Tag: Robert Boslego

'Bakken Pipeline' Could Ramp-Up U.S. Crude Production Faster-Than-Expected

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) announced that:

“Dakota Access, LLC (“Dakota Access”) has received an easement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”) to construct a pipeline across land owned by the Army Corps on both sides of Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The release of this easement by the Army Corps follows a directive from President Donald Trump to the Department of the Army and the Army Corps to take all necessary and appropriate steps that would permit construction and operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline, including easements to cross federal lands. With this action, Dakota Access now has received all federal authorizations necessary to proceed expeditiously to complete construction of the pipeline.”

The Dakota Access Pipeline consists of approximately 1,172 miles of new 30-inch diameter crude oil pipeline from North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois, and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline consists of more than 700 miles of existing pipeline that has been converted to crude oil service from Patoka to Nederland, Texas. The two pipelines (together, the “Bakken Pipeline”) are expected to be in service in the second quarter of 2017. Continue reading "'Bakken Pipeline' Could Ramp-Up U.S. Crude Production Faster-Than-Expected" →

Why U.S. Crude Imports Might Not Drop Despite OPEC's Cuts

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


U.S. oil inventories have increased by 20 million barrels since OPEC’s cut went into effect. Preliminary estimates of imports from OPEC members reveal an increase in the four-week trend of 77,000 b/d thus far in January from end-December. The largest increase, 148,000 b/d, was from Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Crude and Petroleum Product Stocks

I also observed that Saudi Arabia and Russia have masqueraded seasonal declines as their cuts. The Saudi cut of 486,000 b/d is a typical decline from production in the summer, when its domestic demand peaks. This year, instead of reducing its production after the summer, as it normally does, it waited until the OPEC meeting. (The graph below shows the seasonal decline in production from summer peak to the autumn in each year.) Continue reading "Why U.S. Crude Imports Might Not Drop Despite OPEC's Cuts" →

OPEC's Claim To Eliminate The Oil Glut By June Unsupported By Data

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


OPEC reported in its January Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) that OECD commercial stocks fell to 2.993 billion barrels, around 271 million barrels above the latest five-year average. Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Khalid Al-Falih, stated last week that production cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC countries may reduce global oil inventories to the five-year average by June thereby rendering a continuation of the cuts unnecessary.

But three closely-watched sources of energy data do not support such a drop in global oil inventories. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC itself published their monthly reports in January, attempting to include impacts of the production cuts. Two of the sources, EIA and OPEC, provide data that show (or imply) stock builds over the first half, and the IEA data show a drawdown but not of the magnitude suggested by Mr. Al-Fahil. Continue reading "OPEC's Claim To Eliminate The Oil Glut By June Unsupported By Data" →

Global Oil Glut To Build Through 2018, EIA Says

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


The Energy Information Administration (EIA) published its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) for January, and for the first time provided its projections for 2018. After all of the hype about the OPEC production cut, it may come as a surprise that the EIA is projecting a rise in global oil inventories in 2017 and 2018.

Specifically, the EIA had estimated that OECD oil stocks ended at 3.101 billion barrels at the end of 2016. It's forecasting them to rise further to 3.127 and 3.158 billion at the end of 2017 and 2018, respectively. The 5-year ending average as of December 2014, before the glut started, was 2.666 billion. Continue reading "Global Oil Glut To Build Through 2018, EIA Says" →

Here Comes U.S. Shale Oil, Saudi Arabia

Posted on by Robert Boslego

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


In a press conference following OPEC's meeting with non-OPEC producers earlier in the month, Saudi Minister Khalid A. Al-Falih said he did not expect an American shale production response in 2017 because there are significant lags in restarting production. But I thought that shale oil 'Zombies' might get a new life sooner than he expected.

Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirmed that production in North Dakota rebounded 7% in October. And EIA projects shale oil production will gain another 74,000 b/d in January.

North Dakota Crude Production

Petroleum Supply Monthly (PSM)

The EIA reported that actual crude production for October averaged 8.807 million barrels per day (mmbd). This was an increase of 232,000 b/d from September, which had been the lowest level (8.575 mmbd) from the peak in April 2015 of 9.627 mmbd. Continue reading "Here Comes U.S. Shale Oil, Saudi Arabia" →