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Oil Industry Faces Huge Worker Shortage

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Because of this, the collective US shale industry has been likened to the new “swing producer”: low oil prices force quick cutbacks but higher prices trigger new supplies. The Wall Street Journal , using data from IHS, estimates that roughly 70 percent of the fracking equipment across the shale industry has been idled.

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Opinion: Global Oil Supply More Fragile Than You Think

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Many oil companies had trimmed their budgets heading into 2015 to deal with lower oil prices. But the collapse of prices in July—owing to the Iran nuclear deal, an ongoing production surplus, and economic and financial concerns in Greece and China—have darkened the mood. That could cause oil prices to spike.

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Opinion: Could WTI Trade At A Premium To Brent By Next Year?

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A flood of bearish news has pushed down oil prices to their lowest levels in months, with WTI nearing $45 per barrel and Brent flirting with sub-$50 territory. With a bear market back, there is pessimism throughout the oil markets. However, the WTI/Brent spread has shrunk more dramatically since the collapse in oil prices.

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Opinion: Are US Drillers Actually Making A Comeback?

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Oil prices have rebounded strongly since March. The benchmark WTI prices soared by more than 36 percent in two months, and Brent has jumped by more than 25 percent. In the Bakken, oil production actually increased by 1 percent in the month of March, a surprise development reported by the North Dakota Industrial Commission.

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EPA announces 2011 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards; green chemistry market opportunity projected to be $98.5B by 2020, about 2% of total market

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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting its 16 th annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award ceremony tonight in Washington, DC. Genomatica expects Bio-BDO to be competitive at oil prices of $45 per barrel or at natural gas prices of $3.50 per million Btu.

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DNV GL paper suggests near-term success for LNG in shipping; alternative fuel mix to diversify over time

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DNV and GL merged in September 2013 to form DNV GL—the world’s largest ship and offshore classification society, the leading technical advisor to the global oil and gas industry, and a leading expert for the energy value chain including renewables and energy efficiency. —“Alternative Fuels for Shipping”.

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Startup Siluria Technologies developing novel bio-templated catalysts for economic direct conversion of methane to ethylene; potential for transportation fuels

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Siluria was one of the highlighted companies at last week’s ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, DC. But once you are at a two-carbon molecule with a double bond, you can go anywhere in the chemical industry. Today this molecule is made from oil, by a process known as steam cracking. —Alex Tkachenko.