New base 12. october 2017 energy news issue 1083 by khaled al awadi

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NewBase Energy News 12 October 2017 - Issue No. 1083 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE’s first hydrogen station opened to fuel Electric Cars
DUBAI, 11th October, 2017 (WAM) -- The UAE’s first hydrogen station for fuel cell electric vehicles has
been opened by Toyota distributor Al Futtaim Motors in partnership with Air Liquide in Dubai.
Located in Al Badia, the new station aims to lead to a larger-scale deployment of fuel cell electric
vehicles (FCEVs) as part of a pilot programme, which was started in May 2017 to test the zero-
emission technology on UAE roads.
Using technologies such as an electric propulsion system – also available in hybrid cars – FCEVs
run on hydrogen rather than petrol, emitting only water from the tail pipe. In the onboard fuel cell
stack, hydrogen combines with oxygen in the air to generate electricity that powers the vehicle’s
electric motor.
Unlike battery-powered electric vehicles, FCEVs do not require external electric charging; can be
refilled with hydrogen in less than five minutes; and are able to travel up to 500km on a full tank.
The new facility comes after Toyota’s Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada announced the launch of a
collaborative study about the feasibility of establishing a hydrogen-based society in the UAE,
aiming at drastically lowering CO2 emissions.
Bertrand Thiebaut, Senior Managing Director, Al-Futtaim Motors, said: "The pilot which started
with only three Toyota Mirai vehicles, will soon expand to involve a larger fleet that will be tested
by key stakeholders in the UAE."
If deployed on a larger scale, the technology is hoped to significantly reduce the UAE’s
dependence on oil and lower car-generated pollution levels. Matthieu Giard, Dubai Hub Executive
Vice President for MEA and India at Air Liquide, added: "Hydrogen is a key enabler for an
effective transition to a low-carbon economy aiming at improving air quality in our cities."
Dubai is currently undertaking a smart autonomous mobility strategy aimed at making 25 per cent
of total journeys driverless by 2030. The government has also announced plans to make up to 10
per cent of its new fleet orders electric and hybrid vehicles.

Saudi Cut Its Oil Output To the Lowest Since 2015, How Deep Will ?
Bloomberg - Anthony Dipaola
Saudi Arabia has promised to do “whatever it takes” to end the global oil gut. If it cuts supplies in
November by as much as it pledges, the kingdom will reduce production and exports alike by
more or less a million barrels a day compared with last year.
And that’s about all the world’s biggest oil exporter -- and linchpin of a global plan to bolster crude
markets -- can do to prop up prices: pump and sell less of the stuff.
State-run Saudi Aramco plans to pump about 9.77 million barrels a day next month, in what would
be its smallest output since January 2015. That’s about one million barrels a day less than the
10.72 million it pumped in November 2016. The Saudis disclosed their production plans on
Monday when the energy ministry announced that Aramco will supply buyers with less oil than
they asked for in November. Much less.
The country’s customers told the state oil company, known formally as Saudi Arabian Oil Co., that
they wanted more than 7.7 million barrels of crude a day. The producer told them they could only
have 7.15 million barrels a day.
Sure, that’s more than the 6.68 million barrels that Bloomberg tanker tracking data show the
Saudis to have exported in September. But Saudi Arabia exported more than 8 million barrels in
November 2016, and shipments usually drop during the summer months as the desert kingdom
uses more of its own oil to keep power plants and air conditioners running at full tilt. What’s more,
this summer coincided with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih’s efforts to curtail sales and
drain global crude stockpiles.
Customers will have to look elsewhere for the 560,000 barrels of crude a day that they asked for
but won’t be getting from the Saudis. They could ask fellow OPEC members Ecuador or Qatar,
but buyers would need pretty much all the oil that either country produces -- if it were even
available -- to make up for the shortfall in Saudi sales.
The Saudis, who said they expect other participants in the output-cuts agreement to follow their
“extraordinary leadership,” must be hoping that their partners in the deal don’t oblige, and steal,
the kingdom’s customers

