The Kuwait Oil Workers Union on Wednesday called off a "total strike" and decided to return to work, hours after a fresh appeal by the acting oil minister.

"In respect for the emir and in loyalty to him... we have decided to cancel the total strike," an official statement by the union said, ending action that had given support to oil prices.

The statement said workers would go back to work at 0400 GMT.

"We trust the emir... for the protection of the rights of oil workers," said the union statement, posted on its official Twitter account.

The decision came only hours after the union leaders told a press conference that they would continue their strike, having rejected all appeals.

The union leaders insisted that they would end the strike only after all their demands were met in full including the scrapping of plans to cut their wages and benefits.

The union said in the new statement that the strike was "extremely successful" and conveyed the workers' message to authorities about their rights.

It also warned oil authorities of taking any action toward the workers who stopped work.

The strike, which began on Sunday, slashed OPEC members' crude and natural gas production by more than half.

Kuwait's crude production dropped from 3.0 million barrels per day to just 1.5 million bpd and refining output dived to 520,000 bpd from 930,000 bpd.

The workers' demands included abolishing decisions by authorities to cut some incentives in the face of falling oil prices and excluding the oil sector from a new payroll scheme for public servants.

Acting oil minister Anas Al Saleh called on workers in a television interview Tuesday night to return to work and start negotiations with authorities.

"We cannot sit on the negotiations table while the strike was still going. Return to work and come for negotiations," Saleh told private Al Rai satellite television.

Saleh, who is also the finance minister, said that authorities have not yet implemented any decision regarding the oil workers' pay.

Oil prices ended a four-day losing streak Tuesday as sharply curtailed production in Kuwait due to the strike spurred hopes for an easing of the global crude glut.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May jumped $1.30 (3.3 per cent) to $41.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, European benchmark Brent North Sea crude for June delivery finished at $44.03 a barrel, a gain of $1.12 (2.6 per cent) from Monday's settlement.

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-oil-workers-call-off-strike-return-to-work-1.1717076

Iran's crude oil production will reach pre-sanctions levels within two months, a deputy oil minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday, reaffirming Tehran's commitment to boosting production.

State news agency IRNA quoted Rokneddin Javadi as saying that the pre-sanctions level would be attained by the end of the Iranian month of Khordad, which falls on June 20.

Iran's oil production was slightly below 4 million barrels a day before sanctions were imposed on the oil industry in 2011 and 2012. Last week Javadi said output had already surpassed 3.5 million barrels a day.

http://www.reuters.com/article/iran-oil-production-idUSD5N16G00N

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Crude oil storage helped commodity traders and refiners make strong profits last year and in the first quarter of 2016 but now the price structure which made it possible is evaporating.

In a typical storage strategy, known as "cash and carry", traders buy physical crude and put it into storage in a tank farm, or more rarely on a tanker at sea.

Traders simultaneously sell crude futures for a nearby contract, hedging their exposure in case prices fall while the oil is stored.

As the futures contracts near expiry, traders buy them back and sell more contracts for a date further in the future. The strategy continues until the trader is ready to release the stocks back to the market.

But the strategy only works if the futures market trades in contango, with contracts near expiry cheaper than those further forward.

In a contango market, traders are constantly buying lower-priced contracts and selling higher-priced ones, making a profit on the difference.

The profit from the futures half of the transaction pays for all the costs of borrowing money to buy the physical oil and arranging storage.

Provided the physical and financial transactions are exactly matched there is an opportunity to make a riskless profit.

In practice, the transactions rarely match perfectly and there is often some residual risk, but cash and carry is still one of the lowest risk and most popular trades in the physical oil business.

In late 2014 and again in late 2015, traders and refiners raced to buy as much crude as possible and put it into storage to profit from a big contango structure in the futures market.

But the strategy depends on the contango remaining wide enough to cover all the costs of financing and storing the physical crude.

As the contango in Brent narrows sharply, strategies which depend on selling Brent futures are becoming unprofitable (Hedge funds bet on tightening oil market despite Doha debacle, Reuters, April 19 ).

