The digital oilfield - How technology is changing the oil and gas industry

The growing technological advancements in the field of oil and gas exploration are often overlooked. While there is much rounds of discussion going over in other industries, there is little talk of the impact of technology in this industry. According to a report by the market research firm, Lux Research, the production of the world's petroleum supplies will increase six-fold by the use of new drilling technologies. This shows how much the oil and gas industry have changed due to the technological advancements in this field.

In the recent times of oil and gas exploration industry, we have seen how the digital oilfields have changed the scenario and made the workflow more effective. This is not a new concept and is more than twenty years old, but it has evolved with the development of technology and now plays a great impact on the process.


What is a digital oilfield?

In brief, digital oilfield is used to describe the various activities referring to hardware or software employed to automate a particular exploration and production task. The modern digital oilfield has evolved into a complex system where the use of advanced software and data analysis techniques enables an organisation to make optimal decisions while working in remote, unconventional and challenging environments.

The concept of the digital oilfield came into being with some of the challenges that oil and gas industry faced. With the decrease in the number of new discoveries, the expense for oil exploration has gone up using the traditional methods. Also, the use of new exploration technologies and techniques require the companies to incorporate the use of a modified workflow and business process into the traditional methods to allow fast, collaborative execution of interrelated tasks among distributed teams. The key to the effective performance of a digital oilfield lies in the extensive real-time data that are nowadays easily available. All digital oilfields have a common way of gathering and exchanging of data to support exploration and production business decisions.

Levels of a digital oilfield

A digital oilfield has basically three different levels in the context of data. These levels show how data is processed and analysed in the different functionalities to facilitate the efficiency in their respective fields.

Data Level - This level refers to the collection of data from the source. Through the use of technology (hardware and software) like sensors and surveillance software, real-time data are collected.
Database Level - With the huge amount of real-time data available, there is a need for data storage. This level refers to the storage of data in a format through which the required data can be easily obtained for use by the different functional areas.
Application Level - This level refers to the analysis and research of the data for the efficient performing of the workflow design and to make any changes as required.
Why digital oilfield?

Digital oilfields have revolutionised the oil and gas industry and has changed the way exploration and production is done. Here are some of the advantages that make digital oilfields a preferred option for most oil and gas companies.

The downtime of oil wells can be reduced with early detection of underperforming wells.
It enables organisations to harness collective expertise from their global workforce to improve efficiency and thus, increase the overall productivity.
With the tracking of real-time data, it helps management to make strategic and operational decisions quickly.
The production of a well can be matched to its full potential.
Quicker response to emergency.

Read more at: http://www.oilvoice.com/n/The-digital-oilfield-How-technology-is-changing-the-oil-and-gas-industry/af735721f05d.aspx

Drones and data could dominate future oil fields

A pump collects data about the oil it is hauling to the surface and re-configures its operations to handle the crude more efficiently. A roughneck tripped up by a repair job logs into a mobile device from the rig and downloads a training video. Drones fly out to remote locations to inspect oil field equipment and scour the best places for new well pads.

This is the digital oilfield, as envisioned by Houston-based oil producer Occidental Petroleum.

As oil companies hunt for new ideas to save money amid a global crude slump that’s dried up revenue and forced a retreat from once-booming shale plays, they are increasingly turning to the tech industry for nontraditional ideas that could help them operate faster and better than their competitors.

“I think there’s a tremendous amount of technology that’s currently in our pockets and in use in the consumer world … that are improving not only the way we live, but could also impact the operational inefficiencies that we have a challenge with in the oil field,” Yanni Charalambous, vice president and chief information officer at Occidental Petroleum. He shared the company’s vision about the future of the oil industry Tuesday with an audience gathered in Houston for an annual innovation expo hosted by software company Landmark, a division of oil field services giant Halliburton.

Falling oil prices may be battering exploration and production companies and forcing industry-wide cutbacks and layoffs, but the downturn hasn’t curtailed the appetite for sophisticated technologies that promise to transform the old school oil patch where reports still get jotted down on paper and workers waste huge amounts of time traveling between corporate offices and remote drill sites.

Oil companies have long struggled to capture and process the vast amounts of information collected from the oil field in part because some of the reporting continues to be done on paper, but also because the industry has been overwhelmed the by the sheer amount of data to crunch, Charalambous said.

Lower oil prices intensify the industry’s scramble to figure out how to unlock the secrets buried in reams of data gathered during exploration, production and drilling to be able to operate faster and better, Landmark’s vice president Nagaraj Srinivasan said in an interview with Fuel Fix.

“If prices stay lower for longer, the only mechanism to keep a sustainable low-cost view is to invest in technology and innovate,” Srinivasan said. “Because at the end of the day, that’s what changes your fixed cost structure.”

Read more at: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/08/25/falling-prices-intensify-oil-companies-push-toward-the-digital-oil-field

Schlumberger, Cameron's $14.8B Tie-Up to Create Oilfield Powerhouse

Schlumberger Ltd. and frequent partner Cameron International Corp. agreed Wednesday to merge in a deal estimated to be worth $14.8 billion, combining complementary technology portfolios that they said would be the industry's first "complete" drilling and production systems.

The transaction between the world's No. 1 oilfield services company, with principal offices in Houston and Paris, and Houston-based Cameron would create a "pore-to-pipeline" products and services company. Cameron, whose portfolio spans upstream to downstream markets, reported $10 billion-plus in revenues for 2014. On a proforma basis, the combined company had 2014 revenues of $59 billion. Schlumberger valued the deal at $14.8 billion, while independent reviews set the value on Wednesday at closer to $12.7 billion.

"This agreement with Cameron opens new and broader opportunities for Schlumberger," Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard said. Last summer, before oil prices plummeted, Kibsgaard had highlighted how the exploration and production industry had to transform to deliver increased performance at a time of range-bound prices (see Daily GPI, June 26, 2014). Last month he also said the recovery in North America was months away (see Daily GPI, July 17).

"With oil prices now at lower levels, oilfield services companies that deliver innovative technology and greater integration while improving efficiency, which our customers increasingly demand, will outperform the market."

The world's No. 2 and No. 3 global oilfield operators Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. last year agreed to a $35 billion merger, which is scheduled to be completed later this year (see Daily GPI, July 13; Nov. 17, 2014).

"We believe that the next industry technical breakthrough will be achieved through integration of Schlumberger's reservoir and well technologies with Cameron's leadership in surface, drilling, processing and flow control technologies," Kibsgaard said. "Deep reservoir knowledge further enabled by instrumentation, software and automation, will launch a new era of complete drilling and production system performance."

