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New Study: Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Critical To U.S.-Canada Energy Trade, Benefits Consumers On Both Sides Of The Border

April 17, 2021

New Study: Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Critical To U.S.-Canada Energy Trade, Benefits Consumers On Both Sides Of The Border

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2021 – The American Petroleum Institute (API) today released a new report examining how growth in cross-border petroleum trade between the United States and Canada has led to the further integration of North American energy markets, delivering economic benefits, lowering consumer energy costs and strengthening energy security on both sides of the border. The analysis, which API Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Frank Macchiarola highlighted in remarks before the 2021 Scotiabank CAPP Energy Symposium earlier today, underscores how continued development and maintenance of cross-border energy infrastructure will be critical to sustaining this trade relationship and further integrating North American energy markets.

“The integration of U.S. and Canadian energy markets has been a win-win for both countries, supporting economic growth and lowering energy costs for working families while bolstering North American energy security,” API Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Frank Macchiarola said. “None of this would be possible without the cross-border energy infrastructure that enables the safe and efficient transport of these energy resources. Continued development and maintenance of this critical infrastructure is essential to furthering the success and mutual benefits of this important trade relationship.”

U.S. and Canadian petroleum markets are increasingly integrated:

  • U.S.-Canada petroleum liquids trade nearly doubled over the past decade.
  • Petroleum liquids trade represents 10 to 20 percent of total U.S.- Canada trade flow.
  • U.S. crude oil made up 72 percent of Eastern Canada’s crude imports in 2019.
  • Canada supplied 58 percent of US heavy crude oil imports in 2019.

Integration of U.S. and Canadian petroleum markets strengthens the energy security of both countries:

  • Increased imports of Canadian crude oil in tandem with booming domestic production have allowed U.S. refiners to significantly reduce crude oil imports from OPEC 70 percent from 2010 to 2019.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Is The World About To See An Oil Shortage?

March 9, 2021

It’s possible we could be headed for a shortfall in global oil supply as soon as next year – pretty remarkable considering where oil demand was last spring, with economies slowing under the weight of the pandemic.

Based on projected rising demand, the natural production decline from existing wells and decreases in drilling activity and industry investment – especially in the U.S. – the world’s oil needs could outpace production in 2022. An undersupply potentially could put upward pressure on costs, impacting consumers, manufacturers and, generally, any process that utilizes oil.

API’s outlook has maintained that global oil markets would improve in tandem with the economy, but uncertainties remain about the timing and extent to which the U.S. could participate in that recovery. As a primary source of U.S. petroleum data and analysis, API is able to shed some light on recent developments. Consider:

  • U.S. and global oil demand through mid-February 2021 nearly returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, mainly due to strong refining & petrochemical needs as well as seasonal winter heating fuels demand.
  • By all indications, global oil demand exceeded supply and supported prices since the third quarter of 2020.
  • Current official global oil demand projections through 2022 call for record, two-year demand growth that could require virtually all of the world’s oil spare production capacity.
  • Additionally, oil production declines naturally and that production must be replaced. Combine that expected decline with projected demand growth, and the world could require more than 14 mb/d of new production by 2022.
  • Global oil drilling activity and capital investments have remained historically weak, suggesting a potential supply gap.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

Delaware Just Sued 30 Fossil Fuel Companies and the American Petroleum Institute Over Climate ‘Denial and Disinformation’

September 13, 2020

Delaware Just Sued 30 Fossil Fuel Companies and the American Petroleum Institute Over Climate ‘Denial and Disinformation’

Flood damage from Hurricane Irene at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware.

Delaware, the home state of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, announced on Thursday, September 10 that it is taking dozens of major oil and gas companies including BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil to court over the rising costs of climate impacts such as sea level rise and coastal flooding.

Like other U.S. states and municipalities suing the fossil fuel industry, Delaware says that the industry knew half a century ago about the likely climate impacts resulting from the use of its products, but instead of warning the public or changing their business model, the fossil fuel companies engaged in campaigns to attack climate science and downplay the risks of burning coal, oil, and gas in order to stave off policy responses.

