Mexico's top energy stories of 2013

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3VaNsaldPesHSt_gHPq8MsazdgV6MvQQxCEJa4NvrIQPA0_tw9V6WCdKu755YZLN0mZdTjYTgQrEQbJAYrNtRT6owX9xD5b34MEYquoySuMtx7SfVuboG8LXCrGadJ9ZD_4-Clr86O-w/s1600/la-afp-getty-mexico-reform-energy-pemex-pena-20130813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3VaNsaldPesHSt_gHPq8MsazdgV6MvQQxCEJa4NvrIQPA0_tw9V6WCdKu755YZLN0mZdTjYTgQrEQbJAYrNtRT6owX9xD5b34MEYquoySuMtx7SfVuboG8LXCrGadJ9ZD_4-Clr86O-w/s320/la-afp-getty-mexico-reform-energy-pemex-pena-20130813.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br /><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br /><br /><div class="text-contenido" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue'; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;"><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b>1) Congress passes landmark energy reform</b></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">This one was big and may fit better into other categories like "Top Mexico stories of 2013" or "Top Mexico energy stories of the decade."</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">After months of expectation, congress brought a bill forward December 7 and passed it within six days. The legislation brings unprecedented openness to both the oil and gas and electric power sectors.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">In oil, the Mexican state will be allowed to contract with private companies across the value chain, including production sharing and licensing agreements in E&P. National oil company Pemex is being transformed into a "productive public enterprise," whose first goal will be maximizing profit.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">In electric power, a competitive generation market will be created and administered by an ISO called Cenace. While transmission and distribution infrastructure remain property of the state, power retail will also be open to privates. Likewise, state-owned power utility CFE will become a "productive public enterprise" and seek profit first.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b>2) Pemex tenders integrated service contracts at Chicontepec</b></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Pemex's third round of integrated service contracting took place at the unconventional Chicontepec basin with surprising results.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Three of the six blocks on offer were snatched up, with the other three blocks receiving no bids. Halliburton, Operadora de Campos DWF and Baker Hughes' Petrolite each won a block, but with surprisingly low bids of US$0.01/b, US$0.98/b and US$0.49/b, respectively.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">The services companies expect to have the cost recovery mechanism be profitable on its own. Pemex is retendering the three failed blocks, expected for awarding in January.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b>3) CFE blames losses on fuel costs</b></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">CFE said its US$1.50bn net loss in 2012 could be attributed almost entirely to higher consumption of heavy fuel oil. The trend continued through 2013, with CFE saying its US$474mn loss in Q3 was also caused by fuel oil costs.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">While the continued losses for the firm are concerning in themselves, they were indicative of a larger problem in Mexico: the country does not have enough natural gas.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">CFE, which had to rely more heavily on old, fuel oil generators, is only one of the firms in Mexico to suffer from insufficient natural gas transportation capacity.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b>4) Pemex Los Ramones tender flops, takes control of project</b></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">In 2013, Pemex issued a call for bidders on the 740km, 1.43Bf3/d (40.5Mm3/d) Los Ramones II pipeline, said to be the backbone of the natural gas transportation system.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">The long-awaited project is expected to guarantee long-term gas imports from the US. But when bids were due, only one group, a consortium between France's GDF Suez and Spain's Enagás, tabled a bid.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Pemex rejected the bid and took control of the project, promptly announcing it would be forming JVs withSempra's Mexico unit IEnova and GDF Suez to build the project in two phases.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Some experts say Pemex had always wanted to build the project on its own and had designed the tender fail.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b>5) Mexico launches first large-scale solar plant</b></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">In September, Mexico's first large-scale solar PV plant, the 30MW Aura Solar I, started generating power and it was not CFE who built it.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">The 100 hectare project was built by Gauss Energía, with Martifer Solar on EPC and Suntech providing panels, and was financed by private capital and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">The project was a huge step forward for solar in Mexico as IFC saw profitability in Mexico's small producer private generation model.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Gauss expects this to be the first of many stages at the Aura Solar complex.</div></div>

Mexico's top energy stories of 2013

1) Congress passes landmark energy reform This one was big and may fit better into other categories like "Top Mexico stories of 2013...

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ANNUAL REVIEW: Andean energy 2013

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7-GemnAZ8bt-IifCQ7sByWuk2jcGLWEoDKCT_DpIGyUP4Se_GPxKCgNDCoVBbGx-NpKGnO24Dcg46Sv6M-pjtRbJEGsfOfCTqbUoM9GLsBT_24rMReFSVK03h9jfsFMdu4XQrM6SqaOf/s1600/persp_9_15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7-GemnAZ8bt-IifCQ7sByWuk2jcGLWEoDKCT_DpIGyUP4Se_GPxKCgNDCoVBbGx-NpKGnO24Dcg46Sv6M-pjtRbJEGsfOfCTqbUoM9GLsBT_24rMReFSVK03h9jfsFMdu4XQrM6SqaOf/s1600/persp_9_15.jpg" /></a></div><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 18px;">Lackluster results from hydrocarbon exploration and production calls and efforts to ease power transmission congestion were some of the energy issues that featured in 2013 from the Andean region.</em><br /><div class="text-contenido" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 1.1em; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;"><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Increased state intervention coupled with greater risk from frontier areas led to low turnout for oil and gas licensing rounds in Bolivia and Ecuador despite a slew of promotion activities including international road shows.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">The start of the year saw Bolivia's state hydrocarbon firm YPFB award exploration areas offered under the service contract model to BG and Petrobras, the only bidders and companies that already operate in this market.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Five groups tabled four bids for Ecuador's Suroriente round although only Belorusneft is a newcomer to the country, after a world tour that included stops in Beijing, Bogotá, Houston, Indonesia, New York, Paris and Singapore. Thirteen blocks were offered.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Bolivia and Ecuador along with Venezuela rank as the least attractive jurisdictions in The Fraser Institute's Global Petroleum Survey 2013.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">While in Peru, considered a bastion of private sector promotion, socio-environmental scrutiny in particular uncertainties related to the indigenous prior consultation law dampened interest in state hydrocarbons promotion agency Perupetro call for nine offshore blocks. The process was placed on standby.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">And Colombia, another country courted by industry players but challenged by strikes and security issues, pre-launched the 2014 round to expand the production horizon. Mines and energy minister Amylkar Acosta cataloged the reserves situation as "very precarious."</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">The Andean region's power transport shortfall is another area authorities and stakeholders looked to address in 2013 due to increasing demand and as new generation capacity comes online.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Maximum demand peaked at a record 1,128MW in January in Bolivia where state power company Ende advanced development of lines Cochabamba-La Paz and Chaco-Tarija.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Colombia's mining and energy planning unit UPME released its 2013-26 reference transmission expansion plan which recommends investment of US$2bn to buttress the transmission network.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">To advance on this front, UPME announced plans to woo investors for 13 high-voltage transmission projects and minister Acosta Medina highlighted an 82bn-peso (US$42.5mn) project to interconnect eastern Vichada department on the border with Venezuela.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">A report from Ecuador's wholesale power market administrator Cenace pointed to the risk of total or partial collapse of the national interconnected system (SNI) due to contingencies on the main transmission link from increased hydro output.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Indeed, state power holding company Celec awarded Harbin Electric International a US$599mn contract to connect hydros Coca Codo (1.5GW) and Sopladora (487MW) to the SNI.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">For its part, Ecuador's power and renewable energy ministry and Peru's energy and mines ministry signed an agreement to develop a 500kV transmission line.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Transmission in Peru continued exponential growth led by projects Friaspata-Mollepata, Machupicchu-Quencoro-Onocora-Tintaya, Mantaro-Marcona-Socabaya-Montalvo, Moyobamba-Iquitos, Tingo María-Vizcarra-Conococha and Trujillo-Chiclayo.</div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">And Paraguay inaugurated the 500kV Itaipú-Villa Hayes transmission project while Venezuela declared a state of emergency for the power sector due to alleged sabotage of infrastructure, in particular transmission, by opposition. The measure jump started a series of works to safeguard and overhaul lines and substations among other installations.</div></div>