The combination also would "achieve significant efficiency gains through lowering operating costs, streamlining supply chains and improving manufacturing processes while leveraging the Schlumberger transformation platform."

Read more at: http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/103448-schlumberger-camerons-148b-tie-up-to-create-oilfield-powerhouse

Oilfield Auxiliary Rental Equipment Market is Expected to Reach $35 Billion by 2020

According to a new report by Allied Market Research, titled "GCC Oilfield Auxiliary Rental Equipment Market", the GCC oilfield auxiliary rental equipment market is forecast to reach $35 Billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 9.4% during the period (2014 - 2020). The market would primarily be driven by an increased demand of energy sources and the need of cost optimization.

Oilfield auxiliary equipment are machines and instruments that are used to supplement the drilling process at oilfields. The equipment used less frequently on the oilfield are availed on rent by various oil extraction companies. The auxiliary equipment consist of sewage systems, mud labs, lighting system, distribution panels, storage tanks, debris junk catchers, transportation system, heat exchanges, flaring systems, drilling instruments and others. The major factors driving the oilfield auxiliary rental equipment market include the rising demand for energy sources, impending need for cost optimization and increasing deep offshore oil production activities. However, some of the restraints associated with the market are the advent of automated systems and lack of skilled workforce. The impact of automated systems is expected to affect the auxiliary rental equipment market in near future.

Request Free Sample of This Report at: http://bit.ly/1JkCS3s

The report analyzes the market in the GCC region. In order to study the regional imperatives, the research is focused on countries such as Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, etc. Weatherford, Schlumberger, The Olayan Group, Key Energy Services and others are some of the key players in the GCC region.  Merger/acquisition and expansions are the prime strategies followed by numerous companies to gain a competitive edge in the market.

EY BENEFITS 

• The study provides an in-depth analysis of the oilfield auxiliary rental equipment market with current and future trends to elucidate the imminent investment pockets in the market
• Current and future trends are outlined to determine the overall attractiveness and to single out profitable trends in order to gain a stronger foothold in the market
• The report provides information regarding key drivers and challenges with their impact  on the market
• Quantitative analysis of the current market and estimations through 2013-2020 are provided to highlight the ongoing and future trends
• Porters Five Forces model and SWOT analysis of the industry illustrate the potency of the buyers & suppliers participating in the market

Read related News: http://prn.to/1IJTvHB

MARKET SEGMENTATION MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY

• UAE
• Saudi Arabia
• Qatar
• Oman
• Kuwait
• Bahrain

KEY PLAYERS

• Superior Energy Services Inc.
• Schlumberger Limited
• Oil States International Inc.
• Weatherford
• The Olayan Group
• Key Energy Services Inc.

Google can tell if a home should convert to solar energy

Google has a new tool that can determine if your house should convert to solar power.

The search giant’s recently released Project Sunroof wants to map the amount of sunlight a rooftop receives to help decide if it makes financial sense to go solar.

By typing the home’s address into Project Sunroof, users can find out how much space there is for solar panels on the roof, how many hours of rooftop sunlight it would get a year and how much power bills could be cut by.

Project Sunroof comes under the $US2 billion ($2.8 billion) that Google is funding for renewable energy projects.

How it works

Upon typing in the address a Google Earth image of the home appears with the roof a colour ranging from yellow to purple, indicating how much sunlight hits the surface.

To determine this colour rating the program analyses the amount of solar radiation in the area surrounding the roof and 3D modelling of the roof.

It then adjusts for factors such as cloud and temperature patterns and shade from nearby buildings and trees.

Project Sunroof will also recommend the size of solar system that you should install based on your average electricity bill.

The final step in the process is Project Sunroof’s ability to put you in touch with a local solar panel company that will install the system for you.

One Forbes journalist has pointed out that Project Sunroof’s site doesn’t mention that solar companies will pay Google a hefty referral fee to anyone sending business their way.

So far the American cities San Francisco, Fresno and Boston are the only searchable ones.

Read more at: http://www.domain.com.au/news/google-can-tell-if-a-home-should-convert-to-solar-energy-20150826-gj6bur/

Barack Obama accuses pro-fossil fuel businesses of sabotaging solar energy

President Barack Obama has accused businesses profiting from fossil fuels of “standing in the way of the future” by actively trying to restrict customers’ access to solar, wind and renewable sources of energy.
Speaking at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas on Monday, the president singled out Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers and major Republican donors, whose company is embedded in the industry that transforms raw fossil fuels into useable goods.
Mr Obama accused the brothers, along with other “fuel interests” and conservative think tanks of pushing for new laws that would sabotage progress in renewable energy in order to protect their own interests.
“That’s not the American way. That's not progress,” he told the audience. “That's not innovation. That’s rent seeking and trying to protect old ways of doing business and standing in the way of the future.”

Read more at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11824256/Barack-Obama-accuses-pro-fossil-fuel-businesses-of-sabotaging-solar-energy.html

Oilseed plants being considered for biofuels

A non-food oilseed crop appears to a strong candidate for biofuel production. The crop has not previously been considered as a basis for fuels. New research suggests the crop has potential.

The oilseed in question is Camelina sativa. The crop is a hardy one and it can grow on most farmland and in areas where there is little rainfall. The oilseed can be rotated with wheat, providing farmers with an alternate food crop- biofuel crop regime. The ideal locations in the U.S. are within Kansas and Colorado. By alternating crops and not plundering food resources form the developing world, this type of biofuel goes someway to addressing the ethical dilemmas associated with biofuel crop production.

A biofuel is a type of fuel produced by processing a biological substance (typically a biomass). Most of the processes require the use of microorganisms, as with the production of bioethanol or the creation of hydrocarbons. Biofuels differ from fossil fuels (products of long geological processes.)

In experiments the oilseed has been used to produce the highest levels of modified seed lipids yet seen. These lipids provide the core ingredient for biofuel generation. The resultant food oil has a low viscosity and good cold temperature characteristics.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/oilseed-plants-being-considered-for-biofuels/article/441333#ixzz3jEo5FmUt

Transforming farm residues into biofuels and more

To cut the cost of biofuels, their production-process can be enhanced to include additional valuable biochemical compounds. A recent experimental study focuses on one source of biomass: residues from Brazilian palm oil production.

Biofuels still have a long way to go to become sustainable substitutes for fossil fuels. A number of social and environmental hurdles have to be overcome, and crucially, their price has to come down to make them competitive. One way to make the overall process economically viable would be to process the biomass in biorefineries and transform it into additional high value chemicals for the chemical industry. Publishing in the journal Industrial Crops and Products, researchers from EPFL present how one such source of biomass, agricultural residues from Brazilian oil palm plantations, can be used to produce bioethanol and two additional end products: furfural, a much-used industrial compound, and lignin, a solid fuel that can be used in the biorefinery.

