cv

Wonders of US Shale: US Shale Benefits: The U.S. leads global petroleum and natural gas production with record growth in 2018

Recommended Posts

Great debate lots of feedback , some say first signs of madness....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oil prices tanked to multi-week lows early on Tuesday, the first full trading day after the new U.S. and Chinese tariffs and counter-tariffs entered into force and as signs emerged that both OPEC and its key partner in the production cut deal, Russia, boosted oil production in August.

Time for the Shale Patch to change from T-Ball and get its game face on and play hard ball, with real opponents, curve ball coming.

Im looking forward to the next few innings, switch hitter will be required. This game will change.

Play Ball...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

MEGlobal Americas Inc. has inaugurated its new ethylene glycol (EG) manufacturing facility in Oyster Creek, Texas, parent company EQUATE Group reported Tuesday.

“This is a major achievement of the EQUATE Group and will benefit both Kuwait and the U.S.,” stated Ramesh Ramachandran, president and CEO of EQUATE, whose EQUATE Petrochemical joint venture comprises U.S.-based Dow Chemical Co. and Kuwait-based Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC). “With a growing global market for EG products, it will provide us with greater flexibility to satisfy our customers’ needs while capitalizing on the U.S. shale gas opportunity.”

According to EQUATE, the MEGlobal Oyster Creek site boasts 750,000 metric tons annually of EG manufacturing capacity and will produce monoethylene and diethylene glycol products. The firm noted the products are ingredients for polyester fibers, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and packaging, antifreeze and coolants, construction materials and other market applications.

“This is a significant milestone for both MEGlobal and Fluor that reflects our two companies’ teaming approach and collective commitment to execution,” stated Mark Fields, president of the Energy & Chemicals with Fluor Corp., whose scope of work at Oyster Creek included installing equipment, steel and piping for the process units. “Not only is this project a first for MEGlobal in the United States, but it also marks Fluor’s fifth major construction project in the area over the past seven years.”

Pointing out the project employed nearly 2,000 construction workers at peak and has created 55 new full-time long-term jobs and 25 to 35 contract jobs, EQUATE noted the construction phase included more than 3 million consecutive safe work hours. The company added that commercial quantities of finished product should begin shipping by November of this year.

“This is an important milestone in EQUATE history, adding manufacturing capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast to satisfy customer needs in the region,” concluded Naser Al-Dousari, EQUATE executive vice president. “EQUATE’s glycol footprint in the Americas is as large as that in Kuwait. The community in Texas has been very welcoming to this investment and we look forward to being a part of this region.”

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

On 9/4/2019 at 5:07 AM, James Regan said:

Oil prices tanked to multi-week lows early on Tuesday, the first full trading day after the new U.S. and Chinese tariffs and counter-tariffs entered into force and as signs emerged that both OPEC and its key partner in the production cut deal, Russia, boosted oil production in August.

Time for the Shale Patch to change from T-Ball and get its game face on and play hard ball, with real opponents, curve ball coming.

Im looking forward to the next few innings, switch hitter will be required. This game will change.

Play Ball...

What is with the baseball analogy? You’re (not your...) Scottish for heaven’s sake! Shouldn’t you be making comparisons to guys trying to flip telephone poles end over end while wearing ‘airy’ attire?😂

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Freeport LNG and Westbourne Capital have executed definitive agreements for a $1.025 billion loan that will fund Freeport LNG’s proposed fourth natural gas liquefaction train on Quintana Island in Freeport, Texas.

Under the agreement, Westbourne and its co-investors will exclusively provide the loan to a Freeport LNG unit in support of the expansion efforts.

This financing, combined with a contemplated bank facility, will be sufficient to provide 100 percent of the capital required for Train 4, Freeport LNG said.

This agreement follows Freeport LNG’s receipt of its FERC and DOE authorizations for the Train 4 project and its execution of a Train 4 fixed price EPC contract with KBR.

Under the terms of the Train 4 EPC contract, KBR will provide engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and startup of the nominal 5 mtpa Train 4 and associated gas pre-treatment plant for the export of U.S. natural gas to international markets.

“We are happy to continue to progress our Train 4 expansion with an eye towards FID in the next several months,” said Michael Smith, founder, chairman and CEO, Freeport LNG.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

US gas resource base broke records by yearend 2018, PGC reports

Estimated US gas resources increased to a record 3,374 tcf at yearend 2018, 20% more than 2 years earlier, which represents the largest 2-year increase in the assessment’s 54-year history, the CSM's Potential Gas Committee and the AGA jointly reported.

 

 

The estimated US gas resource base increased to a record 3,374 tcf at the end of 2018, 20% more than 2 years earlier, which represents the largest 2-year increase in the assessment’s 54-year history, the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and the American Gas Association jointly announced on Sept. 11.

“This report verifies that our nation has more natural gas than at any point in our history, ensuring that American families and businesses can rely on this clean, affordable source of energy,” AGA Pres. Karen A. Harbert said during a briefing at the trade association’s headquarters where the report was released.

“This seventh consecutive record-high resource evaluation by the PGC confirms that the US has an abundance of natural gas. These resources are present at various reservoirs both onshore and offshore,” said Alexei V. Milikov, a geology and geoengineering professor and director of the Potential Gas Agency at CSM, which provides guidance and technical assistance to the PGC.