Saudi-Bahrain oil pipeline to be ready in 2018
by Reuters
A new 350,000-barrels-per-day oil pipeline between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain will be completed
next year to serve the planned expansion of Bahrain's refinery capacity, while construction of a
gas pipeline is being considered, Bahrain's oil minister said.
Bahrain is in final negotiations with a
preferred bidder to expand its only
oil refinery and a contract is
expected to be awarded before the
year-end, Sheikh Mohammed bin
Khalifa Al Khalifa said in an
interview.
He did not identify the bidder, but
sources told Reuters in August that
a consortium including TechnipFMC,
Samsung Engineering and Spain's
Tecnicas Reunidas had submitted
the lowest bid.
The Kingdom is also building its first
liquefied natural gas terminal, which
will allow it to import LNG for
domestic use. Saudi Aramco could
potentially use the terminal as part of
a wider scheme to connect Gulf
Arab countries with a gas pipeline,
Sheikh Mohammed said.
"With flexibility like that, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait and others will have
access to LNG infrastructure in
Bahrain, for example. The idea is to
eventually have everybody linked up
by gas. That is a concept under
consideration," he said.
"But I think the interesting part is that
if there was a line between us and
Saudi, Aramco can start using the
LNG terminal, the one we are
building." Saudi Arabia does not currently import gas, but its energy minister said last year that it
might eventually do so to increase the use of gas in its energy mix.
"If Saudi Arabia opts to use the LNG project, the project could easily be expanded to allow larger
LNG imports and a portion of the re-gasified fuel gas would flow by pipeline to Saudi," said Sadad
Al Husseini, a Saudi energy analyst and former executive vice-president at Saudi Aramco.

Bahrain's gas terminal, expected to be completed in 2019, will have a capacity of 800 million
standard cubic feet per day. Bahrain has not yet made a deal to buy gas, but the minister said his
country had been talking with Russia. The project is jointly owned by Bahrain's Oil and Gas
Holding Co (Nogaholding) and a consortium of Teekay LNG Partners, Gulf Investment Corp and
Samsung C&T.
Sheikh Mohammed said Bahrain was talking with Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co about the
possibility of installing an aromatics plant with the refinery expansion.
Any plans to expand the Abu Safa oilfield, which Bahrain shares with Saudi Arabia, will depend on
oil markets, but for the time being there are no such plans, he said. Bahrain now produces
200,000 bpd of oil including output from Abu Safa.
Instead, authorities are looking to increase output from Bahrain's own oilfield by tapping pre-khuff
gas, which is gas located in deep deposits, Sheikh Mohammed said. Bahrain also has long-term
plans for offshore gas exploration. "We are open to it - we are waiting for the market to be right.
Now there is a depressed market and you don't get the best deals ... so we are doing a lot of
internal work to prepare."
Sheikh Mohammed said Bahrain, a small non-Opec oil producer, would support any decision that
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries took on production policy. He praised the
current agreement on production restraint.
"I think the deal was positive - it has brought prices from the 40s to the 50s (dollars per barrel).
What we see now is a reduction of inventories ... The unknown is how quickly shale adapts."

