Focus on Fracking: US commercial oil supplies at an 8 month low; total domestic oil supplies, including SPR, at a 38 year low

The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA

US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending August 25th indicated that after a decrease in our oil imports and an increase in our oil exports, we had to pull oil out of our stored commercial crude supplies for the sixth time in seven weeks, and for 17th time in the past 36 weeks, as unaccounted for oil supply was also lower....Our imports of crude oil fell by an average of 316,000 barrels per day to 6,617,000 barrels per day, after falling by an average of 225,000 barrels per day the prior week, while our exports of crude oil rose by 270,000 barrels per day to average 4,528,000 barrels per day, which combined meant that the net of our trade in oil worked out to a net import average of 2,089,000 barrels of oil per day during the week ending August 25th, 636,000 fewer barrels per day than the net of our imports minus our exports during the prior week. Over the same period, production of crude from US wells was reportedly unchanged at a forty month high of 12,800,000 barrels per day, and hence our daily supply of oil from the net of our international trade in oil and from domestic well production appears to have averaged a total of 14,889,000 barrels per day during the August 25th reporting week…

Meanwhile, US oil refineries reported they were processing an average of 16,603,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending August 25th, an average of 173,000 fewer barrels per day than the amount of oil that our refineries were processing during the prior week, while over the same period the EIA’s surveys indicated that an average of 1,427,000 barrels of oil per day were being pulled out of 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 August 25th appear to indicate that our total working supply of oil from net imports, from oilfield production, and from storage was 287,000 barrels per day less than what our oil refineries reported they used during the week. To account for that obvious disparity between the apparent supply of oil and the apparent disposition of it, the EIA just inserted a [ +287,000 ] barrel per day figure onto line 13 of the weekly U.S. Petroleum Balance Sheet in order to make the reported data for the daily 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 of that magnitude in the week’s oil supply & demand figures that we have just transcribed.... However, since most oil traders react to these weekly EIA reports as if they were accurate, and since these weekly figures therefore often drive oil pricing, and hence decisions to drill or complete oil wells, we’ll continue to report this data just as it's published, and just as it's watched & believed to be reasonably reliable by most everyone in the industry...(for more on how this weekly oil data is gathered, and the possible reasons for that “unaccounted for” oil, see this EIA explainer)….(NB: there is also a more recent twitter thread from an EIA administrator addressing these errors, and what they had hoped to do about it)

This week's 1,427,000 barrel per day decrease in our overall crude oil inventories left our domestic oil supplies, including those in the SPR, at 772,486,000 barrels, the lowest since April 9, 1985, and came as an average of 1,512,000 barrels per day were being pulled out of our commercially available stocks of crude oil, while an average of 85,000 barrels per day were being added to the oil in our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the fourth increase in the SPR after three years of withdrawals. This week’s crude oil production was reported to be unchanged at a forty month high of 12,800,000 barrels per day because the EIA's rounded estimate of the output from wells in the lower 48 states was unchanged at 12,400,000 barrels per day, while Alaska’s oil production was unchanged at 402,000 barrels per day and added the same 400,000 barrels per day to the 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 was still 2.3% below that of our pre-pandemic production peak, but was 32.0% 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 93.3% of their capacity while using those 16,603,000 barrels of crude per day during the week ending August 25th, down from their 94.5% utilization rate during the prior week, both utilization rates that are in the normal range for mid August... The 16,603,000 barrels per day of oil that were refined this week were 2.2% more than the 16,238,000 barrels of crude that were being processed daily during week ending August 26th of 2022, but 4.6% less than the 17,408,000 barrels that were being refined during the prepandemic week ending August 23rd, 2019, when our refinery utilization rate was at 95.2%, also within the normal range for this time of year...

Even with the decrease in the amount of oil being refined this week, the gasoline output from our refineries was higher, increasing by 290,000 barrels per day to 10,005,000 barrels per day during the week ending August 25th, after our refineries' gasoline output had increased by 130,000 barrels per day during the prior week. This week’s gasoline production was 2.3% more than the 9,778,000 barrels of gasoline that were being produced daily over the same week of last year, but 6.1% less than the gasoline production of 10,660,000 barrels per day during the prepandemic week ending August 23rd, 2019. On the other hand, our refineries’ production of distillate fuels (diesel fuel and heat oil) decreased by 43,000 barrels per day to 5,023,000 barrels per day, after our distillates output had increased by 337,000 barrels per day during the prior week. Even with that decrease, our distillates output was 2.1% more than the 4,919,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending August 26th of 2022, but 3.3% less than the 5,193,000 barrels of distillates that were being produced daily during the week ending August 23rd, 2019...

Even with this week's increase in our gasoline production, our supplies of gasoline in storage at the end of the week fell for the twentieth time in twenty-eight weeks, decreasing by 214,000 barrels to 217,412,000 barrels during the week ending August 25th, after our gasoline inventories had increased by 1,468,000 barrels during the prior week. Our gasoline supplies fell this week because the amount of gasoline supplied to US users rose by 158,000 barrels per day to 9,068,000 barrels per day, and because our imports of gasoline fell 45,000 barrels per day to 848,000 barrels per day, and because our exports of gasoline rose by 24,000 barrels per day to 854,000 barrels per day....Even after twenty gasoline inventory decreases over the past twenty-eight weeks, our gasoline supplies were 1.4% above last August 26th’s gasoline inventories of 214,475,000 barrels, while about 5% below the five year average of our gasoline supplies for this time of the year…

Meanwhile, even with this week's decrease in our distillates production, our supplies of distillate fuels increased for the twelfth time in twenty-five weeks, rising by 1,235,000 barrels to 116,688,000 barrels during the week ending August 25th, after our distillates supplies had increased by 945,000 barrels during the prior week. Our distillates supplies rose this week as the amount of distillates supplied to US markets, an indicator of our domestic demand, fell by 134,000 barrels per day to 3,702,000 barrels per day, and as our imports of distillates rose by 75,000 barrels per day to 163,000 barrels per day, and while our exports of distillates rose by 108,000 barrels per day to 1,308,000 barrels per day....With 37 inventory increases over the past sixty-seven weeks, our distillates supplies at the end of the week were 5.6% above the 111,706,000 barrels of distillates that we had in storage on August 26th of 2022, but were still about 15% below the five year average of our distillates inventories for this time of the year...

Finally, with our oil imports lower and our oil exports higher, our commercial supplies of crude oil in storage fell for 15th time in twenty-two weeks and for the 25th time in the past year, decreasing by 10,584,000 barrels over the week, from 433,528,000 barrels on August 18th to an eight month low of 422,944,000 barrels on August 25th, after our commercial crude supplies had decreased by 6,134,000 barrels over the prior week. With this week's decrease, our commercial crude oil inventories slipped to about 3% below the most recent five-year average of commercial oil supplies for this time of year, but were about 27% above the average of our available crude oil stocks as of the fourth weekend of August over the 5 years at the beginning of the past decade, with the difference between those comparisons arising because it wasn’t until early 2015 that our oil inventories 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 August 25th were 1.1% more than the 418,346,000 barrels of oil we had in commercial storage on August 26th of 2022, but were 1.1% less than the 425,395,000 barrels of oil that we still had in storage on August 27th of 2021, and were 15.1% less than the 498,401,000 barrels of oil we had in commercial storage on August 28th of 2020, after early pandemic precautions had left a lot of oil unused…

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PTT Offers Excuses to Belmont County on Why Cracker Project Stalled - Marcellus Drilling News - Two weeks ago, MDN editor Jim Willis offered the opinion that PTT Global Chemical is not going to build an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County (see Facing Reality – PTT Ohio Cracker Plant Project is Dead). He backed up his opinion with observations and facts to support it. On Tuesday, the Belmont County Township Trustees Association heard a report from PTT’s public relations firm, which continues to dangle the carrot that the cracker plant is coming.

Ohio Utica Shale Production 2Q23 – Top Wells, Drillers & Counties -- Marcellus Drilling News - The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for the second quarter of 2023 late last week, and nobody noticed…except MDN (thanks to a tip from a good friend). ODNR no longer issues a press release to summarize the results as they once did. We’ve got the full spreadsheet with oil and gas production details for all 3,233 active shale wells in the Buckeye State. We’ve sliced and diced the numbers and have our usual Top 25 lists for natural gas and oil wells. We’ve added a couple of new charts summarizing the data, showing the total production for the quarter by driller (gas and oil) and the total production for the quarter by county. You’re gonna love it!

Vance: Time is now to expand Utica Shale usage - U.S. Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio - In a time of grinding inflation, increasing energy costs and continuing global instability, we Ohioans are lucky to live on top of the Utica Shale oil and gas basin. Stretching across Appalachian Ohio and into our neighboring states, the Utica Shale is a vast, underground reserve of energy containing an estimated 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 940 million barrels of oil and 208 million barrels of natural gas liquids. While it would traditionally be impossible to access these energy deposits buried deep underground, new technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have allowed us to unleash these abundant natural resources. If utilized fully, this massive reserve of energy has the potential to fuel high quality job growth and regional development in Ohio. Thankfully, utilization of the Utica Shale is already happening in Ohio’s Columbiana County. Four wells in Hanover Township set new oil production records at the start of the year with over 225,000 barrels pumped, suggesting they hit the sweet spot. Oil production across Ohio increased by almost 12 percent over the same period, and the numbers are even more impressive if you measure them against last year. Compared to the first part of 2022, Utica Shale oil production increased by 65 percent in 2023. The Shale represents America’s next energy boom and Ohio is well-positioned to make it happen. I believe that right now is the time to double down on the Ohio energy industry. In order to maximize output in the Utica Shale, oil and gas producers require new infrastructure – pipelines and refineries, large and small. We need less red tape and fewer restrictions from the federal government. The project permitting reforms made by the recent Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 are a good start, but they do not go far enough to accelerate the construction of new energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is doing everything it can to subsidize alternative energy sources and demonize our nation’s most reliable sources of power. In an effort to discourage investment in oil and gas companies, President Biden has weaponized the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores on publicly traded companies. Additionally, a bevy of onerous new Environmental Protection Agency emissions rules are clamping down on power plants, truck engines and everything in between. The Biden years have thus far been defined by his administration’s wanton harassment of fossil fuel companies, to the detriment of the American people. A war on traditional American energy is a war on the American standard of living. The Biden administration’s anti-energy crusade has very real impacts on the everyday lives of Ohioans. Power outages were once rare in this country, often precipitated by a natural disaster or extreme weather event. Recently, however, a particularly warm summer day or cold winter night could be enough to tax our energy grid to the breaking point, exposing our poor and elderly fellow citizens to dangerous conditions in their own homes. Our baseload energy production capacity is declining as gas-fired power plants close at a distressing rate, and a lack of new transmission lines makes it harder to move energy when emergencies arise. This is not the country I grew up in and it is not the future our children deserve. Many of our elected leaders are telling Americans that we need to make do with less, that the days of cheap and reliable power are over. I vehemently disagree. Our government should reverse these dangerous trends and unleash our energy industry by investing the type of infrastructure projects that have kept America’s lights on for decades. I am proud that Ohio is leading the way to a brighter future by tapping the Utica Shale, and I will not stop fighting for our energy industry to receive the infrastructure it needs to fuel our economy.

