America's LargestPosts Tagged oil production
Natural Gas Condensate Will Provide Major Boost to OPEC Oil Production
The National reported yesterday that OPEC countries are expected to add 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of liquids production capacity by the end of next year through projects to expand natural gas output. “Condensate,” as the article refers to liquids present in natural gas wells, “is almost identical to premium quality light crude oil, [...]
Read More »Pending Energy Bill Does Little to Reduce US Foreign Oil Dependence
The Obama administration has announced, broadly speaking, two main goals for their energy policy:
• Fighting climate change
• Reducing our dependence on often-unfriendly states for oil
There are other worthy goals also behind the Administration’s policy, such as creating new jobs in the green energy sector, but the two main thrusts are fighting global warming and improving [...]
Nigeria Extends Amnesty to MEND Rebel Leader Amid Increasing Violence
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer and the world’s eighth-largest, but a years-long struggle between rebels in the Niger Delta and the Nigerian government has seriously hampered oil production. As reported earlier this month on The HEAT Zone, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, better known as MEND, has launched repeated attacks [...]
Read More »China’s Quest to Dominate 21st Century Oil Supplies
China, through its national oil companies, has recently invested at least $40 billion in oil ventures in over twenty countries, the Journal of Energy Security reported earlier this month. It’s bought large interests in oil fields in Nigeria, Sudan, and Kazakhstan; built pipelines in Myanmar, Sudan, and Kazakhstan; built refineries at home and abroad; bought [...]
Read More »Uganda Has 2 Billion Barrels of Crude Reserves, Gov’t Reports
Uganda, like most African nations, doesn’t get a lot of press in America. Those that do know anything about the country most likely remember it from the shocking headlines from the 1970s, when military dictator Idi Amin’s regime was responsible for torturing hundreds of thousands of its citizens.
In many aspects, Uganda has emerged as one [...]
As US Troops Leave Iraqi Cities, International Oil Cos. Poised to Enter
International oil companies are preparing to move into Iraq, bidding for contracts to run oilfields such as Al-Sheiba (above) near Basra on the Gulf coast. (AFP photo via independent.co.uk)
The U.K.-based Independent reported on Sunday that Iraq will begin awarding lucrative contracts to international oil companies on June 29th. The next day is the deadline for [...]
Read More »Iran’s Political Unrest and Oil Prices
Reuters reported this week that the election protests in Iran, the world’s fifth biggest oil exporter, have so far had little impact on global supply or prices. Markets would likely react, however, said the report, if unrest escalated and spread to the oilfields or export terminals in the country’s south, where most of the oil [...]
Read More »Native Peruvians Clash WIth Government Over Oil Wealth
Peruvian Indians have been blocking transportation routes in the Amazon jungle and occupying oil facilities for two months to protest the government’s opening of Amazon land to oil and other resource development. Lately, the protests have turned violent: according to the Washington Times, a clash Friday between police and protestors left at least 30 dead, [...]
Read More »Russia Ends Honeymoon With OPEC
Not every oil producer thinks the same way.
Due to the worldwide recession, OPEC has decided to trim back oil production by 5 million barrels per day over the course of the past year. But Russia, another major oil producer, has done the opposite, boosting its production of oil by 6.4 percent during the same time [...]
Despite Progress in Kurdistan, Iraqi Oil Plan Far From Complete
With the second highest amount of known oil reserves in the world, Iraq is sitting on a black gold mine. The only problem is how to get the oil out of the ground.
With over 112 million barrels of oil underneath its land, Iraq has the potential to become one of the most important players in [...]
HEAT Zone Survey: Is Peak Oil Theory Fact or Fiction?
Click Here to take survey
The HEAT Zone has reported on the controversial theory of peak oil on several occasions (going back to October 31st of last year), and has presented thorough arguments for and against the theory. Now we want to know what you think!
Take a look at the HEAT Zone post from December 10, [...]
Hugo Chávez Feels Intensifying Pain of Low Oil Prices
Most of us knew him or her in high school: the rich kid who bought popularity with daddy’s money. Inviting people to big parties; giving them rides in a new car—the rich kid was big man or woman on campus because of what they could buy, not because of who they were. And if the [...]
Read More »French Oil Company Total Maintains Investments, Predicts Rebound in Oil Prices
French Oil Giant Total will maintain its investment budget this year, predicting price rebounds as world oil production reaches capacity. Traditionally one of the more frugal estimators of the oil industry’s ability to meet up with demand, Total CEO Christophe de Margerie estimates peak world oil production to be 89 million barrels a day. He [...]
Read More »Nationwide Strike by Oil Workers Cuts Production in Brazil
At 12:01 am local time this morning, tens of thousands of workers employed by Brazil’s national oil company Petrobras walked off the job at drilling rigs and refineries around the country. The mass walkout that was staged by the Brazilian Oil Workers Federation, or FUP, that represents workers throughout the industry, is a protest against [...]
Read More »Pipe Explosion Causes Shell Facility Shut-Downs in Nigeria
A major crude pipeline connecting Nigerian Shell Oil facilities to the southern export terminal in Escravos exploded over the weekend, causing a shut-down in production at several Shell facilities. The explosion is believed to be caused by sabotage, the VOA news service reports.
Shell’s oil infrastructure in Nigeria has been the target of numerous attacks by [...]
Low Oil Prices Hit Iraqi Reconstruction Hard
Many oil-producing countries have felt the sting of plummeting oil prices, but none more so than Iraq. A front-page article in today’s New York Times describes how the timing of the oil price slump has slashed government revenues and hindered crucial reconstruction projects in the troubled nation.
Many Iraqi citizens are still without basic necessities such [...]
CEO of French Oil Giant Total Expects Big Oil Price Increases Over Next Two Years
Christophe de Margerie, CEO of the huge French oil firm Total, gave a brief interview to CNBC’s Melissa Franks today. In the interview, Margerie identifies $75 or $80 per barrel as an “equilibrium” price for oil that would sustain investment and growth in his industry. He also warns that because national oil companies are not [...]
Read More »OPEC Adheres to Planned Production Cuts, Stops Falling Oil Prices
Throughout its history, OPEC has had difficulties following through on agreed-upon reductions in oil output. As a HEAT Zone post from last November explained, the member nations of OPEC have very different resources and political alignments. These differences are most apparent in times of low oil prices, when less wealthy member nations “cheat” on the [...]
Read More »Israel Reminds that Geopolitical Events Are Biggest Factors in Determining Oil Prices
Until the fall of 2008, voters and political pundits seemed to agree that the deciding issue in the upcoming presidential election would be the war in Iraq. Many cited Barack Obama’s firm anti-war stance as an important factor in his victory in the Democratic primaries and caucuses. By election day, however, the Iraq war as [...]
Read More »Low Oil Prices Setting Causing Cutbacks in Oil Projects; Stage is Set for Future Price Spike
Low oil prices have been a welcome relief for heating oil and gasoline users around the country–fuel prices that were at or near record highs as recently as six months ago are now 25 to 50 percent lower. Even better, it appears as though low oil and energy prices will remain low for at least [...]
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