To the extent traders and refiners are financing and storing extra stock with Brent futures, the barrels are likely to be sold if the market remains in a narrow contango or moves deeper into backwardation.

In contrast, WTI futures continue to trade in a much larger contango, which continues to make financing physical oil stocks profitable (tmsnrt.rs/1Sij19m).

Brent is used in cash and carry strategies outside North America while WTI is employed mostly for storage trades in the United States.

The sharp narrowing of Brent spreads suggests speculative physical stocks in Europe, Asia and on tankers at sea will be the first sold, while stockholding in the United States remains profitable for now.

The prospect of a market near to balance has helped narrow the contango (Brent contango is hard to square with missing barrels, Reuters, March 9 ) (tmsnrt.rs/1Sij459).

OECD crude stocks rose by a relatively modest 375,000 barrels per day during the first two months of the year, according to the International Energy Agency.

Preliminary data show OECD crude stocks rose only 400,000 bpd in March, compared with an average build of almost 1 million bpd in the same month over the last five years (Oil Market Report, IEA, April 14).

The IEA's predictions for a very small crude surplus in the second half of the year imply OECD stocks are likely to decline between July and December.

http://www.reuters.com/article/brent-oil-kemp-idUSL5N17M44R

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Norwegian operator Statoil has developed a new concept for subsea developments aimed at reducing costs by 30%.

The company has created Cap-X, which according to reports in Norwegian media, will bring them one step further towards a “plug and play solution” to the seabed.

A spokesman for Statoil said the technology had been inspired by the company’s previous experience drilling in the Barents Sea.

He said the technology had given “confidence” in creating profitability for the company in the region.

Statoil believes Cap-X, which had first been developed for solving challenge of shallow reservoirs, will also have further potential elsewhere on the Norwegian shelf.

The subsea concept is based on suction anchor technology for mounting installation on the seabed such as Statoil, Shell and the Norwegian Geotechnical institute has been pioneering.

The company has also patented the technology but the company’s spokesman said the move was “not about” other companies being unable to adopt the technology.

https://www.energyvoice.com/other-news/trainingtechnology/107168/statoil-develops-subsea-technology-reduce-costs-30/

Late last week, just ahead of the Doha meeting, we showed that Iran's existing oil tanker armada which until recently had been on anchor next to the Iranian coast and which according to Windward data was storing as much as 50 million barrels offshore...

...  had finally started to move.

The reason, as Bloomberg reported, was that tankers carrying about 28.8 million barrels of crude, or more than 2 million a day, left the Persian Gulf country’s ports in the first 14 days of April. That compares with a rate of about 1.45 million barrels a day in March. As a result, Iran’s crude shipments have soared by more than 600,000 barrels a day this month, and offsetting the entire production decline by US producers with just half a month's incremental production.

However, now that the shipping armada has sailed to its various (most Asian) destinations, it may be difficult to repeat this in the near term.

According to Reuters, Iran is struggling to increase oil exports because many of its tankers are tied up storing crude, some are not seaworthy, and foreign shipowners are clearly reluctant to carry its cargoes.

The math: Iran has 55-60 oil tankers in its fleet, a senior Iranian government official told Reuters. He declined to say how many were being used to store unsold cargoes, but industry sources said 25-27 tankers were parked in sea lanes close to terminals including Assaluyeh and Kharg Island for this purpose.

Asked how many tankers were not seaworthy and needed to go to dry docks for refits to meet international shipping standards, the senior official said: "Around 20 large tankers ... need to be modernised." A further 11 Iranian tankers from the fleet were carrying oil to Asian buyers on Tuesday, according to Reuters shipping data and a source who tracks tanker movements. That was broadly in line with the number consistently committed to Asian runs since sanctions were lifted in January, putting more strain on the remaining available fleet.

So as increasingly more of Iran's tanker fleet is currently utilized or is otherwise out of commission, Iran desperately needs foreign ships to execute its plans for a big export push to Europe and elsewhere and meet its target of reaching pre-sanctions sales levels this year.

There is just one problem: nobody wants to give their spare tanker capacity to Iran.

