Statoil cutting back.
Reuters via Rigzone is reporting:
Norwegian
energy firm Statoil will only slightly raise its U.S. shale oil and gas
output in the near term due to spending curbs, well below a potential
for a 50 percent surge, the firm said on Monday.
Statoil, which produces around a tenth of its oil and gas from its U.S.
shale operations in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Marcellus formations, has
even cut back investments in the area, as shale projects are competing
for capital within the company, said Torstein Hole, Statoil's chief for
U.S. onshore activities.
Statoil abandoned its 2020 production target earlier this year and cut
its capital spending budget, arguing that it needs to save cash and
return more to shareholders after a decade of ramping up spending.
The firm increased shale production to around 210,000 barrels of oil
equivalent per day by the middle of 2014 from close to nothing in 2010,
but output levelled off in the second quarter.
This continues the story line I introduced a few days ago after arriving in the Bakken.
Active rigs:
| 8/26/2014 | 08/26/2013 | 08/26/2012 | 08/26/2011 | 08/26/2010 |
|---|
| Active Rigs | 195 | 185 | 189 | 200 | 138 |
RBN Energy: more problems for Bakken producers --
simply not enough storage capacity for the tsunami of oil reaching the coasts.
Looking out over the next year and a half to 2016, Houston crude storage
capacity looks to be lower than necessary to meet operational needs.
With continuing increases in pipeline crude streams headed into the area
in the next six months, we could see supply disruptions with
consequences for price volatility. Probable victims of these disruptions
would be producers looking to find a home at Houston refineries for
their production. The solution is to build more storage but the market
is not yet sending alarm signals to that effect. Today we conclude our
series on Houston storage capacity.
Saudi Aramco will invest $40 billion annually for the next decade.
Reuters via Rigzone is reporting:
Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, plans to invest $40 billion a year over the next decade to keep oil production capacity steady and double gas production.
State-owned Aramco sees more capital going into offshore projects and expects rising costs across the oil sector to underpin oil prices.
Oil prices fell to a 14-month low of $101.07 last week as global demand growth weakens, even as production ramp ups in several places create a glut of oil.
"To meet forecast demand growth and offset (global output)decline, our industry will need to add close to 40 million barrels per day of new capacity in the next two decades."
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Boycott Burger King
I heard on the news this morning, driving into downtown Williston, that a Congresswoman was calling for a boycott of Burger King.
By the way, the drive into downtown Williston was uneventful. At 7:00 a.m. there was no traffic on this side of town, the east site, the University side. At the first stop sign/intersection, I was the only vehicle. At the first (and only) traffic light intersection that I had to cross, again, no other vehicles. The sun is shining, no rain, but very, very cool. There was some talk in the coffee shop of an "early winter." Well, the words "early winter" were not used; rather, it was more like "winter is already here." They must be new to Williston. This, too, will pass, and the autumn will be absolutely gorgeous and then "Indian summer" is generally incredible. Is "Indian summer" an "okay" phrase?
I also heard part of eulogy for Michael Brown who was said to have been doing the Lord's work when he died. I also read that the White House sent more mourners to Brown's funeral than it sent to Thatcher's funeral. But that's very, very misleading and very, very unfair. It's not the numbers that count but the value of each piece -- think chess -- six pawns vs one knight, and two bishops.
The Wall Street Journal
News and Comment; Mostly Comment; Not Fair; Not Balanced
Earlier the administration was going to arm the rebels in Syria; now they are
laying the groundworkr for airstrikes on the same rebels. Was Putin correct?
The Islamic State is going to seriously alter the demographics and once-mixed communities by dividing territory along ethnic and religious lines. Ferguson?
Buyers not clamoring for new homes.
14-year Army veteran commits suicide on
militarized Army base in Virginia yesterday.
Oh, this is good. While the Obama administration looks to
de-militarize police forces around the country, "more Texas schools allow armed employees." Somehow visions of kitchen workers pakcing heat is not comforting. Brings more meaning to "eat your vegetables, or make my day."
Libya is back in the news.
IEA:
Europe needs Russian natural gas. Okay. I thought we already knew that.
Congo reports first Ebola cases since 2008. I remember when such news caused alarm in the US. Not so much these days.
This makes no sense: slow going for
natural-gas powered trucks. Amid the strongest market for commercial trucks in eight years (yes, thank you, Mr Bakken), US sales of natural-gas powered haulers are just inching ahead, slowed by
premium prices, limited infrastructure, and more efficient diesels.
Court overturns Hawaii
ban on GMO crops.
This will show them who's the boss: federal investigators
expel both UPS company reps and pilot-union reps from a UPS cargo plane investigation.
Not getting any better for
Statoil: sanctions on Russia will slow down approvals for some of Statoil's Rosneft joint ventures.
Fairchild cutting 15% of the workforce.
S&P closes at another record;
futures are up again today. Shorts are getting crushed. Weren't there some stories recently on Soros betting big on a 10%, or even a 20%, pullback. May yet happen, but not this week.
Apple iPhone
might save Best Buy.
The Los Angeles Times
Headline story:
LAUSD suspends iPad program after bidding is called into question. Actually the whole idea of iPads in LA schools was crazy.
Liberian doctor who got experimental drug dies of Ebola.
Emmys 2014: "Breaking Bad," "Modern Family" dominate. "Fargo" got more than one Emmy, I believe. The most "worthy' segment, as it always is, year in, year out: "
In Memoriam."
The 2014 Emmys honored the late Robin Williams Monday night, Aug. 25,
with a touching tribute at the end of the in memoriam segment of the
broadcast. Billy Crystal, Williams' longtime friend, spoke about the late actor. "The brilliance was astounding," Crystal said of Williams, who he performed with numerous times.
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Al Sharpton's Networks On The Ropes
The Wrap is reporting:
An individual with knowledge of the network's plans tell TheWrap a large portion are expected at the two cable channels
Some
550 buyouts are to be offered at Time Warner's Turner network this
week, including a large number of those at CNN and HLN, which will lead
to layoffs if they are not taken voluntarily, according to an individual
with knowledge of the network's plans.
The buyouts will come across the Turner division, with a couple of hundred expected at CNN and HLN, the individual said.
One of the comments to this story, that I posted last night, posting again:
Here’s the problem with MSNBC and CNN: predictability. You already know
what they’re going to say on any issue. So why watch?
I once knew a
piano player in a fancy restaurant I used to go to who could play only
one song really well: Moon River. You’d get it fast and slow and reggae
and cha-cha and gospel and jazz and blues, but it was still
Moon-effing-River. Now if you liked Moon River, you were golden. If you
didn’t, go some place else. That’s MSNBC – a “one-note Johnny.”
On the other hand, Fox
is unpredictable. Of course they might have a conservative slant, but
they bring in far more libs to speak their piece than MSNBC does
conservatives. And I like Megyn Kelly a lot. The woman has a mouth on
her. You never know what she’ll say next. Ailes allows her to go
off-script. You never see that at MSNBC or CNN. Stick to the copy!
