The projected continuing surge in oil production from producers unencumbered by the OPEC led production cuts is not the extent of the challenges facing the efforts to bring about a consistent rise in oil prices. Their own report forecasts a drop in the need for OPECs crude this year by 300,000 bpd. Assuming that forecast, which may be overly optimistic, proves accurate the demand for the cartels oil will be 31.92 million bpd, at that level inventories will remain largely unchanged.
The problems with OPEC and Russia’s plan to bring the oil markets back into equilibrium don’t end with Libya. Another OPEC member exempted from production cuts is Nigeria which has been taking steps all year to ramp up oil production. Aside from the efforts being made to curb the impact of illegal refineries by stopping the so-called “sea pirates” from siphoning off oil pipelines, Nigeria is taking major steps to ramp up its own production.
Strong words need to be followed by strong actions otherwise they simply discredit the speaker in the future. Khalid al-Falih the Saudi Energy minster, and Alexander Novak his Russian counterpart, pledged in Beijing to do “Whatever it takes” to reduce the global glut in oil products inventory. However, unfortunately for Russia and OPEC, at this point changing the direction of the oil markets will require more than just a catchy headline.
The moment when litigation has been successful in court and a judgment or award is handed down should be a time for celebration. An award or judgment represents the culmination of years of time, effort, energy and capital; in a perfect world payment would follow swiftly. Unfortunately the world is far from perfect and in reality actual cash may still be a long way off when a judgment or award is issued.
Sadly, sometimes in life it can be hard to stand up and do the right thing, especially when everyone else seems content to ignore what you feel is wrong or immoral behavior. This is doubly true when this behavior is occurring in the workplace and those perpetrating it are your workplace superiors. Reporting illicit activity to the government is perhaps one of the hardest things that can be asked of a person, yet that is what courageous whistleblowers do every year. By standing up for their principles, these people place their lifestyle, livelihood, and careers in jeopardy for the abstract concept of right and wrong.
It is a sad fact of life that fraud occurs on a daily basis across the United States and the world. This form of criminal behavior is particularly offensive due to the deceptive nature of the crime which often entails the perpetrator gaining the trust of the victim in order to defraud them. Fraud is especially prevalent in the financial industry and litigation financing companies are particularly susceptible to three types of fraud.
A recent survey indicated that many of the nations electric companies are planning on incorporating distributed energy resources (DERs) into their business model. However, as is typical with this sector (and many others), most companies would prefer to see the concept proven before they make a significant investment in it themselves. Many utilities are investing in pilot programs such as rooftop solar panels or storage to experiment with DERs, rather than making significant alterations to their core infrastructure. Pilot programs have been used by utilities for decades are considered to be an effective method of testing a concept prior to making a large and costly commitment to an unproven idea.
SEHNDE, GERMANY – MARCH 10: Steam rises from cooling towers at the coal-fired Kraftwerk Mehrum power plant at Haemelerwald on March 10, 2015 near Sehnde, Germany. Energy production from conventional-based resources is becoming less profitable as renewable energy production has expanded and matured in Germany in the last decade. RWE, one of Germany’s biggest utilities, today warned of pending job cuts due to financial losses derived from its conventional energy production. The Kraftwerk Mehrum plant is majority-owned by Stadtwerke Hannover AG. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)
So far 2017 has been a great year for wind power with over 900 utility scale turbines installed in the first quarter of the year. These new turbines are capable of producing nearly 2000 megawatts making Q1 of 2017 the strongest quarter for wind energy production capacity in nearly a decade. Wind energy now accounts for nearly 6% of the United States total generating capacity. This figure will rise in the near future when near term pipeline projects capable of producing nearly 21,000 megawatts come online.
The Australian startup Redflow resumed delivering batteries to its customers this week. In late April the company suspended the delivery of batteries to customers after informing investors about a number of technical issues including electrolyte impurities that could cause system failure. This week CEO Simon Hackett informed investors in a letter that testing upon a new batch of batteries was successful and therefore deliveries could resume.
In recent years the residential solar industry has been one of the hottest industries in the United States with the market leader SolarCity growing by 50% yearly. Growth has been driven by falling solar costs as well as tax credits such as the California Solar Initiative, and the Investment Tax Credit.
