Why I Love To Blog -- Reason #56 -- October 24, 2016

I suppose this should be the #1 reason why I love to blog -- learning about things I had never heard of, but ... whatever.

A reader introduced me to Adsorbed Natural Gas domain, something I had never heard of. At the link, see the first comment.

For those unfamiliar with Adsorbed Natural Gas domain, this is probably as good an article as any: chemists find better way to pack natural gas into fuel tanks.

Until manufacturers can find a way to pack more methane into a tank at lower pressures and temperatures, allowing for a greater driving range and less hassle at the pump, passenger cars are unlikely to adopt natural gas as a fuel.

University of California, Berkeley, chemists have now developed a porous and flexible material - a so-called metal-organic framework (MOF) - for storing methane that addresses these problems.

The flexible MOF can be loaded with methane, the main ingredient of natural gas, at 35 to 65 times atmospheric pressure (500-900 psi), whereas compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles compress natural gas into an empty tank under 250 atmospheres (3,600 psi). Liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles operate at lower pressures but require significant insulation in the tank system to maintain the natural gas at minus-162 degrees Celsius (minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit) so that it remains liquid.

Much more at the link. 

What Is Prince Salman Up To? OPEC's Pain Is Only Getting Worse As Revenues Continue To Fall -- Oilprice.com -- June 27, 2016

Updates

Later, 11:59 a.m. Central Time: see first comment. Brought up here so the comment be searched by the browser:

Re: diesel consumption ...

I believe there is a much bigger story unfolding here, with the government/environmental forces only playing a minor role.

CNG versus diesel for transportation needs, with the commercial sector leading the way, is apt to become more mainstream in a decade's time.

If an OTR trucking firm can save a thousand bucks or two - and they can - on a round trip cross country run, they will have a huge competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Many retail CNG prices, according to online sources, sell a GGE (gallon of gas equivalent) for $1.50 or less.

Retail infrastructure build-out for CNG continues and, in a self - reinforcing way - is accelerating.

Engine manufactures, both big and small, are researching and rolling out products fueled by CNG.

With an energy equivalence of 6 to 1, the price of natgas should be $9/MMcfd or, conversely, oil should run $18/bbl.

This economic/energy arbitrage poses enormous potential for those able to take advantage.

Original Post

 

The tea leaves are swirling. What is Prince Salman up to?

From an earlier post:

• October, 2015: Saudi's inventory at record levels; have since fallen almost 40 million bbls
• over same period, US crude oil inventories have increased by slightly over 60 million bbls

Saudi policy appears to be to continue inventory drawdowns for the foreseeable future.

Now we have this article from an oil hedge fund, oilprice.com: 

OPEC lost $349 billion in revenue last year because of low oil prices, cutting revenues almost in half from the year before.

A report from the EIA in mid-June estimated 2015 revenues for OPEC countries at $404 billion, down 46 percent from the $753 billion the member countries earned in 2014. Revenues last year fell to their lowest level in eleven years.

Worse still for OPEC is the fact that revenues could fall even further this year, as low oil prices sank to new depths, particularly in the first quarter of 2016. The EIA projects OPEC revenues this year to drop to $341 billion. That will result in per capita oil export revenues in OPEC countries falling from $606 in 2015 to $503 this year. 

Not only is the drop precipitous, it takes OPEC back to 2004 revenues.

Saudi Arabia? Net oil export revenues in 2014, $247 billion. In 2015, the first full year of the "Saudi Surge," $130 billion. Ouch.

For its part, OPEC put out a more dire assessment of its own finances, putting its losses last year at $438 billion, much higher than the $349 billion estimated by the EIA.

That came even though overall exports climbed by an average of 400,000 barrels per day, or a 1.7 percent increase, largely because of production gains in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The plunging revenue led to OPEC members to post a current account deficit of $99.6 billion, the first deficit since 1998. That compared to the 2014 surplus of $238.1 billion.

With regards to my thoughts on Prince Salman, go back to the very first link at the top of the page.

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EIA Moment

From the EIA today:

Proposed fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards would increase fuel economy and reduce diesel consumption in medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Unlike light-duty vehicles, which have been subject to fuel economy standards since the 1970s, the first phase of medium- and heavy-duty vehicle standards was recently implemented, starting with model year 2014. The proposed Phase 2 standards—issued jointly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration—would take effect in model year 2021 for most medium- and heavy-duty vehicle classes and increase in stringency through model year 2027.

These standards are projected to reduce diesel consumption by 0.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2040. --- EIA 

One-half million bopd by 2040 -- hardly worth thinking about.

The estimated reduction in boe, of course, goes out the window, if more folks buy medium- and heavy-duty vehicles than projected, which is very, very possible.

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Meanwhile, This Weekend --

The AP is reporting:

It's going to be a busy holiday weekend on the nation's highways.

A record 43 million Americans are expected to travel this Independence Day weekend.

CNG News From Texas, UPS -- March 16, 2016

Huge news -- one has no idea how often I've wondered why we're not hearing more stories like this. A huge "thank you" to a reader for sending me this, from Houston bizjournal:

Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. will build 12 compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations for a new fleet of trucks, some of which will be located in four cities across Texas.

In addition to the stations, UPS will also deploy 380 new Class 8 trucks — 18 wheelers or semis — as part of a $100 million investment in cleaner fuel.