“Delawareans are already paying for the malfeasance of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a press release. “Exxon, Chevron, and other mega-corporations knew exactly what kind of sacrifices the world would make to support their profits, and they deceived the public for decades. Now we are staring down a crisis at our shores, and taxpayers are once again footing the bill for damage to our roads, our beaches, our environment, and our economy. We are seeking accountability from some of the world’s most powerful businesses to pay for the mess they’ve made.”

The lawsuit, filed September 10 in Delaware Superior Court, a state court, seeks monetary damages to help pay for costs the state is already incurring and that are expected to mount as climate impacts worsen.

As noted in Delaware’s complaint, the state has the lowest average elevation of any state in the country and more than 22,000 residents are currently threatened by coastal flooding.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Decades of Denial and Stalling Have Created a Climate Crunch

December 1, 2018

Decades of Denial and Stalling Have Created a Climate Crunch

Firefighters spray water on a 2013 bush fire in Australia

In a 1965 speech to members, American Petroleum Institute president Frank Ikard outlined the findings of a report by then-president Lyndon Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee, based in part on research the institute conducted in the 1950s.

“The substance of the report is that there is still time to save the world’s peoples from the catastrophic consequence of pollution, but time is running out,” Ikard said, adding, “One of the most important predictions of the report is that carbon dioxide is being added to the earth’s atmosphere by the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas at such a rate that by the year 2000 the heat balance will be so modified as possibly to cause marked changes in climate beyond local or even national efforts.”

Many scientists were reaching similar conclusions, based on a body of evidence that had been growing at least since French mathematician Joseph Fourier described the greenhouse effect in 1824. In the 1950s, Russian climatologist Mikhail Budykoexamined how feedback loops amplify human influences on the climate. He published two books, in 1961 and 1962, warning that growing energy use will warm the planet and cause Arctic ice to disappear, creating feedback cycles that would accelerate warming.

The predictions have proven to be accurate, and evidence for human-caused global warming has since become indisputable.

What happened? Over the ensuing decades, the fossil fuel industry didn’t try to resolve what it knew would become a crisis. Instead, it worked to downplay and often deny the reality of climate change and to sow doubt and confusion. Knowingly putting humanity — and countless other species — at risk for the sake of profit is an intergenerational crime against humanity, but it’s unlikely any perpetrators will face justice.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Oil Falls On Crude Inventory Build

November 28, 2018

Oil Falls On Crude Inventory Build

Oil jack

Crude oil prices slipped further down today after the Energy Information Administration reported crude oil inventories for the week to November 23 had added 3.6 million barrels. That’s compared with a build of 4.9 million barrels a week earlier.

The EIA figures came after yesterday the American Petroleum Institute reported an estimated inventory increase of 3.453 million barrels, which failed to affect prices in any significant way.

EIA also said gasoline inventories last week had declined by 800,000 barrels and distillate fuel inventories had added 2.6 million barrels. A week earlier, the authority estimated a decline of 1.3 million barrels in gasoline and a 100,000-barrel decline in distillate fuel inventories.

Meanwhile, production is hitting new highs and this will continue, according to most estimates, unless oil prices continue declining at a fast pace. The likelihood of this happening is relatively low, however. OPEC is meeting next week in Vienna to discuss a new round of production cuts and most analysts expect the cuts to be agreed with Russia also joining in again.

However, Morgan Stanley, for one, sees a 33-percent chance of the cartel failing or refusing to agree a production cut, in which case prices will definitely slump more, pressured by bleak economic outlooks and concerns about a crude oil oversupply. The argument against a production cut is simple enough: market share. It’s no wonder some OPEC members have already spoken against a cut, notably Libya, which said it expected to be granted an exemption from any cuts.

Besides the OPEC meeting, oil market observers would be watching the G20 meeting, where Russia may or may not give a clear indication whether it will join any cut agreements. Just like last time, Moscow would be a crucial ally for the cartel if it decides to join the cuts or a deal-breaker if it decides to sit these out.

