Back in 2011, Shell took the final investment decision (FID) on its Prelude FLNG project and started having a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) terminal built in South Korea in order to produce and export LNG from the so-called Browse Basin, about 300 miles off the coast of Western Australia. This project is the first… Keep reading →
Analysts and traders have their eyes trained on Iraq, where an Al Qaeda splinter group known as the Islamic State in Iraq in the Levant seized control of Mosul – the country’s second largest city – and have reportedly made advancements toward a strategic oil refining center. The main oil production export centers do not… Keep reading →
Two timely research studies from think tanks inside the Beltway address energy security with particular focus on America’s new role in rearranging the established global energy order. This order is in flux precisely because of the renaissance in the American energy sector ignited by its shale (tight) oil and gas boom. Over the last decade,… Keep reading →
Wind turbines that float 1,000 above ground for months at a time take advantage of higher wind speeds than ground-based units, but they cost a lot more. Nevertheless, floating windmills could be deployed in circumstances where cost is not a primary limitation, such as remote locations characterized by high power prices or military installations. [Inhabitat]… Keep reading →
In a story developing throughout the week, Libyan rebels sold 230,000 barrels of crude oil officially owned by Libyan National Oil Company to a North Korean-flagged tanker heading to an unknown destination. In response, the Opec member country sacked Prime Minister Ali Zeidan on Tuesday. [AFP and Reuters] The Tesla Motors sales model took a… Keep reading →
Many of the largest US pension fund managers gathered at the United Nations last week to discuss the risks and opportunities climate change poses to their investment portfolios. Institutional investment fund managers, like those in charge of pension resources, are in the difficult position of finding opportunities that provide returns needed to support beneficiaries for… Keep reading →
By: Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS The great controversy playing out over oil reform this month in Mexico will be central to Mexico’s economic future. Can declining oil production be turned around in order to support an expanding industrial economy rivaling the BRICs and become a global manufacturing hub? This oil reform is so… Keep reading →
The Chevron-Apache Kitimat LNG export project in British Columbia has the potential to capitalize on Canada’s vast natural gas resources, as well as the proximity of its western coast to Asian markets. But it is also up against competition from producing countries like Australia, where the buildout of LNG export infrastructure is already well underway,… 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 →
What Did the Oil Industry Learn From the Khodorkovsky Saga?
By Jared AndersonThe final chapter in one of early post-Soviet Russia’s most high-profile oil industry shakeups appears to be coming to a close with the largely symbolic pardon of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of Yukos. The company was one of Russia’s largest oil companies by reserves and production during the free-wheeling privatizations of the 1990’s when Soviet… Keep reading →