Oil palm dates grow in bunches, which are harvested and pressed to extract oil, which is currently used for cooking, cosmetics, and the production of biodiesel, among others. The left over fibrous residues are typically discarded as waste. But as Edgard Gnansounou and Jegannathan Kenthorai Raman from EPFL's Bioenergy and Energy Planning Research Group (BPE) explain, the empty fruit bunches are far from worthless. "You can make at least 30 valuable biochemical compounds using residues from palm oil production," they say.

So are empty palm oil fruit bunches a sustainable source of biomass? And if so, what types of compounds should they be transformed into? These are the kinds of questions that Gnansounou and Kenthorai seek to address in their research. For this particular study, they characterized the composition of the empty fruit bunches and optimized the chemical processes for their transformation. These data will feed into an assessment of the environmental impact and economic cost that such a biorefinery would have.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-08-farm-residues-biofuels.html#jCp

Cheaper oil forces SA to rework biofuels subsidy

 SA’s biofuels funding incentive is being revamped over concerns that it is unaffordable after a halving of global crude oil prices over the past year, officials said on Tuesday.

A net importer of crude, Africa’s most advanced economy wants biofuels initially to meet 2%, or about 400-million litres, of the country’s annual fuel consumption to wean itself off oil imports and improve the trade balance.

However, regulatory uncertainty centred on financial support incentives to manufacturers has choked investment since the approval of a national biofuels strategy in 2007.

"There is a fiscal risk posed by the subsidy under the circumstances of a declining crude oil price," said deputy director-general of energy policy and planning Ompi Aphane.

"The extent of the subsidy increases tremendously because of the low prevailing price, because the model works much better at very high crude prices," Mr Aphane said.

Instead of a first-come, first-served model, the new proposed subsidy will see producers compete directly against each other based on their individual needs.

"You tell us how much subsidy you need and that would be a competitive element in determining who gets the subsidy. That is a major departure," Mr Aphane said.

Prospective producers are wary.

Phillip Bouwer, CE of Mabele Fuels, which plans to build South Africa’s largest sorghum-to-ethanol plant at a cost of R2.5bn, said it seemed the government wanted to replicate its successful renewable energy bidding scheme in other sectors.

"They are using a one-size-fits-all approach and that may be problematic," he said.

To read more at: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/energy/2015/08/11/cheaper-oil-forces-sa-to-rework-biofuels-subsidy

New Biofuel-Producing Bacteria Discovered

Scientists from the University of Maryland will report in the Journal of Theoretical Biology that they have isolated several different strains of bacteria that make high concentrations of biofuels from cellulosic biomass or from carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas.

The authors isolated bacteria that make high concentrations of alcohols including ethanol and 1-butanol, and other strains that make hydrocarbons, like hexane and octane.  These compounds are similar to components already found in gasoline.

Although the Department of Energy and many investors have invested millions of dollars trying to genetically engineer organisms like these, the scientists from Maryland led by UM professor Rick Korn say that such organisms are already common in nature. The reason the fuel doesn’t accumulate in natural environments is because it is more thermodynamically favorable to make other products.  When the products are made in nature, they are converted to other products by different organisms.

Using mathematical models of natural ecosystems incorporating the laws of thermodynamics, the authors identified conditions that favor production of desired fuels.  When they applied those conditions to mixed cultures of organisms taken from the rumen, or first stomach chamber of a cow, the desired fuel-producing organisms thrived and were enriched in the culture.  Eventually, using those favorable conditions, the fuel-producing bacteria were isolated.

The authors believe the research represents a paradigm shift for industrial microbiology because it shows how to isolate microorganisms based on the products they make as well as the substrates they use.  Previously, microbiologists would have isolated bacteria that grow on a certain substrate, for example cellulosic biomass, and then test to see what products they made.  However, they usually would not make fuels because the conditions of the culture tended to mimic the conditions of the natural environment, and therefore fuel production was not thermodynamically favorable.  In the authors approach, they use conditions to select for organisms that use the biomass to make certain products, like alcohols or hydrocarbons.

To read more at: http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2015/08/16/new-biofuel-producing-bacteria-discovered/

Security flaw affecting more than 100 car models exposed by scientists

Academics found cars were vulnerable to ‘keyless theft’, including models from Audi, Honda and Volkswagen – which suppressed the research for two years

A major security flaw in more than 100 car models has been exposed in an academic paper that was suppressed by a major manufacturer for two years.

Flavio Garcia, a computer scientist at the University of Birmingham, and two colleagues from a Dutch university were unable to release the paper after Volkswagen won a case in the high court to ban its publication.

The research team discovered car manufacturers including Audi, Citroën, Fiat, Honda and Volvo, as well as Volkswagen, had models that were vulnerable to “keyless theft” because a device designed to prevent the vehicles from being stolen could be disabled easily.

After years of formal and informal negotiations, Volkswagen has agreed to the publication of the paper after accepting the authors’ proposal to remove one sentence from the original manuscript.

Garcia and his colleagues Roel Verdult and Bariş Ege, from Radboud University in Nijmegen, said they found several weaknesses in the Swiss-made immobiliser system, called Megamos Crypto. The device works by preventing the engine from starting when the corresponding transponder – embedded in the key – is not present.

Documents confirm Apple is building self-driving car

 Read more

But the researchers showed it was possible to listen to signals sent between the security system and key, making the vehicles vulnerable to “close-range wireless communication” attacks.

“Our attacks require close range wireless communication with both the immobiliser unit and the transponder,” the team say in the paper. “It is not hard to imagine real-life situations like valet parking or car rental where an adversary has access to both for a period of time. It is also possible to foresee a setup with two perpetrators, one interacting with the car and one wirelessly pickpocketing the car key from the victim’s pocket.”

The computer scientists had wanted to publish the paper at the Usenix Security Symposium in Washington DC in 2013, but the court imposed an interim injunction. Volkswagen complained that its publication could “allow someone, especially a sophisticated criminal gang with the right tools, to break the security and steal a car”.

To read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/18/security-flaw-100-car-models-exposed-scientists-volkswagen-suppressed-paper

Shale Gas Market is expected to reach $104.1 Billion, Globally, by 2020 - Allied Market Research

According to a new market research report by Allied Market Research titled, "Global Shale Gas Market (Technology, Application and Geography) - Industry Analysis, Trends, Share, Opportunities and Forecast, 2013 - 2020" the global shale gas market is forecast to reach $104.1 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period (2014 - 2020). The corresponding volume consumption will reach 19,619.4 bcf in the same year. The advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques has nearly doubled the efficiency of shale gas retrieval from plays, revolutionizing the shale gas market. China is a major Asian country to propel the demand aided by insatiable energy needs and increasing dependence on natural gas.

