Year: 2020

Alberta has reached an agreement with Canada’s federal government to have its own provincial regulation on methane emissions, which will save the energy industry money and avoid red tape, the provincial government said on Thursday. Instead of having federal and provincial regulations on methane emissions, Alberta will now have only provincial rules on tackling methane emissions, whose largest source in the province is the oil and gas sector. Around three-quarters of Alberta’s methane emissions come from the upstream oil and gas industry. The finalized agreement with Alberta “will allow strengthened…

Colorado energy regulators have voted for a curtailment of gas flaring at oil and gas production sites, limiting approved flaring to just a few circumstances, the Colorado Sun reports, noting that flaring is relatively rare in the state, compared with other states where it is routine. The rule will help mitigate climate change, ensure the safety of groundwater, and make sure soil resources are available to grow healthy crops and vegetation, the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Julie Murphy, said in a statement as quoted by…

Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil rigs in the United States rose by 5 to 226. The total number of active oil and gas rigs increased for the week by 4, with oil rigs rising by 5 and gas rigs falling by 1. Total oil and gas rigs in the United States are now down by 517 compared to this time last year. The EIA’s estimate for oil production in the United States fell in the week ending October 30—from 11.1 million barrels in the week…

As predicted, a second wave of COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the world economy with many European nations contemplating new shut downs. It looks like it will be a tough winter for the oil markets. In a recent article carried in Reuters, two energy trading firms, Vitol, and Trafigura offered dour forecasts for the next few months. Trafigura’s Executive Chairman, Jeremy Weir offered a demand forecast of a decline of a million BOPD in the U.S. and up to 1.5 mm in Europe as a result, with global demand through the winter…