According to Reuters ship owners, who are not short of business in a booming tanker market, are unwilling to take Iranian cargoes.

One stumbling block is residual U.S. restrictions on Tehran which are still in place and prohibit any trade in dollars or the involvement of U.S. firms including banks - a major hurdle for the oil and tanker trades, which are priced in dollars.

As a result only eight foreign tankers, carrying a total of around 8 million barrels of oil, have shipped Iranian crude to European destinations since sanctions were lifted in January, according to data from the tanker-tracking source and ship brokers.

That equates to only around 10 days' worth of sales at the levels of pre-2012, when European buyers were purchasing as much as 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the OPEC producer. So far no Iranian tankers have made deliveries to Europe, according to data from the tanker-tracking source.

Whether it is due to politics or simple business precaautions, Paddy Rodgers, chief executive of leading international oil tanker company Euronav, said at present there was "no great urgency to do business in Iran".

"There is not a premium to do business in Iran and there is plenty of other business - the markets are busy, rates are good. So there is no stress on wanting to do it," he told Reuters. "I don't really want to set up a euro bank account in Dubai in order to trade with Iran - that would crazy."

Michele White, general counsel with Intertanko , an association which represents the majority of the world's tanker fleet, said: "We have witnessed a reluctance by our members generally to return to Iranian trade given the prohibition on use of the U.S. financial system - essentially no U.S. dollars."

One can almost smell Saudi intervention here, which we firstdescribed two weeks ago when we reported that not only has Saudi Arabia banned Iranfrom sailing in its territorial waters, but has taken proactive steps to slow Iran’s efforts at increasing oil exports, interfering with third parties and making Iran's procurement of vessels virtually impossible. As the abovementioned oil tanker association Intertanko and other industry participants said then, while no formal notice has been given by Saudi Arabia, uncertainty is making some charterers less willing to lift Iranian crude.

"It’s seen as an unknown risk,” said one shipbroker. “No one wants to disrupt their relationship with the Saudis."

Iran admits as much.

A senior Iranian government official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, acknowledged his country was finding it difficult to hire foreign tankers.

"We are working on the problems. There are various issues involved, financial, banking and even insurance. It has improved a little bit since the lifting of sanctions but we still face serious problems."

Asked if this and the need to modernise some of the domestic fleet was holding back exports, he said: "Of course it does."

Iran's problems may not be resolved any time soon. Reuters adds that two other sources with other leading oil tanker operators echoed the above concerns and said they were not doing Iran deals at the moment.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-19/iran-ready-flood-world-oil-it-just-has-no-ships-deliver-it

One of China’s biggest oil and gas explorers found a buyer for its oil assets from Canada to Kurdistan amid a collapse in energy prices and a drive to reform state-run firms: another government-owned company.

China Petrochemical Corp., Asia’s biggest refiner known as Sinopec Group, sold to two state investment vehicles more than half of a unit that holds its overseas assets. Shifting ownership of properties across the energy supply chain into other government-run companies is becoming more common in China in anticipation of broader industry reforms, according to Tian Miao, an analyst at North Square Blue Oak Ltd., a China policy research company.

“Only the state-owned asset companies have the capacity and money to merge and reorganize them,” Tian said. “Those overseas projects bought at high oil prices years ago may have lost massive value in this low oil price environment.”

The unit, Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corp., acquired many of the properties when oil was above $100 a barrel and is now challenged to find buyers, according to James Hubbard, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Macquarie Capital Securities Ltd.

“No company would buy those assets at anything but a small fraction of what Sinopec Group paid for them,” Hubbard said. The assets “have book values that are far in excess of anything Sinopec’s listed company would pay without destroying vast amounts of shareholder value.”

China’s biggest oil and gas companies, which include Sinopec Group as well as China National Petroleum Corp., spent nearly $119 billion on energy deals from 2009 through 2013, accounting for 13 percent of global transactions in the industry, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The overseas assets SIPC held for Sinopec Group include the $3.1 billion stake it bought in Apache Corp.’s Egyptian operations in 2013 and its $4.65 billion share in Syncrude Canada Ltd. in 2010. It also took over Canadian explorer Daylight Energy Ltd. for $2.1 billion in 2011. Oil prices averaged more than $100 during those years.