Shale Gas Boom Led To Thousands Of Job Losses In Appalachia | OilPrice.com - A fresh study on Appalachian has revealed that the shale gas boom in those regions not only failed to replace losses from the steel industry but actually led to even bigger job losses. The study by Ohio River Valley Institute, a Pennsylvania-based think tank, has examined the economic outcomes for 22 counties spanning Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, responsible for 90% of Appalachian gas production. The data showed gas production has “deteriorated” and job growth has gone from “meager” gains in 2008 to “an absolute decline”. Since 2008, the Appalachian region showed a 1.6% gain in employment before those gains upturning into a 2.1% loss, good for the loss of 10,000 jobs as well as a 4.8% decline in the population in 2021.According to the ORVI report, a slowed increase in global demand for natural gas, challenges in pipeline construction to connect the region to areas where oil can be exported and even the war in Ukraine have all contributed to the declines seen in the Ohio Valley.“This report, its predecessors and struggling downtowns in communities throughout Frackalachia provide overwhelming evidence that the predictions weren’t only wrong, they were the products of deeply flawed and biased analyses. And, more importantly, the reasons why the natural gas boom and its offspring … failed to deliver on promises of economic prosperity are structural in nature, meaning they are not going to change,” the report says. EIA researchers have predicted that peak production in Appalachia “will not be equalled again until 2045,” while other parts of the country could surpass the region in gas production by 2050.But it’s not just Appalachia’s oil and gas sector that’s facing major challenges. Norwegian oil and gas consultancy Rystad Energy has predicted that at least 20% of jobs in drilling, operational support and maintenance could be replaced by robots and automation over the next decade.According to the energy watchdog, increasing use of automation could eliminate as many as 140,000 jobs in the oil and gas sector by 2030.Robots are already emerging as a popular low-cost alternative in the fast-growing offshore industry, where they are capable of remaining underwater indefinitely and can easily access places that are difficult to reach for human-operated submersibles.At a time when roughnecks are rapidly becoming an endangered species, demand for skills like these is growing as technology plays an ever increasingly larger role in the oil and gas sector. A younger, diverse class of tech workers holding titles such as user experience designer or data engineer are increasingly replacing roughnecks, roustabouts and other blue collar workers who have normally formed the bulk of jobs in Texas shale or platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.With oil prices crashing a few years ago, oil and gas companies started making a major push to digitize and automate their operations, allowing complex operations such as offshore drilling in the middle of the ocean in West Texas to be operated and monitored from control rooms in Houston. Consequently, six-figure tech jobs that prize skills such as design, coding, computer system architecture and data analysis over physical prowess have been growing--just not fast enough to replace the tens of thousands being lost in traditional roles.Robotics have gained the most traction in recent years as they continue to prove their worth in inspection, maintenance and repairs. For example, Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor ASA uses self-propelled robotics arms developed by Kongsberg Maritime to carry out subsea maintenance and repair in confined spaces.Oil and gas drilling--one of the costliest and most dangerous tasks in oil and gas production--also stands to be upended by robots.The efficiency and productivity gains are real and not just some ivory tower technological fetishism.Rystad estimates that using robotic drilling systems can reduce the number of roughnecks required on a drilling rig by 20-30% and lower the annual cost of wages in the sector by more than $7 billion by 2030.

Range Res. Gets Permit for 5th Well Pad in Frazer, Near West Deer - Marcellus Drilling News --Funny how a couple of miles can make all the difference. In West Deer, a township in Allegheny County, PA (near Pittsburgh), Olympus Energy faces organized opposition to every project it proposes. Some Olympus well pads get approved, and some don’t. Every Olympus pad is vigorously opposed by anti-fossil fuelers. Yet in the township immediately next door, Frazer (also Allegheny County), Range Resources appears to have no opposition.We hope we don’t jinx it for them! Range has just received a permit for the company’s fifth multi-well pad. No hew and cry from the crazy left–no nothing. Just business as usual.

16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 21 – 27 | Marcellus Drilling News -- New shale permits issued for Aug 21 – 27 in the Marcellus/Utica decreased once again. Up down, up down, up down. That’s what it feels like. There were 16 new permits issued last week, down nearly half from the 27 issued the prior week. Last week’s permit tally included 11 new permits in Pennsylvania, 5 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia (WV has issued no permits in four of the last five weeks). The top permittee for the week, for the third week in a row, was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 5 permits–1 in Bradford County and 4 in Sullivan County. APEX ENERGY | ASCENT RESOURCES | BRADFORD COUNTY | CHESAPEAKE ENERGY | EQT CORP | GREENE COUNTY (PA) | INFLECTION ENERGY |JEFFERSON COUNTY (OH) | LYCOMING COUNTY | MONROE COUNTY | SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY | SULLIVAN COUNTY |WESTMORELAND COUNTY

SWPA Republican Rep. Sells Out, Turns Against Marcellus Industry -- Marcellus Drilling News - We’re naming names. Pennsylvania State Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa (Republican from Fayette County) has turned against the Marcellus industry. She is introducing legislation that would ban drilling new wastewater injection wells in the state, making it much harder to drill new shale wells. Companies end up drilling fewer wells without a place to dispose of the naturally occurring water that comes from shale (and conventional) wells for years after an oil or gas well comes online. Was Krupa always anti-drilling? Or has she recently lost her way? Either way, she needs to be vigorously opposed in this effort–and someone needs to primary her in the next election. She needs to go.

Appalachian Natural Gas Production Ramped Up in Early 2023 - A recent report indicated that natural gas production from the Appalachian Basin peaked in 2022, but U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data show that marketed output increased through the beginning of 2023. In the report, Frackalachia Update: Peak Natural Gas and the Economic Implication for Appalachia, Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) researcher Sean O’Leary noted EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2023 (AEO2023) forecast natural gas production peaked in 2022. Founded in 2020, ORVI is a nonprofit think tank that advocates for clean energy and a shift away from fossil fuel use. The organization is funded by the Heinz Foundation, which has a mission to advance southwestern Pennsylvania’s social, economic and environmental sustainability.

‘We will not allow this environmental genocide’: Chester residents unite against Philly LNG task force The Philadelphia Liquefied Natural Gas Export Task Force met a wall of unified resistance in Chester for its plans to build an LNG terminal along the Delaware River, at its third public meeting on Tuesday morning in the city. The group has been holding a series of public meetings to examine the feasibility of an LNG export terminal.But the bipartisan task force, which along with lawmakers includes representatives from the gas industry, the building trades union, Philadelphia Gas Works, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Community and Economic Development, seemed unprepared to face an audience of residents and environmental activists, who stood behind a unified message “This is a community you ought not even try to think of coming in,” said Zulene Mayfield, founder of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL). “We will not allow this environmental genocide.”The task force plans to issue a final report along with recommendations to guide the Pennsylvania General Assembly in November and one possible location is Chester.The growth of LNG export facilities across the United States has drawn criticism from climate activists who say it will boost natural gas production and greenhouse gas emissions. The highly flammable gas is also a safety concern for those who would end up as neighbors to these facilities.More than 150 people, many from communities along the Delaware River, packed into Widener University’s Lathem Hall to hear testimony from four speakers: Carl Marrara, executive director of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, Neil Chatterjee, former chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Chester City Councilmember Stefan Roots, and Mayfield.

PA Manufacturers Release Study Supporting Philly LNG Export Plan -- Marcellus Drilling News - Last week, MDN told you about the third and final public hearing held by the Pennsylvania House Philadelphia LNG Natural Gas Export Task Force (see Chester Residents Oppose Philly LNG Export Project at Final Hearing). The Task Force was established by law in early 2022 to study how to establish Philadelphia LNG exports to international markets, particularly European exports. The task force is supposed to deliver its report by November of this year. We have an addendum to our previous coverage of what was (in retrospect) Kabuki theater staged by the extreme left at that hearing.

