Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi actually didn’t contradict himself in an appearance on a panel at the Business & Climate Summit in Paris on Thursday. But it might have seemed like it, given some of the headlines that popped up on the Web. “Saudi Oil Minister Says World Can’t Abandon Fossil Fuels,” the Wall Street Journal… Keep reading →
Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, recently said again that OPEC will not take sole responsibility for supporting global oil prices. Since the collapse in oil prices this past year, OPEC has attempted to convince non-OPEC oil producers to cooperate on production and prices, but with little success. “Today the situation is hard. We tried, we… Keep reading →
Saudi Arabia’s oil minister is concerned about potentially disruptive trends that could undermine the oil industry in the coming decades. New technologies and efforts to cut carbon emissions offer potentially existential threats to the world’s most important commodity. Current projections from the IEA and other analysts all forecast demand for oil increasing, with medium-term forecasts… Keep reading →
There is abundant speculation about how much further oil prices might fall and when US oil production growth will begin to decline. The consensus among analysts and investors is that oil prices are likely to reverse course and start trending upward sometime later this year or next. With US land-based rig counts trending down over… Keep reading →
This morning began with rumors that Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had died, though it quickly became clear this was not the case. However, King Abdullah has been in poor health for years and is currently hospitalized undergoing treatment for pneumonia. The Saudi Press Agency (English version) confirmed that King Abdullah was still… Keep reading →
It appears the largest oil price decline since the 2008 economic and financial crises could be reaching a bottom. Maybe. Luckily we don’t have the displeasure of making oil price forecasts, like our colleague Ed Crooks the US Industry and Energy Editor at the Financial Times: Anyway, benchmark global oil futures prices rebounded today partially… Keep reading →
Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi has begun opening up a bit more about Opec and the kingdom’s decision to leave oil production quotas unchanged at the producer group’s meeting last month. Since that decision – and price cuts on behalf of individual Opec members – benchmark oil prices plummeted and are now down about… Keep reading →
As global benchmark oil prices on Wednesday reached lows not seen since the wake of the economic crisis in 2009, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi responded to reporters’ questions with some of his own. The world’s most important oil minister held his ground reiterating that the oil market will correct itself without Opec interference.… Keep reading →
A startup named Aquion recently began commercial-scale production of sodium-ion batteries that solve some lithium-ion toxicity and flammability issues. The company says when scaled up, the batteries could supplant natural gas peaker plants, allowing stored renewable energy to be used during power demand spikes instead of gas. “The batteries could allow the grid to accommodate… Keep reading →
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi billionaire investor with holdings in outfits like Citigroup and Time Warner, published a critical letter to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Ali Al-Naimi (on twitter, no less). It said that the country “won’t be able to fulfill its plan to increase capacity to 15 million barrels a day”, that “there’s… Keep reading →