SIPC also holds assets Sinopec Group picked up from Addax Petroleum Corp., for which it agreed to pay C$8.3 billion in June 2009, and a $7.1 billion chunk of Repsol YPF SA’s Brazilian unitbought in 2010. It also owns projects in Russia, the Middle East and Africa, according to its website. SIPC will retain operational control of the assets after the deal, it said in a statement Friday.

SIPC sold the stakes to China Chengtong Holdings Group Ltd. and China Reform Holdings Corp., without providing a value for the transactions. The statement Friday announcing the deal said ownership will be split into two 30 percent stakes and one 40 percent share, without providing details. A Sinopec Group spokesman was unable to clarify. Neither China Chengtong Holdings nor China Reform Holdings responded to requests for comment.

China Reform Holdings was involved in a separate shift of assets in November, when it bought a 50 percent stake in PetroChina Co.’s Trans-Asia Gas Pipeline Co. for $2.4 billion as the the state-owned explorer tried to raise money to meet year-end profit targets.

Sinopec Group’s international units produced 49.86 million barrels of crude in 2014, or about 14 percent of its total 360.7 million barrels output, according to its 2014 annual report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-19/sinopec-shifts-global-oil-assets-to-state-buyers-amid-downturn

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Woodside Petroleum has started on engineering work to bring gas held by US player Hess Corporation off Western Australia into the North West Shelf venture, as one of several smaller projects it is pursuing after dropping the $US40 billion-plus Browse floating LNG project last month.

The progress on the Equus project with Hess, envisaged under an agreement struck by the North West Shelf venture in late 2014, came as Woodside reported a 30.3 per cent drop in sales for the first quarter as the impact of lower oil and LNG prices hit home.

Sales for the first three months of 2016 fell to $US982 million ($1.3 billion) from just over $US1.4 billion in the year-earlier period, despite an 8.7 per cent rise in production to 23.7 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Woodside shares dropped 1.6 per cent, markedly underperforming the broader energy index, which gained 3.8 per cent on an uptick in crude oil prices overnight on Tuesday Australian time.

But the sales figures beat analysts' expectations, with several pointing to a less severe decline in LNG prices than had been feared due to price floors in some long-term sales contracts.

JPMorgan analyst Mark Busuttil described the quarter as a "strong" one, and said Woodside could beat its full-year output guidance. He also cited the better-than-expected LNG prices, which dropped only 10 per cent at the North West Shelf venture and 2 per cent at Pluto, compared with a 20 per cent drop in the oil benchmark.

But he said the risk remained Woodside may have to accept lower prices when long-term contracts are renegotiated in the near future.

Chief executive Peter Coleman, who will face shareholders at the annual general meeting in Perth on Thursday, said the company was "progressing well" with its low-cost, high-value growth strategy.

"We are taking advantage of market conditions and applying latest technology to reduce life-cycle costs, further enhancing our position as a low-cost operator," Mr Coleman said.

Dropping the Browse floating LNG project has left Woodside short of large growth projects, but Mr Coleman has been pointing to more-modest opportunities.

Last week, he said Woodside was close to a final investment decision on its $US2 billion-plus Greater Enfield oil project off Western Australia, and chief operating officer Mike Utsler signalled plans for early production from recent gas discoveries off Myanmar.

In Wednesday's quarterly report, Woodside also gave a 2017 date for a final investment decision on the Equus project, which Hess had previously indicated could cost $US6 billion for the upstream development of its fields in the Carnarvon Basin.

Meanwhile the Lambert Deep gas project at the North West Shelf is set for a final investment decision this December half, although projects are intended to keep the venture's gas plants full rather than provide new growth.

"Organic growth for the company remains limited," said Bernstein Research analyst Neil Beveridge, while agreeing with the decision to put Browse on hold.

Woodside reiterated it was still committed to "the earliest commercial development" of Browse gas, with floating LNG still its preferred solution.