"Shale gas, as potent alternative source of natural gas, is expected to shake up the global energy market in the coming years. The availability of large number of shale plays, which is estimated at 6,148 tcf in total, is presenting opportunity for marketer", state AMR analysts Apurva Sale and Guru Mallick. "Technological advancements vis-à-vis the exploration and extraction of shale gas are enabling corporations to gain strategically advantageous positions in the competitive market", add the analysts. Though the large number of shale gas reserves are available across the world, (North America 1685 tcf, South America 1430 tcf, Europe 470 tcf, Middle East and Africa 1393 tcf, and Asia-Pacific 1170 tcf), exploration and extraction still remains the major challenge in most of the regions due to high extraction cost and large amount water usage in conventional processes. The technological trend such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling for the extraction of the shale gas are contributing to the rise in the production of shale gas in various geographies. As shale plays are available in abundance and almost equally across the regions, the mass production will lower dependence on fossil fuel reserves which is available only in specific region. More energy independence with shale gas adoption will eventually lead to better economic stability of the country.

To View the complete report, visit the website at http://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/shale-gas-market

Despite the latent commercial potential, the regulatory issues in various regions would impede market growth. According to UK government, fracking would be impractical in the parts of UK due to the scarcity of the water supplies. Amidst, various European countries such as Poland, United Kingdom, and Algeria would start the production of shale gas in next two to three years with the help of advance extraction technology.

Shale Gas has a wide ranging application in power generation, industrial usage, residential and commercial utility and usage in transportation. The power generation sector would benefit the most from the adoption of shale gas as it would be a cost-effective alternative that ensures reduced electricity costs.

The worldwide adoption of shale gas as an energy resource would undoubtedly benefit every region. The usage of unconventional energy resource is an upcoming trend in the energy industry. A substantial number of shale reserves in countries such as China, Argentina and Algeria would act as a golden opportunity for companies to enter the shale gas market. The Asia Pacific region appears especially attractive due to the up gradation of technology for the extraction of shale gas and the significant number of shale reserves. In-spite large availability of shale reserves in the European countries the production and adoption would be at lower side due to stringent regulatory hurdles.

Key players such as Baker Hughes Incorporation, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, BHP Billiton Limited, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil & Chesapeake Energy Corporation and the developmental strategies adopted by them have been carefully examined. Acquisitions, expansions, partnerships, collaborations and joint ventures are some major strategies adopted by market players in order to sustain in the competitive market.

Solar energy giant to invest 'several hundred million' in Ireland

The UK-based firm, which is the world's third largest solar energy company outside of China and the biggest in Europe, announced yesterday that it is making a "significant" investment in Ireland.

The company develops and operates solar panels.

It both develops stand-alone solar farms and pairs with property owners who rent out their land or property to host solar panels. Lightsource installs and maintains the panels during their operational lifetime.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Nick Boyle, the Antrim-born founder and chief executive of Lightsource, said that the final amount invested would depend on the Government's current consultation process on renewable energy.

Advocates for solar energy hope that depending on the results of the Green Paper, which is seeking feedback on the role alternative technologies could have in developing renewable energy, subsidies will be put in place to encourage the development of solar energy in Ireland.

Mr Boyle said: "For us to be interested in Ireland at all we need to be looking at hundreds of millions of euros, it is very much dependent on the consultation." Asked why the company is deciding to move into the Irish market he said: "The biggest solar market in the world is Germany, which has similar radiation levels to the UK, which has similar levels to Ireland.

Read more at: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/solar-energy-giant-to-invest-several-hundred-million-in-ireland-31441288.html

Infrasound phobia spreads … to solar energy cells! What’s next?

Internoise is the world’s premier research conference for acousticians. The 2015 meeting is being held right now in San Francisco. Buried among the hundreds of papers is one that you could easily take as a prank: Infrasound and low-frequency noise measurements at a solar plant. The paper is by Mike Greene, an acoustician working for the Dudek company in San Juan Capistrano, California.

Greene conducted the environmental review for two proposed concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar energy facilities, which use lenses and curved mirrors to focus large areas of sunlight onto solar cells. Greene explains in his paper that following “comments from a private organization”, it became necessary for the review to investigate:

a concern that the CPV electric generation systems and associated inverters and transformers could produce high levels of infrasound and low frequency noise (ILFN).
The measurements were conducted at an existing solar energy farm in Southern California.

Infrasound and low frequency noise is generally inaudible unless it occurs at very high-pressure levels of more than 85 decibels on the G-weighted sound scale (dBG). This is the audibility threshold standard adopted by the Danish environmental protection agency.

We are all surrounded by inaudible infrasound that is produced by a wide diversity of sources from our own heartbeat and breathing, walking, wind and storms, the sea, traffic, and almost all mechanical equipment (stereos, car motors, ceiling fans, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines). We can hear these sources, but it’s not the infrasound we hear.

Read more at: http://theconversation.com/infrasound-phobia-spreads-to-solar-energy-cells-whats-next-46023

Cheaper oil forces SA to rework biofuels subsidy

SA’s biofuels funding incentive is being revamped over concerns that it is unaffordable after a halving of global crude oil prices over the past year, officials said on Tuesday.

A net importer of crude, Africa’s most advanced economy wants biofuels initially to meet 2%, or about 400-million litres, of the country’s annual fuel consumption to wean itself off oil imports and improve the trade balance.

However, regulatory uncertainty centred on financial support incentives to manufacturers has choked investment since the approval of a national biofuels strategy in 2007.

"There is a fiscal risk posed by the subsidy under the circumstances of a declining crude oil price," said deputy director-general of energy policy and planning Ompi Aphane.

"The extent of the subsidy increases tremendously because of the low prevailing price, because the model works much better at very high crude prices," Mr Aphane said.

Instead of a first-come, first-served model, the new proposed subsidy will see producers compete directly against each other based on their individual needs.

Read more at: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/energy/2015/08/11/cheaper-oil-forces-sa-to-rework-biofuels-subsidy

Biofuels producer Gevo makes its debut at the gas pump

Gevo Inc., the Douglas County-based biofuels producer, says that for the first time, a U.S. gas station is selling gasoline blended with Gevo's isobutanol at the pump.

Express Lube of Fredericksburg, Texas, is the first of what Gevo (Nasdaq: GEVO) hopes will be "the first of many retail locations to offer Gevo's product as the company rolls out its isobutanol to the marina, outdoor equipment and off-road gasoline markets," it said in a statement today.

