Narrabri project would meet half the gas needs of New South Wales.
ADELAIDE, Australia, May 16 (UPI) --Nearly all voting shareholders expressed support for a controversial coal seam gas project in New South Wales, Australian energy company Santos said Friday.
Santos said 99.22 percent of its shareholders voted against a resolution offered by 161 stakeholders to withdraw from the Narrabri gas project during an annual general meeting."Shareholders have overwhelmingly recognized the importance of the Narrabri gas project to the company, the local community and the state of New South Wales," Santos Chief Executive Officer David Knox said in a statement Friday.Dissenting shareholders were supported by The Wilderness Society. Its director, Lyndon Schneiders, wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald in March that coal seam gas made Santos "an environmental vandal."Coal seams gas is an unconventional source of natural gas incorporated into coal deposits. The New South Wales government in 2012 introduced measures to manage conflicts between the agricultural community and coal seam operations.Santos says without the Narrabri project, the state would be faced with higher natural gas prices. The proposed project could supply the state with 50 percent of its gas needs.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2014/05/16/Santos-to-move-on-controversial-coal-seam-project/3511400249914/#ixzz331BYQfmy
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
EU eyes plan to diversify energy but no easy fixes
AMSTERDAM (AP) — The European Union’s executive has proposed a strategy to secure the bloc’s energy supplies — and notably reduce its reliance on Russia — by seeking new supplies from the Caspian Sea, the Mediterranean, and increasing use of transportable Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG.
The plan EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger presented Wednesday will be considered by European leaders at a June 26-27 summit, but offers no easy fixes. Europe imports 40 percent of its gas from Russia, and half of that via pipelines that run through Ukraine.
Oettinger said at a press conference in Brussels European countries should also increase renewable energy production and “sustainable production of fossil fuels.”
Europe imports about half of all its energy supplies, but targets producing 20 percent from renewable sources by 2020.
The plan EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger presented Wednesday will be considered by European leaders at a June 26-27 summit, but offers no easy fixes. Europe imports 40 percent of its gas from Russia, and half of that via pipelines that run through Ukraine.
Oettinger said at a press conference in Brussels European countries should also increase renewable energy production and “sustainable production of fossil fuels.”
Europe imports about half of all its energy supplies, but targets producing 20 percent from renewable sources by 2020.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Pemex lets contracts for two refineries
Pemex Refining, a division of Mexico’s Petroleos Mexicanos, has let contracts to a joint venture of Foster Wheeler and partner Altair Strickland LLC for work at two of the company’s Mexican refineries.
Under the contracts, the joint venture will provide engineering, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and start-up of slide valve systems on delayed coker units at the 275,000-b/d Hector R. Lara Sosa refinery in Cadereyta, Nueva Leon, and the 190,000-b/d Francisco I. Madero refinery in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas.
Both projects are scheduled to be completed during refinery turnarounds in 2015, according to Foster Wheeler.
While specific contract values were not disclosed, Foster Wheeler did include them in its fourth-quarter 2013 bookings, the company said.
Under the contracts, the joint venture will provide engineering, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and start-up of slide valve systems on delayed coker units at the 275,000-b/d Hector R. Lara Sosa refinery in Cadereyta, Nueva Leon, and the 190,000-b/d Francisco I. Madero refinery in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas.
Both projects are scheduled to be completed during refinery turnarounds in 2015, according to Foster Wheeler.
While specific contract values were not disclosed, Foster Wheeler did include them in its fourth-quarter 2013 bookings, the company said.
BP to close Australia refinery - Brisbane, AUS
Oil giant BP says it will cease
production at its Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane, Australia, by 2015.
BP said the growth of large refineries in Asia created "structural change" that made smaller refineries like Bulwer unprofitable.
The refinery, which was built in the 1960s, has the capacity to produce 102,000 barrels of fuel per day.
The closure is expected to lead to the loss of 350 jobs.
BP said it was considering turning the facility into an import terminal.