 

‘Time is Running Out,’ American Petroleum Institute Chief Said in 1965 Speech on Climate Change

November 21, 2018

‘Time is Running Out,’ American Petroleum Institute Chief Said in 1965 Speech on Climate Change

Fire crew in California fire

The warning is clear and dire — and the source unexpected. “This report unquestionably will fan emotions, raise fears, and bring demand for action,” the president of the American Petroleum Institute (API) told an oil industry conference, as he described research into climate change caused by fossil fuels.

“The substance of the report is that there is still time to save the world’s peoples from the catastrophic consequence of pollution, but time is running out.”

The speaker wasn’t Mike Sommers, who was named to helm API this past May. Nor was it Jack Gerard, who served as API’s president for roughly a decade starting in 2008.

The API president speaking those words was named Frank Ikard — and the year was 1965, over a half-century ago.

It was the same year that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Muhammad Ali felledSonny Liston in the first round, and Malcom X was fatally shot in New York. The first American ground combat troops arrived in Vietnam and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the law establishing Medicaid and Medicare.

It would be another four years before American astronaut Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon — and another decade before the phrase “global warming” would appear for the first time in a peer-reviewed study.

And 1965, according to a letter by Stanford historian Benjamin Franta published this week in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, was the year that President Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee published a report titled “Restoring the Quality of Our Environment,” whose findings Ikard described at that year’s annual API meeting.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

WTI Tumbles On Biggest Crude Build In 19 Months

October 3, 2018

WTI Tumbles On Biggest Crude Build In 19 Months

Modest overnight gains following API’s data have been erased as DOE reports a massive surprise (biggest since March 2017) crude build…

“We’re right in the middle of refinery maintenance season and you’ll probably see a lot of demand coming offline,” says Michael Loewen, a commodities strategist at Scotiabank. “It might take a few market participants by surprise to see a larger build than what we are used to in crude oil inventories”

API

  • Crude +907k (+1.5mm exp)
  • Cushing +2.018mm (+800k exp) [Genscape +600k]
  • Gasoline -1.703mm
  • Distillates -1.197mm

DOE

  • Crude +7.975mm (+1.5mm exp) – highest since Mar 2017
  • Cushing +1.699mm (+800k exp) [Genscape +600k] – highest since March 2018
  • Gasoline -459k (+1.25mm exp)
  • Distillates -1.75mm

Massive crude build shocks the market…

Bloomberg notes that you can’t really pin this week’s huge crude build on refiners. Gross inputs were little changed and are the highest ever historically for this week.

US Crude production held at record highs…

 

WTI hovered risght around $74 ahead of the DOE data, then dumped…

Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Energy Analyst Vince Piazza warns that with WTI approaching $80 a barrel, we believe oil has moved too far, too fast, notwithstanding reduced Iran exports because of sanctions and declining production from Venezuela. Demand destruction remains a concern due to elevated prices and geopolitics. We also expect heightened hedging by U.S. E&Ps at current prices, while trade tensions, robust production and seasonal refinery maintenance in the U.S. add to the negative price outlook.

Oil Prices Fall As EIA Confirms Inventory Build

March 28, 2018

Oil Prices Fall As EIA Confirms Inventory Build

Rig

After a surprise 5.32-million-barrel inventory build reported by the American Petroleum Institute (API) weighed on oil prices yesterday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is reportinga build of 1.6 million barrels for the week ending March 23.

The markets, which have not had a chance to react to the EIA report as of the time of writing, could ease their downward trend given the nearly 4-million difference in build in the official figures.

However, they could also take this as confirmation of a reversal of expectations. Heading into Tuesday’s API data, expectations were for a draw of around 430 million barrels.

The authority said refineries processed 16.8 million bpd of crude in the reporting period, unchanged from a week earlier. Gasoline production averaged 10.3 million bpd, compared with 9.9 million bpd a week earlier, and distillate output averaged 4.8 million bpd last week, versus 4.5 million bpd a week earlier.