The company said that the Texas service station's owner, Adam Sheffield, "decided to sell isobutanol-blended gasoline because its moisture resistance and capacity to reduce engine corrosion are ideal for equipment and vehicles that are used intermittently."

"Isobutanol is great for weed eaters, mowers and farm or ranch equipment that sits unused for long periods of time because it does not cause carburetors to gum up the way ethanol does," Sheffield said in a statement released by Gevo. "I tried it myself after discovering that the ethanol-blended gasoline sitting in my riding mower over the winter had ruined the carburetor. It cost me $700 to replace. That's when I switched to isobutanol."

Read more at: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/earth_to_power/2015/07/biofuels-producer-gevo-makes-its-debut-at-the-gas.html

Natural Gas Price Ticks Up on Smaller Inventory Increase

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that U.S. natural gas stocks increased by 32 billion cubic feet for the week ending July 31. Analysts polled by Bloomberg expected a storage injection (increase) of 40 billion cubic feet. The five-year average for the week is an increase of around 53 billion cubic feet.


Natural gas futures for September delivery traded down about six cents in advance of the EIA’s report, at around $2.75 per million BTUs, and popped higher to about $2.82 following release of the report. Last Thursday, natural gas closed at $2.78 per million BTUs and over the past five trading days, natural gas futures peaked Wednesday at around $2.86. The 52-week low for natural gas futures is $2.59. One year ago the price for a million BTUs was around $3.87.

Demand for natural gas is expected to decline as temperatures moderate across much of the more heavily populated regions of the United States. In Texas and the Southeastern states generally, high temperatures and humidity are expected to boost demand for air conditioning. By next week, higher temperatures are expected to move back over the northern portion of the country.

Read more at: http://247wallst.com/energy-economy/2015/08/06/natural-gas-price-ticks-up-on-smaller-inventory-increase/

Obama spurns natural gas in climate rule

The president once touted gas as an essential clean bridge fuel to wean the United States off dirtier fossil fuels and onto renewable energy, and it was seen as a key to his landmark climate change rule for power plants.

But when Obama unveiled the finalized rule this week, he barely spoke about natural gas. Instead, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) boasted that the new regulation will accommodate a large transition from coal power directly to renewables like wind and solar, skipping over natural gas altogether.
The White House said the proposed rule encourages a boom in natural gas use because of a set of carbon reduction deadlines for states in 2020, which would be too soon for many states to deploy renewables.

“The proposed rule relied on a large, early shift of coal generation to natural gas,” officials said in a fact sheet. “For example, the share of natural gas in the generation mix was projected to be significantly higher in 2020 than in the baseline.”

But that deadline was pushed back two years.

“Instead, the rule drives early reductions from renewable energy and energy efficiency, which will drive a more aggressive transformation in the domestic energy industry,” it said.

The rule does not actually instruct states to choose some generation sources over others, and promises that no coal-fired power plant will have to be retired before its useful life is over.

Read more at: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250268-obama-spurns-natural-gas-in-climate-rule

Energy firm submits application for exploratory Nottinghamshire shale gas drilling

According to Nottinghamshire County Council, Island Gas Limited (IGas) has submitted an application to it seeking planning permission to install monitoring boreholes on land off Springs Road, to the north-east of Misson in Bassetlaw, which is close to the Nottinghamshire, Doncaster and North Lincolnshire local government boundary.

The proposed development would involve drilling of up to 12 boreholes across four locations, to monitor groundwater, the council said.

According to the council, the boreholes "would be monitored for a period of at least 12 months, and may be required for a longer period depending on the outcome of any future exploratory drilling application".

Sally Gill, planning manager at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: "The Infrastructure Act 2015 includes a requirement for the level of methane in groundwater to be monitored for a period of 12 months before any associated hydraulic fracturing – which would require a separate planning application - can begin.

"The proposed development would assist IGas in collecting the necessary monitoring information".

Source: http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1358758/energy-firm-submits-application-exploratory-nottinghamshire-shale-gas-drilling

Public support for UK nuclear and shale gas falls to new low

Long-running government survey drops usual polling showing support for renewable energy, for first time

British public support for nuclear power and shale gas has fallen to its lowest ever level in a long-running official government survey, which has also briefly ceased polling showing widespread public support for renewable energy.

Nuclear and fracking for shale gas are key planks of the Conservative government’s energy policy, but the polling published on Tuesday shows just one in five people now support shale gas and one in three support nuclear.

Government sources warned last week that fracking plans could be delayed for 16 months after Lancashire county council rejected applications by shale gas company Cuadrilla to drill and frack wells in Fylde.

Plans for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley in Somerset have also come under fire recently, with the Conservative peer Lord Howell of Guildford warning of rising costs of the “elephantine” project and HSBC criticising the £25bn cost for Hinkley’s new reactors.

Green campaigners and renewable trade bodies said the polling showed the government was at odds with the public.

Daisy Sands, Greenpeace UK head of energy, said: “The government’s own survey shows ministers’ priorities on energy are at the polar opposite of what the British public wants. Popular technologies like wind and solar are having their support axed, whilst the more-unpopular-than-ever fracking industry keeps getting preferential treatment.”

Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/04/public-support-for-uk-nuclear-shale-gas-falls-new-low

Shale gas firm’s hunt for Lancashire base

Cuadrilla has announced it is to relocate its head office to Lancashire – in a sign of ‘continued commitment’ to shale gas exploration in the county.

The British company’s new headquarters will position its management and operational team within its shale gas exploration licence area in Lancashire – although no firm location has yet been identified.

Cuadrilla currently has its head office in Lichfield, Staffordshire, where the company was founded in 2007 by a small group of British geologists who had met and worked together at Birmingham University.

The firm had used rooms belonging to the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce as a temporary base in the county.

Read more at: http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/business/local-business/shale-gas-firm-s-hunt-for-lancashire-base-1-7396612

Oil and gas helps accelerate UK growth

Improved North Sea oil and gas production helped the UK economy grow in the three months to July, but the strength of the pound remained a drag on exporters, according to a survey.

The CBI’s latest growth indicator comes days after official figures showed growth bounced back in the second quarter with a reading of 0.7% after a slow start to 2015.

Gross domestic product (GDP) figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday showed growth had improved from 0.4% in the first quarter to 0.7% in the April-June period.

Budget tax breaks to support the industry helped North Sea oil and gas improve production.
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A balance of firms reporting growth in the past three months minus those seeing declines gave a reading of plus 20%, up from plus 14% in June.

The rebound was largely due to a faster pace of growth in the business and professional services sector, said the CBI, while expansion for manufacturers and retailers was moderate.

Growth is expected to strengthen further in the coming three months, with a balance of 27%, according to the poll of 736 businesses.