New gas pipeline rules floated following 2018 blasts in Massachusetts - (AP) — Federal regulators are proposing a series of rules changes aimed at toughening safety requirements for millions of miles of gas distribution pipelines nationwide following a string of gas explosions in Massachusetts in 2018.These proposed changes are designed to improve safety and ease risk through the improvement of emergency response plans, integrity management plans, operation manuals and other steps, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.This proposal was prompted by the series of blasts that ripped though parts of the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts. The explosions and fires in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover in September 2018 left a teenager dead, about two dozen injured and destroyed or damaged more than 130 properties. Thousands of residents and businesses were also left without natural gas service for heat and hot water for months in some cases. Leonel Rondon, of Lawrence, died after the chimney of an exploding house crashed onto his car and crushed him. The 18-year-old Rondon had received his driver’s license just hours earlier. Rondon's family later reached a settlement with the utility involved in the disaster. The explosions were caused by overpressurized pipelines operated by Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, according to a federal investigation. The utility agreed to pay the state $56 million in 2020 in addition to a $53 million federal fine and a $143 million lawsuit settlement. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said millions of miles of gas distribution pipelines deliver energy to tens of millions of Americans, heating homes and powering businesses. “As the tragic death of Leonel Rondon in 2018 reminded us, more must be done to ensure the safety of those pipelines,” Buttigieg said in a statement Thursday.

PHMSA Extends Rule Suspending LNG Rail Shipments Through Mid-2025 - The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on Friday issued a final rule extending the suspension of LNG transports by rail car through June 2025, ensuring no shipments occur until a companion rulemaking is finalized. In 2021, the Biden administration first suspended a Trump-era final rule authorizing liquefied natural gas rail shipments in specialized containers that have never been used. PHMSA previously said it needed more time to issue a companion rulemaking. The initial suspension was intended to sunset on June 30, 2024. “The suspension will ensure no rail tank car transports LNG before updated research on safety is completed or a revised rulemaking is completed by June 30, 2025, whichever is earlier,”

Rule allowing rail shipments of LNG will be put on hold to allow more study of safety concerns (AP) — A Trump-era rule allowing railroads to haul highly flammable liquefied natural gas will now be formally put on hold to allow more time to study the safety concerns related to transporting that fuel and other substances like hydrogen that must be kept at extremely low temperatures when they are shipped, regulators announced Thursday. Right after it was announced in the summer of 2020, the rule was challenged in court by a number of environmental groups and 14 states. The uncertainty about the rule on transporting the fuel known as LNG kept railroads from shipping it. The Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration says no one has ever even ordered one of the specially fortified rail cars that would have been required to ship LNG, and several hundred of those cars that would each take at least 18 months to build would likely be needed to make the idea viable. “We need to do more safety investigative work,” said Tristan Brown, the deputy administrator who is leading the agency. “Until we do that work, we don’t want someone to, you know, make investments and deploy something where we haven’t fully done the process we normally do need to do.” Brown acknowledged that the rule was rushed under a directive from former President Donald Trump, so it needs to be refined.

Database shows city, JHU paying fossil fuel lobbying firms — A new database shows Johns Hopkins University, the city of Baltimore, and dozens of other Maryland institutions that work to improve the state's environment are also paying lobbying firms that represent the fossil fuel industry, the 11 News I-Team has learned. The group F Minus found more than 150 universities and more than 200 local governments across the country are paying lobbying firms that also work for the fossil fuel industry. In 2017, trustees of Johns Hopkins University voted to divest from coal, signaling that renewable energy was the future. In 2018, the city of Baltimore sued ExxonMobil and other fossil fuel companies for damages related to climate change. James Browning is the executive director of the national nonprofit F Minus, which aims to expose the lobbying firms working double duty to advance the goals of the fossil fuel industry while also representing those that want to reduce the effects of climate change. He told the I-Team that there is one problem. "So, Hopkins shares a lobbyist with seven fossil fuel companies -- two of those companies have coal operations," Browning said. Then, there's the city of Baltimore. "One thing we found was that it's suing ExxonMobil, among other companies, but the city's own lobbying firm actually has ExxonMobil as a client," Browning said. "I'm sorry, city of Baltimore, I'm sorry, Johns Hopkins, for the inconvenience. But, you know, you need to find lobbyists who aren't making the climate crisis worse." A review of the Maryland lobbying registrations website shows Browning, a former lobbyist in Annapolis, is right. Browning told the I-Team that when Hopkins and Baltimore chose to use the lobbying firms, they provided cover for the less-desirable fossil fuel companies. "If you were a lobbyist in Annapolis and your only client is ExxonMobil, some other oil and gas company, you are going to get a lot of doors closed in your face," Browning said. "But if you can land some prestigious clients, like Johns Hopkins University, like the city of Baltimore, it's a different story." Browning said Hopkins and Baltimore, as well as dozens of other Maryland institutions doing the same thing, have another option. "If they stood up and said, 'We're not going to work with fossil fuel lobbyists anymore,' that would matter," Browning said. The I-Team requested interviews with Hopkins and with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, but both declined.

Cheniere and BASF sign long-term LNG SPA - Cheniere Energy, Inc. has announced that Cheniere’s subsidiary, Cheniere Marketing, LLC, has entered into a long-term LNG sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with BASF. Under the SPA, BASF has agreed to purchase up to approximately 0.8 million tpy of LNG from Cheniere Marketing on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for a purchase price indexed to the Henry Hub price, plus a fixed liquefaction fee. Deliveries will commence in mid-2026 and, subject to a positive final investment decision with respect to the first train (Train Seven) of the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Expansion Project (SPL Expansion Project) in Louisiana, will increase to approximately 0.8 million tpy upon the start of commercial operations of Train Seven. The term of the SPA extends through 2043. “This SPA demonstrates the critical role US natural gas plays in providing long-term secure, sustainable and affordable energy for Europe. With this agreement, we are supporting the objectives of one of Europe’s key industrial end-use consumers to ensure stability of its supply chain.” “By establishing our own dedicated LNG supply chain with Cheniere, we are diversifying our energy and raw materials portfolio at a time of critical changes in the European gas market, which is marked by increased demand and volatile prices for LNG,” said Dr Dirk Elvermann, BASF’s Chief Financial Officer. “While we are reducing our dependence on fossil fuels to reach our goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, this agreement will ensure reliable supply of natural gas at competitive terms.” The SPL Expansion Project is being developed for up to approximately 20 million tpy of total LNG capacity. In May 2023, certain subsidiaries of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. entered the pre-filing review process with respect to the SPL Expansion Project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Great Lakes awarded contract for Port Arthur LNG project -Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, the largest provider of dredging services in the US, has been awarded the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project marine dredging and disposal contract. Great Lakes has been contracted by Bechtel Energy, Inc., a leading global EPC company that is managing the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project in partnership with Sempra Infrastructure. The Port Arthur LNG project is a natural gas liquefaction and export terminal in Southeast Texas with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico. The facilities will include two natural gas liquefaction trains with a nameplate capacity of approximately 13 million tpy. The project will also include construction of new natural gas pipelines to deliver natural gas to the terminal. The scope of work on this project is to dredge the Port Arthur LNG berthing pocket on the Port Arthur ship canal. The berthing pocket and turning basin will connect to the Port Arthur ship canal and allow LNG vessels to berth, load and depart safely. A significant portion of the dredged materials will be placed by Great Lakes within designated beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) areas to restore and enhance marshlands within a local wildlife refuge. Great Lakes is expected to start this project later this year.

Oil spill at Florida's Port Manatee under investigation - A mysterious crude oil spill was reported at Port Manatee in the U.S. state of Florida on Friday, according to China Media Group (CMG). Crews are trying to contain the leak, but the source of the spill is unknown and the cause is under investigation.

API Sues BOEM over Gulf of Mexico Restrictions --The state of Louisiana, Chevron USA Inc., and the American Petroleum Institute (API) have filed a legal challenge regarding the Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Final Notice of Sale for Lease Sale 261 announced last week, complaining about “severe restrictions on oil and natural gas vessel traffic” and “significantly reduced acreage”, the API said in a statement. According to the filing with the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana dated August 24, the “BOEM changed the rules and dramatically altered the terms of Lease Sale 261” in its Final Notice of Sale and Record of Decision. Specifically, the BOEM imposed a new lease stipulation “containing burdensome operating restrictions across a newly defined and vastly enlarged ‘expanded Rice’s Whale area’ that more than doubled the size of the former Rice’s whale area and extended it across the entire stretch of the Gulf”, the filing said. Furthermore, the BOEM “withdrew from Lease Sale 261 all the acreage falling within this expanded area”, the filing continued. The filing states that the BOEM’s “last-minute changes are unlawful several times over” because the new stipulation and acreage withdrawal contravene "the letter and spirit of Congress’ command in the Inflation Reduction Act, which explicitly directed BOEM to conduct Lease Sale 261 in accordance with BOEM’s previously adopted Five-Year Plan for oil and gas leasing—not to introduce substantial new conditions and complications, let alone withdraw millions of acres, at the last minute”. Further, the challenged provisions also “contravene the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act’s procedural requirements and implementing regulations, which instruct BOEM to provide notice of the terms of the lease sale in the Proposed Notice of Sale, not radically change them in the Final Notice”, the filing alleges. Also, the challenged provisions “contravene the Administrative Procedure Act, as they are a wholly arbitrary and capricious departure from BOEM’s prior position without adequate explanation for the change, and otherwise exceed BOEM’s statutory and regulatory authority”, according to the the filing.

Jeff Landry, API sue Biden over Gulf of Mexico lease sale -- Both environmental groups and fossil fuel advocates, including Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, have sued the Biden administration over the scope of a Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale slated for late September.Landry teamed up late Thursday with the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry's largest lobbying firm, and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. to sue the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Department of the Interior in federal court in Lake Charles after the agencies said Wednesday that roughly 67 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico would be offered up for potential oil and gas exploration. That’s less than the 73.4 million acres it had initially proposed for the sale, scheduled for Sept. 27.Meanwhile, six environmental justice groups on Friday announced they were also suing BOEM and Interior, saying the agencies failed to consider the adverse impact the Gulf lease sale would have on coastal communities and climate change. The groups suing BOEM and Interior include Healthy Gulf, Bayou City Waterkeeper, Friends of the Earth, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club. Earthjustice filed the challenge on their behalf.The sales are federal auctions that let companies bid for space to explore and possibly extract oil and natural gas. Bids for the September sale would be largely limited to the Gulf’s western and central regions, with a sliver of blocks available in the Gulf’s eastern region. The available acreage extends more than 200 miles from southeast Louisiana’s coast, according to federal maps.The reduced area appears to be tied to a settlement that environmental groups reached with the Biden administration in July after they sued the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2020. The environmental groups claimed the Trump administration failed to enact adequate safeguards to protect marine species from offshore drilling operations.In that settlement, which was approved by a federal judge Thursday, BOEM will exclude Rice’s whale habitats from any lease sales that occur while the settlement is in effect. The Rice’s whale is a critically endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico.Landry and the fossil fuel coalition slammed the Biden administration for “arbitrary and unlawful last-minute changes” to the extent of the lease sale. They blasted the “burdensome operating restrictions” that they say more than doubled the size of the now off-limits Rice’s whale area. They also argued the changes contradict the Inflation Reduction Act, which forced the Biden administration to hold at least two lease sales in 2023.

