US natural gas prices fell sharply in 2008, from more than $10 per thousand cubic feet in July to less than $6/mcf at year-end, and have since fallen much further. The average US natural gas wellhead price fell from $7.97/mcf in 2008 to $3.67/mcf the following year, and to just $2.66/mcf in 2012, after an… Keep reading →
After repeated delays to the start-up of Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan field, and not one, but two incidents that forced its shutdown in the first month that the field was on stream, some might call the project cursed. But the latest in the string of mishaps – a gas leak that has prompted an indefinite shutdown… Keep reading →
Daniel Yergin, vice-chairman of IHS Cera, has published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. The piece drives home a central point: oil production and pricing can adapt relatively quickly to changing circumstances, provided that governments refrain from stepping in to influence them. “A… 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 →
Arguments about expensive, exotic renewables are dated If you are among those who still believes that renewables are exotic, expensive, unreliable, intermittent or whatever, you may be fighting a losing battle. With each passing day, renewables are gaining ground, and their shortcomings, most notably intermittency, diffused energy source and low capacity factor, are getting compensated in ingenious ways.… Keep reading →
The most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC election poll found very few people who are undecided about their choice for president, which means the fight to win swing states will be ferocious. Could energy issues play a role in the outcome?
Clean energy advocates say the possibility has become a reality in at least one of those states – Iowa – and it promises to influence undecided voters elsewhere, as well. Keep reading →
