In recent weeks, more than 750 Mb/d of new crude oil pipeline capacity out of the Permian Basin has been announced, and more project plans are likely. For Permian producers and shippers, open seasons for takeaway projects now rival Christmas and New Year’s Eve as big winter events, and companies are evaluating these projects and their implications for the basin. This is a big deal. With Permian crude production rising quickly, the pace at which new takeaway capacity is added — and the markets that the new capacity accesses — are all-important factors. Today, we discuss the dynamics of how and when this next wave of pipeline projects will affect producers, midstreamers and ultimately crude prices.
Daily Energy Blog
Monday, 12/25/2017
Category:
Crude Oil
Thursday, 12/21/2017
Category:
Natural Gas
This winter will be the last go-round for ISO New England’s Winter Reliability Program, under which the electric-grid operator in the natural gas pipeline-challenged region provides financial incentives to dual-fuel power plants if they stockpile fuel oil or LNG as a backup fuel. This coming spring, a long-planned “pay-for-performance” regime will go into effect, and gas-fired generators that can’t meet their commitments to provide power during high-demand periods — such as the polar vortex cold snaps that hit the Northeast in early 2014 — will pay potentially significant penalties. Today, we discuss the pitfalls that the pipeline capacity-challenged region may encounter as its power sector becomes increasingly gas-dependent.
Wednesday, 12/20/2017
Category:
Financial
EnLink Midstream Partners LP, seeking to offset declining natural gas production in the Barnett Shale — where the master limited partnership (MLP) has extensive midstream holdings — has been implementing a strategic plan focused on acquisitions and expansions in the burgeoning STACK play in central Oklahoma and in the Permian’s Midland and Delaware basins in West Texas. The level of investment the plan requires has prevented increases in the MLP’s distributions to unit holders for nine consecutive quarters, which in turn has left EnLink’s share price languishing at about half of its 2014 high. The MLP has reported promising signs of growth in Oklahoma and the Permian as well as increased utilization of its southern Louisiana infrastructure, which it says could lead to a higher distribution to unit holders in 2018. Today, we preview our Spotlight Report on EnLink, which provides a detailed analysis of the company’s business segments to determine if its strategic plan will indeed generate real growth over the next four years.
Tuesday, 12/19/2017
Category:
Natural Gas
Western Canadian natural gas producers have long battled unrelenting competition from growing shale gas supply in the U.S. But recent price action at AECO — Canada’s benchmark natural gas hub in Alberta — suggests market conditions there have gone from bad to worse. AECO prices in recent months have fallen to the lowest levels in more than a decade, even dropping below zero at one point in intraday trading this fall. Fundamentals are increasingly bearish, given that Canadian gas production has rebounded to the highest level in close to 10 years, storage there is near to five-year highs and exports are facing further cutbacks as U.S. gas supply is itself at record highs. In addition, producers are contending with a number of transportation issues closer to home. Today, we begin a look at the factors affecting the Western Canadian gas market.
Monday, 12/18/2017
Category:
Refined Fuels
Falling production of motor gasoline, diesel and other refined products at Mexico’s aging refineries has created a south-of-the-border supply void that U.S. refiners and refined-products marketers and shippers are all too eager to fill. At the same time, the ongoing liberalization of Mexican energy markets is finally allowing players other than state-owned Petróleos Mexicános (Pemex) to become involved in motor-fuel distribution and retailing. The results of all this? U.S. exports of gasoline and diesel to Mexico are up 60% from two years ago, and U.S. companies are scrambling to develop or acquire the infrastructure needed to deliver refined products to Mexican consumers. Today, we begin a new series on the increasing role of U.S. companies in supplying, distributing and retailing motor fuels in Mexico, and on the new transportation and terminalling infrastructure being built to support that growth.
Sunday, 12/17/2017
Category:
Crude Oil
The combination of rising condensate demand as new splitter capacity came online and falling conde supply resulted in just what you’d expect — higher conde prices. Worse yet for the companies that made throughput commitments for those new splitters, the once-favorable price differentials between conde and light-crude benchmarks West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Louisiana Light Sweet (LLS) have been turned on their heads, and a number of splitters are operating at far less than capacity. Today, we continue our look at the roller-coaster world of conde, this time focusing on conde prices and differentials, and on the forces that may change the conde market once again.
Thursday, 12/14/2017
Category:
Natural Gas
The clock is ticking for international shipping companies, cruise lines and others to determine how they will meet the much more stringent standard for bunker fuel sulfur content that will kick in just over two years from now. While many shipowners will likely meet the International Marine Organization’s 0.5% sulfur cap in January 2020 by shifting to low-sulfur marine distillate or a heavy fuel oil/distillate blend, a smaller number are investing in ships fueled by LNG. LNG easily complies with the sulfur cap, and while it costs more than high-sulfur HFO — the bunker that currently dominates world shipping — it is less expensive than the low-sulfur distillate and HFO/distillate blends that will be needed to meet the new standard. But there are catches with LNG, including the need to dedicate more onboard space for fuel tanks and (even more importantly) the lack of LNG fueling infrastructure in a number of ports. Today, we discuss the short and long-term outlook for LNG as a marine fuel.