Australia's refining sector has been hit hard of late by increasing Asian competition and a stronger Australian dollar, which has hurt profitability.
Earlier this year, Royal Dutch Shell said it was exiting Australia's refining industry, and Caltex Australia said it would convert its Sydney refinery to an import terminal.
ExxonMobil's Altona oil refinery finds a formula for survival - Melbourne, AUS
The big, beefy blokes riding bicycles between work stations are not the only surprise in store for visitors to ExxonMobil's Altona fuel refinery in Melbourne's west.
Here among the industrial maze of pipes, chimneys and tanks, a different mindset exists, and dares to believe that there is a future for refining in Australia.
Despite being one of the oldest and smallest refineries in a domestic industry that is shrinking because it's too old and too small to compete with rivals abroad, Altona is bucking the trend of refinery closures, and strapping itself in for the long haul.
After a decade when half of Australia's eight fuel refineries have closed, and another sold because it was losing money, Exxon insists that Altona can be an exception to the rule and continue returning profits.
''We fundamentally think differently about this business than our competitors do,'' said Andrew Warrell, Exxon's refining manager for Australia and New Zealand.
''We think we have a better business model and it's certainly more resilient to what we can foresee on the horizon,'' he said, adding that Altona was ''making money'' at the moment.
Warrell believes the formula that allows Altona to survive is not well understood in the broader market.
He says the composition of oil that Altona puts into an important piece of equipment, its fluidised catalytic cracker, is different to what other local refineries use, and leads to higher efficiency and profit margins than most critics realise.
Some market forces have helped too, despite the oft-touted pain caused by the strength of the local currency and high labour costs.
All refineries run on different types of oil, and the type that Altona needs - certain light, sweet crudes - have become cheaper over the past decade on the back of extra supply created by the shale boom in the US.
''The cost of our feedstocks has gone down enormously relative to the alternatives. That is what fundamentally changed that provided a much cheaper input cost for this refinery,'' Warrell said.
The closure of four rival refineries on Australia's east coast is also easing the competitive environment.
''I'm not going to celebrate the demise of our competitors but … where it is happening we will take full advantage,'' he said.
Only BP's Kwinana refinery (with WA's resources industry on its doorstep) and Caltex's Lytton refinery in Queensland (which produces the high-yield fuels that are increasingly in demand) survive in their original form, with Swiss company Vitol also set to try to save Shell's loss-making Geelong refinery. Those refineries are more than 30 per cent larger than Altona.
The depressed mood in the local manufacturing industry makes it hard for Exxon to convince stakeholders that its pledges about Altona's survival can be trusted.
But that's where new investment helps. Altona is a hive of investment activity, with new cooling towers, a new benzene reduction plant, an IT upgrade and a port upgrade at nearby Williamstown chewing through $300 million over five years. A new multistorey administration block is also being built on site.
''We are taking a very long-term perspective … we expect to keep investing at that sort of clip of about $300 million every five years, maybe even a little bit more,'' Warrell said. ''It's not a lay-down misere … but from what we see, we think we've got a good, strong business model that can be successful despite the tough conditions.''
Credit Suisse analyst Mark Samter cautions that it's dangerous to view spending on a refinery as proof of its longevity.
''I take with a pinch of salt the comment that they are investing capital in it. Refineries are highly capital-consumptive assets. If you keep it open you have to spend a lot of money on it,'' he said.
But Samter agrees that Altona's structure has given it an edge over some local rivals.
''There is logical rationale why Altona has a longer lifespan; so long as you have an indigenous crude oil supply you do, to an extent, have a cost advantage over your competitors because you are sourcing crude cheaper,'' he said in reference to the oil production partnership that Exxon has with BHP Billiton in Bass Strait, which supplies close to half Altona's crude.
Rivals such as Shell and BP have not had offshore oilfields to support their east-coast refineries, although Shell has purchased Bass Strait crude from Exxon and BHP for Geelong.
