Jellyfish in the cooling water intake have forced the shutdown of Sweden’s largest nuclear reactor, which generates about 10% of the country’s electricity. As bizarre as this sounds, jellyfish have caused problems at power plants in several countries, including the US. [CNN] Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that state-controlled energy company Petronas is going… Keep reading →
TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline could provide Canada with an outlet for Alberta’s oil sands that sidesteps political opposition obstructing competing projects heading south and west. But with the shift in oil demand growth from the Atlantic Basin to the Pacific, moving oil east may be a second-best solution. TransCanada’s Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Northern… Keep reading →
The ongoing controversy over the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline linking Alberta’s oil sands to US markets covers a vast amount of factual territory, from refinery configuration to logistics to international crude oil trading to carbon dioxide emissions. But at times, all of these issues take a back seat to the emotional, or symbolic, component of… Keep reading →
The first visible chink in the oil and gas sector’s stance on the Keystone XL pipeline project’s inevitability turned up this week in that house journal of capitalism, the Wall Street Journal. In his provocatively titled article, “U.S. Refiners Don’t Care if Keystone Gets Built,” Ben Lefebvre lists the host of ways that the sector… Keep reading →
When it comes to the question of whether pipeline or rail is safer for moving crude, the answer depends somewhat on the source, but pipelines are broadly understood to come out ahead, not only on safety, but also on cost and efficiency. However, newfound oil abundance in areas not traditionally associated with oil and gas… Keep reading →
Governments of resource-rich countries commonly fill their coffers via royalties, taxes and other fiscal mechanisms that allow them to benefit from their national endowments. But while a well-designed fiscal regime can benefit both producers and residents, excessive government take can force producers to look elsewhere for returns, stifling investment. When governments establish fiscal terms for… Keep reading →
Norway, Alaska and Alberta are broadly recognized as having managed their oil resource wealth relatively effectively, particularly in regards to having avoided the “resource curse” – a seemingly counterintuitive situation in which the economies of countries with substantial natural resource endowments fare worse than those of their non-resource-rich counterparts. Each of the three has established… Keep reading →
Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July! Here’s what’s happening in energy news. West Texas Intermediate crude is trading near a 14-month high, spurred by unrest in Egypt and a sunny outlook for US economic growth. [Bloomberg] And Brent hit a three-month high today after Egypt’s army declared a state of emergency in areas… Keep reading →
A couple of firsts, and one sloppy second… Some citizens of Sub-Saharan African countries may get access to reliable electricity for the first time. President Obama has announced plans to invest $7 bln over five years to expand access to electricity in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania, mostly as loans to buy US… Keep reading →
Importing Canadian heavy oil via the Keystone XL pipeline may represent a more environmentally friendly option than crude from other sources, according to panelists at the New York Energy Week Oil and Gas Market Perspectives breakfast on Tuesday, hosted by CME Group. Environmentalists frequently cite the environmental footprint of Canada’s “tar sands” as a primary… Keep reading →
