We flew it on a Moran boat for the raising of the Hunley & got a call to take it down. Office pukes saw it on tv.
[QUOTE=skycowboy;150526]No. Why would they[/QUOTE]
Because the GoM is surrounded by the confederate states and they may like to fly it for sentimental value and it’s part of cultural heritage. Also It’s a pretty cool flag.
The Ukraine crisis has been mentioned earlier in the thread, on that topic the ethnic Russians fighting for independence in the east of Ukraine, known as “United Armed Forces of Novorossiya” currently use the confederate flag without the starts as their flag, check out the wiki link below.
Pretty good talk by Shell President Marvin Odum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUNK7yNnzS0
Labor costs in current cycle around minute 32:00
Price predictions around minute 41:00
Focus on LNG is interesting …
I suppose this is all well understood, but it is an interesting talk that he gives
[QUOTE=rigdvr;150379]
I am on the verge of being done with gcaptain. The information flow halted about the time Capt Lee and Anchorman left and the site has since turned into the aimless rambling diary of an agry senile old man.[/QUOTE]
Yes, we miss anchorman and Capt. Lee, both their information and their antics. And anchorman had written the “How To” thread about finding work when I came down in '08. It is nice to see their occasional post.
But there are a number of other forum members who continue to contribute that continue to make this forum worth my time. Thanks to you for keeping the good information flowing.
Now just to get that Android app working…
Interesting story on the effect of the oil price bust in TX & LA …
[QUOTE=water;150595]Yes, we miss anchorman and Capt. Lee, both their information and their antics. [/QUOTE]
and even though I am taking the holiday off, I know how much y’all miss me too!
just like a dog misses its fleas I am sure…
very interesting indeed…
here’s another interesting item…WTI for Feb '15 delivery closed at $54.73/bbl at the end of trading today…down another 2% on the session
Oil Caps Fifth Weekly Loss on Global Supply Glut Concern
Dec 26, 2014
(Bloomberg) – Oil fell, capping a fifth weekly loss on concern that OPEC’s refusal to cut production will worsen a global supply glut.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate extended their annual declines of more than 40 percent, the biggest since 2008, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted supply cuts to defend market share while the highest U.S. production in three decades exacerbated a global glut. Trading volume headed for the lowest this year.
“The market is still reeling from oversupply,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago. “It’s really hard to muster a substantial rally until we figure out how we are going to use all this oil.”
Brent for February settlement slipped 79 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $59.45 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, down 3.1 percent this week. The volume of all futures was 84 percent below the 100-day average as of 3:10 p.m., with much of Europe on holiday after Christmas.
West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery fell $1.11, or 2 percent, to $54.73 on the New York Mercantile Exchange with volume 68 percent below average. Prices were down 3.2 percent this week. Trading reached 174,562 contracts at 2:49 p.m. The previous lowest volume this year was 244,240 on Aug. 25. Brent traded at a premium of $4.72 to WTI on the ICE.
Crude Stockpiles
Both grades gained more than 1 percent earlier on fighting in Libya and on a report that Saudi Arabia expects prices to rise. The state-run National Oil Corp. said today that several tanks were on fire at the Es Sider terminal as Islamist militias attacked Libya’s largest petroleum port. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer, is assuming an oil price of $80 a barrel for 2015, said John Sfakianakis, a former economic adviser to the country’s government.
U.S. crude stockpiles climbed 7.27 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 19, the most in two months, the Energy Information Administration said Dec. 24.
The gain left U.S. crude stockpiles at 387.2 million barrels, the highest level since June, according to data from the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.
OPEC, whose 12 members supply about 40 percent of the world’s oil, decided at a Nov. 27 meeting to maintain its production target at 30 million barrels a day. The group pumped 30.56 million barrels a day in November, exceeding its target for a sixth straight month, a Bloomberg survey of companies, producers and analysts shows.
Getting Worse
“We are still in a state of oversupply,” said Tom Finlon, Jupiter, Florida-based director of Energy Analytics Group LLC. “The disruption in Libya may contribute to Brent’s stabilization in the near term.”
The fighting in Libya caused crude output to decline to 352,000 barrels a day, Mohamed Elharari, the company’s spokesman, said yesterday. That compares with daily production of almost 1.6 million in 2011.
