American Fuels – Opportunities and Challenges for the U.S. Refining Industry
Preview from a Forthcoming EPRINC Report
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Rising production of domestic unconventional oil and gas production, alongside steadily growing Canadian oil sands shipments to American refiners, provides the U.S. economy with the potential for a sustained renaissance in the production of refined petroleum products. As early as 2016, U.S. and Canadian combined oil production, largely from technological advances in developing new unconventional resources, are likely to raise North American liquids output by 3 million barrels/day (b/d) above 2011 levels. Water borne crude oil imports into the North American continent likely will fall to 4 million b/d by 2016.
The upstream production gains provide an opportunity for stable earnings for U.S. refiners and higher production of the entire range of petroleum products, including gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, and the large array of products produced from crude oil and natural gas liquids. In the U.S. Gulf coast the leading edge of this renaissance is already here Read More >>>
Exports, Imports, and Energy Security
Keystone XL Pipeline and the Role of Canadian Oil Sands
EPRINC Briefing Memorandum
December 21, 2011
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Over the past 18 months EPRINC has published several assessments on the economic benefits of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The project has been subject to an environmental review for the last three years with expectations a decision would be made by early 2012. However, the Obama Administration recently decided to delay a decision on whether to issue a permit for the pipeline until 2013 in order to evaluate an alternative route in Nebraska. Congressional concerns over further delays on the project are now generating legislative initiatives to accelerate a presidential decision on the project.
The pipeline is opposed by many environmental groups who seek to constrain further development of Canadian oil sands and view halting the pipeline as an effective strategy to do so. Opponents of the project also have raised concerns that the benefits of the project are over stated since rising shipments of Canadian oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast may also yield higher export volumes of refined petroleum Read More >>>
WSJ Opinion: The Keystone Debacle
November 16, 2011
The Keystone Debacle
Was Obama’s decision to delay the Canadian oil pipeline shrewd politics? Maybe not.
The U.S. decision to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to go forward should have been easy.
The pipeline would mean at least 20,000 new construction jobs. It would provide lower cost and reliable shipping opportunities for surging North Dakota oil production. Shipping petroleum from Canada’s oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico means refiners there would gain a ready replacement for declining supplies of Mexican and Venezuelan crude. Most importantly, it would reinforce expectations that massive and long-term North American infrastructure investments could proceed free of political risk.
And yet the Obama administration’s decision to delay the project, despite already extensive and positive environmental review, puts all Read More >>>
WSJ Opinion: The Lessons of the Shale Gas Revolution
Opinion
September 30, 2011
The Lessons of the Shale Gas Revolution
North American oil production can double by 2035.
In response to a 2009 request from Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, the National Petroleum Council (NPC) reported earlier this month that oil production in North America could double by 2035—to 20 million barrels per day.
Where can all this oil come from? For one, the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technique used in shale gas production is now being applied to extract oil. The vast oil reserves in Canada’s Alberta Province are increasingly being tapped. There is more oil to be had with greater access to federal lands in Alaska and the western U.S., and accelerated drilling in the deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
But to realize the enormous potential outlined in the Read More >>>
The Bakken Boom
An Introduction to North Dakota’s Shale Oil
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The Bakken Boom – JAPANESE VERSION
Like unconventional shale gas, unconventional shale oil is now becoming more and more conventional. The technology used to first extract natural gas from shale rock in the Marcellus and other shale gas plays has been fine-tuned and modified to extract oil from shale formations across the country, such as the Monterey play in California, the Eagle Ford in Texas, and most notably the Bakken in North Dakota.
North Dakota has been an oil producing state for 60 years, but only during the past three years has the Bakken oil boom made it the fourth largest oil producing state in the country and one of the largest onshore plays in the United States. The Bakken extends beyond North Dakota into Eastern Montana and neighboring territories of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada. While its success has been largely attributed to advances in oil field technology, primarily horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, a number of circumstances have come together to make the Bakken a successful oil play, including high oil prices, widespread and ready access to privately held prospects, and low natural gas Read More >>>