''There's an inherent cost with shipping, and clearly your cost of crude is cheaper when you're not paying significant shipping costs,'' Samter said. ''That is what extends its life compared to the other Australian refineries. I think Exxon would be talking a very different story once the oil supply runs out of Bass Strait.''
But for now, unions are confident that Altona, with its 350 workers, will not be joining the list of failed Australian refineries in the near future.
''There was a period of time when the Altona refinery could have been at risk, but I think the local workforce and local management have been very strategic and very smart … and they've been able to get the investment they need,'' said Tim Kennedy from the National Union of Workers.
''We see it as a fairly shining example of a company interacting well with their workforce.''
Here among the industrial maze of pipes, chimneys and tanks, a different mindset exists, and dares to believe that there is a future for refining in Australia.
Despite being one of the oldest and smallest refineries in a domestic industry that is shrinking because it's too old and too small to compete with rivals abroad, Altona is bucking the trend of refinery closures, and strapping itself in for the long haul.
After a decade when half of Australia's eight fuel refineries have closed, and another sold because it was losing money, Exxon insists that Altona can be an exception to the rule and continue returning profits.
''We fundamentally think differently about this business than our competitors do,'' said Andrew Warrell, Exxon's refining manager for Australia and New Zealand.
''We think we have a better business model and it's certainly more resilient to what we can foresee on the horizon,'' he said, adding that Altona was ''making money'' at the moment.
Warrell believes the formula that allows Altona to survive is not well understood in the broader market.
He says the composition of oil that Altona puts into an important piece of equipment, its fluidised catalytic cracker, is different to what other local refineries use, and leads to higher efficiency and profit margins than most critics realise.
Some market forces have helped too, despite the oft-touted pain caused by the strength of the local currency and high labour costs.
All refineries run on different types of oil, and the type that Altona needs - certain light, sweet crudes - have become cheaper over the past decade on the back of extra supply created by the shale boom in the US.
''The cost of our feedstocks has gone down enormously relative to the alternatives. That is what fundamentally changed that provided a much cheaper input cost for this refinery,'' Warrell said.
The closure of four rival refineries on Australia's east coast is also easing the competitive environment.
''I'm not going to celebrate the demise of our competitors but … where it is happening we will take full advantage,'' he said.
Only BP's Kwinana refinery (with WA's resources industry on its doorstep) and Caltex's Lytton refinery in Queensland (which produces the high-yield fuels that are increasingly in demand) survive in their original form, with Swiss company Vitol also set to try to save Shell's loss-making Geelong refinery. Those refineries are more than 30 per cent larger than Altona.
The depressed mood in the local manufacturing industry makes it hard for Exxon to convince stakeholders that its pledges about Altona's survival can be trusted.
But that's where new investment helps. Altona is a hive of investment activity, with new cooling towers, a new benzene reduction plant, an IT upgrade and a port upgrade at nearby Williamstown chewing through $300 million over five years. A new multistorey administration block is also being built on site.
''We are taking a very long-term perspective … we expect to keep investing at that sort of clip of about $300 million every five years, maybe even a little bit more,'' Warrell said. ''It's not a lay-down misere … but from what we see, we think we've got a good, strong business model that can be successful despite the tough conditions.''
Credit Suisse analyst Mark Samter cautions that it's dangerous to view spending on a refinery as proof of its longevity.
''I take with a pinch of salt the comment that they are investing capital in it. Refineries are highly capital-consumptive assets. If you keep it open you have to spend a lot of money on it,'' he said.
But Samter agrees that Altona's structure has given it an edge over some local rivals.
''There is logical rationale why Altona has a longer lifespan; so long as you have an indigenous crude oil supply you do, to an extent, have a cost advantage over your competitors because you are sourcing crude cheaper,'' he said in reference to the oil production partnership that Exxon has with BHP Billiton in Bass Strait, which supplies close to half Altona's crude.
