrogen, carbon capture, and other infrastructure assets. Dow tapped Linde as its industrial gas partner for the supply of clean hydrogen and nitrogen for the site, while Fluor was selected for front-end engineering and design. In addition, Dow is partnering with Wolf Midstream, which will provide carbon dioxide transportation along the Alberta trunk line, and with Ravago, which will provide third-party logistics for finished products from the site.

Suncor Energy restarts oil production from Terra Nova FPSO offshore Newfoundland and Labrador – Suncor Energy announced that the Terra Nova Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel has safely restarted following the completion of the Terra Nova Asset Life Extension project. Production is expected to ramp up over the coming months. "Focusing on safety and operational integrity, we have brought this key offshore project online, providing additional cash flow for our shareholders as well as many benefits to the Newfoundland and Labrador and Canadian economies," said Rich Kruger, Suncor President and Chief Executive Officer. "We appreciate the collaboration and support from the provincial and federal governments regarding this project."Terra Nova is an oil field located offshore Newfoundland and Labrador approximately 350 km southeast of St. John's. The Terra Nova Partners are Suncor - 48%, Cenovus - 34%, and Murphy Oil Corporation - 18%.Suncor Energy is Canada's leading integrated energy company. Suncor's operations include oil sands development, production and upgrading, as well as offshore oil and gas activities.

Energy Contractors Forecasting Growth for Canadian Oil and Natural Gas Drilling in 2024 - The Canadian oil and natural gas well count – chiefly in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan – will rise to 6,229 in 2024 from 5,748 this year, according to an annual fall forecast by the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC).“A continuation of capital discipline within energy producers will create a ceiling on potential growth,” CAOEC analysts said. But they added that improved service would encourage increased production.“This [ceiling] may be countered by the increase in new pipeline capacity with projects such as the Key Access Pipeline System, Trans Mountain and Coastal GasLink pipelines, as well as the recent expansion of Nova Gas Transmission Ltd.,” the CAOEC said.

Mexico Pacific Takes Another Step Toward Realizing LNG Export Ambitions - Mexico Pacific Ltd. LLC has announced a new advance on its 2.8 Bcf/d Sierra Madre natural gas pipeline. MPLMexico Pacific has hired a joint venture (JV) of Mexican construction company GDI Sicim Pipelines SA and oil and gas services firm Bonatti SpA to execute the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project. Sierra Madre would supply Permian Basin gas from the U.S. border and traverse the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to Mexico Pacific’s proposed Saguaro Energía LNG export terminal in Puerto Libertad on the Sonoran coast. The pipeline would extend 500 miles and could boast capacity of up to 2.8 Bcf/d. The liquefied natural gas project’s first three trains, if sanctioned, would have a combined capacity of 14.1 million metric tons/year...

Mexico Pacific awards Saguaro LNG pipeline contract - Mexico Pacific, the developer of the planned $14 billion Saguaro Energia LNG export project, has awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the pipeline which will deliver natural gas to the proposed facility. According to a statement by Mexico Pacific, GDI Sicim Pipelines and Bonatti will build the Sierra Madre pipeline project. Under the lump-sum-turnkey EPC contracts, the joint venture will engineer, procure, and construct the Sierra Madre pipeline with Bonatti’s scope extending to the required compressor stations, Mexico Pacific said. It did not reveal the price tag of the contract. The 500-mile (850km) pipeline will be utilized as the primary natural gas supply path for the transportation of up to 2.8 Bcf/d natural gas from the US border to the first phase of Mexico Pacific’s 15 mtpa Saguaro Energia LNG export facility located in Puerto Libertad, Sonora, Mexico. “Execution of our pipeline EPC contracts represents yet another important inflection point for our project as we prepare to move into construction,” Ivan Van der Walt, CEO of Mexico Pacific, said in the statement. He did not provide any information regarding the final investment decision on the project

Panama Canal Offers More Transit Auctions as U.S. LNG Traffic Continues to Fall - The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is offering more opportunities for shippers to outbid each other for a dwindling number of transit slots on the drought-impacted waterway, but most U.S. LNG traders appear to be avoiding the route altogether. After announcing late last month that the number of available passages through the canal would be reduced even further for the rest of the year, ACP has launched a series of special auctions for additional transit slots. ACP hosted its first sale Saturday, offering ships that have queued off the coast of Panama for at least 10 days but haven’t been able to schedule their crossing a chance to bid on a slot. Initial bids for the auction started at $55,000.

Oil executives flock to Venezuela despite sanctions relief uncertainty – Oil executives are flocking to Venezuela to take advantage of lighter U.S. sanctions, even though there’s a risk that access to the world’s largest oil reserves might snap shut as quickly as it opened. Companies including Shell Plc., Repsol SA, Hungary’s Mol Nyrt, Sweden’s Maha Energy AB, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Bolivia’s state gas company YPFB have sent delegations to Caracas since the U.S. lifted curbs on Venezuela’s oil sector last month, according to four people with knowledge of the situation. The companies are generally trying either to secure access to oil and gas fields, rewrite contracts or recover old debts, the people said. They are effectively betting that the government of U.S. President Joe Biden won’t follow through on its threat to reimpose sanctions against companies that operate in Venezuela, which would stop the party just as it’s getting started. Washington gave the government of President Nicolás Maduro until the end of November to make significant advances toward holding fair elections, including defining a process for disqualified candidates to participate in next year’s vote. Maduro has yet to do this, bringing a risk of “snapback sanctions” that would reimpose tight curbs on Venezuela’s oil sector, making it nearly impossible for foreign drillers to operate there. “If they don’t take the agreed steps, we will remove the licenses we’ve awarded,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said this month. However, the U.S. may be reluctant to reimpose controls. A revival of Venezuela’s oil sector helps offset the impact on oil markets of sanctions imposed on Russia last year, while a stronger Venezuelan economy also helps curb the flow of migrants to the U.S. The scope of the Biden administration’s decision to ease controls for six months, allowing oil companies to operate relatively freely in Venezuela, took many in the industry by surprise, setting off a rush to Caracas by would-be deal makers. Venezuela has more than 40 oil partnerships with foreign and local companies, some of which suspended activity due to the difficult business climate. The government now seeks to replace these with companies willing to make new investments and produce. The government is targeting production of 1 MMbpd, from about 750,000-800,000 bpd currently. The nation has about 300 Bbbl of reserves, a greater number than Saudi Arabia. The country could reach that target by end of next year if the U.S. extends its license for another six months after it expires in March, according to Asdrúbal Oliveros, head of Caracas-based consultancy Ecoanalitica. “The question is if this opening will last,” Oliveros said in a webcast this month. Shell declined to comment. Repsol, Mol Nyrt, Maha Energy, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Bolivia’s state gas company YPFB didn’t reply to written requests for comment. Venezuela’s information ministry, oil ministry and PDVSA didn’t reply emails seeking comment.

Europe Continuing to Rely Heavily on Natural Gas Despite Growing Calls -- The European Parliament called for a “tangible phase-out of fossil fuels as soon as possible,” ahead of the United Nations climate summit that gets underway in Dubai on Thursday. However, slow economic growth and rising inflation has left European governments delaying the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. European Union (EU) member states are free to determine their energy mix, and there can be a transitional role for gas as the EU pursues other energy sources, according to the European Commission (EC). Most of Europe continues to count on LNG and natural gas pipeline imports to meet its energy demand. “Even in a net-zero scenario, certain volumes of gas will still be needed in 2050, although we clearly expect its role in the EU energy mix to decline..

EU Opens Fourth Round of Matchmaking for Gas Deals ----The European Commission has opened a new window for companies in the region to register gas purchase volumes to be potentially supplied by international vendors. This is the fourth round of the AggregateEU service, under which the 27-member bloc can pool demand, negotiate with international suppliers and coordinate collective purchases. The last round matched 11.86 billion cubic meters (418.83 billion cubic feet) of pooled demand with offers from suppliers. For the fourth round buyers have until this Tuesday to submit their demand, which will be put out for bidding by suppliers on December 4 and 5. Delivery is scheduled between January 2024 and March 2025. “As we begin the heating season for most of Europe, the EU Energy Platform continues to contribute to our efforts to keep everybody warm this winter and keep energy at affordable prices, for citizens and European industry”, EU Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Maros Sefcovic said in a press release. AggregateEU, created under Council Regulation 2022/2576 of December 19, 2022, is part of the broader EU Energy Platform for coordinated purchases of gas, liquefied natural gas and hydrogen. The Energy Platform was formed last year as part of the REPowerEU strategy for achieving energy independence from Russia. “The EU Energy Platform is a success story in terms of our collective response to last year’s energy crisis, and it continues to serve us today”, Sefcovic added.

Ample Supplies Outweigh Cold Snap in Europe to Drag Down Natural Gas Price -- A shot of cold weather that settled in over the weekend across parts of Europe did little to lift natural gas prices in the region, where concerns about the winter heating season have continued to ease amid a surplus of supplies. The December Title Transfer Facility (TTF) contract fell 6% from its close on Friday to finish near $14/MMBtu ahead of its expiration this week. Winter TTF contracts remain in contango, but their premium to the prompt month has narrowed. Maxar’s Weather Desk forecast temperatures well below normal in Scandinavia, the northern UK and Germany over the next six- to 10-day period. However, the cold has done little so far to cut into record storage inventories for this time of year, which stood at 97.7% of capacity on Monday

Finland-Estonia gas pipeline to get capacity boost - LNG Prime --Finland’s gas system and LNG terminal operator, Gasgrid, and Estonian gas system operator, Elering, have revealed plans to boost the capacity of the Balticconnector gas pipeline once repairs on the offshore section of the pipeline are complete.The TSOs shut down the gas pipeline on October 8 due to a suspected leak and after that said that the earliest possible commissioning date of the Balticconnector would be at the beginning of April 2024.Moreover, the National Bureau of Investigation, a unit of the Finnish Police, said in a statement on October 24 that a Hong Kong-flagged containership is believed to have caused the damage with its anchor.The 77 kilometers bi-directional pipeline with a capacity of 2.6 bcm stretches from Paldiski, Estonia, to Inkoo, Finland where Gasgrid’s FSRU-based LNG import terminal is located.Besides the offshore section, the pipeline includes land-based sections in Finland and Estonia. Historically Balticconnector northbound capacity has ranged between 55-60 GWh/day in winter and 65 GWh/day in summer, according to Gasgrid.In the direction from Finland to Estonia, a capacity of 78 GWh/day has been offered, approaching the maximum transportation capacity considering the pipeline’s diameter and design pressure, it said.Gasgrid said enhancement of Latvia-Lithuania interconnection allows for higher gas volumes to be transported across the region.

