Mining giant BHP Billiton said yesterday it plans to ship ultralight oil from the US without the US government’s explicit permission in a move that will test a four-decades-long ban on crude exports.
The Anglo-Australian miner said the processed condensate, an ultra-light oil, would be exported from its Eagle Ford operations in south Texas.
The decision came just months after the US allowed two Texas-based companies to export condensate amid growing pressure on the government to end its ban on unrefined exports introduced in the 1970s as an energy security measure.
BHP said the condensate it planned to export — which is only lightly processed — is not raw crude oil as defined by the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security regulations.
“After taking the necessary time to thoroughly examine the issues involved, we concluded that processed condensate is eligible for export,” a BHP spokeswoman said in a statement. “BHP Billiton has worked through a robust due diligence, secured a dedicated supply chain and has taken steps to ensure the quality of our product for export.”
BHP did not provide further details about the size of the exports.
Shares in the miner closed 0.56 percent lower at A$33.82 in Australia.
The supply of ultra-light oil has grown on the back of the boom in fracking-based exploration and production of natural gas.
The production surge from shale-based deposits in areas like North Dakota and Texas has sharply reduced the need for imports and created regional surpluses due to distribution bottlenecks.
While the industry has pushed for exports to be allowed from areas like the Gulf of Mexico, opponents fear that competing with crude export markets could see fuel prices rise in the US.
Although the export of raw crude is banned, the US already exports large volumes of refined oil products.
BHP acquired Eagle Ford after its takeover of US firm Petrohawk Energy in 2011. BHP said last week it was selling some of its US shale gas holdings and continuing to focus on the more profitable shale liquid assets at Eagle Ford and Permian.
BHP forecasts liquids production of approximately 200 thousand barrels per day by the 2017 financial year from the two sites.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS