US Oil and Gas Exports: Crushing The U.S. Energy Export Dream - by Arthur Berman

Exporting crude oil and natural gas from the United States are among the dumbest energy ideas of all time.
Exporting gas is dumb. Exporting oil is dumber.

The U.S. imports almost half of the crude oil that we use. We import 7.5 million barrels per day. The chart below shows the EIA prediction that production will slowly fall and imports will rise after 2016.

In other words, the U.S. is a fairly minor player among the family of major oil-producing nations. For all the fanfare about the U.S. surpassing Saudi Arabia in production of crude oil, we are not even players in reserves.

What that means is that we may temporarily pass Saudi Arabia in production because it chooses to restrict full capacity, and U.S. production will fade decades before Saudi Arabia's production begins to decline.

Read more: Crushing The U.S. Energy Export Dream

Shipbuilding: The World’s Largest Natural Gas-Powered Ships Are Almost Ready to Sail

Getting a fully-laden cargo ship across an entire ocean requires enormous amounts of energy—usually derived from pollutant-rich diesel fuel. But one environmentally-minded shipping company has bucked that convention and instead begun construction on a pair of hybrid containerships—the first of their kind—that run primarily on cleaner burning liquefied natural gas.

The 3,100 TEU Marlin-class containerships are currently under construction at the General Dynamics’ NASSCO shipyard in San Diego for TOTE Shipholdings. These $350 million vessels will measure 764 feet in length when completed late next year, making them the largest ships primarily powered by LNG ever produced. They’re not the only LNG-powered ships on the sea mind you, more than 40 LNG-powered vessels are already operating around the world but the Marlins will be the first to use the fuel for hauling cargo.

Each Marlin-class ship will utilize a 8L70ME-GI gas-injected, dual-fuel, low-speed diesel engine capable of running on either conventional fuel oil or LNG. When burning natural gas stored in the 380 ton cryogenic tanks), the ships are expected to produce 98 percent less sulfur oxides, 71 percent fewer nitric oxides, 71 percent less carbon dioxide, and a jaw-dropping 99 percent reduction in particulate emissions, all while increasing the vessels’ fuel efficiency compared to conventional diesel engines.

What’s more, these ships will carry 60 percent more cargo per trip than TOTE’s current class of Sea Star ships and also include a ballast water treatment system to prevent the introduction of invasive species. Once completed, the ships will operate out of Jacksonville, Florida, transporting goods to and from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

If these Marlins prove successful, TOTEs has the option to build three more in the coming years. Hopefully, the rest of the maritime shipping industry will follow suit.

Read more: Shipbuilding News | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

Energy: Norway Offers Gas to European Union; Serbia Tells Sergei Lavrov South Stream Construction Will Begin

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Serbia will continue construction of the South Stream pipeline in July as Norwegian gas company Statoil told the European Union it will help with gas supplies. Russia cut off gas to Ukraine on Monday, which could affect Europe’s gas supply. "We can increase somewhat but we cannot replace Russian gas," CEO Helge Lund said.

Gazprom is the dominant force in the natural gas market at 16% and Statoil is barely behind with 14% of the market share. Europe receives 30% of its gas from Gazprom and half of those pipelines run through Ukraine. CEO Alexei Miller said Gazprom will continue to provide gas to Europe, but made a snide remark that Ukraine might take some for them and he will not make up the difference.

Norway is not in the EU and it does not look like it will happen any time soon. The country rejected the referendum in 1972 and 1994 and in 2013, and a poll showed less than 20% of Norwegians want to join the EU. However, Norway does belong to the European Economic Area and European Free Trade Area. In 1998, “

Trade from Norway to the EU amounted to €91.85 billion" while the “EU’s exports to Norway amounted to €43.58 billion.”

Russia is looking to bypass Ukraine and wants to open the South Stream pipeline, which would travel through the Black Sea into Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and Austria. It should be completed in 2015, but the EU said the pipeline might break the bloc’s rules and “is concerned that the contracts for the Bulgarian portion of South Stream were not awarded transparently.

” Bulgaria, which receives almost 90% of all gas from Russia, suspended work on June 8. Serbia did not want to stop construction, but Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Zorana Mihajlovic said the country might have to halt because of Bulgaria.

But, as much as Serbia wants to join the EU, the country has ties to Russia. Gazprom owns 51% of Serbian company NIS. Lavrov visited Serbia on Tuesday and said despite the setbacks, Serbia assured him South Stream construction will begin on schedule.

"We confirmed our readiness for South Stream and the need to carry it out as it is the only realistic project for gas security in southeastern Europe," Lavrov said. "All agreements remain in force and no changes have occurred. We consider that everything will proceed as planned."

Read more: Norway Offers Gas to European Union; Serbia Tells Sergei Lavrov South Stream Construction Will Begin

EU Votes to Tighten Rules on Drilling (fracking) Method - by James Kantner

European Union lawmakers voted narrowly on Wednesday to force energy companies to carry out in-depth environmental audits before they deploy a technique known as fracking to recover natural gas from shale rock.

The technique involves shooting a cocktail of water, sand and chemicals under pressure into shale to break it up and release the gas. France has already banned the technique, also known as hydraulic fracturing. And it has produced protests in Britain. 

The rules were narrowly approved by the European Parliament, which is meeting this week in Strasbourg, France, and still must undergo another round of voting in the Parliament once an agreement on final language is reached with European Union governments. Shale gas projects that do not use fracking would not be covered by the rules, which update environmental legislation in Europe. 

Even so, the result is a setback for the shale-gas industry in Europe, where it is far less developed than in the United States and where many citizens are more concerned about the environmental impact of recovering the gas than about finding new sources of hydrocarbons as a way of combating stubbornly high energy prices.

Note EU-Digest: Recently the Dutch Government postponed their plans to explore Gas reserves in the Province of Flevoland by means of fracking in order to carry out more in depth studies as to the safety of such exploration.

Read more: Europe Votes to Tighten Rules on Drilling Method - NYTimes.com

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide talks about Arctic Drilling

September 16, 2012 was a historic date. According to the statistics of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the US, Arctic sea ice shrank to cover an area of just 3.41 million square kilometers (1.32 million square miles) on that day. It was the lowest coverage measured since the beginning of satellite observations in 1979 -- some 760,000 square kilometers lower than the previous record minimum in 2007. The extent of the shrinkage indicates that the Arctic is changing at a breathtaking pace; a new ocean is opening up.

At the same time, interest in both shorter shipping routes through the far north and Arctic mineral deposits is growing. Norway is one of the five countries bordering the Arctic that can benefit from their proximity to the region's presumed riches. The decades-long exploitation of oil and natural gas in waters further south has made the country extremely wealthy -- and hungry for more. At the same time, polar countries like Norway have to deal with increasing pressure from politicians and environmental groups, which complain about the risks of resource extraction and would like to see them remain untapped.

In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Norway's new Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide talks about the politics of resource extraction in the region.

Read more: Interview: Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Arctic Drilling - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Cyprus: Natural gas finds redraw energy map - by Chryssa Liaggou

The large hydrocarbon deposits recently discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean are leading to a redrawing of the global energy map and developing into an apple of discord. Results of the research to date confirm natural gas deposits totaling more than 35 billion cubic meters in the Levantine basin, which stretches all the way to Crete.

Furthermore, there is growing interest on the part of the world oil industry in drilling in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and conducting seismic research south of Crete and in the Ionian Sea west of the Greek mainland, as witnessed after the government’s recent issuing of invitations for expressions of interest. Israel and Cyprus are already discussing plans for exporting gas to Europe, anticipating Greece will soon join them in forming a new geopolitical axis.

The prospects of such an axis were openly discussed by ministers of the three countries at a conference organized by The Economist in Athens last week. It is a development that is certain to have an effect on the geopolitical and geoeconomic realities in the region. For a start, Europe will be able to lessen its dependence on Russia as supply sources will no longer be restricted to the Azeri Shah Deniz 2 field and the pipelines of the Southern Gas Corridor.

For more: ekathimerini.com | Natural gas finds redraw energy map

M&C: Greece, Turkey open Europe's first supply of Caspian gas

For the complete report from M&C click on this link

Greece, Turkey open Europe's first supply of Caspian gas

Thessaloniki, Greece - The prime ministers of Greece and Turkey met along their heavily-militarised border littered with landmines to inaugurate a gas pipeline project on Sunday which will eventually ease Europe's dependency on Russian oil and gas.The 300-kilometre pipeline project is seen as an important stepping stone towards improving bilateral relations between the two traditional foes and will provide the European Union with its first supply of natural gas from the Caspian region, breaking away from Russia and the unstable Middle East. The Greek-Turkish pipeline will run from Bursa, Turkey to Komotini in Greece.

The pipeline will later be extended under the Adriatic Sea to Italy, connecting natural gas fields in Azerbaijan and Central Asia regions, to help supply energy-hungry markets in Europe by 2011.

TheStar.com - Norsk Hydro discovers oil and gas off Norway

For the complete report in the TheStar.com click on this link

Norsk Hydro discovers oil and gas off Norway

Norsk Hydro ASA struck oil and natural gas reserves about 125 kilometres off the western Norway city of Bergen, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate announced yesterday.The strike was described as minor although no estimate was given for its size. It said field partners may link the oil-and-gas reserve to existing production facilities at the nearby Fram field, also operated by Norsk Hydro.

NIS News Bulletin: Netherlands Signs Investment Agreement With Algeria

For the complete report from the NIS Bulletin click on this link

Netherlands Signs Investment Agreement With Algeria

Economic Affairs State Secretary Frank Heemskerk signed an investment protection agreement (IBO) yesterday with the Algerian Ambassador, Benchaa Dani. Gas supplies will play an important role. "This IBO is a bilateral treaty between the Netherlands and Algeria under which both countries sign up to treating mutual investments well" and that "creates legal security for mutual investors," according to the economic affairs ministry. The treaty "enables a further intensification of mutual trade relations. This is important for Dutch investors because the Algerian market is attractive for sectors such as energy and agriculture."

Algeria is "potentially an important supplier of LNG (liquid natural gas)" to the LNG landing terminals that are planned in the Netherlands.