The West Is Inching Closer to More Insanity in the Baltic Sea -In the Baltic Sea – home of the twisted wreckage of the Nord Stream pipelines – another pipeline was recently damaged along with telecommunications cables. Western officials are making escalatory statements and are again floating the idea of closing the “NATO lake” to Russian ships, which would likely be viewed by Moscow as an act of war. Onshore, Finland is rapidly militarizing its border with Russia. And a notable Chinese cargo ship is now at the center of the firestorm. Over the weekend of October 8th there was an unusual drop in pressure in the Finnish-Estonian Balticconnector gas pipeline. By the morning of October 10th, an investigation had found that the pipeline had ruptured. Telecom cables linking Finland, Estonia and Sweden had also been damaged, as had a Russian telecom cable in the Gulf of Finland.By October 20th, Finland and Estonia were pointing the finger at the Newnew Polar Bear – a Chinese vessel. The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation produced a large anchor found near the damaged pipeline, which it believes belonged to the 169-meter-long ship and likely broke off as it was dragged across the sea floor. Investigators have not explained a theory for how exactly the anchor damaged telecom cables on opposite sides of the pipeline and broke off at the Balticconector. I haven’t been able to track down an exact distance between the Balticconnector and the telecom cables, but Finnish telecom operator Elisa told Reuters that the distance between the two was “significant.”Nonetheless, speculation is that damaging the pipeline and cables would have been hard to do without knowing. According to Insurance Marine News:It seemed unlikely-to-impossible that the crew could have been unaware of this incident, as the event would have slowed the ship dramatically and involuntarily. If the anchor had fallen accidentally and it had hit the gas line, it could have caused severe damage to the pipe. If the anchor had been stuck to the seabed, it would not have passed unnoticed because the speed would have slowed and the ship would have tilted.The Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat wrote on Oct. 23rd that the Newnew Polar Bear stopped in bad weather 1.4 nautical miles from the gas pipeline for about eight minutes before continuing on.Images of the Newnew missing an anchor were soon circulating:Newnew Shipping Co. has been silent on the matter. Meanwhile, Finland and Estonia have formally submitted a legal notice to China for cooperation as part of their ongoing investigation. Beijing has promised its full cooperation, although it’s possible China might not be too eager to assist Estonia, which is allowing Taiwan to set up a government office in Tallinn. The Estonian FM recently doubled down on that decision, declaring that the country’s goal is to cooperate “with like-minded partners, mainly our transatlantic allies.” Accusations have already been flying of a plot by the Russians and Chinese since the Newnew sails under the Hong Kong flag and had a Northern Sea Route sailing permission issued by the General Administration of the Northern Sea Route addressed to Torgmoll, a Russian-registered company with offices in Moscow and Shanghai. While this has been treated by some as some sort of smoking gun, it’s simply because of a joint project of two Chinese companies – the international shipping line Hainan Yangpu Newnew Shipping Co and cargo agent Torgmoll. Russia’s state-owned Rosatom also provides information and navigation support for the newly established container transportation service via the Northern Sea Route between China and Russia.

Europe Is Getting Record Amounts of Russian Gas Through TurkStream. So Who Keeps Trying to Blow It Up? -The TurkStream pipeline, which brings natural gas from Russia to Türkiye across the Black Sea and then into southeastern Europe, was controversial in certain quarters of the West ever since it was conceived.Now the flow of natural gas to Europe from Russia via Türkiye is reaching all-time highs. TurkStream has a capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, roughly half of which stays in Türkiye, and the rest continues on to the Balkans and Central Europe. Serbia and Hungary are the primary European consumers. According to S&P Global, supplies via TurkStream into Southeast Europe rose strongly in July, reaching a record monthly high.As the gas flowing through the pipeline increases so do the attempted attacks. The Russian Defense Ministry said that three unmanned Ukrainian speedboats carried out an unsuccessful attack against the Russian warship guarding a portion of the pipeline in May. When that failed, Ukraine apparently doubled down and tried again with six high-speed drone boats in June. That attack was also thwarted by Russian forces.Ukraine Energy Minister German Galushchenko declared in a recent interview with POLITICO that Ukraine fully aims to attack Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure. The statements, while trying to show confidence, instead showed the increasing desperation of Ukraine and its Western backers in the face of the Russian victory on the battlefield, as well as on the economic front.Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure are nothing new. But Galushchenko’s comments are a pretty clear indicator that these types of attacks will be among Ukraine’s last gasp tactics. From the POLITICO piece:When asked if Zelenskyy’s “response” could include Ukraine targeting Russia’s vast oil and gas operations — by far the biggest driver of its economy — Galushchenko replied, “It would only be fair.”“When answering [Russia’s attack], we would answer by taking the same approach, attacking their energy infrastructure,” Galushchenko said.Galushchenko stressed he was not a member of the Ukraine military and did not discuss the possible targeting of Russian energy operations with U.S. government officials. He is a member of the Ukraine national security and defense council.What of those US government officials? What do they think of this strategy? Do they condone the hitting of not just Russian infrastructure but also that of NATO member Türkiye in the case of TurkStream? Moscow claimed that at the time of the unsuccessful Ukrainian attack in June, a US RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft was in that area of the Black Sea. Putin said at the October Valdai International Discussion Club meeting:We continue to supply gas to Europe through the TurkStream pipelines, and judging by everything, Ukrainian terrorist groups are plotting to do damage there as well. Our ships are guarding the pipelines that run along the bottom of the Black Sea, but they are constantly being attacked by unmanned vehicles, with English-speaking specialists and advisers clearly involved, among others, in planning those attacks. We have intercepted them on the radio: we always hear English speech wherever those unmanned semi-submersible boats are being prepared. This is an obvious fact for us – but draw your own conclusions. Russia also claimed in September and October of 2022 that it foiled attacks on Turkstream, but such these are routinely dismissed in the West. The Moscow Times, a western news outlet based in Amsterdam, believes Moscow is making such claims in order to lay the groundwork to blame Ukraine after Russia destroys its own pipelines – again.

Uniper to pay about $600 million to European firm over LNG contract pricing - German utility Uniper has to pay 550 million euros ($602 million) to a European energy firm following a ruling by an arbitration court over a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract concluded prior to the company’s spin-off in 2016. State-owned Uniper announced this in a statement on Sunday but it did not reveal the name of the company or any other details regarding the contract. Uniper has been notified on November 24 of an award against a subsidiary in arbitration proceedings under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce which began in early 2021. “The proceedings between the Uniper subsidiary and a European energy company relate, inter alia, to the pricing provisions of a long-term agreement for the supply of liquified natural gas (LNG), concluded prior to the spin-off of Uniper in 2016 and which has since expired,” the firm said. “A payment to the opposing party of an estimated EUR 550 million related to the retroactive re-pricing of the long-term agreement would be due under the terms of the award,” Uniper said. The firm said that additional payment would have a full impact on the company’s annual results. Uniper added it was analyzing the reasoning of the decision and “reviewing all possible avenues of legal recourse against the award.”

Shell finds gas at Mina West offshore Egypt - Shell Egypt has proven gas with the first well of a three-well exploration campaign in the Egyptian sector of the Mediterranean Sea. The Stena Forth drilled the Mina West discovery on the North East El-Amriya Block in a water depth of about 250 m. According to Shell, main data have confirmed the presence of a gas-bearing reservoir. However, further analysis will follow to determine the size and recoverable potential. Khaled Kacem, vice president and country chair of Shell Egypt, said, “Shell, together with its partners, will continue to work towards safely and efficiently reaching the development phase of the block.” In September the company signed a farm-out agreement with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. (KUFPEC) giving the latter a 40% stake in the block, with Shell holding the remaining 60% under a partnership with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co.

Jordan Explores Alternatives to Israeli Gas Amid Supply Concerns - Jordan is exploring alternatives to natural gas supplies from Israel amid concerns of a possible interruption, state-run Al Mamlaka TV cited Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh saying on Sunday. Jordan has spoken with two countries in the Arabian Gulf that expressed readiness in meeting the country’s gas demands if needed, Khasawneh said. While the gas deal between US company Noble and the National Electric Power Company under which Jordan gets Israeli gas is “not on the table for cancellation,” there are concerns over a potential disruption of gas coming from the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean Sea, Khasawneh said. “We have not seen any signs that this will happen,” he said. “But Jordan is planning for various scenarios and possibilities amid ongoing aggression and war on the Gaza Strip.” Jordan has explored a number of alternatives that have higher financial costs. One such alternative would cost 45 million dinars ($63 million) a month if Jordan switches to importing LNG and another will cost 115 million dinars per month if the country switches to diesel, Khasawneh said.

Russian oil imports to EU via Bulgaria surge – The amount of Russian oil imported into the EU through the Lukoil refinery in Bulgaria has increased significantly in the past few months, Martin Vladimirov, the leading energy analyst of the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), told Euractiv Bulgaria in an exclusive interview. “This means additional profit in the amount of hundreds of millions for the Russian company for the last quarter of the year,” Vladimirov noted. The Bulgarian think-tank actively monitors the import of Russian crude oil via Bulgaria to the EU, and last month, together with two other European organisations, raised the alarm about the transhipment of fuels from Russian crude oil to Bulgaria for export to Western Europe. Lukoil responded that it was not violating sanctions because it was exporting low-octane petrol to the EU, which is not covered by EU sanctions against Russia. At the same time, the Russian company threatened to shut down the Bulgarian refinery if the ban on Russian crude oil imports was imposed too quickly. Bulgaria plans to end its derogation from the EU embargo on 1 March 2024. The dispute over Lukoil’s Bulgarian refinery can potentially cause problems in the regional fuel market, as it is the largest in the region and the only jet fuel producer in the Balkans. According to CSD’s analysis, Lukoil has no economic reason to undermine its dominant position in Bulgaria’s fuel market, even with the withdrawal of the exemption for importing Russian crude. Vladimirov commented that the political power in the Kremlin also has no reason to create problems. However, he warned that Bulgaria could be used to “launder” Russian oil, which would still enter the EU but under a different label. “It would be much easier for Lukoil to try to launder Russian oil through Kazakh and Azeri oil in Bulgaria. I would not be surprised if, on 1 March 2024 (when Russian oil imports are scheduled to be banned), the blend processed by the refinery would contain 100% Kazakh oil. In this way, the money for the Kremlin’s budget will flow smoothly. Every month the exemption is extended is a huge windfall for Russia,” Vladimirov added.

Caspian Pipeline Consortium: oil exports up to 57.5 mln T so far this year Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) said on Tuesday that it has exported almost 57.5 million metric tons of oil so far this year as of Nov. 24 via its Black Sea terminal, up from 51 million tons in the same period in 2022. CPC is a main export route for crude oil produced in Kazakhstan, and CPC Blend is the grade exported from the marine terminal to international markets.

Four Australian LNG Import Projects Progress as Regional Natural Gas Shortages Loom - Australia’s domestic natural gas shortages on the largely populated east coast are helping fuel demand for four LNG import projects, placing one of the world’s largest gas exporters on track to become an importer by 2026.As fields that have typically fed domestic markets continue to decline, the supply outlook for Australia’s east coast declined. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reported last fall that the country’s risk of gas shortfalls would increase after 2026.Specifically, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania are likely to be facing frequent gas shortages by 2027, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). The AEMO has backed plans for LNG imports, citing a reduction in the need for demand curtailments over the winter...

Spill risk concerns from Otway Basin gas wells - Potential spills from gas wells planned of the coast are alarming environment groups. Fossil fuel giant ConoccoPhillips has released modelling on where contaminants may leak should something go wrong with its six test wells at two undisclosed sites off the coast. Varying scenarios show spills spreading to Jervis Bay in NSW, Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania and throughout the Great Australia Bight. The forecasts are contained in the company’s environment plan (EP) that’s now with the federal regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA). A consistent critique of such projects are the relatively short periods people have to respond to what are large, technical submissions, for projects critics say appear ultimately destined for approval regardless of the feedback they give. “We’ve got 30 days…as the general public to make a comment on this 810 page document,” Lousie Marr from the Australian Marine Conservation Society said. ConoccoPhillips and project partners 3D Oil appear so sure of being given the green light for their six gas test wells a drill rig was booked in July. “Activity is scheduled to commence no earlier than 1st of April 2024,” the company’s EP states. “The exact timing dependent on the receipt of environmental approvals and the availability of a mobile offshore drilling unit (‘MODU’).” Ms Marr says the EP highlights numerous areas of concerns, such as the amount of time it would take to try and contain a potential spill. “They’ve said it’s going to take at least 90 days for them to be able to stop the flow…getting another rig from somewhere near the equator down to pump a release well…or cap it in cement,” she said. The group has setup an information page about the proposal, that includes an animation of how far the spill could spread and what mammals would likely be impacted.

Protesters take stand against fracking in outback | The Singleton Argus | Singleton, NSW -- Protesters demanded protection of the Channel Country at a rally in Brisbane. Protesters have rallied outside Queensland parliament calling on the state government to protect the outback's Channel Country rivers from oil and gas exploration.Protesters have rallied outside Queensland parliament calling on the state government to protect the outback's Channel Country rivers from oil and gas exploration. The joint rally demanded an end of Channel Country fracking and a commitment to protect the remote region by year's end. About 100 protesters including Queensland Greens MPs, pastoralists, agriculturalists and First Nations people gathered, brandishing banners on Wednesday. More than 20,000 submissions supporting full protection of the Channel Country were handed to the government as part of an open consultation period that ended in late August. The Channel Country area spans Queensland's far west as well as parts of the Northern Territory, South Australia and NSW. A regulatory impact statement prepared by the Environment and Science Department has been released, saying the area's Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin has global ecological importance and First Nations cultural significance. Environmentalist group Lock the Gate's Ellie Smith said the Channel Country rivers brought life to the desert region and played a vital part supporting farmers and wildlife. She said the majority of submissions in public consultation was for no more oil and gas exploration in the area. "What we want for Christmas is for the Palaszczuk government to announce they will put in the highest protections for rivers," Ms Smith told AAP. Greens MP Michael Berkman addressed the crowd and questioned how the government could let its commitments sit idle for so long. "For it to take as long as it did to get the regulatory impact statement out is in itself extraordinary," he said. The Wilderness Society's Hannah Schuch said communities did not want to see natural and ecologically significant systems unnecessarily tarnished by exploration and fracking. "We want to see these protections enacted now, we can't wait any longer," she told AAP. " We cannot risk this issue going for another electoral term."

BP exits gas field offshore Senegal following disagreement -- BP has exited the Yakaar-Teranga natural gas field offshore Senegal after a disagreement with the local government, reported Bloomberg. Senegalese Minister of Oil and Energy Antoine Félix Diome said bp wanted to export the gas from the field, but Senegal wanted it for domestic use. “We did not agree with bp on the daily production capacity, on the commercial strategy or on the date of the first gas delivery,” Diome told the parliament. “bp favoured exports, while we want to develop the gas for the domestic market.” Yakaar-Teranga field, which was formerly operated by bp, is important to Senegal’s gas-to-power plan to aid in reducing fuel prices and improving electrification in the West African country. The UK-based oil and gas major exited its stake without receiving any “financial compensation”, Diome noted.

Origin: Australia Pacific LNG deliveries impacted as tanker loses power at jetty - Deliveries from the ConocoPhillips-operated Australia Pacific LNG plant on Curtis Island have been delayed as a loaded LNG tanker docked at the terminal’s jetty had lost power and was unable to leave, according to shareholder Origin. Origin, which is subject to a takeover offer from a consortium consisting of Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and a unit of US-based energy investor EIG, said in a statement on Tuesday that downstream operator of APLNG, ConocoPhillips, “is working with all parties concerned, including the relevant maritime regulator and port authority, to resolve the situation.” The firm, as upstream operator, has started turning down production to reduce the flow of gas to the LNG facility. In addition, Origin is taking steps to bank its non-operated portfolio production and execute additional domestic gas sales, it said. The company did not reveal the name of the vessel but its AIS data provided by VesselValue shows that the tanker in question is the 2017-built 174,100-cbm, Cesi Qingdao. Origin said only one LNG vessel is able to dock at the LNG facility at a time. As a result, no other cargoes can be loaded until the situation is resolved, it said. According to the firm, two LNG cargoes have already been deferred out of the FY2024 delivery schedule. “It is expected that more LNG cargos will be deferred, with Australia Pacific LNG ordinarily loading a LNG vessel for export approximately every three days,” it said. The total number of cargoes to be deferred will depend on the timeframe for resolution, Origin said. Origin added there is no impact to domestic gas customers and the firm “will provide further updates as appropriate.” ConocoPhillips Australia also confirmed later on Tuesday that an LNG vessel docked at the APLNG LNG facility lost power and was unable to leave the terminal as scheduled. The company said that there have been no injuries to personnel on the vessel or at the LNG Facility from the event. “We have been working with the ship captain and management, local and federal regulators, and the customer to respond to this event,” it said.

CNOOC nears completion of six giant Binhai LNG tanks - China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) is nearing the mechanical completion of six giant LNG storage tanks at its Binhai LNG import terminal in Jiangsu.The state-owned energy giant is building the 270,000 cbm tanks under the Phase I expansion project of its “Yancheng Green Energy Port” and these are the world’s largest LNG storage tanks, such as those five at CNOOC’s Zhuhai LNG import terminal in Guangdong, according to CNOOC.China’s state-controlled energy giant Sinopec recently put in use what it says is the world’s largest LNG storage tank at its Qingdao LNG import terminal in Shandong province and this tank also has a capacity of 275,000 cbm.The six tanks at CNOOC’s LNG terminal located in Yancheng Binhai Port Industrial Park add to the already four existing tanks with a capacity of 220,000 cbm.In September last year, CNOOC completed raising the roofs on all of the six 270,000 cbm LNG storage tanks and recently hydrotested one of he tanks.

India mandates biogas blending in CNG, piped gas -India plans mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in domestic compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) to cut its reliance on expensive imports of LNG. Blending will initially be voluntary at 1pc for automobiles and households from the April 2024-March 2025 fiscal year and become mandatory from 2025-26, the oil ministry said on 24 November. Natural gas is mostly used in India's gas distribution network through PNG in households and CNG for automobiles. The CBG blending obligation (CBO) will promote production and consumption of CBG in the country, oil and gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, adding that it will encourage investment of around 375bn rupees ($4.5bn) and help to establish 750 CBG projects by 2028-29. The CBO is to increase to 3pc during 2026-27 and to 4pc during 2027-28, after which it will rise to 5pc. A central repository body will monitor and implement the blending mandate based on operational guidelines approved by the oil minister. The government last month launched its 12th city gas distribution bidding round offering areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim states to connect to the natural gas pipeline network. "At present about 23,500km-long gas pipeline network is under operation in the country and around 12,000km pipeline is approved/under construction," Puri had said. India had 300 city gas distribution networks under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board as of August, covering 88pc of the country's geographical area and 98pc of the population. The country has outlined plans to make India a gas-based economy, with the share of natural gas in its primary energy mix targeted to rise to 15pc by 2030 from around 6pc in 2022. The government also aims to have 1pc sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in jet fuel by 2027, which will double to 2pc in 2028, it said on 24 November. This would be done initially for international flights, as part of the country's effort to achieve net zero by 2070. Delhi initially targeted to have 1pc SAF blending in jet fuel by 2025, saying it would need 140mn litres/yr of SAF to achieve this. India additionally plans to increase ethanol blending in gasoline to 20pc by 2025 as part of efforts to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Now the government is also in discussions to promote production of ethanol from maize. This comes as there has been an increase in maize cultivation area and yield per hectare in the past few years.

OQ Trading submits lowest bid in Pakistan LNG tender - Oman’s state-owned firm OQ Trading has submitted the lowest bid in a tender to supply Pakistan with one spot LNG shipment in January. State-owned Pakistan LNG launched this tender on November 20 seeking one 140,000 cbm cargo on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis with the delivery window scheduled for January 8-9, 2024. Four companies took part in the tender, including Vitol Bahrain, QatarEnergy Trading, and Trafigura, Pakistan LNG’s evaluation report dated November 24 shows. OQ Trading submitted the most competitive bid for the January 8-9 delivery and the firm offered a price of $18.4600/MMBtu, the document shows. Vitol Bahrain offered a price of $18.5800/MMBtu, QatarEnergy Trading offered a price of $19.4300/MMBtu, and Trafigura offered a price of $19.6400/MMBtu. Prior to this tender, Pakistan LNG received offers from traders Trafigura and Vitol for two spot cargoes with deliveries on December 7-8 and December 13-14. Trafigura was the only firm to submit an offer for the delivery on December 13-14 and it offered a price of $19.3900/MMBtu. Vitol offered the lowest price of 15.9700/MMBtu for the December 7-8 delivery. Media reports previously suggested that Pakistan LNG decided only to accept the offer from Vitol for the December 7-8 delivery. Pakistan gets most of its supplies under long-term contracts from Qatar and on the spot market, however, last year prices surged and Europe took most of the available spot supplies. In July this year, Pakistan also signed a one-year deal to buy one LNG cargo per month from Azerbaijan’s Socar. GIIGNL data shows that Pakistan’s LNG imports dropped by 16 percent to 6.91 million tons last year due to high prices. The country imported almost all of these volumes under long-term contracts from Qatar, or some 6.10 million tons, the data shows. Spot prices dropped considerably this year, prompting Pakistan and other Asian countries such as Bangladesh to return to buying spot LNG. JKM for January is currently below $17/MMBtu.

