Globe & Mail: The Harper government is set to announce a key decision on Enbridge Inc.’s politically charged Northern Gateway project…. (Shawn McCarthy)
Leader-Post: "…high capital costs of building liquefied natural gas plants on British Columbia’s coast…." (Derrick Penner)
ADN Commentary by Tim Bradner (NGP Photo): "…the 'GTL' option may be another way to commercialize stranded gas on the North Slope."
Today's Consumer Energy Alliance News Links
Brooks Range Plans Mustang Development Production Within Two Years
by
Dave Harbour
Since accuracy of our archives has been our constant goal for over a decade, we invite factual additions/corrections to any of our reports or commentaries. -dh
Our friend, Aaron Weddle (NGP Photo), of Commonwealth North (CWN) provided this audio link to last Friday's "Mustang Development Update", by Brooks Range Petroleum's COO, Bart Armfield. Here is the slide pack that our readers can use to follow through the entire presentation. Armfield was addressing CWN members and guests at the weekly Energy Action Coalition meeting in Anchorage.
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Common use of ConocoPhillips' infrastructure for Brooks Range development and Repsol exploration facilities, Armfield said, "…is a demonstration of super majors, mid majors and small independents having an infrastructure that is strategic to all…." It shows how the companies, in spite of their competitive natures, can work together, he said. It is, "…an acknowledgement that there is a need for cooperation and collaboration to allow everybody to achieve their independent goals." |
Armfield began by stating his goal was to discuss only the short term plans of the company, primarily the Mustang development at the Southwest corner of the Kuparuk development area.
He hinted that the company has in mind other large projects, to follow.
(Note: Armfield also introduced Jack Laasch {NGP Photo}, a longtime industry consultant, Alaska North Slope project veteran and member of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance who has assisted the company in developing the project.)
Armfield said the overall investment and project plan are based on internal and third party studies.
Development drilling will continue during fourth quarter, this year, followed by continuing design, engineering, fabrication and then, construction. The company plans to install facilities at the end of 2015 with production beginning in early 2016, at initial production rates of 8-10 thousand Barrels of oil per day.
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Readers can listen to the dialogue here, but, in general, he opposed passage of Proposition 1, the repeal referendum. He also noted that the issue affected different explorers and producers differently. "When you are in a loss position, it means one thing. When you in a revenue position and a growth mode it means a totally different position," he said. |
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Commonwealth North Energy Committee Chairman, Mary Ann Pease (NGP Photo) asked Armfield to comment on Company and third party engineering reports, including one by former Arco executive, Dr. David Hite, verify proven gross oil reserves of over 24 million barrels, with much larger probable and possible estimates of oil in place.
The Mustang development cost will rise to nearly $700 million by the 2016 start up date, including a $70 million facilities investment by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) in addition to general facility financing and investment by Working Interest Owners.
Mustang project modules will be constructed in Anchorage and moved up the haul road to the North Slope.
Readers interested in a more granular timeline of budgets, local employment and investment targets will find them in the PowerPoint presentation.
TODAY'S Energy In Depth Headlines:
- EID-Michigan: Survey: Support for HF highest in communities where development occurs (6/14)
NATIONAL
HF can help curb emissions. Asheville Citizen-Times, EID’s Steve Everley. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded that the “rapid deployment of hydraulic fracturing” — and the subsequent increase in natural gas supplies — “is an important reason for a reduction of GHG emissions in the United States.”
The Weekly Oil & Gas Follies. Forbes, EID’s David Blackmon (NGP Photo). The facts are easy to summarize. Thanks to a rapid expansion of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, the United States in 2009 again became the world’s top producer of natural gas. Gas imports (mainly by pipelines from Canada) peaked as recently as 2007 at nearly 20 percent of the total supply; in 2013 they were just 11 percent.
Survey: “Gasland” ranks dead-last in list of credible info sources on HF. E&E News. In terms of where Marcellus residents were obtaining their information about hydraulic fracturing, newspapers scored the highest in the survey. "Gasland" scored last as a source of information on hydraulic fracturing for those living in counties hosting Marcellus Shale activity.