Production volumes slid 4.8 per cent from the December quarter, due to maintenance work at NW Shelf oil and waning flows from older projects.

The Balnaves oil venture, which Woodside acquired only last year as part of its $US3.75 billion deal with Apache Corporation, has had a disappointingly rapid decline and ceased production on March 20.

However, Woodside's Pluto LNG venture in Western Australia had a good quarter, producing about 12 per cent beyond its expected capacity. The Kitimat gas venture in Canada, also acquired from Apache, produced more gas than expected into the domestic market, although the LNG export part of the project is still widely seen as a long-dated option dependent on higher prices.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/energy/woodside-petroleum-sales-slashed-by-price-rout-20160419-goa7bz.html#ixzz46Ls7uiq0
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

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Parnaiba Gas Natural SA, Brazil’s biggest independent natural gas producer, is considering acquisitions and preparing to expand output in Latin America’s biggest economy.

The Rio de Janeiro-based producer spent 800 million reais ($223 million) last year to expand infrastructure and drill 30 wells in what was Brazil’s biggest drilling campaign on land, Chief Executive Officer Pedro Zinner said in an interview. This has put the company on track to nearly double output to 8.4 million cubic meters (297 million cubic feet) in July, and it is looking to expand further, he said.

“We’re always looking at opportunities,” said Zinner at the company’s office in Rio. “We’ll see a lot of stranded assets.”

State-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA is looking to divest assets ranging from pipelines to offshore oil fields in an effort to ease the biggest debt load in the oil industry and withstand the worst oil market in a generation. Apart from potential acquisitions, Parnaiba also plans to hunt for more gas deposits at seven concessions it won in October. It plans to start using seismic technology next year to map the geology and decide on drilling sites, he said.

Last month energy producer Eneva SA, which owns 27.3 percent of Parnaiba, signed an agreement with the company’s other main shareholders to incorporate it as a subsidiary. Brazil’s antitrust regulator, Cade, approved the deal last week, and it still needs to be approved at a shareholders’ meeting. Parnaiba will feed its expanding gas production to Eneva’s power plants, which are some of the most efficient in Brazil, Zinner said.

“Upstream will be the growth arm of the new entity,” Zinner said. “It’s been a good year despite all the turbulence.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-19/brazilian-gas-producer-parnaiba-seeks-acquisitions-amid-downturn

Catalyst won out over five other bidders, Bogota-based Pacific said in a statement Tuesday. Restructuring will reduce debt, improve liquidity, and better position the oil producer after a rout in crude prices. Operations will continue without disruption throughout the restructuring.

Under terms of the deal, Toronto-based Catalyst and the other creditors will provide $500 million in debtor-in-possession financing secured against the company’s assets, according to the statement. The $250 million provided by funding creditors will be converted into five-year convertible notes, while Catalyst’s $250 million will be converted or exchanged for 16.8 percent of the common shares in the reorganized company.

“We are confident that the company will emerge from this process as a stronger entity, best-positioned to weather the current oil price environment and capitalize on opportunities once the market adjusts,” Pacific Chief Executive Officer Ronald Pantin said in the statement.

Upon completion of the transaction, Catalyst is expected to hold 29.3 percent of the reorganized company, while the funding creditors will hold 12.5 percent.

Pacific’s $4.1 billion in unsecured debt, $1.2 billion in obligations on its credit facility and other unsecured claims by creditors will be wiped out and exchanged for a 58.2 percent stake in the reorganized company.

The agreement, which is contingent on customary approvals, is also subject to a no-shop clause for as many as 12 weeks, and is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter.

"We understand the importance of Pacific to the countries in which it operates, including Colombia and Peru, and we are eager to work with Pacific’s local and international stakeholders to complete this restructuring with a view to establishing a stronger, long-term focused and soundly recapitalized Company," said Gabriel de Alba, managing director and partner of Catalyst.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-19/pacific-e-p-reaches-restructuring-deal-with-canada-s-catalyst

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Oil drilling companies and royalty owners from the Texas Panhandle to New Mexico’s stretch of the Permian Basin are embarking on a grass-roots campaign to limit foreign oil imports, salvaging what they say is a major sector of the U.S. economy.