TotalEnergies EGINA Oil Spill Not a Minor One - NOSDRA - By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has said that the oil spill from TotalEnergies Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel isn’t a minor one as the cleanup process is still ongoing. Based on our findings, the EGINA oil spill occurred while crude was being loaded from the Egina FPSO to a vessel on 15th November, 2023. In response of the incident, TotalEnergies E&P Nigeria Limited, Country Communications Manager, Dr. Charles Ebereonwu, confirmed the leak in a terse statement obtained by The Energy Republic, stating that the oil spill was a minor one and had been contained with appropriate remedial measures. In his words, “This is not a massive leak and the sheen has been treated with the appropriate response that resulted in a reduction of most of it. “No shoreline or communities have been impacted,” Mr Ebereonwu said, affirming that crude oil production at the 200,000 barrels per day capacity facility, with a storage capacity of 2.3 million barrels of crude, “was not affected by the incident.” Speaking in a media chat with journalists, the Director-General of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Idris Musa, said that the spill was not a minor one, noting that the agency including TotalEnergies and other industry players are on the ground in tracing and tracking the oil slick and supervising response efforts. However, this revelation contradicts TotalEnergies’ claims of minimal impact, saying: “This is not a massive leak, and the sheen has been treated with the appropriate response that resulted in a reduction of most of it,” thereby underscoring the need for greater transparency regarding information on such issues. Speaking further, Mr Musa said: “NOSDRA deployed personnel led by a director to the site, and we have remained on the spill site as well as granting the requisite approvals to hasten the response.” He explained that the agency deployed high-level personnel and activated the National Oil Spills Contingency Plan to contain the spill, adding that NOSDRA and TotalEnergies are working hard in tackling the pollution to minimize its environmental impact.

Nigeria Lost 3,000 Barrels Of Crude To Offshore Spill – About 3,000 barrels of crude oil were lost to the November 15 oil spill from the offshore Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel of TotalEnergies. The FPSO located 130 kilometres off the Atlantic coastline from Port Harcourt has capacity to produce 200,000 barrels of crude daily and can store 2.3 million barrels on board. Director general of the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr Idris Musa, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday that the clean-up of the spill was still on-going. He added that NOSDRA and TotalEnergies did not spare any effort in tackling the pollution to minimise its impact on the environment, a development that kept the spilled crude from reaching the coastline. “The spill has not hit the coastline because of the effectiveness of the spills contingency plan we deployed,’’ he said. Musa explained that NOSDRA deployed high-level personnel and activated the National Oil Spills Contingency Plan to contain the spill. “The spill was not a minor one; it was the response strategy put in place that resulted to limited impact and we have been tracing and tracking the oil slick and supervising response efforts. “NOSDRA deployed personnel led by a director to the site and we have remained on the spill site as well as granting the requisite approvals to hasten the response,’’ he said. Musa explained that TotalEnergies took steps that made the response swift and effective, adding that other oil companies assisted in the response. He stressed that spills clean-up required collaborative response of oil industry stakeholders, which, in this case, deployed aircraft, and at least five vessels in the application of 15,000 litres of liquids to clean the waters.

India's petroleum product exports rise 12.6% in October; OPEC import share drops -- India's exports of petroleum products saw a significant increase of 12.6% in October 2023 from the same month a year earlier, despite a slight decline of 0.8% in the April to October period, according toPetroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC). The increase in exports comes amid a slight dip in the overseas sale of high-speed diesel (HSD) and naphtha. The report indicated a shift in the export pattern, with these commodities experiencing a reduced outflow.Concurrently, India's imports of petroleum products rose by 12.1% in October, led by a spike in the intake of petcoke, bitumen, and fuel oil. LPG and lubricants represented 41.6% of the total petroleum product imports from April to October 2023, marking a significant portion of the country's energy imports. Crude oil imports registered a modest increase of 2.2% in October and 0.6% for the seven months to October, compared with the corresponding periods last year. Notably, crude imports from OPEC countries fell to 47.8% of the total during April-October 2023, down from 63.6% over the same period last year, reflecting a diversification in India's crude supply sources.The total indigenous crude oil production for October was recorded at 2.5 million metric tonnes (MMT), with public sector companies and private players contributing to the output. The total crude oil processed in October stood at 20.6 MMT, a slight rise from the previous year, signifying a consistent demand for refined products.

OPEC accuses International Energy Agency of “vilifying” oil, gas industry – OPEC issued a strongly-worded defense of the oil and gas industry, pushing back against the International Energy Agency and highlighting the increasingly fractious debate over how best to tackle global warming. OPEC said that the IEA has “unjustly vilified” the industry over its role in the climate crisis, according to a Nov. 27 statement that took issue with a recent report from the Paris-based agency. The oil industry is embracing renewables, with major investments being made, and it is investing in technologies to reduce emissions, OPEC said. “The manner in which the IEA has unfortunately used its social media platforms in recent days to criticize and instruct the oil-and-gas industry is undiplomatic,” OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais said. “OPEC itself is not an organization that would prescribe to others what they should do.” COP28 begins on Thursday in Dubai, with the summit’s president, Sultan Al Jaber, also the head of the OPEC producer’s state oil company, making it one of the most controversial climate summits to date. On the same day, OPEC and its partners from outside the grouping, including Russia, are due to convene online in a delayed meeting to agree on production levels for 2024. A framework proposed by the IEA to align company targets with net zero goals “is a tool intended to curtail the sovereign actions and choices of oil-and-gas producing developing countries, through pressurizing their national oil companies,” the group said. It also defended carbon capture technology.

Russian Crude Oil Flows Rebound Ahead of Key OPEC+ Meeting -Despite storms in the Black Sea disrupting loadings, weekly crude oil shipments out of Russia rebounded in the week to November 26, rising by around 370,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the previous week, just before a crucial OPEC+ meeting this week, tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg showed on Tuesday.In the week to November 26, observed shipments of crude oil from Russian ports averaged 3.24 million bpd, up by 370,000 bpd compared to the flows in the week to November 19, according to the data reported by Bloomberg’s Julian Lee. Still, the four-week average crude shipments from Russia were down for a third consecutive week. In the week to November 26, the four-week average crude oil exports from Russian ports was 3.16 million bpd, a decline of around 100,000 bpd compared to the four-week average flows to November 19, per Bloomberg’s calculations.The rebound in Russia’s weekly crude oil shipments comes days before OPEC+ is set to hold its meeting on Thursday, after delaying it by a few days over disagreements about quotas.At the end of last week, reports emerged that the OPEC+ group had made progress in talkswith its African producers over their oil output quotas next year. OPEC’s African members Angola and Nigeria have reportedly asked to have a higher production ceiling next year, after taking a cut in their quotas at the June 2023 meeting of OPEC+ as they had consistently failed to pump to their quotas.“Expectations are that Saudi Arabia will at least roll over its additional voluntary cut of 1MMbbls/d into next year. Clearly, if we do not see this, it would put further downward pressure on the market, given the surplus over 1Q24,” ING strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note this weekend.

Iraq’s oil export revenues exceeded $9.59 billion in October - (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Oil confirmed on Monday that oil export revenues through October surpassed $9.59 billion. According to final statistics issued by the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), the total exports of crude oil during October were more than 109.54 million barrels, with revenues exceeding $9.59 billion. SOMO data revealed that the total quantities of crude oil exported during October from oil fields in central and southern Iraq were 108,050,360 barrels; the quantities exported to Jordan were 464,728 barrels; and oil exports from the Al-Qayyarah oilfield in Nineveh governorate in northern Iraq were 1,030,501 barrels. The average price per barrel was $87.57, compared to more than $91.35 in September. The average daily quantity exported from Iraq in September exceeded 3.43 million barrels per day. Iraq exported more than 106.12 million barrels in August, with total revenues of $8,997,851. Iraq’s total exports of crude oil in July were more than 106.75 million barrels, with revenues estimated at $8.3 billion. The country’s oil export revenues in June were about $7.11 billion, compared to more than $7.3 billion in May. In April, Iraq’s oil export revenues exceeded $7.69 billion, according to an official statement. The total exports of crude oil during March exceeded 100.9 million barrels, with revenues slightly exceeding $7.5 billion. Crude oil exports during February were a little more than 92.25 million barrels with revenues exceeding $7.62 billion, while in January, Iraq exported more than 101.24 million barrels with $7.66 billion in revenues.

UAE set to ramp up Murban crude exports in early 2024 The United Arab Emirates will ramp up exports of Abu Dhabi’s flagship Murban crude early in 2024 as a new OPEC+ mandate kicks in and barrels are diverted to the international market owing to refinery maintenance, according to traders and Reuters data. That will add to increased output of other light sweet crude grades, including from fellow OPEC members Nigeria and Angola and non-OPEC countries such as the U.S. and Brazil. The factors are weighing on global price benchmarks Brent and West Texas Intermediate LCOc1, CLc1 and putting pressure on the Murban spot price. “The market expects bigger supply of Murban crude next year,” said a Singapore-based trading source, who declined to be identified. ADNOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The UAE production baseline under OPEC+ agreements is set to rise 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3.219 million bpd in January. At the same time, maintenance work at Abu Dhabi’s 837,000 bpd Ruwais refinery means less crude demand domestically. OPEC+ is due to hold a ministerial meeting to Nov. 30, when Angola and Nigeria plan to push for higher output. Oil supplies are currently in deficit, but the International Energy Agency expects that to swing to a slight surplus in 2024, even if OPEC+ nations extend their cuts into next year.

Oil supply running ahead of demand before delayed OPEC production policy meeting – Ahead of the delayed OPEC+ meeting on Thursday, there are indications oil supply is running ahead of demand, highlighting the thorny challenge facing the group as it prepares to set production policy for 2024. With futures well down from September highs, widely watched timespreads for global benchmark Brent and U.S. counterpart West Texas Intermediate have softened, signaling ample supply, while U.S. stockpiles have jumped. In addition, other more esoteric indications in the physical market, including differentials between specific grades, have been flashing warnings. The global oil market is fixated upon the meeting of OPEC and its allies, who’ll need to address what analysts see as burgeoning global supply, as well as an internal dispute on quotas. At present, Saudi Arabia and Russia are expected to extend voluntary production cuts, and market watchers say deeper group reductions are also possible. Their decisions will have a profound impact on trading this quarter, as well as next year. “Sentiment in the oil market remains negative,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy for ING Groep NV in Singapore. “There is a growing possibility that we see a deeper cut from the broader group. In doing this, the group would provide good support to the market going into 2024.” Futures curve. Of primary importance is the structure of the futures curve. The gap between WTI’s two nearest contracts has dipped into a bearish contango, with near-dated prices at a 28-cent-a-barrel discount to later-dated ones. A month ago, the opposite pattern — backwardation — held sway, with a premium above 80 cents. Brent’s prompt spread, meanwhile, fell into contango earlier this month for the first time since June, although it’s since recovered a little ground. Longer-term spreads have also come off. Brent’s six-month gap was last at $1.05 a barrel in backwardation compared with nearly $4 a month ago. In the U.S., stockpiles have been swelling. Inventories have rebounded since hitting the lowest this year in September, rising in five of the past six weeks. Other indications of ample near-term supply include sour crude grades in the Mediterranean trading at ever-widening discounts. For one, Basrah Medium is now offered at a discount of about $2.50 a barrel to its official selling price, a level many traders deem very low. Prices of other grades including Johan Sverdrup have also sunk. Asia’s appetite for oil is also softening, with the premium of Oman futures versus Dubai swaps declining this month. Spot differentials of key Middle Eastern grades including Murban have also been falling on weaker demand from buyers in the region, according to traders.