ANNUAL REVIEW: Andean energy 2013

Lackluster results from hydrocarbon exploration and production calls and efforts to ease power transmission congestion were some of the ener...

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Banamex Analysts: Cheaper natural gas to aid Mexico's petrochemical sector

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0_KPFM-c6UvomN5-SWBFh1F-45opeJcoD4aJx6LdnQJXL7bB_CQoNUIRP3k1YfjDTKDuT_XjTueuHXacw3rlg5zl4oqUrkuhRWxWOv5hfjY4PoE7CLeFUlCjX5YZ9StqzUB44-dWMV8G/s1600/mexichem_250313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO0_KPFM-c6UvomN5-SWBFh1F-45opeJcoD4aJx6LdnQJXL7bB_CQoNUIRP3k1YfjDTKDuT_XjTueuHXacw3rlg5zl4oqUrkuhRWxWOv5hfjY4PoE7CLeFUlCjX5YZ9StqzUB44-dWMV8G/s320/mexichem_250313.jpg" width="320" /></a>The opening of Mexico's natural gas sector to private investment will lower prices and allow local firms to increase their production capacity for petrochemical-based products, according to analysts. <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Mexican firms such as Mexichem and Alpek will be benefited by the lower prices and be able to grow their presence in the sector, according to a report analyzing Mexico's energy reforms by Banamex Accival Casa de Bolsa. Both companies are currently investing to expand their production capacity to take advantage of the price differential between ethylene and natural gas. </span></span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 18px;">"Mexichem is investing in the production of 550,000t of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) in the US, while Alpek plans similar investment with a plant supplied by natural gas in Mexico," the report states. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">VCM is a chemical used to produce polymer and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">The expectation is that the energy reforms will contribute to an increase in the supply of ethane/propane, which have a high concentration of natural gas, and to a deregulation of the downstream sector, which will in turn lead to a drop in prices, the report states.</span></span><br /><div class="text-contenido" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;"><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Alpek is expected to invest in the construction of plants producing monoethylene glycol (MEG) in Mexico and an ethylene plant in the short term in order to take advantage of the lower gas prices.</span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"The confirmed availability of gas will probably lead Alpek to build an MEG plant in Mexico, instead of in the US," the report states.</span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mexichem is also likely to expand its VCM production in Mexico, after having begun to build a cracker plant in Texas in partnership with US firm Oxychem. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mexichem is currently building a 200MW cogeneration plant powered by natural gas in Altamira, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, and could approve the construction of another one in Salamanca, in the central state of Guanajuato. </span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Mexico is the only country in the world where an artificial barrier was created in the petrochemical sector, and the reality is that the lack of investment in the sector by Pemex has created huge bottlenecks in the production chain, leading to more imports, which in 2013 surpassed US$23bn," according to an analysis of the reform by Mexican energy consultancy GMEC. </span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mexico's petrochemical imports increased by 7.7% in 2013, while the petrochemical sector's contribution to GDP dropped by 0.4% to 1.2%, according to the national association of the chemical industry (ANIQ). </span></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"></div><div style="line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A lack of natural gas transportation infrastructure has meant that Mexican firms have suffered a supply deficit from the US, GMEC added, with Pemex importing more natural gas at a higher price to satisfy local demand.</span></div></div>

Banamex Analysts: Cheaper natural gas to aid Mexico's petrochemical sector

The opening of Mexico's natural gas sector to private investment will lower prices and allow local firms to increase their production ca...

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Baltics: Update from Romas Svedas