“American oil is competing against a cartel of government operators which has a stated initiative of driving an American industry out of business,” said Tom Cambridge, one of the Panhandle producers leading the campaign.

The grass-roots movement is pushing for the next president of the United States to issue a proclamation setting quotas for imports — something that hasn’t been done in more than four decades.

“It’s not that this is the first time but this is a more concerted, deliberate effort and I think it’s gaining ground,” said John Yates Jr., a member of a well-known family that is a leader in the industry and has over the last century developed some of New Mexico’s largest and most significant oilfields.

Under the plan unveiled by the Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owners Association and other supporters, import quotas could be imposed within the next administration’s first 90 days in office. Canadian and Mexican oil would be exempt.

Quotas on heavy crude oil would be phased in and imports would eventually be limited to around 10 percent of total demand.

Supporters say they’re drawing a line in the sand after more than a dozen oil-rich nations failed to agree during a recent meeting in Saudi Arabia to freeze production. They blame Middle East producers for flooding the market and fueling the price war as a means to stifle domestic production.

Oil fell in the past two years from above $100 a barrel to touch 12-year lows under $30 a barrel earlier this year, and U.S. production has dropped by as much as 700,000 barrels a day and the number of rigs in the field has sunk to historic lows.

By 2017, crude oil production is forecast to average around 8 million barrels per day, nearly 1.5 million less than in 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

Oilfield equipment along one of the two-lane highways that link West Texas and southeastern New Mexico sits idle in company yards, and local governments and schools are feeling the pinch as severance taxes and royalties dwindle.

“Service companies, restaurants, real estate, the people building motels and hotels — there are a lot of impacts,” said Yates told the Associated Press.

Daniel Fine with the Center for Energy Policy at New Mexico Tech has been commissioned by the quota supporters to bring the idea before lawmakers and other elected leaders.

“The idea is to support domestic energy sources against import reliance and the risks that come with that,” said Fine, who is also an energy policy adviser to Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration and a former MIT research associate.

The effort launched this week with forums in Amarillo, Texas, and Artesia, New Mexico.

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2016/04/19/us-oil-drillers-seek-limits-on-crude-imports/

The United States federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday granted Cheniere’s request to introduce feed gas to Sabine Pass LNG facility’s Train 2 for commissioning.

Cheniere Energy requested authorization to introduce feed gas and refrigerants within the areas identified as Phases 3 – 5, which was granted in March, and then added a request for authorization to introduce feed gas and refrigerants to Train 2, including the heavies removal unit (HRU).

However, FERC did not reveal in its order the exact areas into which feed gas can be introduced to.

To remind, Sabine Pass export facility in Louisiana started producing LNG from its Train 1 in February.

The first cargo from the facility departed on February 24 and was later delivered to Petrobras’ Guanabara Bay LNG terminal in Brazil.

Cheniere is building liquefaction and export facilities at its existing import terminal located along the Sabine Pass River on the border between Texas and Louisiana.

The company plans to construct over time up to six liquefaction trains, which are in various stages of development. Each train is expected to have a nominal production capacity of about 4.5 mtpa of LNG.

http://www.lngworldnews.com/ferc-allows-feed-gas-for-sabine-pass-train-2/

The exportation of Bakken crude oil is beginning just 4 months after Congress lifted the 40-year-old ban on transporting oil overseas.

Congress lifting the oil export ban back in December of 2015 allows the U.S. and North Dakota to compete in the global market.

"We have been waiting for that first shipment of Bakken crude to end up leaving our shores, we've seen that," said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.

"Hess sold 175,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil for export from the United States. The oil was loaded in St James, La., and is being transported to a European refinery," said Hess in a statement.

"Whenever you can capture new markets, wherever those new markets are, it incentivizes you to produce more of whatever it is. So eventually it's going to lead to more domestic production," said Kari Cutting, Vice President, ND Petroleum Council.

Cutting says exporting oil overseas will also help grow our nation's economy, support job growth and keep gasoline prices low for the consumers.