Energy interests and environmentalists fight Biden oil lease plan from different sides (AP) — The Biden administration’s plan to protect an endangered species of whale by scaling back an auction of oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico is being challenged by the oil industry, even as environmentalists go to court to stop the lease sale altogether. The conflicting federal lawsuits, one filed Thursday in Louisiana by oil interests, the other announced Friday in Washington by the organization Earthjustice, focus on a planned sale of oil and gas leases set for Sept. 27 in New Orleans. As originally proposed in March, the sale was to cover more than 73 million acres. That area was reduced to 67 million acres this week when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced final plans for the sale. The revision, which also includes new speed limits and requirements for personnel on industry vessels, dovetails with measures announced by the administration on Monday to protect the endangered Rice’s whale in the Gulf. The adoption of those measures is part of an agreement the administration reached last month with environmentalists in efforts to settle a whale-protection lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland.

The U.S. is pumping oil faster than ever. Republicans don't care. - The late-summer surge in gasoline prices is heightening the risks that inflation poses for President Joe Biden, and offering Republicans a new chance to pin the blame on his green agenda.The GOP narrative has a major hole: U.S. oil production — already the highest in the world — is on track to set a new record this year, and will probably rise even more in 2024. But the ever-increasing flow of U.S. crude has failed to keep a lid on gasoline prices, showing once again that a global market drives the fuel prices that shape presidents’ political futures.And that means events far beyond the nation’s borders will play a sizable role in voters’ verdict on “Bidenomics” — as global oil prices rise and fall in response to banking conditions in Europe, China’s slumping real estate market, Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and the latest maneuvers by Saudi Arabia.“The U.S. consumer blames whoever is in the White House” for high gasoline prices, Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for financial advisory firm LPL Financial said in an interview. “Biden’s people have to be watching this despite a stronger economy, which is an irony.”It’s not the outcome that some experts had hoped for from the United States’ rise to energy superpower. Wall Street Journal opinion columnist Walter Russell Mead predicted in 2018 that abundant U.S. energy supplies would enable energy markets to “shrug off geopolitical shocks,” while Ed Morse, a long-time oil market analyst, foresaw in 2015 U.S. oil production would drive prices down sharply and herald “the end of OPEC.” Instead, while the United States’ reliance on OPEC for oil imports has diminished, the country’s fuel market is still dependent on decisions made at the oil cartel’s meetings in Vienna — no matter how much oil comes out of U.S. shale fields.

Oil Rises After EIA Confirms Major Crude Draw --- Crude oil prices moved higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reportedan inventory decline of 10.6 million barrels for the week to August 25.The estimate compared with a draw of 6.1 million barrels for the previous week.A day earlier, the American Petroleum hadestimated inventories had shed a massive 11.5 million barrels in the week to August 25, which prompted a spike in oil prices.In fuels, the Energy Information Administration reported a modest gasoline draw and a middle distillate increase.In gasoline, stocks shed 200,000 barrels in the reporting period, which compared with a build of 1.5 million barrels for the previous week.Gasoline production averaged 10 million barrels daily last week, which compared with 9.7 million barrels daily a week earlier.In middle distillates, the authority estimated an inventory increase of 1.2 million barrels for the second to last week of August, which compared with a modest build of 900,000 barrels for the week before that.Middle distillate production averaged 5 million barrels daily last week, which compared with 5.1 million barrels daily for the previous week.Refineries processed 16.6 million bpd last week, operating at 93.3% of capacity, with imports averaging 6.6 million bpd, down from the previous week, when imports averaged 6.9 million bpd.Oil prices, meanwhile, have been on the rise after two depressed weeks during which traders focused on economic data from the United States and China.This week, however, things changed when the American Petroleum Institute reported that massive inventory draw, suggesting demand for fuels in the world’s biggest consumer remained resilient in the face of challenges.Hurricane Idalia, which is currently moving towards the Florida coast, contributed to the price rise with the potential for more evacuations in the Gulf of Mexico after Chevron suspended operations at three platforms.At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $86.03 per barrel and West Texas Intermediatewas trading at $81.84 per barrel, both up from opening.

US oil, gas rig count drops 9 to 705 as activity hits 20-month low -The US oil and gas rig count continued to decline through late August as total deployments dropped to their lowest since late December 2021, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed. In the week to Aug. 23, the US rig count dropped by nine to just 705. After reaching a post-pandemic high at 889 in November 2022, the US drilling fleet has now contracted by over 20% in the nine months since as domestic oil and gas producers continue to respond to weaker commodity prices this year. Through late August, the US benchmark WTI crude price has averaged just $78.26/b in 2023, down sharply from $100.36/b averaged over the same eight-month period in 2022. In the gas market, the drop in futures prices has been even more pronounced with Henry Hub prompt-month gas trading at an average $2.48/MMBtu this year, compared with $6.56/MMBtu from January through late August 2022, S&P Global data showed. From mid- to late-August, the continued decline in rig count was led overwhelmingly by cuts to oil-directed drilling activity – a longer-term trend that has been underway for much of this summer. In the week to Aug. 23, rig count in the Permian dropped to 331 as the basin continues to consolidate drilling activity, cutting West Texas rig numbers from the 350-360 range this spring. Among the other oil-directed drilling basins, activity cuts in the SCOOP-STACK basin of Oklahoma rank a close second this summer with the total rig count there dropping to 29 in the week to Aug. 23 – down from 43 as recently as May. Rig count in the Eagle Ford was unchanged from mid- to late August at 53 but also remains well below levels in the low-60s this spring and a count at over 70 as recently as March. The Denver-Julesburg with 17 rigs and the Powder River with 15 rigs currently have largely bucked the downward trend this summer with relatively little change to drilling activity in recent months.

Oil Industry Not Spending Enough To Balance Supply & Demand - After years of warnings of failure to invest in enough new exploration, the industry has begun spending more. Yet, it would still be less than is necessary to secure enough supply to respond to demand. That’s the take of Wood Mackenzie analysts, at least, who recently reported that the oil and gas industry is currently in the third year of an upcycle, with this year’s investments in new production at $490 billion. This would be significantly higher than the low reached in 2020, which stood at $370 billion. Even though spending on its own is not enough to secure supply, the Wood Mac analysts noted in an interview for the firm that cost reductions will make up for the difference. They note the rise of U.S. shale and other non-OPEC sources, and forecast non-OPEC producers to maintain a constant market share in the coming years. Indeed, this chimes in with what U.S. oil industry executives reported during the latest financial reporting season. What the said, basically, was that wells were yielding more oil than expected, boosting total production. The reason wells were yielding more: technological improvements. Argus reported earlier this month, citing Pioneer Natural Resources, that well productivity since the start of the year has been trending significantly higher than the average for 2022. At the same time, however, Bloomberg recently cited research from Enverus suggesting that shale wells were draining faster than previously assumed, with few untapped reservoirs left as the shale patch gets mature. Besides U.S. oil, there is also Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and smaller producers such as Guyana. These have contributed significantly to global supply, but OPEC remains the biggest fish in the oil pond because of its common supply control policies. What’s more, with the expansion of the BRICS bloc, we get another grouping of some of the largest producers in the world, partly overlapping with OPEC but also including Brazil and Argentina.Groupings aside, global investments in new oil and gas supplied are well and truly on a rise despite the transition push. Goldman Sachs reported last month that there were currently 70 large-scale oil and gas projects under development globally right now. That was up by a substantial 25% from 2020, although 2020 could hardly be seen as a normal year for investment decision-making in any industry except perhaps IT. Per the investment bank, the seven-year-long underinvestment period led to a sharp decline in the resource life of future projects as well as the life of already producing fields. With a rebound in investment, this may yet change. Wood Mac, on the other hand, warns of peak demand and a fundamental change in the oil and gas industry driven by the prospect of that.According to upstream analysts Fraser McKay and Ian Thom, the current cycle will not end with a bust as all previous cycles in the industry did. The reason: the prospect of peak oil demand caused by the transition to non-hydrocarbon energy sources. This prospect, they argued, would keep oil and gas producers on their toes and maintain their financial discipline over the longer term.Still, despite the prospect of peak demand, even Wood Mac analysts are worried about the lack of a spare production capacity cushion, which could be viewed as a side effect of this newly found discipline with spending and focus on efficiency while adjusting to a world in transition.

CPUC Approves Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Increase to Hedge Against Winter Price Volatility - California regulators approved an increase in the maximum natural gas storage level allowed at Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon facility in Los Angeles County to 68.8 Bcf from 41.16 Bcf, the highest amount deemed safe by the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM). The decision allows SoCalGas to inject more gas into the facility during fall in order to protect consumers from natural gas and electricity price spikes in winter, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said. “The Western region of the U.S. saw substantial increases in wholesale natural gas prices from November 2022 to March 2023,” regulators said. “Preliminary estimates from stakeholders suggest that the CPUC’s decision to temporarily increase natural gas...