Saudi Arabia seeks OPEC+ oil quota cuts while some members resist -Saudi Arabia is asking others in the OPEC+ coalition to reduce their oil-output quotas in a bid to shore up global markets but some members are resisting, delegates said. The OPEC+ leader has been making a largely unilateral supply cutback of 1 million barrels a day since July, and is now seeking further support from across the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners, said the delegates, asking not to be identified because the information is private.The Saudi proposal comes amid difficult talks for the producers’ group, which was forced to delay its policy meeting by four days to Nov. 30 as Angola and Nigeria resist reductions to their own quota limits for 2024, which were set out at the cartel’s last conference in June.The producers were progressing toward a compromise on this matter before the weekend, but have yet to clinch an agreement, delegates said.The 23-nation OPEC+ alliance faces pressure to intervene in crude markets, following a 17% drop in prices over the past two months amid plentiful supplies and a darkening economic backdrop. Markets could weaken further in early 2024, when forecasters including the International Energy Agency anticipate the emergence of a new supply surplus.Saudi Arabia’s voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels a day, implemented in tandem with a 300,000 barrel-a-day export reduction from Russia, is currently set to continue until the end of the year. Most analysts expect Riyadh and Moscow to extend those curbs into 2024.

OPEC talks hit stalemate on African oil production quota dispute– OPEC is no closer to resolving the deadlock over oil production quotas for some African members that has already forced the group to delay a critical meeting amid faltering prices, according to delegates. The Saudi-led alliance hasn’t been able to reach an agreement with Angola and Nigeria, which are pushing back against lower quota limits for 2024 that reflect their diminished production capabilities, delegates said, asking not to be named because the information was private. The stalemate may not be resolved before the scheduled OPEC meeting on Nov. 30, potentially requiring a further delay, one delegate said. OPEC and its partners need to finalize production policy for 2024, with market watchers predicting that further cuts are needed as crude prices sag toward $80 a bbl on the prospect of a renewed surplus. Saudi Arabia, which has been making a voluntary oil production reduction of 1 MMbpd since July, is asking other members of the coalition to reduce their quotas to share the burden of cuts. Angola and Nigeria are disputing changes to their oil production targets that were provisionally agreed when OPEC last met in June. Those new quotas were subject to review by external consultants and both countries were unhappy with the revised figures. Lagos is now seeking a quota of 1.58 MMbpd for 2024, a slight increase from the provisional level, one delegate said. Luanda is proposing 1.18 MMbpd, which is lower than the figure agreed in June but higher than the consultants’ estimate, the delegate said. Failure to reach consensus could be very costly for the 23-nation coalition, which relies on oil revenue to cover government spending. Crude traders have largely priced in that group leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia will extend their 1.3 MMbpd of additional supply curbs through the first quarter of 2024. Many are banking on even more muscular action from the wider alliance. “With fundamentals softening and market sentiment bearish, OPEC may need to announce another formal cut,” analysts at Eurasia Group led by Raad Alkadiri said in a report on Monday. Anything short of a 1 MMbpd reduction could send prices to the low $70s, they added.

Saudis Pushing For Additional 1 Million Barrel OPEC+ Output Cut, May Come As Soon As Thursday --Ahead of the already once-delayed OPEC+ virtual meeting tomorrow - which may or may not be delayed again - the leaks, trial balloons and outright manipulation by various cartel delegates is approaching a level that would make the Fed and ECB blush.In the latest such leak, moments ago the WSJ largely repeated what we already reported last week, namely that to halt the drop in oil price, most OPEC+ members are considering - and in favor of - an additional 1 million barrels per day production cut. And while delegate sources confirmed that Nigeria and Angola, the two biggest African oil producers, still resist a downgrade of their individual quotas, as does the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia is in favor of the new cuts. And what Saudi Arabia wants, it usually gets.The move, which would likely send oil prices higher, could be announced Thursday at a virtual meeting of the cartel, although a deal for further cuts isn’t assured, and the prospect is still facing significant resistance.As a reminder, Saudi Arabia in June cut production by 1 million barrels, in a unilateral move as part of a deal with the other members of the Vienna-based group. Any cuts announced Thursday would be in addition to those announced in June, and would likely draw a rebuke from the U.S., which slammed 13-strong OPEC and its 10 Russia-led allies for agreeing to a cut of 2 million barrels a day last year. The White House - which is terrified of a spike in gasoline prices in the 2024 election year realizing it would all but cement Joe Biden's loss next November, called the decision by the so-called OPEC+ alliance shortsighted and suggested the group was actively supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Separately, the WSJ reported that the delegates said the Middle East conflict hadn’t been brought up in the OPEC conversations.The OPEC talks also come as global industry and political leaders arrive in Dubai for the United Nations climate summit, where the role of major oil-producing countries in reducing emissions will again be a major topic of discussion. As a reminder, the UAE continues to push against further cuts and thus the fact that Saudi Arabia arranged for the OPEC meeting to take place at the same time as the climate summit suggests that Riyadh is not very pleased with its neighbor.

OPEC+ oil producers head into meeting with quota unease and geopolitical risks casting a shadow -- The influential Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, convene to decide next production policy steps on Thursday, in a postponed virtual meeting overshadowed by conflict in the Middle East, internal disgruntlement and the imminent expiry of a key Saudi supply cut. All eyes have turned on whether the OPEC subset of the group — steered by heavyweight Saudi Arabia — will have mended its differences, after sources told CNBC that Angola and Nigeria objected to lower baselines for next year. Baselines, levels off which cuts and quotas are decided, have been a bone of contention within OPEC+, stalling talks amid UAE pushback in the summer of 2021. Angola and Nigeria have struggled with declining output amid underfunding, spare capacity depletion and infrastructural sabotage. But accepting lower baselines would pose risks in the event of future output recoveries. The two countries' baselines for 2024 — and implicitly their production quotas — were due to be studied following assessment from three independent data providers. Two OPEC+ delegates, who could only speak anonymously because of the sensitivity of discussions, told CNBC Tuesday that a compromise had yet to be reached, as the clock ticks toward key meetings between OPEC, OPEC+ and their technical committee. The gatherings were initially scheduled as in-person meetings last weekend in Vienna, before a last-minute downgrade to virtual conferences. Their new date overlaps with the first day of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) hosted by key OPEC member the UAE, which is trying to raise its profile as a champion of the green transition. Beyond internal strife, OPEC+ has been contending with a perceived disconnect between prices and supply-demand fundamentals, which has frustrated the group — including Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who warned market speculators they should "watch out" in May. Last week, three OPEC+ delegates stressed recent oil prices were pressured by liquidations in a tight future markets, while a fourth delegate said that prices are now shaped by global politics, including developments in Gaza. OPEC+ members already have a 2 million barrels-per-day production cut in place, compounded by 1.66 million-barrels-per-day voluntary declines from some members. Both were agreed until the end of 2024. Topping this, Saudi Arabia and Russia instituted respective supply drops of 1 million barrels per day and 300,000 barrels per day until the end of this year. These drops fleetingly boosted prices that languished amid high interest rates and banking turmoil in the first half of the year, but gains have since retreated, given a fragile recovery in China and political uncertainty in the Middle East. One of the aforementioned delegates said that OPEC+ would have to make a policy announcement to "support the market," while another delegate suggested cuts could be discussed. But a different delegate assessed it is unlikely that the coalition will change course, acknowledging uncertainty over Iran and Venezuela, where the U.S. signaled tightening and easing its oil sanctions, respectively. OPEC doesn't want to go back to 2015 when they lost control of the market, says RBC's Helima Croft Further cuts could stir dormant tensions with the White House, which prefers prices low at the pump but has stayed silent since a war of words with Riyadh last year. U.S. calls for additional production could conflict with Washington-endorsed efforts for global solidarity around decarbonization at COP28. OPEC+ and broader markets face uncertainty whether the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas would spread into the Middle East, echoing the crisis of 50 years prior that resulted in several Arab countries restricting oil exports to the U.S. Two OPEC+ delegates said the coalition would not politicize production, with one of the sources noting that the embargo of 1973 was decided by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Some OPEC+ members will cut the oil that they send to the world to try to boost prices(AP) — The OPEC oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia and allied producers including Russia made another big swipe at propping up lagging crude prices Thursday, expanding some output cuts into next year and bringing up-and-coming oil supplier Brazil into the fold. Lower oil prices have been a good thing for U.S. drivers, who have been able to fill their gas tanks for less money in recent months. But it’s bad news for OPEC+ countries whose oil income bolsters their economies and who have faced setbacks in pushing prices higher despite initial fears that the Israel-Hamas war could affect oil flows. The OPEC+ oil ministers came out of an online meeting with more than 2 million barrels per day in voluntary cuts through the first three months of next year and declared that Brazil would join the bloc in January, bringing one of the world’s fastest-growing oil producers into an alliance that is trying to rein in global supply. However, sweeping cutbacks from OPEC+ and individual member countries since October 2022 have not made lasting changes to oil prices because of concerns about too much crude circulating in a weakening global economy, which could weigh on the thirst for oil for travel and industry.The market even shrugged off the new move, though it amounts to roughly 2% of global supply.Jorge Leon, senior vice president of oil market research for Rystad Energy, called it a “bit of disappointing meeting” for OPEC+ and a “bittersweet” one for Saudi Arabia in particular because it couldn’t convince the whole group to commit to production cuts. The market also was let down, because it “was likely expecting a deal covering the first half of next year,” he said.

Oil prices settle slightly lower ahead of OPEC+ meeting -- Oil prices settled slightly lower Monday as investors waited for an OPEC+ meeting later this week for an agreement expected to curb supplies into 2024. The Brent contract for January fell 60 cents, or .74%, to settle at $79.98 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate contract dropped 68 cents, or .9%, to settle at $74.86 a barrel. Both contracts rose slightly last week, their first weekly gain in five, underpinned by expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia could roll over voluntary supply cuts into early 2024 and OPEC+ might discuss plans to reduce output further. However, prices had tumbled in the middle of the week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, including Russia, postponed a ministerial meeting to Nov. 30 to iron out differences on production targets for African producers. Since then, the group has moved closer to a compromise, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday. ING analysts said market sentiment remains negative given the dispute within OPEC+ over production quotas, although they expect Saudi Arabia to roll over its additional voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day into next year. "Clearly, if we do not see this, it would put further downward pressure on the market, given the surplus over 1Q24," ING analysts said in a note. Estimated exports by OPEC countries have declined to 1.3 million barrels per day below levels in April, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note, in line with the group's supply targets. "We still expect an extension of the unilateral Saudi and Russia cuts through at least 2024Q1, and unchanged group cuts, although a deeper group insurance cut is likely on the table," the bank added. However, the United Arab Emirates is set to ramp up exports of flagship Murban crude early next year, according to traders and Reuters data. In the United States, higher crude stockpiles could also put downward pressure on prices, analysts have said. The International Energy Agency said it expects a slight surplus in global oil markets in 2024 even if OPEC+ nations extend their cuts into next year. Commonwealth Bank analyst Vivek Dhar said: "With the IEA forecasting that global oil demand will only grow 0.9 million bpd next year, down from 2.4 million bpd growth in 2023, OPEC+ will have to show significant supply discipline, or at least jawbone such ability, to alleviate market worries of a deep surplus in oil markets next year." Oil prices have also stabilized after geopolitical tensions dialed down in the Middle East following a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of hostages and prisoners.