<h1 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #636466; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.125em; margin: 0.375em 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px;"></h1><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGy7KPeG37tD7ltzn8qa8HHs3VpWHEZxGnxoXEFO4FvaAsxVrvBhe8JV_TtHr9vm-3WGoLUI48C6NMGf71HPZ9WXuGwZFhRzf4CJu0-OYGkiaiZQOORyeugsWI4-FPj_Kiqz_DvkG5qc1a/s1600/Romas+Svedas_550x300.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGy7KPeG37tD7ltzn8qa8HHs3VpWHEZxGnxoXEFO4FvaAsxVrvBhe8JV_TtHr9vm-3WGoLUI48C6NMGf71HPZ9WXuGwZFhRzf4CJu0-OYGkiaiZQOORyeugsWI4-FPj_Kiqz_DvkG5qc1a/s1600/Romas+Svedas_550x300.jpeg" /></a></div>With over 20 years of experience in international relations and over half of the time devoted to energy issues, Lithuania's Romas Švedas is one of the most renowned Baltic energy experts.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">His expertise in the field of international economic relations spans negotiator’s skills in the signing Lithuania’s Free Trade Agreements with Nordic, Baltic and Central European countries, negotiating the Lithuanian membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), sitting as a member of bilateral intergovernmental commissions with <span style="color: #0854d1;">Russia</span>, <span style="color: #0854d1;">Ukraine</span>, <span style="color: #0854d1;">Belarus</span> and being head of Lithuanian delegation in bilateral intergovernmental economic relations commission with China.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">In the field of energy policy, being vice-minister of the Lithuanian Energy Ministry (2009-2011) he was responsible for electricity interconnections with <span style="color: #0854d1;">Poland</span> (LitPolLink) and Sweden (NordBalt), LNG terminal, exploration of UGS, decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant and development of a new Nuclear Power Plant project (Visaginas NPP).</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Švedas was a member of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) drafting team and representative of Lithuania in BEMIP High Level Working Group (2008-2011). During the period of 2009-2011 Romas Švedas was chairman of the Boards of State Enterprise “Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant”, AB “Klaipedos nafta”, AB “Litgrid” and member of the Board of AB “Lietuvos dujos”.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Švedas kindly agreed to answer <i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Natural Gas Europe's</i> questions on a broad range of energy issues in the Baltic region.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What are the specifics of the Baltic nations’ energy market? And how do they pertain to the challenges they face?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">The bottom line is this: the countries - Lithuania, <span style="color: #0854d1;">Latvia</span> and <span style="color: #0854d1;">Estonia</span> -are the members of the European Union, and therefore are bound to the EU policies, including those in energy market.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Though all the three countries have their own peculiarities of market economy, their underlying common problem is what the EU refers to as the Union’s energy island.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">It means that the countries’ energy infrastructure is historically linked with the former Soviet Union. Effectively, there are no any significant power connectors between them and the Western Europe, except a tiny power link connecting Finland and Estonia.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">The Baltic States’ biggest challenge is the dependency on the single external gas supplier, Russia’s G<span style="color: #0854d1;">azprom</span>. In that sense, Lithuania looks the worst as its reliance on external energy supplies in satisfying its energy needs hovers at a whopping 80 percent, the EU record. And when it comes to gas sector, Lithuania’s dependency on Russian Gazprom gas is at 100 percent, while electric power import amounts to the EU record-high 70 percent, according to the Eurostat.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">The shutdown of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in 2009, a prerequisite for the EU accession in 2004, has significantly exacerbated power supply. In fact, Lithuania has gone from power exporter to the biggest importer in entire Europe.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What are the biggest challenges in decreasing the energy supply dependency?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Without doubt, they are in diversifying energy supply, in other words, creating alternative energy sources. Lithuania has been pursuing that along with Latvia and Estonia in the framework of BEMIP- Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan tasked with interconnecting Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia internally -very determinedly and consistently.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">What I often see happening in the Baltic region separate energy projects sometimes are prioritized as the key objectives of whole energy market.  In particular, when it comes to Lithuania, it often boils down to a few things: to build a nuclear power plant, or not?  Explore and extract shale gas, or not?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">In the reality, these two I see as the only ways in achieving the ultimate goal of energy security and independency.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">No doubt, the main priority in Lithuania should be diversification of energy supplies- guaranteeing that market conditions function in energy sector. That can be possible only with more than a single energy supplier.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How can this be achieved?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I believe that could be done in two ways.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">First, on the legislative level, Lithuania has to pass and enact necessary energy security- oriented legislature. Other two Baltic counties need to do the same.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Second, implementation of EU-supported interstate energy projects in the region in quintessential.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Speaking of the legislation, what the three Baltic States have to do effectively boils down to one key thing:  transpose the EU energy legislature into theirs and, importantly, make sure it is implemented.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">The core piece of the EU legislation is the EU Third Energy Package.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Namely it, encompassing gas and electricity supply development directions, is the integral part of BEMIP.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Today the situation is the states in electricity sector development need to step up, as the implementation of the Third Energy Package-and BEMIP- is lagging behind.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Having said that, I have to note the countries have all the necessary projects to make the breakthrough in the pursuit of energy security and independence. EstLinkII, NordBalt, LitPol are among the most important, and they have to be launched until the end of 2015.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">When kicked off they will ensure the EU-bound transmission capacity on the same scope we have now it with the East.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Without any doubt, the implementation of the afore-mentioned power projects would significantly enhance energy security and supply in the Baltics and secure the countries’ full and equivalent operations on the Nord Pool Spot (NPS) Exchange.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">The power projects are being implemented on time, and their completion promise a lot brighter energy future for each of the Baltic States.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">What should matter to foreign investors in regard to the latter is the countries’ power trading on the NPS is transparent and promising good prospects as with the completion of the projects by 2016 the systemic problems in Baltic power market will have been solved.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What’s your take on construction of nuclear power plant in the Lithuanian town of Visaginas?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Regardless whether it will be pursued or not (the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are set to make up their minds on the project yet this month -<i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Natural Gas Europe</i>), the atomic power project, like other energy project in the region, would be regional.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">This is what matters most.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Sometimes I get the sense that foreign countries believe that each of the Baltic States pursue their energy projects separately.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">It’s not true- all the projects are regional, with the fact in mind that starting 2016 the countries will be an integral part of the EU single energy system.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Speaking of the nuclear project, I’d not dare to predict its fate, but- again- it will be a regional decision of governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What are the other specifics of Lithuania’s gas sector besides the 100 percent dependency on Gazprom gas?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I call gas sector more interesting than the power sector in terms of predictability, implementation of projects and etc.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Power sector will definitely be the first one to fully reach the goal of energy independence and become the leverage to the single supplier.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Speaking of gas-fired generators, what sets Lithuania apart from Latvia and Estonia is that a very significant part of power in Lithuania is being generated by traditional generators, i.e using gas.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Meanwhile, Estonia has successfully employed oil shale and Latvia has been successfully taking advantage of its hydro resources.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Unlike in power sector, the situation in Lithuania’s gas sector is a whole lot more complicated.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Again, I’d like to look at it from the standpoint of legal basis and the development of infrastructure.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">When it comes to gas legislature, having passed the law of gas supply and started ownership unbundling, which means separating gas supply from gas mains management, Lithuania has moved considerably forward in the recent years.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"> Sure, within the framework of the EU Third Energy Package.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">But unlike the Baltics’ power market, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia still do not have a single internal gas policy despite the Third Energy Package obligations.  The 100 percent dependence on the single external gas supplier, certainly, exacerbates the situation.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">In tackling it, Lithuania is advancing a Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal that is due at the end of 2015. Along with the EU-supported gas Lithuanian and Polish gas interconnector due by 2019 the two are an important stride in diminishing the dependency.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What about Lithuania’s shale gas? Could it be a third alternative?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Sure. It could be also an alternative in the energy security pursuit.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Lithuania had the investor, Chevron, but, unfortunately for us, we could not provide it a stable legislative basis, and it left.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">That is disappointing as shale gas can significantly boost out energy security. It has been proven by Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University scientists.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Unfortunately for us, we do not yet possess the good experience Poland has in taking advantage of shale gas and dealing with the local communities that now often are adverse to the shale gas exploration.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I agree with some international observers that Lithuania seems to be artificially escalating the issue of shale gas exploration-related environmental issues.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I’m not saying they do not matter, not at all, but sometimes I strongly suspect some pro-Russian interests are underneath the clamor against shale gas exploration in Lithuania.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Interestingly, some of the billboards on Lithuanian highways urging to resist the American company and the shale gas bid appeared to be build- and paid for- by some unclear subjects.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">This is what a journalistic investigation revealed.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">And we’re talking here only of large billboards all see when driving by.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I sometimes wondered who stood behind the negative, anti-shale gas coverage in traditional media outlets.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">There is really a lot to think of but I really would not like to delve into the details, and why the tender failed. But when speaking of the Chevron bid it was obvious that we lacked a political will in making in happen. As a result, the vociferous protests in the provinces and not only it. The attitude of the people needs to be addressed in the future.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Do you believe the dispute between Lithuania and Gazprom over gas price will be settled any time soon? And how?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Perhaps not as much is important the outcome of the dispute as is important the pending ruling at the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal. If it ruled in favor of Lithuania, which is pretty likely, it would establish an unseen yet precedent, meaning a crucial breakthrough in the Gazprom relations with the Central and Eastern Europe. Practically, it would lead to huge civil lawsuits against Gazprom, coming from Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus and some other countries.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I am convinced Gazprom is really anxious about that.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I believe it is not now as much preoccupied with the gas price for Lithuania and a new contract with it, as with the fallout from the Tribunal ruling.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I am certain Gazprom will go to big lengths to shun the judicial precedent, but it cannot get away from the EU Third Energy Package ownership unbundling requirements. This is what Gazprom fears a lot, too.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">We might be witnessing some historical shifts in the field of energy, without an exaggeration.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How can Lithuania take advantage of the European Commission (EC) resolve to sue Gazprom for EU Anti-Trust law breaches?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">No doubt, it is also a headache for Gazprom as it could set a very far-reaching precedent for the company that in the course can effectively change the relations between it and entire countries, the gas buyers.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How much serious do you believe is Russia’s intention to build a LNG terminal in the enclave of Kaliningrad? Would it be pursued to bypass gas transit through Lithuania?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">There has been news Russia has already built an underground gas repository in Kaliningrad.  Russia has certainly a big potential in gas sector, so I’d not be surprised if it pursues the LNG project in the exclave. Sure, it is not a thing of the nearest future.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">But what matters to Lithuania is a liquefied natural gas terminal in Kaliningrad would enable Russia to stronger manipulate the card of gas supply to Lithuania.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Having built the underground gas storage facility and mulling construction of a LNG terminal, Russia sends a signal to Lithuania that Kaliningrad will be the first one to secure gas supply from alternative sources. In other words, under certain Lithuania-adverse circumstances, and with the Kaliningrad gas facilities in place, Russia could cut gas supply to Lithuania without giving much thought.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">I see it as Russia’s clear message that it will keep using energy issues as a tool of its politics.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">Hence, the importance of the Baltic energy projects.</div>

