Newer U.S. homes are 30% larger but consume about as much energy as older homes

February 12, 2013 Newer U.S. homes are 30% larger but consume about as much energy as older homes.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey.*Note: Averages for space heating and air conditioning reflect only those households that heated or cooled their homes in 2009. Analysis from EIA's most recent Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) shows that

Wind industry installs almost 5,300 MW of capacity in December

February 11, 2013 Wind industry installs almost 5,300 MW of capacity in December.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Electric Generator Report (Form EIA-860) and U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Update to the Annual Electric Generator Report (Form EIA-860M).Note: Data are preliminary. Approximately 40% of the total 2012 wind capacity additions (12,620 MW) came

Alkylation is an important source for octane in gasoline

February 13, 2013 Alkylation is an important source for octane in gasoline.Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Alkylation (al-kuh-ley-shun) is a secondary refinery unit operation that many refineries in the United States have because it adds high octane hydrocarbons to motor and aviation gasoline. High octane hydrocarbons are needed to help prevent autoignition of gasoline (

Oil Rises With US Gasoline Supply Concerns

Oil prices edged up on Thursday as fears about US gasoline supply pulled the complex higher, overshadowing concerns of weakening economic output in the euro zone.

Gasoline prices rose more than 2% on the expectation that a busy refinery maintenance season could draw down stockpiles, despite current healthy levels.


“About the only thing going on is a panic attack regarding gasoline. There is a

NUPENG, PENGASSAN Call Off Plans To Shut Down Oil Operations

Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, have called off their plans to shut down oil operations in Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and six other states over alleged unfair labour practices by the management of Onne, Rivers State, Free Trade Zone.The industrial action slated to have

Precision Off The Mark As Oil Rig Work Drops

Onshore driller Precision Drilling plunged to a fourth-quarter loss as revenue was hit by lower utilisation of its North American land rig fleet.The Calgary-based contractor reported a net loss of C$116 million ($115.9 million) in the quarter, reversing a year-earlier profit of $28 million as revenue tumbled 9.1% year-on-year to C$534 million.The quarterly result was also negatively impacted by

Parker Drilling Reaches N2.5bn Settlement Over Nigerian Bribery Charges

Parker Drilling Company, a global contract drilling firm with presence in Nigeria has reached a $15.8 million (N2.496 billion) settlement with the United States’ Security and Exchange Commission, SEC and Department of Justice over bribery allegations in its transactions in Nigeria and Kazakhstan.According to a statement by the company, the settlement ends a three-year investigation that found out

Eni Records 7% Increase In Fourth Quarter Oil Output

Italian major ENI reported that its average oil and gas output for the fourth quarter of 2012 averaged 1.75 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, in line with expectations.The figure was a seven per cent improvement over fourth quarter 2011 and a 3.6 percent improvement over the previous quarter.ENI confirmed that it had made a record amount of discovered resources during the year, with 3.64

OPEC Daily Basket Price Close At $114.67/b

The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at 114.67 dollars a barrel on Thursday, compared with $114.94 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es

Why Excess Crude Is Not Designated In Dollars, CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has given an insight into why the bank does not designate Excess Crude account in dollars, saying it was constrained by the country’s constitution.Answering questions, yesterday, when he appeared before Senator Bassey Otu-led Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, CBN Deputy Governor, Suleiman Barau, said the apex bank was still

Financial Market Update

Local and international financial market update.NIGERIA: The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its fourth quarterly report just released said, “at N13,957.43 billion (N13.96 trillion), aggregate banking system credit (net) to the domestic economy, rose by 4.4 per cent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with the growth of 0.4 and 37.4 per cent at the end of the preceding quarter and

JTF Adheres To Court Ruling, Releases Arrested Vessel In Rivers

The Joint Task Force, JTF, operating in the Niger Delta, Thursday, released a vessel suspected to be involved in illegal oil bunkering in compliance with a Federal High Court ruling on its detention.The Media Officer Personnel of the force, Ft.-Lt. Chris Erondu, announced the release of the vessel in Bonny Island, Rivers State.A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on November 19, 2012,

Shale Oil To Boost World’s Crude Supply By 12% In 2035

Global shale oil production will raise world’s oil supply by 12 per cent in 2035, to 14 million barrels per day.The increase, according to a report by PwC, could reduced oil prices in 2035 to between 25 per cent and 40 per cent (between $83 and $100 barrel) in real terms.The report said potential emergence of shale oil presents “major strategic opportunities and challenges for the oil and gas

Oil Prices Mixed As Equities Drift Lower

Further supporting the WTI contract on Monday was the announcement by Hess that they are closing their east coast Port Reading refinery (basically a cat cracker) in February as they complete their exit from the refining business. In addition they have put up their east coast wholesale terminal system (about 18 million barrels) for sale as they move more toward being an E&P company. This has been

Natural Gas Gaining Importance for China

Price Reforms Needed Amid Limited Domestic SupplyHeating China's cities is a "dirty task largely fueled by coal," and reducing dependence on polluting material is rising on the list of government priorities as air quality becomes an increasingly sensitive issue, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.Natural gas "will thus become more important as an energy source in China," Economist

Is Saudi Output Cut A Response To U.S. Oil Boom?

