The complex natural gas flaring issue associated with producing crude oil and other higher-value liquids from the Bakken Shale formation is back in the news as companies seek to address royalty payments owed for certain volumes of that flared gas. There appears to be some legal uncertainty regarding whether companies owe money to royalty owners for gas that was produced on their land but flared rather than sold. Gas can be flared for numerous reasons (read more) and one of these is overwhelmed natural gas gathering and transportation infrastructure that cannot handle the considerable volumes of gas being produced along with crude oil, condensate and other liquid hydrocarbons. [Wall Street Journal]

Solar City recently completed a $201.5 million financing round known as a securitization in which it offers notes that will be payable from income earned on solar PV systems owned by Solar City. Similar to mortgage-backed securities, these solar-system-backed securities are an example of creative financing options that have helped reduce the up-front costs associated with installing a solar PV system while accelerating solar PV deployment. [CleanTechnica]

International crude oil benchmark prices continued trending lower Monday morning. The September West Texas Intermediate contract traded on the Nymex followed gasoline prices downward, as analysts predicted seasonal summer driving demand has likely peaked and ample supplies amid weaker demand are pressuring prices lower. “Gasoline for September delivery slid 0.6% to $2.7287 a gallon on the Nymex after dropping to $2.7126, the lowest intraday level since Feb. 7. The crack spread, a rough measure of the profit from processing a barrel of oil into gasoline, narrowed to $16.97 a barrel, the lowest in a week.” [Bloomberg]