Libya Says Its Oil Recovery Is Struggling and OPEC Sympathizes
Bloomberg - Grant Smith
Libya said it’s struggling to restore oil production and fellow OPEC members are sparing the
nation from having to participate in their deal to cut output.
The North African nation has revived output to almost 1 million barrels a day, but it’s “very difficult’’
to say when that could increase to 1.25 million a day, said Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of the
National Oil Corp. That’s a production target Libya gave to fellow producers at a meeting in July.
“We’re still suffering from the lack of budget,’’ Sanalla told reporters in London after two days of
meetings with diplomats and oil companies. Libya has explained its challenges to OPEC, which
“understands the situation very well,’’ he said.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia are leading a global coalition of oil
producers in supply cuts aimed at clearing a world glut. The accord spared two OPEC members,
Libya and Nigeria, while they tackled domestic crises that have hobbled their oil industries.
A recovery in the output of both nations prompted speculation they may be asked to join the
agreement by restraining their output. Nigeria said it has now effectively capped its production, but
no ceiling has been applied to Libya. At a meeting last month OPEC and its allies said they
welcomed further recovery in both countries. Sanalla said he hopes to attend the next formal
meeting of OPEC and its partners, scheduled for Nov. 30 in Vienna.
While Libya has resolved some internal disputes and restored output from a low of 550,000
barrels a day in April, the country still faces major challenges. The state-run oil company is only

receiving about 25 percent of its investment budget and production could decline without the
needed money, Sanalla said.
Output Challenges
Production has dropped by as much as 90,000 barrels on a single day because of insufficient
funding for maintenance, Sanalla said. The nation lost more than 6 million barrels of potential
output between July and September. Returning to full capacity of 1.6 million barrels a day “will
take some time,’’ he said.
Twelve of the 19 storage tanks at the Es Sider export terminal are inoperative, and half of the 13
tanks at Ras Lanuf are out of action, he said.
The NOC held meetings this week in the U.K. with a number of stakeholders in Libya’s oil
industry, from local tribes to international oil companies such as Eni SpA and Total SA. The
meeting reached a “statement of principles’’ that will be passed to the conference on Libya’s
political future to be chaired by the United Nations.
The principles include the resolution that NOC has a monopoly on the exploration, production,
transport and export of oil and gas, and that all of the state-run company’s revenues will be sent to
the Central Bank of Libya.
Libya warns its oil recovery is under threat
The head of Libya’s national oil company (NOC) has warned that the country’s recovery in oil
output is under threat as it has only received a quarter of its budget from the UN-backed
government. Mustafa Sanalla, the NOC chairman, told reporters in London that a target of 1.25m
barrels a day of output was “very uncertain” with current production around 1m.
While that level is around four times higher than early 2016 the recovery is in jeopardy, with
damage from earlier fighting still hampering production while political uncertainty in the country
has led to a number of shut-ins at fields otherwise capable of producing.
“[We] only have got 25 per cent of the budget required for 2017,” Mr Sanalla said. “We are still
suffering.” Mr Sanalla was speaking after a two-day gathering of more than 40 Libyan and
international representatives in Windsor, which produced a draft statement of principles on
safeguarding Libya’s oil industry.
The principles are backed by the governor of the central bank in Tripoli as well as international
diplomats, tribal and regional representatives, and representatives of international oil companies
active in the country.
Included in the principles were that the NOC should retain a “monopoly” over controlling oil
exploration and production deals and that no “concessions or payments” should be made to
groups that attempt to blockade or disrupt production.
Six years on from Libya’s civil war the NOC is one of the few functioning parts of Libyan society.
Mr Sanalla has pushed to make it a cornerstone of the country’s return to stability. He warned that
at the key oil ports of El Sider 12 out of 19 tanks were still out of operation while at Ras Lanuf half
were still damaged after fighting.
“Keeping sustained production is in the interest of everyone and will be well respected by
everybody,” Mr Sanalla said. “If we do not have enough investment, production will decline.”

Thailand: Mubadala commences Manora oil field drilling
Source: Tap Oil
JV partner Tap Oil has provided an update on the Manora oil field in the Northern Gulf of Thailand
(TAP 30% interest).
Mubadala Petroleum, Operator of the G1/48 concession containing the Manora oil field, has
advised that the Atwood Orca jackup drilling unit has commenced a drilling programme comprising
two development wells and an exploration well.
The MNA-18 and MNA-19 infill wells have been planned to develop proved undeveloped reserves
and will be drilled to final total depths of 3,107m and 2,366m (measured depth) respectively. They
will be completed with electric submersible pumps (ESPs), with drilling and completion planned to
take approximately 21 days for each well on a trouble free basis. The two development wells are
expected to increase Manora production performance.
The Joint Venture is also intending to drill an exploration well to test the L-Prospect in the Manora
production licence area after the conclusion of the two development wells.
Tap will provide an update upon completion of the drilling of the two development wells.

