Take assertions that the ongoing global oil boom will bring down global crude prices with a grain of salt. With the marginal cost of crude close to $100 per barrel – so says Bernstein Research – any sustained drop far below that level will prompt drillers to rein in activity until prices rise again. [Quartz]… 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 →
An unusually slow White House review process is holding up stricter energy efficiency requirements for appliances, lighting and buildings proposed by the Department of Energy. The delay – the review process has taken as much as two years for some of the rules in question – seems at odds with the administration’s push for vehicle… Keep reading →
Smart Meters are amassing reams of data that, when effectively analyzed and applied, can help energy consumers at all levels – residential, commercial and industrial – cut down on both their consumption and their bills. And social media, backed by strong analytics, may prove to be an effective tool for delivering efficiency improvements. Using the… Keep reading →
By John W Schoen With more Americans hitting the road as the summer driving season kicks off, they’re paying a lot more attention to the price of gasoline at the pump. And with prices spiking in several parts of the country, a lot of drivers are wondering why they are suddenly shelling out more to… Keep reading →
Statoil will assume its first shale operatorship outside the United States through a deal to up its stake in PetroFrontier’s Australian permits to as much as 80%. The Norwegian company will have to spend $160 million on exploration through 2016 under the deal. [Reuters] Opec left its 2013 global oil demand forecast unchanged in its… Keep reading →
By Javier E David Despite the slow rate of adoption of natural gas to fuel motor vehicles, a confluence of trends in favor of natgas is shaping up to loosen the stranglehold petroleum has on the transportation fuel market, according to Citigroup. In a lengthy research report this week, the bank cited rising global natgas… Keep reading →
One of the biggest obstacles to connecting solar project developers with the investors that could provide them with financing comes down to communication, according to Haresh Patel, Chief Executive of Mercatus, which provides origination and syndication services for energy investors. The company has scored some big clients offering software that gives banks and other funding sources… Keep reading →
Competition between coal and natural gas is intensifying When the price of natural gas dipped below $2/MMBTUs in April 2009, the dash for gas set off in earnest. Any utility who could switch did switch from coal to natural gas. Not everyone could, of course, either because of the logistics, long-term fuel contract obligations or… Keep reading →
The Energy Information Administration has upped its estimates for global technically recoverable shale gas resources by 10% from its 2011 estimate, and opted to include shale oil in its latest report, with technically recoverable resources pegged at 345 billion barrels. The EIA’s estimates are “highly uncertain” by its own admission, though in fairness, it only… Keep reading →