Libya’s Breakdown
“Disruption to Libya’s oil production helps Brent to stay up and helps WTI to stay up too,” said Carl Larry, a Houston-based director of oil and gas at Frost & Sullivan. “We are seeing a little bounce back. The only thing we need to fear is profit-taking when prices go up.”
Retail prices for regular gasoline at the pump were below $2 a gallon at about 20,000 stations in the U.S. today, according to AAA. The most common price was $1.999. Retail gasoline averaged $2.324 nationwide yesterday, a five-year low, AAA said.
although the drop in oil prices may spell tough times in the offshore industry, it does bode well for the shipping industry in general
By Bloomberg On December 24, 2014
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) — U.S. marine shipping stocks are poised to see their shares climb 59 percent in the next 12 months, outshining the 35 percent gain on the first day of Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.’s initial public offering last month.
The gain for shippers that ferry crude between U.S. ports and carry liquefied natural gas and dry goods such as coal around the world would be the most of any sub sector in the Russell 3000 Index, according to estimate data compiled by Bloomberg. The analysis screened for companies with a market value of at least $500 million and 10 analyst ratings.
Marine shipping stands to benefit from a world economy forecast to expand about 3 percent in 2015, the fastest annual pace in five years, the strongest dollar since 2010, and declining oil and commodity costs which boost demand and reduce input costs. At the same time, the pace of vessel construction has slowed, so fewer ships compete for cargoes, creating room to raise freight rates.
“Lower commodity prices are stimulative to the economy and good for seaborne demand,” Nigel Prentis, the head of consultancy at Hartland Shipping Services Ltd. in London, who’s worked in the maritime industry for 33 years, said by phone yesterday. “It could be a rather perfect combination of better- than-expected demand and weaker fleet expansion.”
Brent crude has dropped more than 20 percent from this year’s peak in June, meeting a common definition of a bear market, on concern global supply is outpacing demand. The plunge in oil and other commodities prompted Citigroup Inc. to estimate savings to the global economy equivalent to stimulus of $1.1 trillion a year.
Price Risk
Falling energy and commodity prices are also a risk for shippers because price declines can curb the incentive to arbitrage cargoes by taking advantage of cost discrepancies between regions, Erik Nikolai Stavseth, an analyst at Arctic Securities ASA in Oslo, said by phone yesterday.
Shipping investments vary depending on the type of vessel because each has its own forces of supply and demand, he said. The best segments are for ships hauling crude oil and liquefied gases, said Stavseth, whose estimates on shipping companies returned 13 percent in the past year.
A stronger dollar supports imports into the U.S. by making foreign goods cheaper in the world’s biggest economy. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the currency against 10 others, has advanced 4.8 percent this year, the most since 2008. That also makes American goods more expensive for consumers in other countries, weighing on exports.
Freight Rates
Rates for transporting crude oil are higher this year, while prices for cargoes such as iron ore and coal are lower, according to the Baltic Exchange in London.
Shares of Frontline Ltd., an owner of tankers led by billionaire John Fredriksen, have slumped by more than 50 percent this year.
“Share prices are lagging and you should see a catch up really for these stocks,” Eirik Haavaldsen, an analyst at Pareto Securities AS in Oslo, said by phone yesterday, in reference to shares of tanker companies.
Groupon Inc., which debuted at $20 a share in November 2011, fell 36 percent in the last 12 months to close at $6.19 a share yesterday. Apple Inc.’s share price rose 40 percent over the past year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Information Technology index has gained 20 percent.
The fleet of crude oil tankers is on course to contract this year for the first time in at least nine years, according to data from IHS Fairplay compiled by Bloomberg. Vessels with a transportation capacity of about 374 million deadweight tons are on the water, 0.2 percent less than last year. Deadweight tons are a measure of transportation capacity.
Shares Drop
Shares of Houston-based Kirby Corp., the largest U.S. tank barge operator, have dropped 10 percent since a Sept. 11 peak. While a small portion of the company’s business entails hauling oil between U.S. ports, it receives most of its revenue from shipping chemicals.
Chemical shipping may benefit as the industry invests $124 billion in new U.S. capacity to take advantage of natural gas that has become abundant and cheap with increased production in shale formations, said Kevin Sterling, an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets who recommends buying Kirby shares. Dow Chemical Co., Kirby’s biggest customer, announced record plastics earnings Oct. 20 and is investing $4 billion to expand gas-based production on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
“Why you want to own Kirby is this growth from the petrochemical build out,” Sterling said by phone Oct. 22. “Kirby is a direct play on that.”