Wednesday, 12/13/2017
Category:
Natural Gas
Just a month ago, the CME/NYMEX Henry Hub prompt natural gas futures contract was trading at a six-month high of $3.21/MMBtu (on November 10), and the U.S. gas storage inventory was at a three-year low, setting the stage for a bullish winter — assuming normal wintry weather. Since then, the prompt-month contract has tumbled about 50 cents to a settle of $2.715/MMBtu as of this Wednesday. In that time, temperatures fell across the country and seasonal demand for heating homes and businesses kicked in, and LNG exports ticked up slightly. But supply also grew by a lot, with natural gas production surging by 1.0 Bcf/d since then to a new record high of 76.9 Bcf/d just this past Monday. How did the fundamentals shake out in November, and what do current fundamentals mean for the balance of winter? Today, we reconcile these latest shifts in gas market fundamentals.
Tuesday, 12/12/2017
Category:
Crude Oil
A number of Permian pipeline projects that would help alleviate impending takeaway constraints in the fast-growing production region have advanced in recent weeks — a clear sign that producers, shippers and midstream companies alike are paying close attention. But will these projects be enough, particularly when you consider the flood of capital spending in the Permian by exploration and production companies and the accelerated production growth that it may spur? Today, we discuss the progress midstreamers have been making on the Permian takeaway front as production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the play ratchets up.
Monday, 12/11/2017
Category:
Crude Oil
The sharp decline in U.S. condensate production since early 2015 and the end to the ban on U.S. crude oil exports a few months later were a one-two punch for the companies that made throughput commitments to condensate splitters and made other conde-related infrastructure investments. In what seemed like a flash, conde supply plummeted and the steep price discount to WTI and other light crude that made conde so attractive for splitting and exporting was gone. Holders of splitter capacity were paying top-dollar for what conde they could corral, and operators were forced to run their brand-new facilities at far less than capacity. And, when the general ban on crude exports was lifted in December 2015, the special status that conde had enjoyed since exports of lightly processed conde were permitted in June 2014 was a thing of the past. Today, we continue our review of a conde world in upheaval, this time with a focus on splitters and exports.
Sunday, 12/10/2017
Category:
Natural Gas
Several large-scale gas pipeline expansions targeting the New England and New York City markets have been sidelined in the past year, either due to insufficient financial backing or the challenges of regulatory rigmarole in the region. But in recent weeks, a couple of smaller-scale projects along existing rights-of-way have managed to cross the finish line, allowing incremental gas supplies to trickle into the region. The new pipeline capacity will provide natural gas utilities and power generators in the region with greater access to additional gas supplies from the nearby Marcellus Shale this winter. Today, we look at recent capacity additions and their potential impacts.
Thursday, 12/07/2017
Category:
Natural Gas
U.S. trucking companies, trash haulers and transit agencies continue to invest in new vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas, in part to meet corporate or agency carbon-footprint goals. But the economic rationale for switching trucks and buses from diesel to CNG or LNG is weaker than it was a few years ago, when diesel cost two-thirds more than natural gas fuels on a per-BTU basis — prices for diesel, CNG and LNG are now in the same ballpark. Also, developing regional or national networks of CNG/LNG fueling stations doesn’t come cheap. Today, we discuss the growing use of natural gas in trucks and buses — and threats to that trend.
Wednesday, 12/06/2017
Category:
Crude Oil
With frac sand use — and costs — on the rise in the Permian, a number of exploration and production companies (E&Ps) are becoming more involved in managing sand acquisition and logistics. It’s not an easy job, because even though a greater share of the frac sand used in Permian wells is expected to come from local, West Texas sand mines in the coming year, those “last mile” logistics — the delivery of sand by truck from the mine, plus unloading and storage of sand at the well site — are especially complex. Today, conclude our series on frac sand with a look at the challenges E&Ps face when they assume supply chain responsibility for sand.
Tuesday, 12/05/2017
Category:
Crude Oil
Back in 2015, U.S. production of superlight crude oil and condensate had been on the rise for five years, driven primarily by boom times in the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas. Condensate was selling for several bucks-a-barrel less than light-crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. government had recently approved the export of minimally processed condensate, and new condensate splitters were being built to allow refineries to use more high-API-gravity liquids. Fast forward to now, though, and production of superlight crude and conde is off by one-third — the lighter the material, the steeper the decline — a barrel of conde is selling for several dollars more than WTI and a lot of those new splitters are running at far less than full capacity. As for exports of neat conde, they’ve dropped to almost zero, and whatever superlight crude and conde that is being exported goes out as part of blended crude. But things could be about to change again, possibly in a big way. Today, we begin a new blog series on the chaotic U.S. conde and superlight crude market.
Monday, 12/04/2017
Category:
Financial
As a volatile 2017 nears the finish line, the big question for U.S. exploration and production companies (E&Ps) is whether they will throttle back their capital expenditures in 2018, cruise on at the same pace or step on the accelerator. We won’t have all the answers for a couple of months, but early guidance issued along with third-quarter 2017 earnings results indicates a solid 14% increase in investment by seven oil-weighted and diversified producers. The big story among this handful of announcements is a 22% gain in planned 2018 capex by giant ConocoPhillips, which had been slashing investment since 2014. The company’s $2 billion capex boost includes doubling spending on its North American unconventional portfolio. Preliminary guidance for the natural gas producers, on the other hand, tells a different and less interesting story. Six companies, two-thirds of the nine gas-weighted E&Ps we’ve been tracking, indicate their 2018 investment will be relatively flat with the preceding year. So today, we focus on the 2018 plans of the oil producers and take an in-depth look at the ConocoPhillips budgeting process and the company’s noteworthy investment increase.