Iraq shifts gears with plan to fix unused oil pipeline to Turkey
Bloomberg + NewBase
Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar Ali al-Luaibi Minister directed the North Oil Co. and State Co. for Oil
Projects to complete repairs on an unused pipeline from Kirkuk to the Mediterranean port of
Ceyhan which will allow the country export crude without having to rely on the Kurdish region.
Iraq’s oil minister ordered urgent repairs to a disused pipeline from northern fields to a Turkish
port, a step that could eliminate the central government’s need to export crude via Iraq’s Kurdish
region and further isolate the independence-seeking Kurds.
Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi directed the North Oil Co. and State Co. for Oil Projects to complete
repairs on the pipeline from Kirkuk to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, the ministry said in an
emailed statement. The link, once an artery for crude exports from Iraq’s oldest producing fields,
hasn’t operated for years due to sabotage in areas occupied until recently by Islamic State
militants.
Iraq wants to restore the pipeline’s export capacity of 250,000 to 400,000 barrels a day and
possibly boost volumes in the future, the ministry said. Iraqi security forces regained control of the
pipeline and surrounding territory after advancing against Islamic State late last year. The oil
ministry didn’t say when repairs on the link, which would connect at the border with a Turkish
pipeline, would be completed.

Iraq’s prime minister Haider Al-Abadi said last month that neighboring Turkey supports Iraqi
central government control over all crude that the OPEC nation exports to Ceyhan though the
Turkish-controlled pipeline. His comments suggested that the Turks may be reviewing their policy
of letting Iraq’s landlocked Kurds export oil independently through the Turkish network.
Relations between the semi-autonomous
Kurds and the central government in
Baghdad have frayed since the Kurds
voted on Sept. 25 for independence.
The non-binding independence
referendum puts at risk the Kurdistan
Regional Government’s own oil exports
via Turkey. The central government has
been using the Kurdish link to ship crude
from deposits it controls at Kirkuk.
The central government has long
insisted that its crude-marketing agency
SOMO has sole authority to export oil
produced anywhere within Iraq’s borders. Iraq is the second-biggest producer in the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Crude has been flowing normally through the Kurdish link to Turkey. The KRG-operated pipeline
currently exports 600,000 barrels a day, a person with knowledge of the situation said, asking not
to be identified because he’s not authorized to speak to news media.

Morocco: SDX Energy announces gas discovery at KSR-14
Source: SDX Energy
Further to the spud announcement on 18 September 2017, SDX Energy, the North Africa focused
oil and gas company, has announced that a gas discovery has been made at its KSR-14
development well on the Sebou permit in Morocco (SDX 75% Working Interest).
The KSR-14 well was drilled to a total depth of 1830 meters and encountered 20 meters of net
conventional natural gas pay in the Guebbas and Hoot formations over 4 intervals. The initial
results have exceeded pre-drill estimates, and work is currently underway to further evaluate the
well's accurate recoverable volume estimate.
Once the drilling rig has left the location, the Company expects that the well will be connected to
the existing infrastructure and produced. The well is anticipated to be on production in approx. 30
days.
Paul Welch, President and CEO of SDX, commented:
'This positive result follows the Company's recent oil discovery at our West Gharib Concession in
Egypt and demonstrates the real momentum developing across our portfolio. This outcome in
Morocco is an excellent start to our nine well programme, where we are targeting an increase in
our local gas sales volumes in Morocco by up to 50%. I look forward to reporting on the flow rates
from today's KSR-14 discovery and last week's Rabul 2 discovery in the near term along with
updating our shareholders on further progress on our South Disouq Development activities in due
course.'

