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December 21,2011

Energy Data Highlights

Crude oil futures price12/19/2011: $93.88/bbldown$3.89 from week earlierup$5.86 from year earlier

Natural gas futures price12/19/2011: $3.096/mmBtudown$0.158 from week earlierdown$0.970 from year earlier

Retail gasoline price12/19/2011: $3.229/galdown$0.057 from week earlierup$0.247 from year earlier

Retail diesel price12/19/2011: $3.828/gal

down$0.066 from week earlierup$0.580 from year earlier

Weekly coal production12/10/2011: 21.664 million tonsdown0.442 million tons from week earlierdown0.112 million tons from year earlier

Natural Gas/ Power News

EIA Storage Release 12/15/11 (Actual): -102 Bcf Previous Week: -20 Bcf +4.3% Change from 1 Year Ago+10.3% Change 5-year Average

ERCOT congestion rights value falls in latest auction Congestion revenue rights acquired in the Electric Reliability Council of Texasauction for January totaled $14.6 million, about 7% less than the December total,results posted Tuesday show. The total January capacity acquired in the auctionwas 143,480 MW, about 2.2% more than the December auction's total.http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/ElectricPower/6787471 

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Gas Pipeline would run through regionA Texas company is maneuvering to construct a pipeline to carry Marcellus Shalenatural gas across Pennsylvania on a path that would pass through Somerset andBedford counties. The Atlantic Access Project, a proposed 258-mile pipeline using36-inch pipe, would move fuel from the rich Marcellus gas fields of westernPennsylvania and the panhandle of West Virginia to eastern gas-hungry markets.

http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x1243759042/Company-seeking-to-transport-natural-gas 

U.S. Natural Gas Stockpiles Probably Fell 2.8%, Analysts Say .S. natural-gas supplies probably fell by less than the seasonal average last week

amid above- normal temperatures and rising production, according to analyst

estimates compiled by Bloomberg News. Inventories dropped 105 billion cubic

feet, or 2.8 percent, to 3.624 trillion cubic feet in the week ended Dec. 16, based

on the median of 10 estimates. The five-year average stockpile change for the

week is a decrease of 140 billion, according to Energy Department data. Supplies

fell 181 billion cubic feet a year earlier. “As much as we bemoan the lack of winter

and the impending growing storage surpluses, there is little that can be done atthis stage to save the winter,” Martin King, an analyst at FirstEnergy Capital Corp.

in Calgary, said in a note to clients today.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-20/u-s-natural-gas-stockpiles-

probably-fell-2-8-analysts-say.html 

Green/ Alternative Energy News

How will renewable energy fare in 2012?

Renewable energy is considered the future. The best way for us to combatclimate change, survive the decline of oil and generally provide cheap, safer,

secure energy. However the industry is still in its infancy and relies heavily on

government subsidies and tax incentives.

http://www.commodities-now.com/commodities-now-reports/environmental-

markets/9378-how-will-renewable-energy-fare-in-2012.html

Crude Oil News

OPEC Daily Basket Price 12/20/2011- $105.05

(OPEC Daily Basket Price 12/19/2011- $102.91)

Oil Climbs a Third Day on U.S. Economy, Shrinking Supplies, Iran

Sanctions

Oil rose a third day in New York on signs that the U.S. economy will be spared a

recession and amid growing pressure on Iran to curtail its nuclear program.

Futures advanced as much as 1.3 percent after data from the American Petroleum

Institute showed crude inventories dropped to the lowest in almost two years.

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Oil above $98 in Asia as report shows US crude supply dropOil rose above US$98 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crudesupplies fell more than expected, a sign demand may be improving.http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/62805--oil-above-98-in-asia-as-report-shows-us-crude-supply-drop

Political shadows darken outlook for Iraqi oil 

 The last US troops left Iraq only three days ago after eight years of occupation and

political relations among the country’s groups are already disintegrating. The

political climate in Iraq is crucial for the oil market in 2012.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/16f4c5b2-2bb9-11e1-b194-

00144feabdc0.html#axzz1hApSqzcS

'Over the top' gas line would shortchange AlaskansArticle VIII, Sections 1 and 2 of Alaska's Constitution mandate that Alaska'sresources are to be developed to the maximum use and benefit of its people.Following the discovery of oil on Alaska's North Slope in the late 1960's, weAlaskans held our breath watching the daily progress of the ice breaking oil tanker,the SS Manhattan, as it carried a single barrel of North Slope crude oil towards theNew York Harbor. Although it ultimately reached its destination, we cheered at theannouncement that this route was a non-commercially viable option for movingAlaska's oil off the North Slope.http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/over-top-gas-line-would-shortchange-alaskans 

US crude stocks fall 4.574 million barrels, outpace market expectations:

