Oilfield Daily News

Crude oil futures held on to strong gains for the week in lackluster Friday trading, after higher-than-expected inventories earlier in the week threatened to cut short the rally.

“http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Crude-Oil-Holds-on-to-Weeks-Gains-After-High-Inventories-Threaten-Rally.html

After clawing its way back above $75 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in four weeks, the benchmark oil futures contract fell back again on Friday on news of an unexpected decline in retail sales in the U.S.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Oil-Price-Rally-Stumbles-Friday-on-Negative-Economic-News.html

Canadian oil sands will probably become the No. 1 source of U.S. crude oil imports this year, and could make up more than a third of the nation’s oil and refined product imports by 2030, according to a new study.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Canadas-Oil-Sands-Set-to-Become-Biggest-Source-of-U.S.-Oil-Imports-Report-Says.html

Crude oil prices ended just above $70 a barrel on Friday after dipping below that threshold earlier in the week. The benchmark June contract for West Texas Intermediate settled at $68.01 before it expired on Thursday, after falling below $65 a barrel in intraday trading.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Crude-Oil-Prices-Remain-Under-Pressure-After-Dipping-Below-$70-a-Barrel-in-Week.html

The Obama administration, already charged with providing political cover for BP in the Gulf of Mexico mega-oil disaster, is also charged with allowing BP to renege on agreements between the firm, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state of Indiana to prevent pollution of Lake Michigan from the firm’s Whiting, Indiana refinery near Hammond.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/BP-Gets-Pass-From-Obama-Administration-To-Potentially-Pollute-Lake-Michigan.html

In an exclusive for Oilprice.com, the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) has learned from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sources that U.S. Navy submarines deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast have detected what amounts to a frozen oil blob from the oil geyser at the destroyed Deep Horizon off-shore oil rig south of Louisiana.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Environment/Oil-Spills/White-House-Covers-Up-Menacing-Oil-Blob.html

The plunge in oil prices in the wake of the euro crisis has OPEC worried. Qatar oil minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah emerged as an unofficial spokesman for the oil cartel over the weekend in a series of news agency reports from the Gulf that signaled the group’s concern.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Psychological-Plunge-in-Oil-Prices-Makes-OPEC-Nervous-Official-Says.html

Crude oil prices plunged nearly 4% on Friday and were off almost 20% from their 18-month high less than two weeks ago, as the euro continued to lose ground against the dollar and U.S. oil inventories continued to build.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Oil-Prices-Drop-Further-in-Week-as-Euros-Travails-Continue.html

One of Asia’s most active sovereign wealth funds is investing up to $1 billion in the U.S. company that helped pioneer production of shale gas, Chesapeake Energy.

Full article at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Chesapeake-Energy-Investment-Signals-Sovereign-Wealth-Fund-Appetite-for-Global-Resources.html

The Obama administration said it will restructure the little-known agency overseeing offshore drilling, splitting is regulatory oversight duties from its lease management responsibilities – a joint task critics say is rife with conflict of interest.