India Can't Drill Solo to Meet Oil Supply Goals, WoodMac Says
Bloomberg - Rajesh Kumar Singh
India needs overseas help to raise production from its aging oil fields and meet its goal of lowering
crude imports by 2022, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd.
The country’s exploration companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd.and Oil India
Ltd. should consider partnering with overseas counterparts to boost oil recovery from their mature
assets in the short term in order to reach Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of cutting
imports by 10 percent in five years, Neal Anderson, president of Wood Mackenzie, said on
Tuesday. Seeking to raise output through only new discoveries will take too long, he said.
“Opening up exploration has such a long lead time,” Anderson said. “And it will not meet the five-
year timeline.”
India’s efforts to cut its reliance on crude imports, which meet more than 80 percent of its needs,
has been complicated by a slide in domestic production as consumption surges. To help raise its
own supply, the world’s fastest-growing oil user said it wants $300 billion in investments over the
next 10 years and is finalizing a new policy to encourage producers to increase output from
existing fields.
Anderson said he presented his guidance of seeking foreign investment during a meeting Monday
with Modi and executives from companies including BP Plc, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Rosneft Oil
Co.

To encourage investments, the government has relaxed rules by allowing pricing freedom for oil
and gas and a uniform policy for extraction of all hydrocarbons under a single license. It is also
planning to auction bigger areas in the next auction of discovered small fields later this year.
ONGC has a plan to enhance production from existing fields and put new fields in production
quickly to help meet Modi’s goal, Ajay Kumar Dwivedi, the company’s director of exploration, said
Wednesday by phone. The company is already working with overseas service companies,
consultants and universities, and doesn’t intend to cede control of any of its assets.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said in June it is holding talks with ONGC and its smaller peer Oil India to
help them reverse a decline in crude oil production from their aging fields.

India:Buildings energy consumption increase faster than in
other regions …. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2017 Reference case
EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2017 (IEO2017) projects that among all regions of the world,
the fastest growth in buildings energy consumption through 2040 will occur in India. In the
IEO2017 Reference case, delivered energy consumption for residential and commercial buildings
in India is expected to increase by an average of 2.7% per year between 2015 and 2040, more
than twice the global average increase.
Most of this growth is the result of increased electricity and natural gas use (because of greater
access to these energy sources) and the increased use of appliances and energy-using
equipment. Despite the rapid growth in buildings energy consumption, the IEO2017 Reference
case shows that, among the IEO2017 regions, India’s per capita buildings energy use through
2040 is the second lowest after Africa.
Rapid economic growth, rising income, growing population, and urbanization are factors in the
growth in India’s buildings energy consumption. Patterns of energy use vary between rural and
urban populations. India has the world’s highest projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth
rate among the IEO2017 regions, averaging 5.0% per year from 2015 to 2040.
During the projection period, household disposable income in India is expected to increase by an
average of 4.2% per year, which is the second highest among IEO2017 regions after China. India
is projected to account for about 19% of the increase in world population over the projection
period, surpassing China as the world’s most populous country in 2023.
The United Nations projects India’s population to continue to become more urbanized; about 45%
of the Indian population will live in urban areas by 2040, an increase of nearly 12 percentage
points from 2015.