Rivals such as Shell and BP have not had offshore oilfields to support their east-coast refineries, although Shell has purchased Bass Strait crude from Exxon and BHP for Geelong.
''There's an inherent cost with shipping, and clearly your cost of crude is cheaper when you're not paying significant shipping costs,'' Samter said. ''That is what extends its life compared to the other Australian refineries. I think Exxon would be talking a very different story once the oil supply runs out of Bass Strait.''
But for now, unions are confident that Altona, with its 350 workers, will not be joining the list of failed Australian refineries in the near future.
''There was a period of time when the Altona refinery could have been at risk, but I think the local workforce and local management have been very strategic and very smart … and they've been able to get the investment they need,'' said Tim Kennedy from the National Union of Workers.
''We see it as a fairly shining example of a company interacting well with their workforce.''
Offshore Technology Conference - back in Houston
HOUSTON — At a time when the surge in U.S. onshore shale production is getting a lot of headlines, leaders of the energy industry will turn their attention seaward this week in Houston.
Domestic offshore production is set for a surge of its own, and that will be part of the buzz as more than 90,000 executives, scientists, engineers and others converge on NRG Park through Thursday for the annual Offshore Technology Conference.
Four years after a massive oil spill and a resulting partial drilling moratorium slowed things down, large development projects in deep and ultradeep Gulf waters have come online. Gulf production is expected to increase 35 percent to a record 1.9 million barrels per day by 2016, according to analysts at Wood MacKenzie.
“The offshore industry is alive and well — and growing,” said Ed Stokes, marine project manager at ConocoPhillips and chairman of the OTC, now in its 45th year.
That doesn’t mean the seas are completely smooth.
Offshore challenges
Some offshore projects beyond the Gulf have struggled. Shell has put its offshore work in Alaska’s Arctic on hiatus. North Sea production declines continue yearly.
And the consortium developing Kazakhstan’s Kashagan field recently announced another major setback.
“The cost for project implementation is going up,” Stokes said. “The problem is the oil price is not going up with it. Companies have an amount of money to spend, and they’re going to spend it the most effective way they can.”
The compression in capital spending, and what it means for the offshore sector, is among the hot topics on the OTC’s extensive agenda this year.
Other areas of focus include how the industry can improve safety; the biggest projects in the industry pipeline; and what types of technology hold the most promise.
Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a University of Houston petroleum engineering professor who leads the school’s energy initiatives, will tout the university’s new graduate certificate program in upstream safety at the conference. The school views OTC as a prime opportunity to target the offshore workforce.
“We talked to a lot of industry folks,” Krishnamoorti said. “They told us (safety) has become a real critical challenge for them in various places.”
Conference features
Last year, the conference at NRG Park, then called Reliant Park, drew more than 104,000 attendees from some 130 countries, according to event organizers. In addition to high-level policy talks and technical panels on topics such as down-hole sensing, pipe technology and well capping, attendees strolling 650,000 square feet of exhibition space will encounter more than 2,700 vendors and suppliers hawking their offerings — and no doubt their swag as well.
Among the big-name speakers at this year’s event are John Mingé, BP America’s president, who speaks Monday morning about the country’s changing energy landscape as oil imports are falling and liquefied natural gas exports — unheard-of before the surge in conventional production from dense rock — are poised to increase.
Return to the Gulf: BP builds its largest-ever Gulf of Mexico fleet
Marathon Oil CEO Lee Tillman joins a panel of energy-sector executives that afternoon to discuss how the unconventional revolution is affecting the offshore business. In particular, the panel will examine how the two compete for talent, investment and technology.
On Tuesday morning, attendees will get the Washington perspective from U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and Christopher Smith, principal deputy assistant secretary for fossil energy. That afternoon, Brian Salerno, who leads the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, will join Smith to discuss federal oversight of the industry.
General Electric Chairman Jeff Immelt addresses attendees Wednesday. He’s slated to highlight the industry’s need to invest in education and research and development. GE made waves in the energy sector following an announcement earlier this year that it plans to spend an additional $10 billion through 2020 on “ecomagination” projects such as its collaboration with Statoil to evaluate the potential for carbon dioxide to replace water in hydraulic fracturing.