Oil on track to snap losing streak on hopes of further OPEC+ cuts - Oil prices rose on Tuesday, snapping a multi-session losing streak ahead of a crucial meeting of OPEC+, which is widely expected to deepen and extend cuts to oil production amid fears of supply being consistently higher than demand. Brent crude futures were up 45 cents, or 0.6%, at $80.43 a barrel at 0152 GMT, on track to snap a four-day losing streak. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading 43 cents higher, also 0.6%, at $75.28 a barrel, after falling for three straight sessions. OPEC+, which combines the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, will hold an online ministerial meeting on Nov. 30 to discuss production targets for 2024. "Crude oil was up sharply in early trade amid reports that OPEC would reduce its output quotas," ANZ Research said in a client note on Tuesday. The group, whose move last week to postpone the meeting to iron out disagreements over production targets for African producers sent oil prices tumbling, has since moved closer to a compromise, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday, potentially helping de facto leader Saudi Arabia edge closer to consensus on deepening oil production cuts. Strong production by non-OPEC countries such as the United States has also added to pressure on prices, analysts say. "Saudi Arabia may be comforted that US gasoline prices have fallen for 60 straight days. This may soften the US opposition to any move to tighten oil markets and support prices," ANZ said.

Oil prices rise after storm disrupts Kazakh, Russian exports - Oil prices rose on Wednesday as a storm in the Black Sea region disrupted oil exports from Kazakhstan and Russia, raising fears of supply tightness, while investors awaited a crucial decision by OPEC+, which may deepen or extend output cuts. Brent crude futures gained 33 cents, or 0.4%, at $82.01 a barrel at 0127 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $76.86 a barrel. Both benchmarks gained about 2% on Tuesday on the possibility the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia (OPEC+), will extend or deepen supply cuts, as well as concerns over Kazakh oil output and a weaker U.S. dollar. A severe storm in the Black Sea region has disrupted up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil exports from Kazakhtsan and Russia, according to state's officials and port agent data. Kazakhstan's largest oilfields are cutting combined daily oil output by 56% from Nov. 27, the Kazakh energy ministry said. "Investors covered short positions ahead of OPEC+ meeting amid worries over supply disruption from Kazakhstan," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities. "All eyes are on OPEC+ policy and demand outlook toward the end of this year, but WTI is expected to hover around $76, with a range of $5 each above and below, for a while unless OPEC+ significantly expands production cuts," he said. OPEC+ is due to hold an online ministerial meeting on Thursday to discuss 2024 production targets, after delaying the meeting from Nov. 26. The talks will be difficult and a rollover of the previous agreement is possible rather than deeper production cuts, four OPEC+ sources said.

WTI Extends Losses After Across-The-Board Inventory Builds, Record Crude Production -- Oil prices are sliding this morning (after yesterday's gains) as traders anxiously await tomorrow's high-stakes OPEC+ meeting (supply), and weighed signs that the Fed is done raising interest rates (demand).“The anxiety brewing in the crude market heading into tomorrow’s meeting is palpable,” “Positioning suggests that trades fear the downside more than the fear of missing out on a rally.”The producer group is expected to set policy for 2024, but has yet to resolve a dispute over output quotas for some African members, according to delegates. API reported overnight that crude inventories declined (and so did Cushing stocks) for the first time in six weeks. API

• Crude -817k (-700k exp)
• Cushing -465k
• Gasoline -898k (+200k exp)
• Distillates +2.81mm (-100k exp)

DOE

• Crude +1.61mm (-700k exp)
• Cushing +1.85mm
• Gasoline +1.76mm (+200k exp)
• Distillates +5.22mm (-100k exp) - biggest build since Dec 2022

The official data opposed API's with Crude and Cushing stocks building (and Gasoline stocks also rising vs API's draw). Distillates saw a huge 5.2mm inventory build too...The Biden admin took advantage of low oil prices and refilled the SPR with 313k barrels. That is the first 'build' at the SPR in 7 weeks...WTI was hovering around $76 ahead of the official data and extended losses after the across the board builds... Finally, the weak market is pressuring Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC Plus, to push to continue and perhaps even deepen production cuts.

The Oil Market Posted an Outside Trading Day on Thursday as it Rallied Over 2.2% Early in the Session The oil market posted an outside trading day on Thursday as it rallied over 2.2% early in the session before it pared its gains and sold off more than 3.6% by mid-day. Early in the session, the crude market posted a high of $79.60 as the market awaited the outcome of the OPEC+ meeting amid reports that additional output cuts of 1 million bpd were being considered by the producer group. The market tested its earlier high of $79.60 as OPEC+ announced their agreement to cut output by about 2.2 million bpd for the first quarter next year. However, the market failed to breach its high and sold off sharply as the cut fell short of expectations, with at least 1.3 million bpd of those cuts being an extension of voluntary cuts that Saudi Arabia and Russia already had in place. Also, analysts believe that the output cuts would not amount to a 2 million bpd cut as some countries are already below their current targets and the output cuts are mostly voluntary. The crude market extended its losses to over 3.6% as it sold off to a low of $75.05 by mid-day. The oil market later traded in a sideways trading range ahead of the close. The January WTI contract settled down $1.90 at $75.96 and the January Brent contract settled down 27 cents at $82.83. The product markets ended the session in negative territory, with the heating oil market settling down 5.8 cents at $2.8305 and the RB market settling down 8.38 cents at $2.1998. OPEC+ oil producers agreed to output cuts approaching 2 million bpd for early next year led by Saudi Arabia rolling over its current voluntary cut of 1 million bpd it has had in place since July. Russia will cut 500,000 bpd and others will also contribute cuts. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak, said Russia will deepen its additional voluntary supply cut of 300,000 bpd by an additional 200,000 bpd to reach a total cut of 500,000 bpd until the end of the first quarter of 2024. The cut will be made from the average export levels of the months of May and June and will consist of 300,000 bpd of crude and 200,000 bpd of refined products. Kuwait will voluntary cut output by 135,000 bpd from January to March and Oman will voluntary cut its output by 42,000 bpd from January to March. Algeria's Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, said OPEC+ oil-producing countries may convene again before the end of this year. He said Algeria has agreed to an addition cut of 50,000 bpd January bringing its oil production target to 908,000 bpd. Nigeria has been given a quota of 1.5 million bpd, Angola 1.11 million bpd and Congo 0.277 million bpd. Meanwhile, an OPEC+ delegate said Brazil is set to join the OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries which includes Saudi Arabia and Russia starting in JanuaryThe U. S Department of Energy has awarded contracts for the purchase of 1.2 million barrels of oil in January to help replenish the SPR at a price of $77.57 per barrel, as a result of crude prices falling below DOE’s price threshold. Macquarie Commodity Trading received an award of 300,000 barrels and Sunoco Partners Marketing and Terminals received an award for 900,000 barrels. The contracts were finalized back on November 13th. Back in October the DOE announced it would post monthly solicitations for oil delivery for December until May and it set a revised maximum price it would pay at $79.00 per barrel. Prior to the October announcement, the DOE had said it would look to refill the SPR when WTI crude was at or below $67-$72 per barrel. Since 2022 the U.S. has released some 248 million barrels from the SPR in efforts to lower oil prices after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. To date the DOE has only repurchased 7.5 million barrels.

U.S. crude declines as skepticism mounts over OPEC+ cuts --U.S. crude declined Thursday, erasing early gains, as traders grew more convinced that OPEC+, a group composed of OPEC plus its oil-producing allies, will not deliver on promised output cuts.The West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell $1.90, or 2.44%, to settle at $75.96 a barrel, while the Brent contract for January lost 27 cents, or 0.17%, to settle at $82.83 a barrel.OPEC+ released a statement Thursday that did not formally endorse production cuts, but individual countries announced voluntary reductions totaling 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024, with Saudi Arabia, the linchpin and largest member, leading the way.The market was disappointed with the outcome because the cuts are short term and the group failed to agree on a unanimous strategy, forcing members to implement unilateral cuts, said Jorge Leon, Rystad Energy's senior vice president, in a note after the meeting. Riyadh agreed to extend its voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day, a source in the Energy Ministry told the Saudi Press Agency. Iraq is cutting by 223,000 bpd, the United Arab Emirates 163,000 bpd, Kuwait 135,000 bpd, Kazakhstan 82,000 bpd, Algeria 51,000 bpd and Oman 42,000 bpd. Russia also deepened its voluntary supply cut to 500,000 bpd through the end of the first quarter, according to a statement from Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. Traders are concerned that the cuts are voluntary and not mandatory, raising the question of whether OPEC+ can really follow through and curtail output, according to Phil Flynn, an analyst at the Price Futures Group. "The proof is going to be in the pudding," Flynn said. "Instead of having a clear answer to what is going to happen we only have a promise -- the promise is making people nervous," Flynn said. OPEC+ has a major problem when it comes to cohesion and compliance on output cuts, said John Kilduff of Again Capital. "Cheating is their middle name when it comes to these situations — OPEC that is," Kilduff told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday morning. "They're like dieters around a dessert table in terms of trying to hold together and comply — they don't have a good track record with it." Kilduff said OPEC+ is getting squeezed by record production from nations including the U.S. and is losing market share in Asia, where demand growth is struggling due to economic headwinds in China. "They have a big problem on their hands," Kilduff said of OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia in particular. "They have their hands full and to me it's not going to prove to be a winning strategy for them," he said of the output cuts.

OPEC Slams IEA Over "Moment Of Truth" For Oil - Days after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the oil and gas industry faces “a moment of truth” in choosing between fueling climate change and becoming a part of the solution, OPEC criticized the agency for vilifying the industry and for playing down energy security and affordability. Last week, the IEA published a report saying that a “moment of truth” is coming for the oil and gas industry as most companies are watching the energy transition from the sidelines, with oil and gas producers accounting for only 1% of total clean energy investment globally. “Producers must choose between contributing to a deepening climate crisis or becoming part of the solution by embracing the shift to clean energy,” the IEA said. Commenting on the report, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said in a statement on Monday,“It is ironic that the IEA, an agency that has repeatedly shifted its narratives and forecasts on a regular basis in recent years, now addresses the oil and gas industry and says that this is a ‘moment of truth’.” “The manner in which the IEA has unfortunately used its social media platforms in recent days to criticize and instruct the oil and gas industry is undiplomatic to say the least. OPEC itself is not an organization that would prescribe to others what they should do,” Al Ghais said. OPEC also criticized the agency for describing carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) an “illusion”.Al Ghais concluded: “We do see a ‘moment of truth’ ahead. We need to understand that all countries have their own orderly energy transition pathways, we need an assurance that all voices are heard, not just a select few, and we need to ensure that energy transitions enable economic growth, enhance social mobility, boost energy access, and reduce emissions at the same time.”