Buildings energy consumption represented about 14% of total delivered energy consumption in
India in 2015. Although EIA expects the rate of India’s commercial energy growth to be higher
than its residential energy growth, the residential sector remains the greater consumer of buildings
energy, representing more than 70% of the buildings total throughout the projection period.
In the IEO2017 Reference case, residential delivered energy consumption is projected to grow by
an average of 2.4% per year from 2015 to 2040, the fastest growth rate among IEO regions. EIA
expects household per capita disposable income to grow by an average of 3.2% per year as more
people have access to electricity and the ownership of electricity-using appliances and equipment
(particularly air conditioners) grows.
As a result, EIA expects residential electricity consumption to increase nearly twice as fast as total
residential sector energy use from 2015 to 2040. Electricity’s share rises from 46% of the energy
delivered to India’s residences in 2015 to 68% in 2040.
India’s commercial sector accounted for nearly 69% of the country’s gross domestic product in
2015, and this share is expected to continue growing, leading to more energy demand in the
commercial sector.
EIA projects that total delivered commercial sector energy use in India will increase by an average
of 3.4% per year—again, the fastest growth rate among IEO regions. India’s economic growth,
rising income, and population growth are likely to increase the need for education, health care,
leisure, recreation, and other services, which EIA expects will lead to an increase in demand for
lighting, space cooling, and office equipment. In the IEO2017 Reference case, electricity and coal
remain the most prominent fuels consumed in India’s commercial sector.
EIA projects the electricity share of India’s total commercial energy consumption to continue
increasing, from 59% in 2015 to 65% in 2040, displacing some coal consumption. Buildings
energy consumption in India is also affected by various energy efficiency programs such as
the Standards and Labeling program and the Energy Conservation Building Codes

US: Winter heating costs likely to be higher this winter than last winter
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, Winter Fuels Outlook, October 2017
Most U.S. households can expect higher heating expenditures this winter (October through
March) than the last two winters according to EIA's Winter Fuels Outlook. Higher expected winter
heating expenditures are the result of both more heating demand because of relatively colder
weather and, to a lesser extent, higher fuel prices.
Note: Propane price is the weighted average of Midwest and Northeast prices. All other fuels reflect national averages.
EIA’s projections of heating demand are based on the most recent temperature forecasts from
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s forecast anticipates that
winter weather will be 13% colder than last winter and closer to the average of the previous 10
winters.
Because weather patterns present great uncertainty to winter energy forecasts, EIA's Winter Fuels
Outlook includes projections for 10% colder and 10% warmer scenarios. In the past 10 winters,
actual temperatures have been more than 10% colder than NOAA’s September forecast once and
warmer than the forecast twice.
The average household winter heating fuel expenditures in EIA’s forecast provide a broad guide to
expected heating expenditures. Fuel expenditures for any household also depend on the size and
energy efficiency of the home and its heating equipment, indoor temperature preferences, and
local weather conditions.

The choice of primary heating fuel varies considerably by region, resulting in regional differences
in total expenditures. Natural gas is the most common space heating fuel in every region except
the South, where electric heating is more prevalent. Heating oil is much more common in the
Northeast than in other regions, while propane is more common in the Midwest.

NewBase October 12 - 2017 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil drops on rising U.S, crude inventories, OPEC seen to extend cuts
Reuters + NewBase
Oil prices eased on Thursday as U.S. fuel inventories rose despite efforts by OPEC to cut
production and tighten the market. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were
trading at $51.08 per barrel at 0112 GMT, down 22 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last
settlement. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $56.62,
down 32 cents, or 0.6 percent, from the previous close.
Starting this year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other
producers including Russia agreed to cut output t by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to prop up
prices.
Oil price special
coverage

The OPEC-led deal helped lift oil from the $30-$40 per barrel range in late 2016/early 2017. But
traders say supplies remain ample despite these cuts, thanks in large part to surging U.S.
production C-OUT-T-EIA. As a result, OPEC is widely expected to extend the cuts beyond the
current expiry date of end-March 2018.
“OPEC doesn’t really have a choice but to extend cuts unless they’re happy to risk sub-$40 per
barrel prices again,” said David Maher, Managing Director for energy at commodity merchant
RCMA Group in Singapore.
With ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts supporting prices, but rising U.S. production capping crude,
Maher said that markets would likely be balanced in 2018 and 2019, with Brent range-bound in
the $50 to $60 per barrel range.
“Currently, the main risks to upside are new Iran sanctions and Venezuela issues, while downside
risks are OPEC cuts not being extended or poor compliance leading to agreement breaking down,
or weaker demand,” Maher said.
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose sanctions on Iran less than two years after
they were lifted under a 2015 deal between Tehran and leading world powers following Iran’s
agreement to suspend its disputed nuclear program.
In Venezuela, an OPEC-member with huge oil reserves, an economic and political crisis is
threatening production, and the government is also at loggerheads with the Trump administration.
With rising U.S. production undermining OPEC’s efforts to tighten the market, inventories remain
high.
In fact, U.S. crude stocks rose by 3.1 million barrels to 468.5 million barrels last week, according
to industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API). Official U.S. fuel inventory data is due to
be published on Thursday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

