Production and Prices
Last week started with oil falling to below $44 a barrel on Monday as OPEC voted to hold production steady. As the week progressed, prices climbed to a three-month high of nearly $53 after the US announced a plan to fight the recession by having the Federal Reserve purchase US government debt. Tanker tracker Oil Movements reports that OPEC production continues to decline in March and that by early
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Mexico’s Cantarell
Mexico received the bad news last week that production from the giant Cantarell oil field continues to decline faster than expected. Although the state oil company PEMEX continues to talk optimistically of producing 2.75 million b/d of crude during 2009, production in February was 2.66 million b/d, down 8.6 percent from February 2008. The EIA and IEA have issued pessimistic forecasts concerning Mexican
Investment in Venezuela
As exports slide, oil prices remain stagnant, and its economy falters, Caracas is searching for new investment to replace the US and European oil companies that were largely driven out two years ago. With cash short, Venezuela is holding up payments to contractors. Oil service companies are halting drilling for non-payment of bills and last week the Brazilian firm building the Caracas metro slowed
The Natural Gas Glut
With US manufacturing slumping and cars produced for sale in the US currently down to an annual rate of about 4 million vehicles, the demand for natural gas has dropped markedly in recent weeks. Natural gas in the US now goes for around $4 per thousand cubic feet as compared to $13 last July. Six new LNG plants are due to come on stream this year adding to the glut. LNG imports into the US are expected
Briefs week of March 23, 2009
OPEC’s decision to resist new supply cuts laid the ground not just for cheaper oil to help heal the economy, but for warmer relations with the world’s biggest energy consumer. Two days after U.S. President Barack Obama called Saudi King Abdullah, OPEC said it would stick to existing supply targets, even though fuel inventories have swollen and oil prices are much lower than it would like.
Quote of the Week
“We don’t have a crystal ball on oil prices, so we are planning on the basis that the downturn could last more than a year,” – Jeroen Van der Veer, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell
The Next Five Years–Peak Lite and the Current Oil Picture
A few years ago, after spending a lot of time thinking about peak oil, and then watching the price of oil break out of its historical trading range and head higher, the idea of Peak Lite came to me. Over time the price of oil had bounced between $10 and $30 a barrel, but about 5 years ago it broke from that pattern and started