Anna Leach, CBI head of economic analysis, said: “A healthy pace of growth puts the economy on a firm footing going into the third quarter and it looks set to stay that way through the rest of this year, as low oil prices and inflation help support spending.

To read more at: https://www.energyvoice.com/other-news/83856/oil-and-gas-helps-accelerate-uk-growth/

Renewable energy: Senate inquiry push to slash wind farm subsidies will 'destroy sector'

The future of renewable energy in Australia would be destroyed if "radical" recommendations from a Senate inquiry into wind power are adopted, the clean power industry says.

An investigation has been launched into how details of the final report, due to be tabled in Parliament on Monday, were leaked to News Corp and published on Friday.

The Senate inquiry is led by anti-wind power crossbenchers David Leyonhjelm, John Madigan and Bob Day.

According to The Australian, the report will urge the Abbott government to restrict renewable energy certificates for new wind farms to a period of five years, down from more than 20.
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The certificates are a type of subsidy that support wind and other clean power projects.
The report will also reportedly recommend the certificates be granted only to projects in states that adhere to federal rules on infrasound and low-frequency noise.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described wind farms as "noisy" and "visually awful" and says they may be harmful to health.

The National Health and Medical Research Council last year concluded there was no reliable or consistent evidence wind farms caused health problems.

The reported recommendations follow the government's moves to prevent the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation from backing wind energy and household solar projects.
The clean power industry is still recovering from a long period of investment uncertainty after months of political deadlock over the renewable energy target.

Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton said the report's recommendations were provided to the media before being seen by the industry or Parliament, showing the inquiry was "a biased political stitch-up by a small group of senators opposed to the cheapest forms of renewable energy".

He said the recommendations would "destroy the future of renewable energy", and the leak was a "clear breach of proper parliamentary process".

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/renewable-energy-senate-inquiry-push-to-slash-wind-farm-subsidies-will-destroy-sector-20150731-giophd.html

Obama’s Clean Power Plan Will Actually Lower Your Energy Bill, According To New Study

A new study from researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology examines how states can reduce carbon pollution cheaply while also keeping household energy prices low. Titled “Low-Carbon Electricity Pathways for the U.S. and the South,” the report found that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants — a requirement of the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan — could be done cost effectively through a combination of renewable energy and energy efficiency policies as well as a modest carbon price.

To minimize costs, the country needs to reduce its coal consumption more rapidly.

“To minimize costs, the country needs to reduce its coal consumption more rapidly, continue to expand its gas-fired power plants, but temper this growth with aggressive policies to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy,” Marilyn Brown, the project’s lead researcher and the Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech, told ThinkProgress.
The researchers also found that complying with the Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce emissions from U.S. power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, would produce substantial collateral benefits. These include lower electricity bills, greater GDP growth, and significant reductions in SO2, NOx, and mercury emissions.

“The strong push on energy efficiency also enables GDP to rise above the business-as-usual forecast,” said Brown. “The U.S. increases its exports and decreases its imports as a result of being more competitive.”

The Obama Administration’s final Clean Power Plan rule is expected in early August. This study is the second one in a number of days to spell out how complying with the rule could end up saving customers money on their energy bills. Another study published by the energy research firm Synapse Energy Economics last week found that energy bills in 2030 could be $35 per month lower under a “Clean Energy Future” scenario as compared to business-as-usual. These studies are significant not only for their research value, but also because they push back on the oft-employed talking point that the Clean Power Plan — and renewable energy deployment in general — will cause electricity rates to skyrocket.

“As energy is used more efficiently, non-competitive power plants can be retired, construction of new coal plants can be deferred, and transmission and distribution infrastructure investments can be delayed, all of which would lower rates and therefore lower the energy bills of all consumers,” Brown said. “This is a counter-intuitive finding to some who keep hearing from critics that have claimed that it will significantly increase the electricity bills of American families.”
The Clean Power Plan allows for state-level flexibility in meeting the carbon reduction targets, which vary according to state. In the proposed rule, Washington needs to cut its emissions by 72 percent in 2030 compared to 2012, while Kentucky only needs to reduce power plant emissions by 18 percent. This variability is meant to reflect both the potential reduction options available to the state as well as reductions expected from existing policies.

“With the compliance flexibilities woven into the CPP, states have an array of options before them,” the authors of the Georgia Tech report write. “On the supply side, they need to assess opportunities to shift the mix of fuels used to generate electricity in their state. On the demand side, they need to consider options for decreasing electricity consumption through energy-efficiency programs and policies.”

States need to prepare for a future where solar energy plays a much stronger role.
The researchers modeled the ways that options could be combined to achieve the desired pollution cuts without increasing electricity prices. Brown said they used a state-of-the-art analysis tool called the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) that the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) also uses.
“It is arguably the most influential energy modeling tool in the U.S.,” she said. “It’s a ‘bottom up’ model with lots of resolution about specific supply- and demand-side technologies.”
Brown and her small team of researchers found that the combination of lower renewable energy costs, a $10 to $20 price metric per ton of CO2 emissions, and integrated energy efficiency policies could curtail emissions growth substantially from the power sector — but that in isolation, none of these would achieve the desired cuts.

The current carbon price per metric ton in California, where a statewide carbon market was recently set up, is $12.67. France introduced a domestic carbon tax in 2014 that started at $7.69/metric ton, but will rise to around $16 by 2020 for large emitters.

While none of these steps on their own will achieve the desired outcome, the researchers found that reduced capital costs for renewables and additional carbon costs from fossil fuel emissions will create “a synergistic force for driving growth in renewable energy.”

This force will cause large increases in renewable energy generation when compared to the reference case — by 44 percent in the United States overall and 76 percent in the South. This is not true of all forms of renewable energy, such as hydropower and nuclear, but specifically applies to wind, biomass, and solar.

To read more at: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/07/30/3685299/cheapest-way-to-reduce-power-plant-emissions-and-save-money-on-electricity/

Energy provider Your Group making Bristol cleaner and greener

An energy provider is helping Bristol to make the transition to being powered by clean energy.

Your Power is working with Bristol City Council to install solar panels on a range of community buildings, council offices, libraries, schools, and sports centres throughout the city, generating renewable power for the country's homes.

Your Power is part of Your Group, an energy provider which works in solar PV, hydro, electrical, and asset development.

As well as working hard in the green energy sector, the company is also sponsoring one of Green Capital 2015 awards, the Eco Green Building Award. This award will go to the most interesting sustainable building completed since January 1, 2014.

Your Group is actively challenging the thinking around traditional energy, and is helping clients to thrive in the low-carbon economy.

