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Tax code reform is expected to be high on the US political agenda this year and the issue of tax breaks or subsidies for Big Oil is often tossed around as part of the discussion. However, despite receiving various tax incentives, oil companies pay more in taxes than many other US-based multinational firms.

In their dogged pursuit of sensational headlines, media companies love to make a big deal about the largest US company by market capitalization, a title that ExxonMobil and Apple have traded for the past few years. Exxon recently reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2012 financials and on net income of roughly $45 billion last year, which is slightly higher than Apple’s approximately $42 billion, the oil company paid about twice as much in income taxes. Keep reading →


Accounting firm Ernst & Young released its Oil & Gas Center’s quarterly outlook this week highlighting the major trends expected in various petroleum industry sectors over the near term. It’s done on a quarterly basis and provides an overall view of main themes to be watching. It is primarily generated as an internal document, “so everyone knows what’s going on and highlights are sent to clients,” Foster Mellen, Senior Analyst with Ernst &Young’s Oil & Gas Practice told Breaking Energy.

Some points of interest include the long-overdue startup of Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan field and how companies may cope with US natural gas prices that have persistently remained below historical norms. Keep reading →


With the focus on lofty gasoline prices still fresh on many minds in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and refiners soon looking to transition production from winter to summer blend fuels, I wanted to look back at a topic which recently garnered national interest. Who could forget TV crews broadcasting live as gas lines went on for miles and eerily resembled what was seen here in the States during the 1973 Oil Crisis? This has me thinking President Obama has a chance to make the advancement of fuels a top priority in his second term and that could spell opportunity for investors.

The carnage that Sandy left across many states, including my hometown in New York, should be yet another wake-up call that the lack of refinery capacity in the U.S. is still a major issue that simply won’t go away. Did you know there are currently about 144 operable U.S. refineries, the fewest since at least 1949, which is as far back as Energy Department data goes? Whichever way you slice it, refinery numbers in the U.S. continue a three-decade contraction which means investors must consider the future of fuels. Keep reading →


It appears increasingly likely that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not return to power following his latest cancer treatment in December and analysts are considering the implications of a post-Chavez regime for one of the largest crude oil producers in the world.

Venezuela holds some of the world’s largest oil reserves and is the second largest Opec oil exporter to the US. Oil revenue accounts for a bulk of the government’s income and has largely been used to fund Chavez’s wide-ranging social programs. But the country’s oil industry – which is essentially state-owned company PDVSA – has been struggling with declining production rates at mature fields, along with other problems. Keep reading →

We develop our Outlook for Energy to assess future trends in energy supply, demand and technology. Read the 2013 report http://exxonmobil.co/NHdYNE exxonmobil


With global LNG demand projected to exceed supply by a wide margin, the prospects for North American exports of liquefied natural gas are exceptionally strong. But an unexpected development has raised a question about Canadian participation in this emerging export opportunity.

The question is: Will the Canadian government decide to block any of the pending acquisitions of its E&P players by foreign energy majors? Keep reading →


The nation is flooded with natural gas. For the last twelve months, the amount of gas available to the market exceeds five-year averages. With more gas than anyone can use, producers are now looking for new consumers. Two new opportunities have emerged and one could disrupt the nation’s economy in some very positive ways.

Less than five years ago it looked like North America’s natural gas market was going to become highly dependent on foreign imports. Anticipating a growing need to offset declining natural resources, investors built eleven liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals along the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Seven more were approved by federal regulators. But during the last 12 months, very little LNG was imported. Keep reading →

For countries with lots of coal looking for clean alternatives to burning it, Synthesis Energy Systems has an answer: use that coal to run cars and make plastics.

That’s not only technically feasible, it’s actually being done commercially in China, Robert Rigdon, SES President and CEO, told Breaking Energy. Keep reading →


The term “big oil” carries quasi-political connotations of a kind of shadow state that has often attracted sharp criticism. But if we look at the end of “big oil,” will we like what we see?

Energy companies are often called on to operate like states rather than private firms. They are held responsible for the safety, health and livelihoods of enormous numbers of people, they are entrusted with resources owned by the public and by virtue of their size and reach they are often as much partners as targets in tackling political problems at home and abroad. Keep reading →


On the surface, LNG appears to represent a new opportunity where easy profits are for the taking. In reality, producing and delivering LNG is a difficult business, and that business will only get harder as time goes on.

Unlike natural gas, where prices are established regionally, LNG is becoming a global commodity. Market prices depend on global supplies and demand. It is expected supplies will remain constrained for the next three years. Keep reading →

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