“Our updated global supply-demand balance indeed shows peak stock draws in 3Q17,” Goldman
Sachs said in a note to clients. The U.S. bank said that current oil supply and demand
fundamentals meant it expects Brent to average $58 per barrel in 2018.
Oil Pares Gains
Prices pulled back in after-market trading following the release of datafrom the American
Petroleum Institute Wednesday, which was said to show crude stockpiles increased by 3.1 million
barrels last week. A Bloomberg survey estimated that U.S crude stockpiles slid by 2.4 million
barrels last week.
Crude supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma, the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, climbed by 1.22 million
barrels, the API data showed. That would be a seventh straight increase, if Energy Information
Administration data released on Thursday confirms it.
“It was a little bit of a surprise. The last two weeks of exports-- I don’t think will be maintained. I
think this is a reflection of that to a certain extent,” Kyle Cooper, director of research at IAF
Advisors in Houston, said by telephone. The recent builds at Cushing and the potential for another
“is certainly a bearish factor for WTI.”
On Wednesday, OPEC said in its monthly report that 2018 demand will be about 200,000 barrels
higher than previously predicted, and that output caps adopted by most producers are trimming a
global glut. Yet at the same time, the EIA raised its forecast for U.S. crude production in 2018.
Oil has advanced more than 4 percent this week on speculation the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries, Russia and other parties to the historic 2016 production accord may extend
the deal beyond its March expiration. Saudi Arabia warned it will cut the amount of crude available
for sale next month, while OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo signaled the group is
looking to expand the number of nations participating in the deal.

“Oil is having a hard time finding its course,” said Rob Thummel, managing director at Tortoise
Capital Advisors LLC, which handles $16 billion in energy-related assets. “There are a lot of
potential near-term positive catalysts out there for the oil market, but none of them have 100
percent certainty.”
West Texas Intermediate for November delivery traded at $51.03 a barrel at 4:39 p.m. after
settling at $51.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level in more than a
week. Total volume traded was about 15 percent below the 100-day average.
Brent for December settlement rose 33 cents to end the session at $56.94 on the London-based
ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.34 to
December WTI.
The gasoline crack spread, a rough measure of the profit from refining crude into gasoline, jumped
2.3 percent to settle at $16.29 a barrel. Delta Air Lines Inc.’s refinery in Pennsylvania was said to
be shutting some units down after a fire on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with
operations. The fire occurred on a platformer and the refinery is operating, the company said.
U.S. Inventories
OPEC will need to supply 33.1 million barrels a day next year, about 350,000 more than it pumped
last month, the group said in a report on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the EIA’s monthly Short-Term
Energy Outlook showed U.S. output rising to average 9.92 million barrels a day in 2018. The
agency revised global demand lower for next year.
The API report showed distillate supplies rose by 2.03 million barrels last week, according to
people familiar with the data, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public.
Gasoline stockpiles slid by 1.58 million barrels, the data showed.
A Bloomberg survey also showed that distillate inventories probably fell by 1.93 million. At
Cushing, inventories likely increased by 1.8 million barrels, according to a
separate forecast compiled by Bloomberg.

