Since December the first significant volume of Canadian heavy crude - an average of 240 Mb/d - has flowed to the Gulf Coast on the Seaway Twin pipeline. It’s been a rocky road to the Gulf Coast for Canadian heavy crude producers – beset with delays and congestion that they probably never envisioned when they planned their oil sands projects (including the wider political battle over Keystone – currently back in the President’s hands.) And Canadian crude that does make it to Gulf Coast refineries faces stiff competition from incumbent suppliers. Today we chart the progress of the Seaway Twin and Flanagan South pipelines and look at price competition for heavy crude at the Gulf.
Daily Energy Blog
Thursday, 2/12/2015
A new light sweet crude oil trading market is developing in Houston at the Magellan Midstream Partners East Houston terminal – delivery point for that company’s Longhorn and BridgeTex (50/50 owned with Plains All American) pipelines delivering crude from the Permian Basin. Light sweet crude from the Permian is also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) the domestic U.S. benchmark crude - widely traded at Cushing, OK where it underpins the CME NYMEX futures contract. Today we review the developing market and the price relationships that underpin it.
Tuesday, 2/10/2015
It seems logical to maintain stockpiles of critically important commodities like crude oil, heating oil and gasoline. After all, supply can be cut off suddenly by acts of God or man, causing price spikes, cold houses and empty gas tanks. Worries about supply interruption led to the creation of a federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR) and, more recently, both federal and state reserves for motor fuels, again in the Northeast. But does the SPR as currently configured still make sense, given how much has changed in crude production and flows? Should we set up heating oil or motor fuel reserves in regions beyond the Northeast? And what about a strategic reserve for propane—an important fuel for millions of American homes and businesses? Today, we continue our look at the challenges of stockpiling hydrocarbons in a changing, unpredictable energy world.
Monday, 2/09/2015
At the end of last year the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued clarifications designed to clear the way for greater U.S. exports of processed condensate. More companies have received BIS approvals to export – the latest being Plains All American last Thursday. Last year expectations were that as much as 230 Mb/d would be shipped in 2015. But narrowing price differentials have reduced the arbitrage necessary to make exports economic. Nevertheless midstream companies continue to invest in infrastructure to deliver processed condensate to marine docks. Today we review the state of the export market and ongoing infrastructure plans.
Tuesday, 2/03/2015
The combination of crashing crude prices and freight costs for long distance transport to refinery markets is tightening pressure on Bakken crude producer break-even economics. There is plenty of more expensive rail transportation capacity and not enough cheaper pipeline capacity to carry all production to market. For the moment producers appear to be sticking to favored markets on the East and West Coasts that can only be reached by rail. New pipeline capacity is two years away. Today we review the big shifts in North Dakota crude transport options.
Sunday, 2/01/2015
With crude prices close to six year lows and the futures market pointing higher, a number of the larger commodities trading houses are buying and holding cheap crude in huge floating tankers for later sale. For the trade to work, prices today must be lower than they are in the future and the spread must cover the storage cost and other expenses. Players in the floating storage game have to be high rollers – the minimum cost of a bet at this table is ~$100 million. Today we complete a two-part series on contango-spread trades with a look at floating storage.
Sunday, 1/25/2015
On Friday (January 23, 2015) West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures prices closed under $46/Bbl for the second time this year. RBN’s analysis of producer internal rates of return (IRRs) for typical oil wells indicates that Bakken IRRs have fallen from 39% in the fall of 2014 to just 1% today. IRRs for typical Permian wells are down to 3% and typical Eagle Ford wells are at breakeven. Everything is underwater or close to it except for the sweet spot wells with higher production. Today we present highlights from RBN’s IRR and breakeven analysis – published in full today in our latest Drill Down Report.
Thursday, 1/22/2015
Since the start of 2015, crashing crude prices have opened up a new opportunity for traders to profit while producers bite their nails. In today’s oversupplied market, prices for prompt delivery are lower than they are for further out months – a market condition known as contango. That’s when traders put on contango spread trades that involve buying and storing crude to sell at a higher price later. Rapidly rising crude inventories at Cushing (up 3MMBbl last week according to the Energy Information Administration - EIA) suggest it’s a popular strategy. Today we explain how the trade works at the Cushing, OK trading hub.
