Prices rise, output soars, Encana sells
Good week for oil
Oil climbed above $60 per barrel for the first time since May on a tide of bullish news that included a drop in U.S. crude inventories, a temporary decline in production as a potential hurricane formed in the Gulf of Mexico, and new tensions with Iran that threatened Persian Gulf shipping. Oil companies began evacuating Gulf of Mexico drilling rigs on Tuesday in anticipation of Tropical Storm Barry, curtailing more than half the Gulf of Mexico’s production of about 2 million barrels a day. Crude inventories, meanwhile, plunged by nearly 10 million barrels.
U.S. oil output hits 12M bpd
U.S. oil production surpassed 12 million barrels a day in April, further extending the nation’s record output during the fracking boom, the Energy Department reported Monday. The milestone came less than a year after the United States surpassed 11 million barrels a day, in what had been a record at the time. U.S. output reached 12.2 million barrels a day in April, with Texas and the Gulf of Mexico accounting for more than half, or about 7 million barrels a day, the Energy Department said.
CP Chem plans $8 billion plant
Chevron Phillips Chemical signed a deal with Qatar Petroleum to develop an $8 billion plant on the Gulf Coast in a project that would generate thousands of construction jobs and further solidify the region as a petrochemical and plastics hub. Chevron Phillips, headquartered in The Woodlands, hasn’t named a location for the project, but said it would have direct access to natural gas from the Permian Basin. The company previously has confirmed it is considering Orange as a site for potential expansion, among other existing locations.
Enterprise expands in ship channel
Enterprise Productions Partners said it will greatly expand its Houston Ship Channel terminals to export more crude oil, propane, butane and petrochemicals. Enterprise said it is concentrating the expansion at its Houston Ship Channel terminal south of Channelview, including the construction of an eighth dock to increase its Houston crude oil-exporting capacity by nearly 45 percent. Enterprise also will greatly expand its liquefied petroleum gas export capacity — primarily butane and propane - and add new refrigeration storage capacity so it can ship out more propylene.
Encana sells Oklahoma acreage
Canada’s Encana Corp. bought The Woodlands-based Newfield Exploration earlier this year, and now Encana will sell some of its newly acquired acreage in Oklahoma. Encana said it will sell 140,000 net acres in Oklahoma’s Arkoma Basin for $165 million to an undisclosed buyer and put those dollars toward debt reduction and a stock buyback program. At less than $5 per share, Encana’s stock is at its lowest point since the last oil bust in 2016.
IEA urges lower consumption
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, urged governments worldwide Tuesday to make policy changes to reduce their energy consumption in a bid to fight climate change. Birol, who advises elected leaders on global energy supplies and demand, said with the right policies the “global economy could double in size by 2040 while still maintaining broadly the same level of energy use as today. The statement comes as global efforts to combat climate change are stalling.