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release October 12-2017
Coal Power
By Mario Parker
Coal is the world’s biggest source of carbon emissions and a major contributor to global warming.
It’s also abundant and for a long time was cheap. The power and warmth it generates have helped
lift millions out of poverty in China, India and other emerging nations. Coal is more accessible than
other energy sources, easier to transport and simpler to store.
There’s more to its appeal than economics; worried eastern Europeans see their plentiful
domestic supplies as an alternative to Russian oil and gas. Efforts to curb coal use
have proliferated, and for the first time since the 1990s, the growth in global consumption stalled
in 2014 before falling in both 2015 and 2016. Nevertheless, coal generates about 40 percent of
the world’s electricity.
U.S. President Donald Trump aims to brighten coal’s future. He's promised to revive the U.S. coal
industry by lifting restrictions on it. In February 2017, he signed legislation repealing a
regulation meant to protect streams from the effects of coal mining.
In October, his administration proposed the repeal of the Clean Power Act, which was designed to
cut carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation.
Under the previous president, Barack Obama, the U.S. used environmental rules to encourage the
closing or costly upgrade of coal plants because burning the fuel emits almost twice as much
carbon dioxide as natural gas and 28 percent more pollutants than heating oil. Coal use in the
U.S. fell sharply — 15 percent — in 2015, pushing the U.S. from the second to the third biggest
consumer of the fuel, after India and China.

The following year saw a further drop of 7.8 percent. Those reductions and falling use in China
accounted for much of the global decline. India’s consumption grew 2.1 percent in
2016. Germany’s experience illustrates the challenge of quitting coal. In 2011, it began to burn
more after shutting eight of its nuclear power stations following the Fukushima disaster in Japan. It
started two new coal-fired plants in 2015.
Background
Coal has always been controversial. In 1306, King Edward I banned its use in London because of
heavy smoke from its fires. Centuries later, coal powered the industrial revolution and shrouded
London in fogs that were common until the mid-20th century.
(The word “smog” was coined by a Londoner in 1905.) In the U.S., coal was first found near
Richmond, Virginia, in 1791. Baltimore became the first American city to use it for street lights,
starting in 1816.
The fuel powered the country’s railroad system and its westward expansion. By the early 20th
century, coal made the United Mine Workers the largest union in the U.S. Its battles with mining
companies were among the nation’s bloodiest.
Coal ranks second to oil among the world’s energy sources. There’s enough to last for 132
years at 2012 production levels. China, India and Japan are the largest importers; Australia,
Indonesia and Russia are the biggest exporters.
The Argument
There’s no serious dispute among scientists about coal’s contribution to climate change, although
Trump has questioned the whole phenomenon. To what extent the president can deliver on his
vow to revive the U.S. coal industry is an open question.

While environmental regulations have helped force the retirement of tens of thousands of
megawatts of coal-fired power generation in recent years, so has competition from cheap natural
gas.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that removing the Clean Power Plan would
halt but not reverse coal’s decline as a source of electricity in the U.S. during the next two
decades. In that scenario, however, coal-fired electricity use in the U.S. by 2040 would be about
150 percent of what it would be with the plan in effect.
Trump promotesnascent “clean coal” innovations; the industry claims that these technologies
could remove as much as 90 percent of the carbon associated with burning. Two problems:
“clean coal” is unproven and expensive. So there’s plenty of opposition from those who argue that
coal is best left in the ground. A movement to divest from coal-related enterprises
is gainingground.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
Your partner in Energy Services
NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and
sponsored by Hawk Energy Service – Dubai, UAE.
For additional free subscription emails please contact Hawk Energy
Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
Emarat member since 1990
ASME member since 1995
Hawk Energy member 2010
Mobile: +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 27 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for
Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy
consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE
operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations
Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &
gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great
experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &
regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, &
compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the
local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the
UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase October 2017 K. Al Awadi

New base 12. october 2017 energy news issue 1083 by khaled al awadi

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