Statoil To Abandon Greenland For "Greener" Pastures; Delta Airlines Refinery 4Q13 Earnings

For background, scroll through this site: Cairn and Statoil in Greenland.

It appears things did not work out so well for Statoil in Greenland: Statoil will "abandon" Greenland's west coast for greener pastures, at least according to Bloomberg.

Statoil ASA (STL), Norway’s biggest energy company, may walk away from exploration in west Greenland as it tries to contain spending.

The licenses are an “exit candidate” as they are costly and Statoil is being choosier where it explores, Tim Dodson, the head of exploration, said in an interview in Sandefjord, Norway. “It has to do with the costly nature, it has to do with the risk profile,” he said, adding the matter isn’t yet decided.

An exit would be a blow to Greenland’s ambition to pump its first crude oil, aided by Statoil’s experience exploring in the Arctic. Cairn Energy Plc (CNE) spent about $1 billion in a Greenland campaign in 2011 that failed to produce any discoveries.

Statoil, 67 percent-held by the state, this month said it sought to rein in investments after spending reached a record $19 billion last year. Rising costs and lower profitability are hurting oil producers. Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), last week had its first profit warning in a decade with fourth-quarter earnings at Europe’s largest energy company seen falling from a year before. 

I've blogged about Cairn and Greenland periodically on the blog. I was initially excited about the prospects, but like so many other stories, it seemed not to pan out so well. These stories reinforce, for me, again, how good the Bakken really is. Let's hope the ND state attorney doesn't screw it up.

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From Delta Airlines 4Q13 earnings transcript:

On the fuel front, our all-in price per gallon for the quarter was $3.05. The Trainer refinery produced a $46 million loss for the quarter, but overall fuel expense for Delta declined $91 million from lower market fuel prices and nearly $60 million in hedge gains.

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A Note to the Granddaughters

I did not know this until recently. And now that I know it, I'm thrilled.

I never cared for Sean Hannity. I have posted that before.  A couple of weeks ago I heard Savage Nation in the Hannity time slot here in the DFW metroplex area. I thought it was a short-term replacement while Sean was on vacation.

Today, I heard that Savage Nation is a replacement for Sean Hannity in this time slot, a change which occurred on 52 talk-radio stations across the nation. Wow. I don't care for Savage as much as others apparently do, but I could not stand Hannity, and Savage Nation might be a great change. Maybe I'll tune in for awhile and see what I think. I seldom catch Rush any more. And when I do, I generally listen for about ten minutes. Only three minutes if my wife is in the car with me.

Later...oh, here's the rest of the story: both Hannity and Rush are leaving Cumulus for Clear Channel. Not a big story. But are both Hannity and Rush (New York-based) moving to no-state-income-tax state of Texas?