US petroleum production hits 44-year high. Financial Times. The US is already the world’s largest producer of oil and gas, taken together, and is one of the top three in terms of oil alone, alongside Russia and Saudi Arabia. The US boom is in sharp contrast to oil production elsewhere in the world, which is constrained by decline in mature areas such as the North Sea and political and security issues in countries such as Iraq and Syria. (Click below for more….)
Williams Strikes $6 Billion Deal to Buy Access Midstream. Wall Street Journal. Under the deal, Williams would acquire from Global Infrastructure Partners II the remaining 50% of the privately held general-partner interests in Access Midstream that the Tulsa, Okla., company didn't already own. Williams also would acquire 55.1 million of Access's limited-partner units, bringing William's stake in the limited partnership to 50%. NOTE: New York Times also reports.
Silver lining in Ohio's Utica Shale. Houston Chronicle. American Energy said early last week it had spent $3.5 billion amassing land in the Utica. American Energy, which has raised $10 billion in equity and debt to pay for more land in major U.S. shale plays, is a wild card worth watching, Oudin said.
Why Millenials Embrace Oil, Fracking. Town Hall, Column. There’s hope for the future. My generation of Millennials is embracing entrepreneurial oil jobs to keep America’s lights on.
Federal officials aren't inspecting 4 in 10 higher-risk oil, gas wells. Associated Press. Lance said BLM field managers are making judgment calls to minimize the risk of potential harm to surrounding communities. The agency also is reviewing whether it needs to slow down the pace of permits to ensure public safety.
Drilling IT benefits economy, environment. Billings Gazette, Op-Ed. The great economic gains resulting from hydraulic fracturing in the Bakken and other shale formations are largely due to the use of information technology of the kind that put Silicon Valley on the map. That’s the untold story of the shale revolution – the use of massive data flows from seismic imaging and micro-seismic monitoring of the fracturing process that enables energy companies to know where to drill and how to get the oil and gas out.
Global Oil Consumption Outpaces Production. Wall Street Journal. Global oil consumption last year grew faster than oil production, BP BP.LN -0.33% PLC said in its annual snapshot of world energy statistics. The BP Statistical Review of Energy, unveiled Monday morning at a Moscow conference, found that world-wide, oil consumption grew 1.4%, or 1.4 million barrels a day, which is slightly above the historical average. But oil production grew by just .6%, or 560,000 barrels a day.
CONSOL to form midstream MLP with Noble Energy. Oil & Gas Financial Journal. CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) and its Marcellus shale joint venture partner, Noble Energy Inc., intend to form a master limited partnership (MLP) to provide midstream gathering services for production from their jointly owned acreage in the Marcellus shale play.
Coal's Share of World Energy Demand Highest Since 1970. Bloomberg. Natural gas consumption rose 1.4 percent, below the historical average of 2.6 percent, to account for 23.7 percent of world primary energy use. Gas demand growth was below average everywhere but North America, where hydraulic fracturing technology opened new supplies.
INTERNATIONAL
Gazprom: Ukraine must pay in advance for gas. UPI. Russia's Gazprom said Monday it switched Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz over to the new payment scheme because of $4.45 billion in overdue bills.
HF ‘is an opportunity for Wales', say MPs. BBC News. Fracking for shale gas represents an opportunity for Wales but must not be at the expense of its natural environment, a group of MPs have said. The Welsh Affairs Committee said the UK and Welsh governments should work with companies to estimate how much shale gas Wales has by the end of 2014.
'We face a big dilemma over shale'. Buenos Aires Herald. As the country seeks out international investors to develop Vaca Muerta, one of the largest shale formations in the world that is mostly located in Neuquén, environmental and social organizations have raised questions about the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking.
HF in Wales Could Create up to 74,000 Jobs and Save UK £1bn a Year. International Business Times. A report from the Welsh Affairs Committee says that shale gas fracking could create up to 74,000 jobs and save the UK about £800m per annum in energy costs. The report also highlights the need to weigh risks posed to the Welsh environment by fracking, against the benefits to the economy.
BP says oil price at its most stable since early 1970s. Financial Times. Despite jitters over Iraq, the price of oil is at its most stable since the early 1970s, as a huge increase in US oil production offsets massive disruptions to supply from places such as Libya, according to BP.