Baltics: Update from Romas Svedas

With over 20 years of experience in international relations and over half of the time devoted to energy issues, Lithuania's Romas Švedas...

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Ukraine Russia Gas Dispute Infographic

Kiev and Moscow have been locked in a bitter dispute over gas supplies that has prompted fears of a return to the winters of 2006 and 2009, when Russia temporarily halted gas deliveries to Ukraine and some European countries. Last week Ukraine said it was suspending the purchase of gas from Russia, and relying on supplies from its own storage facilities. But it backtracked on the announcement within days. Russia has said that Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company, owes over $1 billion in unpaid gas bills. Ukraine maintains that Russia charges it more for gas than other European nations.<br /><br />Click the image below for larger version infographic<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34ur8Z8pGkk6YXye20sRnOzqI86_R2EPmabsTqaMKHRT8tljsZ_8shPDZHiAABR-jClfzQ7nQ18f9UCicETBA2O3DeRycUxvFmfsznNsaC_bUHkWjNVm_ONly5vE31qjwjqaUrkppXe68/s1600/infographicUkraingasdispute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj34ur8Z8pGkk6YXye20sRnOzqI86_R2EPmabsTqaMKHRT8tljsZ_8shPDZHiAABR-jClfzQ7nQ18f9UCicETBA2O3DeRycUxvFmfsznNsaC_bUHkWjNVm_ONly5vE31qjwjqaUrkppXe68/s640/infographicUkraingasdispute.jpg" width="349" /></a></div><br />

Ukraine Russia Gas Dispute Infographic

Kiev and Moscow have been locked in a bitter dispute over gas supplies that has prompted fears of a return to the winters of 2006 and 2009, ...

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Elk finalises carbon dioxide agreement

<div class="widget slideshow default widget-editable viziwyg-section-822 inpage-widget-1317835 in_article_slideshow" style="border: 0px; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="widget1317835-picture1347470" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="wrapper" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 646px;"><div class="description" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 646px;"><div class="description_content" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div></div><div class="apple_overlay" id="widgetContent1317835-picture1347470-info" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #1b1b1b; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.25em;"><br /></span></div><div class="apple_overlay" id="widgetContent1317835-picture1347470-info" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG9DNa43FrXz8YCtW2CZIcpou0EC2Rfp3H2a9q4UoXkDfNvox0wFLtCZdQD3f8CVG3O-ajisTPUsH0pxDIxbXizYHXo55-FXMhZWpifSAqodEHEzE5Z5Yy2W8c8m1I5dhVa5pzBktDfqz/s1600/bridgport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG9DNa43FrXz8YCtW2CZIcpou0EC2Rfp3H2a9q4UoXkDfNvox0wFLtCZdQD3f8CVG3O-ajisTPUsH0pxDIxbXizYHXo55-FXMhZWpifSAqodEHEzE5Z5Yy2W8c8m1I5dhVa5pzBktDfqz/s320/bridgport.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #1b1b1b; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.25em;">Australia-listed Elk Petroleum has finalised and executed a binding agreement with Bridgeport Ethanol to purchase carbon dioxide from Bridgeport’s ethanol processing plant in Nebraska.</span><a class="close" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7291563859932161422" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a></div></div><div class="widget storyContent article widget-editable viziwyg-section-12 inpage-widget-1000056 " style="border: 0px; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="body" style="border: 0px; color: #474747; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The agreement was originally announced in late November but after completing due diligence, the deal has been finalised. Elk will use the carbon dioxide for its enhanced oil recovering project at the Singleton and adjoining oil fields, close to the Bridgeport plan.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The plant produced more than 150,000 US tons of carbon dioxide per year or about 7 million cubic feet per day. It is almost pure carbon dioxide and requires little processing other than compression and dehydration. The agreement will last for 10 years with potential for extension. Elk will have three years to build compression and pipeline facilities before the purchase agreements starts.</div><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The company said access to these supplies was key to building a carbon dioxide-based enhanced oil recovery strategy in Nebraska and the wider area. The Singleton oil field is the largest in the area and will act as an anchor project. Development could take less than two years and first oil production could occur as early as 2016, according to Elk.<br /><br /></div></div></div>

Elk finalises carbon dioxide agreement

Australia-listed Elk Petroleum has finalised and executed a binding agreement with Bridgeport Ethanol to purchase carbon dioxide from Bridge...