‘My mind is just blown.’ California allows more gas storage at Aliso Canyon leak site - State officials voted Thursday to let Southern California Gas Co. store far more fuel at the Aliso Canyon gas storage field, eight years after a record-breaking leak spewed more than 100,000 metric tons of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere and prompted thousands of San Fernando Valley residents to evacuate their homes for months. The 5-0 vote by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointees on the California Public Utilities Commission angered many residents of Porter Ranch and other neighborhoods near Aliso Canyon, who see the gas field as a continued threat to their health and have called on Newsom to live up to his long-standing pledge to shut it down. The vote also frustrated climate change activists who have urged state officials to do more to help families replace gas appliances with electric heat pumps and induction stoves. Newsom’s appointees said they agreed with an analysis presented by SoCalGas — and endorsed by commission staff — finding that more fuel storage at Aliso could lead to lower gas and electricity costs for Southern California residents this winter. . It’s been two years since the Public Utilities Commission raised the storage cap at Aliso Canyon — which had been cut after the methane leak — to 41 billion cubic feet. Now the agency has upped the limit to the 68.6 billion cubic feet requested by SoCalGas and its sister utility, San Diego Gas & Electric — the maximum amount deemed safe by another state agency. Alice Reynolds, the commission’s president, said the decision “is not about using more natural gas or allowing the use of more natural gas.” She said her agency and others are working to reduce reliance on the fossil fuel, by distributing rebates for electric appliances, eliminating subsidies for new gas hookups and ordering utilities to buy more renewable electricity. But none of those steps have changed the reality that we still need gas. “We’re in a transition period,” Reynolds said. “Frankly, we’re not there yet. And we face many challenges.” The Public Advocates Office, an independent arm of the Public Utilities Commission that looks out for consumers, supported the decision. But every one of the three dozen people who offered comments on Aliso Canyon before the vote felt differently, many of them flabbergasted that the Newsom administration hasn’t made shutting down the storage field a higher priority. “My mind is just blown that we’re actually talking about this again,” Jane Fowler, a Granada Hills resident and co-founder of the Aliso Moms Alliance, told the commissioners. “We’re trying to get off fossil fuels for our future, for everyone’s future. Why would we be going backward? Why would we make ourselves more dependent on poison?” Or as dozens of Porter Ranch residents told Newsom in a recent letter: “This facility represents a clear and present danger.”

Petronas gas project in Canada aims to start exports next year ----- Malaysian national energy company Petronas on Wednesday said a multibillion-dollar natural gas export facility in Canada in which it has a 25% stake is expected to be operational by the second half of next year. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed soon, the company said. "Canada ... is one of our most promising and largest reserves with at least 50 Tcf," or trillion cubic feet, Petronas President and Group CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik said at a news conference. "[The progress] now stands at about 83.5%, and we should be expecting deliveries, hopefully [in July of] next year." Petronas acquired its stake in the LNG Canada project in 2018, its first in the country. The facility in the province of British Columbia includes a natural gas liquefaction plant and facilities for the storage and export of LNG. Other partners include Royal Dutch Shell, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and Korea Gas. Muhammad spoke as Petronas announced its first-half net profit declined 13% to 40.2 billion ringgit ($8.7 billion) in the first half of 2023 from the same period last year amid a double-digit decline in oil prices. It attributed 6.2 billion ringgit of the decline to a lower average oil price, which the company said was 26% lower in the first half. Revenue declined marginally to 170.3 billion ringgit from 170.4 billion ringgit.

Owners of controversial fracking site in Yorkshire to turn it into a geothermal energy extraction facility instead A firm which found itself at the centre of a storm over its plans to frack in Ryedale looks set to complete an extraordinary turnaround by helping launch the UK’s first geothermal well, extracting clean, renewable energy from deep underground without disturbing the geology. From next month Third Energy’s Kirby Misperton KM8 well site, which was the focus of many months of heated protests after North Yorkshire County Council approved hydraulic fracturing for gas there in 2016, will become an operational test site for geothermal energy production, led by pioneering firm CeraPhi Energy2. Ahead of the eight-week trial, CeraPhi says it has patented technologies to convert existing wells at the end of their life by plugging the bottoms and using circulating fluids in a closed tube system within the well to bring the heat found deep underground to the surface. Unlike hydraulic fracturing CeraPhi’s process does not interfere with any rock formation, sub-surface system or any fluids, and has been likened to the reverse process of a fridge, but without using carbon dioxide. CeraPhi chief executive Karl Farrow said: “We are not touching the geology – sending water down the outside of the tubes to collect the heat before bringing the water up the tubing to the surface where the heat is then processed.” The company says there are a potential further 680 oil and gas wells which could be converted in the UK, including more than 200 between Lincolnshire and the North-East, and 12 in the Kirby Misperton area alone. Tests have revealed the temperature at the bottom of the 3km deep KM8 well is about 110C and the firm is expecting to get up to 90C when transferred by liquid to the surface, which it says is sufficient to supply heat to up to 400 homes for about 40 years.

Gate terminal starts construction of 4th LNG tank at Port of Rotterdam --Gate terminal and its shareholders, Gasunie and Vopak, have announced that the final investment decision has been taken to expand Gate terminal’s storage and regasification capacity. The expansion consists of a new LNG storage tank of 180 000 m3 and additional regasification capacity of 4 billion m3/y. The new capacity is already rented out under long-term commercial agreements and is expected to be ready for operation by 2H26. Vopak and Gasunie are the founders and owners of Gate terminal in Rotterdam, which has been operational since 2011. The terminal plays a crucial role in the supply and availability of gas in the Netherlands and its neighbouring countries. Once all envisaged projects at Gate terminal have been completed, the terminal will have a total regasification capacity of 20 billion m3/y. Hans Coenen, on behalf of the Board of Directors of Gasunie, said: “The investment in this new tank is part of a broader package of proposed and already realised measures to increase LNG import capacity in the Netherlands. This is necessary to compensate for the loss of Russian natural gas and to reduce the scarcity of natural gas on the European gas market. In addition to expanding LNG import capacity, Gasunie is continuing to accelerate the energy transition. For example, through the construction of a national hydrogen network and the conversion of import terminals. We will also continue to focus on green gas, transport of heat, and carbon capture and storage.”

Gazprom’s gas output decline bottoming out, industry data show - The drop in Gazprom PJSC’s natural gas production showed signs of bottoming out in July, with industry data indicating the smallest annual decline so far this year. Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian pipeline exports, stopped releasing regular operational figures this year. However, its production is included in industry data for much smaller, independent producers, where Gazprom dominates production totals. The combined output of this group in July was 24.3 billion cubic meters, down eight per cent from a year earlier. That compares to an annual decline of just under 27 per cent in May and nearly 17 per cent in June, according to Bloomberg calculations. These companies accounted for 57 per cent of nation’s total output last month, according to data seen by Bloomberg.

Natural gas imports down in June -Türkiye’s natural gas import declined by 39.2 percent in June from a year ago to 2.33 billion cubic meters, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) has informed. LNG imports fell 18 percent to 462 million cubic meters, while imports via pipelines were down 43 percent to 1.87 billion cubic meters. Azerbaijan was the largest supplier of natural gas, accounting for 32 percent of Türkiye’s all gas imports, followed by Russia at 30.3 percent. Iran and Algeria ranked third and fourth at 18 percent and 16 percent, respectively. The country’s overall gas consumption fell nearly 16 percent to 2.57 billion cubic meters. However, households’ consumption leaped 78 percent year-on-year to 688 million cubic meters. Industry’s natural gas consumption dropped 20.3 percent to 911 million cubic meters. Electricity power plants used 377 million cubic meters of gas in June, marking a 60 percent decline from a year earlier. Natural gas stocks stood at 4.9 billion cubic meters, up 80 percent year-on-year.

Shell Starts Production at Malaysia Gas Project -- Shell PLC has announced the delivery of the first gas from its Timi field platform in Malaysia, designed to produce up to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Output is carried through a new 49.7-mile pipeline to the Shell-operated F23 production hub, the British energy giant has said. Shell, whose Sarawak Shell Berhad operates the Timi field development project through a 75 percent stake in the SK318 production sharing contract, touted the platform as a testament to its drive for less-emission production. "Timi features Shell’s first wellhead platform in Malaysia that is powered by a solar and wind hybrid power system", it said in a press release this week. "This unmanned platform is also more cost efficient, as a result of it being around 60 percent lighter in weight, than a conventional tender-assisted drilling wellhead platform that relies on oil and gas for power." Shell had started up its first fully solar-powered wellhead platform, on the Gorek field, on May 24, 2020, as announced by the company July 31, 2020. Sarawak Shell operates the field under the SK408 production sharing contract. Shell discovered Timi, a sweet gas field, in 2018 under the SK318 contract with PETRONAS Carigali Sendirian Bhd (15 percent), a subsidiary of Malaysia's state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS), and Brunei Energy Exploration (10 percent). Timi sits about 126 miles northwest of Miri, Sarawak and 157 miles north-west of Bintulu in the same state, according to Shell.

Australian union set to strike at major Chevron LNG facilities from Sept. 7 --Workers at US energy company Chevron's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Australia are set to go on strike on Sept. 7 after disputes over working conditions, the Australian labor union Offshore Alliance (OA) announced on Tuesday. The OA warned the company about taking protected industrial action that may include 'numerous work bans and complete stoppages of work', the OA told Anadolu in an e-mailed note. Union members in Chevron's Wheatstone Downstream and Gorgan facilities voted to endorse protected industrial action after Chevron rejected imposing an industry standard agreement. The union said many companies working across Western Australian gas fields have successfully negotiated enterprise agreements with the OA to cover their workers in the last few years. However, OA members at Chevron have still not reached an agreement on several key claims, including job security, agreed rosters, transfers to other Chevron worksites, working overtime, training standards, travel arrangements and rates of pay, the union explained. 'Our members at Chevron aren’t being unreasonable in their claims and if Chevron could just accept that it must provide terms and conditions of employment that meet the industry standard, we could settle this matter in a matter of hours,' said the OA spokesperson and Western Australian Workers' Union Branch Secretary Brad Gandy. Meanwhile, Chevron also explained in an e-mailed note that the company received notices for protected industrial action at the facilities that is due to start on Sept. 7 if no agreement has been reached. 'While we don't believe that industrial action is necessary for the agreement to be reached, we recognize employees have the right to take protected industrial action, and we will continue to take steps to maintain safe and reliable operations in the event of disruption at our facilities, a Chevron Australia spokesperson said.

