Renewables suffered their first “serious slowdown” in 2012, as their rapid growth outpaced the capacity of some economies to continue subsidizing them, according to BP Chief Economist Christof Rühl. Global renewables consumption – defined as wind, geothermal, biomass, solar and waste – grew by 15.2% in 2012 over 2011 levels, to 237.4 million tons of… Keep reading →
China has enacted new measures to improve air quality, including a mandate that heavy polluters, such as coal-fired power plants, reduce emissions by 30% per unit of economic output by the end of 2017, and publicly release environmental information. Certainly seems like a step in the right direction for a country whose capital city’s pollution… Keep reading →
The future of Alaska’s abundant natural gas reserves has hung in the balance for decades, with much disagreement over how to maximize value for the disparate stakeholders and minimize negative environmental impacts associated with developing the gas. However, the US energy picture has been radically redrawn in recent years, finally putting a potential solution within… Keep reading →
A pair of proposed pipeline projects may bring more than 90 billion cubic meters per year of natural gas to European markets, but this will not undermine the rationale for developing the continent’s indigenous shale resources, which could offer a range of other economic and security benefits, says Eurasia Group global gas analyst Leslie Palti-Guzman…. Keep reading →
BP displayed a lack of caution in agreeing to a rather lax set of standards regarding payment for Macondo oil spill claims. “The level of compensation was never capped and the settlement didn’t require proof that losses were caused by the spill.” [Bloomberg] Walgreens is building its first “net-zero energy” store in Illinois. Adding generation capacity… Keep reading →
One of the most frightening scenes from the financial crisis unfolded in the staid environs of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Washington offices, where the regulators charged with monitoring derivatives trade gathered together the heads of commodity trading from recently shamed Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The CFTC was a comparatively… Keep reading →
Proponents of a “commercial maturity test” for LNG export projects suggest that it could help to bridge the gap between those who support and those who oppose allowing the market to determine how much natural gas the US will sell abroad. But changing the rules mid-stream could give some project developers an edge, and even… Keep reading →
Moody’s analysts are have weighed in on prospects for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the US, forecasting that chemical companies and utilities could see some negative impact from higher domestic natural gas prices, but not enough to bring down their credit ratings.
Moody’s expects US LNG export capacity to rise to 6.3 billion cubic feet per day by 2020 – equivalent to 178.4 million cubic meters per day, compared with global exports totaling 330.8 billion cubic meters per day in 2011, according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy. “We do not expect the volume of exports from North America will have a significant impact on the global LNG trade during this decade,” the rating agency said in a report, The Prospect of US LNG Exports Influences Pricing and Gas Markets Worldwide. Keep reading →
Tax reform in Alaska promises to attract more oil and gas investment, but even for an established player in the state such as ConocoPhillips, getting substantial new production onstream.
Alaska’s state legislature approved oil tax legislation reform earlier this month designed to establish a more attractive investment climate for oil and gas producers. Companies such as ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and BP have been calling for changes to Alaska’s fiscal system for years, arguing that it deters investment in the state’s substantial resources. Keep reading →
Devon Energy chief executive John Richels is confident that US President Barack Obama’s administration will approve the the Keystone XL pipeline, but he expects the gap between prices for Canadian heavy oil and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to narrow even if the pipeline never gets built.
“Keystone XL is going to be approved,” Richels told attendees of the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s Oil and Gas Investment Symposium in New York on Tuesday. “From a national point of view it makes no sense for the President not to approve that, and buy more oil from Venezuela and the Middle East.” The Keystone XL pipeline, as envisaged, would transport up to 830,000 barrels per day of Canadian oil from Alberta to US refineries. Keep reading →
Jared Anderson
Conway Irwin
Peter Gardett