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Ecopetrol details US$10.6bn 2014 investment plan

<br /><br /><header class="clearfix" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; position: relative;"><h3 class="top-sector" style="color: #58595b; font-size: 16px; margin: 7px 0px 0.5em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYsq49ylRQy2irYKSpoka3LkN9VNUDnjXbxpLYanqvk0A07hdLAOxM0GAbooPObfl53spbgpX8giAQK3Tmu6TO6KhIxImROdqx5YtWf1FomXsR6_sBEYgdbQLBOu5JiNYioQXzF-L4Hya/s1600/earth_lights-bw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYsq49ylRQy2irYKSpoka3LkN9VNUDnjXbxpLYanqvk0A07hdLAOxM0GAbooPObfl53spbgpX8giAQK3Tmu6TO6KhIxImROdqx5YtWf1FomXsR6_sBEYgdbQLBOu5JiNYioQXzF-L4Hya/s320/earth_lights-bw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Oil & Gas - <a href="http://web6.bnamericas.com/country-profile/colombia" style="color: #58595b; text-decoration: none;">Colombia</a></h3><span itemprop="image"></span><b><span style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Colombia state oil firm </span>Ecopetrol<span style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><span style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">(NYSE: EC) approved US$10.6bn of investment for next year, with 61% (US$6.46bn) to be directly invested by Ecopetrol and 39% (US$4.13bn) through its affiliates and subsidiaries, the company said in a press release.</span></b><br /> </header><br /><div class="content" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"><strong>DIRECT INVESTMENT</strong></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">The majority (US$4.65bn) of Ecopetrol's direct investment next year is marked for crude and natural gas production development. The firm's East Llanos project is slated to receive 64% of direct production development investment, with 17% going to the Middle Magdalena project and 11% to the Orinoquía project.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">Ecopetrol also expects to invest US$928mn in exploration next year. In Colombia the firm plans to drill 20 exploration wells, six delineation wells and eight stratigraphic wells. The East Llanos project is marked for 13 exploration wells, with another two planned in offshore Colombia, two in southern Huila province and three in northern departments Cesar, Antioquia and Norte de Santander.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">The firm also plans to spend US$240mn on developing nonconventional resources. Activity will include nine stratigraphic wells, three exploration wells and three pilot production tests - mainly on blocks in the Catatumbo and Middle Magdalena projects, Ecopetrol said.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">Next year's direct investment plan includes US$339mn for refining and petrochemical spending, with 26% slated for modernizing the Barrancabermeja-PMRB refinery.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"><strong>AFFILIATE AND SUBSIDIARY INVESTMENT</strong></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">Through its affiliates and subsidiaries Ecopetrol plans to invest US$1.76bn in refining and petrochemical projects, including US$1.63bn to modernize the Cartagena refinery, Ecopetrol said.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">Next year's subunit spending includes US$1.34bn in transport investment. Ecopetrol expects crude oil pipeline capacity to increase by an additional 40,000b/d in 2014 and total crude and natural gas pipeline capacity to grow by another 70,000boe/d.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">Affiliate and subsidiary 2014 exploration investment is set at US$632mn and includes five exploration wells on the US-side of the Gulf of Mexico and six in Colombia, Ecopetrol said.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">The firm also plans to spend US$392mn on developing affiliate and subsidiary oil and gas production in 2014.</div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;"></div><div style="color: #414042; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-top: 0.5em;">Ecopetrol forecasts total group oil and gas production at 819,000boe/d next year.</div></div>

Ecopetrol details US$10.6bn 2014 investment plan

Oil & Gas -  Colombia Colombia state oil firm  Ecopetrol   (NYSE: EC) approved US$10.6bn of investment for next year, with 61% (US$6.46b...

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Mexico: Energy reform clears final hurdle of state approval

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico’s sweeping energy reform cleared its final legal hurdle Monday when San Luis Potosi became the 17th state legislature to give rapid-fire approval to constitutional changes that will allow foreign investment into what has been a 75-year-old state monopoly.<br /><div class="p402_premium">The ambitious energy bill, opening up Mexico’s promising but poorly performing oil and gas industry, was <a href="http://lat.ms/1hX34Y7">approved solidly</a> in both houses of <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/u.s.-congress-ORGOV0000131.topic" id="ORGOV0000131" title="U.S. Congress">Congress</a> last week, amid bitter opposition by leftist parties.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCWn4bN_A0fW3tGwa3ZTUlsJWCBwgj0WGLY-Cw7ZgKUF5e4WOS76hdAC3pNnOcglLyU9NLoyEpRdoVTUqwWTDe3liWRS0tWOYOn25FM4SMxkethetJsxW5L59zRCp-mfHioOlbqnF2tEB/s1600/la-fg-wn-mexico-energy-reform-hurdle-approval--001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCWn4bN_A0fW3tGwa3ZTUlsJWCBwgj0WGLY-Cw7ZgKUF5e4WOS76hdAC3pNnOcglLyU9NLoyEpRdoVTUqwWTDe3liWRS0tWOYOn25FM4SMxkethetJsxW5L59zRCp-mfHioOlbqnF2tEB/s1600/la-fg-wn-mexico-energy-reform-hurdle-approval--001.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Centenario exploration oil rig operated by Mexican company Grupo R and working for Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex, in the Gulf of Mexico. State and federal bodies have quickly lined up behind constitutional changes that will allow foreign investment into what has been a 75-year-old state monopoly. <span class="credit">(<span class="photographer">Omar Torres / AFP/Getty Images</span>)</span></span><br /><br />Because measures in the bill require changing the constitution, a majority of states also had to give their OK. That happened over the weekend and early Monday, when 17 of 31 states voted in favor of the bill, even as leftist demonstrators protested and surrounded some state legislatures in hopes of discouraging approval.<br /><br />But passage was never really in doubt because most state governments are controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of President Enrique Peña Nieto, for whom overhauling state oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has been a major goal of his year-old administration. Along with the PRI, the conservative National Action Party also lent crucial support.<br /><br />The bill now returns to the Senate for official recognition of the states’ votes and then will be signed into law by Peña Nieto -- all formalities.<br /><br />Peña Nieto, on an official visit to Turkey on Monday, praised the “responsibility and commitment” exhibited by the states. “This shows that Mexico has solid democratic institutions, capable of carrying forth major national transformations,” he said via Twitter.<br /><br />The new law will call for “production-sharing” agreements that allow private firms to take a cut of the crude they find under licensing agreements and contracts. It also opens up the highly inefficient state electricity sector and is designed to make Pemex a competitive and more productive company.<br />Proponents argue that Mexico needs outside expertise to be able to exploit the hard-to-reach deep-water oil reserves and shale rock deposits of gas. Otherwise, with production declining and shallow-water wells drying, Mexico could become a net importer of oil by 2020, experts say.<br />But opponents, including the left and a large percentage of ordinary Mexicans, maintain that allowing foreign companies to drill and take away oil amounts to a sell-out of precious natural resources. A better plan would be to fight rampant corruption and waste in Pemex, they argue.</div>

Mexico: Energy reform clears final hurdle of state approval

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico’s sweeping energy reform cleared its final legal hurdle Monday when San Luis Potosi became the 17th state legislatur...