Chevron Turns to Australian Regulators to Mediate Negotiations with LNG Workers – The Offtake - Workers at the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG terminals in Western Australia rejected a pay package proposed by Chevron Corp. The proposal did not have the approval of union representatives last week, when Chevron took it directly to employees. Chevron has now asked Australia’s Fair Work Commission to help mediate negotiations with the unions, which are scheduled to start a strike Thursday (Sept. 7) with periodic work stoppages. The export terminals represent about 5% of the world’s liquefaction capacity. Santos Ltd. has agreed to sell a 2.6% stake in the Papua New Guinea LNG terminal to state-owned Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd. for $576 million. Kumul has an option to buy another 2.4% in the 8.3 million metric tons/year...

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles faced expulsion from Territory Labor's Left faction over pro-fracking stance - Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has faced a motion calling for her expulsion from Labor’s Left faction. Multiple sources within Territory Labor have told the ABC the motion was a move designed in part to "stir up debate" about the NT government's pro-fracking stance. It was debated across multiple left faction meetings, but was eventually withdrawn on July 12. The motion, which has been seen by the ABC, states: "This meeting of Left Labor demands the immediate expulsion of Natasha Fyles from Left Labor." Sources said Ms Fyles attended one of the meetings to address left faction members and defend her government's pro-fracking position.

European Majors Look To Expand Venezuela Oil Deals - Italy’s Eni and Spain’s Repsol, two major European oil and gas firms, are looking to expand their oil deals with Venezuela with U.S. consent, Reuters reported on Tuesday, quoting sources familiar with the matter. A potential further U.S. exemption for Eni and Repsol could give the companies access to oil swap deals, which could increase fuel deliveries to Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA in exchange for Venezuelan crude to be shipped to Europe. Under the current sanctions regime, direct payments to PDVSA are not allowed, so companies have sought authorization to offtake some crude from Venezuela as a form of payment for their receivable debts. Last year, Eni and Repsol were allowed to ship some Venezuelan crude to process at European refineries in order to recover debts and dividends owed to them by Venezuela for their joint ventures in the country holding the world’s largest oil reserves. Under new terms of oil-for-debt deals, Eni and Repsol could now be authorized to export fuels such as naphtha to Venezuela, according to Reuters’ sources. The Biden Administration has signaled it could be open to additional special authorizations for oil companies in Venezuela as it seeks to limit the fallout of a tight global supply on U.S. gasoline prices. The first opening of the Biden Administration to Venezuela occurred at the end of last year when it eased the sanctions to allow Chevron to resume its work in Venezuela and export the crude when access to Russian heavy crude was shut off by the sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.Now there could be an opening in the U.S. Administration to allow more companies – other than Chevron – to export crude oil from Venezuela.Federal government officials in Washington are reportedly working on a draft proposal for sanctions relief to be offered to Venezuela if it organizes “free and fair” presidential elections.The pitch focuses on letting more companies buy Venezuelan crude, Reuters reported last week, citing unnamed sources.

Oil loadings from Russia’s Baltic ports for Sept. 1-10 set to rise 38% from Aug. 1-10 | Russian Urals oil and Kazakhstan’s KEBCO loadings from Russia’s Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga will jump to 2.2 million tonnes for Sept. 1-10 from 1.6 million tonnes planned for Aug. 1-10, two traders said on Wednesday. Combined exports of Urals and KEBCO oil grades from Primorsk and Ust-Lyga in the first 10 days of September will rise by some 38% from the same period of August, Reuters calculations showed. Russia is expected to increase oil exports from its western ports in September from August amid seasonal refinery maintenance. Meanwhile Moscow’s pledge to cut oil exports as a part of OPEC+ cooperation may limit the increase of loadings, the traders said. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that Russia will cut oil exports in September by 300,000 barrels per day compared to June 2023. Oil exports and transit from Russia’s Baltic ports in June stood around 6.4 million tonnes, according to trading and shipping sources.

India's Russian crude imports decline sharply in Aug to lowest in 7 months --Indian imports of Russian oil plunged by a record in August month-on-month (MoM) as discounts on the fuel shrank in tandem with rising Brent oil prices. Higher crude prices will drive inflation or hurt earnings at oil companies and India's fiscal position if such spikes are not passed on to consumers. Indian purchases of Russian crude declined by around 24 per cent in August from July to the lowest level since January, with refiners expecting volumes to drop further amid rising rates of Russian benchmark Urals grade, substantial stocks at refiners, and planned maintenance at Indian refineries, according to ship tracking data and industry officials. Shipments of Russian oil to India dropped to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in August from 2.1 million bpd in July, the steepest month-on-month drop, according to loading data from London-based market intelligence provider Vortexa and Paris-based market intelligence agency Kpler. Volumes in August were the lowest since purchases of 1.4 million barrels per day in January. "The decline in August is largely driven by lower Russian Urals supplies, with the crude's narrowing discounts to Brent possibly dampening Indian refiners' appetite as well," said Serena Huang, an analyst at Vortexa. European crude benchmark Brent climbed to as high as $87.8 a barrel last month from $78 a barrel in mid-July before settling at around $86 a barrel. The surge in Brent rates has sent Urals higher. Urals is trading over $60 a barrel on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, a ceiling set by the Western powers on Russian oil sales, beyond which stringent sanctions apply. Moreover, Russian crude output cuts have increased demand for Urals, more than halving the discounts from $10-$13 a barrel early this year. Indian refiners need at least $7-$8 a barrel as discounts on Russian Urals. "$3-$4 a barrel is not workable," a Mumbai-based refiner said. "The economics of current levels of Russian discounts is not favourable to accelerated purchases of the crude," said R Ramachandran, a Mumbai-based oil industry consultant and former refining head of state-run Bharat Petroleum. "If refiners can get access to Russian crude at an attractive value, the scenarios will change. But that seems unlikely unless there are further output cuts in the Middle East or there is a slowdown in Chinese crude purchases," Ramachandran said.

India will buy oil from anyone who offers the ‘lowest possible prices’ – minister -- India will buy oil from all sources that offer it at the “lowest possible prices”, the country’s oil minister told broadcaster ET Now on Wednesday. India has been buying crude oil from Russia, which is now its top oil supplier, at discounted prices since the west imposed import curbs following its invasion of Ukraine last year. “We are very clear in our minds that we will buy oil from wherever we can get it as long as it is delivered to our point of importation at our ports at the lowest possible price,” Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, gets more than 80% of its oil from overseas. Asked about rupee trade with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the minister said that the transactions in the oil sector were “very minimum”. The two countries had agreed to facilitate trade in rupees instead of dollars in July. “We have a rupee-dirham arrangement with the UAE but the transactions in the oil sector are very minimum,” he said.

Cargo vessel runs aground in waters off Batangas City — A cargo vessel ran aground in waters off Batangas City on Wednesday (August 30), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported. The PCG-Southern Tagalog District said Thursday that LCT (landing craft, tank) Golden Bella was traveling from Brooke’s Point in Palawan to Manila when it encountered strong winds and moderate to rough seas. While looking for an anchorage area, the vessel ran aground in a rocky seabed in the shallow waters off Barangay (village) Ilijan at around 2:28 p.m., the PCG said. An LCT is a specially designed ship for hauling cargo, trucks, containers, building materials, cars, and passengers. The PCG’s Marine Environmental Protection Force and Special Operations Unit in Southern Tagalog were immediately dispatched to the area to assess the situation and provide necessary assistance. All 12 crew members were found safe. The report said the vessel has a fuel load of 13,456 liters of diesel and 173 liters of lube oil. However, the PCG said no oil spill has been detected in the area so far.

PCG assures oil spill from sunken fishing boat in Batangas will not affect coastal communities -- THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Batangas assured that an oil spill from the sunken fishing vessel Anita DJ II will not cause any serious threats to the coastal communities of Calatagan, Batangas. Fishing Boat Anita DJ II capsizes on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023, off the waters of Calatagan in Batangas. The fishing vessel capsized last Sunday, August 27, off the waters of Calatagan while underway from Navotas Port to Palawan. All the crew of the ill-fated boat were rescued by the PCG. In a separate interview with Bangon Bayan, Commo. Geronomo Tuvilla, commander of Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog, said that the fishing boat was loaded with 70,000 liters of marine diesel oil, a type of fuel oil that easily evaporates in sunlight. "It dissipates easier with sunlight and the movement of sea and wind," Tuvilla said. He added that while the oil sheen has a foul smell, the threat level is low as compared to industrial fuel oil. "This will not cause a threat to the shore," he said. Tuvilla disclosed that the PCG has already deployed ships with water cannons to hasten the dissipation of the oil sheen. He added that the command has also coordinated with the local government units of Batangas and nearby resort owners to prepare should the oil sheen reach the shores. "We are ready for any eventualities from this oil spill. But there is no need to panic because the threat level of marine diesel oil is very low," he said. Tuvilla said that the PCG released a Notice to Mariners to avoid passing through the area where Anita DJ II capsized. "There are fish nets and other floating debris that could hamper the safe navigation of ships, so we released a Notice to Mariners," he explained.