Unison urges home energy checks to reduce need for HF. BBC News. The union Unison is proposing an energy review of homes which it says will save money and reduce the need for fracking. It suggests a free door-to-door assessment programme for households, that would identify remedial works required for every house to meet minimum energy efficiency standards.
COLORADO
Carroll: The risk in rejecting Hickenlooper's drilling compromise. The Denver Post. Trumpeting the economic importance of the industry is all well and good (and true), as is portraying local-control activists as radicals with a comprehensive anti-drilling agenda (also often true). But will such messages trump a campaign featuring apparently beleaguered homeowners distraught over a drilling rig that appears to be just beyond their property line?
Hickenlooper, Polis not giving up on talks. Denver Business Journal. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is not giving up on the possibility of passing a bill regarding local regulation of oil and gas yet, believing that continued but speedy negotiations will be enough to get him the Republican support he needs to move forward with calling a special session, administration sources said Friday.
Moratorium is not merited in Loveland . Longmont Daily Times-Call, Editorial. The area's energy history comes as a surprise to those new arrivals, and they were thus astonished as they built their homes atop identified oil and gas reserves in which the mineral rights were already sold for development.
NEVADA
Fact Checker: Does fracking use a lot, a little water? Reno-Gazette Journal. In 2013, fracking in California used less water than the amount needed to keep a golf course green for a year.
NORTHEAST
Women banding together in the energy industry. Times Online. Amelia Roncone used to be an operating room nurse at UPMC Presbyterian hospital and did not like it very much. So, she left her job and went into a whole new industry — sales director for Bridgeport, W.Va.-based Lightning Energy Services, which does trucking for the oil and gas industries, as well as drilling for both. And she could not be happier with her career switch.
Area counties' Shale impact fees up 15.5%. Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia and four surrounding counties will receive $3.9 million this year from the Marcellus Shale impact fee, up 15.5 percent from last year, according to figures released this month by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
Williams to merge with Access in $6B deal. Pittsburgh Business Times. Two big players in the Marcellus Shale midstream are merging. Williams Cos. said late Sunday it planned to acquire controlling interest in Access Midstream Partners LLC for $6 billion in cash and merge Williams Partners LP with Access Midstream Partners.
Pennsylvania likely to pivot on shale tax, insiders say. Reading Eagle. Facing a $1.5 billion state deficit, lawmakers are taking another look at taxing natural gas extraction despite Gov. Tom Corbett's opposition.
HF decision may affect local areas. Leader-Herald. Local officials in Fulton and Montgomery counties are closely watching a case in New York state's highest court that could overturn six local bans on shale gas development using hydraulic fracturing.
Chesco residents push opposition to Sunoco Logistics pipeline. Delaware County Times. Local government officials, residents and environmental groups have recently submitted documents opposing Sunoco Logistics quest for a status which would allow them to bypass local regulations for its controversial Mariner East project.
OHIO
Energy industry focuses on women, minorities. Canton Repository. Last week, more than 200 people met at the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have a “community conversation on energy.” At the crux of “Energize Ohio: A Community Conversation About Energy, Opportunities, Workforce Readiness” was the message that “energy equals opportunity” for women and minorities.
US crude exports in April rise to 15-year high level. Akron Beacon Journal, U.S. EIA. The United States exported 268,000 barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in April (the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau), the highest level of exports in 15 years. Exports have increased sharply since the start of 2013 and have exceeded 200,000 b/d in five of the past six months. The increase in crude exports is largely the result of rising U.S. crude production, which was 8.2 million b/d in March.
HF water use may lead to droughts. Mansfield News Journal. With some groups touting the economic benefit hydraulic fracturing could have locally, scientists fear the effect of current trends for the future of the Muskingum River Watershed.
TEXAS
Oil company approved for industrial site. Associated Press. A portion of a former International Paper property is under option to a company involved in the extraction of oil from the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale.
Southton Rail Yard is part of Eagle Ford shale boom. Houston Chronicle. Southton Rail Yard is one of the latest rail sites in South Texas to expand — or appear from scratch in a swath of cleared brush and mesquite — as part of the ripple effect of the Eagle Ford Shale drilling boom.
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