Jamie O'Nians, Your Group CEO, said: "Now is an exciting time to be active in the low-carbon sector, as sustainable practices become an integral part of everyday business.

"We are proud to be sponsoring the Eco Green Building Award 2015 and to help showcase the great achievements of organisations and businesses across the city in bringing low-carbon innovation into their buildings.

Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Energy-provider-Group-making-Bristol-cleaner/story-27515382-detail/story.html

What’s Wrong with Senate Energy Bill

The Senate is attempting to move forward with allegedly non-controversial legislation, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, which, according to proponents, contains no “poison pills.”

But for anyone who wants to swallow a strong dose of government intervention and anti-market energy policy, this bill is chock full of poison pills.

Like the last two major energy bills passed in 2005 and 2007, a few good provisions do not outweigh the abundance of bad policies that waste taxpayer dollars, restrict energy choice and distort markets.

Reforming old laws and breaking down government-imposed barriers to make energy markets more innovative and competitive takes energy policy in the right direction, but the Energy Policy Modernization Act largely perpetuates the status quo of the government thinking it knows best, by picking winners and losers.

The legislation provides taxpayer-funded subsidies generating renewable energy and efficiency retrofits at schools and at non-profit organizations, and for improving energy efficiency for state and tribal buildings.

Not only are these programs duplicative of state efforts, they are also wasteful and distort the choices that families, businesses, schools, and state and local governments can make on their own.

American families and businesses have many different needs. A one-size-fits-all regulation or subsidy to artificially elevate the importance of energy efficiency is not only wasting taxpayer dollars, it is skewing consumer preferences and the market at large.

Read more at: http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/30/whats-wrong-with-senate-energy-bill/

Butterflies could help bring down your energy bill

Scientists have unlocked the secret behind the cabbage white butterfly’s ability to get airborne when the sun is not shining and hope this can make solar energy more effective.

By mimicking the V-shaped posture cabbage white butterflies use to warm up their flight muscles, power providers would be able to generate photovoltaic energy more efficiently.

Aware that cabbage white butterflies take flight before rival species on cloudy days, a team of experts from the University of Exeter has been studying butterfly wing structure and the way it uses “reflectance basking” to give the insect head start in the morning.

Copying the same designs would have incredible benefits for solar panels, increasing the power produced by more than 50 per cent as well as increasing the power-to-weight ratio of solar energy structure 17-fold.

Experts at the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) and the Centre for Ecology and Conservation, based at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, published their research - White butterflies as solar photovoltaic concentrators – today in the leading journal, Scientific Reports.

Professor Tapas Mallick, lead author of the research said:“Biomimicry in engineering is not new. However, this truly multidisciplinary research shows pathways to develop low cost solar power that have not been done before.”

This proves that the lowly cabbage white is not just a pest of your cabbages but actually an insect that is an expert at harvesting solar energy
Richard french-Constant
The team also studied the tiny sub structures of butterfly wings which allow light to reflected more efficiently and ensures their flight muscles are warmed to an optimal temperature as quickly as possible.

For butterflies, taking flight early means getting to the best supplies of nectar before other species.

On a human scale, it could mean solar farms become a bigger player in the quest for cleaner, cheaper renewable energy.

One of the areas the research team investigated was how to replicate butterfly wings to develop a new, lightweight reflective material that could be used in solar energy production.

To read more at: http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/595161/Butterfly-energy-prices-solar-power

$185 Billion In New Oil and Gas Projects Up For Grabs

Important news last week -- from a place that's quickly becoming the world's focus for high-impact oil and gas projects.

That's Iran. Where government officials said they are on the verge of revolutionizing the country's petroleum sector. Which could provide big profit opportunities for foreign investors.

Iran's deputy oil minister for commerce and international affairs, Hossein Zamaninia, told Reuters that the country has already identified 50 oil and gas projects it will offer for bids. With the government pegging the value of these properties at $185 billion.

Related: Oil Price Rout Set To Inflict Real Pain On Russia

And officials are hoping to get these fields licensed out soon. With Zamaninia saying that the government plans to offer all of the blocks over the next five years.

Perhaps most importantly, Iranian officials say they have designed a new petroleum contract structure for international investors. Which they are calling the "integrated petroleum contract" or IPC.

Related: Busting The Myth Of A ‘Green Europe’

Officials said that the IPCs will last for a term of 20 to 25 years. A substantial improvement over the older, shorter-term contracts -- which have been a major stumbling point for the world's oil and gas companies.

To read more at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/185-Billion-In-New-Oil-and-Gas-Projects-Up-For-Grabs.html

Where In The World Is The Shale Gas Revolution?

As it stands the global shale gas revolution is missing in action. To be sure, its impact in the United States – and the subsequent ripple worldwide – was nothing short of game-changing, but the wave of enthusiasm has yet to produce substantial results outside of North America.

Still, the dream is far from dead and exciting prospects abound from Argentina to China, and elsewhere in between. Both shale gas and tight oil – more than happenings in Iran, or drilling in the Arctic – look primed to be the dominant market movers in the short- to medium-term.

The U.S. experience is hard to replicate, and with the custom-tailored approach that hydraulic fracturing demands, it’s a difficult template for shale hopefuls to follow verbatim. It does however, provide a basic outline for what works and what doesn’t – an outline that explains the muted success abroad.

First, a helpful tax regime minimized the risk for early, pre-commercial, shale wildcatters. Between 1980 and 2002, tax credits via the federal government subsidized shale gas producers by between 20 to 60 percent of market prices. Also of note is the U.S.’ extensive – and unbundled – pipeline network, robust service sector, and the relative widespread availability of water.

Related: China Doubles Down On Dirty Fuel

Perhaps more important though, are mineral rights. One of the key ingredients to the shale revolution in the U.S. is the ownership of mineral rights for landowners. That gives them a stake in the boom. But that is rare outside of the U.S. – in many other countries the government owns the mineral rights beneath a landowner’s land. That has slowed development in China, and contributed to preventing shale gas development across mainland Europe.

In the U.S., federal or nationally owned lands hinder, rather than help, development. Since fiscal year 2010, production of primarily shale gas and tight oil on federal land is down 31 percent and 10 percent respectively. Conversely, nonfederal lands have seen shale gas and tight oil production grow 37 percent and 89 percent respectively.

Of course, none of the aforementioned factors are prerequisite for shale success. Where there’s a will, there’s a way – and several countries are blazing their own trail in the pursuit of shale spoils.

Relatively new on the scene, but hot out of the gates is Argentina. The South American country is believed to hold more than 800 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas – ranking it at number three globally. At 27 billion barrels, its technically recoverable shale oil resources rank fourth worldwide.