"Once North Dakota crude oil is able to reach a major market hub like the Gulf Coast it then becomes a marketing situation where they will try to determine whether that crude will be destine for a refinery in the U.S. or globally at this point," said Justin Kringstad, ND Pipeline Authority.

It's up to the oil companies to find markets overseas that have a need for the state's light, sweet crude.

A representative from Hess says the ship of Bakken crude should reach Europe sometime this week.

http://www.kfyrtv.com/home/headlines/ND-Bakken-Crude-Oil-Being-Transported-to-Europe-376123761.html

Oil and gas producer Denbury Resources Inc said its lenders reduced its borrowing base by 30 percent to $1.05 billion and that it had to pledge more assets.

U.S. oil and gas companies are seeing the largest cuts yet to their bank loans as oil prices continue to remain weak.

Every six months, oil and gas producers negotiate with banks how much credit they should be given, based on the value of their reserves in the ground.

Denbury said the amendment to its credit facility increased the mortgaged property collateral requirement to 90 percent from 85 percent of its proved reserves.

The amendment also allows the company to take on $1 billion of junior lien debt that may be issued in exchange for the company's senior subordinated notes or other unsecured debt.

Denbury also said it added to its hedging positions and now has hedges in place through the second quarter of 2017.

http://www.reuters.com/article/denbury-resource-credit-line-idUSL3N17M3DY

At least five people have been killed in flooding that has covered the Houston region, officials said Monday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people and knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses.

"This is a life-threatening emergency," the city said on an emergency website. "Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today."
Four of the deaths happened in hard-hit Harris County, officials said.
The driver of an 18-wheeler was found dead inside the cab after he drove into high waters, a Harris County constable reported, and another man was found dead in a submerged car, the Houston Fire Department said.
Two others were found dead after driving around a barricade on Houston's west side, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said.

In neighboring Waller County, a 56-year-old man was found dead in a submerged vehicle, County Judge Trey Duhon said.
"It is believed the car rode off the road and into a ditch," Duhon said.

A flash flood watch is in effect for the Houston area through Tuesday morning, with "life-threatening" flash flooding possible Monday night, the weather service said. As little as an inch of rain could aggravate the flooding, it said.

Emmett called it the most significant flood event since Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, which left 41 people dead. It caused more than $5 billion in property damage in Harris County alone, according to the county's Flood Control District.

Around 45,000 customers in the region were without power as of Monday afternoon, emergency management officials said, down from a peak of 123,000 earlier in the day.

Some areas had received as much as 16 inches of rain by Monday morning, according to the flood control district.

The heavy rains forced seven of the city's many bayous out of their banks and created flooding in parts of the city that had not flooded for many years, Turner said.

The situation is the result of a nearly stationary area of low pressure that has stalled over the western United States, allowing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to flow into Texas over the last few days, according to CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

Very heavy rainfall is expected to continue through Tuesday before the system begins to move off to the northeast and weaken, he said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/18/us/houston-texas-flooding/

Oilfield services company Seventy Seven Energy Inc said it intended to file for a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on or before May 26, the latest energy company to seek bankruptcy protection amid a prolonged oil price slump.

The company, which was spun off from Chesapeake Energy Corp in 2014, said it had entered into a restructuring agreement with certain lenders that would allow it to convert about $1.1 billion of its debt into equity.

A more than 60 percent fall in global oil prices since mid-2014 has forced about 50 North American oil and gas producers to seek bankruptcy protection.

Weak oil prices have also prompted oil producers to severely curtail spending, weighing on demand for the oilfield services provided by companies such as Seventy Seven Energy.

Chesapeake Energy Corp, the company's former parent, surprised investors last Monday, when it said lenders had allowed it to keep its $4 billion borrowing base, despite concerns about its liquidity position.

Baker Botts LLP is Seventy Seven Energy's legal counsel and Lazard Freres & Co LLC is the financial adviser. Alvarez & Marsal is the company's restructuring adviser.

http://www.reuters.com/article/seventyseven-bankruptcy-idUSL3N17M3QS