Nigeria Records 168 Oil Spills in Eight Months - The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has disclosed that Nigeria recorded 168 incidents of oil spills as oil and gas companies operating in the country spilt 5,520 barrels of crude oil between January and August 2023. NOSDRA, in its latest oil spill data for the period under review, noted that the spill occurred in the facilities of 23 oil firms. Out of these firms, Shell Petroleum Development Company recorded the highest spill volume of 4,340 barrels of crude oil in 43 spill incidents, representing 78.62 per cent of total crude oil spilt in the period under review. Heritage Energy Operational Service Limited followed as it spilt 24 323.20 barrels of crude oil in 24 incidents, while Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) spilt 248.86 barrels of crude oil in 38 incidents. In six spill incidents, Heirs Holding Oil and Gas Limited spilt 128.10 barrels of crude oil; Seplat Petroleum Development Company spilt 104.88 barrels of crude oil in seven incidents; National Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) spilt 92.33 barrels in 16 incidents, while Enageed Resources Limited polluted the environment with the spillage of 72 barrels of crude oil in three spill incidents. NOSDRA disclosed that Rivers State was the worst hit state with oil spillage, as 2,780 barrels of crude oil was spilt in the state in 67 incidents, followed by Delta, with 2,623 barrels of crude oil spilt in 76 incidents, while Edo, Imo, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom recorded spill volumes of 70.04 barrels, 22.30 barrels, 18.39 barrels and 1.06 barrels, respectively. The environmental regulator further stated that most of the spill incidents were recorded from crude oil pipelines, with 3,113 barrels of crude oil spilt from the pipelines in 114 incidents. It added that in eight incidents, 1,951 barrels of crude were spilt by oil companies from the wellhead, while spills from flow lines, flow stations and trunk lines stood at 117.7 barrels, 110.03 barrels and 106.13 barrels, respectively. Furthermore, NOSDRA reported that 5,122 barrels of crude oil, representing 92.78 per cent of oil spilt in the eight-month period, was a result of theft and sabotage, while 228.22 barrels of crude oil spilt in 16 incidents were due to corrosion. It added that 2,402 barrels of crude oil were spilt on land, 2,378 barrels of crude oil were spilt on swampy terrain, and 525.01 barrels of crude oil were spilt on seasonal swampy terrain.

British Petroleum plans to invest $3.5 bln in Egypt's oil and gas sector - British Petroleum (BP) announced that it plans to invest about US$3.5 billion into the Egyptian oil and gas sector over a period of three years. The CEO of BP Bernard Looney praised his company’s strategic partnership with Egypt, spanning over 60 years. He also hailed the development achievements Egypt has made, especially in the field of infrastructure which have positively impacted its investments – particularly in the renewable energy sectors. During a Monday meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, he also praised the ongoing regional cooperation projects in the eastern Mediterranean for gas transportation and liquefaction, as well as in electrical linkage. Looney presented during the meeting the company’s investment plans with its partners in Egypt for the next three years within the fields of research, exploration and development in the presence of Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek al-Mulla, presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy said. Fahmy added in a press statement that Sisi expressed his appreciation for the growing volume of BP investments in Egypt, and its contribution to the exploration and production of gas and oil. These enhance efforts to transform Egypt into a regional hub for energy production. Sisi assured that the government attaches great importance to the role played by international companies and the private sector in the fields of oil, gas and renewable energy. He affirmed Egypt’s desire to enhance existing cooperation with BP, especially in reducing emissions and energy transition, in addition to green hydrogen production.

Oman LNG signs supply deals with Shell and OQ - Oman LNG has signed two binding term-sheet agreements to supply LNG to Shell International Trading Middle East FZE and to OQ Trading. According to the agreement, Oman LNG is expected to supply 0.8 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG to Shell International Trading Middle East for 10 years starting from 2025, and 0.75 mtpa for 4 years starting from 2026. With these latest agreements, Oman LNG has committed to 10.4 mtpa of its output so far this year, covering a total commitment of 80 mtpa over a period of 10 years. Speaking on the signing, CEO of Oman LNG, Hamed al Naamany, shared the following: “The term sheet agreements contribute to global energy security and sustain our position as a trusted supplier of reliable energy, where it facilitates business opportunities, and complements our objectives to establish partnerships and add value to the local economy. Additionally, this Global Marketing Campaign comes as an exceptional milestone in Oman LNG’s rather stellar history despite the unprecedented volatile markets due to the geopolitical events and post covid challenges.” Earlier this year, Shell International Trading Middle East FZE signed a a term sheet for the offtake of 0.8 mtpa of LNG from Oman LNG, for a period of ten years starting from 2025, making the corporation the biggest “off-taker from Oman LNG beyond 2024”. Earlier this month, Oman LNG penned an agreement to supply one mtpa of LNG to German firm Secure Energy for Europe (SEFE) in what has been referred to as the first LNG agreement between the two nations.

Saudi’s oil exports plunge to over two-year low in August - Saudi Arabia’s crude exports plummeted to a more than two-year low last month as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies slashed production to boost oil prices. Shipments from the world’s biggest exporter of crude oil dropped to approximately 5.6 million barrels a day, the lowest since March 2021, Bloomberg reported on Friday. August’s oil exports are down from 6.3 million barrels a day in July. Flows to China recorded multiyear lows, falling to 1.3 million barrels per day, the lowest since June 2020. Exports to most destinations, including the US also hit multiyear lows, with flows to Japan and South Korea dropping to the lowest levels since 2017, when Bloomberg began tracking the data. Saudi Arabia and Russia recently announced they would slash oil supply. The kingdom pledged in July a cut of 1 million barrels a day until the end of August, while Russia aimed to cut supplies by 500,000 barrels per day in the same month. The supply cut is meant to “reinforce the precautionary efforts made by OPEC+ countries with the aim of supporting the stability and balance of oil markets,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted a Ministry of Energy source as saying.

Russia in Talks With OPEC+ on Extending Oil-Export Cuts - -- Russia is discussing with its OPEC+ partners the possibility of extending oil-export cuts into October, but no decision has been made so far, Interfax reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow. The decision will depend on the market situation, Novak said according to the state news agency Tass, which was reporting from the same event. The statement from the nation’s top energy official and main negotiator with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries comes as global crude markets are tightening, but the summer price rally has stalled on mounting concern over China’s economic growth. Saudi Arabia, the de-facto OPEC leader and Russia’s close ally in the oil market, is expected to extend its own voluntary oil production cuts for another month, according to traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Russia is committed to its earlier pledge of cutting exports in September by 300,000 barrels a day compared to the average May to June level, Novak said, giving the baseline for the reductions for the first time. Earlier the nation pledged to curb its crude exports by 500,000 barrels a day in August. While Novak didn’t provide the baseline figure, industry data seen by Bloomberg show that the country exported an average of 4.86 million barrels a day from May to June by sea and pipelines. In July, crude supplies to foreign markets averaged some 4.28 million barrels a day, or about 574,000 barrels a day below the baseline. The bulk of those barrels were redirected to the domestic market as Russian refineries completed seasonal maintenance and increased their oil processing last month. The nation’s producers raised crude supplies to refineries by some 303,000 barrels a day, compared with the average from May to June, to 5.66 million barrels a day in July, according to Bloomberg calculations based on industry data. The exports and refinery data indicate Russia’s crude production in July was lower than the average from May to June. Russia complied with its obligation of keeping a cap on its crude production in August, Novak said. The nation has pledged to reduce output by 500,000 barrels a day and keep it at that level through 2024.

Russia’s Answer To The U.S. Shale Boom Takes A Huge Step Forward --Despite multi-layered international sanctions on Russia following its 24 February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin’s ‘special energy project’ – developing the country’s massive gas and oil resources in the Arctic – took a major step forward last week as it was confirmed that the flagship Arctic LNG 2 will begin operations before the end of this year. Over and above the significance of Russia being able to complete such a financially and technologically challenging project despite swingeing sanctions in place against it, Arctic LNG 2 is of vital importance to Russia for several wider reasons. Given the scale and scope of Russia’s broader plans for the Arctic, it is also vitally important to the U.S. and its allies how Russia proceeds there. One reason why the Arctic is so important to Putin is the sheer size of its gas and oil reserves, much of them in Russian territory. According to various Russian authorities, the country’s Arctic sector comprises over 35,700 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas and over 2,300 million metric tons of oil and condensate, the majority of which are in the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas, lying on the south side of the Kara Sea. These may well be underestimates, according to a senior source in the European Union energy security complex exclusively spoken to by OilPrice.com recently. Within this, Putin has long believed that Russia’s presence in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market does not reflect its enormous presence in the broader world gas and oil markets, and that the perfect foundation stone for this to be addressed is the Arctic LNG projects, as analysed in full in my new book on the new global oil market order. According to comments from Putin, the next 10 years or so will witness a dramatic expansion in the extraction of these Arctic resources, and a corollary build-out of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as the primary transport route to monetise these resources in the global oil and gas markets.The key market into which much of this Arctic gas and oil output will flow will be China - the second reason why the region is so important to Putin. Over the past 30 years, there has been a complete switch in the power relationship between the two former great Communist powers, with China now being the more dominant partner. Crucially, though, for Russia, it still holds some power with China in the matter of its gas and oil flows to the country. These flows mean that Moscow can continue to count on the military and political force-multiplier effect of Beijing as a major presence in the Asia Pacific theatre of potential conflict, if not directly in the European one. Given Russia’s poor performance in the Ukraine war to date, this force multiplier effect of its relationship with China has never been more important to it. In precisely this vein, around the same time as the invasion of Ukraine, Russian state gas giant Gazprom signed a deal to supply 10 bcm per year (bcm/y) of gas to the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). This built on another 30-year deal between the two companies signed in 2014 for 38 bcm/y and this in turn was a part of, but significantly bolstered, the ‘Power of Siberia’ pipeline project – managed on the Russian side by Gazprom and on the China side by CNPC – that was launched in December 2019. The third reason why the Arctic LNG projects are so important to Putin is that LNG is the world’s emergency gas form, as was dramatically highlighted again most recently in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as also analysed in full in my new book on the new global oil market order. Unlike gas supplies delivered through pipelines, LNG does not require years of laying pipelines and building out corollary supportive infrastructure. It also does not require extensive, time-consuming negotiations over complex contracts. Instead, it can be picked up quickly in the spot market and shipped expeditiously to wherever it is required. With the world increasingly needing LNG supplies, given the spike in demand for them in Europe after flows from Russia’s gas pipelines stalled, Putin knows that increasing Russia’s own LNG supply capabilities has never been more geopolitically important to it. The importance that Russia is placing on being able to move LNG quickly to its key target markets of China, and in Asia more broadly, is underlined by the fact that it has pushed hard with the build-out of its trans-shipment LNG facility on the Russian Far East coast in Kamchatka and its Northern Sea Route as well.A final key reason at play in Russia’s Arctic gas and oil drive is its capacity to subvert the U.S. dollar-based hegemony in the energy market, as also analysed in my new book, particularly as it features one of the world’s biggest oil and gas producers and one of its biggest buyers. Very early in the Arctic LNG projects’ history, Novatek’s chief executive officer, Leonid Mikhleson, said that future sales to China denominated in renminbi were under consideration. This was in line with his comments on the prospect of further U.S. sanctions - following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 - that they would only accelerate the process of Russia trying to switch away from U.S. dollar-centric oil and gas trading. “This has been discussed for a while with Russia’s largest trading partners such as India and China, and even Arab countries are starting to think about it... If they do create difficulties for our Russian banks then all we have to do is replace dollars,” he said. Such a strategy was tested in 2014, when the state-run Gazprom Neft tried trading of cargoes of crude oil in Chinese yuan and roubles with China and Europe, to reduce Russia’s dependence on crude trading in dollars, in response to the initial Western sanctions against Russia’s energy sector.