Related: What Is In Store For the Halliburton-Baker Hughes Tie-Up?

Argentina has yet to produce commercial volumes of shale gas – April saw production hit 67 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) – but interest and capital are present in abundance. Americas Petrogas, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Gazprom, Petronas, and Sinopec are just some of the players working with the national energy company, YPF, to tap the massive Vaca Muerta shale play.

To read more at: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Where-In-The-World-Is-The-Shale-Gas-Revolution.html

Industrial natural gas use to continue to grow quickly, EIA says

New plants coming online are set to drive industrial natural gas growth forward by more than three percent in the next two years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in an analysis Wednesday.

Industrial facilities, which include methanol and fertilizer plants, consumed an average of 21.0 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in 2014, up 24 percent from 2009. By the end of 2015, that figure is expect to rise by another 3.4 percent to an annual average of 21.7 billion cubic feet per day. In 2016, the EIA predicted another 3.9 percent gain to 22.5 billion cubic feet per day — a powerful bump in demand for the commodity.

Natural gas is widely used in the U.S. to make chemicals, to heat homes and to generate electricity.

Natural gas prices have collapsed from roughly $5-plus per million British thermal unit between 2000 and 2010 to less than $3.00 per million British thermal unit recently, as shale drillers unlocked massive amounts of the fuel from previously impermeable rock.

Industrial and other users of the fuel have stepped up plans to switch to natural gas as the fuel has become relatively cheaper. Much of the additional demand is expected to come from new industrial facilities coming online along the Gulf Coast.

In 2016, the EIA said three methanol plants are expected to come online in the region, using almost 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Methanol is often combined with other chemicals to make things such as plastics and paints. An additional 100 million cubic feet of demand for the fuel is expected to come from a nitrogen fertilizer plant coming online in 2016.

Outside of the Gulf Coast, the EIA has tracked new methanol plans in Washington and Oregon, where companies are hoping to export the chemical to China. Fertilizer plants have also popped up in the agricultural areas  of Iowa, Indiana and North Dakota.

Read more at: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/07/29/industrial-natural-gas-use-to-continue-to-grow-quickly-eia-says/

Oil’s bear market may challenge Nasdaq’s new energy futures exchange

Experts project robust growth in trading volumes on Nasdaq OMX Group’s new energy derivatives exchange, despite oil prices’ recent moves into bear market territory.

After U.S. oil prices met the common definition of a bear market last week — by falling more than 20% from recent peaks, the Brent crude oil price LCOU5, +1.69%  followed suit this week. The international benchmark dipped into a six-month low on fears of further reduced demand from China, the world’s second-largest energy consumer.

The Nasdaq Futures Exchange, launched on July 24, offers futures and options based on oil, natural gas and U.S. power benchmarks. Collectively called Nasdaq Energy Futures, or NFX, these energy derivatives from Nasdaq NDAQ, +0.69%  are duplicative of the existing contracts offered by the new exchange’s competitors in the energy derivatives space — CME Group CME, +0.88%  and Intercontinental Exchange ICE, +0.60%  .

“We are very happy with how it’s started, and we are seeing good market-maker participation. That’s what we are looking for first — to establish good market quality,” said Magnus Haglind, head of U.S. Commodities for Nasdaq and CEO of the new exchange, in a telephone interview.

To ease the transition, NFX offers a fee holiday for the first nine months of trading, after which it plans to more than halve the transaction costs offered by existing exchange operators, Haglind said.

“The average rate per contract, which is typically the way you calculate it, is around $1.30 in the industry, and our average rate per contract will be below $0.50,” Haglind said.

To Haglind, the cut in transaction costs will significantly enhance trading volumes on the new exchange, even with tumbling oil prices.

“When the price of the asset you are trading is going down…certainly the cut in transaction costs becomes very welcomed,” he said. NFX aims to achieve a market share of 10% within 18 to 24 months of launch.

To Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oils-bear-market-may-challenge-nasdaqs-new-energy-futures-exchange-2015-07-30

Alinta Energy to close Port Augusta power stations and Leigh Creek coal mine early

Alinta Energy has brought forward its deadline to close its power stations in Port Augusta and coal mine at Leigh Creek.

The company announced last month it would close the power stations and mine at some point between next March and March 2018.

In a statement the company said the sites would not operate beyond March 2017 and an early closure date would not be before March 2016 "and only if circumstances warrant".

Alinta Energy chief executive Jeff Dimery said the company had updated workers and key stakeholders on the closure timeline.

"We are working collaboratively with Government and unions in developing a package of support services tailored to suit our employees' needs, in order to provide them the best opportunity to transition to new employment," he said.

"We continue to work through the many facets of the Flinders [power plant and mine] closure plan. Through the development of this plan we now have more certainty around Flinders operating future."

About 230 workers will lose their jobs when Alinta's Port Augusta power stations close and more will go when its operations at Leigh Creek wrap up.

The company briefed council on the narrower closure window this morning.

Port Augusta Mayor Sam Johnson has called for an urgent response from both state and federal governments.

South Australia's unemployment rate has risen to 8.2 per cent, the worst in the nation and the state's worst jobless figure for about 15 years. Take a look back at recent job losses.
"We need our state and federal governments to provide support for our region now," he said in a statement.

"We are not asking for any more than what was promised to the northern suburbs with the closure of Holden in 2017," Cr Johnson said.

"The closure of the power stations will affect not only Port Augusta but also Quorn, Wilmington and of course Leigh Creek.

"We are talking about a significant loss to the economies of all of these communities and we urgently need support.

Read more at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-30/alinta-energy-brings-forward-closure-power-station/6661082

Energy efficiency regulations endorsed, saving consumers billions

A review of the Australian program for regulating minimum levels of energy efficiency of appliances and equipment as well as energy rating labelling finds that it will save the community between $3.3 billion to $7.3 billion from 2014 to 2020.  According to the review undertaken by Data Build – a policy research and evaluation firm – the program delivers around $1.70 to $5.20 in energy saving benefits for every $1 incurred in extra costs. According to the review the majority of the savings have been delivered by the minimum regulatory standards, with labelling delivering smaller benefits.

In response to the review, the council of state and federal energy ministers have endorsed the program noting that, “Appliance standards and labelling is one of the most cost effective ways of improving energy productivity and as a result, saving consumers money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions”.

They have also asked government officials in charge of the program to indentify opportunities to strengthen existing minimum standards and also expand the use of standards to new energy consuming products, noting, “Due to its very cost-effective nature the Program is well placed to make a significant contribution to delivering Australia’s energy productivity targets and greenhouse abatement”.

Read more at: http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2015/7/30/smart-energy/energy-efficiency-regulations-endorsed-saving-consumers-billions