US Military Says It Thwarted Ship Hijacking in Gulf of Aden Near Somalia - The US military said it thwarted a ship hijacking in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia on Monday as tensions continue to rise in the region due to Israel’s campaign in Gaza.US Central Command said in a press release that the destroyer USS Mason and allied ships responded to a distress call from the Central Park, a chemical tanker owned by Zodiac Marine, a company chaired by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.CENTCOM said five armed individuals attempted to flee the scene on a small boat but were detained by the US military. Hours after the incident, CENTCOM said two ballistic missiles were fired at the USS Mason from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen but landed in the Gulf of Aden 10 nautical miles away from the US warship. The Houthis, known formally as Ansar Allah, seized an Israeli-linked tanker last week, but the Pentagon said on Monday that the attackers of the Central Park were likely Somali and not Houthi. “We know they are not Houthi,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

US Navy Responding After Militants Seize Israel-Linked Oil Tanker Off Yemen -Another suspected piracy incident is unfolding — this time in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, as multiple news agencies are reporting that an Israel-linked oil tanker has been boarded by unknown militants. The emerging headlines have surprisingly thus far had little observable impact on oil prices, at a moment of growing security concerns and fears for international shipping in Mideast and Gulf regional waters. At least 22 crew of the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, are now believed to be held hostage. The Associated Press reports, "Attackers seized a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, authorities said. While no group immediately claimed responsibility, it comes as at least two other maritime attacks in recent days have been linked to the Israel-Hamas war." If done by the Houthis, this marks the first such piracy attack from Yemen during the Gaza truce which has successfully held, which went into effect Friday.The AP report further cites "An American defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, also confirmed to The Associated Press that the attack took place." Ship manager Zodiac Maritime described the seizure as "a suspected piracy incident."US naval forces appear to be en route, given the US defense official was further quoted as saying "US and coalition forces are in the vicinity and we are closely monitoring the situation" after "an unknown number of unidentified armed individuals" seized the ship.Maritime and private intelligence firm Ambrey said that "U.S. naval forces are engaged in the situation and have asked vessels to stay clear of the area."Below is what has become known so far of the vessel's ownership:Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the attack. Nearby Aden is held by forces allied to Yemen’s internationally recognized government and a Saudi-led coalition that has battled Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for years. That part of the Gulf of Aden in theory is under the control of those forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. Somali pirates also are not known to operate in that area. Given the location, and recent hostile incidents, the Iran-linked Houthis out of Yemen are the prime suspects for this newest ship hijacking....

Are Oil and Gas Vessels in the Red Sea Safe? -- Are oil and gas vessels in the Red Sea safe? The short answer is no, Torbjorn Soltvedt, Verisk Maplecroft’s Principal Analyst for the Middle East and North Africa, told Rigzone, responding to the question. “The threat of disruption to shipping in the Red Sea will remain elevated as long as the war between Israel and Hamas continues,” Soltvedt said. “Iran is seeking to avoid a direct military confrontation with Israel but is at the same time seeking to target U.S. and Israeli interests indirectly wherever possible,” he added. “In practice, Iran is outsourcing its response to its network of armed groups in the region. The result has been an increase in activity from Iran-linked groups in the region, including in Yemen and the Red Sea,” he continued. Soltvedt noted that that two important factors point toward an increase in Houthi attacks against shipping in the Red Sea over the coming weeks and months. “First, attacks carried out by the Houthis against commercial shipping carry a lower risk of triggering a direct U.S. or Israeli military response against Iran,” he told Rigzone. “And second, the halt in Houthi drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia since a diplomatic agreement between Riyadh and Tehran in March gives the group greater scope to focus on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” he added. “As a result, oil and gas vessels in the Red Sea now face an increased risk of hijackings as well as drone and missile attacks,” Soltvedt continued. “Ships with commercial ties to Israel and the U.S. face the highest risk of being targeted, but the increase in Houthi activities in the Red Sea also poses a threat to shipping more broadly,” he went on to state. The Verisk Maplecroft analyst said the Houthis have already demonstrated their ability to seize ships in the Red Sea and added that the group “also has the capability to target ships with an increasingly sophisticated arsenal of anti-ship missiles and drones”. When he was asked if oil and gas vessels in the Red Sea are safe, Dryad Global Analyst Noah Trowbridge said Israeli linked vessels are at a critical risk of hijacking by the Houthi in the Red Sea, “as illustrated by the seizure of the Galaxy Leader on … November 19”. “However, it is still unlikely that the Iran-backed group would risk escalation by targeting vessels unaffiliated with Israel at this stage,” Trowbridge added. The Red Sea, with its connection to the Suez Canal, is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, Dryad notes on its website, adding that it’s an “essential channel, crucial to maintaining many countries’ political and economic stability”. “The Red Sea is of huge strategic importance lying between the continents of Asia and Africa, separating the Middle East and the Far East as well as Europe and Asia,” the company states on its site. “The geopolitical position of the Red Sea is important because it’s a natural border between the eastern coast of Africa and the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula and a vital route for the unarmed transportation of oil through the Bab el-Mandeb in the south to the Suez Canal in the North,” it adds. “As long as oil remains a primary source of energy for the world, this shipping lane will remain a vital channel for its transport from the Gulf,” it continues.

Qatar Says Israel and Hamas Agree to Extend Truce for Two Days - Qatar announced Monday that Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the truce under the Hostage deal for another 48 hours.“The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip,” Majed al-Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, wrote on X.The four-day truce has held since Friday, and the two sides swapped another group of prisoners on Monday. The exchange on Monday included 11 Israeli hostages and 33 Palestinian prisoners.The exchange fulfilled Hamas’ commitment to hand over 50 Israelis during the initial four-day truce and Israel’s to release 150 Palestinians. Hamas has also released 19 other hostages, including 17 Thai nationals, a Filipino, and a Russian dual citizen, as part of separate arrangements.Qatar did not say what the terms of the two-day extension are, but Israel has said it would only extend the truce if Hamas releases 10 Israeli hostages each day. Israel is required to release more Palestinian prisoners during the extension.Israel has made clear that its brutal military campaign in Gaza will continue once the truce is over. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a group of soldiers on Monday that after the ceasefire, the fighting “will be bigger and take place throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Gaza Truce Brings Lull in Attacks on US Troops in Iraq and Syria - Since October 17, US troops based in Iraq and Syria have come under steady rocket and drone fire. At least 73 attacks have been carried out on US bases in the two countries, but they have stopped since the truce between Israel and Hamas to facilitate the hostage deal came into effect on Friday.According to Reuters, some of Iraq’s leading Shia militias behind some of the attacks on US forces, including Kataib Hezbollah, have said they would abide by the ceasefire. But the militias have signaled their attacks could resume once Israel restarts its operations in Gaza. The Iraqi government has condemned both the attacks on US troops and recent US airstrikes in Iraq that Kataib Hezbollah said killed ten of its fighters. The Iraqi government is warning that without a durable ceasefire in Gaza, the war will likely expand into a regional conflict. “The entire region is on the verge of a devastating conflict that may include everyone, and the extent of its expansion or how to control and stop it is not known,” Farhad Alaadin, a foreign affairs advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.“For this reason, we see any ceasefire in the conflict as beneficial and important at this stage for the people of Palestine and Gaza first and for all countries in the region, including Iraq,” Alaadin added.Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the truce for another two days into Tuesday and Wednesday, but Israeli officials are warning their operations will be even bigger than before once they resume.

Israeli Airstrikes Put Syria's Damascus Airport Out of Service - Israeli airstrikes again targeted Syria’s Damascus airport on Sunday, putting it out of service, Syria’s SANA news agency reported.“At approximately 4:50 on Sunday afternoon, the Zionist enemy carried out an air aggression with missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting Damascus International Airport and some points in Damascus countryside,” a military source told SANA.Israel began frequently targeting Syria’s airports in Damascus and Aleppo last summer, but the attacks have ramped up since the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel and the start of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza.Rudaw reported on Saturday that the Damascus airport was set to resume service after being inoperable for over a month due to Israeli airstrikes in October. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said flights resumed Sunday morning, just hours before Israel bombed the airport and knocked it out of service again.Israeli officials have justified Israeli airstrikes on Syria’s airports by claiming they receive Iranian weapons shipments. But the airports are also used by civilians. Earlier this year, Israeli airstrikes on the Aleppo airportdisrupted aid deliveries following a devastating earthquake that killed thousands of Syrians.

Russia condemns 'provocative' Israeli attack on Damascus airport - Syria's ally Russia on Monday condemned Israeli air strikes on Damascus international airport, describing them as provocative and dangerous. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday's strikes could aggravate tensions in the region, already inflamed by the Gaza war. "We strongly condemn Israel’s latest provocative attack on an important Syrian civilian infrastructure facility," Zakharova said in a statement. "We are convinced that such a vicious practice is fraught with extremely dangerous consequences, especially in the context of a sharp aggravation of the situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the resulting increase in regional tension." Russia intervened in Syria's civil war in 2015 on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, and also has ties to Israel's other enemies in the region including Iran and Hamas. Relations between Russia and Israel have deteriorated since the start of the Gaza war as Moscow has repeatedly highlighted the suffering of Palestinian civilians under siege by Israel, as well as hosting a delegation of senior Hamas officials. The Syrian army and a pro-government newspaper said Sunday's Israeli air strikes put Damascus airport out of service and forced incoming flights to be diverted elsewhere.

Rocket Targets US Base in Syria - A rocket strike on a US base in Syria on Wednesday was the first attack against US troops in Iraq or Syria since the truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect on November 24. A Pentagon official told The National that a single rocket targeted Mission Support Site Euphrates, a US base in eastern Syria, and caused no injuries or damage to infrastructure.The attack marks the 74th time US troops have been targeted in Syria and Iraq since October 17. Some of the Iraqi Shia militias responsible for the attacks have said they were following the Gaza truce by not attacking US forces, but there are many different factions in the operations.Also on Wednesday, US Central Command said a US warship shot down a drone in the southern Red Sea that was fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The Houthis, known formally as Ansar Allah, have been firing missiles and drones toward Israel in response to the onslaught in Gaza.The situation in the region is expected to escalate once Israel resumes its military operations in Gaza, which Israel’s defense minister vowed would be bigger than before. Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shia militia that said it was following the Gaza truce, signaled it would resume attacks on US troops once the ceasefire ends.The US has launched several rounds of airstrikes in eastern Syria and Iraq against the Shia militia, which have killed at least 15 people, according to US officials. Due to the recent escalations, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is planning to force a vote on a bill he introduced to withdraw all US troops from Syria.