Reduction a Surprise Given Iran SanctionsSome want but can't; some can but won't - This is how we can best describe the current OPEC crude supplies, according to Petromatrix GmbH, a Switzerland-based consultant.Saudi Arabia's production in December was down about 800,000 barrels compared with the same month in 2011, a decline similar to that of Iran, which has been hindered by sanctions over its

Warm Weather Equals Pressure On Nat Gas Prices

I know I sound very repetitive but the weather is pretty much the primary driver of Nat Gas futures prices and many cash locations around the country. Not only is the nearby temperatures balmy in many area over the eastern half of the US but the latest short term temperature forecasts from NOAA are biased to the bearish side also. Today the Feb Nat Gas futures contract expires and as it stand as

US Should Heed The UK’s Economic Woes

According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics, the U.K. economy contracted by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012. As an observation in the U.K. Telegraph put it, the economy is now on the threshold of an “unprecedented triple-digit recession”. However, when you think about it, saying that the U.K. faces a triple-digit recession is a bit of misnomer, given that the economy got an

Coal stockpiles at electric power plants were above average throughout 2012

Increased competition between fuels as well as a warm winter 2011-12 led to lower consumption of coal and, thus, higher coal stockpiles at electric power plants in the United States through November 2012. Stockpiles in November were above the levels of 2011 as well as the five-year average for an eleventh straight month.Coal stockpiles typically decline during summer and winter as power plants

Coking is a refinery process that produces 19% of finished petroleum product exports

Coking is a refinery unit operation that upgrades material called bottoms from the atmospheric or vacuum distillation column into higher-value products and, as the name implies, produces petroleum coke - a coal-like material. Exports of petroleum coke accounted for about 19% of the nation's finished petroleum product exports through October 2012 with most going to China and other Asian countries.

Iranian Oil Tanker Security Guards Clash With Somali Pirates

Iranian Oil Tanker Security Guards clashed with a group of 15 Somali pirates who tried to attack and hijack an Iranian Oil tanker.The pirates had no idea 6 heavily armed Iranian security guards were on Board (a fully loaded supermax oil tanker can be worth up to 2 billion dollars).After the clash, 6 Somali pirates lay dead, 9 were arrested and no iranian security guard was harmed.Providing useful

Access Bank Sanctioned, Maduka Retires

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has sanctioned Access Bank Plc for violating the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, BOFIA, 1991 in 2011.This came as Dr Maduka Cosmas has retired from Access Bank’s Board of Directors.The apex bank, in the sanction, fined Access Bank N3 million for violating its rules and regulations on granting of loans.However, CBN disclosed that the issue at stake is

Total moves its foreign staff from Abuja to other cities

Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive officer of Total, the French oil giant with considerable investment in Nigeria, says the company has its expatriate employees from Abuja following the kidnapping of a French national last month.This is the first time in recent history that a company has said it has evacuated foreigners from Nigeria’s capital due to security concerns, Reuters

OPEC Daily Basket Price Close At $110.15/b

The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at 110.15 dollars a barrel on Monday, compared with $110.20 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es

China consumes nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined

Coal consumption in China grew more than 9% in 2011, continuing its upward trend for the 12th consecutive year, according to newly released international data. China's coal use grew by 325 million tons in 2011, accounting for 87% of the 374 million ton global increase in coal use. Of the 2.9 billion tons of global coal demand growth since 2000, China accounted for 2.3 billion tons (82%). China

Nigeria Delays $23 Million Manitoba Contract

The management contract for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) awarded to Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International, is yet to be activated following government’s reluctance to hand a schedule of delegated authority to Manitoba to enable it take over full control of TCN.The management of the TCN was contracted to Manitoba Hydro at the sum of $23 million for a period of three years, and

Barge Hits Miss. River Bridge; Oil Cleanup Ongoing

Cleanup crews with booms skimmed oily water from the Mississippi River a day after a barge with more than 80,000 gallons of oil struck a railroad bridge near Vicksburg, spreading a sheen of light crude that kept part of the waterway shut to ship traffic Monday, authorities said.It remained unclear Monday morning how much oil had leaked into the river, according to the Coast Guard and Army Corps

How Much Electric Supply Capacity Is Needed To Keep U.S. Electricity Grids Reliable?

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the electric reliability organization certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish and enforce reliability standards for three major electrical interconnections serving the United States, issues a reliability assessment each year. NERC estimated in November 2012 that the United States would have 966 gigawatts (GW)