Monday -- The 14th Day Of The Government Shutdown

Active rigs: 183

Special: for those who have been regular readers of the links to RBN Energy you already know about this -- the story posted in today's Wall Street Journal's "Heard On The Street": US shale storm hits Canadian gas.

Canada sits just across the border from the world's largest oil and gas market, and its biggest ally. But successful development of U.S. shale resources is spoiling it all. Alberta's oil firms suffer steep discounts already as they try to sell into a glutted U.S. market, not helped by opposition to the Keystone XL export pipeline.

Now, Canada's natural-gas sector is getting squeezed by its neighbor's newfound riches.
Historically, the northeastern U.S. sucked in gas from the Gulf Coast and Canada, especially during winter. For example, New York state imported a net 892 billion cubic feet from Canada in 2007, according to the Department of Energy. But the region's Marcellus and Utica shale basins are upending this. In 2011, the last year for which data are available, New York state took just 286 billion cubic feet from Canada.

For today's RBN Energy:

This is the fourth installment in our series covering fuel oil infrastructure on the Gulf Coast. In the first episode we provided definitions for some of the many types and grades of fuel oil). We discussed the main markets for fuel oil as a feedstock for refineries and as bunker fuel for ships. There is also demand for fuel oil or its derivatives in manufacturing industry and power generation. In episode two we looked at the Houston Fuel Oil Terminal Company (HFOTCO) that has been the dominant player in fuel oil blending, storage and export on the Gulf Coast for thirty years. In episode three we covered the brand new kid on the Houston Ship Channel block – Battlefield Oil Storage Company . This time around we start a two part review of fuel terminals in the Caribbean.

Global cooling:

• record cold in Holland: it has never been so cold in the Netherlands on 11 October as this year. Friday's temperature at the official weather station in De Bilt rose to only 8.6°C. The previous record dates back to 1975 when it reached 9.7°C (9.0°C = 48°F).
• early snow in Munich: Meteorologists warned us that snow was on the way and would fall below the 500 m elevation in southern Germany and elsewhere,” says reader Casper. “Moreover, they warned us that this winter could be one of the worst in 100 years for Central Europe.

The Wall Street Journal

Shutdown. Debt ceiling. Impasse. Deadlock. 

More jobs for Texas: GM on Monday will open a $200 million metal-stamping plant adjacent to its Arlington, Texas, factory. By locating parts near the assembly plant, GM hopes to save about $40 million a year in shipping costs.