While New York is often referred to as the global energy finance center, it is not otherwise known as an energy industry focal point. That appears to be changing, however, as energy issues have recently shot towards the top of local and state political agendas and high-profile energy events – like New York Energy Week… Keep reading →
Some companies see gas-to-liquids (GTL) as a promising means of converting the US’ massive gas resources into vehicle fuel, but Chevron has little interest in GTL projects in the US.
Chevron is a large player in GTL. The company is a partner in the Escravos GTL plant in Nigeria, which will convert 325 million cubic feet of natural gas per day into 33,000 barrels of liquids, mostly synthetic diesel, and is scheduled to come onstream later this year. Commissioning is underway, but “it’s a complex plant and the commissioning activity will really go on for the bulk of this year,” said Chief Financial Office Pat Yarrington during the company’s first-quarter 2013 earnings call on Friday. Keep reading →
Oil & gas giant ExxonMobil’s first quarter 2013 earnings announced today were up $50 million from first quarter 2012, but oil-equivalent production volumes decreased 3.5%. While upstream and downstream earnings were lower, the chemical division reported strong results, which helped balance the company’s overall financial and operational position.
“Upstream earnings were $7,037 million in the first quarter of 2013, down $765 million from the first quarter of 2012. Lower liquids realizations, partially offset by improved natural gas realizations, decreased earnings by $230 million,” the company said in a statement. Keep reading →
After turning down a purchase offer from a large company for a majority stake in more than 100,000 prospective Utica shale acres, upstream master limited partnership EV Energy Partners (EVEP) is finding that many of the buyers in the market have more of an appetite for smaller deals.
EVEP has been marketing 103,800 acres in the Ohio portion of the Utica shale spanning black oil, light oil, wet gas and dry gas zones. But the company recently turned down an offer from a large prospective buyer, citing unacceptable deal terms. Keep reading →
The key to broader penetration of solar energy depends on access to capital markets and innovative financial structures that can reduce the cost of capital for project finance as well as increase the investor base beyond the traditional tax-equity driven investors. There is a strong case for the DOE to establish the Advancd Research Project Agency-Capital (ARPA-C) that will function to support the broader adoption and commercialization of renewable energy through mechanisms, including credit enhancment and direct equity investments for capital market project aggregation warehouse facilities and securitization transactions.
While ARPA-E has been successful for the deveopment of new renewable technologies, the renewable sector can benefit from the expansion of ARPA-E to include capital to catalyze the breakthroughs for financial innovations. ARPA-C innovations can help bridge the funding gap that challenges renewable energy growth by providing structural support for renewable energy projects to develop capital markets solutions. Capital Markets structures can help reduce the total installed cost of solar electricity significantly – and combined with other DOE initiatives could help make solar power cost-competitive without additional subsidies. The Obama adminstration outlined in the March 20, 2011 publication “Blueprint for a secure energy future”, three major goals : Keep reading →
If any sector would seem unlikely to be singled out for its robust dealmaking outlook, renewable energy might seem to be it. After a surge in investment and in installations over the past decade, renewable energy seemed to run out of road in 2012, undermined by extreme competition, low natural gas prices and limits on government assistance in a budget-constrained environment.
But 2012 proved to be a surprise for analysts of the renewable energy sector, analyst from consulting and accountancy firm Deloitte said in their most recent overview of the sector’s merger and acquisition activity. Keep reading →
If you trade an energy product over the counter rather than on an exchange, you probably need to get yourself a CICI number by Wednesday (April 10). That’s the deadline the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has set up for firms that haven’t been exempted from reporting information on their “swaps” activity to the government as part of the lengthy and complex implementation of the Dodd Frank financial sector reform.
Because the government just loves a good acronym, CICI stands for “CTFC Interim Compliant Identifier” that results in an “LEI” or a “legal entity identifier” for the purposed of reporting details of energy swaps trade and counterparties. The CFTC, concerned that some would miss the deadline, issued an advisory with much more information here. Keep reading →
Energy law was a star performer for the sector in the first quarter of 2013.
Only a spate of mega-deals in the technology, media and telecoms space kept energy sector legal work from once again taking the top spot in law firm activity in the first quarter of 2013 according to the latest rankings and data from Mergermarket. Keep reading →
Hundreds of millions of dollars in a new venture fund, with one-quarter aimed at “future energy” technologies.
Royal Dutch Shell has won both criticism and praise for its green investment habits — but when it comes to venture capital, it’s pretty tightly focused on serving its own oil and gas business needs first. Keep reading →
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has come under fire for the nuanced lists of exemptions it has offered to various firms and groups as it implements some portions of Dodd Frank legislation that require greater transparency and tighter limits on hedging and trading of the derivatives it oversees.
Included in this group have been certain “natural” players perceived as having an inherent physical position in a relevant commodity and therefore less likely to game the market without regard for fundamental supply and demand or to hold dangerously large positions. Also included as of this week are public power companies and cooperative utilities, which have been exempted from all but the anti-fraud, anti-manipulation and record inspection provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act when it comes to energy transactions. Keep reading →
Jared Anderson
Conway Irwin
Peter Gardett