Oil Demand
Some investors are concerned that a prolonged drop in oil will reduce demand for shipping crude, flooding the chemical shipping market with barges that would increase competition and cut prices, he said.
LNG shippers have declined far more than Kirby since oil began its plunge. Golar LNG Ltd., based in Hamilton, Bermuda, and the second largest marine shipper in the Russell index behind Kirby, has dropped more than 25 percent since its September peak. That leaves the shares poised to return about 70 percent over the next year, Michael Webber, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC, said in an Oct. 15 note.
“This kind of pull-back is what many investors have been waiting for,” Webber said in the note.
LNG contracts are indexed to Brent crude, so a drop in long-dated futures could hurt pricing and lead to marginal projects being canceled, Webber said. That hasn’t happened yet and the LNG shipping market is already undersupplied for late in the decade, he said.
Brent for December settlement decreased as much as $1.21 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $85.62 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange today. Front-month prices are down 22 percent this year.
Dry Bulk
Dry bulk shippers, which depend on Chinese demand for coal, iron ore and grains, are the “softest” marine shipping sector, even after companies such as Safe Bulkers Inc. fell 33 percent from their September highs, Webber said. Capacity of those ships swelled by 4.8 percent in the past year to 654 million tons.
Excess capacity has helped cut the average share price of dry bulk shippers to less than book value. The excess could be absorbed by rising iron ore exports to China from Australia and Brazil, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
“Across most segments there has been severe oversupply since 2008 and the demand crush we saw at that time,” equities analyst Bjoern Kristian Roed from Danske Bank A/S said by telephone on October 23.
“2014 could be viewed as the first year where tonne-mile demand exceeds vessel supply growth within the conventional shipping segments (dry bulk and crude oil) and I expect this trend to continue into next year, which will be positive for the shipping segment,” he said by e-mail.
of course, this article does not mention Jones Act trade services which is very heavily tilted towards the transportation of petroleum products. While I would certainly imagine there is downward pressure on charter rates for coastwise tankship and tank barge services, the lower operating costs from cheap fuel will undoubtedly help the operators.
although not new news this article reinforces the common belief that E&P spending by the majors is going to be cut heavily in 2015…this is going to be felt in the offshore industry worldwide but the effect in the GoM is not speculated on
Oil Companies Seen Cutting Spending 25 Percent in 2015 Due to Falling Crude
by Reuters
Monday, December 22, 2014
HOUSTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Plunging oil prices will prompt energy companies to cut investments in new projects by 25 percent or more in 2015, analysts said over the past week, as firms try to stay cash-flow positive and keep debt in check.
With oil prices down more than 40 percent since June, some companies, including ConocoPhillips, have slashed spending by 20 percent. But because crude prices have yet to stabilize, other companies are waiting to draw up budgets.
“Many are buying time on 2015 capex and production guidance while hoping for a stable baseline to plan from,” Capitol One Securities said in a note to clients. “We think cuts of 25 percent or more versus a year ago are on the way and won’t be unusual.”
Whiting Petroleum Corp said on Monday it will not release its 2015 capital spending plan until February, citing volatile oil prices. Budgets from Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp are also due out in early 2015, along with comprehensive spending surveys from industry analysts at Cowen and Barclays.
The spending reductions, once announced, are likely to be the biggest in years. But the U.S. government still expects output to be the highest in decades as productivity for new wells rises. Investment bank Simmons expects average U.S. oil production growth of about 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) next year, up from around 9 million bpd in November.
Bernstein Research said if benchmark Brent crude oil was at $80 per barrel, then global exploration and production spending would fall 20 percent to $640 billion.
If Brent were at $65 a barrel, then spending would fall by 30 percent. Bernstein added that a decline of 35 percent in North American capex would be likely if benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which trades at a discount to Brent, averages $65 a barrel. WTI is currently around $56.
Wood Mackenzie said the top 40 oil companies would collectively need to slash spending $170 billion, or 37 percent, to keep net debt flat if global oil were at $60 a barrel.
That would be in addition to $9 billion in cuts announced in the last few weeks by the companies.
In total, there are about $127 billion of global industry greenfield projects at risk of deferment, Wood Mackenzie said.