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Private equity sees growing investment opportunities in oil and gas

In the post-financial crisis era, private equity firms are once again looking for the most promising opportunities, and oil and gas is proving to be fertile ground, according to a recent industry survey.<br /><br />Nearly two-thirds of global private equity executives responding to a survey said they plan to actively raise funds aimed at specific oil and gas subsectors next year, seeking to benefit from an industry ripe with opportunity and hungry for capital. The survey results were released Tuesday by EY, the international accounting and consulting firm.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSuU-HiMjaRPnjx2xfTSkYQ73NNlHHikJS__ajfVBBu8Z9z7PJH2domFn2TH6DNwwG2x5HDr2rzjkyT1b5d5B5uLqwIDPlM3ANqQvY_eA5uMKdDpEpDe0He-UlJ6XDI8o3wX17nSdfuLw/s1600/6551534889_9c8ae52997_z-306x306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSuU-HiMjaRPnjx2xfTSkYQ73NNlHHikJS__ajfVBBu8Z9z7PJH2domFn2TH6DNwwG2x5HDr2rzjkyT1b5d5B5uLqwIDPlM3ANqQvY_eA5uMKdDpEpDe0He-UlJ6XDI8o3wX17nSdfuLw/s1600/6551534889_9c8ae52997_z-306x306.jpg" /></a></div>The oil and gas industry is capital intensive, with projects that run into the billions of dollars, making it an attractive investment for private equity firms, EY noted.<br /><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Mergermarket, a national survey firm, conducted the survey on behalf of EY, interviewing 100 private equity leaders on the relationship between private equity and the oil and gas industry.</span><br />“The easy or cheap barrels have been produced,” EY wrote in the report. “There are now more players going after the more difficult areas of oil production, creating opportunities for PE firms with different risk appetites.”<br /><br /><br /><b>Energy executives: <a href="http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/12/03/access-to-capital-funds-will-improve-in-2014-energy-execs-say/?cmpid=eefl" target="_blank" title="Access to capital will improve in 2014, energy execs say">Access to capital will improve in 2014</a></b><br />The survey provides an encouraging view of investment, <b><a href="http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/07/29/deloitte-ma-energy-deals-down-30-percent-from-2012/?cmpid=eefl" target="_blank">even as deal making in the sector has slowed down</a></b>, with energy executives saying they want to focus on more efficient operations rather than expanding their reach.<br /><br />But private equity is bringing more than money to the table. The firms increasingly are offering their expertise in oil and gas, combined with financial discipline strategies, to increase returns, EY said in the report.<br /><br />Nearly two-thirds of private equity leaders believe that the main way they add value to oil and gas companies is by providing access to growth capital. But nearly 20 percent noted that they increasingly are allowing companies to expand geographically. And one in ten felt that the operational expertise provided by private equity also added value.<br />Private equity firms continue to see North America as the most attractive market for oil and gas investment, but expect investments in Latin America and in Asia to increase in the next two years, especially in China and Brazil.<br /><br />“We are seeing an influx of capital investment into the emerging markets,” said Andy Brogan, EY’s Global Oil and Gas Transaction Advisory Services Leader, in a written statement, explaining that the risk profiles of emerging markets typically varies with that of developed countries, allowing for investment diversification. “Companies are exercising caution, but optimism around the potential returns from acquisitions remains high.”

Private equity sees growing investment opportunities in oil and gas

In the post-financial crisis era, private equity firms are once again looking for the most promising opportunities, and oil and gas is pro...

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GE to build technology hub in Oklahoma City - Oil & Gas Financial Journal

<div class="PromoBoxHeadLeft" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #37302b; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: auto; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="PromoBoxHeadRight" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNhKT65Xxnb96bYAuM4H4Th7UBemYsWWdbIAkP7c4Ur2-p9f5QAGyrx507gHSMCw5S41ySs1T1pdYlemaarIbg62nCl3luPFECt8kGrLsEZB_fKqqqelaqYDpEb33E8zEmrE2d06hykbx/s1600/big-data2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNhKT65Xxnb96bYAuM4H4Th7UBemYsWWdbIAkP7c4Ur2-p9f5QAGyrx507gHSMCw5S41ySs1T1pdYlemaarIbg62nCl3luPFECt8kGrLsEZB_fKqqqelaqYDpEb33E8zEmrE2d06hykbx/s320/big-data2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h1 class="compTitle" itemprop="headline" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 20px; font-style: inherit; height: auto; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px;">GE to build technology hub in Oklahoma City</h1></div></div><div class="compBody" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #37302b; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px;"><div class="articlepublicationdate" itemprop="datePublished" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="articlepublicationdatecnt" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">December 6, 2013</span></div><div class="articlebyline" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="articlebylinecnt" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">GE</span></div><div class="article-content-wrapper" itemprop="articleBody" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="clicktoenlargeimage parbase image headerimage" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" class="cq-dd-image cq-image-placeholder" src="http://www.ogfj.com/etc/designs/default/0.gif" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="" /></div><div id="ContentBody" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gigya-article-share-bar-right" id="gigya-article-share-bar" style="border: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="sharebar gigyashare" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;"><a adhocenable="false" href="http://www.ogfj.com/articles/2013/04/ge-accelerates-artificial-lift-business-with-lufkin-acquisition-.html" style="border: 0px; color: #1370ac; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">GE</a> has selected downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for its first-ever global research center dedicated to oil and gas technology. </div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;">The center will focus on accelerating mid- to later-stage oil and gas technologies developed in GE’s global research labs, including production systems, well construction, water use optimization, carbon-dioxide solutions, and energy systems<b>.</b> </div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;">Construction on the 95,000-sq-ft (8,826-sq-m) facility will begin in the spring of 2014, with the building expected to be completed and operational in 2015.</div></div></div></div><br /><a href="http://www.ogfj.com/articles/2013/12/ge-to-build-technology-hub-in-oklahoma-city.html">GE to build technology hub in Oklahoma City - Oil & Gas Financial Journal</a>

GE to build technology hub in Oklahoma City - Oil & Gas Financial Journal

GE to build technology hub in Oklahoma City December 6, 2013 GE GE  has selected downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for its first-ever global...

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STOCK: Ring Energy prices offering of common stock - OGFJ

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjBlY3S8ZTuZkdL_JU2-rFdWJj3d73KjqjAAZe_DR27uuVXHwRKK3es6w1BD27QY6uhezwiZVWm1dN5pgnuPiBJJXbBeyCSS9VvClO6QS91EU9EcFZx8iwftc0yx_JDaPhw9SC9T3X3fO/s1600/13354493263632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjBlY3S8ZTuZkdL_JU2-rFdWJj3d73KjqjAAZe_DR27uuVXHwRKK3es6w1BD27QY6uhezwiZVWm1dN5pgnuPiBJJXbBeyCSS9VvClO6QS91EU9EcFZx8iwftc0yx_JDaPhw9SC9T3X3fO/s320/13354493263632.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px;">Ring Energy prices offering of common stock</span><img alt="" class="cq-dd-image cq-image-placeholder" src="http://www.ogfj.com/etc/designs/default/0.gif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #37302b; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="" /><br /><div class="compBody" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #37302b; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 0px;"><div class="article-content-wrapper" itemprop="articleBody" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="ContentBody" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gigya-article-share-bar-right" id="gigya-article-share-bar" style="border: 0px; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="sharebar gigyashare" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;"><a adhocenable="false" href="http://www.ogfj.com/articles/2013/12/ring-energy-to-offer-shares-of-common-stock.html" style="border: 0px; color: #1370ac; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Ring Energy Inc.</a> (NYSE MKT: REI) has priced an underwritten public offering of 5 million shares of its common stock to the public at $10.00 per share. The company expects to close the sale of the shares of common stock on Dec. 11. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 750,000 shares of common stock from the company at the offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions, solely to cover over-allotments.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;">SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. is acting as sole book-running manager, and Capital One Securities Inc., Global Hunter Securities LLC, Euro Pacific Capital Inc., IBERIA Capital Partners LLC, Noble Financial Capital Markets, Northland Capital Markets, and Roth Capital Partners LLC are acting as co-managers for the offering.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;">Ring Energy intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund drilling and development of its properties, to pay for additional leases of oil and gas properties, to pay down borrowings under its credit facility, and to pay for acquisitions of oil and gas properties in and around existing properties.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;"><a href="http://www.ogfj.com/articles/2013/12/ring-energy-prices-offering-of-common-stock.html" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Ring Energy prices offering of common stock - Oil & Gas Financial Journal</a></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>

STOCK: Ring Energy prices offering of common stock - OGFJ

Ring Energy prices offering of common stock Ring Energy Inc.  (NYSE MKT: REI) has priced an underwritten public offering of 5 million shares...

