Being a top female earner for a major integrated oil company is a rarity, but among the smaller explorers and producers it’s even more of an anomaly.Only 5 percent of people in the top pay quartile at the U.K. operations of Premier Oil Plc were women, according to figures the North Sea-focused explorer submitted to the government. That compares with 22 percent at the U.K. operations of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, a much larger company encompassing everything from oil and gas production, to refining, marketing and retail.There are several reasons for the business of drilling and pumping oil, particularly offshore, to be more male dominated.Many roles need technical or scientific training, subjects that have historically attracted more men. The job often requires employees to spend weeks offshore on isolated platforms, making it more difficult to offer the flexible working conditions that many companies say improve retention of female employees.“Our offshore workforce, which … [Read more...] about Oil Industry’s Female Pay Gap Is Worse Among the Explorers
Oil
One of World’s Dirtiest Oil Sources Wants to Go Green
One of most aggressive campaigns to fight global warming is happening in a Canadian province. There’s just one problem: the same place is also home to some of the dirtiest oil in the world.Alberta is boosting its use of renewable energy, closing power plants that burn coal and in January increased its tax on carbon emissions by 50 percent, moves that will help Canada curb emissions under the global Paris climate agreement. However, the province is also increasing output from its vast reserves of oil sands, a gooey fossil fuel that produces more than twice as much carbon dioxide during extraction and processing than the North American average.This kind of dual personality underscores the dilemma faced by oil producers that are also seeking to control air pollution. Canada in 2011 pulled out of an earlier international climate deal, the Kyoto Protocol, after its oil sands drove up carbon emissions. Alberta’s newly increased carbon tax affects coal and natural gas-fired power … [Read more...] about One of World’s Dirtiest Oil Sources Wants to Go Green
China’s First Ever Yuan Oil Futures Begin Trading in Shanghai
Bloomberg News March 25, 2018, 9:05 PM EDT China launched its first ever crude-futures contract as the world’s biggest oil buyer seeks to wield greater power over pricing and challenge benchmarks in the U.S. and Europe.The long-awaited yuan-denominated futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange traded at 440.20 yuan a barrel ($69.70) at 9:01 a.m. local time. The contracts, which are open to foreign investors, end years of delays and setbacks since China’s first attempt to list the securities in 1993. The two major dollar-based oil benchmarks, Brent in London and West Texas Intermediate in New York, traded near $70.95 a barrel and $66.42 a barrel, respectively.— With assistance by Sarah Chen, and Heesu Lee … [Read more...] about China’s First Ever Yuan Oil Futures Begin Trading in Shanghai
China Is About to Shake Up the Oil Futures Market
It’s taken a quarter of a century, but China’s finally getting its own oil futures.At 9 a.m. local time on Monday, crude contracts will begin trading on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange. The world’s biggest oil buyer is offering yuan-denominated futures that foreigners can buy and sell -- a first in Chinese commodities. Among the most intriguing questions is whether the traditional benchmarks of Brent crude in London and West Texas Intermediate in New York will face a serious challenger. Here are some of the other key questions.1. Why is this important for China?Futures trading would wrest some control over pricing from the main international benchmarks, which are based on dollars. Denominating oil contracts in yuan would promote the use of China’s currency in global trade, one of the country’s key long-term goals. And China would benefit from having a benchmark that reflects the grades of oil that are mostly consumed by local refineries and … [Read more...] about China Is About to Shake Up the Oil Futures Market
Here’s why New Mexico’s oil boom is raising a lot of questions about water
For decades, oil field services companies poured millions of gallons of freshwater into the ground to dissolve a thick salt layer and produce brine long used in drilling operations. In the process, they hollowed out massive caverns. A decade ago, two of those collapsed, forming a pair of giant desert craters 22 miles and 29 miles northeast of Carlsbad, the heart of the state's oil operations. … [Read more...] about Here’s why New Mexico’s oil boom is raising a lot of questions about water