Gasoline inventories, the EIA said, fell by 3.5 million barrels in the week to March 23. In the week before that, gasoline inventories marked a decline of 1.7 million barrels. Distillate inventories last week shed 2.1 million barrels, compared with a decline of 2 million barrels in the prior week.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

American Petroleum Institute Touts Oil Exports to Fend Off Iran, Russia Despite API Members Tied to Both Countries

September 21, 2015

American Petroleum Institute Touts Oil Exports to Fend Off Iran, Russia Despite API Members Tied to Both Countries

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has launched a new advertising campaign in its ongoing push to oust the U.S. oil exports ban in place since 1975.

One of the most recent ads, titled “Crude Oil Exports and National Security” on YouTube, starts off with ominous music and asks, “Who loves the ban on U.S.crude oil exports?” The answer, says API, is “Iran and Russia, not exactly our best friends.”

Not mentioned: both countries currently maintain business ties with API‘s dues-paying members.

The ad, reported the Houston Chronicle, aired in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Washington.

API has also launched a new website dedicated to pushing oil exports, OilAndExports.com, which makes the case for exporting U.S. oil. And two API front groups, both Energy Citizens and Energy Nation, have also published petitions calling for congressional offices to lift the ban.

The push by the industry’s most powerful lobby comes as rumors have swirled about the potential for a merger betweenAmerica’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), the hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) industrial complex’s lobby, and API.

It also comes as the U.S. House of Representatives, led by a Republican Party majority, just passed a bill to end the oil export ban.

API is not alone in pushing the oil exports to fend off Iran message, with the industry-funded Producers for American Crude Oil Exports and the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance (DEPA) also disseminating their own similar commercials.

DEPA, created by Harold Hamm — Continental Resources CEO and 2012 Republican Party presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s energy advisor — has also created its own website advocating for lifting the ban at LiftTheExportBan.com.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

 

 

Oil slips below $56 on expectations oversupply to linger

February 11, 2015

Oil slips below $56 on expectations oversupply to linger

(Reuters) – Oil slipped below $56 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by expectations that oversupply in world markets would persist and an industry report saying U.S. crude stocks rose from a record high.

The American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday crude stocks increased by 1.6 million barrels last week. Stocks are already at a record, according to the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), which issues its latest report on Wednesday. <EIA/S>

Crude had come under pressure on Tuesday from International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts of continued supply growth in the United States to 2020 despite lower prices, and of a possible further rise in stocks to a record high this year.

“The supply growth in 2015 is likely to continue unabated, albeit at a somewhat lower rate,” Fereidun Fesharaki at Facts Global Energy said in a note to traders.

“This all means a weak market in 2015 and even lower oil prices. Demand rebound will not save the oil market.”

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Fracking Failure: Frackers In Pennsylvania Violate Health And Environmental Regulations On A Daily Basis

February 1, 2015

Fracking Failure: Frackers In Pennsylvania Violate Health And Environmental Regulations On A Daily Basis

From the American Petroleum Institute’sclaim that fracking is “safely unlocking vast U.S. reserves of oil and natural gas” to Chris “Frack Master” Faulkner himselfinsisting “fracking isn’t contaminating anything,” the oil and gas industry constantly tells us that fracking can be done safely, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

But just to be sure the public understands how seriously they considered public health, a group of oil and gas companies fracking in Pennsylvania formed the Center for Sustainable Shale Development in 2013. According to its website, CSSD is dedicated to “the development of rigorous performance standards for sustainable shale development and a commitment to continuous improvement to ensure safe and environmentally responsible development of our abundant shale resources.”

“Rigorous performance standards for sustainable shale development” certainly sounds great. The only problem is, none of the four companies that founded CSSD— Chevron Appalachia, Consol Energy, EQT Production and Shell — seems to have actually adhered to those standards.

According to a new report by Environment America titled “Fracking Failures: Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Violations in Pennsylvania and What They Mean for theU.S.,” ever since those four companies “told the public they would adhere to higher standards” in 2013, they have collectively committed as many as 100 violations of Pennsylvania’s existing oil and gas regulations.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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