 API US crude stocks fell 4.574 million barrels to 330.027 million barrels for the week

ending December 16, outpacing analyst expectations as imports declined, data

released by the American Petroleum Institute showed Tuesday.

http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Oil/6787574

Declining middle distillate cracks pressure refining margins 

Declining middle distillate cracks have put pressure on refining margins across

Europe in recent weeks, Platts data shows, despite slight recent improvement in

light ends products. "Refinery margins aren't good anywhere in Europe at thismoment," a Mediterranean based refiner said Wednesday. "We're suffering on

diesel, naphtha and gasoline. Refining margins on all products aren't really in the

best shape."

http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Oil/8723403

Seaway pipeline reversal project announces open seasonEnterprise Products Partners and Enbridge Inc. will launch an open season nextmonth for shipping contracts for their reversed Seaway pipeline, which will carryoil out of the oversupplied Cushing hub into the Gulf Coast refining market.Companies looking to ship crude oil over the pipeline will be able to commit to a

capacity, or shipment load, between January 4 and February 10, the companies

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announced Tuesday. Enterprise is headquartered in Houston and Enbridge isbased in Calgary, Canada.http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/12/21/seaway-pipeline-reversal-project-announces-open-season/ 

US oil boom town prompts crude glut fears

 The boom in North American oil production has triggered a race to expand theUS’s main oil storage centre, raising concerns among some industry executives of 

potential glut in capacity. By next year, the capacity of tanks around Cushing, an

Oklahoma town that calls itself the pipeline crossroads of the world, will equal to

nearly a day’s of global oil production as refineries, trading houses, Wall Street

banks and pipeline companies build or lease hundreds of thousands of barrels of 

new tanks.Climbing US and Canadian oil production and price patterns that have

made it profitable to store oil underline the building boom in this remote town of 

7,800. The town has seen the arrival of an army of workers from welders to tank

inspectors in X-ray trucks. With apartments fully occupied, oil workers are living in

temporary trailer parks.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/055d816e-2807-11e1-a4c4-

00144feabdc0.html#axzz1hAwptIy0 

Political shadows darken outlook for Iraqi oil  The last US troops left Iraq only three days ago after eight years of occupation and

political relations among the country’s groups are already disintegrating. The

political climate in Iraq is crucial for the oil market in 2012. Iraq is – at least on

paper – set to be a bright spot of oil supply growth next year in an otherwise

gloomy market haunted by production disruptions from Libya to Syria and from

 Yemen to Sudan. Baghdad aim to lift oil output to about 3.5m barrels a day by latenext year, up from about 2.8m b/d last month, with the opening of a new export

terminal offshore in the Gulf. The plans have faced substantial hurdles, chiefly

delays in installing new pumps to clear the bottleneck in the link between the oil

fields in the south, being developed by foreign companies such as Royal Dutch

Shell, and the new export terminal. The International Energy Agency, the Western

countries’ oil watchdog, has forecast that Iraq would be able to pump nearly 4.4m

b/d by 2016, up from 2.5m b/d last year.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/16f4c5b2-2bb9-11e1-b194-

00144feabdc0.html#axzz1hAwptIy0 

Crude rallies on Kazakh supply concernsOil prices on Tuesday rallied amid concern about turmoil in Kazakhstan following a

series of deadly clashes between police and oil workers in the central Asian

nation. Kazakh officials say 14 people were killed when protesting oilmen

rampaged through the town of Zhanaozen in the oil-rich Mangistau region of west

Kazakhstan, the worst unrest in the country since Soviet times.Tension has been

building since last summer when KazMunaigas, Kazakhstan’s state oil company,

sacked hundreds of striking oil workers. JBC Energy, the Vienna-based oil

consultancy, said the oil workers strike was “raising concerns of diminished

exports from the central Asian country.” Foreign oil companies in Mangistau have

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not yet considered evacuating the region, but are watching developments closely.

“Our operations have not been impacted by the unrest,” said Thomas Grondors, of 

Maersk Oil, the Danish energy group. ICE February Brent rose to a high of $107.27

a barrel and later traded $3.09 higher at $106.73. Nymex January West Texas

Intermediate rose $3.19 to $97.24.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/97f994f2-2b33-11e1-9fd0-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1hAwptIy0 

Recent Rig Counts

Area

Last

Count

Cou

nt

Change from

Prior Count

Date of 

Prior

Count

Change

from Last

 Year

Date of 

Last

 Year's

Count

U.S. 16 Dec11

2019 +32 9 Dec 11 +310 17 Dec 10

Canada 16 Dec11

531 +27 9 Dec 11 +31 17 Dec 10

International

November 2011

1185 -12 October2011

+55 November2010

http://investor.shareholder.com/bhi/rig_counts/rc_index.cfm

Weather

6 to 10 Day Outlooks

Temperature

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Precipitation

8 to 14 Day OutlooksTemperature 

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Precipitation

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