The increase resulted from reassessments of shale gas resources in the Atlantic and Midcontinent areas and conventional and tight gas in the Midcontinent and Rocky Mountain regions.

The yearend 2018 assessment includes 3,218 tcf of gas potentially recoverable from traditional reservoirs (conventional tight sands, carbonates, and shales) and 157 tcf in coalbed gas resources. Compared with yearend 2016, traditional resources climbed 559 tcf, or 21%, while coalbed gas resources decreased by 2 tcf.

PGC assesses technically recoverable resources and does not consider a specific price of schedule for the discovery and production of gas. The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration estimates proved gas reserves, which are additional to resources that PGC assesses.

PGC noted that when its assessments of technically recoverable resources are combined with EIA’s latest determination of proved reserves—464 tcf of gas at yearend 2017—the US future supply of gas stands at a record 3,838 tcf, 697 tcf, or 22%, more than the previous evaluation.

What led to growth

“More well drilling and continuous improvements in completion and stimulation technologies lead to better delineation and characterization of US gas resources, especially in shale and tight reservoirs,” Milikov said.

The Atlantic area ranked as the country’s richest gas resource region with 41% of total US traditional resources, followed by the Midcontinent with 19%, the Gulf Coast—including the Gulf of Mexico—with 16%, and the Rocky Mountains with 16%. Changes in the total assessment from yearend 2016 to yearend 2018 arose primarily from the evaluation of recent drilling, well tests, and production data from these four areas, the PGC said.

It said the largest volumetric gains (264 tcf, or 25%) were reported in the Atlantic area, mainly from increased new drilling and production results from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in the Appalachian basin. Changes arose primarily from evaluation of recent drilling, well test, and production results from the Marcellus and Utica plays in the Appalachian basin.

Midcontinent assessments rose by 245 tcf, or 66%, reflecting intensive developments of conventional, tight, and shale reservoirs in the Permian basin, PGC said. It accounted in its resource evaluation for additional zones and potential well locations associated with stacked pays recently developed there.

Gas resources in the Rocky Mountains increased by 65 tcf, or 15%, from levels at yearend 2016, PGC said. The growth reflected large revisions in the Williston and Denver basins. Specifically, PGC said it accounted more rigorously for gas associated with the production of liquids in those basins.

Gulf Coast decreases

The Gulf Coast area had a modest decrease (22 tcf, or 4%), mainly from downsizing of the type of well used in the Eagle Ford play and lack of resource additions to replace production from the Eagle Ford and Haynesville shale plays, PGC said.

It said the importance of shale gas in the US was apparent since PGC’s mean total assessed shale gas resource of 2,107 tcf at yearend 2018 accounts for about 62% of the country’s total potential resources. Shale gas resources rose by 310 tcf, or 17%, from yearend 2016 to yearend 2018, it noted.

“This is really a story about innovation—using technology to tap a previously inaccessible resources,” said Richard Meyer, AGA’s managing director of energy analysis. “We’re seeing both record production and consumption. We’re also seeing low and stable gas prices. [Last year] was a record year for consumption. In 2019, it’s up 5% year-to-date. On average, we add one new gas customer per minute in this country.”

Meyer observed that 55% of the 2019 year-to-date US demand growth has been associated with exports of gas to Mexico and LNG to other countries. “LNG exports will be increasingly important,” Meyer said. “We don’t see them affecting domestic prices. In fact, they could stabilize domestic prices as they grow.”

Harbert said, “Natural gas has transformed the American economy and energy future for the better. Any realistic plan toward a cleaner energy future will have gas as a foundation.”

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

SABIC, ExxonMobil break ground on US Gulf Coast petrochemical project

A joint venture of Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. and ExxonMobil Corp. has started construction of the JV’s Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project, a 1.8 million-tonne/year ethane cracking complex in San Patricio County, Tex., near Corpus Christi.

 

 

A joint venture of Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and ExxonMobil Corp. has started construction of the JV’s Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) project, a 1.8 million-tonne/year ethane cracking complex in San Patricio County, Tex., near Corpus Christi

A groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed project took place at the Texas construction site on Sept. 13, SABIC said on official Facebook account.

The ExxonMobil-SABIC JV received final environmental regulatory approval in June to proceed with construction of the GCGV project, which—alongside the ethane steam cracker and two polyethylene units—also will include a 1.1 million-tpy monoethylene glycol unit

Upon announcing regulatory approval, the JV also confirmed it has let engineering, procurement, and construction contracts for the GCGV project to John Wood Group PLC as well as a consortium of McDermott International Inc. and Turner Industries Group LLC (

Project approval follows ExxonMobil and SABIC’s 2018 formation of the 50-50 GCGV JV—under which ExxonMobil will act as site operator—and the April 2017 selection of the San Patricio County site, which will allow ExxonMobil and SABIC to take advantage of the region’s existing infrastructure to capture competitive pricing for US natural gas feedstock as well as access to rising demand for ethylene-based products in overseas export markets.

Alongside forming part of SABIC’s growth strategy to build petrochemical installations in key markets—including the Americas—to address industry demand and achieve the company’s 2025 strategy, the proposed multibillion GCGV project also is one of the developments included as part of ExxonMobil’s 10-year, $20-billion “Growing the Gulf” expansion initiative announced in early 2017.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, please sign in.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.