Iran Summons Swiss Diplomat Over Iranian Oil Stolen by US - On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Tehran summoned a Swiss diplomat over the discharging of a tanker carrying Iranian oil that was seized by the United States. Kanaani said Iran summoned the chargé d’affaires at the Swiss embassy to express “strong objection” to the move to Switzerland, which acts as a mediator between the US and Iran.“The subject of the seizure of an Iranian oil consignment by the US … is a completely unproductive action,” Kanaani said. He noted how the US was expressing interest in a renewed nuclear deal while also increasing sanctions and seizing Iranian oil shipments. The tanker Suez Rajan was estimated to be carrying 800,000 barrels of Iranian oil and was forced by the US to sail to Texas instead of China under the pretext of sanctions enforcement. The Suez Rajan transferred the cargo to another tanker, MR Euphrates, which is currently moored in Houston.The Suez Rajan was stuck off the coast of Galveston for months as American companies were hesitant to unload the cargo due to fears of Iranian reprisals. The US seizure of the Suez Rajan in April provoked the Iranian seizure of two tankers in the Persian Gulf.The US responded to the Iranian seizures by increasing its military presence in the region, including sending over 3,000 US Marines and Navy sailors as part of an Amphibious Readiness Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit. The US is also considering putting armed troops on commercial vessels.

Report: US, Israel to Conduct Joint Drills Simulating Attacks on Iran - The US and Israel will simulate striking Iranian nuclear facilities as part of a series of joint military exercises that will be held in the coming months, The Times of Israel reported Wednesday, citing Israeli TV.Back in January, the US and Israel conducted the Juniper Oak exercises, which were the largest-ever joint drills between the two nations. The Israeli military said Juniper Oak was just the first of a series of drills that the US and Israel will hold this year.Israel’s Channel 12 reported one of the upcoming drills would simulate Israel facing a multi-front missile attack that will involve the US deployment of Patriot missile systems. Another drill will rehearse a joint US-Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.The plan to simulate attacks on Iran has not been publicly confirmed by the US or Israel, but the two nations have previously rehearsed bombing Iran, including during drills that were held over the Mediterranean Sea in November 2022.While nuclear facilities would be the target in the simulated drills, there’s no sign Iran is looking to build a nuclear weapon, which was affirmed by a recent US intelligence report. Often missing from the conversation about Iran’s civilian nuclear program is the fact that Israel has a secret nuclear weapons program and an arsenal of nukes that the US does not acknowledge exists.The report comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf. The US seizure of a tanker carrying Iranian oil in April provoked two Iranian tanker seizures, and the US responded by beefing up its military presence in the region.

Israeli Airstrikes Put Syria's Aleppo Airport Out of Service - Israeli airstrikes on Syria targeted the Aleppo airport early Monday morning, knocking it out of service, Syria’s SANA news agency reported.“At about 4:30 a.m. on Monday, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial act of aggression from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Lattakia, targeting Aleppo Airport,” a military source told SANA. No casualties were reported in the attack, but the source said it caused material damage to the airport runway, putting it out of service. The strikes mark the fifth time since September 2022 that Israeli airstrikes shut down the Aleppo airport and the fourth time this year. Aleppo was devastated by the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, and the city’s airport became a vital channel for aid. But that did not stop Israeli attacks. Israeli airstrikes put the Aleppo airport out of commission twice in March and again in May. Monday’s airstrikes marked at least the 23rd time that Israel bombed Syria this year. The last known strike hit targets near Damascus on August 21, wounding at least one Syrian soldier.

US Launches Airstrike in Somalia, Claims 13 al-Shabaab Killed - The US launched an airstrike in Somalia early in the morning on Saturday, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release. AFRICOM said the strike was launched about 28 miles northwest of the southern port city of Kismaayo. The command said its “initial assessment” found 13 al-Shabaab fighters were killed and no civilians were harmed. However, the Pentagon is notorious for undercounting civilian casualties, especially in Somalia. AFRICOM said the strike was launched in support of the US-backed Mogadishu-based government, whose forces were engaged with al-Shabaab on the ground. The last known US airstrike in Somalia was conducted by AFRICOM on August 15. US airstrikes in Somalia escalated in 2022, the year President Biden ordered the deployment of up to 500 troops to the country, and the US-backed government launched an offensive against al-Shabaab. The US military hypes the threat of al-Shabaab due to its size and al-Qaeda affiliation, but it’s widely believed the group does not have ambitions outside of Somalia. AFRICOM describes al-Shabaab as “the largest and most kinetically active al-Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack partner and US forces and threaten US security interests.” Al-Shabaab was born out of a US-backed Ethiopian invasion in 2006 that toppled the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of Muslim groups who briefly held power in Mogadishu after ousting CIA-backed warlords. Al-Shabaab was the radical offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union. The group’s first recorded attack was in 2007, and it wasn’t until 2012 that al-Shabaab pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda after years of fighting the US and its proxies.

US Knew Saudis Were Slaughtering African Migrants at Border But Kept Quiet - The Biden administration has been aware since last year that Saudi border guards were slaughtering African migrants on Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen but kept quiet about the killings, The New York Times reported on Saturday. Sources told the Times that American diplomats were made aware of the news last fall, around the time the US was publicly condemning Riyadh for agreeing to OPEC+ oil production cuts. The administration did not make any public comments about the reported killings. The administration received more details about the atrocities in December 2022 when the UN presented information about Saudi forces shooting, shelling, and abusing Ethiopian migrants at the border, but the US still kept quiet. After Human Rights Watch released a report last week that said Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants between March 2022 and June 2023, the Biden administration insisted that it “raised concerns” with Riyadh about the report. For their part, Riyadh denied the allegations.Last month, the Mixed Migration Center (MMC) released a similar reportthat said Saudi border forces killed at least 800 Ethiopian migrants, and over 1,700 were injured. The Saudi guards used mortar shells and small arms to attack the Ethiopians. There were also reports of rape and torture.According to The Washington Post, Saudi border guards are trained by the US as part of military cooperation between the two nations. The mass slaughter of civilians by US-backed Saudi forces is nothing new, as Riyadh frequently targeted civilians in its war in Yemen using US-made bombs and aircraft. In January 2022, Saudi airstrikes hit a migrant detention center in Sadaa, Yemen, killing at least 91 civilians and injuring 236 more.Since last fall, when President Biden vowed “consequences” for Riyadh over the oil cuts, his administration has backed off on its criticism of the kingdom as it seeks to clinch a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal. Saudi Arabia is demanding new security guarantees from the US as a condition for normalization that could go as far as NATO’s Article 5, which would mean Washington treating attacks on the kingdom as attacks on the US.

BRICS Invites Six Countries to Join Bloc in Major Expansion -BRICS has invited six new members to join in the most dramatic expansion of the bloc since it was formed, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Thursday at the conclusion of the three-day BRICS summit in Johannesburg. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia were invited to join BRICS as full members starting in 2024. The admission of the nations will more than double the size of BRICS, which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.The five BRICS nations account for over 40% of the world’s population, and the bloc is viewed as a counterweight to the US-led global economic order. The list of invitees is significant as it includes some US allies, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and also Iran, which is heavily sanctioned by the US.US sanctions have spurred the growth of an alternate global financial system and de-dollarization efforts, especially in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia has found new markets for its oil in India and China since the US-led Western sanctions campaign cut off most Russian energy exports to Europe.The agreement to invite new countries is significant also because it wasn’t clear if India would be on board with the expansion. While becoming a significant buyer of Russian oil, India has also been expanding military ties with the US, as Washington views New Delhi as a key to its strategy against China in the Asia Pacific.Tensions have been high between China and India over their disputed border in the Himalayas since the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, which left at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead. The US took advantage of the tensions and signed a new military pact with India to help with the surveillance of Chinese troops near the border, allowing the US to provide India with intelligence during a skirmish in 2022.Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the disputed border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on Thursday. According to The South China Morning Post, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said Modi had expressed concerns to Xi and that the two leaders “agreed to direct the relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation.”

Focus on Fracking

Sunday, September 3, 2023

US commercial oil supplies at an 8 month low; total domestic oil supplies, including SPR, at a 38 year low

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