Pioneer Natural Resources News

Cheniere Energy Inc, said on Thursday it would quantify carbon emissions from its suppliers and production sites and supply the information to customers.LNG buyers have begun asking suppliers for natural gas sourcing data and greenhouse gas emissions to reduce their own carbon footprints. Several LNG producers are proposing adding carbon capture and storage alongside their LNG projects.Cheniere said it signed agreements with five natural gas producers and several academic institutions to implement quantification…

A group of seven major oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips, announced a partnership to establish the first industry blockchain consortium in the United States.With several use cases across the industry value chain, the consortium intends to conduct proofs of concept with this emerging technology in 2019, said a press release from OOC Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium.The OOC Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium was founded to advance industry blockchain technology learnings for the purpose of driving industry standards, frameworks and capabilities around emerging blockchain technology. The consortium…

U.S. oil drillers cut rigs this week for the first time since January and the pace of additions slowed this quarter due to declines in crude prices despite an OPEC-led effort to cut production and end a multi-year supply glut. Analysts, however, noted the weekly decline in the rig count was likely just a brief pause in a drilling recovery expected to continue through at least 2019. Drillers cut two oil rigs in the week to June 30, bringing the total rig count down to 756, still more than double the 341 rigs in the same week a year ago…

Large U.S. shale oil companies, flush with cash raised through stock offerings, are gobbling up properties in the Permian Basin straddling Texas and New Mexico, a trend that could boost U.S. oil output in the second half of 2017. Hess Corp and Devon Energy Corp are among oil and gas companies that tapped the equity market in the first eight months of the year, raising a total $20.40 billion. That is the most since at least 1996, barring 2014 when the energy companies raised $20.46 billion in the first eight months of the year. The industry raised $19.78 billion through stock offerings in all of 2015, according to Reuters data, but almost all of this was used to pay off debt.

U.S. oil drillers cut rigs this week for a 20th week this year after three weeks of additions, according to a closely followed report on Friday, as crude prices pull back after a recent rally to an 11-month high over $51 a barrel. Despite a decline in U.S. crude to below $48 a barrel on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union, several companies said recently they plan to boost spending on new drilling with futures for the balance of the year and 2017 topping $50 a barrel. Analysts and producers have said U.S. crude prices over $50 was a key level that would trigger a return to the well pad. Drillers removed seven oil rigs in the week to June 24, bringing the total rig count down to 330, compared with 628 a year ago, Baker Hughes.

U.S. drillers this week added oil rigs for a third week in a row for the first time since August, according to a closely followed report on Friday, as producers seek more drilling permits after crude prices hit an 11-month high over $51 a barrel last week. Despite a decline in U.S. crude futures to one-month lows to under $47 this week, analysts and producers have said oil over $50 was a key level that would trigger a return to the well pad and drilling permits are a leading indicator of future drilling. Drillers added nine oil rigs in the week to June 17, bringing the total rig count up to 337, compared with 631 a year ago, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said.

U.S. oil drillers cut rigs for an eighth week in a row to the lowest level since October 2009, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said Friday, even with futures at six-month highs as some energy firms focus on completing wells rather than drilling new ones. Drillers cut 10 oil rigs in the week to May 13, bringing the total rig count down to 318, Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report. The number of U.S. oil rigs currently operating compares with the 660 rigs operating in the same week a year ago. In 2015, drillers cut on average 18 oil rigs per week for a total of 963 for the year, the biggest annual decline since at least 1988 amid the biggest rout in crude prices in a generation.

U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a fourth week in a row to the lowest level since November 2009, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday, as energy firms keep slashing spending despite a more than 50 percent jump in crude futures since hitting a near 13-year low in February. Drillers cut 3 oil rigs in the week to April 15, bringing the total rig count down to 351, Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report. The number of U.S. oil rigs operating compares with the 734 rigs operating in the same week a year ago. In 2015, drillers cut on average 18 oil rigs per week for a total of 963 for the year, the biggest annual decline since at least 1988 amid the deepest rout in crude prices in a generation.