Tuesday, 1/20/2015
CME NYMEX crude oil prices were down again yesterday – with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract closing at $46.39 down $2.30 over the holiday weekend and over 55% lower than its high 7 months ago in June 2014. Some are billing the free fall in crude prices as a showdown between U.S. shale producers and OPEC. That is because OPEC has apparently decided not to cut production to prop up prices in an over supplied market in hopes that lower prices would squeeze out U.S. shale producers. If that was the strategy then it isn’t working so far. Today we review crude producer plans for 2015 and find lower capital expenditure budgets and cuts in rig deployment contrast with expanded production.
Monday, 1/19/2015
There was no open outcry trading on the CME NYMEX yesterday because of the MLK holiday but after rallying on Friday U.S. crude prices resumed their descent here in electronic trading and the London ICE Brent contract lost $1.40/Bbl to close at $48.77/Bbl. Unsurprisingly the Baker Hughes oil drilling rig count is down by 209 (13%) since December 2014 as producers take a hard look at their production budgets. Yet production is still expected to increase in the short term – in part because the rigs that are left will focus on “sweet spots”. In today’s blog “It Don’t Come Easy – Low Crude Prices, Producer Breakevens and Drilling Economics – Part 2” Sandy Fielden looks at the assumptions behind RBN’s IRR and breakeven scenario analysis.
Thursday, 1/15/2015
The half-century stand-off between the U.S. and Cuba appears to be ending, and improving relations could, over time, bring experts in Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas exploration and production to the waters off Cuba’s northern coast. A lot of questions remain, though, chief among them how extensive Cuba’s offshore reserves really are and—just as important—how long it might take for a still-Communist Cuban government to warm up to working with energy-sector capitalists. Today we consider the long-term potential for hydrocarbon development in Cuba’s corner of the Gulf.
Sunday, 1/11/2015
By Friday (January 9, 2015) crude prices had fallen 55% since June 2014, natural gas prices are at the lowest since 2012 and natural gas liquids are suffering as well. The potential revenues from U.S. shale oil production in 2015 would be a whopping $66 billion lower at $50/Bbl than when oil was $100/Bbl last year. In this new world where prices may not return close to pre-crash levels for a number of years, producers are scrambling to reconfigure drilling budgets and locations. The exercise is all about rates of return and figuring out breakeven prices. Today we start a new series looking under the hood at production drilling economics including results from our own models.
Thursday, 1/08/2015
Producer pioneers in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) are finally figuring out how best to wring large volumes of Light Louisiana Crude from the oil-rich play’s notoriously complex geology. But are they “cracking the code” at just the wrong time, when crude prices are crashing and investors are shifting their focus to shale-play sweet spots with low drilling costs? Some say no; that fine-tuned completion formulas, declining drilling costs and a favorable tax environment make the TMS a “go”, even in these tough times. But others say yes; that it’s time to move on from the TMS, at least for now. Today we revisit the still-promising TMS in central Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi, and assesses whether the play many consider to be the next big thing needs to wait for higher oil prices to shine.
Wednesday, 1/07/2015
Since we began this series on diluent supplies to Canada (used to blend with heavy oil to facilitate pipeline shipment), questions about diluent supply have been overshadowed by the bigger concern with falling crude prices. Right now, oil sands producers are probably more concerned with understanding the economics of their expansion projects and whether to go ahead with new oil sands development programs than with securing diluent supplies. Nevertheless, falling diluent costs in Edmonton have provided some relief to existing producers. Today we look at how improving diluent supplies and better prices for Canadian crudes have reduced diluent costs.
Monday, 1/05/2015
Last week’s clarification from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) about the process required to export lease condensate may make exports easier on paper but it won’t stimulate export demand. The BIS move is timely because available exports of this light hydrocarbon material could increase significantly, depending on what happens to crude prices. However current low price levels and questions about future overseas demand could diminish the significance of the BIS process improvements. Today we describe the BIS clarifications and whether they are likely to make a difference.