Many speakers from abroad join the lineup, including Michael Fallon, the UK’s Minister of State for Business and Energy, who will discuss what declining production in the North Sea means for his country and what can be done to stimulate production in the future.
Gustavo Hernández Garcia, head of exploration and production at Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, will attend several sessions throughout the week as well.
Domestic offshore production is set for a surge of its own, and that will be part of the buzz as more than 90,000 executives, scientists, engineers and others converge on NRG Park through Thursday for the annual Offshore Technology Conference.
Four years after a massive oil spill and a resulting partial drilling moratorium slowed things down, large development projects in deep and ultradeep Gulf waters have come online. Gulf production is expected to increase 35 percent to a record 1.9 million barrels per day by 2016, according to analysts at Wood MacKenzie.
“The offshore industry is alive and well — and growing,” said Ed Stokes, marine project manager at ConocoPhillips and chairman of the OTC, now in its 45th year.
That doesn’t mean the seas are completely smooth.
Offshore challenges
Some offshore projects beyond the Gulf have struggled. Shell has put its offshore work in Alaska’s Arctic on hiatus. North Sea production declines continue yearly.
And the consortium developing Kazakhstan’s Kashagan field recently announced another major setback.
“The cost for project implementation is going up,” Stokes said. “The problem is the oil price is not going up with it. Companies have an amount of money to spend, and they’re going to spend it the most effective way they can.”
The compression in capital spending, and what it means for the offshore sector, is among the hot topics on the OTC’s extensive agenda this year.
Other areas of focus include how the industry can improve safety; the biggest projects in the industry pipeline; and what types of technology hold the most promise.
Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a University of Houston petroleum engineering professor who leads the school’s energy initiatives, will tout the university’s new graduate certificate program in upstream safety at the conference. The school views OTC as a prime opportunity to target the offshore workforce.
“We talked to a lot of industry folks,” Krishnamoorti said. “They told us (safety) has become a real critical challenge for them in various places.”
Conference features
Last year, the conference at NRG Park, then called Reliant Park, drew more than 104,000 attendees from some 130 countries, according to event organizers. In addition to high-level policy talks and technical panels on topics such as down-hole sensing, pipe technology and well capping, attendees strolling 650,000 square feet of exhibition space will encounter more than 2,700 vendors and suppliers hawking their offerings — and no doubt their swag as well.
Among the big-name speakers at this year’s event are John Mingé, BP America’s president, who speaks Monday morning about the country’s changing energy landscape as oil imports are falling and liquefied natural gas exports — unheard-of before the surge in conventional production from dense rock — are poised to increase.
Return to the Gulf: BP builds its largest-ever Gulf of Mexico fleet
Marathon Oil CEO Lee Tillman joins a panel of energy-sector executives that afternoon to discuss how the unconventional revolution is affecting the offshore business. In particular, the panel will examine how the two compete for talent, investment and technology.
On Tuesday morning, attendees will get the Washington perspective from U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and Christopher Smith, principal deputy assistant secretary for fossil energy. That afternoon, Brian Salerno, who leads the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, will join Smith to discuss federal oversight of the industry.
General Electric Chairman Jeff Immelt addresses attendees Wednesday. He’s slated to highlight the industry’s need to invest in education and research and development. GE made waves in the energy sector following an announcement earlier this year that it plans to spend an additional $10 billion through 2020 on “ecomagination” projects such as its collaboration with Statoil to evaluate the potential for carbon dioxide to replace water in hydraulic fracturing.
Many speakers from abroad join the lineup, including Michael Fallon, the UK’s Minister of State for Business and Energy, who will discuss what declining production in the North Sea means for his country and what can be done to stimulate production in the future.
Gustavo Hernández Garcia, head of exploration and production at Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, will attend several sessions throughout the week as well.
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