UPS is working toward a goal of logging one billion miles driven by alternative-fuel vehicles by 2017. The shipping company's current alternative-fuel fleet comprises 6 percent of its total fleet.

In February, UPS expanded its agreement with California-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp.  to use up to 500,000 gallon equivalents of renewable liquefied natural gas annually in Texas. UPS stations in Houston and Mesquite will dispense the RLNG to a fleet of about 140 UPS tractors.

If one reads the article, one can finally understand why the USPS never went to CNG and it never will.

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The Hypocrisy Page

or

The Perfect Bumper Sticker For The 2016 General Election

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Easy, Easy For GOP

Regarding President Obama's Supreme Court nomination, some data points and comments:

• it is now customary for the president's first nomination to be borked
• this nomination is President Obama's sacrificial lamb
• GOP will get wobbly; 75% chance Senate will consider the nomination
• however, if the Senate does not consider this nomination, the Senate will not consider anyone President Obama nominates
• if the Senate leadership does not invoke the "Biden Rule" on Supreme Court, I will be quite distraught
• my hunch: he will be confirmed in late November (2016), early December after some theatrical grandstanding (the GOP won't want a Hillary nomination; and the GOP won't trust a Trump nomination)

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A Note for the Granddaughters

I always get on my bike from the left side. Never, never, never do I get on from the right side. Except twice, that I recall. It's awkward, and I'm prone to losing my balance when getting on from the right side.

This morning, because my bike was left overnight on the patio, I was on the grass when I got on. For some inexplicable reason, I decided to get on from the right side. The bike was oriented to go downhill, and the lawn was disrupted by dozens of two-inch to four-inch tree roots that the kids trip over every day running through the backyard. What could possibly go wrong?

I finally "recovered" from the feeling of nausea about a half-mile down the road. LOL.

But I made it to Starbucks in, otherwise, great shape.

Halcon To Build Out CNG Facilities, Hawk Clean Fuels -- December 9, 2014

From the press release:

Halcon Resources Corporation today announced that it has commissioned its first compressed natural gas facility through its subsidiary, Hawk Clean Fuels.

This CNG facility is serving the Company's operations in its El Halcon area in East Texas and is being used to displace diesel fuel used in drilling operations. Halcon believes using CNG to displace diesel fuel used in drilling operations is not only better for the environment, but should also result in a nearly 50% savings on fuel costs. The Company expects to build similar facilities to service its operations in the Williston Basin in 2015.

Since the discovery of El Halcon two years ago, Halcon has drilled over 80 wells in the play, and believes it has de-risked its entire 101,000 net acre position. Natural gas fueling is one of many ways the Company expects reduce costs and increase efficiencies in the play as it transitions from lease capture mode to development mode.

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Nuclear Energy Is Dead  ...  But We've Been Saying That For Years

But Now It's The Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago

Blame Fracking

Forbes is reporting:

No utility executive could propose a nuclear reactor ”in good conscience” in the U.S. today, the director emeritus of Argonne National Laboratory said in Chicago Monday.

Alan Schriesheim became the first industry executive to lead a national laboratory when he took the helm of Argonne in 1983, after serving as Exxon’s head of engineering and the director of its research lab, which developed more efficient processes for producing components of gasoline.

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Whooping Cough Is Back With A Vengeance

In California

At Least It's Hard To Catch

ABC News is reporting:

California is again the the grips of a whooping cough outbreak, and this time it's even worse, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state is facing its worst outbreak in 70 years and has nearly 1,000 more cases than it did in 2010. As of Nov. 26, the state had 9,935 reported cases. 

Yes, Virginia, there is a vaccine for it. 

By the way, immunizations are no longer a medical issue; they are a social issue. Society decides if immunizations are needed and who requires immunizations and when.

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Global Warming

Being tweeted now, 5:03 p.m. CT:

• Update: 800 flights canceled in US today, 2,000 delayed, mainly due to Northeast storm and Dallas fog, according to FlightAware - @USATODAY 
• New daily maximum rainfall records set in New York City, 2.54 inches, and at John F Kennedy airport, 2.95 inches, LaGuardia airport, 2.65 inches, Long Island airport, 2.05 inches, and Stratford, Conn., airport, 2.07 inches - @NWSNewYorkNY

Dual-Fueled Trucks Coming To The Bakken -- Diesel/CNG -- December 7, 2014

This is an interesting story over at TheBakkenMagazine.com: Trident Resources brings dual-fueled trucking to the Bakken.

Several interesting data points in the article. I may come back to this article and post some of those data points. The technology could also be used to power diesel-powered oil well pumps.

Six Days On The Road, Dave Dudley  

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At Least It's Hard To Catch

FoxNews is reporting: the tenth (10th) Sierra Leonean doctor has died from Ebola.

Because Ebola is transmitted through the bodily fluids of the sick and dead, it is sometimes called the "caretakers' disease." Hundreds of health workers have been infected in this outbreak.

In the current outbreak, Ebola has sickened more than 17,500 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Of those, about 6,200 have died. It is currently spreading fastest in Sierra Leone.

Yes, I missed the opportunity to name another Geico Rock Award nominee for 2014 when I forgot to nominate the individual who first told America "Ebola is NOT" easy to catch."

But that's water under the bridge.