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BP adds to reserves but is more cautious about production growth
BP’s top executives are delivering their annual strategy presentation here. The company’s top line, presented in the statement released beforehand, is that it replaced 121 per cent of its production in additions to its reserves, excluding acquisitions and disposals.
The slides have some other interesting points to make, including the news that BP has become more cautious about production growth than it was a year ago (slide 43).
Slide 44 points out, however, that while the rest of the “big five” international oil companies may talk a bigger game on production growth, they do not have a great record of delivery.
Chart of the day
We can’t vouch for the veracity of the data. But it’s a cute idea.
“Clean coal” confusion cleared up
“Clean coal” is the hot issue in energy policy, firing up the passions of politicians, businesses and environmentalists. For its supporters, it is the answer to the problem of providing energy that is secure, affordable and non-polluting. For its opponents, it is a con, and “clean coal” is an oxymoron like “military intelligence”. But at the heart of the debate is often a simple failure to agree what the words mean.
The Source: Carbon taxes; buying sprees; green jobs; the Lorax
Rejected report of a big PetroChina loss
Russia and Mexico: from bad to worse
Elsewhere:
Middle Eastern NOCs to go on a buying spree
Desalination – energy down the drain
Which country is the windiest of all?
As oil prices rose, customer sastisfaction fell
The case for a carbon tax over a cap-and-trade system
John Kemp, a former commodities analyst turned commentator at Reuters, makes the argument for a carbon tax over a cap-and-trade system.
For one thing, he says, it is likely to be cheaper according to a non-partisan Congressional Budget Office report last year.
Cap-and-trade versus tax decision represents a trade off, he writes: a tax regime means uncertainty about the amount of carbon reduction, while a trading system leaves uncertainty over the pricing of that carbon reduction.
From bad to worse: Russia and Mexico’s output
Further to our look yesterday at Rosneft’s numbers, David Summers has put together a convenient wrap of February production numbers for oil and gas in Russia.
Total production of Crude and other liquids is at 9.765 mbd , this is up 2.5% on last month, but down 0.3% on this time last year. The greatest contributor remains Rosneft, whose production remained stable at 2.25 mbd, though down 1.2% on the year, and Lukoil at 1.87 mbd which is up 1% on the month, but 4% on the year.
Rational actors: Americans line up for ‘green job’ courses
America’s workers are wasting little time in responding to the massive government spending planned on green industries in its bid to reduce carbon emissions and provide 5m new jobs. The LA Times looks at students in an 8-week long, $1,000 “wind technology boot camp” where they learn how to service large wind turbines. Starting pay is $15 to $20 an hour, but “Crack technicians can make six figures a year.”
The story suggests the US might face a shortage of training for new green jobs – the community college course they write about saw its 15 places booked within hours of becoming available.
PetroChina denies report of profit slump
Dow Jones is reporting that PetroChina that pre-tax profits in January were down 65 per cent on the previous year, according to “a person familiar with the matter”, to 5.36bn yuan ($783m). The story is light on other details; the source declined to give any reason for the profits plunge.
However the story was rejected by PetroChina. Bloomberg reports:
“This couldn’t be PetroChina’s profit,” spokesman Mao Zefeng said by mobile phone today, declining to elaborate.
It’s also not clear from the DJ report whether it simply concerns the month of January – PetroChina reports half-yearly, so confirmation either way is not likely any time soon.
Spot News
Energy news from elsewhere:
- Oil rises as traders buy back contracts to profit from decline (Bloomberg)
- Ukraine to pay for February gas on time, says Gazprom (EUbusiness)
- Tony Hayward prepares to face grilling (Times)
- NRG Energy to buy Reliant’s Texas retail business for $287.5m (Platts)
Energy Source is no longer updated but it remains open as an archive.
Insight into the financial, economic and policy aspects of energy and the environment.
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