U.S. energy firms this week cut oil and natural gas rigs for a 14th week in a row to the lowest level since at least 1940, data showed on Thursday, as energy firms continue to slash spending as part of the deepest energy price rout in a generation. Oil rigs alone fell 15 to 372, the lowest level since November 2009, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc  said in its closely followed report. Looking forward however, analysts forecast the rig count will bottom in a couple months before recovering later this year when they expect energy prices to rise. Drillers cut 12 oil and gas rigs in the week to March 24, bringing the total rig count down to 464, the report said. That compares with 1,048 oil and gas rigs operating in the same week a year ago.

U.S. energy firms this week cut oil rigs for an eighth week in a row to the lowest levels since January 2010, data showed on Friday, as energy firms continue to cut spending due to the collapse in crude prices. Some analysts forecast the rig count will decline for a few more months before recovering later this year when they expect crude price to rise. Drillers removed 28 oil rigs in the week ended Feb. 12, bringing the total rig count down to 439, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. That compares with 1,056 oil rigs operating in same week a year ago. Front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)…

The U.S. oil rig count this week dropped to the lowest level in over five years as energy firms stepped up the rate of idling rigs after one of the worst years in almost 30 years for drilling, data showed on Friday. Drillers removed 20 oil rigs in the week ended Jan. 8, bringing the total rig count down to 516, the least since April 2010, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report. That was the seventh decrease in the past eight weeks and brings the total rig count down to about a third of the 1,421 oil rigs operating in same week a year ago. In 2015, drillers idled a total of 963 oil rigs, the first annual cut since 2002 and the biggest annual decline since at least 1988, according to Baker Hughes.

U.S. energy group Enterprise and oil trader Vitol raced to exploit the end of a 40-year ban on most U.S. crude exports, the first of many firms eager to "stress test" last week's historic opening. Despite a sudden change in global oil market conditions that many oil traders say has eliminated the economic advantage of shipping domestic crude far abroad, some companies that have long lobbied for the change in policy may be eager to show that their effort was not in vain, according to some experts. Houston-based pipeline group Enterprise Products Partners LP said in a statement it will provide pipeline and marine terminal services to load a 600,000-barrel cargo of domestic light crude oil scheduled for the first week of January.

Enterprise bumps up exports through annual contracts; signs 2015 contracts with PDS, Vitol; seeks one more term buyer. U.S. exports of condensate have been given an important boost after pipeline company Enterprise Products Partners LP agreed annual contracts with at least two major trading companies to sell the light crude, trade sources said. Oil producers have been pressing to lift a 40-year-old U.S. ban on crude exports and the Department of Commerce broke its year-long silence in December and began approving a backlog of requests to sell processed light oil abroad. Enterprise is selling 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) under the contracts, which should give it a headstart before other firms get the nod to export condensate produced from shale operations.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said it gave "some" oil companies on Tuesday permission to export a lightly processed crude oil, taking the first action in several months on applications from about 20 energy companies eager to ship the fuel abroad.   The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), an office of the Commerce Department, did not say how many so-called commodity classifications it issued. The bureau communicates on the rulings in private letters, which are not open to the public.   Previously the BIS issued permission to export the condensate to Pioneer Natural Resources and Enterprise Products Partners in 2014 and to Peaker Energy in 2013.   (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Sandra Maler)

The Obama administration released on Tuesday a long-awaited explanation of what petroleum is allowed to be shipped under the contentious 40-year ban on exports of most domestic crude. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released the guidance in the form of frequently asked questions, or FAQ, in the first effort by the administration to clarify an issue that has caused confusion and consternation in energy markets for more than a year. The BIS guidance said energy companies must use distillation towers to produce lightly treated oil called condensate to export it and not simply treat it with flash drums that have so- called heater treaters.

Companies eager to export U.S. oil face fines and other risks if they stray from government-approved practices, trade lawyers said this week, but the challenge is figuring out what the government allows because its rulings have so far been private. As the drilling boom floods the Gulf Coast with light oil that local refineries cannot easily process, energy companies are under pressure to sell the petroleum to global markets, despite a 40-year ban on crude exports. A 20 percent drop in oil prices this fall has also made them anxious to find new buyers. The Obama administration this summer put a hold on more than 20 new applications for exports of minimally processed light oil called condensate after issuing two approvals for the fuel.