Vast scale of Gaza genocide comes into view -- Three days into the first letup in Israel’s two-month-long bombardment and invasion of Gaza, film crews have begun to document the evidence of the deliberate mass murder of Gaza’s civilian population in what is the world’s largest crime scene. Last week, Politico reported that the White House was “concerned” that a “pause” in Israel’s attack against Gaza “would allow journalists broader access to Gaza and the opportunity to further illuminate the devastation there and turn public opinion on Israel.” And so they have. An on-the-ground report by Al Jazeera over the weekend described the scene at Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital: “The stench of death forces people to cover their nose, charred, decomposing bodies, children among them, are piled up in one corner. No burials have taken place because Israeli snipers targeted anyone who ventured out to dig a grave. Streets, schools, houses, shops, Israeli strikes have destroyed them all.” These reports have completely exposed US President Joe Biden’s lie that Palestinian health authorities were overstating the death toll in Gaza. In fact, the Biden administration now admits the official death toll is a significant underestimation. It has been two weeks since the last official death toll was published by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, due to the collapse of health services which made counting the dead impossible. However, the latest unofficial count from the government information ministry, published Wednesday, estimated that 14,352 people had been killed, including 6,000 children and 4,000 women. Palestinian filmmaker Bisan Owda, whose social media reporting from Gaza has captivated millions of people all over the world, put the reality more plainly: “Numbers from Gaza you need to know: 20,000 people were killed, in 50 days of escalation—7,000 of them still under the rubble—8,000 of them are children—all of them are civilians.” According to Gazan officials, 233,000 housing units, or approximately half the houses in Gaza, have been either destroyed or damaged. Bombs or missiles hit 266 schools, of which 67 have been destroyed. Israel has killed 205 healthcare providers and 64 journalists. The most striking element of the death toll is the massive scale of death among women and children. An article published in the Guardian on Sunday stated that Israel claims it has killed between 1,000 and 2,000 Hamas fighters. Even if this were true, it means that for every fighter killed, Israel has killed three to six children, and that between 85 and 92 percent of those killed are civilians. On Sunday, the New York Times published a front-page article explaining that the massive death toll among women and children in the Gaza war is without precedent in the 21st century. “Israel has cast the deaths of civilians in the Gaza Strip as a regrettable but unavoidable part of modern conflict… But a review of past conflicts and interviews with casualty and weapons experts suggest that Israel’s assault is different.” The Times notes, “More than twice as many women and children have already been reported killed in Gaza than have been confirmed killed in Ukraine, according to United Nations figures, after almost two years of Russian attacks.”

Report Details How Israel Intentionally Targets Civilians in Gaza - A report from +972 Magazine published on Thursday detailed how Israel is intentionally targeting civilians in Gaza as part of its war strategy even when Israeli forces know strikes will kill young children.The report, which cited current and former Israeli intelligence officials, said the massive civilian casualties in Gaza since October 7 are due to Israel expanding its authorizations to bomb non-military targets and the loosening of restrictions related to civilian deaths. Israel’s operations in Gaza have had a very high civilian casualty rate, but never at the scale of the current conflict.Sources told +972 that the Israeli military has files on many potential targets that give them a good idea of the likely civilian casualties their strikes will cause. In one case discussed by the sources, Israel’s military command approved the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attempt to kill one Hamas commander.One source said: “Nothing happens by accident. When a 3-year-old girl is killed in a home in Gaza, it’s because someone in the army decided it wasn’t a big deal for her to be killed — that it was a price worth paying in order to hit [another] target. We are not Hamas. These are not random rockets. Everything is intentional. We know exactly how much collateral damage there is in every home.”The report also explains Israel’s targeting “power targets,” which include civilian infrastructure, such as high-rise apartment buildings, banks, universities, and other public buildings. Three sources who’ve been involved in hitting power targets told +972 that the purpose is that a deliberate attack on Palestinian society will exert “civil pressure” on Hamas. Israel used to often warn people to evacuate power targets before they were hit, but that practice has become much less common. In the current war, apartment buildings full of civilians have been leveled with no warning.Sources told +972 that target files for high-rise buildings and other civilian infrastructure always contain some sort of alleged association with Hamas, the real purpose is to hurt civilians. “The sources understood, some explicitly and some implicitly, that damage to civilians is the real purpose of these attacks,” the report says.

US Reaffirms There Are No Conditions on Future Military Aid to Israel - Senior US officials speaking to POLITICO on Wednesday have reaffirmed that the Biden administration intends to place no conditions on future military aid to Israel despite public comments suggesting the idea was under consideration.Amid growing calls from Democrats to condition military aid to Israel, President Biden told reporters the idea is a “worthwhile thought,” but US officials said it won’t happen. “It’s not something we’re currently pursuing,” one official said.The comments come amid reports that say the US has been pressuring Israel to show restraint when it resumes military operations and expands them into south Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who fled the south are located.White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said the US has “been clear with the Israelis that we don’t support them moving forward with operations in the south unless they have a plan to deal with the now-increased level of civilians there.”But there’s no sign the administration is using any of the leverage it has over Israel to curtail civilian casualties, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has vowed Israel’s operations will be even bigger than before once the hostage deal truce is over.A US official has also clarified a tweet from President Biden that suggested he supported a real ceasefire in Gaza. On Tuesday night, the president’s X account said, “To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing, and war is to give Hamas what they seek. We can’t do that.”Many took Biden’s post as a significant shift in rhetoric, as he has previously rejected the idea of a lasting ceasefire. But a senior administration official speaking to Jewish Insider said it wasn’t a change in policy and that the US would continue to support the Israeli onslaught.“We want this to be the last war, and we recognize that, for that to happen, Hamas can’t be the governing authority,” the senior official said. “They have to be out of power, because if you have Hamas in power, you’re likely to have another conflict.”

Israeli Minister in Charge of West Bank Says Territory Is Home to '2 Million Nazis' - Bezalel Smotrich, the extremist Israeli finance minister who’s been given sweeping powers over the West Bank, has said the occupied territory is home to “2 million Nazis,” referring to part of the Palestinian population.It’s estimated that around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank. The Times of Israel reported that Smotrich made the comments in an apparent reference to two polls that found two-thirds of West Bank Palestinians supported the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. However, the polls that were referencedsurveyed Palestinians living in both Gaza and the West Bank.The polls also came after weeks of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign and ground incursion into Gaza, as well as a significant uptick in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.Based on polling, Hamas did not have much support before October 7 and the Israeli bombardment that ensued. A poll conducted on October 6 found that 67% of Palestinians in Gaza either had “no trust at all” (44 percent) or “not a lot of trust” (23 percent) in Hamas. The same poll found that 73% of Gazans favored a peaceful solution to the conflict with Israel.Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionism Party, also referenced “Nazis” in the West Bank in comments on X in response to a Fatah official saying the October 7 Hamas attack didn’t happen in a vacuum. “A reminder to those who have not yet sobered up and think that the Nazis in Judea and Samaria are different from the Nazis in Gaza,” Smotrich said, according to Middle East Eye.Smotrich, a West Bank settler himself, serves as the finance minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government but was also given a position in the Defense Ministry, where he has the power to approve new settlement construction and make it even more difficult for Palestinians to build new homes.Describing the views of Smotrich, the AP reported earlier this year that the politician and his supporters “envision a single state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in which Palestinians can live quietly with second-class status or leave.”

Hezbollah Rejoins Fight, Lebanese Civilians Killed, After Gaza Truce Ended - The resumption of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the truce ended Friday morning has quickly translated into rocket and artillery fire in Israel's north, where emergency sirens have sent residents running for shelter across several towns. Hezbollah, which over the past week has respected the Hamas truce during which time it by and large silenced its weapons, has rejoined the conflict. Already there have been deaths in Lebanon after Israel responded by shelling the town of Hula. Hezbollah-affiliated television channel al-Manar said that a mother and her son were killed in the attack. Previously in the day Al Jazeera reported that "Hezbollah claimed a strike on Israeli soldiers in the first cross-border attack on Israel since the resumption of the fighting in Gaza." Last weekend, the government of Iraq warned that if the Gaza ceasefire doesn't become permanent, there's a strong chance the conflict turns into broader regional war. The Pentagon has forces on high alert at US bases in Syrian and Iraq. Prior the truce of last Friday, American bases in the region had come under some 60 or more total drone and rocket attacks. The US responded with airstrikes several times against 'Iran-backed militias'. Whether these attacks will start up again is a big question the West will be watching closely. The Biden administration has repeatedly threatened to strike against Iran-linked targets and assets if Americans come under threat.

Israel Planning for Gaza War To Last Over a Year - The Financial Times reported speaking with sources who said that Israel plans to wage war on Gaza for over a year. In a little less than two months, Israel has killed at least 15,000 people, damaged 100,000 buildings, displaced 1.7 million Palestinians, and destroyed most of Gaza’s medical facilities.On Friday, FT reported sources said Israel was preparing for a multi-phase conflict in Gaza that will last at least a year. “This will be a very long war…We’re currently not near halfway to achieving our objectives,” said one person familiar with the Israeli war plans.According to the sources, Israel’s goals include “killing the three top Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Marwan Issa — while securing a decisive military victory against the group’s 24 battalions and underground tunnel network and destroying its governing capability in Gaza.”Israel does not appear close to achieving these goals. US sources have said that Israel’s military operations in Gaza have failed to impact high or even mid-level Hamas members. On Sunday, the Guardian reported that Israeli officials estimated that 1,000 – 2,000 Hamas members had been killed. However, FT spoke with an Israeli military source who gave an estimate of 5,000 dead Hamas members. It is unclear why there is such a large discrepancy in the numbers, as both were given during the week-long pause in fighting.In either case, the Israeli military operations have killed more children, at least 6,000, than members of Hamas. The massive civilian toll has led to mounting world opinion against Israeli military operations.Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended a meeting of the Israeli war cabinet on Thursday and warned that Tel Aviv will lose more international support as the conflict continues. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, said military operations in Gaza will take “more than a few additional weeks,” suggesting Tel Aviv did not plan to follow Washington’s advice. Still, America’s top diplomat said Washington was still firmly committed to arming Tel Aviv.

Iran Sues Leading Newspaper Over Leaked Top Secret 'Morality Guard' Document - The Iranian public prosecutor's office has slapped a prominent newspaper with charges over the publication of a top-secret government document outlining the country's volunteer morality guards - guys who go around whacking women for not wearing hijabs and other violations of Sharia law, who are separate from (but similar to) the country's official morality police. According to DW, citing the judiciary's Mizan news, a reformist daily newspaper, Etmad, published the "highly confidential" document - an instruction from the Interior Ministry regarding the deployment of thousands of morality guards to enforce the country's Hijab dress code for women.While the Iranian government has sought to portray the morality guards as nothing more than civilian volunteers who aren't part of the ministry, or the official morality police. But the leaked documents shows deep links between the group and the ministry.Iran's morality guards came under fire last month following the death of 16-year-old Armita Geravand, who fell into a coma after morality guards reportedly beat her into a coma for not wearing a hijab.Geravand was hospitalized and fell into a coma in after she reportedly had a confrontation with morality guards on the Tehran Metro for not wearing a hijab. She died in hospital weeks later.The incident prompted comparisons with the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in the custody of the morality police in 2022.Her death led to unprecedent women's rights protests in Iran and around the world. -DWIranian authorities have denied that the morality police caused Geravand's death, which claimed that she fell and hit her head due to 'low blood pressure,' MDJ reports. The incident caused eight UN experts to call for an "independent, prompt, and impartial" investigation into the incident, saying that women and girls "should not be punished for wearing or not wearing any specific piece of clothing, and should certainly not be at risk of losing their lives for doing so."