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Oil Boom 2.0 – An American Dream Updated with Christof Rühl

<div id="content" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Article" style="background-color: #e9e9e9; border: 0px; clear: both; float: left; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 17.77777862548828px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 646px;"><div id="article-5767888004492324951" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="module-box new-social-gestures" id="article-container" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.247059) 0px 1px 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.247059) 0px 1px 2px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="article-container" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="article-body" style="border-top-color: rgb(230, 230, 230); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 10px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoTKnINZhnlTkRmolpKBwBbmpZdOskykNyT6H91YHcrMfRIx5pcWAWHp18qS8MXvLkr8TMChkPlhuuwS44XuB_8R-JDded0zGPbIQDAsTg0FSmWSCxEokRkMxQAWswHmdbwz6fCbbKy4a/s1600/1c7f78e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoTKnINZhnlTkRmolpKBwBbmpZdOskykNyT6H91YHcrMfRIx5pcWAWHp18qS8MXvLkr8TMChkPlhuuwS44XuB_8R-JDded0zGPbIQDAsTg0FSmWSCxEokRkMxQAWswHmdbwz6fCbbKy4a/s1600/1c7f78e.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The impact of the US shale “revolution” has people all around the world scratching their heads – over what it means: Is North America really on the road to self-sufficiency? Of oil, of gas, or of all fuels? And increasingly, people wonder about the implications for their own regions: Are there similar resources? What would it take to get at them?</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By the numbers, this already <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">IS</i> a big development. Last year, the US witnessed the world’s largest increase in oil as well as gas production. Not only did oil production expand faster than in any other country, last year also saw the biggest oil production increase in the history of the US – a country, mind you, which has produced oil since 1859.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So far this year, production has grown even stronger.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The reason is tight oil - oil generated with the same technologies that gave us shale gas.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Production</b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">US production last year grew by over 1 million barrels per day, 80% of which came from North Dakota and Texas, currently home to the country’s most prolific tight oil formations. North Dakota surpassed Alaska to become the second largest producing state and in Texas, the number one, output has doubled over the past five years.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meanwhile, the US is well on its way to replace Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer – the switch may take place as early as next year.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How did this happen?</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Parts of the story are well known:</div><ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 1em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 3em; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The existence of a massive resource base.</li><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A decade of high and rising prices for both oil and gas.</li><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most importantly, a competitive environment, allowing entrepreneurs and their companies to take a gamble to connect the two.</li></ul><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Everyone can invest in oil and gas in the US or Canada – and many did. It was actually mostly small or medium sized firms which tried to develop the technologies to make it possible to connect high prices and known shale resources – first for gas, and then for oil. Many failed and lost their shirt in the process. A few succeeded. But the big ones, the BP’s or Exxon’s of this world, only came in once the basic technologies (such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing) had been developed – to buy them, and to apply them elsewhere.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Economics</b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Economists use a big name for this type of development (named, of course, after a fellow economist) and call it a <i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Schumpeterian”</i> process – otherwise also known as Economics 101: Under market conditions, high prices trigger competition, and competition triggers innovation. There are victims among those agile spirits who move in first, and there is a wave of followers who come in next, catching up with the new technologies and refining them to make them more efficient, until the system turns stable again. These waves of innovation indeed are one of the most fundamental characteristics of functioning market economies.</div><div class="center" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="left" src="http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/p/1/000/2bd/2b9/0271df7.png" style="border: 0px; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; max-width: 606px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" /></div><div class="left" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The US is now reaping the second round effects of such a wave of innovation: after access to the massive resource base has been granted by technological improvements, and thus the boom been triggered, comes the hour of efficiency improvements.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The graph above shows how: In North Dakota, for example, the number of new wells started in 2012 grew by more than 50% and so did the state’s oil production – even though the number of rigs grew by only 10%. Producers are getting more oil out of the ground with less activity.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Perhaps the most important lesson one can ever hope to learn from this development is what it means for energy markets generally: that energy markets are governed by the very same simple principles as any other market.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There is a reason this happened in the US or Canada and not, say, in Venezuela or China – despite the fact that they sit on unconventional resources at least as plentiful as those in the US and Canada (oil sands in Venezuela, shale formations in China). This reason has nothing to do with resource endowments below ground but everything to do with competition and markets above ground. Innovation tends not to happen in economies where government control extinguishes the private reward for trial and error - in energy markets just as in any other industry.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Global Impact</b></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meanwhile, the developments in North America are changing energy relations for the rest of us. They are still too new to be emulated in other parts of the world, although the resource base is wide-spread. But while other places are busy trying to locate those resources (and remember, they will have to mimic the “above ground” competitive conditions as well to access them efficiently, which will take time), developments in the US are reshaping global oil markets as we used to know them.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Five years ago the US imported 2 million barrels per day of refined products (i.e. gasoline, diesel, etc.). Last year, it became the world’s biggest exporter, selling 1 million barrels per day of refined products abroad (crude oil exports are still legally constrained in the US). All told, the US still is a net oil importer and likely to remain one for years to come, but look at the graph below – I think it tells it all.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" class="center" src="http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/p/3/000/2bd/2a3/177ed88.png" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 606px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;" /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Net US oil imports peaked in 2005 and have since fallen by 36% (or 4.5 million barrels per day). Just to clarify the order of magnitude; this reduction is equal in size to Japan’s entire oil consumption last year, Japan being the third largest oil consumer on the planet.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Just a few years ago, US imports were on a par with Europe’s; now they are one third below those of the European Union.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Over that same period, Chinese net oil imports rose 84% (2.8 million barrels per day). China is well on its way to overtake the US to become the world’s largest oil importer. You can take a guess as to how long it will take for the orange and light green lines cross - it is happening right as we speak. (Believe it or not, 20 years ago, China was a net exporter of energy!).</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In my view, and this is a little guesswork now <a href="http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/statistical-review-of-world-energy-2013/energy-outlook-2030.html" style="border: 0px; color: #006699; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">the foundation of which can be found here</a>, the US is likely to remain a modest net oil importer until about 2030. North America as a region (comprising Canada, Mexico and the US) looks set to become self-sufficient around 2020. China, on the other hand, soon the world’s biggest importer of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal), will import almost 80% of its oil and more than 40% of its natural gas by 2030.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In this way the shale “revolution” becomes part of a much bigger development.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But what triggered it? Accident? The North American resource base? Markets? What are the implications? And - will it happen elsewhere?<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="module-box" id="author-header" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.247059) 0px 1px 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.247059) 0px 1px 2px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 17.77777862548828px; margin: 0px 0px 12px; outline: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="articles-header-bar" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Christof Rühl" class="member-photo" height="80" src="http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrink_80_80/p/5/000/26f/17d/071a24f.jpg" style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: -10px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="80" /><br /><div class="author-info" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 10px 120px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 class="author-name" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Christof Rühl</h2><h3 class="author-headline" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chief Economist at BP</h3></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