A government study on Thursday essentially supported the notion that easing the decades-old restriction on exporting U.S. crude was more likely to lower than raise gasoline prices for American motorists, a conclusion that could ease concerns among lawmakers about changing the policy. U.S. gasoline prices are mainly set by global oil prices, the Energy Information Administration said in a highly anticipated analysis. "The effect that a relaxation of current limitations on U.S. crude oil exports would have on U.S. gasoline prices would likely depend on its effect on international crude oil prices, such as Brent, rather than its effect on domestic crude prices," said the EIA.

More than a dozen U.S. oil producers have joined to lobby the federal government to reverse the 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude exports, a move that supporters hope would create jobs and boost national security, a spokesman for one of the companies and a lobbyist for another one said on Friday. Producers for American Crude Oil Exports, or PACE, is the first lobbying group to form on reversing the ban. "The end game here is legislative repeal of the ban," said a lobbyist for one of the member producers, who did not want to be named because the group was only recently formed. Congress passed the trade restriction in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo caused fears of domestic oil shortages.

The U.S. Commerce Department has taken a small step toward resolving some two-dozen pending requests to export lightly processed oil this summer, asking energy companies to fill out a one-page questionnaire about their plans, sources familiar with the document told Reuters. The nine questions may help the department map out a further easing of the four-decade old ban on crude exports. In August, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) sent a standard set of nine questions to companies that had requested rulings on whether they could export an ultra-light oil called condensate, people who had seen the questionaire told Reuters. Those requests have been "held without action" since July, effectively removing any time frame for a decision, Reuters has reported.

3rd U.S. condensate export cargo heading to Singapore; Pioneer expects exports to rise to 50,000 bpd next year. Eyes exports of bigger cargoes to reduce freight costs. Pioneer Natural Resources plans to double its U.S. exports of condensate, an ultra-light oil, to 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year, its chief executive said on Monday. The U.S. shale resources explorer, along with Enterprise Product Partners LP, received the green light from the U.S. government in March to ship the ultra-light crude as the country softened a 40-year ban on oil exports. "We operate 50,000 bpd and we're selling probably about 20-25,000 bpd, but eventually we'll get up to 50,000 bpd," Scott Sheffield told Reuters, saying this would happen next year.

Houston-based logistic firm Buckeye Partners has spent more than $3.5 billion buying assets since 2010, transforming itself from a quiet regional pipeline utility into an emerging energy powerhouse. But the acquisition that may best symbolize its evolution is one the company didn't tout to investors this summer: a Washington lobbyist. After spending most of the past century pumping fuel from one place to another, the 128-year-old company has become a key player in the import and export of North American oil, with an unrivalled network of East Coast and Caribbean fuel depots and an expanding business loading crude oil from trains to tankers.

Petchem producers unlikely to buy due to impurities in oil. Big middle distillates yield, less naphtha, LPG; wide variance in API gravities in assays, samples. Tests on samples of the same type of U.S. condensate now heading to South Korea and Japan have raised questions about the ultra-light crude's suitability for use in Asia, sources said, making some potential buyers wary about taking the oil. The uncertainty could delay a rapid build-up in the flow of U.S. condensate to Asia after the arrival of the first exports of U.S. crude in 40 years. Asian refiners and chemical producers will have to first determine the best use for the ultra-light oil before starting to buy in large volumes.

A lobbyist group for four U.S. oil refiners urged the federal government on Thursday to stop issuing approvals for energy companies to ship abroad a lightly processed crude oil, saying it is prohibited by a nearly 40-year-old ban on oil exports. Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy (CRUDE), wrote to Commerce Department officials five months after the department's Bureau of Industry and Security gave approval to Pioneer Natural Resources and Enterprise Product Partners to export certain condensates. CRUDE, whose members include Alon USA Energy Inc and PBF Energy Inc, formed this year with the goal of preventing a hasty reversal of the export ban at a time sharply rising oil production has spurred calls for a change.