Amerisur Updates Colombia, Paraguay Activities
Amerisur Resources provided the following update on its operations in Colombia and Paraguay.
Tethys Pens MOU for Uzbek Exploration
Tethys Petroleum Limited has signed an MOU with Uzbekneftegaz.
Kea to Commence 2012 NZ Drilling Program
Kea announced that its 2012 drilling program will commence with the drilling of the Puka-1 well in onshore Taranaki, New Zealand permit area PEP 51153.
OGX Confirms Hydrocarbon Find in Santos Basin
OGX has confirmed the existence of pre-salt microbiolite reservoirs with hydrocarbons in the shallow waters of the Santos Basin.
Texas Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure Rule In Effect
The Texas Railroad Commission’s new rule requiring oil and gas producers to disclose the chemical used in hydraulic fracturing has taken effect.
European Commission Could Tap Oil Stocks if Iran Stops Sales
EC says that European member states hold, on average, 120n days of oil stocks.
Saudi Arabia Names Candidate to Head OPEC
Saudi Arabia has nominated its candidate to succeed the current head of the Organization Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Gulf oil sources.
Texon Reports Fatality at Tx. Well Site
Texon Petroleum advised that an accident, involving a single fatality, has occurred at the Peeler #4 well site.
Helmerich & Payne Optimistic on U.S. Drilling Despite Gas Prices
Helmerich & Payne remains bullish on the U.S. land drilling market despite weakness in U.S. natural gas prices, the company reports.
The US obsession with energy imports and why Europe doesn’t sweat it
In this US election year, nearly every politician campaigning at the federal level, no matter the party, wants to improve “energy independence” and “energy security.” The catchphrases invoke American can-do-ism and let candidates inject the slightest economic and foreign policy knowledge into their pitches without having to get bogged down in the details.
It’s almost as if these politicians want to sew red, white and blue “Made in USA” tags onto hydrocarbons.
Europe couldn’t be more different. Consider BP’s recent prediction that EU countries will import 80% of the natural gas they consume by 2030, despite having significant shale gas potential. “Often Americans ask me, ‘Why are these Europeans so sanguine about their imports? Why don’t they worry?’” Christof Rühl, the economist behind the 80% stat, said today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Rühl, BP’s chief economist came to town to explain the company’s 2030 energy outlook after releasing the figures in London two weeks ago. (New Yorkers can catch a similar presentation Tuesday at the McGraw-Hill building.)
For Europeans, the idea of having to depend on foreign countries to produce more than three-quarters of the natural gas they burn just isn’t “that big an issue,” Rühl said, as long as major suppliers like Russia keep the pipelines flowing.
“There’s a very long history of a bunch of small countries with very open borders that have generally benefited from trade,” Rühl said. “It’s not the case to the same extent as it is in the US that people are worried about having to import something. The worry keeps up, of course, if supply is being cut. There have been decades and decades, even dealing with the Soviet Union, where supplies have been extraordinary.”
Now here’s where Rühl might get in trouble with his fellow countrymen: He also chalked up the European stance on imports to the continent’s tendency to accept contradictory positions.
“We don’t want coal — it’s dirty and we phase it out,” Rühl said. “Then of course it gets imported from somewhere else. Shale is exactly is that kind of tradition. We don’t want this; it’s poisonous and so on. Then you import gas from somewhere else. A slightly twisted approach to energy questions in that sense.
“I see that continuing: a desire to be clean at home and then import whatever you need,” he continued, “and a desire to focus on efficiency improvements and end-use rather than how to produce more and cheaper.”
The 80% stat would cause even less concern if the US and other shale barons start exporting more LNG.
“It will be possible to import more as markets become more global, more integrated,” Rühl said. “From an economic fuel point, having a high ratio of imports of something is not necessarily a bad thing. It would only be a bad thing if you are better at producing it that someone else.”