Oil Boom 2.0 – An American Dream Updated with Christof Rühl

The impact of the US shale “revolution” has people all around the world scratching their heads – over what it means: Is North America really...

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Bushy Eyebrows and Climate Change..

<div class="content clearfix" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.15625px; margin: 0.5em 0px;"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><strong>Keith Bailey </strong>states the first real sign of advancing age is when one's barber asks if you want the ears, nose and eyebrows trimmed.  The second may be when two friends suggest that because of your "experience in the industry" that you might like to do a periodic blog on their internet energy website. Well it was a truly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rooney" style="color: #005a8c; text-decoration: none;">Andy Rooney</a> moment for me to be asked to be part of this publication and, just as Andy obviously did, I continue to tell my barber to keep his hands off my eyebrows.<br /><br />Assuming this first attempt doesn't hit the cutting room floor, my goal is to periodically choose a subject that strikes my fancy and which doesn't, at least in my judgment, appear to be getting either enough or balanced attention in the media.  And occasionally, just like Andy, there are things I will just wonder about.<br />For example, one thing I’ve been thinking about is the weather this past year.  If you look at the numbers, 2013 is going to turn out to be one of the coldest years in the U.S. in the last 20 years. [Among other publications, The Standard-Examiner had an article on this a couple of weeks back.  <a href="http://www.standard.net/stories/2013/12/03/global-warming-2013-pace-be-coldest-20-years" style="color: #005a8c; text-decoration: none;">Click here</a> to see it.)  <br /><br />Let’s look at some of the numbers.  The blue line on the graph below shows how cold it has been relative to 20 year average temperatures.  What is particularly fascinating is that this cold weather comes just after 2012, which was one of the warmest years on record (red line on the graph).  These temperature differences may look small on the graph, but just a few degrees in average temperature makes a big difference in how it feels when you walk outside, and also the impact of the weather on our environment. [Source: <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/" style="color: #005a8c; text-decoration: none;">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/</a>]<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnmxU2eDqycALmFWPJ4MNgvyR0MeIl5O2Bnz7_MZx4CxdAK569PUj1UdLvLdR5E3mTB7yc_Ngu6zfzn8L0B3njfflwRuUTXOIHQM64JOyRZt9BFhaUTKuJ9mHQ2_ITujv5dlxH2TaYjEB/s1600/chart_20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnmxU2eDqycALmFWPJ4MNgvyR0MeIl5O2Bnz7_MZx4CxdAK569PUj1UdLvLdR5E3mTB7yc_Ngu6zfzn8L0B3njfflwRuUTXOIHQM64JOyRZt9BFhaUTKuJ9mHQ2_ITujv5dlxH2TaYjEB/s1600/chart_20.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Source: NOAA </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>This year’s colder weather has been responsible for a number of interesting developments.  One that I find particularly intriguing is that the arctic ice cap grew by 553,000 sq miles or 29% over the past year.  (See: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/And-global-COOLING-Return-Arctic-ice-cap-grows-29-year.html" style="color: #005a8c; text-decoration: none;">The Gazette: And now it is Global Cooling</a>).   Of course that’s what the ice cap does. It shrinks in warm years like 2012 and grows in cold years like 2013.  It doesn’t seem like that should be a big surprise.  But apparently it was for some forecasters who according to the Gazette article have been predicting the impending demise of the ice cap. Some ‘experts’ had the ice cap gone in 2013.  Oops.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><br />Of course, just because they were wrong doesn’t prove anything.  Except that it might be a bit of evidence that forecasting the weather – or the results of the weather is still far from an exact science.  But that doesn’t stop ‘experts’ from making predictions or assigning causality.  In fact, there are countless studies out there to support just about any opinion you might want to have about global warming.  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling" style="color: #005a8c; text-decoration: none;">Many years ago</a>, some scientist suggested that an earlier long term cooling trend was attenuated because we started using cleaner burning fuels.  Supposedly this reduced the cloud layer which in turn allowed more sun to reach the earth and you can figure out the rest.  Just this year, following the recent record flooding in Colorado, ‘experts’ said that the cooler weather is somehow a result of a long term trend of shrinking ice caps shifting the jet stream and pushing colder air south. (Source: <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/09/25/225754902/wild-weather-tied-to-unusual-jet-stream-activity" style="color: #005a8c; text-decoration: none;">Wild Weather Tied to Jet Stream</a>) I just don’t buy that weather models can be that precise about the cause-and-effect of weather phenomena.<br /><br />Please don’t misunderstand my point.  While I have no doubt that human activity is one of the factors that affects our weather and that domestic temperatures in a single year do not disaffirm the decades long global warming trend, <strong>I am just much less convinced than some prognosticators that it is "settled science" that hydrocarbons are the determinative factor in any particular outcome.</strong>  And that goes both ways.  As I learn more about the complicated net effects of global warming, I keep coming up with more questions than answers.<br />What I do know, however, from my now 50 plus years in the hydrocarbon industry is that the United States’ abundance of reliable, affordable energy has been a primary driver of our economic success as a nation.  In past decades, our energy resources helped drive the development of our country. Now, with the newfound abundance of shale hydrocarbons, it has the potential to further expand our role as the leader of the global economy. <br />We have over 100 years of supply of both coal and natural gas and we are rapidly increasing our domestic oil production thus lessening our demand for imported oil.  Over my career, I have seen our home furnace go from coal, to oil, to natural gas as technology and distribution capability changed.  I firmly believe that if we continue to use these traditional hydrocarbon fuels our international competitive advantage will be maintained and I also believe that we have steadily reduced the environmental impact of our use of these fuels and would expect those technological improvements to continue.<br /><br />It just makes one wonder if those suggesting we abandon these fuels altogether are so certain of their view of climate science that they are willing to put our national economy at risk based on those convictions.<br /><br />Humorist and commentator Andy Rooney was a frequent contributor to 60 Minutes until his death in 2011.  As noted above, he had bushy eyebrows. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><br /></div></div>

Bushy Eyebrows and Climate Change..

Keith Bailey states the first real sign of advancing age is when one's barber asks if you want the ears, nose and eyebrows trimmed.  The...

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